And here we are. The finale to Volume 2, and we've actually hit just over 500 Followers. This is the first time I've ever hit such a number, and it's been a genuine pleasure to be able to write a story that people can enjoy and engage with. The ending of the chapter and Volume 3 is going to imply a LOT of big changes in the world of Remnant, specifically (ESPECIALLY) its past and the landscape itself. Don't wanna waffle on for too long, so with that said... here we go, hold on to your britches bitches, because here's the VOLUME 2 FINALE!
Fighting Rose
Chapter 28
The defenders of Vale!
The Patri-Arc!
The first Fang to pick her pistol up immediately opened fire into the nearest crowd, Ruby having blasted across the distance to block each shot with Beowulf's gauntlets.
"RUN!" She roared, that and the shots fired having been enough to cement the reality of the danger, the screams of terror starting again as more Fang-members poured out of the train, even the partially damaged Paladins slowly getting to their feet to open fire wherever they could. Cars, buildings, people, nothing was truly safe even as Oobleck immediately rushed around aiding with evacuation.
"Goddamn bastard…" Ruby snarled as she smashed her heel into the ground with a crouch, her skin pink and steaming, veins popping and eyes gleaming. "With my body and soul, let nothing stand in my path! Rip right through, DEEP STINGER!"
Her feet exploded off the floor as she turned into a whirling red drill, the very wind of her flight rending the formations of the Fang apart and tearing clean through the abdomen of a Paladin as she slammed her heels directly into Erebus' breastplate. His eyes bulged under his helmet as Beowulf's talons gouged into the heretical ceramite plating before he was blasted across the air and smashed into a building. Even after smashing him right through the office-building, more screaming workers surrounding them both, Ruby didn't stop there, switching the Advance and Deep Stinger off to float right in front of him, her glowing leg trailing petals as she slammed a roundhouse directly into his armoured head.
"Exploding Heart: RED RELEASE!"
Beowulf crashed into his temple like a point-blank cannon, the impact literally sending chairs and plastic walls flying.
"Crescent Rose Strike!"
Her right foot shot straight forward at his nose, a savage grin splitting her face as she felt the satisfying crunch of bone under her heel before using his face as a foothold, her body spinning like a buzzsaw to try and rip him in half down the middle.
"Lunar Phase!"
"That's enough out of you!" Erebus growled as his fist shot forward right into Ruby's brow, the force of her spin and his armoured fist turned right against her as a massive gash tore open in a spray of red, her vision swimming as he grabbed her by the face before she could try to Trick backwards and smashed her head directly into the floor, burying her almost a foot deep. He continued to squeeze down on her skull and press her deeper and deeper, an audible growl in his voice now. "You've surprised me yet again child, but no more! While I cannot kill you here, I can certainly make you…"
He paused as his fingers shifted and he saw her eyes. Her bloodied face. Her eyes. An almost manic grin had split her face, her irises gleaming pools of chrome light as her aura swirled around her body; she sharply wrapped her legs around his arm and the back of his neck to grab his wrist, using her semblance to sharply twist while she yanked back as hard as she could. Yet again he was shocked as his view turned upside down, slamming face-first into the floor as Ruby sat on his shoulder while pulling back as hard as she could in an arm-lock.
"H-how-!?" He strained out as he began to feel his ulna slowly fracture and elbow-ligaments tear.
"I don't like to go all-out from the start dumbass," Ruby chuckled through grinding teeth, "You let your guard down… so pay the price!"
"…You insignificant FUCK!" He screamed as a sickly yellow aura suddenly enveloped his body.
"…Oh shit, he has aura too," Ruby sighed as she felt him channel it into the muscles and bones of his arm, his fingers grabbing the hem of her shirt before he threw her clean off of him, right through the hole in the wall. First going limp to fan her momentum out, she sharply curled into a ball and shot her feet out with a quick spurt of her semblance, slowing herself and landing smoothly on top of a (surprisingly untouched) car, quickly looking back up at Erebus. He stood at the edge of the hole, his aura now gone but the memory of its twisted, evil presence was still imprinted in her mind. He visibly trembled with rage in his armour before he seemed to simmer down, tapping his mace on the floor and vanishing in a flash of fire.
"…damn," Ruby kissed her teeth as she wasn't able to find him among the conflict. "…no matter. Wouldn't have been able to beat him anyway."
…
Blake began to notice something about the Fang-members that she and Yang were doing their best to try and knock out. Where before they were fighting with fear and desperation on their faces, something about them now seemed more… feral. A fairly diminutive-looking mouse-Faunus had leapt at her and to slam overhead-chop after chop, her teeth bared as each slash grew faster and heavier. Parrying one of the overhead chops, she swiftly shifted Gambol into its pistol-form and shot at both her thighs, away from vital arteries and bones but enough to keep her out of the fight. Blake gaped as she barely stumbled, blood pouring from her wounds as she sharply looked up and gnashed her teeth together, swinging even harder and faster.
"I gotchu!" Yang shouted as she swung her arm at the descending weapon, the cheap-quality blade shattering against Ember as Yang threw a right hook at the Faunus' face, her fist breaking the mask and impacting right into her nose, launching her backwards and into the crowd of Fang-members. She shot right back to her feet, screeching in rage as she locked eyes with Yang, the latter flinching as the flash of pitch-black eyes staring into her lilac ones.
"No…!" Blake despaired as she too saw the change overcoming not just her, but the rest of the Fangs there. Some began to clutch at their heads, others having their animalistic features become more and more accentuated, while a few rapidly lost their sanity altogether, words becoming little more than rabid screaming and howling.
"Blake," Yang said gently as they began to surround them, "… they aren't going to let up unless we hit them really hard. Is it alright if I can…?"
Even in the heat of battle, the fact that Yang had asked her permission to go all out against the people she once considered comrades was enough to calm her.
"…Yeah. Yeah, it's fine. We won't have a choice anyway, but… thank you for asking."
"No problem," Yang said warmly before she looked at the Fangs not a trace of fear on her face or in her soul. "Might wanna jump." Yang's power exploded, hair igniting once more and the muscles in her arm burning with infernal power as she raised a glowing fist into the air. "Your strength is my own! Through burning adversity, watch me ignite! HELL ON EARTH!"
Blake leapt right before Yang smashed her fist into the concrete, the very ground beneath her exploding in a massive wave of golden fire that blasted the horde Fangs back, the closest ones flung into the air with their armour and collars destroyed, blissfully sent to sleep before they impacted the walls of surrounding buildings. Others were blown back into each other, yowling in pain from the concussive force having broken bones and burning their skin. Of course, that wouldn't be enough to keep them down, not for long.
"Yang, big one on your six, Bumblebee!" Blake shouted as she threw Gambol in its chain-scythe form, Yang deftly catching it and swinging Blake right at a chainsaw-wielding Captain, his large body and shimmering aura having been sturdy enough to withstand the majority of Yang's attack. Rocketing right towards him, Blake spun and used her momentum to cut right through the upward swing of his chainsaw and bashing him on the head with Shroud. He barrelled right through it to try and lash out at her abdomen with the broken chainsaw, Blake using her Semblance to phase straight down into a crouch, sweeping his legs from under him and finishing him off by hammering the blunt end of Shroud into his neck.
Two wolf-Faunus lunged at Yang, their mouths open and unnaturally jagged teeth bared as they aimed to bite directly into her throat until she stepped in hard, swinging a right-hook at the left one's face. Her fist shattered his jaw and sent chipped teeth flying, the momentum smashing the two Faunus together and throwing them into the crowd.
"I'm sorry," Yang muttered under her breath as she dove into the fray, her teeth bared and flames roaring from her body as she punched whatever was in arm's reach. She felt sickened at the bones cracking under her knuckles, the blood flying from lips and nostrils of every Faunus that her fists impacted, the feral screams and cries of people who were treated as nothing more than slaves. Fodderised. Made redundant. Her snarl grew wider, eyes glowing an even fiercer crimson as her strikes became sharper, faster and heavier, five of them latching onto her arms and legs to bite, stab and slash at her only for her to throw them off like dolls, grabbing them and using their bodies as weapons against the others, tearing and blasting their collars away. When a Paladin stomped over to her to try and crush her with a hammer-fist, she threw an uppercut right back, blowing its arm off at the elbow before dashing in and throwing a left hook at its knee-joint to completely cripple it, though not before it fired off a missile at a family of four trying to run away.
"NO-!" Yang screamed until a white blur appeared in front of them, a black glyph locked the missile in place an instant after, before the glyph turned straight up to the sky and released the missile.
"Run down that way for four blocks, you'll find shelter and heavier police protection!" Weiss instructed sharply at the family, "Stay together and don't get separated, alright?"
"Th-thank you miss hero!" The youngest child, a small blonde girl, looked up in awe at the heiress, said heiress flushing a bit pink and eyebrows going up in surprise for a moment before she regained control of herself.
"D-don't thank me just yet. Be a brave girl and lead your family to-!" Weiss paused as she quickly lashed out with the flaming blade of Myrtenaster, a wave of fire driving the Fangs back before she quickly switched to Wind-Dust and blasted a hole through their ranks, her eyes going wide at the sudden burst of power that she didn't input before turning back to the girl. "…And lead your family to safety, understand?"
"O-okay! I will!" She girl nodded, the rest of the family quickly saying thank you before they ran off. Weiss had already turned back to face the Fangs gathering themselves and looking at her with hatred in their eyes. She glared right back, inhaling deeply and slowly pushing more aura through her circuits, gritting her teeth at the instant squeezing sensation that gripped every nerve in her body. She had to do this slowly, sparingly, else she would risk damaging her auric circuits and potentially throw off her concentration. Worse, potentially lose the control needed to form stable glyphs altogether, regardless of whether her strange semblance allowed her to speed up the process. She felt a familiar presence land next to her and immediately scoot closer, Ruby already in her stance with her aura swirling around her.
"How's evacuation going?" Ruby asked.
"Think that's the last family," Weiss replied, "Only issue are the dumbasses who're in the upper floors of nearby buildings, recording of their scrolls or gawping at this mess. What about you and that Erebus guy? Did you win?"
"Nah, he escaped," Ruby kissed her teeth. "Would've lost anyway. He's got an actual aura. Easily beyond any of the Professors."
"You're kidding me," Weiss groaned as they charged into battle, Weiss' sword flashing out in a flurry of stabs propelled by small and compact glyphs while Ruby lashed out with her Kick 13 combination. Five Fangs dove at her, their combat-axes swinging for her head until she conjured a Glyph under them, sending them flying into the air right where Ruby had leapt up, her body spinning in a Lunar Phase to ping-pong them straight back down where Weiss altered the Glyph to point at the rest of the Fangs, blasting more of them into each other.
"You still okay to fight?" Ruby asked as she landed again and roundhouse-kicked one of them into the ground, "I can feel you forcing more aura out. You can hang back and rest, no shame in it."
"As if!" Weiss barked a laugh as she locked blades with one, briefly allowing him to push down on her with his brutish strength before she swiftly pivoted off to the side, unbalancing him as she struck hard in the temple with the pommel of her blade, slashing the collar from his neck a moment later. "Seems a good deal of the Fang are starting to focus on us now anyway. Bunching them up in the centre of the plaza is working just fine for us, and it'd be safer to keep their attention away from civilians regardless of how far they've run."
"Alright then, but-!" Ruby paused as she ducked under a stab at her eye, a compact left-straight smashing a Fang's nose through his warping aura, her right elbow shattering his jaw, a left knee fracturing his hip before she finished him off with a leg-sweep and side-kick to his chest, sending him careening into and through a nearby tree. "But it'd be best if we had backup. Vale Police ain't exactly helping, and Atlan Military won't be here for the next while."
"Tell me about it," Weiss sighed as she backstepped with Ruby into the very centre of the plaza, a slight marble rise in the floor, Yang and Blake landing with them a moment later.
"Wow, Weiss is actually bantering during a battle," Yang chuckled after taking a breath.
"The end-times must truly be coming," Blake followed up with a little smile of her own.
"Oh shut it, the lot of you," Weiss bit back, though her little smirk was evidence enough of her enjoyment. There was a lull in the battle, Team RWBY back-to-back as they stared down the swarm of Fangs surrounding them, growling, snarling and circling them like predators yet not jumping in just yet. "…there's more here than on the train."
"…you betting Erebus and his teleportation fuckery?" Yang asked to nobody in particular.
"Would make sense," Blake agreed, "But I think this is the last of them, for now at least, otherwise he'd be throwing much more at us."
"Then let's keep this pace up," Ruby said, "We fight back-to-back whenever we can, draw them in and wear them down!"
"It almost sounds like you're struggling!" A voice said from above, Ruby rolling her eyes but unable to supress a massive grin as she and everyone else looked up and Pyrrha Nikos, the Champion casually sitting on her floating shield as she looked down at Ruby with a playful grin of her own.
"Oh bite me chump," Ruby snipped back, "…it's good to see you though. Where's…?"
Pyrrha just grinned wider and pointed up above where the majority of the Fangs were, RWBY looking just in time to see and hear an electric-pink blur of hooting delight dive headfirst into the army, exploding in a clap of thunder and lightning. Gunfire from the rooftops followed soon after, Ruby seeing Ren strafing and providing support for the hammer-happy Nora. A final familiar figure in jeans and shoddy white armour landed in a roll that seemed rather smooth in front of Ruby, already on his feet and barking out orders.
"Ren, get down on ground level!" Jaune shouted as he drew his sword, "We need to keep the Fang distracted but don't just stay on one area! Split their attention and keep them away from any civilian-populated buildings! Pyrrha, carve a path through them and team up with Nora!"
She wordlessly raised her sword, Ruby feeling the wave of her aura wash over her as the Champion began to pull with her semblance, every piece of scrap metal that wasn't bolted to the floor or on a person congealing around her blade to form a misshapen cleaver easily over six feet tall, her shield floating to lock onto her back as she gripped the pseudo-ultra-greatsword with both hands. Bronze aura whirled around her body, her skin glowing with the ancient symbols of her culture, a culture of warriors and conquerors.
'It's like Outrage Amazon,' Ruby realized, 'But with this much metal at her disposal, the raw destructive power of it is gonna be insane!' Something clicked with her and she shouted, "A lot of them don't have aura, don't go too wild!"
"Don't worry," Pyrrha said firmly, "I won't need to go all-in with this to get the job done!"
She shot forward like a bullet, her body spinning as semblance-bound scrap-metal followed in her wake, lashing out like whips to knock away and knock out swaths of Fangs, the attack looking incredibly similar to…
"…H-HEY, DON'T STEAL MY DAMN MOVE!" Ruby cried out. "GO AN' GET YOUR OWN!"
"IF IT WORKS IT WORKS!" Pyrrha cackled gleefully as she took down Fang after Fang.
"Dammit, we ain't getting outdone by you!" Ruby cried, the morale of RWBY having soared at their backup. "Team RWBY, LET'S LIGHT THIS PLACE UP!"
"HOO-RAH SIS!" Yang roared as she smashed her fists together. Blake and Weiss summarily sighed, though their confident smiles were clear to see as RWBY and JNPR fought together. Yang and Nora were absolute tanks, both of them blasting through score after score of Fangs. Blake and Ren were like dancers, not perfectly timed with each other but their similar styles easily allowing them to play off the other with a mix of acrobatic blades and bullets. Weiss and Jaune were the most surprising, the former's gracefulness complimenting the latter's rigidity, Jaune using only the most basic of techniques to cover Weiss' back yet hitting with shocking effectiveness each and every time, other times safely restoring her aura and stamina with his own. Pyrrha and Ruby were blurs of crimson and steel, every Fang who attempted to engage them knocked down and out one by one with he combination of superior skill and precision. In under fifteen minutes, all of the Fang and their forces were taken down, all injured but not a single death.
"… ground level clear!" Ruby shouted, her and Pyrrha falling onto their backsides to catch their breath. "See anything from up there Weiss!?"
"All clear from up here." Weiss confirmed as she hopped down from her Glyph, "I think I saw some of the professors holding the wider perimeter and taking care of people."
"That's greeeaaat," Ruby sighed as she leaned on Pyrrha, the older girl smiling as she slowly fed Ruby some of her aura, "Really though, thanks for the backup. Things were starting to look a bit cagey."
"Just pulling my weight," Jaune said evenly, "When we heard the call Oobleck sent to the police station we were working with, we made our way over as soon as we could. Figured something was about to go down."
"You came when you were called," Ruby nodded, appearing curt at first though anyone who could read her aura could feel the hint of respect humming within before she tiredly looked at the surroundings. "…clean-up is gonna be hell to deal with though."
"I think Miss Goodwitch will have that covered," Ren chuckled, "Besides, I can only really throw and break metal things, she can fix practically anything with enough concentration. Wonder if she can do the same with wounds though…"
"…huh. Thoughts for another time," Ruby waved off as she stood and looked at all the only Grimm-blood spread all over the place, not to mention the frustratingly curious civilians where were already coming back. "Anyone who's got fire-dust, let's start by burning all this stuff! And someone please tell the civilians to get back!?"
"Should've done that much earlier, Ruby Rose. Now, as you said, time to pay the price."
Her heartrate spiked as she hastily pivoted to throw a roundhouse-kick to her right only for a crimson pauldron to smash into her face and torso, Erebus' shoulder-charge smashing her right through a tree in a shower of splinters.
"RU-!" Pyrrha started, drawing her blade far too late as Erebus spun and slammed his mace into her hasty guard, her shield warping before being ripped in two, her body flung back into the wreckage of a car as the bones in her arm almost snapped clean in half.
"BASTAAAARD!" Yang roared as she flew at him, her flying punch intercepted as his own right-overhand landed square on her dome, driving her face-first through the concrete where she lay twitching. Erebus clicked his fingers and reappeared atop the train in a flash of sickly flame right as Nora brought her hammer down where he once stood. Beside him however was a familiar figure, the berserker in white, blue and brass armour; and he was waking up.
"A-are you kidding me!? I hit him with everything I had!" Yang stuttered, her body still trembling as she pulled herself up. "I-I felt his damn armour cave in!"
"Broke his rib-plating though his Black Carapace too," Erebus nodded, "Lexus here may seem a typical Astartes of the World Eaters, but his above-average toughness is why I chose him specifically for this experiment. Heh, that madman Bile would disagree with the term, but screw him."
Weiss and Jaune twitched violently, their faces going bone-white as they simultaneously asked, "…did you just say Astartes?"
Erebus looked at her for a moment before everyone else did. They knew what that word meant. Or at least, they had an idea. He peered at them for a moment, his eyes burning black before he reeled away in shock.
"Y-you two…! Impossible! Th-they're not supposed to be able to have chi-!" He bit his tongue and shook his head, getting himself under control. "No matter. Another taste from fate, no doubt. Besides… not like you'll live long enough to interfere!"
He slammed the butt of his mace down, the World Eater floating up into the air as flame engulfed the Dark Apostle once more, every drop of blood in the area, both mortal and abyssal, suddenly leaping to the sky to hover over the berserker, condensing so much until it barely was the size of an egg. Even the Fangs who had been transformed by it had the abyssal blood taken from them, the changes they had undergone now vanishing as their bodies returned to normal.
"By this blood, grant this loyal subject strength! Blood for her Majesty! Souls for her Throne! Hail the Eightfold Path, Aborior Comesus Angelo!"
The drop of blood touched the World Eater's forehead and in an instant he was devoured by it, his body and armour swallowed whole before the mass began to shudder and tremble, a muffled hum from within slowly turning into a deafening roar, the soundwaves blowing everyone back and forcing them to close their eyes. Barely a moment later, the heavy thud of the new being landed atop the train, the steel crumpling under its weight.
It was easily eight feet tall, its armour, similar in shape before its transformation was pitch-black and rather plain-looking aside from the red symbols that seemed carved into it. Bloody chains wrapped around its bracers, its axe larger, the chain-teeth bigger and jagged. From its black helmet, the tendrils of nails protruded like a plume, the helm itself adorned with a sickeningly magnificent crest of bloodied brass, shaped like an 'X' with a two lines running through the middle and on the bottom that made everyone who saw it shake with fear.
"Rise and devour…" Erebus said, his voice pitched in a tone of utter pleasure.
Angel of the Eightfold Path
[World Eater] Astartes Angelo
"A success! Nowhere near the likes of Kharn but more than enough to begin instilling the necessary fear. Besides that…" Erebus said as his pointed his mace as Jaune and Weiss, "Kill the half-breed children!"
(Doom Eternal OST: Mars Core)
"BLOOD FOR THE BLACK QUEEN, SOULS FOR THE BLACK THRONE!" The Astartes roared, his voice shaking the very organs of both RWBY and JNPR before the Astartes disappeared, the train-roof he was standing on shattering as he reappeared right in front of Weiss, both axes raised to cleave her in half. The afterimage of Pyrrha's slash was perfectly aimed at his raised elbow, yet the horrid shriek of sparks and her wide eyes clearly indicated that the attack had done nothing. She barely managed to push Weiss out of the way before his knuckles exploded across her face as she tried to aim another slash at his stomach, her cheekbone breaking as she was sent cartwheeling through the air like a ragdoll.
"PYRRHA!" Jaune roared as he charged forward only to get grabbed by the face and smashed repeatedly into the ground, the sickening *BANG-BANG-BANG* of his body breaking through the concrete before being flung into a tree, his back curving around it with a meaty *POP* as the tree was uprooted from the ground.
"DEEP STINGER!"
The swirling red blur of Ruby smashed into his chest at full force, her Trigger and Advance active once more as she slammed into him with everything she had, Weiss even boosting her momentum with the help of a Gravity-Glyph. He barely moved a foot backwards.
"Oh FU-!"
His fist slammed into her stomach and she immediately felt her floating rib snap like a dry twig before he tried to drive her straight into the floor, her saving grace having been going limp right before he hit her and the quick use of her Semblance to be sent spinning off to the side. Pain blossomed through her chest as she righted herself and hovered just above the ground, a hand on her ribs to hold it in place as she siphoned as much aura as she could to heal it. He did not let her, already having moved in front of her.
'He's faster than m-!?'
She frantically Tricked, slipped and weaved backwards from his wild flurry of punches and axe-swings, each of them tearing up the floor and ripping through obstacles like paper, trying to lead him into some park trees in an attempt to slow his attacks down only for them to be just as useless a hindrance, splinters flying through the air. Every movement she made, Semblance or not, sent bolts of pain through her side, her breathing growing erratic and her blood boiling hotter and hotter. She was beginning to gas out, but there was something under there…
'Alright, you want some?!' Ruby's face twisted into a twisted grin as she planted her feet and drew her left fist back, her body utterly relaxed for an instant. 'COME FUCKING GET SOME! EXPLODING HEART: RELEASE FIST!'
Her body flew up past his own as he chopped down, his armoured head snapping back slightly in an explosion of red petals, Ruby already spinning as she launched another left roundhouse at his temple.
'RED RELEASE!'
His arm came up and blocked it smoothly, the ringing *BANG* flattening the grass of the park before he spun and aimed to sever her head, only for her to Trick down with an axe-kick right on his thigh. Even as it impacted his armour, his knee shot up and smashed into her solar-plexus, her vision warping as agony burned through her still-healing rib… not to mention the three new broken ones as she was sent rolling across the floor, gasping for air. He leapt and raised his axe with both hands, swinging faster than Ruby could recover only for Jaune to dash in raise his shield against it. She wanted to scream, about to witness him being cleaved down the middle, yet the deafening *CLANG* and screech of chain-teeth made her jaw drop. He was brought to his knees, arm shaking madly and sweat pouring down his face as his strength couldn't match up to the World-Eater's, yet he took it.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" He screamed back at the chainaxe, white aura bursting from his body as his muscles visibly glowed through his skin, his other hand tapping Ruby on the stomach as his soul surged into hers. She gasped as she felt her ribs pop back into place, healing in seconds. That was all he could do though, unable to restore more of her aura as the Astartes snarled and his boot lashed out into his armoured chest, the shoddy breastplate shattering as he and Ruby were blown further backwards. She was still getting worn out fast, but otherwise her body was completely fixed of all wounds, tearing through the air to catch Jaune before he crashed into a wall.
"How do you still have aura!?" She asked, "He freaking bent you over backwards on that tree-!"
She was shocked as he roughly shook her off with far more strength than she'd ever thought he'd be capable off, almost throwing her into the air. His aura was a burning white flame, roaring with fury and trembling with dread. She'd never seen him like this before. Hell, he should not have been capable of this kind of strength with such a short period of time training.
"The stories dad told me are real…" He said coldly, "…the fallen angels… the Traitor-Astartes…!"
"…you're getting fired up," Ruby noted, deciding to asking him about it after the battle was done and if they were still alive, "Good. Whatever's going on in that head of yours is making you stronger. We need every hand we can get against him but focus on healing. Can't have our healer taken out of the fight or we're all screwed."
"…Fine. Don't have to tell me twice," He nodded with a grimace before both of their faces went slack at what was about to happen.
Yang, Pyrrha and Nora were trying to face him down, Weiss, Blake and Ren switching out to try and hit him in his weak-spots whenever he was distracted only for their dust, bullets and blades to bounce harmlessly off his armour. Weiss tried to halt his momentum with binding-Glyphs around his joints while Pyrrha did the same to his armour, magnetically compatible as it was, but his sheer raw strength powered through it all, ripping through glyphs like brittle glass to charge at Weiss swing at her neck, the Heiress barely ducking under to stab at his hip with no effect.
"Oh NO YOU DON'T BUDDY!" Nora bellowed as she absorbed the electric charge from her Lightning-Dust in her pouch, her hair raising up as she brought the hammer down on his thigh in a shower of sparks. Again, no effect. He lashed out with a back-kick that broke her nose before spinning and slamming a lariat into her throat to send her spinning head over heels on the spot. Pyrrha shot up and descended with a semblance-propelled chop at his shoulder, putting all her weight, power and momentum into the cut only for him to swing a wild uppercut into sternum, the air knocked out of her bruised lungs as she was practically speared on his fist before he grabbed her by the leg and flung her through a building.
"I AM THE EIGHTFOLD PA-!"
"Just SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Yang and Weiss roared as the latter blasted forward with a row of Gravity-Glyphs to try and run him through the liver with Myrtenaster at full speed, Yang throwing a tight right hook at his stomach. Nothing. His open palm cracked across Weiss' face, her body crashing into a car as her eyes threatened to roll up into her head.
"W-!"
The momentary distraction cost her, the rush of air descending upon her making her blood run cold. She spun and shot both open hands up, catching the shaft of the axe where it met the blade too late as it bit through her aura and deep into her shoulder, blinding pain coursing through her body as she was driven to her knees, her hot blood fountaining into the air as he pulled the weapon away and hit her full in the face with his fist, jaw and nose cracking as her skull impacted the ground hard enough to bury her within. He didn't stop there, blow after blow smashing into her stomach and face over and over before she was little more than a wheezing mess, eyes hazy and blood pouring from her mouth, nose and wounds.
"Y-YANG!" Weiss shrieked hoarsely as she pulled herself out of the wreckage, desperately trying to think of something that could stop him. Even her most powerful Glyphs wouldn't do anything to stop him, and she wasn't able to use a slowing version of Time-Dilation on him. Myrtenaster, sharp as it was, did not have the raw power needed to even dent his armour. That would leave only one option, one that under normal circumstances felt wouldn't be possible.
'I can't let them die. I WON'T let them die! As Weiss Schnee, I REFUSE!' She gnashed her teeth together as she threw caution to the wind and overcharged her auric circuits, frost haphazardly crackling across her arm as blinding pain stabbed through her nerves once more and bringing her to her knees as a small Glyph fizzled to life above her palm. 'Judging the concept of creation, hypothesising basic structure, duplicating composition material… imitating the skill of its making, reproducing the accumulated years…!'
Again, more and more locks within her mind were slowly undone, something she'd begun to innately understand in her first fight with the Astartes, but once more she questioned what she was doing, feeling a few key things missing from true completion.
'A-a summon is a projection of something I've encountered, a projection of my experiences and knowledge of…' The pain lessened slightly as something else started to click. Glyphs were mere projections. What she was doing was something beyond that, the perfect imitation of an already-existing object. More than a projection, the perfect Trace.
"…I am… the bone of my sword…" Weiss grit her teeth, remembering every little detail about what she was trying to summon, what it meant to her. With her eyes closed, she did not see the Glyph spinning rapidly and pulsing with growing power, a Glyph lined with swords. "Trace…On!"
"…Your blood will be an adequate sacrifice," The Astartes said in a surprisingly even voice as he raised his axe, ignoring the screams of the others and their worthless gunfire pinging off his armour. "And your skull will be the first worthy to my collection."
"GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF HER!" Ruby screamed, her eyes bloodshot and skin pure red as she rained blow after blow onto him, roundhouse kicks, sidekicks, hooks, straights, hammer-fists, she let loose with everything she had and found that nothing was working. She was grabbed by the face, to blinded by fury to react as he smashed her into the ground right next to Yang and proceeded to stomp on her torso, again and again as she vomited bile and blood, giving her the same treatment as he did with Yang.
"…you too," He decided as he reached into his armour and pulled out a sort of ceremonial blade, a dagger in his hands and an arming-sword in a regular human's, raising both it and his axe into the air.
'…what is it with bad guys always going for the noses and ribs?' Ruby wondered hazily, a rattling cough escaping from her lips. Time felt like it was slowed as she watched him raise his blades higher and higher, his intent purely on her and Yang's necks. Her awareness has been sharpened to such a fine point, it felt as if she was taking everything in all at once. She felt her head fall to the side, her vision resting on Yang right as her sister did the same. Both of them were in extreme amounts of pain right now, but they couldn't help by smile wryly at each other.
'…what a way to go, eh?' Yang wondered.
'Would be…' Ruby agreed hazily, '…but I don't think dying's on the table just yet.'
'Fair,' Yang chuckled wetly, 'On three then?'
'Gonna hurt, but yeah, that's the idea,' She barely nodded, 'One-'
"YAAAAAH!" There was a blur of ethereal blue light that appeared out of nowhere, a bell-like *CLANG* echoing through the square before there was a crash of steel smashing into concrete. Barely able to lift their heads, the sisters' confusion turned to awe as they saw Weiss standing over them, Myrtenaster sheathed on her hip… while her hands clutched a staggeringly massive ultra-greatsword. Literally longer than Jaune was tall, it was rather plain-looking, a dull grey yet glowing with the faint icy-blue light of Weiss' aura. Even more fascinating was her left arm: up to the shoulder, it was entirely covered in some kind of grey scaled armour that also glowed with the light of her soul. She visibly hefted the blade to point at the Astartes before gripping it with both hands and getting into a ready stance.
"…if you are who I think you are," She spoke to him, her voice strained, "Then you will face justice for your crimes against all sentient life… and you will face my wrath for daring to harm the people I love! So COME AT ME, BASTARD SON OF THE BUTCHER-ANGEL!"
"UAAAAAAAGH!" He roared back in response, Weiss propelling herself forward and enhancing her speed further with the aid of a Time-Dilation Glyph and swinging the sword at him with all her might, blade crashing into blade with both evenly matched, if only for the instant of the clash.
'Can't drag this thing into the air,' Weiss realized as she rapidly dashed from place to place, gritting her teeth every time she swung it or made impact. The sheer weight behind each swing was having an effect, each successful blow equally knocking the both backwards, not to mention each swing being aided by multiple Propulsion-Glyphs, but Weiss was decidedly not well-versed in the art of the Zweihander despite the fast and heavy slashes. 'I just have to keep going! I will protect them!'
"Weiss…!" Ruby croaked as she struggled to sit up, her dwindling aura further sapped up by her injuries. Everyone was either injured or occupied helping someone who was injured. Even with Weiss having successfully pulled of a partial summon, it was clear that she was seriously tiring fast, each swing of the greatblade and the effort required to maintain its form draining her further and further as she struggled to keep up with the pace of the Astartes.
Ruby felt it again; her scar was burning. She felt her breathing become rapid and shallow. Panic was setting in now… no, it wasn't panic. Ruby could feel her mouth twisting into a grin, the same one she had as she tried to throw herself at Erebus. That same feeling was welling up in her chest and spreading through her limbs. Her eyes were stinging again, shaking un her skull.
Yang was the same, pain lancing through her body yet stoking something within her. More than the flames of her semblance, something in her very blood was humming at the situation they were in. Sure, her and Ruby's aura could heal their wounds, but having lost so much blood, they'd be unconscious in five minutes standing still. Fighting, they'd have three at best. The thought made her grin too.
"…need more power for this one…" Ruby wheezed.
"Yup…" Yang coughed as they both stood shakily. "...think you can… use them?"
"He's already an Angelo," Ruby nodded, "Not like… we've got a choice."
"Fair enough," Yang grunted as both her and Ruby also overcharged their circuits, their auras violently bursting and warping across their forms. They were almost brought to their knees yet stayed standing. But they both knew that simply forcing more aura out wasn't going to be enough. They needed more, something beyond their limits. Ruby's eyes burned, feeling as if molten steel was pouring from them; indeed, her eyes were spilling out fluid light as they had before whenever she tapped into them. But rather than let the feeling burst out this time, she gnashed her teeth and grasped it tightly within herself, within her soul.
'I-If I'm all tensed up, this'll rip me to shreds!' Ruby thought before she remembered Sun's warm voice, his encouraging face. '…relax.' And her body did just that.
Yang knew that all the damage she'd taken had pushed her semblance to its utmost limits, any more damage would simply bleed off from her 'filled tank' of stored power. Obviously, she'd just have to force her reserves to increase and improve her output. Black flames popped around her hand as she clenched it into a fist. It was stupid but worth the risk. In the past, she'd foolishly tried hitting herself to increase her strength, to no avail. Equal power gained, equal power expended. But what if the power-output was massively multiplied on impact?
"Black… FLASH!"
She smashed a hammerfist into the wound in her shoulder, the ground cracking beneath her as black flames flew on impact. For a moment, nothing happened and she fear that all she'd accomplished was causing further blood-loss… until her flaming aura turned pitch black. Everyone who wasn't Weiss and the World-Eater stood still as pillars of black flame and silver light exploded from the centre of the square. It died down moments later to reveal Ruby and Yang looking…different.
Ruby's eyes were glowing a harsh silver, her crimson aura now containing petals glowing the colour of the full moon. Even the rose-designs of her Trigger contained pulsing silver petals. Stranger was her flowing hair, no longer containing her natural red highlights but now entirely black. Yang too had undergone a change, though arguably far more noticeable. The once golden fire of her aura was now burning translucent black, her eyes almost entirely red save for her pupils which looked like dark smouldering pinpricks. Most noticeably was her hair: much like her aura, the once golden locks had also turned into a mass of black fire, flowing yet dense. Finally were the ethereal horns that appeared attached to her forehead, curving upwards like jagged knives but ringed with gold.
Moonlit Omen, Ruby Rose
Black Sun, Yang Xiao Long
They both disappeared, reappearing right at Weiss clashed with the World-Eater, his axe clashing with her blade and forcing her to a knee as her arms shook. Yang was directly behind him, crouched low with her fist drawn back while Ruby was above, one leg raised high.
"Black Impact!"
"Lunar Fall!"
Ruby's axe-kick landed first right on the forehead of the Astartes, Yang's left uppercut exploding into his spine an instant later with a *BOOM*, the warrior bodily launched back and through one of the few intact trees, the wreckage of a burning car and into the corner of a building in a shower of debris.
"You okay?" Yang asked as she and Ruby helped Weiss up, the heiress gaping at both of them for a moment.
"I've… been in better shape," Weiss said after a moment, "And I'm certainly better off than you two… I think?"
"Hold that thought," Jaune said as he popped up, giving aura to the sisters and healing as many of the major wounds as possible before moving onto Weiss, a sigh of relief escaping all three of them. Though, it was clear why Jaune wasn't able to do much else: veins were visibly popping up on his paling, sweaty face, the strain of constantly going around and healing person after person steadily draining him.
"J-just gimme a sec," He said as his breathing turned a bit shallow, "I'll boost your strength-!"
"Jaune, give it a rest," Ruby said evenly, "You've been doing more than enough. With this…" She looked at her gauntlet-clad fist and smirked, something about the expression a bit unnerving, "We can win with this."
"Power-up or not," Blake said as she stood with them, "You might be able to knock him around, but it'll take all of us to really put him down for good."
"If we fail, then who knows how many civilians will die before the professors get to him," Ruby agreed, her tone getting sharper. "Weiss' weapon and my eyes are the best chance we've got of piercing that armour."
"So you make and opening," Jaune summarised as Pyrrha helped him stand, "And the heavy-hitters will literally nail her sword into it while supports try to immobilize him, right?"
"Right on the money," Ruby nodded as the teams saw him burst from the rubble, screaming bloody murder at them. "We've got one shot, so let's end this in one minute."
"Then LET'S GET IM'!" Nora shouted as they burst into action. Ruby and Yang did not know how long their newfound strength would last, feeling the unfamiliar and growing strains of keeping it active. Yang noticed that her power-output was insane as she outright brawled with the Astartes, her blood growing hotter and hotter with each blow she blocked and landed, bursts of black flames seeming to slowly heat his armour up. With every strike she landed, she felt huge amounts of power expelled from her body, yet with everyone he landed, blocked or not, it practically stopped dead in its tracks as every single ounce of force put into it was absorbed and multiplied within Yang's body, her teeth grinding as she felt her muscles begin to tear at its inability to both contain its power or withstand its expulsion.
"GIVE ME YOUR SKULL!" He roared as he chopped straight down.
"YOURS FIRST!" She screamed right back as she launched a full-body uppercut, "RISING BLACK DRAGON!"
Her knuckles made contact with the blade and in an instant, all the weapon's momentum was absorbed into her body before immediately being expelled out, his arm being knocked back and his weapon almost slipping out of his grip before her dropkick crashed into his chest, a thin layer of the armour warping as he was almost knocked off his feet. Yang immediately went into her signature figure-eight weaving, ducking under an axe-swing and exploding into him with almost feral left and right hooks, each punch sending him another step back even as he attempted to fight back, a final right hook melting off and tearing through a chunk of his armour. Ruby came in next, her attacks loose, fluid and vicious. A burst of silver petals punctuated each attack of hers, a straight-kick to the stomach immediately followed by roundhouses to the thigh and ribs sent lances of moonlight straight through, punctures, cracks and precise dents left behind. It was strange to her, her mind a bit of a haze as she felt her body rely on the one thing that had always helped her: instinct. She certainly was thinking about what she was doing, but to a far lesser extent than normal, her limbs feeling as if they were moving on their own. However, with her body preforming well beyond its max in addition to this strange silver power coursing through her, she felt her consciousness slip more and more, her exhaustion rapidly building up. As he swung a right hook at her head, it barely touched her cheek as she relaxed and cartwheeled with the momentum to launch a left roundhouse at his temple, the *CRACK* of the impact punctuated by his head snapping to the side and his body lurching. She barely had time to note that his right shoulder was open just before the large pauldron before her body was already moving in a Lunar Phase, the buzzsaw axe-kick now gouging the armour out in that exact area.
His open hand shot up towards her face but she kicked off his chest and wrapped around his arm, instantly pulling and twisting as hard as she could. He roared as he raised his trapped arm to try and smash her into the floor only for her to let go the moment he swung down. Yang was directly below, spearing him with his own momentum by firing a right-straight into his descending elbow as Ruby came down a fraction of a second later to stomp on his forearm. There was a sickening, meaty *CRUNCH* as his arm snapped at the elbow, the weakening armour unable to keep it in place as it bent the wrong way before Weiss dashed in and roared as she swung straight up, black and crimson blood spewing into the air for a moment as the severed arm went flying as she slashed at his thigh at another weakened point in his armour, severing muscle and almost sending him to his knees. Pyrrha dove down from above to smash her scrap-covered sword on top of his helmet, Blake stabbing and firing at his other knee with her Colour-Up shots again bringing him down further.
"NOW!" Ruby screamed.
Nora flew in from behind, spinning her hammer before smashing it not into him but into the ground beneath his feet, Ren appearing out of nowhere to stab into the back of his right knee while Blake took his left to completely sever his tendons, literally taking his footing from under him as he finally crashed to his knees. Weiss thrust forward with everything that she had, the point of her blade breaching the armour and puncturing his skin, though stopping fast for a moment before Ruby and Yang struck the hilt at full power with their Red Release and Burning Buster respectively, driving it even deeper as Pyrrha aided with her semblance boosted by Jaune, even Nora hitting the bottom of the blade with her hammer to try and nail it in. Still, still the Astartes fought back, dropping his axe and gripping the blade with his fingers and forcing it back out of him. Ruby and Yang went to strike it again only for their powers to evaporate, the sisters falling to the ground gasping for air as their smaller wounds reopened, their bodies completely and utterly tapped out.
"N-no…!" Ruby croaked, everyone watching in horror as he slowly forced the blade out of his chest… right up until explosive Dust-rounds burst across his face, sending him reeling as a familiar aura exploded with power.
"KAIO-KEN!"
Sun Wukong was a blur of red as he practically flew across the square, eyes pulsing a primal yellow as he drew an open and glowing palm back roaring, "Scissors, Rock, PAPER!"
(Music End)
His palm-strike hit the pommel of Weiss' blade perfectly as it pierced fully through the Astartes' body and out his back, tearing through lungs, muscles and bones. The warrior convulsed for a moment, choking on blood and weakly scrabbling at the weapon that impaled him before his body went limp, a rattling breath leaving his mouth as he fell still. Everyone was frozen for a few seconds, almost not believing it before a collective cry of relief rose up from the teams, all now falling onto their backs as they too tried to recover. Again they fell silent as they stared at the corpse of the warrior, keenly aware of the blood pouring from the wounds they inflicted on him, the fact that they'd just killed him. Insane or not, regardless of the heat of battle, they'd just ended someone's life.
The scar across Ruby's stomach felt cold as she stared at the gaping wound in his chest as Weiss' blade vanished in motes of icy light. It was then that both sides of the coin were made known to her, and everyone else. They fought with their lives on the line and that would always be the case, but so too would the lives of their enemies be in their hands.
"Only the strong have the luxury of being merciful," Sun said solemnly as he sat next to Ruby, giving her his aura and relieving the pain burning through her nerves.
"…mm," Ruby hummed in agreement. "Which grandfather of yours said that?"
"Got it from a manga actually," He chuckled slightly. "You okay? Sorry for being late, Neptune and I had trouble getting away from the officers and through the crowds before we decided to take the roofs."
"Hah, you forgot about the roofs, didn't you?" She chuckled hollowly as she leaned into him, letting his aura was over her tired form. "But I'm… I'm okay. And don't worry about being late. You came on time… unlike the so-called Atlan Military," She noted as a familiar airship slowly came into view, the new Atlan Knight Units dropping into the square soon after.
"Better late than never," He agreed before smiling softly, "Glad you're okay."
He squeezed her shoulder gently, the gesture and his words slowly draining the tension from her body as she closed her sore eyes.
"Nep, stop flirting with civilians an' get your ass over here! RWBY and JNPR need some-!"
The air suddenly turned heavy with bloodlust, everyone's head snapping to look at the Astartes: every drop of blood spilled, by him and them, raced across the ground and shot right back into the wound in his chest, the symbol-crest on his helmet glowing red-hot as the biggest wounds on his body snapped shut and his armour stretched and warped around his stump to form a new arm and clawed hand, his body jolting up to his feet. Sun was the first to act, power bursting from his body as he shot forward with a middle-knuckle strike to his throat, the sharp *BANG* of the Astartes catching it making their hearts drop.
"I HAVE HER FAVOUR!" He roared as his knuckles exploded across Sun's mouth, the Faunus skidding back as blood flew from his lips.
"You're fucking KIDDING ME!" Yang shouted as she forced herself to her feet, Ruby doing the same and dodging as he picked his axe up and swung wildly, not a hint of exhaustion or slowing down as he barrelled right at Sun. The Faunus charged right back, intercepting the Astartes with an elbow to the stomach and following up with a backfist to the face, the Astartes' head snapping back as he grabbed Sun by the neck and smashed him into the ground head-first.
"Kame-hame-HAAA!"
Sun's open palms shot forward and a beam of pure aura fired point-blank at the Astartes, launching him straight up into the air as the AK Units fired on him, Dust-rounds peppering harmlessly off his heretical armour before he flew across the battlefield and tore through the AK Units like paper.
"HE'S GETTING CLOSE TO THE CIVILIANS!" Weiss shrieked as she tried to form more Glyphs only for her body to almost give out. As fast as Sun was, the Astartes was too far away to reach in time and everyone else too tapped out to reach him right until a blur of blue descended from the roofs and shot towards him.
(Que Music: Kitten Orchestral Melody, by Eliphas)
*CLANG*
The World-Eater was violently launched backwards and ploughing through dirt and concrete, his helmet and teeth having been shattered by a direct strike to the jaw. Standing in front of the crowd was… a man. An eight-foot tall man, dressed in black track-pants, grey and black sneakers, a grey face-mask and orange goggled covering his features and a baby-blue hoodie that for some reason had kitten-ears on top of all things. In his hand he wielded a rather intimidating weapon, one that at a glance looked very old but very well-kept, a 'spear' as tall as he was with a full rifle at the end of it, the blade of the spear (more accurately an oversized bayonet) gently humming with teal light. Despite his appearance however, something about his presence made Ruby relax.
"Um, hi," He said to the people staring up at him in awe, his Valic accent similar to Velvet and gentle voice rather surprising for someone so large, "Could you please make your way back to shelter? Honestly, I don't think it's safe for you all to keep coming back to an active combat zone."
The World-Eater bellowed as he locked onto the new arrival and launched himself at them, again crossing the distance as fast as Ruby only for the hooded man to whip around and through a sharp left-straight into his chest, almost every layer of the armour buckling before exploding into shards and sending him flying yet again. Ruby barely blinked and the man was behind the Astartes mid-flight, grabbing him by the back of the neck and sending him straight through the ground, a crater forming from the impact.
'He's even faster than me too,' Ruby realized, a little grin on her face.
The World-Eater leapt back to his feet and swung at the equally-sized man, axe-swings, punches and kicks that were as brutal as ever. The other man wasn't touched once. His movements were equal parts graceful and powerful, spinning his spear to block the axe with perfect timing, his free arm and legs moving precisely to parry and deflect every other blow that came his way. Right as another axe-swing raced for his neck, the man moved in and elbowed the World-Eater in the head, snapping it to the side before he began to spin his spear around his body in a dazzling display of dexterity despite being at such close range. The glowing blade cut through what was left of the heretical armour like a hot knife through warm butter, chunks of metal and gouts of blood flying through the air as the Astartes tried to fight back, screaming with rage as tendons and vessels were severed.
*BANG*
The shattering of the Astartes' pauldron followed the sound of a terrifyingly loud gunshot, Ruby having only seen a burst of light.
*BANGBANG*
Twice now came the gunshots, more armour shattering and blood flying as the Astartes rapidly lost ground, Ruby's eyes gong wide as she noticed that there were indeed two flashes of gunfire… in one specific spot each time.
*BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG*
'He's… he's firing multiple shots at the exact same area in one swing!? Hell, he's completely dominating him, weapons or not!'
His spear whipped low as he ducked under another wild swing, severing the Astartes' leg at the knee before rising up and cutting his axe-hand off in one smooth motion, grabbing the airborne weapon and spinning to gain momentum as he moved in and cut down with his axe. Dense muscles visibly tensed against the fabric of the blue hoodie as the axe bit into the armoured shoulder before cutting through him all the way to the hip in one quick motion, blood evaporating on the weapon to create a crescent red mist.
(Music End)
For a moment, all was still as he stood over the corpse of the Astartes, not even breathing hard and simply observing the slain madman to ensure he was dead. Afterwards, he huffed out a sigh at the cheering crowd and turned to look directly at the still awestruck RWBY and JNPR. Ruby didn't feel threatened as he walked towards them, though she turned to Jaune with a raised brow: a torrent of mixed emotions were swirling around the boy, frustration, awe, nervousness, indignation. However, it was clear that he recognised this towering warrior. Stranger yet was the emotions that she could feel radiating off of the warrior, fear, stern anger and pride chief among them, and though his face was covered she could feel his attention was directed mostly towards Jaune.
'Wait a minute…' Ruby thought, struggling to keep her jaw in place, 'There's no way…!'
"You've all fought splendidly, holding your own against an empowered Ast – a warrior strengthened by dark means," he corrected, the slip still noticeable to everyone. "Though…" A note of humour was in his warm voice now, "Be sure to double-tap next time."
"Yeah, well not everyone has someone there to teach us the basics," Jaune spat out of nowhere, the venom in his voice stinging the ears of everyone. "Some of us just have to figure shit out the hard way when the people they look up to for support don't give a damn."
"Jaune!" Pyrrha chided, she too shocked at the unusual anger aimed towards someone who by all accounts just saved their lives, the others beginning to pipe up before Ruby held up a hand to silence them, confusion written on their faces.
"It's quite alright," He directed towards Pyrrha before gratefully nodding at Ruby. He stabbed the butt of his spear into the floor as his hands went up to his hoodie, taking it off. Bit by bit, he removed the coverings of his head to reveal a face that was to put simply, divinely crafted. His skin was a beautiful shade of coffee brown, white teeth set in perfect lips, a jawline shorn from marble, deep dirty-blonde hair that framed his slight cheekbones with messy curls, and warm, sapphire-blue eyes. Those eyes were the final nail in the coffin for Ruby.
"…It's good to see you too Jaune," He greeted, his voice wavering slightly as he stemmed the flow of his emotions, Ruby unable to read anything but the barest flickers.
"Can't really say the same… dad," Jaune greeted sourly.
"…THAT'S YOUR DAD!?" Everyone shrieked.
"That's me," He greeted them warmly, "I am Diodes Arc, a genuine pleasure to meet the people who've been taking care of my son."
"H-how do you even know about them?" Jaune stuttered before Diodes looked at him with a raised brow and a grin.
"You forget that you've been sending letters to your sister Mordred of all people. Bless her, but you know that she's not exactly the quietest of people."
"…fair enough," He muttered before looking back up at him, "Dad, that… that was an Astartes… just like the ones in the stories you read to me and my sisters… are… are you…?"
The implication to the rest of them was clear. Why wouldn't it be? His unusual height, his physical abilities, his bearing all pointed to one answer. Diodes looked around and gently put a finger to his lips, shaking his head subtly.
"It's best that we do not talk about this in public," He said softly, "But rest assured, we will talk about it."
Diodes' pupils suddenly shrunk and he whipped around with his spear in his hands, standing in between the teams and the sudden crash of a body in the middle of the square; the groaning form of Erebus was weakly clawed at Cinder, the woman standing on top of his chest grinning triumphantly. The Dark Apostle's face looked bloodied and battered, but they could all see that the cuts were shallow at best, meant only to look bad. It took everything Ruby had not to leap right at them to try and end them both, and gauging everyone else's tension, even Diodes', she was not alone. The latter was actually infuriated, his face appearing to be a mild expression of annoyance hiding the razor-sharp rage that simmered beneath. Furthermore, he knew Erebus.
"The one responsible for this attack has been apprehended!" Cinder proclaimed loudly, her words followed by the cheers of joy and relief rising up from the crowd (they never learn, do they?).
"Erebus…" Diodes ground out, the very air around him trembling as he gripped his spear tighter and tighter before once again shutting his emotions off and standing up straight. The Dark Apostle was being restrained without any struggle, appearing to be utterly defeated at the hands of Cinder, yet the moment he made eye-contact he Diodes, he stood still, eyes going wide as he trembled. This was no fake, this was honest terror in his soul as Diodes stared down at him coldly.
"…Fackin' wanka'," He hissed out, the sudden change in tone (not to mention the words themselves) almost making Ruby laugh before he coughed into his fist and turned back to the group. "A-ahem, excuse my crassness," He said sheepishly, "Let's get you back to Beacon and get all of you patched up, an airship shouldn't be too far away. I'll stay behind and ensure that everything is alright."
Ruby's eyes darted between Jaune and Diodes, the former staunchly ignoring his father while the latter fidgeted with his spear.
"Come with us," Ruby blurted out, "We're gonna need you for our mission-report to Ozpin. Doc is still busy with other civilians so we'll need a senior Hunter to back us up."
"Ah, well…" He eyes flicked to Jaune, still ignoring him, "…I suppose you're right. On that note, my brothers should be arriving soon to further aid with the cleanup."
"Y-you don't mean…?" Jaune shuddered.
"NO! No, not those three, thank the Emperor," Diodes too trembled, the father and son looking almost exactly the same in their gestures much to everyone's amusement. "Probably too busy oiling each other up anyway. No, I mean Ma – Markus and Door. Well, as far as I know, Markus is arriving first."
"...Door?" Blake muttered, everyone else unsure if they heard that correctly.
"Huh. Well, it'll be nice to see them too," Jaune sighed, easily falling into stride with his father. Ruby watched them over her shoulder, admittedly intrigued. Jaune was still clearly annoyed by the presence of his father, but he was rapidly relaxing around him. Diodes was very much the same, his awkwardness fading away until he was simply bantering with his son.
"Your mother will be here too, along with your sisters," He grinned a bit wider as Jaune shivered, "And she is not pleased."
What did it all mean? Weiss' father, the World Eater, now Diodes, all of it… more and more, things were starting to unravel, and she wasn't sure that she was going to enjoy witnessing what happened when this puzzle was fully opened.
'You're going to have to kill again,' A voice whispered in the back of her mind, 'It's either that or be gutted open.'
"…" Her hand went to the cold scar on her stomach, feeling more than a little uneasy before she felt a hand on each shoulder, Yang on her left and Sun on her right. 'Yeah, but I'll get stronger and I won't be alone. With them at my side, we'll all be strong enough to never have to kill.'
'Hmph,' The voice scoffed, almost making Ruby flinch as she swore that it wasn't her voice, 'We'll see.'
Her eyes were sore again.
...
A lone figure sat on one of the roofs, his guitar at his side as he watched the proceedings with a knit eyebrows. He was rather petite, almost feminine if you glanced at his soft face, emerald eyes and twin-braided hair with green tips. With his forest-green hoodie and ripped jeans, he didn't appear to be anything more than a street performer.
"Looks like things are changing real fast," he hummed, his playful tone now subdued, "And she's going to act real soon. Probably a good idea to warn Morax and Baal, but it's pretty likely they already know. Still, if She acts directly, then it gives us reason to step in... but will it be too late by then?" He huffed and messed with his air, frustration evident on his face. "...so much for being a 'God of Freedom' when can't even fully help my people. At the very least... I was able to help guide the winds of the Schnee girl."
Fighting Rose
Volume 2, End
And so, we come to the end of Volume 2. If Volume 1 is meant to set the stage for the current world, Volume 2's job is to introduce some of its more hidden elements and establish that a big change is coming to the status quo.
Now, to ANYONE who's watched Warhammer TTS, it should be pretty obvious who Jaune's dad is and what that implies for the wider world at heart (I know that we only know him as Kitten but for the sake of not unironically calling a grown fking divine super-soldier Kitten all the time, I figured Diodes fits best. You should know why XD). To those who don't read on! Again, it ain't necessary to go out and look up stuff as I'll be explaining everything as best as I can (especially a lore-heavy property like Warhammer 40K), but I DO recommend watching 'If the Emperor had a text-to-speech device' on youtube if you're more interested on the lore of Warhammer 40K and what it might mean for the fic, the series is EXTREMELY funny, goes into the most important plot-points in a digestible manner and has a wonderful plot that gets built upon as the story goes on.
Onto Ruby and Yang's forms. Preeeetty damn badass right? I've been DYING to officially introduce them, though I'm most proud of Yang's new power out of all of them! Ruby's 'transformations' in other fics tend to focus in some way shape or form focus on the colour silver and ties to the moon, and that's unavoidable (and also really fkin cool). I wanted to give Yang something truly unique to her (at least as far as I've seen), and it was actually pretty difficult. Initial concepts of Yang WAAAY back in my first ever fic focused on the idea of her getting 'white-hot' while this fic went through stages of Yang going into a Super Saiyan 3-esque form as a result of forcing as much power out as possible. Then I got inspired by Jujutsu Kaisen's Black Flash technique and realized that there are SO many synergies and the first thing I ever thought was, 'What if Yang got hit with a Black Flash?' Granted, this isn't to say that Yang is the only person on Remnant who has a power-stockpiling Semblance, but the form is unique to her for... hereditary reasons ;D.
As for the last figure on the roof and the names he mentioned... well, it's likely that one or two of you know them, but no spoilers yet ;D. Now with all that said and done, thank you all so much for sticking by the story for this long. Currently working through Volume 3's plot to make sure everything lines up cuz... shit gets WILD, that I guarantee. Now, I love you all, and peace OOUUUUT!