"I know you're there Mercury."
Kad couldn't miss the only living person he had encountered so far if he tried. He heard the assassin's soft footfalls despite all his attempts to be stealthy. Kad smelled his clothes, his hair, his sweat, everything.
He even sensed his old friend's muted aura.
The giant stopped in the darkness, finding himself at the entrance to a loading dock. What the abandoned and burnt out store sold he did not know. The marked off ramps for trucks held only a few unhitched box trailers on his left, and a bare brick wall on his right. But Kad could see clear through the building at another entrance with a rolled up security gate.
Mercury stepped out from the shadows of this portal up to the edge of the concrete sidewalk. Crossing his arms and waiting. Kad placed Ignis on the ground to his right. Merely a symbolic gesture that he didn't expect to have reciprocated.
"So, whatcha do-in?" Mercury asked.
Kad didn't answer, "How'd you find me?"
"Luck. Intuition. And your big glowing sword," Merucry told him, pointing to the weapon.
"Where's Cinder?"
"Where she is supposed to be. Unlike you…"
He let the accusation hang unfinished. Tapping one of his gun boots impatiently.
"I know," Kad admitted, "But I need to see her."
"No can do," Mercury said, but some of the edge faded from the hardened Huntsman's eyes.
"What are you doing man?" Mercury asked him, "You of all people, fuckin…"
Kad pointed his left arm up to the smoke filled sky, darker silhouettes passing above the persisting palls, "Don't tell me you can't see what's going on?"
His old friend paused for a moment. But then broke into a wistful smile.
"Oh yeah… It's glorious," Mercury said, "I've been waiting for this day for a long God damn time."
"What about the city?" Kad said, "What about the people?"
"Fuck em. What do I care?" He said and shrugged in reply.
"I'm talking about everyone here Mercury."
The assassin's son drew in breath, but the young Primarch stopped him.
"Everyone," Kad took the time to enunciate every single syllable, "This has gone too far."
"That's your problem now," Mercury told him. But then had a thought to get under Kad's devoted skin.
"You have no idea what you did to Cinder man," He told the giant, "However she knew you're pulling whatever this shit is… She got scary."
Kad did pause for a heartbeat at that jab, remembering his promises and duty. But none of those old concerns mattered now.
"She'll understand. She has to," Kad cut him off again.
Some part Kad knew he was just telling himself this. But he couldn't believe that Mercury would want the complete destruction of Vale. The Grimm over running the whole kingdom, Cinder abandoning them to their claws.
This was not evolution.
This was extinction.
Kad looked back into Mercury's eyes, "So what are you going to do?"
"She told me to stop you," The shorter Huntsman said.
"Oh really?" Kad asked, putting an iron edge into his tone. Hoping he could force Mercury to submit and stand aside.
Mercury felt the drain on his aura.
But deciding the dip from his pool of strength was just a wisp of fatigue. Mercury let his arms fall down, shaking the muscles loose and sharply cracking his neck. Preparing to move. Preparing for violence.
"You've always been a cocky prick," Mercury said, "Last chance buddy."
Kad shook his head and sighed in disappointment, "You can't stop me."
The giant knelt down to pick up his sword, "So just come along, and…"
Mercury was fast. Kad could barely track the twist and move of his body when Mercury finally chose to act. He spun kicking high up at Kad's face. Blasting a white blur of condensed Dust screaming through the air.
Kad brought his hands up and blocked the shotgun discharge in his cupped palms. Stinging his hands and denting his aura. A puff of dust, and Mercury was airborne coming right for him.
Judging his flight and spin Kad raised his left hand. Pulsing his aura, charging his semblance. A ripple of light flashed out from his palm. The wave of force struck and pushed aside everything in its way with brutal force.
Everything except for Mercury.
The projected light of Kad's soul. The same shade as his narrowed eyes passed harmlessly over Mercury's legs. His first black boot crashed into the back of Kad's left hand, then the Huntsman sprung forward.
The giant had a moment to recognize the gun barrels on the bottom of the boots before they slammed into his face and fired. Burning Dust blinded him for the briefest of moments, and Mercury seized the opportunity to backflip out of Kad's reach.
Mercury spread his feet and raised up his hands like claws in a fighting stance smirking. Kad rubbed two fingers across his left eye wiping away the pooling water with a grimace.
"Didn't think your semblance would block that to…" Kad said.
Mercury laughed, "Told you. I'm untouchable. Nobody can do unto me."
Kad grinned in return, "So you got your one good shot brother. You done?"
"Orders are orders," Mercury said.
"Not this time. I'll tell Cinder you hit me, save you some face."
With another angry snarl, Mercury jumped and fired both of his boots. Launching himself high into the air Kad tracked him up against the black clouded sky. Mercury pumped his legs and launched a volley down at the giant.
Kad spun his arms catching and throwing the deadly orbs down to the ground. Mercury saw his opening and his right boot fell like an ax down at Kad's head.
The Primarch raised his hand again, far faster than Mercury had anticipated and caught his old friend's ankle in an iron grip. The light of confidence blinked away from Mercury's eyes. He let out a single yelp of surprise as Kad turned and hurled Mercury as hard as he could against the nearest box trailer.
Crossed arms did nothing guard against the force of the impact. Mercury crashed right through the sheet metal and insulation. Silver light flickered and died across his body as his aura shattered. The multi ton trailer shifted across the black top. He wheezed painful breaths on the pile of splinters he landed on in the cold trailer.
The light spilling in from the hole disappeared.
The iron grip on his leg returned. Mercury cursed and groaned in pain, desperately tried to find something to grip onto as Kad dragged him out. Jagged pieces of fiberglass scraped painfully across Mercury's unprotected stomach. The giant raised him up and then dropped him down.
Mercury's skull cracked into the pavement and he crashed down onto his back in a sprawl. Coughing and groaning in pain, utterly humiliated, weak and helpless.
Kad went down on his left knee beside him, "It's only arrogance if you can't back it up Mercury."
His only response was another pained groan. Which the giant waved off with a quick flick of his right hand and a look to the black sky. Mercury began to move, rolling onto his stomach to push himself up.
"Hold up," Kad said grabbing his old friend by the back of his neck, "What do you think you're doing?"
Mercury could only groan and grapple uselessly against the giant's crushing grip.
"You'll have to speak up, I can't quite understand you," Kad said leaning closer, but Mercury just kept struggling and growling like a cornered Beowolf.
"Oh, you're sorry and want to take me to Cinder?" Kad asked rhetorically as he tightened his grip.
"Grrrhgh…"
"No that's fine," Kad carried on in the fake conversation he was having, "I know where to go… Wait, so why do I need you again?"
He saw the whites of Mercury's eyes grow wide as he froze in fear looking at him.
"Right. I don't."
Mercury knew Kad was going to kill him.
Down in his bones he knew this was it. He knew Kad was about to pop his skull like a rotten fruit. Mercury doubled his feeble efforts to free his head from the giant's crushing grip. Convinced the ringing sound of Kad's sword being picked off the ground would be the last thing he heard.
But the pressure on his head abated.
But instead it felt like the giant was pulling his head of as Kad stood, slinging Mercury over his broad shoulder and heading for the path through the building. Holding up his red blade to light the way.
"Like I said Mercury," He told his unwilling passenger, "I'll tell Cinder you did your best."
Intents and emotions echoed and rippled across the waves of the Immaterium. Drawing the attention of the dark pantheons greatest servants. Called to the substances of their very beings. Sensing schemes and deceptions, suddenly seeking one of their own once again.
"What are you plotting witch?"
"Is it not our nature?"
"You will answer."
"Hmm… No."
"Ssssss, you will."
"You forget our ways. You thought your gift of vessels for the materium would be enough."
"You're still protecting the Primarch?"
"I merely prepare him for a purpose. A far grander deception then what you wish."
"We have no time for gamessssss."
"We have all the time in the universe."
"Enough, commit the beast. Now."
"No."
The dread lords began to stir in anger, gathering their might behind the veil. But the ascended witch merely laughed.
"Deceiver, Schemer, you long ago abandoned the strength in your names. Drunk on the mortal pleasures of the hunt."
"Our names are spoken in the impossible palace itself."
"In jest and mockery only."
"None know yours' witch."
"All of reality shall fear my name, when I have our champion sunder the veil."
"…She seeks dominion."
"…She wants our place."
"But you have already forsaken both."
With one final mad cackle, the third will began to retreat from the others. Even wounded as they were from experiencing the multiple deaths and resurrections of their vessels on the mortal plane at the hands of the Huntsman, two greater Daemons were more than a match for a mere ascended soul.
It was a cold anger that drove their claws and might. For even the Neverborn, if possessed of enough high minded intelligence and sanity were not immune to the infectious mind worm of,
Concern.
Distant dull thuds beat a sinister back drop to the battle.
Far away, wings the size of atlas battleships propelled the massive dragon Grimm up and away from the ruins of the Academy sitting watch over the dying city.
But the ancient Grimm was not flying to attack.
It was flying to escape.
Barbed invisible claws sunk into the twisted Daemon soul. Painfully pulling the loyal conscious out into the waiting maw of its kindred, leaving the Grimm open for another. The beast gave one last cursing accusing roar to the uncaring sky and immaterial eyes above.
And then like a puppet with its strings cut it began to fall.
This was the last group.
All the other wounded and stray civilians had been sent off to the south, with smaller and smaller teams of soldiers and Hunters escorting them. As none could be spared from the raging melee in front of the stadium.
The Grimm had finally lost their singular focus on the stronghold after Kad left for parts unknown. Packs went wide across the city looking for routes to maneuver past the unbroken lines of defense. Squads of soldiers and a few trainees went out to cut them off. The sounds of pulsing Dust carbines still rattled in the few and far between quiet moments. Alicia, Co'Balt and team JNPR were on watch in the highest still standing building they could find on the right flank.
Ruby helped the limping trainee move, the dark haired boy's un-bandaged arm gripping tight to her offered hand. Guiding him over to Coco Adel whose team was set to lead them to the harbor. Team RWBY and Raven had done what they could to stem the tide of monsters with their remaining friends and comrades. But Professor Goodwitch had quickly ordered the drained girls away and commanded them to begin organizing their exodus.
What little moonlight remained suddenly disappeared as Ruby let go of the boy's hand with one last smile to send him on his way. Her silver eyes shot upward,
Seeing the giant Dragon blot out the moon and fall directly towards the stadium.
More wolves leapt over the abandoned barricade followed by a massive Alpha Griffon down from the night sky. Rocks cracked and shattered beneath pointed claws, the Griffon opened its razor beak and roared in the face of the last Hunters holding the line.
Team CRDL yelled right back at the monster, hefting their weapons along with team SSSN on their right. The lesser Grimm charged, running straight at the boys waiting weapons. Once again ivory claws clashed against spinning metal. Each young Huntsman knowing they were just a distraction.
To keep the smaller beasts away from their teacher.
The Griffon raised its ghastly wings and long jagged claws. Professor Goodwitch brought her riding crop up, and then down.
Blinding purple light exploded and rippled off from the Grimm's head, knocking the beast to its knees. But the monster flowed along with the strike, sweeping its feathered tail out at the Professor. Air and dirt smacked harmlessly against her aura. And she easily dodged the Grimm's strike with a simple twist of her torso.
Setting her glasses back in place with a single push, Goodwitch flourished her weapon again. Spinning low and casting three bolts up at the monster's head. The bright trails of light circled the bone white mask, before plunging deep into the daemons mouth and eyes.
A heartbeat later its entire head exploded, in a blossom of smoke and flying ruined bone.
Scarlet plunged his cutlass into the mouth of another Beowolf, Sage swung his great sword wide and carved through the chests of two more. Yet still more monsters came rushing.
A solitary Creep launched itself at Professor Goodwitch. With a mere wave of her hand she sent the Grimm flying into the rubble barricade where it exploded in smoke. The broad outlines of two Ursa lumbered to the top of the artificial ridge each holding up a massive rock ready to throw.
Spinning her crop Goodwitch pointed at a space between the two. Light slashed out again severing the Grimm's thick necks at the shoulder. Before their bodies had even started to smoke Goodwitch brought her dancing fingers back and the rocks began to glow.
Dove more tripped than dodged beneath the high swing the Grimm just tried to kill him with. Flat on his back his raised his revolver sword to block a return swipe that never came. As the wolf was crushed and killed by one of the Professor's repurposed projectiles. The second rock came down obliterating the pack's alpha, loping and snapping its jaws at Neptune. The blue haired boy spun his trident looking for another target.
Sun felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up in alarm, sensing the Beowolf stretching out its hands to grab ad strangle him. A flash of bright light lit the battle ground as Sun focused his semblance. An ethereal clone appeared and cupped its hands in front of its master. The monkey Faunus took one running step forward planted his foot in the apparition's palms and flipped back away from the reaching claws, his red bo-staff spinning around his fingers.
The eight of them turned and broke from the fight as best they could, tucking and rolling beneath the hedge of daemon fangs and claws. Cardin swung his crushing mace one last time beneath the black forearms of a Beowolf, bones broke and the monster fell in the puddle of smoke surrounding their feet.
Super-heated laser beams stabbed from the rifled barrels hidden in the flurry of spinning slashing swords. Their wielder jumping up into the storm of edged blades away from the claws of the Grimm.
Penny was single handedly holding the right flank in an acrobatic display of her true skills. Daemons lunged for the little ginger girl. She leapt above their clumsy attacks, swords came down on their necks green beams melted their skulls and cored through their broad forms filling the air with smoke.
Penny landed with explosive force cracking the ground beneath her feet, elegantly looping her hands through the air to bring her many swords back into place. Bricks and wooden beams behind her suddenly bulged out away from the gutted ruin of a shop. The tank sized head of a Deathstalker burst through snapping at the little girl.
Penny only smiled, flipping up away from the giant scorpion. She jabbed her hands down together at the peak of her leap far out of the reach of the beast's claws. Her swords fell like rain drops sinking deep into the thick armor of the Grimm.
Its stinger struck as Penny fell, narrowly avoiding a direct impact but still taking a vicious scratch across her back and aura before plowing into the ground. Penny turned like she was about to pirouette away.
But the fine wires connecting her swords to her person tightened and began to pull. Twisting the Daemon's head from its body in a black spray of foul gore.
Seeing her students clear Professor Goodwitch swept her arm up again. The entire pack fell and died from the darting bolts cast at their heads. Now she spun to see what had drowned out their only source of light.
But only caught a glimpse of the Dragon like a dark falling star before it crashed headfirst into the heart of the stadium.
The ground shook and dust flew from every opening of their abandoned fortress. Some students let out a half-hearted premature cheer of victory. However confused she was by this action Professor Goodwitch was under no delusions as to the state of this great creature.
Angry breaths like the gales of a winter storm drifted mutely out of the shadow filled stadium. Concrete and steel beams were rent to apart when the best rolled back onto all fours. And the whole battlefield froze when the daemon let loose a roar that was heard through the entire city.
Claws the length of a Paladin gripped the edges of its own impact crater, light from daemonic fire flickered in the empty hallways. One by one the pointed spikes on its back rose above the man-made skyline of the stadium. And the possessed creature threw back its head and let loose a billowing torrent of fire up towards the shattered moon with another blood freezing roar.
The eight boys readied their stances and gripped their weapons close, Penny spun her swords preparing to engage. But their stubborn courage wasn't with their comrades who were split between paralyzing fear and the need to start running until they hit the harbor.
Their last remaining teacher raised her empty hand up to block the blistering heat from the beast's flaming breath.
Sun looked to the teacher, "Professor!?"
"Fallback!" She yelled in order, scything her hand out to their collective right.
"But how are we going to kill this thing?" Sun yelled.
"I'm not sure that we can!"
The Grimm's massive tail swept across the empty stadium stands, twisting and hurling row after row of seats up into the sky. The dragon snarled once again, the force reverberating through the guts of all the watching Hunters.
Quicker than a striking snake the Grimm ducked back below the roof of the stadium, sweeping its tail up and through the broken rafters. Tons of debris broke away fell threatening to bury the all the small defiant fighters.
Professor Goodwitch raised her crop the falling wall of blackened grey building froze in mid-air, glowing purple as the professor held it in place by sheer will. Like a stretching dog the Grimm rose again, testing its muscles and limbs.
Bullets and bolts of light shot out sparking harmlessly off the nigh impenetrable mask of the Daemon's face. A lance of green energy shot up against its neck, scales by the hundreds were seared away but the Grimm only rolled its massive shoulders. Any damage healed before the creature had even registered being hurt.
The Dragon began to pull itself up over the rounded roof of the stadium. But its bulk was far too much for the weakened structure to support. The beasts snarled grunted in annoyance splintering through until its claws once again hit solid ground. The age old stone architecture surrounding the front entrance were pulverized in an instant, blood stained steps burst apart when the Grimm pulled itself clear and crawled into the open.
SSSN and CRDL charged forward at the clawed tips of its wings, their blades bounced harmlessly off the armored scales. The Dragon ignored their feeble attempts to hurt it, focusing on getting its unfamiliar mass back up into the sky to resume its hunt.
Professor Goodwitch took one calming breath before reaching out with her semblance again. A hundred different spears of wood rock and rebar began to levitate up from the barricades spun by the glowing aura pushing back the darkness. The teacher raised her arms and a dozen shining purple spears of refuse hung in the air waiting to fly.
But before she could let her missiles fly, Goodwitch paused. One hellish red eye turned down locking onto the Huntress.
And Goodwitch saw it flinch.
The white eyelid closed halfway and then the monster violently shook its head, flames leaking from its cavernous mouth almost directly on the boys still trying to break its skin.
The Dragon was in pain.
Moaning low with its eyes now clenched shut the dragon whipped its head back and forth like it was trying to shake something from its back. The beast gave one finally earsplitting screech the launched itself from all fours back into the night sky.
Sheets of dirt and ash blew back beneath the downdraft of its wings blinding all still left on the front lines as the dragon soared into the clouds above. While the Hunters blinked the grit out of their eyes the Daemon Lord broke off four pieces of the dragon's flesh.
Four specters of loose shadows and thin bones capped by a white mask bearing a single eye drifted down from the night. Recognizing the eerie form of Geists, Professor Goodwitch tried to redirect her waiting javelins. But one by one the shining light of her projected semblance was drowned in darker soulless shades.
She knew better than to believe that their barricades were actually standing. Yet for all the world it seemed that suddenly their fortress walls of rubble had suddenly grown feet and legs and took her unused spears as arms.
The valiant boys and girls planted their feet and once again prepared to rally behind their teacher.
Goodwitch made sure her glasses were in proper place before letting one corner of her mouth creep up.
These she knew how to kill.
Even though she had been expecting him, Cinder still jumped when the tip of Kad's flaming sword stabbed through the giant hangar doors of the hideout.
The metal doors screeched as the steel blade gouged through the airtight gap molten steel began to flow around the wound in the building as Ignis burned. The great-sword turned, its wielder levering open the giant portal, locks and bolts snapped in half unable to withstand the brute strength of even one of the giant's hands and arms.
Rusted and unoiled tracks screeched every inch of the way as Kad slowly pushed them aside. Jerking Ignis free and as he finally laid eyes on his guardian.
Cinder was sitting cross legged meditating on top of a rotting stack of old wooden pallets with her hands folded in her lap. Her amber eyes drifted up to her pupil's own, the sound of his heavy boot steps bouncing back and forth from the farthest corners of their hideout.
She remained still as a statue when Kad dumped Mercury down to the floor. The assassin's son coughed and spat on the ground when he violently landed in a heap, unable to catch his breath before Kad slid him across the floor to rest at Cinder's feet with an unceremonious shove from his foot.
Painfully empty seconds ticked by in tension thick enough to cut with a battle axe, until Kad finally spoke four words,
"We need to talk…"
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
A/N Yes once again where the fuck have I been? (I refuse to be consigned to the second page of this crossover section!)
Surprise though, I haven't been as idle as some of you may have assumed,
If you're interested take a quick gander at my profile, I've started a little side project. You wanted Marines? I got you Marines. (Do you love me again?)(I know at least 42 of you saw that.)
Yeah so go check that out if your interested in how I've butchered a legion as well as its Primarch. Yes this might be a pessimistic view, but what else am I gonna think when nobody seems to be reviewing aside from the usual suspects? (You know who you are, don't worry.)
And I feel like an asshole again... :(
And I keep thinking anything i could say about motivation right now won't even matter. But if you think I'm slow, for good or ill I did up this chapter in about a week and a bit. And yall should know the rest by now. I got ideas aplenty just missing one thing...
Or hey it's only taken me about two and a half years to get to this point... If that doesn't hype I don't know what will.
So yeah. Share, if you care. Review, as you do.
See if you can convince me to sabotage my academic career in favor of working on this some more...