"It tends to amuse my brothers to think of me as less than them. While it may be that I am not the sharpest knife in this box. They should never forget…"
"I am still a knife."
- Gladius Imperialis. A view of our Great Crusade.
Unpublished.
Ozpin woke to the sound of thunder.
At least that was his first thought, before the pain of all his shattered ribs choked his throat and mind.
He groaned and tried to push himself up. But the mess of rebar and concrete Ozpin found himself under had him thoroughly stuck. Barely able to see anything, and he couldn't even move his lower body.
The headmaster coughed and tested his extremities, curling his toes and patting around his face looking for his glasses. More noise and a trickle of dust stopped his movements. For a moment he was sure his little refuge was about to come crashing down. But the concrete held.
Ozpin sucked in a few ragged breaths then called out, "Peter! Bartholomew!"
Another clap of violence and more shaking was his only answer. The old professor groaned and set himself to escaping. Slowly but surely he felt his legs pulling free of this would be tomb.
Left
Ignis met the Daemon's swords in a shower of sparks. Splitting the air with the sound of their clashing blades.
Kad ducked forward pushing off the other swords, beneath the high swipe of the larger ones staff as he spun. Freeing his sword and slashing at its white armored legs. The beast flapped its wings and dodged, Kad's flaming sword passed within a finger length of its outstretched limb.
The smaller Grimm hissed screeched a piercing cry, charging forward again. Kad raised his sword blocking the furious storm of blows hacking down at him. His free hand swept to the chain around his waist as he backed away fencing. Rocks crushed beneath his heels, but he couldn't spare any thought to where he was putting his boots.
Otherworldly fire gathered in ribbons around the big Grimm's staff. Kad stabbed out into the swarm of cutting edges. Sweeping Ignis up right in a circle, catching both scimitars which he smashed hard to the ground. The chain links around his waist rang together as Kad moved, slamming his left fist into the back of the small Grimm's head. It crashed into the ruins, stunned but lucky to have its skull still in one piece.
Kad spun again lashing out with the steel links, wrapping the black chain around the staff where the circle joined the stave. And Kad pulled back with all his strength trying to tear the Grimm's weapon free. His own fingers closed in a fist, fingers pressing painfully together when the Daemon flapped its wings and set its strength against his.
Kad shouted and ripped backwards with all his might, but the Grimm was just as strong as he was. He could hear the creaks and groans of stress coming from the blackened chain. He was afraid it might snap until another noise drew his attention.
Bricks and shattered wood crunched when the smaller Grimm stood up again, Kad rushed forwards. The staff speared towards him fully intent on taking his head. Kad swept his sword up and pushed the sharpened circle to his right. Shifting to put himself out of the Grimm's reach.
Once again the beast screeched in hatred, and faster than any normal Human could track it swung up and knifed its right black wing straight into Kad's chest.
All the air in his body left explosively, as the giant flew backwards. Another pile of concrete slabs crushed beneath his bulk when Kad landed. Absent his chain but still holding onto his sword.
A shadow passed over his eyes when Kad managed to open them again. The Grimm howled and jabbed the spear tipped end of its staff down straight at his heart. Kad twisted and dogdged, the Grimm only pierced the concrete beneath the piles of rocks below him.
Ignis slashed upwards. The Grimm raised its left arm. The red blade rang off its bracer in a blinding shower of sparks. The beast hissed and flinched. Kad rolled to away his left.
His boot lashed out and broke the monster's right leg at the knee. It screeched this time in pain and fell forward bracing itself as Kad rolled away.
The second Grimm was on him in an instant, slashing at the ground trying to catch him as he rolled. Blades hacking through rock and rebar without any effort.
Kad kept rolling away from the storm of swords until his back hit a wall of rubble. The beast howled in triumph and stabbed low. Kad reached back with his left hand and sank his fingers into the rough top of the wall. Pulling himself up, the scimitars sunk harmlessly into ruined brick.
The Grimm hissed in annoyance. Kad dropped and rolled back onto the blades. Fire burnt against his aura but he ignored the pain.
He rolled onto his stomach, grabbed his knife left handed. Rolled up again,
And stabbed the Grimm backhanded straight into its chest. His blade sank up to the hilt above its breast plate in the monster's collar.
It did nothing.
Kad looked in shock at what should have been a fatal wound, and then up into the red eyes.
The Grimm's mouth curled in amusement. Then split open to let loose an ear piercing scream as it heaved him upwards. Kad's fists tightened around the hilts of his weapons, his knife slid free from the unholy flesh, the Grimm flapped once and came level to him, Kad shifted and brought his sword parallel to his body. The shimmering sabers flashed up and then cracked down against the giant's blocking sword.
The ground shook when Kad landed in a crouch, tucked and rolled away from the Grimm sweeping down after him. The talon feet of the bigger Daemon, seemingly unhurt, appeared directly in his path as Kad came from another roll and was forced to again block the staff weapon with Ignis.
His blade flamed and sparked as he pushed against the Grimm. It leaned aside and pushed against his Dust fueled sword trying to throw the Primarch off balance.
Kad braced and managed to keep the monster from toppling him over. The Grimm jumped and slid through the air. Turning and sweeping another wing at him. He ducked and spun thrusting at the smaller Daemon coming back into the melee.
Scimitars crossed down and blocked the fiery sword. Kad pulled back and swung up and out from the trap of blades. Ignis thudded against the Grimm staff, he was aiming for its hand but missed as it parted white nailed claws.
Kad swung back and forth, shouting and trying to knock their weapons down and give himself and opening. Every stroke they blocked. Every thrust and cut met either air or armor too thick to pierce without any force. Kad pressed on the smaller, its brother's shadow fell on him. He looked for a weakness against the black staff, and he opened his back to the twin blades.
The smaller beast feinted forward, Kad raised his weapon to the right only to have the black staff spin and crash into his chest from his left. Making the giant's feet once again leave the ground as he spilled backwards. Dirt and dust billowed up from the ground where he hit. Momentum rolled him onto his right arm and sword for a millisecond with his back towards the Daemons.
And the smaller wasted no time jumping forward and slashing its right sword up across Kad's back.
Qrow was running as fast as he could. Everything about this day was going to hell in a hand basket and the last place in the world he needed Ozpin, and the Marshal, to some extent. Was buried beneath a couple metric tons of police station while the Atlas air-force was under attack.
His red cape and the grey edges of his shirt flew as he consulted his mental map and traced the light pillar of dust floating from his destination.
People everywhere were either shutting themselves inside their buildings or running as fast as they could in the opposite direction Qrow was headed. Arms pumping and the wind running through his grey hair he tried to put together a plan of action based on his limited knowledge.
Which he desperately tried to adjust as he saw the massive shadows moving beyond the still standing walls of the station.
And the loud scream of pain that preceded the screeching howls of what sounded like laughter.
The Warp forged metal had cut right through his aura after his leather jacket and black shirt, and only skidded off of his shoulder bones because of the density genetically gifted to him and the angle of the sword strike. His back now on fire Kad shut his eyes tried to fight through the pain and command his limbs to roll forward.
Hard points slammed into his spine when the Grimm kicked him forward. His knees plowed furrows in the rubble chips from Kad sliding. The sword bearer hissed and swung down again. Kad managed to turn to face the beast and sweep Ignis up. The Dust burned and flared as the Grimm's blades scraped against the great sword until Kad locked hilts with the scimitar on the right. Pinned against the ground, Kad stabbed his knife through its other oily black wrist to block the gutting stroke coming in.
Its razor beak whipped forward at his face. Kad wove his head sideways and took a scratch along his neck instead of having an eyeball taken out.
The Grimm pecked again Kad ducked his head backwards, and when the Daemon did the same he rammed his forehead up into the Grimm's thick throat.
Ratchets of noise and the familiar sound of a gun chambering to fire drew his eyes leftward. Only a second of his considerable reaction time was taken up running the face of the Huntsman through his memories. Kad recognized Qrow, the Huntsman CRDL had shadowed with village security.
Qrow ran through the shattered ruin, whatever had happened here the veteran scythe wielder recognized a Grimm when he saw one.
And that the giant was outmatched in this fight.
The towering Grimm with the staff hissed and raised a black wing as shotgun rounds smacked against its thick feathered skin. It turned, momentarily forgetting about the Primarch.
Spittle flew against Kad's face when the Daemon pinning him screamed again in hate. He felt its momentum shift just slightly, but that was enough.
Flames melted what little remained of the building corner that Qrow ducked into for cover as the bigger Grimm breathed deep and set an inferno after the little Huntsman who dared intervene. It hissed and scanned again for its target amidst the blaze.
Kad twisted his knife imbedded in the Grimm's wrist then stomped down on the Daemon's ankle. Unused to the sensation of pain, it flinched closing the vessel's eyes for the briefest of moments and lower its guard. Long enough for Kad to shoot his knee into its groin and push it off his chest.
Now free Kad seized the moment. Shouting as his back burned in agony, Kad came to his feet swung Ignis up behind his back. And then threw the great sword as hard as he could at the giant Grimm.
The red steel hissed spinning through the air. Now the Daemon howled in true pain when the sword point crunched through its stomach, half an arm's length of steel sticking out its guts. Dust ate away at the Grimm's physical essence, its claws steamed and burned when they touched Ignis's blade trying to remove the hated Dust.
The big Grimm turned, shaking and pointing its staff, summoning strength to erase the Primarch from this world.
Kad began to focus his aura. Crouching and bracing for the bolts of Warp flame about to consume him.
Steel and gears clicked together when Qrow sped back into the fight. His sword split and bent down, curving the blade and extending the longer pole buried within. He shouted and spun through the air, gripping his transformed scythe.
Time seemed to slow.
Qrow turned in the air.
His scythe came down.
And severed the hand clutching the tall scepter at the wrist. Again the Grimm stood and howled in pain. The weapon and hand fell to the ground then disintegrated in a cloud of black smoke. Kad grinned in triumph, savoring the little revenge. The sound of more breaking bricks brought his focus back to the beast behind him.
He didn't give it even a moment to react. Kad's massive left hand crushed whatever bone laid within the Grimm's wing as he held the creature in place on its hands and knees. Slashing his knife down its right eye, cutting deep into the orb blinding the Grimm. The brutally rammed his knife into its lower unarmored stomach and ripped the steel upwards around the iron plated edges.
More black smoke poured from the wounds. It shook and tried break free, to rise and swing its swords again. Kad's boots pinned the right scimitar as he kept sawing through its body. A shadow crossed his eyes. Qrow leapt once more, and swung his scythe point down into the Grimm's left shoulder.
The Huntsman shifted and swayed, balancing himself on the Grimm's back. The tip of his scythe only sunk in deeper as the Daemon twisted and howled.
Kad gripped the wing even tighter, pulling the Grimm up to a nearly standing position. The swords on the ground shimmered and vanished as their wielder's hands left the hilts. Qrow jumped free, holding onto his weapon dangling off the ground as the handle bent beneath his weight.
Kad's knife swept free, his knee shot up into its stomach. The giant punched its face sending white shards flying. Still clutching its ruined wing to hold it in place. Kad stabbed and beat on the Grimm's body shouting through the haze in his eyes.
Qrow's scythe ripped itself free in the giant's onslaught, the old Hunter landed lightly on his feet the whistled quickly. He had never seen any Grimm survive such punishment. But he saw the one handed Grimm with the sword still burning in its stomach was getting up, and looking at the two Humans once more.
Now seeing this returning threat, with one last mighty roar Kad raised his boot and kicked the Grimm backwards to die.
The giant rushed left, his chain was still lying discarded on the ground and he intended to have it back. Qrow kept his distance from the Grimm, studying its form, spinning his scythe and waiting for an opening.
The Daemon's toothy mouth split open, mimicking the action of vocalization while words dragged themselves out of the void onto Qrow's unbelieving mind.
"You win nothing but time Human. Ever your enemy…"
Qrow stopped, seemingly frozen. He hadn't expected the thing to talk.
His own eyes couldn't escape its piercing red glare. Its pained labored breathing slowed for a moment studying this man.
What little echoes of misery his soul left in the world and Warp…
The Grimm cracked its mouth to speak again.
Only to be beaten down by Kad swinging his chain as hard as he could against its head.
He held both ends of his weapon tight in one hand. The loop fractured the Grimm's white mask. Kad was moving again before the first chips even feel past its collar bone.
Qrow snapped out of his haze with a shudder. Collapsing his scythe and firing again from the sword form as both he and Kad circled clockwise.
The Dust in the shotgun shells burned against the Grimm's skin. Black steel smashed against it.
The Grimm fell to its knees. Qrow kept firing, Kad slashed his knife across its throat as he passed in front. The giant looked down for an instant, seeing the smoke pouring out around his sword in the Daemon's guts.
The two Humans kept moving. Kad behind it.
Took the hilt of Ignis firmly in hand.
Fire spread along the blade once more.
The Primarch turned his blade, gripped the left wing of the Grimm tight.
And cut the beast clean in two as he ripped his sword up and to the sky with a roar of triumph.
At once the body burst into a cloud of smoke. Puffs swept away on the growing wind. But the majority fell to the ground and swept back behind the veil.
Kad took a moment to start panting and catch his breath. His posture drooped slightly as the toll of his battle registered. The painful cut on his back slowly coming back into his awareness. Qrow slowly walked up to the giant waiting for his strength to return. Watching the ground and thinking of his friends below.
Vicious words like breaking glass hit the two Huntsmen, running over their skin like a flood of cold needles.
"YOU THINK YOURSELVES VICTORIOUS?!"
Both spun to look for the source for the source of the daemonic scream. Back where the sword wielding Grimm fell, a pillar of shifting fire slowly burned upwards beneath a shadow cloud of smoke.
A cloud highlighted by two streaks of red.
"You slay these vessels and only doom yourselves. This world will be ours!"
Kad stood straight and aimed his sword right at the eyes, "Good luck…"
"Arrogance… Delightful…"
The fire crackled and slowly consumed the shadow and eyes.
Once again Kad felt a chill crawl down his spine. The wall of flame wasn't disappearing, defying all laws of nature and bulging out towards them like a bubble.
And then the bubble burst.
Both Kad and Qrow raised their arms in reflex, but the fire never reached them. It disappated as quickly as it had appeared.
Revealing the dozen alpha Beowolves that stood flexing their limbs and baring their teeth amidst the flickering warp fire. Stepping through the opening left by the Daemon Lord's passing back to the sea of souls.
And as one the pack threw back their heads and howled.
"Yang! Get down from there!"
"One minute," The blonde called back to Raven.
Yang couldn't believe it. The Wall had stood for centuries and now… Now it was gone. Just like that. And the red trees in forest of Forever Fall stood waiting.
Yang carefully set her hands and feet wherever she could on the massive pile of shattered rocks and boulders. Surefooted Blake easily kept pace with her partner climbing up. Also ignoring the cries of Raven back behind them. Both girls came to the peak of the little ridge and stood to look at the forest.
Raven called again trying to get their attention, "We have to go! Come on!"
Again, the two ignored her.
"Why would anyone do this?" Blake asked quietly, still in minor shock.
"Don't ask me…" Yang answered, busy studying the dark clouds on the horizon.
But as she squinted and raised her right hand to shield her eyes from the sun she came to a dreadful realization.
That those were not clouds…
They were still far and indistinct, but Yang was slowly seeing details.
All the flapping wings,
The white specks of the masks on their heads.
She tried to count, hundreds… Yang corrected her own estimate, "No."
Thousands of every shape, size and species of flying Grimm were cutting through the air above the trees. All soaring through the sky, flying as hard as they could directly at them.
At the hole in The Wall.
At Vale itself.
Blake's ears twitched slightly. She heard other noises.
The wind in the leaves, the crack of rocks and the groan of trees far away.
And the howls.
Slowly at first, but rising. Hungry and wrathful. Building up to a wave of noise that drowned out everything else she could hear. Yang heard it, Raven heard it. The echoes of noise slowly washed over the entire city. Carrying one message.
The Grimm were coming.
Both girls scanned the trees. Deep in the darkness they could see the reflection of uncountable points of crimson staring at them.
Them and the breach.
The two Huntresses each shared a look. Ember Celica cracked and expanded, rising with Yang's fists. Blake swept Gambol Shroud off her back and separated the blades which she held crossed out in front of her.
The last Beowolf tried to rise on legs that were no longer attached to its body along with its lower half. It snarled and snapped until Kad stabbed his sword down through the back of its head out its mouth and into the concrete beneath it. Permanently silencing the beast.
He tugged the sword free, wincing at the screech that came with it from the concrete.
Qrow stood close by, with a flourish he collapsed his scythe into a sword once more, and then down again to holster it behind him. Their eyes met and each stared at the other in silence for a moment.
"Thanks for that," Kad said. Instinctively reaching to sheath his sword until a lance of pain made him wince and stop. And he remembered that his harness was gone anyway, taken by the same blow that had given him the cut.
The huntsman looked around, "What the hell happened here? And what were those Grimm?"
Kad tried to shrug, "I don't know," He leant his sword up against his right arm and began winding his chain back around his waist, "On both questions."
That was when the noise of the Grimm beyond the city washed over the two of them.
Qrow looked off in the direction of the breach. Kad's more sensitive hearing heard other notes.
Already coming from inside the walls.
"Alright kid…" Qrow said, holding up a hand to point to at the giant, "Well talk about this later."
He turned his hand to the distant wall. "But that's trouble. I've got some friends probably trapped here."
Kad nodded and looked down. He didn't expect to get out of whatever their meeting was supposed to be like this.
Qrow continued, "Get to the stadium. That might end up being the safest place in the city for a while."
"What about you?"
"I'm gonna start digging. Go…" Kad raised a curious eyebrow, doubting the wisdom of Qrow's choice. The older Huntsman knew that look, "I'll take my chances… I'll be fine… And we will have words later…"
Kad nodded in understanding. He spared the late morning sky one last glance and then set off as fast as he could south.
"Kad!"
Surprised, the giant skidded to a halt in the middle of the street and looked around for the feminine voice that had just called his name. Sending his vision through the old buildings and empty alleyways lined with dumpsters until he found a familiar face in a nearby doorway.
Brown vest, and black pants, dark hair and almost glowing eyes.
Cinder.
His mentor was standing with her back against a brick wall in an empty blacktopped parking lot behind a short wrought iron fence. Kad could see two other familiar figures behind in the shadows. Mercury and Emerald.
A few long strides later he was crouched close to the three of them. Cinder noticed his obvious discomfort.
"Are you hurt?" She asked.
Kad sucked in a breath and nodded, "My back."
Cinder walked behind him and began to examine the deep cut on his shoulders. Emerald spoke quickly.
"I thought you said you were going to be careful?" She asked.
Mercury took it as a joke, "A couple old geezers too much for the mighty champion?"
"This wasn't Ozpin's fucking circle," Kad snarled at Mercury. His two fellows flinched at his animalistic chords.
Cinder shifted to try and see his face, "What then?"
"Grimm… Here, in the city."
His two fellow students shared a quick look that Kad didn't catch as he turned to Cinder behind him.
"We have a big problem…" The giant said.
"No…" Cinder said, "Brace yourself."
Kad frowned until he saw the fireball shimmer to life in Cinder's hand. He turned aside, clenched his fist and his teeth. His nose twitched from the smell of his own burning flesh as his skin was cauterized. Kad ignored the pain.
After a few moments of stoic silence Cinder patted his arm and moved up on his left to speak, "Grimm you said?"
"Yes," He replied, "I…"
Cinder wasn't listening, only muttering to herself, "Dammit,"
Kad pondered that little curse watching her look down and stroke her chin in thought.
She looked up after a moment, "But we can use this…"
"Excuse me?" Kad almost shouted.
"I know what happened Kad," Cinder answered, "And this just adds fuel to our fire."
Emerald decided to give Kad a more thorough picture, "Neo is trying to break out Torchwick now."
She pointed to the sky and Kad followed her finger to the burning airship, which had totally fallen from his mind. Cinder knew what he was about to ask.
"You're welcome," Cinder said,
The giant's heart beat accelerated, "What?!" He demanded.
"You were in trouble," His master elaborated, "Now you are not. And anyone who might cause you more trouble is too busy to cause it now."
She had ordered the attack on the airship. Cinder had brought the Grimm
Kad tried to calm down. He saw the logic in Cinder's actions, and he was thankful she had so swiftly come to his aid against the Atlesians. But now…
"Cinder, the Grimm are here." He repeated himself.
"They may be at The Wall as we knew would happen."
Kad cut her off, "No, in the city."
"How many?"
"I'm not sure… Maybe…"
"It doesn't matter."
That raised his eyebrows, "It doesn't matter? What…"
Cinder raised a hand to stop him. And years of obedience made him stop immediately.
"A few strays from the breach perhaps, finally out of their holes after a few months…" She spent a quiet moment collecting herself, "Yes…yes…"
Their mentor turned back so she could look at all three of them at once. "I told you what this all comes down to… Nothing our allies do truly matters. Just our timetable has been adjusted once again," She pulled out her scroll and began typing out a complex string of commands, "We can work with this… The final phase starts now."
Kad shot up to his full height, outrage raising his voice, "Cinder this is getting out of hand. It wasn't just some stray Creeps from the sewers. These Grimm were something else entirely."
"What were they then?" His mentor asked.
He blinked and stuttered for a moment trying to find the words to describe the almost indescribable. Cinder noted his hesitation and spoke, "Are they dead?"
"…Yes." Kad admitted,
So she nodded, "The CCT is going down, and the androids will start their part. The Grimm can't get past The Wall. We will be…"
This time Kad tried to stop her, "But listen! This is getting out of hand. It's too much chaos and you can't even control…"
"No, we can use this. Kad trust me," Cinder said, some fraction of her eroding calm with the boy clearly audible. "Get to the stadium and rally the contenders. You know your part. Trust me, the end is close… Oh and if you see either Roman or Neo, kill them."
/\
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A/N
So... about... four things.
No one has the whole picture here right now. And things might change when Cinder learns what is really going on.
And also, no one on Remnant will know how to deal with Daemons properly so they might think they are safer then they are.
Kad might be loyal to a fault in this part. But he doesn't know what is really going on either.
Make this about five things now.
I can say I'll write a fight scene, but anything I can think of and actually transcribe probably won't hold a candle to any fight your imagination can come up with. As true with most things of the mind
And some times I just don't know really how many people think some things were done well, I'd really like to know. I can only, or maybe always improve
A comment or review right about now would go a long way to speeding up the next chapter. Although speeding up is a relative idea. And if not, well I've got eleven books of the Horus Heresy to occupy me for a while.
Last ofly, Yeah I don't blame Mag for taking a little break to wrap his head around what RT just dropped on every body in episode 6. Expecting them to survive for a month without more RWBY.
Like I said Vol 3 isn't really cannon in this little insignificant corner of the interwebs, but if my points are acceptable I would like to know.
So, do as you will and what not as usual. Be back sometime in the future on the usual timetable. At least I can promise that.
See ya.