Chapter seventeen
The Knowledge to Destroy
Ren stared ahead as he watched it all unfold in-front of him.
He was in a void of everything in the universe, he knew everything that had ever happened and he knew everything about everyone and everything, he had all the knowledge in the universe right there imparted into his mind and it was overwhelming as he tried to think his own thoughts through the mess of it all, through the noise of everyone's questions that he knew the answer to but it was impossible.
The blue woman that had shown him all of this floated near him and then bent down so her face was right in-front of him and through the noise of everything flowing into his mind her words cut through it all. "Now you know it all Lie Ren, does my gift not please you? Is endless knowledge not something that would make you incredibly useful to your team?"
Ren didn't answer in any coherent way as he let out a gasp of pain as the information was so much it was hurting, his very temples threatening to burst open it seemed, yet still the woman spoke on as Ren clutched at his head, trying desperately to manage the pain. So many solutions for ways to deal with pain came to his mind as he had the knowledge of it all; meditation, medicine or should he have listed it in alphabetical? There were so many!
"You now know everything about your friends as well and how much Ozpin truly hid from you; How many of your fellow agents and friends did that Yang Xiao-Long kill when they tried to bring her in? How many agents has Queen Belladonna had to send back broken and beaten when defending her kingdom? How many have stolen from Ruby Rose? Did Ozpin ever truly want you to take Captain Vale in or did he want to use the greatest soldier in the world for his own needs? If she didn't injure herself would Dr Weiss Schnee even think of trying to help others? Does the alien even know her own name? And Nora Valkyrie… how long will she live for?"
Ren screamed as the answers all appeared in his mind, the mass of dead agents that were both Atlas operatives and Beacon agents that Ozpin placed there.
The reports every squad gave about a warrior in black and purple who beat them and sent them running.
The people the councils had planted in Ruby's company to try and get her secrets, the mad scramble when she was missing for those 3 months had so many agents undercover in her companies that they were outing opposing ones every day.
The truth… Ozpin respected the decision for them to take Jaune, but he wanted him for Beacon, he wanted him to lead on his terms.
Weiss would not try to seek out something greater than herself, she would still just be a normal doctor, no desire other than that.
They called her Pyrrha, but every time they did she questioned herself if that was who she really was, but then Ren frowned, she had made a choice suddenly, he could tell. She was Pyrrha Nikos she was-
-Then there was Nora… she would still be here until this planet had no life on it, she would even see the beginnings of life reborn on this planet she would outlive every single one of them.
"Ahh you see it now, having all this knowledge doesn't make you any more useful does it Lie Ren… even when someone gives you something so spectacular you are still just not as important as the rest of them are-"
"She doesn't forget." Ren whispers out as he watches it all play out, from everything he knows about Nora and he means now absolutely everything he knows, he can see how her future will play out.
"What did you say?"
This time Ren lets out a short breath like even he can't believe what he is seeing as he looks over it all, piecing it all together, filling in the gaps and sorting through the rest of the information because he now knows what he is looking for and he is going to have to see it because while his head might see it, he needs his heart to see it. "The oldest and most powerful and utterly amazing woman in the whole universe; she doesn't forget a single thing about any of us, she remembers everything about us, about me."
His heart starts beating faster at the mere idea and he looks upon Knowledge because he now knows everything about her, he knows that this was all some elaborate test for them, some way of them following the instructions of Salem, but at the same time giving a few people a chance to 'best' them in certain ways so that they can fail and The Hunters can focus fully on stopping the evil that is coming to them. "I understand now… you wanted to crush me with the futility of knowledge to start off with, actually not even crush me, you were hoping for Ruby to crush. But the thing is you messed up, but you didn't do it on purpose that's the thing, you had to go into this 100% because otherwise I would know wouldn't I? You tried to show me that my friends and I are doomed, something I already knew, you tried to show me they are damaged, again we all have our scars, but most of all you tried to make me think that we are not important… but once again a goddess changed my mind, something I'm learning more and more doesn't really need to be used nearly as much as it should be. So I'm going to take a page from her book and go with my heart on this matter and every other, I don't need your knowledge, Knowledge."
The woman regarded him for a moment before then floating so she was stood in-front of him again, although this time he noted that they stood the same height, beforehand she had towered over him and he had felt very intimidated, now he Knew better so he gave a confident smirk at her. "Knowledge leads to power and since I cannot trust anyone with all the knowledge, once you leave my domain you will not have all that you have gained here, but I will allow you one question I shall answer… anything you ask."
Ren felt what question he should ask more than anything and so he did. "What is the best flavour of ice cream?"
"You already know."
The entire world went completely white and then Ren was tumbling over and face down in the grass before picking himself up and then looking around himself, he was still in the village but only now there were no large blue people stood there, the other villagers were all passed out in a massive clump in the middle of the village but Ren could make out a few that were stirring and coming to, he then cast his eyes around to locate Pyrrha and see if she had gotten out of the trance that the blue man had put her in.
However when he found that she was not in the immediate area he was very quick to leap to his feet and frantically look around the area to try and find her, he was a second from yelling out to try and get her to respond when a shadow was descending onto him and he looked up to see her coated in her black aura and floating down towards him with a smile on her face, it was infectious and Ren found himself giving her a small grin back as she landed in-front of him.
Pyrrha then threw her arms around him in a tight hug and Ren returned it with a small pat on her back. "Are you okay?" She asks him as they pull away from each other and he stands there and looks her up and down with a small smile.
"I am, that was quite an experience. I never dreamed that I would be facing cosmic beings back when I first started out." Ren admitted as he then turned and looked back around his home village with a fond look. "And I started out right here… I doubt anyone remembers me."
Pyrrha considered this for a moment and then placed a hand on her friends shoulder and smiled comfortingly at him. "I know I'll remember you, and I know for a fact that Nora's mother will do as well… maybe not for the best of reasons."
"Hmm, most likely not, but that's not the important thing. The main thing is that we are both okay and I believe we won?"
"Somehow I don't think we could have lost, we should go and find Jaune." Pyrrha declared as she turned to the Bullhead as more of the villagers begun to rise up and stand on their feet and help others up.
"Yeah, it looks like everything is under control here, I doubt the Captain will need our help though."
CLANG
Jaune's armour smacked into a steel girder and then sparks erupted as he slide down it and crumpled in a heap on the ground, blinking the white spots out of his eyes and really fighting for consciousness as he wobbled to his feet and felt a click in his back, it did not sound good especially when it was then followed by clicks in his knee, shoulder and fingers on his right hand.
The blue being with his sword was a force to be reckoned with, he was tearing down Jaune's defences with complete and utter ease and breaking everything around the area that they were fighting in, the buildings were now crumbling but Jaune was relieved to see that they were all evacuated, the emergency services managing to get so many people clear of the area as Jaune did his best to keep the blue person busy.
Speaking of, he was currently walking forward towards him right now and Jaune from his leaning position against the steel girder pushed himself off of it and charged forward once again to meet him, swinging with all he had and as fast as he could only to be met with fierce defence and then a sudden strike.
SMASH
SHATTER!
Jaune felt the blow against his shield and then said hard light shield shatter from the impact as he was once again flung backwards and he cracked into some stone steps and he lay there for a second before he coughed and tried to force himself to his feet, he used to have to do this back when his body screamed at him in pain, he could barely breath and his muscles did not exist, as far as he was concerned with this body it was a walk in the park, he just had to get up again.
He blinked the white spots out of his vision as he rolled over.
He just had to get up again.
He watched the stone steps be covered in some drops of blood as he crawled up them in a hope to stand.
He just had to get up again.
He was on his hands and knees as he flet footsteps walk right past him and he lifted his head up to see the back of the blue person facing away from him and instead looking at the large museum where the peace treaty was signed and all of the information about the Great War was kept, a monument to one of Remnants biggest mistakes in the world and Jaune had a whole section where his photos and plaques were.
"Surrender Captain Vale, and I shall make your end a quick and painless one, all you are doing is prolonging the inevitable." He paused dramatically and Jaune was getting real tired of his holy-er than thou attitude. "You cannot fight forever, soon I will have to face your friends."
Jaune wheezed as he pushed himself to his feet and planted his feet raising his hands. "I'm already in pain, and I'm not backing down, if I die buying everyone time then it's worth it… they're the ones that matter." He spat out a bit of blood that had built up in his mouth.
The blue figure did not react other than to step towards him and then they were stood there face to face, none of Jaune's head on attacks had worked so he was going to fight defensively from now on, the hard light shield wasn't working so bare handed would have to do, at least he could focus on mobility even if he lacked a ranged aspect right now.
"I can do this all day, you have to beat every single one of my friends and they only have to beat you once and with all of them working together you don't stand a chance, you think all of your power is so great, that being able to destroy everything around you is such a blessing? Well I got news for you, you won't destroy their hope. You think you can take away Ruby's hope for a better tomorrow? Take away any of my teammates hope then you got another thing coming, because they won't quit so long as they draw breath… and you best believe that I won't either, so get ready, because you are gonna need to save some hope for yourself."
He waited and observed for the signs but got none from his opponent, instead what looked to be a smile graced the features of the blue face and he then spoke to Jaune in a calmer tone of voice. "I will take my leave now, there is nothing I can do to you that will destroy you."
Then in a shimmer Jaune stood alone outside of the museum, like he had always been the only one there, around him were numerous people all snapping photos of him and a few police officers who were holding the crowd back, one of them a young faunus girl was waving her hand in-front of his face and then shyly backed away when he looked at her with confusion.
"S-sorry Captain, you, uh, you weren't doing anything and nobody could move you." She explained as Jaune scouted out the area, the surrounding buildings were all still intact, cars were driving past, people that were not stopping for photos were milling about and there was no sign of a fight having taken place at all.
Even looking over himself Jaune did not feel the pain of any injuries, no strain and he did not feel the tiredness that so usually seeped in afterwards when the adrenaline had faded, instead he felt fine. It was like the entire encounter had never happened.
WHOOOOOOOOOSH
BHIRRRRRR
The sound of the Bullhead engine over head as Jaune looked up to see Pyrrha floating down as the flying craft then shot away and the crowd began the oohhinh and ahhhing at the beautiful woman descending upon them, she was quick to wrap Jaune up in a hug and he was to stunned by how sure and confident she looked to say anything else.
"Jaune is everything okay? Where did the blue guy go?" Here voice was so soothing, so full of power, she commanded his attention, just what had happened to make her so sure and certain of herself?
"I'm good. I think it was all in my mind." He was still confused by it all if he was being completely honest, Pyrrha said she saw someone blue here, yet looking around there was no evidence to suggest that there ever was someone blue here at all, even the police were looking incredibly confused and Jaune could see an ambulance driver and their partner giving each other looks as well.
"Where is Ren?"
"He went to go and grab Monkey-King, we heard from Ruby on the way to get you. It is not good."
The Dragon Island.
The Savage lands.
The Forgotten isles.
The Lost Kingdom.
This place had a lot of different names but they all told much the same story; that of ruin.
As one story Yang told her once that her mother Summer had said about the place, long ago there was a thriving kingdom here. Full of people, the happiest in all of Remnant, they worked together to make the place a great and noble land, sending aid to the frozen lands to the north to make sure the people could survive the harshest of winters, trading building materials and water to those in the sands of Vacuo so that the people would be looks after, building a solid friendship with those in the newly established kingdom of Vale to ensure that they could one day become as great as they were and helping to preserve the wildlife and natural beauty of the mountains and landscape in Mistral.
The kingdom was run by a generous King and Queen who truly cared for all people, be they faunus or human it did not matter to them as you were welcome. This was before the times of the now extinct monsters of Grimm that plagued the lands, where the only issues with the world were what people would make of it.
Yet for all this happiness on the surface, deep below it the Queen wanted something more, she wanted it to last forever, she wanted to be the greatest power in the whole of Remnant and she was not going to stop at anything to get it. She practiced the dark arts in secret so goes the story and thus the first Grimm was born and it tore through the kingdom, and where one came, many more soon followed and the once great and proud kingdom of Camelot was left to nothing but ruin.
Yang always used to say that there was a lone stone figure left on the Dragon Islands of the Queen and she was turned to stone when all the Grimm were vanished, she used to tell Ruby that she was still trapped inside the stone waiting for her chance to escape and to bring the Grimm back into Remnant, to what end was only known to the Queen, but every time Ruby heard that story she felt a deep calling within her heart, even as they all flew over in the Bullhead she could feel her heart beat a little quicker, her heads up display telling her a quick warning of a strange energy spike for a moment before it disappeared as soon as it arrived.
Just the continuation of something that had been happening a little more often.
"Friend Ruby, we are closing in now." Penny was proving to be an expert pilot even when she had opposable thumbs, although Ruby could also see the way that she was interfaced with the machinery and she gave a small smile behind her mask, sometimes old habits were hard to drop after all.
"Thanks Penny; Weiss you ready?" She called out to the sorceress who was calling Blake through an 'astral projection' or whatever she called it, honestly Ruby got it, she had most likely used a chemical mixture in one of the drinks and had managed to hypnotically trigger some subconscious sense in Blake to make her think that whenever Weiss or any of the others needed her she would come to them, curious how she had only done it to Blake, perhaps the animal traits of a faunus played a factor into the hypnosis.
"Just finished, her kingdom really is beautiful, I must ask to visit there when I can." Weiss observed as Ruby narrowed her eyes, she couldn't have actually been there could she? Perhaps there were nano machines at play and she had injected them into Blake and was looking through her eyes somehow? Perhaps she would test it out herself.
"Indeed friend Weiss, I would love to see where my body components have come from." Penny spoke up as she landed the ship on the shores of the Dragon Island and the ships doors opened up to display over grown wildlife and rock faces at them.
"At least we can all fly, is there any strange energy coming from this place Weiss, my scans are getting weird readings." Ruby asked, whether or not she believed in 'Magic' she could understand that Weiss knew energy.
Penny joined her as her eye flicked between all the different vision modes she had equipped her with. "Indeed, my scans are revealing that -error-." Again she said error with a large grin on her face as though she had not said something from one of the horror films she had tried to show Jaune and Nora in an attempt to freak them out, although it had worked for Pyrrha. Jaune cried when watching a war film and then disappeared for a day requesting to never watch another one ever again and Nora was open in her hatred of one animated film because she claimed that her brother once managed to make all of her toys come to life when she was younger and they kept calling her names.
"Ruby?" Weiss was right next to her then and had a hand on her shoulder in a comforting way, she recognised that Ruby had been spacing out a lot more than usual… of course she knew the reason why. "Is it-"
"I'm good, just thinking is all, you know how I do." They shared a look and Weiss could see right through the impenetrable iron mask that she wore to see the tired girl beneath it all, she maybe saw her better than all the rest in Ruby's opinion. "Anything on your end?"
"There is something, it's old… different to what I have detected before, but it is further in – will you be alright with-"
"I'll be fine." Ruby says firmly.
Weiss is not convinced and so Ruby retracts her helmet to look her in the eyes, yet before she can speak she is met with the Weiss gaze. "You've been spacing out more than usual these last few days, I can see it. Your thinking too much."
"Just trying to enjoy the moments that have come before… best times of my life, but it's time to work so let's get on with it." Ruby tries to put on the brave smile, but in truth she knows Weiss is right.
"Ruby." Her tone is soft, her expression meaningful, she desperately wants to offer words of encouragement to her leader and friend. "After this is done; we will solve your problem."
Ruby gives a small smile as her helmet then clicks shut once again and she then drops the smile behind the mask, she knows that Weiss has the best intensions, they all do. The thing is; ever since Ruby put this thing on her chest, she knew it wouldn't save her life, it would only just buy her a little more time to make sure things were all in order.
The power it held was great, but even it cannot completely get the shrapnel out and very slowly they had been sliding back towards her heart, she needed something more than just the energy to save her now.
But she would not waste her life.
"Let's get moving."
Her boosters powered up and she was in the air and flying over the rocks and over grown forests, the further along the trio went the more ruins they saw until they arrived at once they were all certain was a great castle infrastructure, possibly holding a city within itself. It sat in the middle of what was possibly a surrounding area of fields and farm land but had now become overgrown and so more resembled a marsh land. The sea had clearly had an impact as there was a river flowing through the centre of the field and as they flew closer to the castle they spotted the crumbles of rock and stone, a few animals were startled by them and deer were jumping around the ruins to get away from them.
"Yang was telling the truth." Ruby said out loud as she hovered and observed the once great kingdom, she was amazed that it had been left like this for so long however Remnant did lack when it came to exploration, there was still so much about their world they did not understand, and the history of one of its greatest nations was right here… completely forgotten.
"Did Yang know this was here then?" Weiss asked as she stood next to her, floating on one of her hard light platforms or as she was fond of calling them 'glyphs'.
Ruby shook her head as she continued to observe the area and let Penny do her scanning to try and find the energy signal that was giving her the error message. "No it was just a children's story that mum told her and so she told me, about another kingdom that came before the others, the greatest one. Did your family not tell stories?"
"If my mother ever put down the bottle long enough to tell me anything, it was about how much she hated my father, and he certainly never told me any. My elder sister left as soon as she could, I do miss her sometimes, but we were never a close enough family to do story time with each other." Weiss explained as she too observed the fallen kingdom, she also cast a quick spell to see if the strange energy would present itself to her senses.
"Well get Yang to tell you her version when you get back, used to give me nightmares." Ruby offered as she then watched as Penny take off towards the ground and then rocketed after her, landing next to her with a clang as Weiss' more dignified high heels clicked against the broken cobble stone. "You get something Penny?"
Their android friend turned to look at them with a big smile on her face. "Yes I have friends, the energy seems to give my readings the most issues in here." And with that cheerful tone of voice Ruby and Weiss exchanged a look and then walked through the half stone arch and into a massive hall with one tiny section of the roof still intact, the rest was letting the sun in very clearly and to herself Ruby wondered why they had not just flown right through the very open and large roof and instead chosen to dramatically go through the half arch.
"And here we are!" Penny declared happily as Ruby and Weiss then looked around cluelessly, before looking at each other.
"Here we are where Penny?" Weiss asked politely while Ruby still kept her head on a swivel, it was clear that this place was some kind of meeting hall or eating hall, because it was massive, stretching along for about the same length as her manor was wide, but it was completely empty, there was one large rotting table in the centre that might have been round a long time ago but was now in pieces and the rest of the broken cobble stone either had bits of the roof on it or wild life growing out of it.
"This is the place of -error-." Again she was so cheerful and happy about it Ruby couldn't find it within herself to be upset or mad that she wasn't giving them anything more.
"Okay so do we look around for clues or-"
Out of nowhere a dark swirling portal opened up ad four different objects floated through and begun to rotate above the portal, with a low thrumming noise filling up the space, the portal was completely dark but even then they could make out a figure standing on the other side of it; a woman of some description with long hair and skin, both being bleach white and while everything was too dark to tell what was behind her, it was still clear that she was wearing such dark robes.
Her blood red eyes observed the three of them before she spoke.
"Weiss Schnee, Penny the sentient life form and Ruby Rose… finally I meet you after all this time."
"Um, who are you?" Ruby asks as she ready's her weapons on her screen, getting the shields she has up to maximum level, because if she isn't fast enough to dodge the first attack then she might as well make sure she can take it, she also took this moment to send a quick SOS message out to Beacon to let them know that they were going to need some heavy artillery back up, making sure to also send the list of individuals that the Hunters had agreed upon to help them out.
"Hm and I thought Captain Arc would have told you about me, my little sister does not know about me, but that doesn't matter I am prepared for her. To answer your question because I am sure you have many; I am Salem."
Behind Ruby, Weiss let out a gasp and then instantly pulled a book out of thin air and began to flip through the pages of it before finding what she was looking for and chanting something under her breath, Ruby's armoured heads up display registered the words were coming out backwards so no doubt this was some activation code or a 'spell' and she even tilted her head to spare a glance at the words in the book, to which her display then showed a large paragraph of writing…
Backwards writing.
"Very clever, but I would expect nothing less from dear Robyn's replacement, she must have seen something like this coming, you however… well you only see half the picture anyway don't you Weiss?"
Weiss didn't stop her chanting but the look on her face showed that she had heard what this Salem said and Ruby could tell it hit a nerve slightly, she was quite defensive about her scar. "Great Salem, yeah I've heard of you." Ruby tried to bluff to get the attention off of Weiss, she was good at embarrassing herself to make the attention turn to her. "You're the person that Pyrrha fought at the edge of a black hole, she told us about that, said you punched like a bomb."
"Your attempts to distract me are adorable Ruby Ro-"
"Well I tried, oh well so I got no idea who you are, doesn't matter."
Salem seemed to remain impassive, however the thing that told Ruby that she had managed to get through to her was the silence that grew between them for a few seconds before she started to talk again. "I am-"
"Can we skip the chit chat and we get to the part where you realise that Remnant is off limits, because it's kind of obvious that you are gearing up for some super villain stuff, and I got some things to do-"
"Before you die." That got Ruby's attention and got her quiet really quickly, this person clearly had been watching them and knew things about them, but Ruby had succeeded in getting the attention off of Weiss so she would have to play into this conversation. "I have been watching you for a long time Ruby Rose, I know what is killing you and I can give you the answers to things you have long wanted before you die, like what happened to your family all you need to do is let these Relic's charge up and I can give you the answers you have waited for."
Ruby was taking some steps towards the portal and Penny reached out to her but Ruby held her hand out in a waiting motion, she even heard Weiss become more frantic in her chanting. "I've waited all my life to know what happened to my mother."
"I know you have dear, and I can give you those answers."
Her display that was translating what Weiss was saying backwards showed that she was near the end.
"I guess I can wait a little longer." And then Weiss finished her chant and a golden glow of energy blasted out and swept across the portal right as Salem was about to try and reach through it and as the supposed Relic's all glowed a bright and brilliant blue colour, and instead of her being able to reach through the portal, instead her hand seemed to stop before it could cross and a look of fury came upon her features and a snarl escaped her throat, the calm persona leaving her completely.
"Nope." Ruby said cheerfully at the look of anger Salem had, she then turned and fixed Weiss with a glare of powerful proportions.
"How… creative… of you Weiss Schnee, using the very energy I would to pass through to render it impossible for me to, perhaps Robyn did choose well… mark my words you will die for this."
Weiss gave a proud smile as she stepped closer to the portal, standing right beside Ruby at this point. "You will find breaking a dead woman's spell… extremely difficult."
"Yes impossible for me to pass through any of my portals."
"Uh yeah, you already said that." Ruby said as she gave Weiss a sideways glance, to which the white haired girl then raised an eyebrow and returned Ruby's look.
"You miss understand me Ruby Rose, it is impossible for me to pass through, but you three have made the mistake of assuming I am alone, and that will cost you all very dearly."
Salem then turned and walked away from the portal as a dark shape was suddenly bounding towards them and then it was in the open and it was horrifying, it looked like a wolf the size of a man and had blood red eyes that fixed on Weiss with the most evil of glares, right until Ruby blasted a hole through its chest and it turned to dust in-front of all of them.
There was silence between the three until Penny suddenly took to the air and Ruby and Weiss instantly followed her, in the field surrounding the broken and desolate castle compound, a large glowing dark portal had opened up and a tide of dark beasts were all charging right from it and heading towards the coast.
"Ruby!"
"I know! We can't let those things get to the coast, they get to any of the other kingdoms people will die, so we keep the fight here. Penny you good for this?"
"I am combat ready!" And with that the happy girl rocketed down towards the massive army and began to blast out green beams from her hands and she even brought out a spinning circle of swords to help her cut through the monsters, she was making good work through the opening bout of them and there seemed to be a lot of attention on her right now.
"Weiss that Spell-"
"It won't hold forever, but it will be long enough."
"So nothing stopping you from helping out then?"
"I will do what I can, you get the others here, this is an all hands on deck mission." The Magician then floated down above the battle and begun to rain ice down across the battlefield, even going so far as to summon a storm that swept on the outside of the battle to try and keep these beasts contained.
"Jaune? Ren? Pyrrha? Are you listening?"
A moment of static before her display showed Ren's face with Pyrrha in the background. "We are here Ruby. All is okay on our end, we are heading to help Jaune right now."
A moment of panic built up in her chest as she thought of her friend in trouble. "Okay, make sure he is good then get here, this is it guys… make or break for Remnant." With that being said in a grave voice, plus the look of complete understanding on their faces, Ruby then blasts down and drops some bombs from her hips to incinerate the next group charging at Penny, her hands lighting up as she continuously blasts from them with silver beams cutting through the werewolf like creatures with ease.
That's when a beam hits a big one with white bone plates on its body and the beam is reflected away through another as it continues to charge at her, time for her to try out the new toy she had been improving since she showed it off with that cool armour the dwarfs helped her to build.
Reaching under her cape she removed the compact device and it unfolded into a massive scythe, the sharp metal glinting and Ruby couldn't help the smile that stretched across her face, this weapon combined with her thrusters, she was going to tear through them all and she was going to start with the bone-y one.
Dashing forward she struck the arm and kept moving past it, slicing that off while then striking with both her feet out to reverse the thrust and burn a smaller and weaker beast, flying back at such a speed Ruby struck this time at a leg and removed that, stopping right there and then arching her beautiful baby upwards she sliced the monsters head clean off. If she was not mistaken, she was pretty certain she saw the other monsters all recoil slightly in fear and she could not stop the slight giggle from her mouth. "Say hello to my beautiful Cresent Rose!" She cried out to the army as she dashed forward again and begun slashing through them with deadly strength and precision, she knew they couldn't go on forever, but they could do it for long enough until the others got here.
BOOM
Penny caused a massive explosion as her imbued rockets blasted out from where she was up in the air, right as she then landed and began cutting through the ranks again with her swords, dust was flying up all around her and Ruby then appeared in a streak next to her, together they worked to cut through the centre of the group in a massive circle. They were then joined by Weiss when several of the beasts were blasted by a massive tide of water at such a high pressure that it sliced through their bodies because of the depth she had summoned it from, lifting a massive rock into the air she launched it in-front of the dark portal and then threw several more to slow the sheer number of dark monsters on the battlefield, using her blade she summoned whips of fire and begun to crack them around the outreaches of the circle her other two friends were creating. Slowly but surely they had forced the ravenous beasts back so that they now had a safe area, but that feeling of security did not last as the rocks in-front of the portal were shattered.
The three powerful heroes observed as a disgusting beast the shape of an elephant but the size of two houses then charged towards them with its grotesque tusks lowered ready to skewer them, were it not for a powerful black bolt that flew past them and caught it right in the middle of its charge.
There holding back the strength of the beast stood Pyrrha with a look of complete focus on her strained face, right before she turned and managed to throw it off balance to the side, exposing the soft underbelly it had beneath it, where several arrows impacted it right as the super strong alien warrior then launched it towards another advancing group where the resulting explosion then took them all out.
The three stared at the red haired woman who then stood tall and waved at them with a vibrant smile over coming her gorgeous features. "Hello again."
"PYRRHA!" Ruby cried out in joy as the aforementioned woman then pulled back a fist and decked a beast into the ground, continuing to blast it with her black energy until it turned to dust as four more leapt to strike her from behind, only to get hit with a hard-light shield and two arrows. "JAUNE! REN!"
There stood her other friends, Ren having taken one knee as he already had nocked and launched several more arrows, the Bullhead was hovering off a little further and she noticed that Ren was carrying an extra quiver around his waist and Jaune had two on his back, even Pyrrha then had one on her back.
The captains gaze was extremely hard as he observed the monsters, his fists were completely clenched up and he did not look happy. "Grimm." He uttered the word with complete distain, an anger and fury Ruby did not know he could ever reach.
"What's the play Ruby?" Ren asked as he took in Jaune's expression before turning to her.
"We have a monster woman named Salem who wants to cross over into our Realm, not sure why, not sure how, not sure of much, just know we can't let her, Weiss has a Spell keeping her at bay right now." She summed up for them as Jaune continued to observe the battlefield and then nodded his head.
"Understood, Ren you focus on covering Weiss, Pyrrha and Penny you stay as Vanguard, Ruby air support, Monkey-King and I will give support to where ever we can." Jaune announced as just when Ruby was about to as a figure leapt from the Bullhead and rolled across the floor, leaping his way towards the group with cheerful expressions they could all hear, it added a certain energy to the battlefield that Ruby felt eased something in her soul.
"Sorry I'm late guys, traffic was a nightmare, also the quiver strap kept coming undone; just yell when you need it alright Ren?"
The archer nodded as he shocked a few beasts trying to sneak up on Weiss, knocking them down with ease, just then Monkey-King zipped over and wrestled with one and pinned it to the ground and left it tied up there, right as Jaune with the hard-light shield removed it's head from its body to see a stunned swinger. "Oh, didn't realise you were that hardcore cap."
"I know you hold back for fear of hurting people, but these are abominations, you hold back and they will kill everyone… you want permission to let loose, to be dangerous? Then I take that responsibility of what happens, you show them the great power you have." Ruby and Monkey-King stood in awe of Jaune as he gazed upon the other hero, his voice didn't waver, didn't hold any nervousness that he usually held when talking to the others. She always marvelled the change he could make when he held that shield, but now she realised it wasn't the shield, it was his words that made him so much more than anyone could hope to be.
There was a moment of silence that seemed to take over the whole battlefield as Monkey-King and Captain Vale stared at each other with the Iron Reaper watching them both, and then as one the three moved into action, the smartest woman on Remnant took to the skies and was blasting through them with uttermost precision, meanwhile the soldier was taking all kinds of hits for Pyrrha and Penny, where ever he could.
But Monkey-King…
There was not a thing that could touch him as he was leaping and ripping through the monsters like they were made of cardboard, nothing was able to stop him and no-one could hit him, he moved like lightning and he struck like thunder.
Ruby was in amazement at the level of teamwork they were all achieving on such an instinctive level and every so often she would swing down from the sky to cleave a few of the monsters that got a bit too close to Ren and Weiss at the rear before flying back up to provide covering fire where it was needed, that was when she came to the realisation that while they were holding the line that was it.
There was no ground being lost or gained but they would grow tired, not even Penny and Pyrrha could keep going forever, and while she knew that any one of her friends would sooner die than admit defeat at this stage, they could not fight forever and soon they would fall.
What they needed more than ever was a plan to stop the flow of beasts once and for all. That main portal had been releasing all of them one after the other in an endless horde of death that would overwhelm them in time, of that there was no question of, even now slightly bigger things were starting to come out of it and zooming in with her display Ruby could spy larger objects lurking back in the darkness, still yet to come through, Weiss had managed to stop the woman from coming through could she do a Spell to stop these one's? But again how long would that last?
Opening up her communicator she spoke through it to her friends. "They are not stopping, they will keep coming through until we find a way to shut the portals."
"Portals?" Ren's voice came through, he may not say much but when he did it was always focused on the important part, pushing passed all of Ruby's thoughts of self-doubt along with the inevitable lose they all wanted to avoid.
"Yes, the first portal that appeared in the old castle, I managed to make it so Salem is unable to pass through, however that won't last for too long, her own power is fighting against my Magic, plus there is the force of the Relics as well, I would need help Magically, power and a lot more time than we currently have."
"I can get us some more time, I called Ozpin earlier. Power I have an idea for, but Magic is all you." Ruby responded as she then sent off a rocket which blew a large Grimm scorpion to pieces right before it could get to Monkey-King, the hero then giving a wave of appreciation before he launched himself at a large gorilla looking Grimm and tore it's arms off.
"I know, I was hoping that the-"
Weiss was cut off as a particularly violent looking beast dove at her back and Jaune only just managed to intercept it, however in the process he lost his shield device and was thus left defenceless.
"JAUNE!" Pyrrha's yell was heard across the battlefield as she flew towards him only to get intercepted by a large scorpion like creature that stabbed her into the ground, Ren was set upon by a double headed snake creature, heads on each end which to Ruby seemed like a poor design choice on this Salem's behalf, not that she would have made something better, just that it was weird is all.
As Ruby then rocketed toward the captain a large bird flew at her instead and attempted to swallow her whole and it very nearly succeeded if not for the efforts of her sister who landed in its jaw, her yellow hair burning brighter than the sun as she threw in a little bomb in its mouth.
"I HOPE YOUR HUNGRY!" She yelled as she leapt and plummeted into the ground, shattering the scorpions spine and then helping Pyrrha up to her feet, the two then ripping the beasts off of Jaune, who was hugged by Pyrrha and then she blasted off to go and destroy more Grimm while Yang clasped his arm tightly.
"Miss me much?" Ruby heard as she landed with a clang, hands blasting away at the forces behind them both.
"Yang!"
"Ruby!"
"I missed you so much."
"Me too little sister."
"We all did, where's Blake?"
Yang looked to the sky as another Bullhead had pulled up next to the first one and she had a smile on it. "Oh you know the drama QUEEN, always has to make an entrance, now what's the play?" Ruby gave her a big grin and then blasted up into the air and began shooting with even more fury, she had to cover everyone again but seeing her sister doing so well and looking so happy was great.
Jaune pointed towards the approaching Grimm with a determined look. "Yang." He had her complete and utter attention in that moment.
"Smash."
She ran forward and her first punch knocked the gorilla like beast backwards through another one of its kind and soon she was swinging different Grimm as weapons against each other, roaring all the same and Jaune couldn't stop the small smile that got on his face, then a small glint caught the corner of his eye and he thrust out his hand to catch his shield in one smooth instinct, blocking a clawed slash, hairs on the back of his neck then told him it was time to move quickly, so he was rolling over what he knew as a Creep and breaking its spine with one move before throwing his shield through a Beowulf, catching the rebound and launching it at the King Taiju attacking Ren, right at the moment Blake slashed off both the heads with her claws and landed next to the archer while handing over a quiver to replace his empty ones, which he took graciously, he had been shooting nonstop since he arrived and had just run out.
"About damn time." Ren said as he shot a Grimm out the air.
"Quit whining." Blake replied as she cut another in half, the two working around Weiss like the most well-oiled machine possible.
Jaune in the meantime looked at his shield for a moment and stroked the emblem with a sad smile and then looked to the tide of Grimm approaching as Blake landed next to him and bumped his shoulder. "Thought you would have things under control cap."
Said captain managed to look at her in the face, for the briefest of moments Blake almost paused in her fighting as he quickly struck out and took down a large beast that was charging at her. "What's with that look?"
"This whole situation, reminds me of a story dad told me once… I never got to say goodbye then, and I'll be damned if I say hello today." With that he hardened his expression as he quickly turned and kept fighting on, with Ren and Blake at his side as they took the pressure off of Weiss, who being given more time to prepare Spells was now able to wipe out larger groups all at the same time.
The result in response to this was that the large portal suddenly grew to double its original side and even more of the Grimm seemed to pour forth from the depths of hell with no sign of them slowing or stopping any time soon, Ruby even found herself having to avoid the use of covering fire on the ground and her Pyrrha and Penny had taken to the air to blast and fly through numerous birds, Jaune called out that they were something called Nevermore, and that the weak point was the back of the neck.
The short relief that Yang and Blake had provided was already being overtaken by the sheer number of Grimm that now inhabited the air, although they seemed less focused right now on trying to make it further from the Dragon Island and instead were heavily focused on bringing them all to an early grave-
-oh it would seem that Ruby spoke to soon, she spotted numerous flying Nevermores suddenly heading out towards the coast, but she wouldn't be able to make it in time to help, and Neither would Pyrrha or Penny, they were far too focused on providing backup to the others, but they couldn't let them just get away. They could kill so many people!
Her communicator crackled open and the voice of Director Ozpin spoke through it all. "Miss Rose? Are you still alive down there?"
That was when a large shadow loomed across the battlefield, descending from the clouds above them was a massive circular flying object, with a large anti-gravity dust crystal powering it up in the centre, from the edges Ruby had zoomed in her lenses to make out several fighter jets flying off of the platforms around and taking off after the straggling Grimm. "Leave the outliers to us Miss Rose, you and your team have more than enough on their hands, I am sending several of those individuals you requested your way to provide some back up."
That was when she noticed two flying objects, one appearing to be a Bullhead and the other was a smaller figure, more nimble and had wings, swooping towards her. It was a guy, he looked around her age with dark skin and bright green eyes, plenty of freckles on his face and goggles which made her chuckle, they were so last year. "Uh hi, I'm Oscar. Um Jaune said he asked for me? Well actually this blond woman asked for me, but she said Jaune did. Guess I'm just here to help."
Handing over a communicator her armour had spare she gave him a thumbs up and then together they flew through the air, or really she flew and he… he danced through the air, he could turn quicker than her, move with a fluidity she had only seen Blake, Ren or Pyrrha move with. He was astonishing to watch in the sky, sure the wings could use some advancement but the way he used them was mesmerising to watch.
Down on the battlefield, Jaune looked up to see a figure with wings join Ruby, Penny and Pyrrha in the sky, the planes were going around the edges taking out Grimm that made it to the edge and judging from the four people running towards him right now, they had some reinforcements, so he stepped back to meet them. There was a man who towered over him, a woman with rabbit ears, another woman with sunglasses and a strange hat on and lastly another man with a red helmet covering his eyes.
"Hello Captain." Came the deep voice of the tall man, where other people might be slightly un-nerved about possibly facing an army of nightmare creatures, he was incredibly calm.
"Ozzy filled us in on the situation, the four of us have worked together to fight some immortal ninjas so this isn't our first dance with outside forces, alright guys let's boogie!" Yelled the sunglasses woman that Jaune now recognised as Coco Adel, the photo must have been an old one as her style had change a lot, he was about to say more yet as she and the others all charged past him she slapped his butt very quickly and with a lot of force almost knocking him over.
He decided that he would just let them work-out who the bad guys were.
Watching the portal Ruby had come to the conclusion that none of this was going to get them anywhere, they had stemmed the flow of Grimm and as they were right now they could hold the line for a while, but would it be enough? They needed something more, and Ruby just knew it had to do with that other portal that first appeared, surely there would be answers there. She remembered seeing the random floating objects; some staff thing, what looked like an old kettle, a sword and some kind of crown, they must have some relevance to helping to close the portals and keep Salem out of Remnant.
Right now Ruby was taking stock of what they had while she used a high focused laser to slice through a double headed snake, taking back off up into the air and being struck by a feather, right as Pyrrha then pierced through it with both fists, she was looking very tired as she had been rocketing around the entire area at her top speed and smashing through beast after beast. Time was running away from them the more they fought like this, Ruby had an option for power… but she could not tell anyone because they would all argue against it, it was the Magic issue that she had no idea how to solve.
Flying forward and joining Pyrrha and Penny as the three of them blasted out beams of different colours against the mass of Grimm, Ruby spoke through her communicator to the team. "I have part of a plan."
Weiss was the first person to respond as she swirled a mini whirlwind around and swallowed up a few wolf like creatures. "That's good, because I have a little idea of my own, but I will need to be near the first portal."
Ruby smirks beneath her own helmet, best friends really do think alike after all. "That's where I wanted to be anyway."
"Okay, Ruby, Weiss go, Blake, Yang you two as well for cover." Jaune ordered as Ruby blasted over and snatched Blake out of the air while she jumped for her, Yang choosing to launch herself after Weiss who travelled away. "Everyone else we do what we can to buy them time, FOR REMNANT!"
Staring into the abyss, looking into the darkness of not only a different Realm but potentially the end of the very universe itself, Yang had only one thing to say. "This it?"
Ruby, Weiss and Blake all turned to look at her with various different expressions, however since two of them wore a helmet and a mask, she only saw the utter disbelief in Weiss', which in fairness was enough for her. "We are staring at possibly the end of all life on the planet and you say 'this it?', really Yang?"
"Some would argue that the aliens were the end, others would say when we got taken to different Realms, or the first time Cinder got free, we face a lot of impossible odds… I mean you beat your dad and his big mean friend that you don't like to talk about, so we have surely faced worse right?" Yang explained with a shrug as she walked around the portal, making sure to keep an eye on the open roof and to doors, so that they were not attacked by any Grimm that tried to sneak up on them.
"Alright Weiss, what you got?" Ruby spoke up while the Magician turned back to the portal, reaching her hands out to the floating items, a concentrated look upon her face.
That concentration then turned to realisation. "The spell won't last for much longer, I can feel her own Magic weaving against my own, finding the cracks as we speak… but these items, they are fundamental in the building of this Realm, they may allow me to tune into older Magic, this might mean we can shut her out of this Realm permanently." She finished with a determined look upon her face, so certain that it would work.
"Great!" Yang let out an excited burst of energy, hopeful in this desperate time.
Weiss was then quick to shut down the joy, not because she herself took joy in it, however she needed to keep things in perspective. "But I lack the power to do this, I would need to focus this energy through something that could handle it."
Frowning slightly Yang then offered herself up. "I'm tough enough, and you've always said I have a strange energy."
"Something, being the operative thing, living beings will change the course of the spell, your subconscious thoughts might end up ruining the whole of this Realm." Weiss countered, the specifics were important for the spell to work properly after all, the slightest deviation could result in catastrophe, like she said.
"Yeah, you could make us all blond." Blake said with a nudge to Yang's side, putting the blonds disappointment away for a moment.
Yang then got a smirk on her face as she thought of something, taking a moment to look Blake up and down. "You might look good with some blond cat ears."
A crackle came through on their communicators, the sound of explosions and violence coming through, as well as the voice of one very annoyed archer. "I DO HOPE YOU ARE TRYING TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM AND NOT FLIRTING OVER THERE!"
As Weiss observed how Yang and no doubt Blake's cheeks coloured slightly under her mask, she focused back on the more pressing matter. "Back to the issue, it has to be something, something that could handle the energy."
"I have something in mind." Ruby's monotone voice got all of their attention, eyes whipping around to her with great speed.
Blake was the first to speak up, when Ruby had a plan she knew it was going to be a good one. "Great, what is it?"
"No Ruby." Weiss cut in before the genius could explain anything.
Her helmet retracted and she looked Weiss in both eyes, silver staring into blue and white. "It's the only way." Her voice had no room for argument.
"What is she talking about?" Yang was a little lost, when she looked at Blake it would appear she too was a little out of the loop.
"Arc reactors are built for energy." Ruby sounded like she was pleading with Weiss right now, Blake stepped forward to bring up a point they should consider, but was beaten to it by Yang.
"Yeah but I don't think we could get your building's one ready in time."
Weiss shook her head as her eyes never left Ruby's, staring right into her soul before she let out a sigh and faced the blond brawler. "She's not talking about that Yang." The silence after what she said was very loud, even the sounds of battle around them was quieted down.
"…No."
Realization had struck.
Ruby attempted to explain, yet Yang cut her off right away. "Yang-"
"I have lost every single family I have ever had, I will not lose you Ruby, never you." Her strong hands landed on the younger woman's shoulders as her lilac eyes bore down into the silver orbs she remembered Summer having, remembering the similar situation where the positions were reversed… the last time she saw her true mother, the woman that actually cared for her.
Looking up at her sister, Ruby spoke with force behind her words. "This isn't up for debate."
Her eyes almost shifted to red, but she fought the pull back. "I can't let you do this!"
"You won't be letting me do this, I am choosing to do this." Now she was no longer looking up at her sister, Ruby had straightened up, standing tall and looking across at Yang with an even and unbreaking gaze.
Desperate for something else Yang whirled around to find reason from someone else to talk sense into her sister. "Weiss you can't be considering this!"
Fiddling with the hem of her dress, her gaze turned from the Relic's, to the portal, then to the silver energy in the centre of Ruby's chest, right as she closed her eyes. "The Arc reactor would work, the energy is greater than your own-"
"Blake! Back me up here!"
"Ruby… are you sure about this?" The queen asked as her own mask retracted, her beautiful amber eyes searching her friends face for any sort of uncertainty, yet that vision was pulled when Yang filled it, turning her towards the blond to see the outrage and tempest of emotions brewing beneath her being.
"BLAKE!"
"Yang; if Ruby says she has this, then I believe her." She grabs Yang's hand. "You can't tell me that Ruby Rose hasn't thought this through already, if she says this is what will work, then it will work." Her words rung true to Yang's very core, it would be useless to argue against that fact; Ruby was the greatest mind this universe had without a single doubt, and she was also probably its biggest heart as well, but Yang didn't know if her own heart could handle the loss of her sister.
"I don't doubt it will work; but what about the cost, I-WE can't lose you."
Seeing that now was as good as time as any, Weiss stepped up next to her leader and spoke for the others to hear. "Ruby, you need to tell her."
Looking her trusted friend in the eyes, Ruby started to shake her head. "This isn't the time Weiss."
A moment passed when they just stared at each other, right before the Magician spoke, she did not need to use compulsion, no spell, this was all from her heart. "Yes it is."
"Yang-"
Her sister cut her off before she could say more. "Don't you dare say it!" She had been a doctor, she had spent time in a hospital, she knew the look on Ruby's face all too well, she knew the words that followed.
"Please let me finish." Ruby cupped Yang's cheek as she turned her eyes back to her own, a soft smile on her face to ease her big sisters feelings.
"NO! No… no please." The words all came out as only a whisper.
"I'm dying Yang, I guess I've been dying for a while now, ever since that day I was taken. This device has just slowed it down, if the last thing I do is save the whole universe… well I guess I win the award for the biggest sacrifice over Jaune." A bad joke, any other time Yang would have laughed but right now, she hated it.
"Ruby-"
Now it was her turn to cut her sister off. "Look, someone once told me not to waste my life, this thing on my chest could run a city for 100 years… or something really big for ten minutes or so, and if you think for one second that I wouldn't do everything in my power to save you all, then you forget where I learnt how to be hero from."
All the memories came back to her all at once and Yang let a single tear roll down her eyes; teaching Ruby how to brush her teeth properly, how to plate her hair, which Ruby then decided to give up on and cut it all short, the first science expo they went to, the first time Ruby made an invention and how proud Yang was of her, the time Yang stood up to the bullies at Ruby's school, the movie nights, the stories of their parents, the time Ruby called her mum when she fell asleep… "… maybe I did too good of a job."
Brushing the tear out of her sisters eyes, Ruby held back her own as she gave a little more of a soft smile. "Whoa I was talking about Ren, dude is awesome."
Yang chocked on a sob as she couldn't stop the upturn of her lips, she really did teach Ruby well. "Heh."
Allowing another moment to pass between them Weiss then drew out her spell book, this would need to be done with the utmost concentration, she also had the healing spells all ready for when they would be done and could help Ruby. "If we are done, then I can harness the Magic from these items, I do not believe the beings that guard them will interfere with what we have planned."
The dark portal then gained extra darkness as Weiss let out a little gasp in surprise, causing all the others to turn to look at what had gotten Weiss so shaken up all of a sudden. "So that is your plan Mistress Schnee? You realise that something of that focus will cause your other spell to break?"
Regaining her composure, Weiss firmed herself and responded in kind. "But you won't be able to come through this one."
Tilting her head in amusement, Salem simply smiled and then regarded Blake and Yang for the first time with a curious glance, before deciding that they didn't matter to her, turning back to the only real threat to her, and as it stands, it wasn't even that much of a threat at all. "That one? No, but if you think your other friends can stop me before I reach you, then you are mistaken, in the meantime enjoy my pet."
A low growl comes from behind them and then they spot what is mostly a beast but with the head of a man, one of his eyes is missing, the other is silver.
Clunk
Ruby's helmet shifted closed again and she raised her hands, bring with silver power, just as Blake's mask formed back over her face. "Get whatever you need ready Weiss, we got you covered."
Jaune takes several slashes to his shield, the claws of the Alpha Beowulf sending up a few sparks from the impact against his own strikes with the shield, having back on his arm felt good, Jaune felt complete with it on there… so it was only natural that he would find one of the attacks from its large paws knocks the underside of the shield, meaning he loses his grip on the straps and it goes off away from him. Using both of his hands he is forced to grab at the snarling mouth of the beast to stop from being eaten, struggling against the jaw strength Jaune notices his shield flying back towards him and he quickly twists to get the Grimm hit right in the neck, using that momentary distraction to then snap it, turning it into dust.
Looking to see who threw the shield so he could thank them, Oscar lands next to him, wings still outstretched, shield in his left hand as he holds it out to him. "Here you go Jaune."
Taking a moment to view the younger man, Jaune smiles slightly, something about the image looks right to Jaune and he enjoys it for a moment before strapping it back onto his arm. "How did it feel?" he couldn't stop himself asking the question as Oscar moved to take off again, his expression slightly twisted in thought, right before he made up his mind.
"Like it was someone else's." WHOOSH
Watching him fly above him Jaune smiled after he left. "Won't always be." He whispered to himself as he ran to intercept another charging beast, this one moving towards Pyrrha's back, while she was currently their strongest on the battlefield, Jaune couldn't let her get hurt by anything.
Slamming shield first into a massive Deathstalker, Jaune was taken back to when he had first done this, he had never seen the other soldiers so shocked, and he was pretty certain that the Deathstalker had been, both now and at the time he first did it. Diving through the pincer opening, Jaune gave a small smile as he watched it turn to dust as a dark black blast of energy tore through it's under belly, the soft squishy part.
"Thanks!" Pyrrha yelled as she threw a tiger into the air as Jaune gave her a small smile.
"Was about to say the same to you, how you holding up!"
She gave him a warriors smile and then caught a Beowulfs strike, ripping the arm off and blasting through its chest with a bolt. "Like being back on Sparta! They had an endless supply of these in the arena, if only I had a partner like you back then to fight alongside!" Jaune then gave a mock salute as he decapitated a Grimm with a shield throw, catching it back when it rebounded off a hard shell on a Boartusk.
"And I wish I had you from a lot earlier in my life, your amazing Pyrrha." Jaune admitted, seriously, she was an incredible person, a great warrior, a true hero and above everything else; she was a good friend, a very good friend. Even as Jaune gave her that compliment she beamed the most bright and beautiful smile he had ever seen in his life.
The communicator crackled in his ear and all of a sudden he got Ren's voice blasting into his head, from the looks of it so did the Pyrrha and the others. "I DO HOPE YOU ARE TRYING TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM AND NOT FLIRTING OVER THERE!"
Turning the same shade as a tomato Pyrrha very quickly rocketed off to the sky and Jaune charged over to assist Ren and Monkey-King with a few more of the Grimm beasts, when after a brief moment of battle… the Grimm fell back, retreating as though communicating. Jaune remembered seeing this behaviour in really old Grimm, but not in basic level beast like these ones, very few had the bone armour plating, and the ones that did were few after he directed Penny and Pyrrha to focus them.
The reason why they all seemed to fall back suddenly became clear when the portal turned a purple colour, a small dark figure walked out and every Grimm on the ground made what looked to be a corridor towards her, like they had fallen in lines and regiments, Ren leaned over to Jaune. "You ever seen that happen before?" He was short of breath, but Jaune knew he would keep going until his fingers would fall off, and then he would still find a way to shoot.
"No." Was his short reply, the tone of his voice conveying everything about the act, something Ren instantly understood.
"Focus Salem then?"
Jaune narrowed his eyes to try to get a better look, but he couldn't make out much, trust but verify. "Certain it's her?"
"Positive."
Remembering how effortlessly all her power seemed when he was sent to her Realm Jaune, tensed up slightly, perhaps if they had the chance then he could maybe talk her down, so he started walking towards her and none of the Grimm tried to stop him, however the moment Ren moved to follow him they all snarled and charged towards him, fortunately he was assisted by the others still on the battlefield that had all moved up behind them, the sounds of them fighting was enough to draw Jaune's attention back to them, just as he was about to run after them he was stopped by Grimm surrounding and blocking him from making any movements back to them.
"I wondered when we would next meet Captain Arc."
Her voice was soothing, just like last time, yet again it held a tornado of fury right below it, fury that Jaune imagined would destroy him. "Salem."
As she glanced around her eyes locked onto where Ruby and the others had gone, Jaune just knew she would be heading there after she was done with him. "So cold Captain, did I not full fill my promise to you? Did I not send you back to your friends? One favour for another, don't fight, and I will spare you."
Jaune levelled his gaze right into her blood red eyes, not flinching or backing down an inch when faced with the power of a force of nature, he had seen worse, he had seen family's torn apart by war, friends lost in the line of duty, Remnant in the hight of war, whatever she could do to him was nothing compared to seeing that. "When Adam and I were trapped in your Realm, you said that every time I offered to stay behind; is there a moment here where I don't fight?"
Tilting her head she gave a small chuckle, her eyes flashing briefly as though she just checked, then her smile grew even more, it would seem that they both had gotten their answer in that moment. "Hm, you do owe me Captain, are you saying you will not honour a deal?"
Tightening the strap of his shield Jaune gives his ultimatum, hoping that she takes it. "I offer you this, go back, leave in peace. Nobody needs to get hurt." That's all he wants, that's all his friends want as well, for this to be resolved peacefully.
"No, and you know you can't stop me Captain Arc, you will die." Not even a second of consideration, Jaune wondered absentmindedly if there was a time out there where she might have accepted his offer, but he realised it was probably as likely as him surrendering.
"If I dying buying them time then it's worth it, they are the ones that matter." He gave a little sigh, silently glad none of the others could hear him, he knew they would tell him how he was so much more than that, how he was worth so much to them, but he was a shield, the front of the line meant to fall to protect those behind him. "I'm just an old soldier."
Salem barely showed that she cared as she walked forward towards him, and he to meet her. "Very well then."
She thrusts out with a strong punch and Jaune uses his shield not to outright block the hit, but deflect it so it slides off and he can move past it, this ends up with him then getting closer to her, striking with a punch to the ribs that feels like hitting a punching bag made of cement, a cold hand wraps around his throat and he is tossed away towards the portal, rag dolling across the ground in painful movements.
He is then yanked up by his armour and thrown back across the rocky ground, smacking into a Grimm which has not moved at all, Jaune is now certain that she is controlling them through her mind with no effort at all, so his plan to maybe overwhelm her senses and blind her was not going to work, but the buying time one was still working out pretty well so there was that.
"Seconds Captain, you bought them seconds." Salem raised her hand, no doubt to punch through his body or maybe to slice his head off with it, whatever it was that she attempted to do was stopped when a vision of beauty seized her hand and upper-cutted her with a powerful blast of black energy, a strike that knocked her head backwards, the force causing her to drop Jaune.
And wrap her hand around Pyrrha's arm right before she pulled it back, and as she held it with her right hand, Salem punched Pyrrha away with her left, sending her through some Grimm, turning them all into dust. "You dare mortal? You dare to lay a hand one me?" Salem says as she turns toward Pyrrha, who flicked her hair out of her eyes and fixed her with a glare of her own, Jaune felt his heart soar that she was okay.
"You hurt my partner, we don't let that pass." Clenching her fists, fixing her stance into a rooted position; Jaune learned all of his teams normal fighting stances, Yang was on the balls of her feet constantly, Ren seemed to flow across the ground like he was in water, Blake was either crouching or pouncing, he stuck to a side on simple stance to use his shield and Pyrrha kept low, wide and close to the ground.
"W-"
BOOM
Ren was beside Jaune all of a sudden as he nocked another arrow, the tip glowing a faint red-ish colour, that meant it was one of the dangerous ones, and since his quiver was full again he must have borrowed it from someone- ah Pyrrha was empty, that meant he and Monkey-King had the last of his ammo. "That won't stop her for long."
The dust around Salem from the explosive arrow began to clear up and they could all hear her laughter coming from the cloud, it became clearer when she walked out, seeming to breath in the fumes. "Hahaha, I like that, smells like victory."
"Or it won't do a thing." Ren said, muttering under his breath why he even bothered sometimes.
Now standing beside them on Jaunes other side Pyrrha spoke up with a smile to reassure the archer, because that's just who she was, and honestly Jaune really admired that about her, he admired that a lot. "Made me feel better."
"Thanks Pyrrha." Ren spared her a small nod then fixed his eyes back on the witch who was dusting her clothes off. "Can we beat her?"
"She hits like Yang and Nora together." Pyrrha observed, something that Jaune didn't need to have confirmed by words, his shield arm felt it in a glancing blow, and if he could feel it through the shield then they were in trouble.
"We don't need to worry about beating her, we just need to buy Ruby and the others enough time." Jaune announced as he then sprinted forward and threw his shield at her legs, hitting right below the knee, causing her to drop down onto one knee while catching the arrow Ren shot at her, a blast of fire over taking her body in an instant.
Right before it all disappeared when it suddenly all concentrated into her hand, shooting out to blast against Pyrrha who came in from above, knocking her off course and smacking into the ground. Ren slide bast her, peppering Salem with bullets as Jaune shield bashed her in the back, giving their strongest time to get back on her feet with an awesome kickflip, intime for Salem to toss Jaune into the air by the shield and he was being flung high up there.
"NO!" Pyrrha tried to take of after him but was grabbed by the leg, then she was ruthlessly slammed back into the ground. A fist struck her across the face, then another, by the third time Pyrrha had enough and moved aside of the strike, enough to pull Salem in for a head butt as she got her legs around her head and flipped her over, smashing her into the ground.
Her eyes searched frantically in the sky for Jaune only to see him tuck completely behind his shield as he bombed right into the ground, the dust from the impact meant she couldn't see how he was doing.
"DUCK!"
Doing so without thinking about it, Pyrrha sprawled onto the ground as Ren shot a taser arrow over her and into Salem, once again the lightning hit her but it collected into a whip in her hands she used to wrap Pyrrha all up in, sending what was probably far more power than in the arrow right into her. "AHHHHHHHH!"
She could not stop the scream, nor could she stop it when Salem had a shadow hand grab Ren by the throat and pull him in towards her. "You have tricks, toys and enough brain power to use them… I see why my little sister might be interested in you. She was always fascinated with you animals, to me the only thing worth about you is your soul, and you don't appear to be using it now. So your soul is mine."
A small gasp escaped him as Ren could feel his vision turning dark, his whole body was heavy, when the feeling just stopped all of a sudden, he found his blurry vision starting to return and was greeted by the sight of Salem's deep red eyes. "Perhaps she does have some worth, looks like your soul is safe… but hers isn't."
Ren is then tossed away, Lying face down on the ground as he watches a shield break the lightning whip and Pyrrha tries to swing a punch only to get flattened into the rocks. Doing everything he can from his position on the ground, Ren crawls forward and grips his bow, this might be his end, but he goes out on his te-
A flash of something in the far distance catches his good eye in that moment, the one not currently with blood flowing into it, and he puts all his strength into standing, Just as he watches a large creep begin charging towards Jaune who is running up to Salem from the rear to catch her off-guard, the same way Pyrrha drags herself out of the hill of dirt Salem knocked her into and flies right at her.
Without even paying attention to either Jaune or Pyrrha, Salem begins stalking towards them once more as Ren fights to stand up, Pyrrha is then squashed as she is trapped under a heavy looking elephant Grimm, meanwhile Jaune is being tackled by numerous different creeps from different directions, the largest of which throws he near to Pyrrha. Monkey-King then lands next to Ren to help him stand up, looking around at all the destruction and the oncoming army of monsters, not to mention the Queen of which shrugged off punches from Pyrrha of all people like they were nothing.
A small rumble can be felt deep in Ren's bones, what most people would look upon and take fear of, Ren instead turns to, safe in the comfort of knowing that it will be alright.
Once they are both standing Monkey-King turns to the archer and expresses his worries. "We are surrounded on every corner, and the most powerful woman in possibly the universe is coming towards us right now, I'm freaking out… how are you so calm?" The man had a look of comfort on his face, even under the dirt, sweat and blood, he looked like he was at home tending to some flowers in this moment.
Ren smiles slightly as he wipes some blood out of his eyes. "Because I can feel it."
Monkey-King looks Ren up and down to make sure he is not suffering from a massive amount of blood loss, finding it slightly difficult as it has gotten a lot darker all of a sudden, the clouds all blotting out the sun. "Feel what? The crushing sense of our doom?"
"Thunder."
Lighting strikes around the area, incinerating the Grimm that were on top of Jaune and Pyrrha in an instant. These bolts are then followed by more gorgeous spikes of lightning that strike out in a line, effectively wiping out all the Grimm that tried to cross onto 'their' side, leaving Salem stranded alone with the next available Grimm back near the portal just coming through, however they all stopped in some display of primal animal instinct.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM
Came the massive rumble of thunder which was then followed by more little ones, finally the reason all those Grimm stopped, they might be predators… but the Apex had just arrived.
"What is that?!" Monkey-King cried out in shock.
Standing in the field of battle, looking more at home here than anyone who came before her, was Nora Valkyrie; the Goddess of Thunder, she had a fur cape that dangled down to her ankles, a bright pink skirt stopping above her knees, a white top with an open space on her chest in the shape of a heart, her orange hair was longer and braided, falling to the middle of her shoulder blades. In her hands she held two weapons, one being her large war Hammer, the bright metal glinting from the streaks of lightning crossing the sky. The other weapon was an Axe, the wooden handle was a lovely tree green and the Axe head was a very dark black cover, almost looking like it was taken from the darkest region of space.
Ren could only smile a Ren smile. "That's Nora."