SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS
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PLEASE CAMPAIGN FOR THE TROPE PAGE'S DELETION
-CHAPTER START-
Realm R38Y
City of Mantle
The mood aboard the transport was grim and focused. Clover looked out the cockpit viewport; the pre-dawn sky was almost entirely clear of Grimm by now, the few stragglers being mopped up by drone fighters. He looked back into the craft; Qrow and Robyn sat, slightly hunched over and tense, the latter fiddling with one of her crossbows. Tyrian sat in his seat, hands cuffed in front of him, humming softly to himself; he'd broken out into gleeful cackles when the news of Salem's coming was heard over the radio, and that smug grin hadn't left his face. Qrow's Absol was out of her Ultra Ball and refused to take her eyes off Salem's agent, not trusting him for even a second. Suddenly, though, Robyn sat up straight.
"Do you guys hear that?"
Over the hum of the transport's engines, a whirring sound could be heard, steadily growing louder. Clover looked out through the viewport again… just as a large red humanoid figure emerged into view from the left. Inferno, flying alongside the transport, turned his head & upper body to look at the stunned humans inside. With a savage grin, the Predacon gave a mocking salute, and then drew one of his huge cannon-guns and fired a pair of explosive shells at the transport's portside engine, then one at the starboard engine just to be sure.
Warnings began screaming from the cockpit machinery as the transport listed, flames spewing from its wrecked engines as it began to drift out toward the city's border wall and the tundra beyond. Clover desperately tried to control the stricken aircraft, but the damage was too severe. The plane filled with the sounds of wailing alarms, the screech of the dying engines, and Tyrian going "WHEEEEEEE!-!-!"
The transport hit the frozen ground hard, plowing a trail through the snow as it slid before then rolling into a tumble, shedding parts and spewing flames. Eventually it came to a stop, a cloud of disturbed snow forming a 'fog' that began to slowly settle, hissing into steam whenever it landed on the red-hot slagged engines of the aircraft. Inferno landed nearby, just as Qrow and Clover emerged from the wreckage, weapons drawn; Robyn had been knocked senseless by the crash and would be out of commission until her Aura's regeneration repaired her concussion.
Inferno's body shimmered crimson with his newly-awakened Aura, and as he raised one hand, a pack of Neoshadows emerged around him. He turned his head to face one.
"Free Tyrian" he commanded in a low murmur.
With a nod, the Heartless fell through an inky black portal. Inferno then fired his huge gun at his foes' feet, and the two Hunters leapt to either side as the blast vaporized the snowy ground where they'd just been standing. The moment Clover straightened up, he saw Inferno flying straight at him just about the ground, and couldn't dodge before the huge Predacon's shoulder slammed into him, knocking him back to smack into the hull of the downed ship. Inferno withdrew his new weapon – a large, black, lightly curved, serrated blade – and lunged at the downed Ace-Op, only for Qrow to appear in his path, longsword raised and blocking the Predacon's strike with a loud clang of metal-on-metal. The Neoshadows leapt at Qrow, claws battering at his guard while their nimble bodies dodged his retaliatory swings, and Inferno went to attack the distracted Hunter, only to break off and jump back as Clover, back on his feet, swung his barbed hook. Chuckling, the Predacon moved to engage.
Absol leapt in to her Trainer's aid, matching claws with the Neoshadows and taking some of the pressure off. But then, Tyrian burst free from the wreckage, his cuffs shorn through by a Neoshadow's claw, weapons in hand (well, 'on arm') as he threw himself at Qrow. The veteran Huntsman dashed in to meet him, the two warriors meeting in a whirling dance of blades and kicks. Clover had retracted his weapon's line, wielding the barb-tipped metal 'fishing rod' against Inferno's wicked-looking sword, staying in motion and using his agility as best he could; he knew trying to outmuscle the huge Predacon was a losing proposition.
Qrow grunted as he used his sword to block a particularly heavy slash from Tyrian's blades. 'I hope the kids are havin' better luck than we are…'
-X-
Team JNPPR left the damaged empty room, finding no sign of Oscar in any potential hiding spots. As Nora hurried off, calling out for him, she finally saw the boy emerge from around a nearby corner in the hallway.
"Oh, thank goodness!" she ran up to him. "You still in one piece, kiddo?"
Oscar smiled at her… but then a second Oscar emerged from another nearby corner, dashed in and slugged him in the face before either could react. The first Oscar went tumbling, the Relic knocked out of 'his' grasp, a pink glass-like aura shattering around 'him' to reveal an unwelcomely familiar face, the petite girl righting herself and landing on her feet as the rest of Team JNPPR caught up.
"This crazy girl showed up and attacked me" Oscar explained as he picked up the Lamp of Knowledge. "But she looked like someone else."
"Neo Politan…" Nora growled.
"You know her?"
"We haven't exactly heard good things" Jaune replied, sword drawn.
Pyrrha keyed in the team comm. "Ruby? General? We have another problem. Neo is here – Roman Torchwick's old partner. She had the Lamp, though we got it back for now; she must be working with Cinder or Salem."
"Torchwick's sidekick?" Ironwood responded, incredulous. "Why would she of all people-"
"Mayday Relay, Mayday Relay, Mayday Relay!" a UNSC Sergeant's voice cut in over general comms. "Prisoner Transport 5C transporting HVT Callows has been shot down! Repeat, Tyrian Callows' prison transport has been shot down! She went down just outside the wall; we can't get close, but we hear gunfire from that direction! …Spy drone shows a 2V2 going on out there; Salem musta sent somebody to bail the scorpion out!"
"Damn it! Vine, Elm, grab a gunship and get down there! Harriet, Marrow, continue to Winter's position!"
Anything JNPPR could have said to contribute to the conversation was cut off as Neo flung a handful of throwing-knives at them, starting the battle.
-X-
Penny had caught up with Winter, and soon they arrived at Fria's room, ushering the old woman into the pod of a waiting Aura Transfer Machine.
"I hope it will be painless for her…" Winter mused.
Penny looked at her. "Earlier, you said your personal feelings do not matter."
"They won't change my actions. What I'm committed to. The power of the Winter Maiden and the Staff of Creation must be kept from our enemies. Even if it means she dies. …But yes, Penny, we must still acknowledge our personal feelings – wrestle with them. It ensures us that we're on the right path. It's what makes us human."
"I think… I think I understand…"
Suddenly, a somewhat muffled explosion was heard, making the room tremble. Two more blasts followed, each stronger – or closer – than the last, rattling the room and everything in it. After the 3rd blast, alarms began to blare, the outside hallway glowing red with emergency lighting. Winter ran out, finding scorch marks and slagged AK-200 battle droids. And at the end of the hallway, a smirking Cinder Fall launched a fireball right at her.
Eyes wide, Winter ran back into Fria's room as the fireball shot past her. She closed & locked the door, drawing her sword, and the door was quickly blasted out, knocking her & Penny to the ground. Cinder strolled in, another fireball at the ready.
"Both of Ironwood's puppets… Lucky me."
"You were responsible for Beacon" Penny was up on her feet. "For what happened to me."
"It was unfortunately temporary." She pointed the fireball at Penny. "Now step aside, or there won't be anything left to salvage this time."
In response, Penny's swords emerged from her back, her jets flaring as she hovered off the ground.
-X-
The 2V2 clash out on the ice continued, the two pairs of warriors trying to wear each other down. Inferno and Tyrian had realized that Clover's Semblance giving good luck to him & Qrow was proving (slightly) more troublesome than Qrow's giving the two of them bad luck, so they were trying to focus on him first, chipping away at his Aura Barrier. The Ace-Ops leader was getting tired, not quite as used to prolonged fights against opponents in his same skill 'weight class' as Qrow was.
Tyrian's hands glowed purple with his Aura-eroding Semblance as he charged at Clover, dodging the Ace-Op's barbed hook and weaving in close with a rapid barrage of punches to Clover's chest & stomach. This proved too much for Clover's protective barrier, which flickered and broke, particles drifting in the arctic wind. With a bloodthirsty cackle, Tyrian thrust his tail's mechanical stinger forward, stabbing deep into Clover's gut and injecting deadly venom at the same time.
With a roar of fury, Qrow launched himself at Tyrian, attacking with ferocity that he managed to bypass or overpower Tyrian's guard and land several blows with his longsword, making the scorpion's Aura barrier flare brightly as it was quickly brought to the breaking point. Inferno charged in to Tyrian's defense, coming at Qrow with his serrated blade. Qrow's Absol, in turn, having finished off the Neoshadows, leapt to her Trainer's aid, making Inferno stagger back with a Slash to the chestplate, the Predacon's crimson Aura flickering.
Inferno drew one of his massive cannon-guns, taking aim at the Pokémon, but suddenly the gun was shot out of his hand by a high-velocity bolt. Robyn had regained consciousness and crawled out of the aircraft wreck, down on one knee with one of her crossbows aimed at him. Frowning, he drew his other gun and fired, and she threw herself to the side as the incinerator shot left a glowing-hot hole in the crashed plane's hull.
Then, a steadily-building sound finally became discernible over the din of battle: the whooshing roar of jet engines. A G79 Pelican Gunship soared in, flying low, its chin-mounted 70mm rotary cannon opening up, sending a hail of heavy rounds right at Tyrian and Inferno. The two villains took a few hits, Tyrian's worn-down Aura breaking, and Inferno immediately grabbed Tyrian and took off, thrusters roaring and 'blades' whirring as they flew off into the sunrise.
The gunship swung around and opened the rear hatch, Vine & Elm hopping out and hurrying over to Clover, who was down on his knees, one hand on his gut wound; he was pale and sweating, his eyes unfocused, as blood loss was joined by the potent hemotoxic venom Tyrian had injected into him. Vine helped the still-dizzy Robyn into the dropship, while Qrow and Elm rushed Clover inside, where a medic was waiting. The gunship sealed up, lifted off, and took off towards Atlas at best speed.
-X-
Team JNPPR chased & fought Neo through the interconnected hallways, the vengeful mute proving hard to catch. Her umbrella-weapon's shield allowed her to block almost anything they hit her with, though shielding against a swing of Pirika's gravity hammer sent her tumbling with her Aura barrier flaring, so she quickly stopped trying to block that. As she led them on another chase, Oscar fell behind, unable to keep up with the older and more physically-conditioned Hunters. Soon, he lost track of them entirely, finding himself alone and lost in the confusing labyrinth of identical-looking hallways.
As he passed by a cracked-open door, a hand suddenly reached out and pulled him in. Seeing a nearby mirror, he saw Nora behind him, and relaxed… but then his eyes widened and he threw himself backward as 'Nora', flashing mismatched eyes, thrusted an umbrella-blade at his chest, the Relic of Knowledge now clipped to her belt. As Oscar tried to lunge in with his cane and grab the Relic, only to be smacked away, Jaune arrived on scene, and Neo charged right at him, dodging his attempt to shield-bash her and used his shield as a springboard to get past him.
Ren emerged to bar Nora-Neo's path, but as she got close, she shifted her eyes to Nora's eye color and looked up at Ren with a sad, scared expression. Instinctively, he froze and held his attack, and that gave her the opportunity to hook her umbrella's handle around his ankle and yank him off his feet, bounding over him and running down the hallway. Pyrrha & Nora quickly arrived, pulling Ren to his feet while Pirika helped Oscar, and the six of them gave chase again.
Suddenly, shadowy portals formed in the floor & walls in JNPPR's path, and a large pack of Heartless emerged to bar the way – Soldiers and Shadows, hissing and brandishing their claws. The Heartless immediately attacked, swamping Team JNPPR and keeping them occupied. The shadowy creatures didn't last too long, cut down relatively quickly, but by the time they were out of the way, Neo had slipped away…
-X-
Penny rocketed forward, fist-first, through the new hole in the wall and straight at Cinder. The villainess caught her blow, however, and then flung her through a nearby pair of double doors hard enough to nearly rip them off their hinges. A flock of tiny white Nevermores – Winter's Revenant Summons – flew out of the hole at her, pushing her back a bit, followed by Winter herself. Cinder backflipped to dodge a downward chopping swing of the Huntress' sword, then formed her own twin obsidian blades and blocking Winter's next strike, pushing back.
"You Atlas elites are all the same!" she snarled, breaking the blade-lock and going on the attack. "You think hoarding power means you'll have it forever, but it just makes the rest of us hungrier!"
She kicked Winter away, slamming her into a wall, then dodged a flung sword that zipped right past her, turning to face where Penny had re-emerged.
"And I refuse to starve…"
Penny shot forward, floating swords swinging, but Cinder blocked every hit regardless of the angle. Winter came in from behind, smaller sword drawn from inside her larger one, but even with both Atlesian warriors coming at Cinder the villainess was able to block, dodge, or redirect their attacks and even make strikes of her own. Winter & Penny managed to push her back, though, away from Fria's room.
Cinder wasn't happy about that. Dropping her blades, fire erupted from her feet, and she roared as she launched at the two Huntresses. Grabbing them by the throats, she slammed them into and through a wall of the tower, out into the pre-dawn sky. Winter managed to stab her smaller sword into Cinder's Grimm-hand, drawing a short scream of pain from Cinder as she then flung Winter away. Cinder then tossed Penny away and then conjured & flung a flaming black-glass sword at the girl. The flying gynoid caught the blade, which then exploded, her emerald Aura flaring as she was blasted back.
"I have come too far to be stopped by some toy!"
Cinder was struck by a ghostly blue fireball, looking down & back to see Winter riding a Manticore revenant-summon. Winter and Penny came at Cinder from both sides, exchanging blows and wearing away at her Aura. Finally, Cinder rocketed toward Winter, dodging the revenant summon's blast and flying underneath it. She slashed the summon's underside, dispelling it, and then blasted Winter with a crimson fireball that broke her Aura. As Winter plummeted, Cinder flew back up to the medical tower, while Penny dove and caught Winter.
"What are you doing?!" Winter shouted over the howling wind. "My life doesn't matter!"
"…I disagree…" Penny replied.
Back in the medical chamber, Cinder ripped the door off the Aura Transfer Machine, making Frie stir.
"You had your time in the sun," Cinder taunted, her Grimm-arm fully exposed, revealing it reached up to her shoulder, "but now I'm afraid your time is up."
"Yes…" the old woman spoke softly. "I've been waiting here… for some time, I think. What was I waiting for?"
Cinder smirked, her organic eye lighting up with Maiden-fire. "Me."
She reached her clawed shadow-arm for the old woman's chest… but then a wrinkled hand caught it by the wrist.
"No…" Fria frowned, the situation bringing clarity to her age-fogged mind. She looked down at the Grimm-arm in her gasp. "This… abominable prosthetic… You're one of her people. …Fall's power is not rightfully yours; this thing allowed you to steal it, somehow. I'm afraid that this time, though… you are leaving empty-handed…"
The old woman's eyes flared with blue light, and an icy whirlwind sprang up around her as she floated slightly off the ground. Growling, Cinder tried to reach her Grimm-arm in, only to yelp in pain and pull it back as the freezing air bit at it. Then, Fria intensified the storm, a massive column of swirling, deadly-cold wind expanding out to fill over half the room and also tearing upwards through the roof, a pillar of ice magic soaring up into the night just as Penny & Winter came in for a landing.
"What is that?" Penny asked, awed.
"That…" Winter panted "is the power of a fully realized Maiden."
She tried to approach, reaching out, but even a brief graze from the swirling blue energy froze the fingers off her gloves and nearly froze her flesh-&-blood fingers off as well, forcing her to draw back. Penny looked down at her own body, synthetic and durable, then ran in and leapt into the storm. Landing down on the ice-covered floor, she pushed her way through the howling wind and reached the eye of the storm, where Fria floated in the air, seemingly in a trance.
Penny reached up and gently grabbed Fria's hand. The old woman gasped softly, and then slowly drifted back to the ground; the storm dissipated, though a thick layer of ice now enveloped the area, locking Cinder out for the moment. As she began to fall, Penny caught and cradled her.
"Are you okay?" Penny asked.
"I had a job to do… I was supposed to protect the power of the Maiden until I was ready. I worry I may have lost track of time… But I believe I'm ready now."
"M-Ma'am, if you do that… You'll die…"
Fria gave Penny a weak smile. "Nothing can stop that now. …What's your name, dear?"
"…Penny, ma'am. Penny Polendina."
"…Little Pietro's daughter? He must be so proud… Are you the one?"
"I…"
There was a sudden sizzling crash as Cinder burned/blasted her way through the thick ice wall. "She's MINE!"
Her Grimm-arm stretched as it lunged toward Penny & Fria, claws extended. Penny instinctively moved to shield Fria with her own body, but right before the shadow-hand could reach her it abruptly froze and dissolved, and Cinder began screaming. Looking up, Penny saw Winter with blade drawn, and Cinder writhing and screaming in agony as her severed Grimm-arm rapidly regenerated, eating its way a little further up the human parts of her arm in the process, to the point that her left shoulder was now 'Grimmified'.
Completely enraged, Cinder conjured her obsidian blades and lunged at Winter, battering ferociously at the Specialist's faltering guard. Fria had just enough magic to spare, so she reached out and conjured a solid-ice shield laden with defensive magic, small enough to fit over a forearm complete with a handle for it, floating in front of Winter. Winter didn't look a gift horse in the mouth, taking the shield and desperately blocking Cinder's furious assault as best she could while trying to counterattack.
That was all Fria had left, though. She looked up at Penny, and reached out her hand. Penny took it, and she felt energy begin flowing into her, energy of a sort unlike anything she'd ever felt before. She gave Penny a gentle smile even as her eyes began to close as her heartbeat slowed.
"I know you'll use this well…" she murmured. "To protect… what matters…"
Winter's shield, quickly worn down by Cinder's rage-fueled, Maiden-enhanced strikes, finally shattered into chips of ice as Cinder smashed it so hard that her own blade shattered from it. Knocking Winter to the floor, she prepared to ram her remaining sword through the Specialist's chest, only to be distracted by a snowflake drifting past her face. As cold wind began to pick up, she turned to look across the room, her eyes widening with shock, disbelief, and steadily swelling anger.
"No…" she whisper-snarled.
Penny stood in the center of a steadily-building cyclone of ice, wind, and magical power. She opened her eyes, which flared with green Maiden-fire. Then, to make matters worse for the villainess, Team RWBY and two of the Ace-Ops arrived at the hole that was once the door to the medical room. Everyone froze for a moment, and then Ruby's eyes lit up with silver light. There was a blast of fire and smoke as Cinder rocketed out through the hole in the roof, seething with fury and pain as she fled that terrible light.
The newcomers hurried into the room, Weiss rushing to Winter's side while Ruby went for Penny. The gynoid was staring down at her hands, and then looked sadly down at Fria – peaceful in death, a serene smile still on her wrinkled face.
"She's gone…" Penny murmured.
"No…" Winter winced as Weiss supported her on her feet. "She's a part of you now. It's not exactly how things were planned… but the Winter Maiden's power has successfully been kept out of Salem's hands."
"We should report to the General" Marrow said, looking at her. "And 'report' you straight to the medbay."
"Wait" Blake spoke up, looking out through the hole in the wall & ceiling. "What's that?"
She pointed out at the horizon, where a massive black storm-cloud had suddenly emerged over the mountains, drifting toward Atlas & Mantle, crackling with red lightning. Deep in the cloud, shapes could be seen – moving shapes, congregated around something absolutely massive.
"It's her…" Ruby said, feeling a chill in her soul. "Salem's here."
-CHAPTER END-
Next Time: The heroes regroup, debrief on how things went so far, and plan their next moves. And yes, Ozpin has not reawakened yet in this timeline, due to Oscar not ending up in mortal peril via falling from the sky, since Ironwood hasn't gone off the deep end here.
