Caspian's stomach dropped.
Two pulses of vibration from Caspian's wrist, then a flash of light. Midas's hologram looked over him. "Caspian! You alright?" he asked.
"...I'm fine," Caspian decided. "Thanks to Moka."
"Good. My team will try to get the lights back on, then wrap around to the other entrance. Hold her off for a bit, we'll be back."
Caspian sighed. "Alright. I... I'll try my best." He heard a hail of bootfalls on the steel floor. He found Undertow and pulled himself to his feet, grasping his weapon in both hands and looking around frantically for any hint of an attack.
"Hey... why are they running?" Moka asked.
"Not sure!" Python claimed. "There must be some reason, though." A purple glow lit the cabin and her weapons lifted once again, a lucid flow of energy binding puppets to their master. "Now come on. You were going to 'hold me off,' weren't you?"
Caspian steadied his breathing. "I guess I have no choice," he replied. He could see Python's eyes glowing in the purple light, and the glint of silver fangs on her half-face mask. He was glad, at least, he could see the shadow of her weapons in the light of her semblance.
Just dodge the glowing, oversized sawblades, he figured. If you don't, you're dead. Simple enough.
Two of the blades tore through the air toward him. They were far too big, and coming far too fast, for him to hope to parry. He rolled aside, and heard the clash of steel on the shaking shoor of the cargo hold. Python swung the third around in a sweeping strike, and Caspian's eyes widened as it neared.
A silhouette leapt in front of the weapon. Lanky and tall, with a hulking slab of metal for a sword. Crimson sparks crackled through Rowan's arms as he swung wildly and smashed the weapon away, stumbling back with the weight of the crash.
Moka sprung forward in Python's second of distraction, landing a punch at her gut. Python ducked under her next strike and held both hands out. One of her three disks split in half, each half-moon encasing one of her forearms. A steel uppercut flung Moka back, and she rolled out of the way of the disk that followed.
Caspian aimed Undertow between the two curved blades, managing to hit a single shot before Python turned to block him. "Three on one really isn't fair," she teased. Her head snapped around to Caspian. "Guess I'll have to pick you off, one by one!"
Caspian winced as two disks careened toward him along the ground like a pair of rogue tires, springing up and forking to either side of him. They retained their glow as they lodged in the container behind him, and Python fired herself from her oversized slingshot.
Caspian stumbled backward into the container, wide eyes reflecting the gleaming steel swirling toward him. His back hit steel bars, and he felt behind himself.
A ladder.
He turned around, grabbing onto a bar and finding a foothold. He scrambled halfway up before the ear-splitting crash of steel below him. The ladder shifted and began to fall, but Caspian hopped off and hauled himself onto the crate before the ladder clanged on the floor. He fired a few shots as he ran across the awkwardly corrugated top of the container, and ducked under another pair of disks as Python heaved herself up after him.
He ducked under a wild swing, and came dangerously close to the second. As Python turned with all three disks to shield herself from Rowan's blast of energy, Caspian made his way up to the next container. Anything to get distance between himself and the terrorist intent on killing him with a smile on her face.
"Aw, come on!" Python taunted. "Running's no fun!" She met Caspian on his container, and flung one disk, then the next. The crashes behind him let him know there was nowhere to run but a concrete wall. As Python ran toward him with bladed arms at the ready, Caspian clutched Undertow in both hands and squeezed its trigger. The gun shook with a crescendo of energy, and burst forth with a wicked bolt of lightning. It twisted into Python's weapon, stopping her in her tracks as it traveled down her arm and into her chest. The hold went dark as her semblance halted. Caspian charged past her, knocking her to the container with his sword.
As he ran, he saw his own shadow on the far wall, bathed in a purple halo.
He felt a crushing weight on his back, rolling up his spine as it cracked and tearing across his coat with dagger-like thorns. Caspian was flung forward through the darkness, the container ringing out dully as he landed once, and bounced back to the air. His heart leapt in his chest as he suddenly felt himself falling. With a guess at the container's edge, he reversed his grip on Undertow and stabbed, tearing through steel to slow himself down and flipping off of the box before another attack could land.
"Nice!" Moka commended.
"Was it?" Caspian questioned. "Because I have no idea what I'm doing!"
With a sudden flash and buzzing surge, the lights came back on.
Python crashed to the floor, missing all three attacks and shielding her eyes from the sudden brightness. Rowan took the opportunity to charge her, but his shout snapped her focus back to him. His blade smashed into her disk and cast it aside. Moka hopped out of the way as it careened toward her, managing to stick a bolt of gravity dust to its edge. She turned, firing another from her opposite hand to the wall.
When Python tried to fling the sawblade at the faunus, she found it resisting her pull. The weapon remained suspended, pulled tight between Python's semblance and the bolt in the wall.
Caspian ran around her, firing shots to draw her other disks toward him. Rowan jumped up to use the pinned disk as a trampoline and propel himself halfway to the ceiling of the hold. He rolled in the air, flipping Sanguine Storm around himself and crashing down on the snake faunus. She looked up at the last moment, sending a disk up to meet him.
Rowan slashed it instead, and its steel side bent under the strength of his blade. The twisted shell was wrenched from Python's grasp, and the teeth of its edge scattered across the floor.
"You kids are not making this easy!" Python snapped.
"Moka, go!" Cas commanded, nodding ahead to Python.
Moka looked ahead to the faunus, whose smug, teasing demeanor had begun to fade into the first traces of panic. She kept one disk hovering at her back, and separated the other into two halves to fight off Moka. She did manage to block each of the faunus's strikes, until a subtle splash of ice from Moka's fist spread across the floor in spindly webs. A flaming left hook forced Python onto the patch and she lost her footing, leaving an opening for Moka to blast a semblance-enhanced fist in her gut.
As the two separated, Caspian aimed another jolt of electricity into Python's weapon. Her arms locked and her knees threatened to buckle, leaving her wide open for a vicious uppercut.
Python's tail trailed limply behind her in the air before she crashed down, black mist of aura rising from her body.
Caspian jumped in to restrain her, but there was no need. She was hardly conscious.
Moka flipped the Red Claw's commander onto her back, securing a bolt of gravity dust to each of her wrists. She let out a deep breath, then looked to Caspian and Rowan with a grin and a thumbs-up.
"We... did it," Caspian reflected.
The door to the hold behind Caspian swung open. Still on edge, he whipped around, aiming a half-pull of Undertow's trigger at the figure in the doorway.
Midas's jog slowed to a walk, and his visor retracted to reveal his raised eyebrows. "You... beat her?" he questioned. "Huh. Nicely done!"
"I just cuffed her with grav-dust, but her aura's gone so she probably can't use her semblance," Moka advised. She prodded her with her foot. "You awake?"
"Wish I wasn't. Gods, my head hurts."
"Don't worry, she's not getting away this time," Midas assured. He walked over to Python's restrained form, taking a tail whip to the chest before kneeling next to her. He pulled a more official-looking pair of cuffs from his waist and secured her wrists. "Red Claw's 'Python,' you're under arrest."
"Oh save your breath," she muttered. "I know."
Midas, Caspian, and the rest made their way back down the passageway, and to the stairs. Midas sent a message on his way up, so by the time they made it back onto the ship's deck, an airship waited on a flat area nestled between walls of cargo. Night had completely fallen, and the alternating lights on the edge of the ship cast the huntsmens' shadows across the containers.
A team of Organds poured out of the ship in two rows. Two wordlessly took one of Python's arms each, and the rest surrounded her. Midas turned to Caspian, Rowan, and Moka.
"We'll take her out of here. There are still a few Red Claw onboard, so see if you can gather them up for the next ship."
Caspian nodded, and Midas turned around. Just seconds after the door closed behind him, the ring of steel hovering above it burst to life with hard-light energy, and the airship lifted into the sky.
The door to downstairs flung open. The Red Claw last seen swinging a powersaw at Caspian's neck sprinted across the deck, and lunged over the railing.
Caspian looked aside to Rowan and Moka in confusion, and followed her to the edge just as two more faunus jumped off the opposite side of the ship. He heard them hit the water, and saw ripples in the darkness where the first woman hit the waves.
He raised his wrist to his chin, and sent a call to anyone who might listen.
"Members of the Red Claw are starting to jump overboard." Another splash. "I... I'm not sure what to do. Maybe you could send in more subs? It probably won't be hard to catch them in the water."
Still cuffed and surrounded by uniformed androids, Python chuckled upon hearing the words out of Midas's Holoband.
"What's so funny?" Midas grumbled.
"Well, he should probably do the same," Python explained with a mischievous smile. "Did you think we stole all that combustion dust just to power some airships?"
Midas's eyes narrowed, then flushed with the sudden horror of realization.
"We never wanted to steal Frontline's shipment. After all, what would we do with it?" Her dark eyes locked with Midas's. "We wanted to draw everyone's eyes to it, before blowing it to the bottom of the sea, right in the middle of the bay. I set the explosives to a timer, but- damn. Left it on board somewhere." She shrugged casually. "It'll probably blow any second now!"
"Y-You're bluffing."
"What would I have to gain from that?"
"Caspian, can you hear me?" Midas shouted from Caspian's Holoband.
Caspian jumped with the sudden force of his voice. "Yep, loud and clear."
"GET OFF THE SHIP. IT'S GOING TO EXPLODE."
"Wh-What?!" Caspian questioned.
"They rigged the ship with combustion dust!"
A rim of light, with one beacon shining brighter at each tip, shot over the bay toward the boat. Caspian breathed half a sigh of relief as it drew closer,wringing his hands urgently until it landed on the deck of the cargo ship. As Caspian neared the Ray-Class, he looked over his shoulder, and paused. He looked to the door of the airship, then back behind him. The bridge of the cargo ship still lingered just under Seacrest Bridge, each lane still lined with stalled vehicles and their owners trapped inside.
"Cas, come on!" Rowan urged from the doorway.
"The ship... it's too close."
"We gotta go!"
"You guys go," Caspian suddenly decided. "I need to get this thing away from the bridge."
"Cas, no!" Moka protested. "It's too dangerous!"
Caspian already placed a call to Midas. "The longer I spend arguing this, the less time I have. GO!"
"Cas, you're still on the ship?!" Midas questioned. Caspian tore down the deck, before making it to the door he knew would take him five stories up to the ship's control room.
"Yeah. You moved this thing to the bridge, so how do I move it away?" Caspian panted as he ran up the seemingly endless flights of stairs, lunging wildly and grasping at the handrail for any aide he could find.
"The captain moved it for us," Midas replied. "There was a steering wheel, and some kind of lever next to it that moved it forward." There was a pause. "Please don't tell me you're trying to move the ship."
Caspian's heart felt like it was about to burst with each vigorous pulse, and his lungs struggled to keep up with his pace. He couldn't spare any effort for words. Finally, he made it to the hall just outside the command center. The door nearly bust from its hinges as Caspian's shoulder slammed into it, and he lunged for the control panel.
The countless lights, screens, meters and buttons were overwhelming. Most were labelled in some abbreviation he had no hope of deciphering. Then, at the front of the panel and below it all, a wheel. No time to turn the ship out of the bay, he figured. His best hope was to wrench the lever forward, and hope the explosion wasn't big enough to reach shore.
Caspian ran even faster, his two steps per flight capped off by a slam into the wall on each turn. After stumbling down the five stories to the deck he flung the door off its hinges and ran faster to the edge than he knew his legs would ever carry him. Without a second look at the thirty foot drop into rolling black water below, Caspian sprung up, planted his hands on the railing, and vaulted over the side of the ship.
Just as the ink closed in on his boots, he heard a deafening blast. One that lit the water with glowing vigor and thrashed its surface. The searing glow whipped past him, and all went black.
Caspian lost track of all time and essence in the following seconds, knowing only from his thoughts he still lived. After the force of the blast, and the force of the surface, he was suspended underwater in a daze. His head spun, and it pounded. Beyond his eyelids, he could see the glow of his aura dissolving into the sea. In front of him was dark. He twisted in the cold brine until his head faced behind himself.
Even darker.
Caspian swam toward the relative light, hoping to anything that a piece of the ship wouldn't hit him on the way down. He broke the surface, gasping for breath and wiping his eyes. When they opened, they still stung fiercely with saltwater, but he could make out a piece of debris floating amid the mess. He pulled himself onto it, and rolled onto his back. The bridge still stood.
Two fragments of the ship sunk slowly under a rolling cloud of smoke. Black waves smothered the last smoldering glow, and the night was dark.
A week passed before the official last day of CRLN and LSLI's first year. The Red Claw's Python had been locked up without incident, but the damage was already done. Twenty-two dead, more injured. Everyone in the city was glued to the screen throughout the night, watching Grimm tear the bridge to shreds. The talk, though, was all about the explosion that lit the bay, turning Frontline's cargo ship into a fireball that rivalled the height of downtown's buildings, shattering windows and rocking floors through both halves of the city.
The tournament was nearly forgotten. Nearly. People hadn't easily forgotten the "Indomitable Girl's" loss, and what they called her "meltdown" on live broadcast. Classless, sore loser. Pathetic. Those were some of the tamer descriptors thrown Lazula's way. It was as if the dam that was the begrudging respect people had held for her undefeated status had failed, and a flood had burst forth.
Since setting her mind to competition years before, Lazula hadn't missed a day of training. Rain or shine, weekends and holidays, even nursing an injury or illness, she'd at least get in half a session. She would have trained through her three cracked ribs and concussion. Maybe even her loss. But the Red Claw's attack was what finally broke her resolve. Everyone's empty platitudes- the "there's always next year"-s and "it's not your fault"-s, meant less than nothing to her. At least she had been spared the worst of all, "everything happens for a reason." What possible reason would there be for what happened, apart from her own inability?
She had hardly left her room since coming back from Frontline's main hospital.
Caspian sat with Cattleya on a bench overlooking the Crossroads of Sentinel's campus. They had already packed their bags and cleaned out their rooms. All left to do was enjoy the warmth of the cloudless blue sky, and each other's company.
He put his arm around her, shifting closer and resting his head against hers. "I'm gonna miss you over Summer," he said. "You sure you have to leave?"
"Yes..." Cattleya mumbled, leaning back into him. "You'll at least visit for my birthday, right?"
"Oh of course," Caspian assured. "I've never been to Mistral before, I can't wait to see it."
She grabbed his hand. "Let's go do something fun now. Maybe ice cream?"
"Oh..." Caspian responded. "...But it's the last Knights of the Round Table meeting, we were going to watch Python's questioning."
Cattleya pulled away, trading their tender moment for a rigid stare. "Knights of the what?" she questioned. "Cas, how old are you?"
"Eighteen..."
"My flight is tomorrow morning. You're really going to see your friends instead of me?"
"No, no. It's fine, I'll tell them I'm busy," he offered.
"It's alright. If you want to see them, go ahead."
"No, why would I-" he stood up, holding her limp hand. She was right, of course. These were the last precious hours he had with her for some time, and he'd be damned if he did anything to ruin Cattleya's mood for them. "Let's go! Come on, there's a place a couple blocks away from campus that's pretty good."
In The Roots, Rowan, Ichigo, Snow and Moka gathered around one of the café's Holoscreens. They had gone all out for their final Knights of the Round Table meeting, the table in front of them packed from one corner to the other with lunch, desert, drinks, snacks, and three separate caffeinated drinks walling off Moka from the rest.
"Cas really couldn't be here for this?" Rowan complained. He took a sip of the soda to his right. "This is big!"
"It seems he has forsaken us," Ichigo added solemnly.
"You guys can see him anytime!" Moka reminded. "His girly's going back to Mistral, they won't be able to see each other all Summer!"
"Fiiine," Rowan allowed.
"Oh! Good news though, I'll be sticking around!" Moka exclaimed, bubbling up with excitement. "Financial aid went through on Summer housing so I'll be staying over here!"
Rowan finished his mouthful of food. "Man, they really left you hanging till the last minute, huh?"
"Yeah, apparently a lot of our important papers got mixed up when we downsized," Moka explained. "But I wanted to be able to see my mama more often since my dad and brother don't have the money to come over here a ton, so it's worth it."
Snow nodded up to the Holoscreen. "The questioning is beginning."
On the screen, Python sat at a table facing a camera. She was cuffed to her chair, with a suited brute of a man to each side of her, and an Organd each beyond them. The interrogator stood facing her at a podium some distance away.
"You're being tried today on thirty counts of murder between two attacks. As well as multiple counts of grand larceny, disturbing the peace, and assault with a deadly weapon, and more. If found guilty we will be seeking life imprisonment, without possibility of parole."
"Bummer."
"I do ask you remain silent until prompted to answer. Do you pledge to cooperate with our investigation?"
"Yep."
"Good," the interrogator acknowledged. "In Spring of this year, 4.5 million lien worth of combustion dust was stolen from Nautilus Incorporated, along with five Ray-Class airships. Incidentally, the Red Claw used five Ray-Class airships to land on and hijack Frontline Biomedical's shipment last week. Were you responsible for this theft, totalling 4.5 million lien?"
"Well, technically, I didn't steal all the airships myself," Python corrected.
"But, as leader of the Red Claw, you were responsible for planning the theft, and were present when it occurred," the interrogator prodded.
"Sure, I was present. But leader?" she repeated. She laughed into the camera. "No no, not me!"
The men next to her looked down in suspicion, and the interrogator's brow stitched. "You mean to say you aren't the Red Claw's leader?"
"Nope."
In the Roots, all four were silent. Caspian stared over Cattleya's shoulder, wondering whether the subtitles he read next to the ice cream machine were transcribed incorrectly, or if a major bombshell had just been dropped on live broadcast.
The interrogator leaned in. "In that case, elaborate. Who is the Red Claw's leader?"
"Nope, can't tell ya that one."
"I must remind you, you're under oath and pledged to cooperate during our interrogation," the man at the podium insisted.
"And I told you I'm not the Red Claw's leader. I haven't told a single lie, wouldn't you call that cooperation?"
The interrogator leaned back with an irritated sigh, but continued along his planned line of questioning. "The Red Claw has now attacked Port Cyrreine on three separate occasions. What is your motive behind these attacks?"
"Well most recently, we wanted to make a statement," she explained. "Frontline Biomedical and its 'Organic Androids' aren't welcome here. With any benefit, they've brought twice as much suffering."
"The first attack took place during a protest. What was your motive then?"
"The workers were protesting being replaced by androids," Python pointed out. "It was a 'test run,' of sorts. And the perfect stage for one, wouldn't you agree?"
The investigator's brow furrowed behind his glasses. He turned a paper without indulging her. "And your motive for the next attack, on Sentinel Academy's entrance examination?"
"Oh, that one?" Python replied. Her teeth broke through night-black lipstick as she grinned.
The Port Cyrreine news was making a spectacle of the questioning. The second they snatched up the broadcast rights they advertised it like a Professional League match, the deadly attack reduced to little more than a headline. Their zeal had paid off, and most everyone in the city tuned in to watch the terrorist "leader" speak.
The Knights in The Roots, Laurel and Lilly packing the rest of their bags into an airship, Caspian and Cattelya at their table in the ice cream parlor, and Lazula, huddled under blankets in the stale air of her dark room, all heard the next words from her mouth at once.
"We had absolutely nothing to do with that!"
Hey guys! Looks like that's it for Part 1. Huge thank you to everyone who has read so far, and a thank you as well to those who will read in the future! Part 2 will come sometime in the next couple months, but I'm exhausted from writing like 8 chapters of fight scenes soooo I'm gonna take some time off. But as always, let me know what you think! Who are your favorites? Any favorite fights so far?