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-CHAPTER START-
Realm R38Y
Atlas Academy Military Base – Medical Wing
Everyone had gathered in the med-bay as the doctors worked on Winter and Clover. Ren was hunched over, head in his hands, as Pyrrha finished describing the clash with Neo.
"We had no idea she'd gotten involved in things again" Ironwood reassured him. "Between her perfect holographic disguise Semblance, the labyrinthine maze of hallways in that sector of the facility, and the fact that she can apparently call the damn Heartless for assistance, I won't blame you kids for her getting away with the Relic. Especially since, from the sounds of it, she wouldn't have gotten away if the Heartless hadn't shown up and mobbed you guys."
"Has Salem made any more progress toward Atlas yet?" Yang asked.
Vine shook his head. "She's hanging back for the moment – calculating her next move, most likely. Evacuations either to or from Atlas have been put on hold until we know where she's headed next."
Penny was still looking down at her hands, where she would occasionally conjure a snowflake.
"At least the Winter Maiden's power has ended up with a fundamentally good person" Ironwood sighed with relief. "Not exactly the way I'd planned it, but… well, I guess I can't really argue with the results."
"Especially since Cinder's default method of stealing Maiden power seems to be stabbing people with her Grimm-claws" Weiss said. "And that'll be harder to do with how durable Penny's synthetic body is."
Ironwood nodded. "Yeah. You're right. Probably for the best, when you think of it that way."
Just then, a doctor emerged from the nearby doorway. "Good news and bad news, folks. And no, neither of them are dead. Winter got banged up, but she'll be okay; we have her in a medical support brace, but with her Aura healing her she probably won't need it for more than a few days – a week, tops."
"And Clover?" Qrow asked.
"Good news and bad news. Good news is, he's going to pull through. You guys got him to us quick enough that we were able to neutralize the venom and repair the damage from his stab wound. He should eventually make a full recovery and be back in the field with no permanent damage other than a scar. The bad news… is that 'eventually' part. Between a deep stab wound to his abdomen, and a hemotoxic venom having some time to circulate through his system, he's going to take a while to heal – at least three or four weeks. Unless the Grimm Queen's attack becomes a months-long siege, Mr. Ebi's participation in this battle is over."
The Ace-Ops all looked downcast or frustrated from that, while Ironwood sighed. "I'll have to find a temporary replacement to serve as interim team leader until Clover's back on his feet."
"Not it" Qrow announced. "I'm fine with mentoring the kids, but I ain't cut out for leading a professional team."
"I've got my own group to look after…" Robyn said.
"Maybe Winter?" Marrow suggested. "If she's up to it."
"But she's hurt!" Weiss replied. "Even with a support brace, she…"
"…I won't order her to" Ironwood said. "But if she volunteers, I won't say no."
"So, what's our next move?" Ruby asked.
"Mantle's people still need protection," Robyn said, "especially with evacuations paused while we wait to see Salem's next move."
"We can go groundside with you to help with that" Yang offered.
"Some of you" Ironwood replied. "I've got workers & drones double-timing the work on Amity, to the point that it should be launch-capable in only a few hours. Not done, not ready for the news cameras or a full staff, but launch-capable and able to stay in the air. I'd like some of you to work with Dr. Polendina and oversee things, and you can pick someone to record a message to the world that will be played as soon as the connection to the CCT network is green. You kids take the time to decide who goes where. But don't take too much time, please."
-Break-
"Monstra"
Holding Position Just Outside Atlas Borders
A stolen Atlesian dropship set down in one of the gigantic sperm-whale Grimm's organic "docks", Cinder & Neo disembarking and heading for the control room. In the heart of the chamber, Salem sat on a throne of Grimm-bone that served as the organic assault carrier's command chair, with Dyspear, Maleficent, & Megatron seated in other chairs nearby, and other members of the evil alliance were scattered around the room. Cinder quirked an eyebrow upon spotting a Quarian amongst them, as Xen observed her curiously with crossed arms. Approaching the platform that the control throne sat atop, Cinder knelt with her head down, human arm to her chest.
"My Queen…"
Salem stood, turning to face her. "Cinder…" She strode down the platform steps. "When I chose you as my vessel for the Maidens, I put my trust in you. So, I trust that you wouldn't possibly return to me empty-handed."
Cinder pulled the Relic from her hip, presenting it. "The Relic of Knowledge. I took it right from under Ironwood's nose."
Neo blinked in disbelief, looking quite indignant, glaring at her 'partner' with arms crossed as Salem took the Lamp.
"Outsmarting the general" Tyrian spoke up from the shadows "speaks less to your intellect and… more to his. After all, you were outsmarted by those children first."
Cinder scowled. "And according to radio chatter, that same General and his forces outsmarted you. A shame Watts never made it back."
"I'm afraid the doctor was a necessary sacrifice." He pointed to Neo with his tail. "I do hope this little one won't become another."
Neo turned her glare to him, fists clenched. Salem looked at the newcomer with amused curiosity.
"Who is she?" the Grimm Queen asked.
"Neopolitan has some very useful abilities," Cinder replied, "and has proven to be a valuable asset."
Being called an 'asset' seemed to upset Neo.
"Hm. You certainly do enjoy collecting assets."
Tyrian shook his head. "Not even allowing her to introduce herself; how rude of you…"
Cinder frowned at him. "She is mute, due to congenital defect of her vocal cords. But her Semblance allows her to produce holographic disguises, over herself or other people & things, with impeccable accuracy."
Behind them, there was a squelching sound as an organic door opened to reveal Emerald, Mercury, & Hazel entering the room. Upon seeing Cinder, Emerald's eyes lit up as a smile came to her face.
"Cinder!" She ran over. "You're here! I knew you-"
"Quiet" Cinder snarled.
Emerald skidded to a stop, surprised and hurt. Mercury glared viciously at Cinder, while Tyrian shook his head and clicked his tongue in disappointment.
"So devoted to someone so heartless and incompetent…" Tyrian looked solemnly at Cinder. "While the good doctor and I were advancing the will of our goddess, dismembering the very body of this kingdom… you were merely atoning for past failures."
Cinder bared her teeth. "Polendina's creation interfered with the transfer of the Winter Maiden power… but now I know she has it. And once I return to Atlas, it won't take long to finish what I started. That power will be mine."
Salem raised her hand to silence her. "I've given no such command."
Cinder shook her head in confusion and disbelief, while Salem returned to her command chair. "B-But… Ma'am, now is the time to-"
Salem touched her control throne, and a red pulse raced out. The wall behind her turned semitransparent, revealing the city of Atlas ahead.
"This game is not yours to win, Cinder. It's mine. Just because you're more valuable to me than a pawn, does not make you a player. Everything is already in motion. All you need concern yourself with is your ability to act when I tell you to."
Cinder snarled as she bowed. "Of course…"
"She does have somewhat of a point, however" Megatron said. "If little miss Polendina is now the Winter Maiden, should we not attempt to neutralize her, one way or another, before she can gain a full grasp of her new abilities?"
"I may in fact have an idea concerning that issue" Daro'Xen finally spoke up. "Though, I fear I cannot carry it out by myself. I will need Dr. Watts' assistance, his intimate knowledge of Atlesian systems. Would anyone terribly mind swinging by Atlas and fetching him for me?"
"We are close enough to Atlas now that I can home in on his life-energy signature to open a Dark Corridor with enough accuracy to access whatever prison room he is being held in" Maleficent replied.
"And if you can get me there," Scorponok said, "he's taught me enough about Atlas systems that I can probably hack the cell and spring him loose."
The fae sorceress nodded. "Take Pete with you, just in case there is trouble."
"Aw yeah," Pete grinned and cracked his knuckles, "jailbreak time!"
"And how goes your other project, Miss Xen?" Dyspear asked.
The Quarian chuckled. "Ready to go. The communications scrambler I've constructed will disrupt all but the short-range channels used by Atlas and the UNSC. Of course, they will be able to adapt, but so will my scrambler; I'd say that whenever they adapt signals or try to push the jamming effect out, they'll only get 30-45 seconds of clear communications before being cut off again. Not a complete lockout, but the best I can do under the circumstances…"
After much of the villain group had left to pursue their own tasks, Salem stood again and moved down a separate hall, soon coming to an organic 'vault' secured by bone doors. There was another figure in there, very much not human, black hide hunched over. The Grimm Queen held up the Lamp of Knowledge, gazing into its blue glow.
"I have questions for you… But first I need the one who can show me how…"
She held the lamp to her 'prototype, allowing the fearsome beast to examine the scent on it.
"Bring him to me."
-Break-
In the end, after some strategizing (and a little arguing), the teams were decided. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Nora, Penny, & Pyrrha would handle making a message for the world and helping Amity get high enough to transmit it, while Yang, Ren, Jaune, Oscar, & Pirika went groundside to assist in defending Mantle's civilians.
With evacuations to Atlas stalled by the increasing aerial Grimm presence, the groundside team worked with Robyn's people to evacuate people into the Mantle Crater, which the Grimm were mostly leaving alone compared to their attacks on Mantle & Atlas. Yang, Ren, & Jaune had been given hoverbikes to make traversing the city easier (with Oscar & Pirika riding shotgun), as they escorted civilians – hidden from detection by Ren's Semblance boosted by Jaune's – and took out nosy Grimm.
At the moment, they were handling a group of Grimm in eastern Mantle; Yang led a Teryx on a chase, with Ren & Oscar moving alongside the draconic Grimm on a side-street. As she led the beast to a stone bridge, Oscar popped out and threw a stick-grenade at it, the charge detonating in a burst of Wind Dust that blasted the Teryx off-course. The Grimm crashed into the stone bridge, breaking one of its wings and bringing it down to the ground. Before the monster could reorient itself, Jaune rode in and lopped off its head.
"Okay, Fiona" Yang reported over the comm. "That's one more problem taken care of."
"Good, 'cause we're getting reports of more Grimm coming in from the west. The Hunters there could really use some backup."
Yang sighed tiredly. "Okay, we're on our way."
"It's all the negativity" Oscar remarked. "Salem's forces aren't moving in, but it's enough to start attracting the stragglers."
"Guys" Ren spoke up. "We're not finished yet."
He drew their attention to a trio of overconfident Sabyrs, charging down the road at the humans.
"All right" Yang nodded. "We need to hurry up and take-"
Suddenly, the Sabyrs skidded to a halt. Looking up at the buildings overhead, they abruptly turned and fled.
"…What just happened?" Ren stared where the feline Grimm had just been.
"They ran…" Jaune breathed out. "I've never seen Grimm act that way before."
"This, uh… might not be a good thing…" Pirika remarked, looking around warily and clutching her hammer tight. She remembered Cecilia's tale about goblins fleeing the area alongside local wildlife, and what ended up happening…
Oscar looked uneasy. "What could they have been running fro-"
A large black mass suddenly shot down from above at an angle, slamming into Oscar and knocking him off the hoverbike, knocking Ren to the ground in the process. As Oscar tried to get to his feet, the beast – a bulky, strange-looking Grimm – grabbed his arm with its jaws and flung him to the ground. The beast pounced with all its weight, making the boy's Aura barrier shimmer. Panicking, he tried to kick the monster away, but it grabbed him by the leg and slammed him to the pavement hard enough to knock out his Aura barrier and knock him unconscious.
Howling, the Hound's body twitched and spasmed. Its limbs lengthened, forepaws shifting into hands while its back legs changed in form. The monster had assumed a bipedal stance, lifting the unconscious Oscar with one massive hand. Yang charged in on her bike, fist cocked back, but then the Hound held Oscar up as a shield, forcing her to abruptly veer to the side. As she passed, the beast yanked her off her bike and flung her into a nearby wall, stunning her. Ren fired a few rounds into the monster's back, and as the Hound turned his chain-linked blades stabbed into its chest. Ren reeled himself in, feet-fist, but the Hound's free arm lengthened as it swung like a whip, bashing Ren into another wall. Jaune and Pirika readied their weapons, but the Hound held Oscar up in front of them.
"Wait!" Yang called them off. "It's using Oscar as a shield!"
"But… Only Elder Grimm are that smart," Jaune stared in shock, "and this thing isn't big enough to be one!"
Ren readied his weapons, but the Hound repositioned Oscar to ward him off.
"Give him back!"
The Hound's neck visible shifted, and its growl changed into something more.
"nO…"
As the young heroes were further stunned by this development, the Hound got a bit of distance. Hunching over, its back twitched and pulsed, and with a howling roar a pair of large, red-membraned wings sprouted. Carefully grabbing Oscar in its jaws, the beast scaled a nearby building and then took off from its roof.
"Kids, what's your status?" Fiona radioed. "West side's taking damage."
Knocked out of their stupor, the quartet mounted their bikes and gave chase.
"We've got an emergency" Yang radioed back. "We're not gonna make it."
"What? What kind of emergency?"
"Some weird new shapeshifting mutant Grimm" Pirika replied. "It ambushed us, knocked Oscar out, then grew wings and took off with him! We're in pursuit!"
-Break-
In the dimly-lit brig where Watts and Jacques were being held in hardlight-walled cells, a Corridor of Darkness suddenly opened up. Jacques looked confused and disturbed, while Watts chuckled softly and got to his feet, brushing a wrinkle out of his coat. After a couple seconds, Scorponok and Pete emerged.
"Hey, doc" Pete waved. "Here to spring ya from the joint."
"Just gimme a cycle and I'll have you out" Scorponok said, approaching Watts' cell's control terminal and getting to work.
"What about me?" Jacques spoke up, indignant.
Pete laughed. "Buddy, you were only useful on account'a your connections and your access to Atlas' systems – which you pretty obviously don't have anymore. You're in a heap'a trouble with Ol' Ironwood, and you got nothin' left to offer us. So now, you're gonna sit in there and wait to face the music."
The terminal chimed, and the hardlight walls boxing Watts in came undone, allowing the bruised & battered villain to stroll out.
"My thanks, gentlemen" he bowed lightly. "I'm assuming Salem is in need of my services once more?"
"The robot girl got the Winter Maiden's power" Scorponok explained. "Xen's got an idea, but she says she needs your help to make it happen."
"Well then, let's not keep the lady waiting. Ta-ta, Jacques; it's been a pleasure 'working' with you…"
The three men took their leave through the waiting Dark Corridor which then closed behind them, leaving the glowering Jacques alone, sighing as he put his head in his hands.
-Break-
Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Nora, Pyrrha, & Penny were still at the launch facility for Amity. Ruby had already recorded a lengthy speech, with evidence, to be broadcast across the world once the colosseum was in position, and the colosseum in question was projected to be ready for bare-bones launch in less than half an hour now. The young heroes tried to stay confident in the face of the ever-increasing odds stacked against them…
Suddenly, a Dark Corridor opened up across the room, and everyone immediately leapt to their feet and readied weapons. From the shadowy portal emerged Stop & Freeze, Adam Taurus, Quickstrike, and a squad of 'Invisible' Heartless.
"Howdy there, folks" Quickstrike waved. "Fancy a rumble?"
The six young heroes all drew their weapons and readied for battle, with Ruby summoning her 'Divine Rose'. One of the Invisibles made the first move, air-dashing in low & fast with blade raised, swinging the sword down at Penny only to be blocked by Weiss' conjured Rune-Shield. Ruby and Blake tried to double-team the bold Heartless, but then Quickstrike leapt in, pushing Blake back with lightning-quick strikes of his cobra-hand. Adam moved to engage Blake as well, but Pyrrha headed him off, the clash of blades soon ringing out. Another of the Invisibles tried to interfere, but Weiss attacked it, forcing it into a separate duel.
Penny was up against Stop & Freeze, her eyes aglow with Maiden-fire and floating swords crackling with lightning magic as she faced both of the Arch-Zetsuborgs at once. One of the twins had a conjured scimitar-like blade and engaged her up-close while the other fired magic blasts from a difference, and they would periodically switch roles. They were proving to be hard targets, moving fast and hitting hard, not letting her build up any attack big enough to do serious damage to them. Of course, she wasn't making things easy for them, swinging blades and elemental blasts keeping them on their toes.
For the moment at least, Pyrrha was matching Adam blow-for-blow; just as Ruby was RWBY+JNPPR's best Grimm-slayer, she was the best when it came to fighting people, and she'd gotten even better thanks to Qrow & the Ace-Ops' training. Adam gritted his teeth, good eye glaring, as the 'Champion of Mistral' evenly matched him and kept him occupied. Meanwhile, Blake was fending off Quickstrike's quick strikes, swerving back & forth to dodge lunges from his cobra-arm and keeping him from getting too close with swings & stabs from her own weapon. If the Aura-awakened Predacon had a 'normal' mouth, he'd be grinning from the exhilaration of a proper challenging fight. She dodged back from his attempt to snap one of his beast-mode-claw feet at her in a kick, and then she landed a solid left hook across the face, but he rolled with the blow, chuckled, and kept going.
Ruby and her Scyther matched blades with a pair of Invisibles. After parrying a thrust of the Invisible's sword, Scyther swung one of his arm-blades to release an Air Slash, buffeting the Heartless back and making it flinch, and then immediately lunged forward with an Aerial Ace that took the dark being's head off. Ruby ducked under a horizontal swing of her opponent's sword and darted in low & close, unleashing a quick barrage of rising Keyblade strikes finishing with a slash that knocked the Invisible into the air, then fired a Fira blast to finish the Heartless off. Meanwhile, Weiss used a conjured Knight-arm punch to shatter an Invisible that had been frozen solid by her Glaceon's Ice Fang attack.
Stop & Freeze bombarded Penny with optic blasts, but her whirling blades formed an impenetrable defense that blocked each & every shot fired at her, so they abandoned that venture, engaging her up-close instead. They weren't giving her room to use her new Maiden powers against them, and they were coming at her fast enough to put her on the defensive slightly. Then, though, Nora & her Emolga finished off a nearby Invisible and promptly joined the fray to assist Penny, a swing of her hammer catching Freeze in the side and flinging them away, while Emolga pushed Stop back with a wave of Swift stars.
Blake combined her Semblance with some Burn Dust to dodge a lunging bite from Quickstrike's cobra-arm and catch him with an exploding shadow-clone, the Predacon's yellow Aura barrier flaring as he staggered back. Growling, he tried to come at her again, but her Liepard emerged from his Poké-Ball with a Sucker Punch that knocked him off his feet. One of the two remaining Invisibles swooped in to defend the villain, blocking Blake's attempt to slash the Predacon while he was down and pushing her back with its own sword-strikes.
Leaping back to avoid a jumping stab from Pyrrha, Adam sheathed his sword and put a hand on the hilt; blocking and parrying Pyrrha's strikes over the course of their duel had built up enough charge for a Moonslice, albeit not a full-power one. Remembering their mission, he gave ground as she came at him again, maneuvering around. Finally, he drew & swung his blade, releasing a slicing wave of destructive energy. Eyes widening in panic, Pyrrha bent over backwards to dodge the attack, the air turbulent in its wake as it shot past her at a slight climb. Penny, currently a few feet off the ground, was right in its path with blades fanned out, but she saw it coming, dropping down to dodge…
…and the attack sliced through the control string of one of her floating swords. Less than a second later, a final Invisible emerged from hiding, fading into visibility from a nearby shadow, and grabbed the weapon, then immediately teleported out in a whirl of bluish soul-flames.
Penny and Nora (& the latter's Emolga) fought together against Stop & Freeze, with Penny using precise Maiden-conjured lightning bolts to charge up Nora's Semblance and Emolga's Motor Drive, letting them keep up with her against Dyspear's twin lieutenants. In addition, earlier Stop had fired a wave of Lighting orbs at Penny, only for Nora to 'catch' most of them, boosting her even more. Now, as she launched Freeze back with a kick, Nora gritted her teeth; being this charged up was awesome, but she could feel that she was approaching something she'd never actually reached before: her safe limit for electricity absorption.
Freeze conjured and flung several kunai made of solid Ice magic, the throwing knives flashing to steam against a thin wall of white-hot flames that Penny conjured as a barrier to protect herself and her two partners. While she was distracted by that, however, Stop was hovering overhead, charging up a huge orb of crackling Lighting and Darkness magic. Nora happened to look up & back and see it just as Stop hurled the blast down at them. She and Emolga moved to intercept, but the latter was suddenly nailed by a laser blast from Quickstrike, knocking her away and leaving Nora to face it alone.
Bracing herself, Nora reached up and caught the surging mass of energy. Her groan of exertion as she pushed back against the attack rose into a roar as she steadily absorbed it, the giant orb of power shrinking as pink electricity crackled across her body. Finally the attack vanished, and Nora fell to her knees, bright pink lines of power glowing across her skin. Then she collapsed completely, starting to seize. Her Emolga immediately flew in and landed on her, and started frantically drawing the electricity out of her, making Nora's twitching settle & stop, the glow leaving her body to reveal fresh, dull-red Lichtenberg scars. As her 'Motor Drive' hit its limit, she instead continued extracting the electrical energy in the form of a rapidly-growing yellow orb of Lightning power floating in front of her outstretched membraned limbs.
Floating up in the air over her downed Trainer, Emolga glared at the Zetsu-Twins with fury and then fired the huge Electro Ball straight at them. With a roar of thunder, the Electro Ball slammed into the evil twins with a mighty explosion, the smell of ozone filling the air as the hair of everyone else in the room stood on end. Stop & Freeze's aura-barriers were shattered, their bodies & clothes burnt and scorched, the two of them groaning as they tried to get to their feet. Emolga, not satisfied, flew right at them, ready for an Acrobatics beatdown, but the gruesome twosome vanished through keyhole portals.
Seeing the squad leaders injured and falling back, and aware that their true mission had already been completed, Adam pulled out something from his coat, clicked a button and then tossed it to the ground. As he leapt back, the smoke grenade went off, filling the area with purplish-grey haze. A few seconds later, Scyther and Emolga conjured a whirling gust of wind to blow the smoke away, just in time to see a Dark Corridor closing, the villains having gotten away.
"They… They stole one of my swords" Penny reported, sounding confused. "But why?"
"Nora!"
She was snapped out of her confusion as Ruby rushed over to her fallen comrade, inspecting her. Ruby used her Keyblade to cast a Cure spell, but it didn't accomplish much.
"She's in bad shape" Pyrrha worried. "We need to get her out of here."
"I can't get through to the hospital" Blake reported. "Something's wrong with the comm channels. Where else can we go?"
"My family's estate" Weiss suggested. "It's closer, and we have medical supplies. Though, I'm not sure how much they'll help with this…"
"…Penny" Ruby spoke up. "I'm afraid you'll have to head to Amity alone to deliver my message and meet up with your dad and Maria. I'm sorry…"
Penny smiled and shook her head. "It's fine, Ruby. Get Nora to safety; I will take things from here."
-Break-
In a small, unoccupied laboratory of Atlas HQ, two Dark Corridors opened. Daro'Xen and Dr. Watts emerged from one, the latter immediately locking the door, while the latter disgorged the away team (minus Stop & Freeze, who'd retreated to Monstra to rest & heal). Adam stepped forward, handing the two evil scientists Penny's blade.
"This enough to work with?" he asked them.
Xen chuckled. "Plenty."
"Sooo, what's this gonna help with?" Quickstrike asked.
Watts handled the sword. "If you can't beat them… don't join them. Make them join you…"
-CHAPTER END-