Author's Note:
-Hello readers. Sorry for the long wait. Apparently, writing is hard, I get distracted easily, and the US Supreme Court sucks. Why? Figure it out. Anyway, time to get a move on with the story!
Inside her office, Scarlatti stood at her desk, slamming her fist into it. As she took her left arm, she looked at her knuckle before groaning. Team SSEA and Uriel stood by her side.
"This is a disaster." she ranted. "Those fourteen traitors should be dead by now!"
Anastasia flinched in apprehension, with Evan taking her hand in somber silence. Santiago glared at the window.
The leader of team SSEA, Noah Sable, looked at her and asked, "What do you want us to do about it?"
"Find them and kill them all by any means necessary. Santiago, you will search the north. Evan, search east. Anastasia, search south. And Uriel, search west. "
"Listen, I'd love to help," Uriel told her. "but I need to get going."
Scarlatti tensed. "Going? Going where?!"
"Back to Anima. The Trojan Alliance needs help over in the east, and the leaders have assigned me special orders."
The dictatorial mayor looked at her ally as if he had two heads. "Special orders? What could they possibly want with you?"
"That is none of your concern. This is your problem now."
Scarlatti's eye twitched as she glared at him. "My problem? You're the one who brought them here!"
"You should be thankful that I went through all the trouble to help you!"
"I am! That's why I gave you the reward!"
Uriel sighed. "Look, if you have concerns, take them up with my associate Hestia."
She raised an eyebrow. "Hestia?"
"Yes, she's my associate. Here, I'll give you her number." Uriel wrote down the needed phone number and email address and gave it to his lesser associate. "Very important information; she only responds to texts and emails. Do not call her or leave a voicemail. She won't respond to either of those. I hope that this helps, and I apologize for having to leave you in such dire straits, but alas, orders are orders. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find a place to lay low and recharge my aura before leaving at sunrise tomorrow morning."
With this, Uriel left the room by walking out the door.
"Really? He just... stands you up like that? The nerve!" Noah ranted.
The mayor sighed. "As angry as I am, I suppose it can't be helped. Time to email this Hestia and see if she will answer my call."
With her hands over the keyboard, she started typing a message.
Meanwhile, in the Felem County police station in Atrox, Ren and Jaune were in their cell. With their arms still restricted by handcuffs, the two sat on separate benches as Onyx and Crimson stood guard. Jaune glared at his aunt through the metal bars.
Crimson turned to her partner. "Do you even think our opposition will arrive in time?"
"Surely they will." Onyx answered. "And even if they don't, it gives us an excuse to ax off two of Pyrrha's friends."
"You traitor!" Jaune yelled at his aunt. "Working with a rogue huntress and the Trojan Alliance... you disgust me. Why are you doing this?!"
Ren sighed. Jaune, you are being impulsive again...
"You don't understand." Crimson began, overshadowing his silent friend's thoughts. "Many months ago, June of last year to be precise, I was in Aslolis, and I was chasing down notorious criminal Onyx Thermon, a huntress who went rogue years ago. Infamous for murder, I thought she was the head of Black Sheep, an old crime syndicate in Kuchinashi. But alas, I was mistaken. Onyx flew solo for the longest time. Rogue huntsmen and huntresses often work alone for their own safety. But because of my own forgetfulness, I was kidnapped by her and held hostage for months. Bound in aura-blocking handcuffs like the ones you're wearing now, I was supposed to be bailed out for ransom money, but not one of my daughters answered the call before the CCT tower fell. Whether they didn't know or didn't care, that doesn't matter. Family only holds you back. I should have realized that after father died."
Jaune fixated his glare. How dare you speak about grandpa Arc that way.
"A letter was supposed to be sent to my eldest, Saphron, but apparently it never made it to her. Stupid second class messengers."
An image of Emerald Arc appeared. He snarled at his aunt. Not all of them are fools...
"Early this year, Uriel, with the semblance of Light Travel, teleported into what was supposed to be a deserted warehouse. He found us and offered us a chance to be reborn and do the right thing. Onyx released me and, somewhat reluctantly, were forced to work together. Given this chance, I vowed to never be captured again. And thanks to the Trojan Alliance, I have been enlightened to Pyrrha's many crimes. She has done more harm than I ever did. For that, she will pay."
"You're working with your former captor? Isn't that Stockholm syndrome?" Ren began.
"I wouldn't call it that. I'd call it survival. When you're in a dangerous field, you have to do what you must." Crimson justified.
The Arc knight scowled. "You're a monster."
"And do you think you're any better?" Jaune raised an eyebrow at her retaliation. "I know you don't have much combat experience, and that due to Roux being poor you never went to combat school. Is it a sheer coincidence that you were accepted into Beacon Academy? Or a carefully constructed lie?"
He tensed up. "You know nothing. You've been away for years. You never even met Amethyst!"
"Who?"
"My point exactly."
At that moment, a guard came up to the rogue huntresses. "Mrs. Arc and Mrs. Thermon, the warden wants to speak with both of you immediately. He believes the opposition is drawing near."
The ladies nodded, the latter speaking, "Very well then."
The two left the containment unit, leaving Ren and Jaune all alone. The latter still stared at where his aunt was, as if he could inflict psychic damage from afar.
After a long moment of silence, Ren began, "You know, I never thought that I was going to die like this. I always thought that we, as team JNPR, would graduate Beacon, travel around the world and fight Grimm for roughly a decade. Then maybe me and Nora would find a safe place to settle down, marry and even have a family." He realized wasn't alone. "I said that out loud, didn't I?"
Ren thought Jaune would say, "You did." Instead he asked, "You're in love with Nora?"
"Who did you think I had feelings for?"
A brief flashback of their fight against Charles Mustard came to mind.
"What hurts more, Lie Ren? ...Or that the girl you love likely doesn't return your feelings?"
Back in the present, Jaune responded, "Honestly, I wasn't sure. The way Charles Mustard taunted you implied that distance kept you apart."
"Physical distance isn't what keeps us apart. It's an emotional distance." He looked at the window. "She's the one who insists that we're just friends, and as her friend, I have to follow her wishes. Either way, I might not be here much longer." The normally stoic ninja turned to his team leader. "Jaune, if we make it out of here alive, promise me you won't tell Nora about my feelings."
"I won't." Jaune too looked forlornly at the window. "Let's hope that they have a plan."
All the while, Pyrrha, Nora and Ruby had arrived in the village. They quickly dashed into an alleyway.
"Phew. We made it to Atrox. How much aura do you have left?" Pyrrha asked.
Ruby looked at her Scroll; 20%. "Not much, but I'll make do."
"Alright, we need to move swiftly, and more important, silently."
"Um, Pyrrha?" Nora started. "Important question; how exactly are we going to find the Felem County Jail without being caught?"
"Hmm..." She looked around, seeing multiple civilians going about their daily lives. "Let's assume everyone here is associated with the Trojan Alliance in one way or another. Better safe than sorry. This means we probably can't ask anyone for directions."
The valkyrie pouted. "I was afraid you'd say that."
"Hey Pyrrha, your metal-bending semblance, whatever it's called..." Ruby began. "Sorry I'm forgetful..."
Pyrrha looked at her red-cloaked friend. "My polarity?"
"Yeah. Can you use that to track a specific metal object?"
"Like, Jaune's armor? Or his weapon?" Ruby nodded. "I don't know, but I suppose I must try."
The Mistralian champion closed her eyes and activated her semblance.
"I sense... something. Not sure what it is though."
"Let's follow it."
The trio snuck around, with Pyrrha in the front, Nora in the middle and Ruby in the rear, occasionally glancing back to ensure they weren't being followed. The three traveled in silence for a few minutes.
"I hope Ren and Jaune are okay..." Nora whispered.
"Don't worry. We'll find them." Pyrrha spoke softly. She whispered even softer, "I hope..."
Ruby looked at her close friend. "You seem really tense, is there something you need to tell us?"
Nora stopped and looked at her friends. "Pyrrha, Ruby, we've been friends for a long time. Can I trust you?
They both nodded affirmatively, but Pyrrha was the one to respond, "Of course. What is it?"
"If we fail, Pyrrha won't just lose her boyfriend." She sniffed. "I'll lose the love of my life."
Pyrrha looked at her teammate with sympathy, while Ruby just looked confused.
"Wait, what?" Ruby asked. "You're in love with Ren?"
The orange-haired girl nodded. "I am, but I don't think he's interested in me like that. I realize I can be a handful, and he probably wants someone chill like him. If we succeed in saving the boys, promise me you won't say anything."
"We won't," Pyrrha began. "But maybe you should tell Ren yourself?"
Nora placed her hand to her heart as they went forward.
The ladies soon stopped as Pyrrha found the target of her semblance.
Much to their surprise, it wasn't the sword of Jaune Arc. It was the sword of a prison guard, donned in a blue security uniform with the infamous golden horse emblem pin upon his left shoulder.
"Huh." Pyrrha deactivated her semblance. "Looks like the jail wasn't as far away as I thought. Now here's the plan."
Meanwhile, in the village of Oniyuri, Alva looked at the buildings below her. Half of them had been completed, while the other half were still being constructed. She looked down below, hearing the bell of the nearby church ring. Five o'clock.
Workers on the ground carefully pulled a rope down, and those that were sitting on the planks from above hammering in nails above moments ago, jumped off and safely landed with a quick hop. Others climbed down ladders as the workday came to an end.
She slouched down a little as the bell rings faded into the air. She felt a shiver down her neck. She soon whipped her head around to find her partner in crime standing there.
"Oh, it's you."
"Yeah, it's me. Are you... alright?"
"I've been better."
Kiaran blinked. "Oh... I remember what day it is now."
"Can you believe it? Ten years ago, I nearly lost everything. I thought I knew what I was doing when I bartered myself as a bride, but I couldn't have been more wrong." Alva shivered. "I can't believe that there are still people that try to defend the reputation of Douglas Abate. They think he was innocent. They couldn't be farther from the truth."
[Approximately ten years ago]
Douglas Abate stood in his best suit and tie as he carried his newly wedded bride across a paved sidewalk leading up to his mansion. Wearing a mermaid-style wedding dress, white opera gloves, golden chandelier earrings and a veil over her hair, Alva was in the arms of a practical stranger.
The newly wedded husband carried his wife to a large private manor. The manor appeared to be a large, three story mansion, coated white on the outside and held up by massive white stone pillars. There were a few windows accented with royal purple shutters on the inside. The rooftop appeared to have an expansive upper deck.
The front door was solid gold, and, in the light of the setting sun, nearly blinded Alva.
"Damn, that's bright." Alva brought up her left arm, shielding her eyes. "How do you not blind any visitors?"
He seemed to ignore her concerns and opened the door to their home. "Welcome, Mrs. Abate, to your forever home."
The interior was just as nice as the interior was with a perfectly polished tile floor, immaculately clean carpets, and royal blue walls.
"Can I get out of this now? I feel ridiculous."
"Why would you feel like that?" He placed his hand on her left breast. "You look like a queen."
She scowled and shoved him off her, taking a few steps back. "Don't touch me."
"Aw, why not? Don't you want to engage in some fun and make a child?"
The wife glared at her husband. "Mr. Abate, you are fifty-nine years old. Surely you don't think you'd be capable of siring a child that you could use as an heir, do you?"
"How dare you insult me and my manhood!"
He slapped her hard across the face, causing her to tumble to the ground. Douglas smirked as he looked at her, then scowled as he noticed... "Why aren't you injured? Your face should be bruised at most."
Trying to push herself back on her feet, she retaliated, "Does that really matter to you?"
"Yes it does. You're hiding something from me."
She folded her arms defensively. "No I'm not!"
"You liar!" He shoved her to the wall, pinning both of her wrists against it. "Tell me the truth, NOW!"
How much longer is he going to do this? Alva thought. If I step out of line, Kiaran could be hurt...
Kiaran soon entered the manor and saw what was happening.
"Leave her alone, you scumbug!"
He immediately tackled Douglas, shoving him to the ground. The strong man wrestled with the CEO, but was able to pin his right arm down with his left hand and used his right hand to choke him.
"Get off of me!" Douglas ordered.
Douglas tried using his other arm to shove Kiaran off of him, but Alva quickly ran to Kiaran's side and pinned his other arm with her heel.
"Help me..."
Alva glared at him, but said nothing as Kiaran suffocated the CEO.
In a matter of moments, all of the air was gone.
"Alva, are you alright?"
"I am, thanks to you."
He looked saddened. "Why didn't you do anything? He could have killed you!"
"I... I didn't think I had a choice. I was worried he'd kick one or both of us out, or worse, kill us if I broke the contract. I thought he'd hurt you."
She threw her arms around her best friend.
"Alva, you shouldn't have to sell yourself out to some douchebag who doesn't love you or care about you for us to be safe. You deserve better. I realize that you might not feel the same, but... you are the star that lights up my life. Alva, I love you."
"Kiaran... We've been friends for so long. You're the one I've always wanted. I love you too."
He looked at her, half-pleading. "If I may?"
Alva nodded and Kiaran kissed her. His lips were soft, his breath like lime, hers like lemon. Her lips felt equally soft, and the two closed their eyes. Warmth trickled down their backs as the kiss continued. After a few moments, the kiss was broken.
"Doesn't this count as adultery?"
"I don't think it counts when your husband is dead."
"True." She blinked in terror. "Wait. My husband is dead. The wedding reception starts in less than three hours. And if Douglas isn't there..." Alva snapped her fingers. "Wait. I have an idea."
Sometime later, Kiaran was wearing Douglas's suit and a cloud of white powder was shown around him as Alva worked her magic.
"Perfect. You certainly look the part."
"Now I just need to match his voice." He cleared his throat and gave his best impression. "I'm Douglas Abate, CEO of Grand Industries, and this is my wonderful wife, Alva."
She gave her partner-in-crime some applause. "Well done, you've nailed it. Now come, my husband, the reception awaits us."
The two walked out of the manor, hand in hand.
[end of flashback]
"I still can't believe that we were caught. I swear, if I ever found out who exposed us, I will skin them alive." She sighed. "Sometimes I wonder if it would have been easier to just say my ex-husband was murdered by Grimm instead of trying to hide the truth." Alva spoke, the sun having disappeared below the horizon. "But that matters little now. Soon we'll have everything we want; power, riches, and revenge. Soon this land will be ours."
Back in Atrox, the ladies were standing before the prison. With her hood up, Ruby went towards the prison entrance, only for the guards to block her path with spears.
"Halt! State your name and business." they both ordered.
"I am speaking to join the Trojan Alliance," Ruby lied. "I was told to go here."
As Ruby distracted the guards, Nora and Pyrrha rolled over to the side, hidden by the stone wall of the stairway.
"Sorry Miss, but you're in the wrong place." the first guard spoke.
"Are you sure about that...?"
And as the ladies went to the back entrance and Ruby's conservation faded, the duo soon found that the back entrance, surprisingly, was deserted.
Pyrrha blinked. "It's unguarded."
"Easy money." Nora reassured her. "No one will see us coming. We'll be in and out in no time."
It almost seems too easy, but if it gets us to the boys faster...
Pyrrha used her semblance to unlock and pry open the door, only for an alarm to start going off as the door swung open.
"Crud..." Pyrrha groaned.
"Aw crap." Nora cursed.
The two ladies rushed in anyway, a swarm of guards coming their way.
At the front entrance, the guards heard what was happening.
"We have intruders!"
Ruby then got out Crescent Rose and released a wave of wind dust onto the front guards, sending them flying over the staircase and knocking them out. She opened the door and dashed past the bailiff. He looked around in confusion to find no one there and quickly retrieved his walkie-talkie.
"There's an intruder in sector one!" the bailiff exclaimed.
"That's impossible!" a voice cried out over a walkie-talkie. "We're in pursuit of two rogue trainees in sector five!"
"There's more than one?!
"Get them all!" an authoritative voice commanded.
In another part, Pyrrha was shown running forth as Nora converted Magnhild to its grenade launcher. She fired off one of the grenades and the soldiers immediately dropped to the floor. The resulting explosion caused one of the cells to have its bars disintegrating, creating a hole for its prisoner to escape and the guards soon cursed as they had to deal with the newly escaped prisoner.
Nora soon caught up with her friend.
The Mistralian champion looked at the prison cells in dismay, finding many of them empty. "Come on. Where are they?"
Ruby was running without her semblance towards her female teammates.
"Any luck finding them?"
She nodded side to side. "No, and you?"
Their dismayed looks said it all.
"This doesn't make sense. Most of the cells are empty, they have metal bars..." the metal-bending warrior spoke. "With my semblance out in the open... Something doesn't add up..."
"Well, well, perhaps you're smarter than we thought." Crimson answered, startling the trio. They turned to face her and Onyx. "We knew you'd come. We cleared this place of most of its prisoners and set this trap. You're now outnumbered and outmatched."
The trio looked away from them, hoping to plan an escape, only for the guards from earlier to come back.
"Surrender Ms. Nikos, you're surrounded." one of them ordered.
"It's over Pyrrha." Onyx told her.
"Surrender now and no one needs to be hurt." Crimson ordered.
Silence reigned for a few seconds, with Crimson and Onyx smirking. The guards remained steadfast. Ruby and Nora gave each other worried glances.
But Pyrrha simply glared at the rogue huntresses, defiant as ever.
"Never."
Jaune's traitorous aunt gave them a malicious smile. "Very well. It's your funeral."
Crimson released a wave of gravity dust from her sword and the guards fired their energy guns. Ruby spun her scythe, fending off the dust waves and gunshots. The former quickly side-stepped to avoid receiving her own attack.
Ruby quickly fired a few shots at the guards as she yelled, "Well, we've faced worse odds!"
"We're not out of the woods yet! Look out!" Pyrrha warned.
At that moment, Onyx fired a few ice dust arrows from her bow, only to miss Pyrrha and hit the guards by accident. She cursed under her breath.
Nora attempted to swing her hammer at her, only for Onyx to quickly dodge each swing. The Valkyrie glared at the dark huntress. "Who do you think you are, taking our men, our friends, and trying to hurt them to kill Pyrrha?"
Onyx fired more arrows, only for Pyrrha to hide her left hand behind her back, which not only shielded her from incoming gun fire from the guards, but also manipulated the direction of her arrows, causing them to hurt the guards instead.
What's happening? Why aren't my arrows hitting their targets? I almost never miss!
The dark huntress grew more terrified as Nora's semblance activated, "Even if Pyrrha was guilty, which she isn't, you should have left them out of this!"
With electricity coursing through her veins, Nora swung her hammer at Onyx, causing her to drop her weapon and send her flying through the ceiling.
At that moment, Pyrrha put her hand forward and disarmed the soldiers. As they rushed to retrieve their guns, Pyrrha and Nora punched Crimson in the gut as the three of them ran away. Nora ceased use of her semblance as they went forward.
They turned left, right and left again, with Nora looking on the left side, Pyrrha on the right and Ruby alternating between each side of the prison area.
"There they are!" Ruby cried out, pointing to the cell with Jaune and Ren.
"Did you hear something?" Ren asked his cellmate. "It's Nora!
"And Pyrrha!" Jaune exclaimed at the same time. "Even Ruby. Man are we glad to see you all!"
"Stand back," Pyrrha instructed her teammates. "I'm going to get you out of here."
The spartan warrior used her semblance to pry open the bars and soon broke their handcuffs before levitating one set to herself and stowing it away.
"Thank you."
"Our weapons are being held in the warden's office, along with most of our other supplies." Ren informed them.
"Then let's get them back." Ruby responded.
The five of them ran forth, beating up guards with their weapons, their fists or both as they made their way forward.
Nora kicked down the door, to find everything there, but the office itself was deserted.
"Where's the warden?" Jaune asked.
"Who cares? We need to get out of here." Nora dismissed.
Ren and Jaune retrieved StormFlower and Crocea Mors respectively and the team divided their stolen supplies among them.
The team turned around to leave, only to be met with gravity dust, sending them flying out of the office and the building. They groaned in disharmony and disorientation as Crimson jumped down to confront them.
Jaune was the first to rise from the ground. "You are the worst."
"You're one to talk, you're a liar, a deceiver!"
The others rose up, Pyrrha flinging her shield towards the huntress. She stepped aside.
"I did nothing wrong!" Jaune retaliated.
The others looked at each other, and nodded in understanding as a plan was formed. Ren and Ruby fired at the huntress, but Crimson was ready and put up aura shields. As she did that, she pressed a button on her Scroll. At that moment, Nora punched her and the traitorous huntress had her red aura start to shimmer and flicker.
She tensed and tried to put some distance between her and her opponents.
I shouldn't be running low on aura already! Not with...
Her thoughts were interrupted as Pyrrha kicked her down and manipulated the aura-canceling handcuffs she found earlier. As Pyrrha held her foot on her opponent's back, attached them to Crimson's wrists.
Jaune smirked. "Too easy." At that moment, the guards and more corrupt police officers arrived, along with a scary looking man that they could immediately identify as the warden. "Aw crap."
"There they are!" one of the guards cried out.
"Get them!" the warden exclaimed.
The five of them ran, with Jaune carrying his aunt like she was a piece of wood.
"Come on, where is our cart?" Jaune asked.
Ruby pointed towards it. "Over there!"
"But where's our beast of burden?"
Crimson simply laughed at their misfortune. "Ha! Good luck getting anywhere without your pack-mule!"
Jaune glared at his aunt, threw her into the cart, retrieved the coffin they once hid Pyrrha in and shoved her into it.
Nora looked back seeing even more guards coming their way. "They're gaining on us! We need to move!"
"But how?" the knight asked.
"I'll carry us." Ruby offered.
"But..." Jaune began.
"We don't have time to argue!" Nora interrupted. "Go!"
And this, Ruby activated her semblance once more and sped off.
As the night fell over the land, the other rogue huntress found herself in the forest, her aura broken, beaten and battered and her weapon gone. Onyx Thurmon looked around and soon found she was alone.
"Ow... my head. Where the hell am I?"
Then she saw a pack of Beowolves.
"Oh no, no, no, no..."
The camera shifted to the sky as Onyx screamed in agony, sounds of ripping and tearing heard, until silence reigned at last.
"And so another one falls." Salem said. "How amusing."