Battle For Haven
A pillar in the lobby of the main building cracked as Oscar was slammed against it by a particularly powerful strike from Hazel. But the boy's Aura held strong.
"Oscar, you need to let me have control," Ozpin said in Oscar's head.
"No!" Oscar shot back
"This isn't your fight." Ozpin argued back.
"What does that mean? Why is he so upset with us?" Oscar all but demanded.
"He didn't tell you did he boy?" Hazel asked as he kept stomping towards Oscar, before getting intercepted by Qrow. "…I thought you looked familiar," Hazel said while fending off Qrow, "If I had known that you carried such evil inside of you…" the large man trailed off as he pushed Qrow away.
"What is he talking about?!" Oscar demanded.
"Go on, Ozpin!" Hazel shouted out while using his arm to block another strike from Qrow. "Tell him how you killed her!"
"Who?" Oscar asked now getting more confused.
"Gretchen Rainart was Hazel's younger sister," Ozpin started explaining, "She joined Beacon Academy to become a huntress despite her brother's wishes. She lost her life on a training mission. Hazel…holds me responsible."
"What?" Oscar questioned.
"So now you know," Hazel said as he figured that Ozpin now told the boy, "Now that you know, you can forgive me for what I have to do."
At that moment, the door to the hall opened, revealing a familiar beastly form.
"Wulfric!" Rex exclaimed at the sight of his Blade, "Don't come inside! There's something in this room that saps you of Ether!"
"I cannot let you fight on your own," Wulfric replied before charging at Hazel with his Megalance at the ready.
"Wulfric, no!" Rex shouted out as the Ether energy that makes up the blade of Wulfric's Megalance already disintegrated. "Is there nothing I can do?!" Rex cried out in frustration. Ruby was down, Pyra was unconscious, Weiss was badly wounded and out of all the Blades, only Poppi could fight.
"Rex, don't start yelling, but look above us," Azurda suddenly whispered into the salvager's ear.
Rex did as he was told and looked up to see a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Rex knew that the small Titan wouldn't point out something meaningless, so he squinted his eyes at the lighting system. Until he saw it. There was something within the chandelier, almost unnoticeable. "Is that it?" Rex thought, "Is that what's causing this?" With that, Rex hatched a plan. Picking up Pyra as much as he could, the salvager started moving the unconscious Aegis to Ren and Jaune who were busy tending to Weiss.
"It looks bad," Ren said, feeling Weiss' pulse weakening.
"And Dahlia's out of commission," Jaune added in while pressing on the wounds to hopefully stop the bleeding, but it seemed that it was useless. Then again, even if Dahlia was on her feet, Weiss was in no condition to use Arts. "Dammit, this can't happen again," Jaune said, tears spilling out of his eyes as another friend was dying. This time right in front of him, and he couldn't do anything about it. Only to then see a strange glow emanating from his hands that were pressing on Weiss' wounds. "Huh?" the blonde knight sounded out in slight confusion, just when Rex came to them and lowered Pyra near them.
"Jaune, Ren, please take care of Pyra for me," the salvager said while noting the phenomenon in Jaune's hands. "What's that?" Rex then asked.
"I…I think I just unlocked my semblance," Jaune said, now having hope of finally being able to save someone.
Meanwhile Ren who was still holding Weiss' hand to check the pulse looked to Rex. "What are you going to do?"
Rex gave a determined look. "I'm going to help our Blades," Rex said as he ran to the nearest staircase while idly looking to Lionheart who was barely fending off Penny, and then to Yang who was being intercepted by Mercury, despite the gray-haired teen having problems with just Poppi. The salvager ran up the stairs to the terrace before looking to the chandelier which was now closer thanks to Rex getting on higher ground. Rex looked to the chandelier where that suspicious looking thing inside of it, before glancing at Hazel's direction. The large human was now having a three-way fight with Qrow, Oscar and Wulfric. The latter of the three getting hit by an electric blast from Hazel's fists. The beastly Blade roared in pain as he was an earth Blade and therefore, weak against electric attacks. "Hang on guys," Rex muttered in determination before taking a running start and jumping off the terrace before firing his anchor at the chandelier.
This action didn't go unnoticed by Lionheart who found it in himself to see what the blue thing moving above was. Then he saw Rex reeling himself into the chandelier. "No…He knows it's there!" Lionheart shouted out before taking aim with his shield in order to drop the boy. Only for him to be tackled by Penny, which made his aim go off.
However, this shout also earned everyone else's attention. "No way!" Mercury shouted out, realizing that Rex was going after Watts' machine. "You littleARGH!" Mercury was interrupted when Yang took advantage of the gray-haired teen's distraction.
"Take that, jerkface!" Yang shouted out giving Mercury a shotgun enhanced punch in the face.
Hazel also winded up both fists to get an aim on Rex, only for Wulfric to pounce on the large human.
With the villains distracted, Rex was able to get on the chandelier and reach for the circular device inside. "Is this it?" Rex wondered aloud, "This is what's causing Ether to disappear?"
"Rex," Azurda said, sounding unwell, "Destroy it now! I don't feel good."
"Right," Rex said as he threw the machine down as hard as he could.
"NO!" Lionheart, Mercury and Hazel shouted out in unison. But it was useless, the machine hit the floor and shattered.
"Masterpon, Ether levels in the atmosphere rising," Poppi announced loudly.
"Does this mean, Tora's and Poppi's time to shine together?" the Nopon inventor asked, sounding excited. As if to respond, Poppi practically ran to Tora before forming the affinity link. "Yes! Poppi! Initiate QT mode!" Tora cheered loudly before pointing at their enemies with a confident look.
"Roger that, Masterpon," Poppi complied before being covered by what looked like several layers of red cloth in a sphere. "Initiating QT mode! Engage!" As soon as Poppi finished the last part the layers of cloth vanished. Gone was the mechanical child that wore a white beret and a red cape with a flower. Now replaced by what looked like a mechanical teenager in a maid outfit. The metallic pigtails were now longer.
"Whoa!" Jaune was able to marvel despite still focusing on healing Weiss. Ren was equally surprised.
Everyone else had varying levels of surprise. Everyone who didn't know Poppi that is, which Rex took advantage of by jumping off the chandelier right at Hazel's face. The large human surprisingly wasn't toppled, but Rex then jumped off of him before sheathing the Aegis Sword to his back. "Wulfric!" Rex called out and the beastly Blade threw his spear to Rex who caught it.
"This doesn't change anything, all we have to do is kill you all before the Blades get back up!" Hazel declared as he once again raised his fists to strike at Rex.
"Power Spike!" Only for Rex to thrust the Megalance at Hazel's chest before dragging it up a little, causing the larger man to stumble back. Which was instantly followed by Qrow switching his greatsword into its scythe form and pulling on Hazel's legs, causing the man to topple down. This was followed by Oscar jumping high and bringing the cane down as hard as he possibly could. All of this only seemed to anger Hazel who got back up.
"Why aren't the Blades getting back up?" Qrow asked as he used the shotgun to get a couple shots on Hazel.
"They all lost a lot of Ether from their bodies," Azurda replied from Rex's helmet, "It will take a few moments before they recover enough to fight."
Rex took a look at the bags around Hazel's legs, "Then we'll just have to get them to recover faster." With those words, Rex cut open the left bag which tore it enough to spill several types of Dust crystals on the floor. "Oscar, feed those to everyone!" Rex then shouted out.
"On it!" Oscar replied as he moved in to swipe the crystals before Hazel could even try to get his hands on them. The crystals included lightning, fire and water. Thankfully Oscar remembered that Electra, Dragunov and Otohime are each of the aforementioned elements.
"You're not getting away!" Hazel shouted out, preparing to charge at the boy.
"Scattershot!" Only to be pelted by missiles.
"Nice one, Tora!" Rex complimented the Nopon inventor who now wielded large gauntlets with cannons at where fists would be at while at the sides were very thick forearm guards. These were Poppi's QT mode weapons, Mech Arms. And the guards had moments ago opened to unleash a volley of missiles at Hazel.
"You're not serious!" Hazel shouted out in disbelief at getting blasted by an orange furball that was shorter than his knee.
As Hazel was now busy, Oscar was running to Dragunov first. "Careful, raw dust can be activated if you make a mistake," Ozpin warned inside Oscar's head.
"I know," Oscar muttered as he carefully broke off about half of the fire Dust crystal, before breaking it into slightly smaller pieces and then forced them one at a time inside Dragunov's mouth.
The mighty fire Blade's cracks glowed red briefly before he woke up with a start. "Who? What? When? Where? Why?" the fire Blade fired off rapidly before he was able to look around the field. Then he spotted Hazel facing off Qrow, Rex and Tora. Then his eyes fell on Yang who was fighting Mercury on her own. Dragunov growled as he stood back up, only to stumble a little. "Dammit." the draconic Blade cursed. The Dust restored his strength significantly, but not fully.
"You okay?" Oscar asked.
"I will be," Dragunov muttered as he felt himself drawing upon increasingly high amount of Ether from the air, "Where are the bitches?"
Oscar winced a little, but made a guess on who Dragunov was referring to. "They went down into the Vault."
"I see," Dragunov muttered before glancing at Oscar who still held the Dust crystals, Go and feed the others, Dragunov said before snatching the rest of the fire Dust. "Once I've recovered, I'm going to tear those fools apart." And then Dragunov started munching on the crystal.
With those words, Oscar moved towards Otohime and Electra. Planning to feed them next.
As Oscar moved to feed the aforementioned Blades, Lionheart was getting desperate. Things were going from bad to worse fast. First that boy figured out where the machine was, then that robot-like Blade transformed into an apparently stronger form, judging by how Hazel was having trouble now. And it wouldn't be long until the Blades recover, and then they will be grossly outnumbered.
Worst of all, the large Blade that was able to take on Hazel while unable to use his abilities was recovering thanks to Ozpin and his current host. Then he had to block another attack from Penny. "Get LOST!" Lionheart shouted before unleashing a barrage of flaming boulders at Penny, who was blasted backwards. The artificial Driver's Aura still held strong.
As all of this was happening, Ruby finally regained consciousness. "Uhh…what happened?" Ruby asked, looking around the new situation.
"Things are about to get better, that's what," Nora said, although she was still worried about Weiss.
Speaking of the former heiress, she was now stirring under the treatment Jaune was giving her. "Uhh…what happened?" Weiss asked, sounding weak.
"You got stabbed pretty badly, but I got you," Jaune said as he kept focusing.
"Really? That sucks," Weiss said almost jokingly. Although it was unclear whether she meant her state or the fact that it was Jaune saving her right now. Either way, Jaune smiled, taking this as a sign of Weiss recovering.
Meanwhile, Oscar had managed to feed lightning and water Dust to Electra and Otohime respectively. Although the water Blade had told the farm boy to give the remaining half to Aizen, since he was also a water Blade.
Which was why the nobleman Blade was now awake and glaring at Weiss. "Useless," Aizen said coldly as he stood up.
"What did you say?!" Exclaimed Jaune who heard the water Blade who apparently wasn't even trying to be subtle.
"You heard me, boy," Aizen replied uncaringly, "Or what do you call her current state?"
This kind of behavior angered both Jaune and Ren. "Weiss is your Driver," Ren said angrily, "Shouldn't you be worried about her?"
"You confuse me with Dahlia," Aizen replied, completely unphased by the glares he was getting, "But yes it would be…troublesome if Miss Schnee died now. But she is in capable enough hands from what I can tell." Aizen then said as he glanced at the glow that was going from Jaune's hands to his Driver. Then the nobleman Blade picked up his previously dropped Twin Swords and activated them, "In the meantime, I suppose I should make myself useful and help in cleaning the house, so to speak." With those words, Aizen moved to engage Mercury, seeing the gray-haired teen as a bigger threat between him and Lionheart. Hazel already got his hands full.
Speaking of which, Mercury kicked at Tora. Only for the Nopon inventor to block it with one Mech Arm before pointing the cannons at Mercury. "Pow Pow Cannon!" And then fired them, blasting Mercury away who now felt his Aura go very weak.
"Goldie! Poppi and Tora got this, you go stop the mean lady!" Tora said while giving a firm look to the blonde.
Yang wanted to still beat up Mercury, but realized that Tora was right, who knows how much time Raven had to open the Vault by now. So, reigning in her want for vengeance, Yang instead darted to the elevator shaft.
"Get back here?!" Mercury shouted only for Tora to get in front of him with a determined look. "I am NOT getting beaten by a dumb furball!" the gray-haired teen shouted in great anger.
"Then you will have to deal with me," said Aizen who brought out his Twin Swords to hit Mercury, forcing the teen to block them with his metal legs.
"You're not going anywhere!" Hazel shouted out, noticing what Yang was doing. Only for Nora, Ruby and now recovered Electra to get in front of him and stare him down. "Oh yes she is," Nora said with a savage grin.
But Hazel wasn't the only one to notice what Yang was planning. "No!" Lionheart shouted as he aimed his shield at the blonde, only to have to duck under a large fireball that the headmaster was able to see from the corner of his vision. Lionheart didn't have time to see who the culprit was before having to guard against Penny again.
"You're not harming my friends," Penny declared with a scowl.
Once Yang reached the elevator shaft, she jumped in. "This isn't over, asshole!" Dragunov called to Hazel before joining his Driver. Hazel let out a loud yell before picking up all the remaining Dust crystals in his remaining pouch and stuck them all to his arms. Then with a loud yell, Hazel smashed the ground with both arms, creating a shockwave that actually threw Ruby, Nora and Electra away. Although Electra blocked the attack with her weapon, resulting in her only being pushed back a little.
"Nora! Ruby!" Electra cried out behind her in concern.
"I'm okay," Nora said as she bounced back up. The attack created a multi-elemental shockwave, which Nora was able to absorb the electricity part out of.
"Me too." Ruby added in, ready to fight.
Hey! A shout from the doorway came, which caused the large Dust infused human to turn to the source. A large figure in rags launched themselves at Hazel with a large dark spear with a leaf-shaped blade and bronze decorations. Hazel raised his arms to block the massive weapon.
During the figure's dash, Jaune looked up to see the figure, only for his eyes to widen at the sight of the weapon. "Ren, isn't that-?" "Pyrrhic Rush VICTORY!" The figure called out as he delivered a rapid series of jabs all over Hazel's body, until the last jab launched the large human against a wall. Then the figure looked around the room once before his gaze fell on the elevator shaft. The figure then made a very long leap to the shaft right where Yang and Dragunov previously dropped down to.
Meanwhile everyone else stared in disbelief, especially Jaune and Ren. "Was that Talos?" Ren was the first to ask the big question.
"But…how?" was the next question Jaune asked.
Outside, Zeke and Mòrag were getting tired. No matter how much they beat down the Fang Drivers, they would be healed by the Drivers with healing Arts. And the frontline fighters wouldn't let them get anywhere near the healers.
"This is bad," Brighid muttered, noting signs of exhaustion on her Driver.
"Brighid, do it," Mòrag said as she tossed the Whipswords to her Blade.
This brought a smile to Brighid's face, "Very well…They shall taste the blue flame." And then she moved forward before unleashing Heat Haze. This time as a Special Art, which meant that upon her spin, a large wave of blue fire was unleashed upon the Fang Drivers.
The poor Faunus Drivers cried in pain. Even when some of the more defensive Blades tried to block with their barriers couldn't hold the attack for more than a few seconds.
"Lightning Force!" Which was followed up by Pandoria throwing a huge lightning from what looked to be a wand which finally knocked out most of the Fang Drivers and by extension their Blades.
With that, the Special Inquisitor and the prince were able to close in on the healers. They unleashed another healing Art before the Ardainian and Tantalese were upon them. "Overload Thunder Beam!" Zeke fired the Art. One of the healing Blades tried to block the Art. But the Blade in question was of earth element, which meant that it couldn't do block very long before the barrier shattered and the thunder beam then electrocuted the Driver.
The Fangs didn't understand it yet, but they were about to faze the true strength of Blades that granted their Drivers the titles Mòrag the Flamebringer and Thunderbolt Zeke.
"If you guys don't want to get hurt any more than this, then I suggest you stay down," Zeke offered while leaning the Big Bang Edge's flat against his shoulder.
"Like hell we are!" One of the non-Drivers shouted as he charged in with a sword. Only for Zeke to easily overpower the poor fool with one strike before punching the Fang in the face.
"You still don't get it!" Shouted Adam who had found Wilt and Blush and was walking towards them, "We would all rather die than ever surrender to a human!"
"Them or you Adam?!" Came a shout from a roof that was ways away from them. Turning to the source, Adam's eyes widened in shock at the sight of Blake on the roof.
"Blake?" Adam sounded out in disbelief as several Fangs with rifles aimed at the newcomer. Wait! Adam commanded as he took in the impossible sight before him. "You…You were supposed to be dead! Perceval killed you!"
Blake looked surprised to hear that. So, this was what Perceval did that allowed them to get here without Adam expecting it. "This isn't what's right for the Faunus," Blake then spoke to all the Fang members present, "Stand down now, and we can end this peacefully."
"No, we can't, Blake," Adam shot back with a smug grin, "And you can't stop us."
"You're right, I can't stop you by myself," Blake then said, earning a more smug look from Adam.
"That's why she didn't come alone." Came from the side, which revealed to be Sun and Wu, both of them twirling their respective weapons with smug looks. And behind them was a small army of Faunus that came all the way from Menagerie. Among them was Haze, the one antlered Faunus youth glaring at Adam.
"What?!" Adam exclaimed. Before looking to the other side to see Ghira with more Faunus behind him.
"Mòrag? Shellhead?" sounded out Nia who was with the Chief alongside Dromarch and Dagas.
"Nia?" Mòrag called back in disbelief, "What are you doing here?"
"Returning a favor, you?" Nia asked back.
"Nia, do you know these people?" Ghira asked, looking to the Gormotti girl.
"Yeah, they're…companions that I got separated from," Nia replied not feeling comfortable calling these two friends. Especially Zeke.
"Aww, that's cold," Zeke said melodramatically.
As this happened Adam was seething at this turn of events. "Make no mistake brothers, these are our enemies and we will not-!" Adam stopped himself at a spotlight being shined on him.
"Adam Taurus, this is the Mistral police," came from a loudspeaker on an airship which had an officer and Kali. It took a lot of convincing, but in the end the police chief of Mistral decided that the destruction of Haven wasn't worth risking. "You are under arrest, surrender now."
Now Adam was truly angry. The bull faunus focused all his anger on Blake who had jumped down from the roof.
"It's over Adam," Blake said firmly.
The bull faunus glared at Blake, "Then it's over for all of us." Adam said before pulling out the detonator for all the bombs they had set up and pressed the button all the while his subordinates cried out for him not to.
But to Adam's shock, nothing happened. Adam tried multiple times, but there were no explosions happening. "What are you doing?!" One of the grunts shouted out, "Trying to get us all killed?"
Adam replied by grabbing the grunt by the lapel, "I am making humanity pay for what they've DONE!" the mad bull screamed into the grunt's face.
"We sent someone to confirm your explosives," Blake then said as she turned to a seemingly random direction. Which turned out to be Ilia coming out with a bundle of wires in hand.
As Adam realized that his plan was foiled, he charged Blake. Adam then drew out Wilt to bisect, Blake, only for the feline Faunus to jump back while shouting, "Now!" And then Adam had a surprised look as something stopped his sword mid-swing. The first thing he registered was a black scythe blade made of dark energy hooking the blade from the front. Then he looked to the owner of the weapon and saw an amber eye with a cross-shaped pupil. After that, Adam felt two fists collide with the side of his head. As Adam was launched away by the two punches, Blake and Nox looked at each other. The dark Blade having a satisfied look as his pupil shifted to star.
"Was that enough," Blake asked her Blade.
"It is a start, my lady." Nox showed on his scroll. He dared to plead to get a first strike on Adam and his Driver was gracious enough to share it with hers. Hence the synchronized punch.
"Kill them!" Adam roared in anger, and the White Fang opened fire on their brethren. Some more reluctantly than others.
"You…will…end…here." Nox spoke up with his inhuman voice that earned a look of disgust from Adam.
"Nox," Blake said while placing a hand on her Blade's shoulder, "He's not worth it."
"Some things are worth the pain." Nox showed on his scroll. During the trip, Blake managed to get the reason her Blade never spoke. There were actually two reasons. The first was that Nox feared that Blake would find him disgusting. The second reason was a more simple one. Speaking aloud is physically painful for him.
"Oh, I'm not worth talking to, am I?" Adam asked, clearly offended, "You say that despite not being able to stay away" from the mad bull chuckled.
"I'm not here for you, Adam," Blake said, which seemed to anger the bull more, "I'm here for Haven."
"RRAAARGH!" Adam roared as he tried charging his former partner again.
Down in the Vault, Emerald, Raven and Vernal had gotten out of the elevator. The tension that was between the two parties was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
"Now hurry up," Emerald told Vernal as she looked to what looked like a doorway made of glowing fans at the end of a stone bridge over a bottomless pit. "I want the relic fast, then we can get back to killing everyone."
"Fine, fine," Raven grumbled as she motioned Vernal to go forward. With those words, the three approached the Vault door that held the Relic. With Vernal then walking towards the door. Emerald and Raven stayed behind, with Emerald rubbing her arms and taking a deep breath. "Raven…I have to ask, how do I know that you won't stab me in the back once the Relic is in the open?" Emerald asked, earning the bandit leader's attention.
"Why do you ask that now?" Raven asked back, getting curious.
"Well…it's just…You're a bandit and you kill anyone for your sick pleasure," Emerald said as she clenched her hands into fists.
"The weak die, the strong survive, those are the rules," Raven recited like it was the absolute truth.
"But what if the strong is defeated by someone who's weaker but smarter?" Emerald then asked as she was finally able to calm her nerves, "Doesn't that make the 'strong' weak?"
"What are you talking about?" Raven asked as she was reaching for the handle of her sword. Then her hand was suddenly yanked away to her side before the same was done for the other one. "What is this?!" Raven cried out, which earned Vernal's attention. Raven's second turned around with her weapons ready, only to feel something piercing her abdomen. Vernal looked down in horror to see five shadowy tentacles piercing through her stomach. Following the tentacles, Vernal saw that the monstrous appendages came out of Emerald's left forearm. While Raven's arms were held at the sides by two tentacles, while her legs were held by two more that sprouted out of the right forearm. The thief had used her Semblance to mask her attack on Raven first before attacking Vernal.
"I'm sorry," Emerald said to Vernal without looking to the now impaled bandit's direction. "I can't risk you trying to help her."
Vernal had a look of hate on her face before aiming at the thief that had Grimm tentacles sprouting around her forearms. Only for two of the tentacles to leave the pierced abdomen and smack the weapons out of Vernal's hand, before pinning the bandit woman down on the floor.
Then Emerald turned her attention to a struggling Raven. "I didn't want to do this," Emerald said with an expression of sadness and regret, "But you were planning to stab me in the back the moment I would have realized that Vernal was a decoy."
"What?!" Raven exclaimed, pausing in her struggling, "You knew? But- Lionheart!" Raven shouted the last part in anger as she realized how Emerald knew.
"Yeah, your brother sold you out and Lionheart told Salem," Emerald revealed, "I seriously didn't want to do this. I don't care about being a Maiden, I don't even really care about the Relics. But if taking this power means I can kill Ruby and prevent you from killing me, then so be it!" With those words, Emerald wrapped the fifth tentacle around Raven's neck and started absorbing the Spring Maiden's power out of her. Only for several incendiary shots and fireballs to hit the tentacles.
"Aargh!" Emerald screamed in pain of the tentacles being burned off, releasing Raven. "No no no NO!" the mint haired thief screamed in horror as she saw Yang and Dragunov having busted through the elevator gate.
"Well, well, well," Dragunov mouthed off with a grin, "What have we here? A treacherous piece of glass and a glass shard that pretends to be a Grimm."
Yang just glared at Emerald and Raven who was dropped down on her feet.
"How the hell are you here?! Didn't Mercury kill you?!" Emerald screamed. She just couldn't believe it.
"No, and he's probably getting his ass handed to him by the recovering Blades," Yang shot back with an evil grin.
"Wait, recovering?" Emerald asked in horror as she retracted the tentacles that had pierced the now motionless Vernal.
"Rex found the machine and broke it," Yang said with a grin.
"No…NO! I can't fail here," Emerald screamed in terror as the gravity of the situation hit her. If she doesn't at least get the Relic, then Salem will get her. That was all Emerald had time to do before she was encased in ice by Raven.
The bandit leader looked to her daughter with an almost sad expression, "Yang…don't get in my way."
"…Look just let us get the Relic and then I'll never have to get in your way again," Yang said, trying to be reasonable.
"…No," Raven said before creating a huge wall of ice to prevent Yang from interfering, "That should hold them." With that mutter, Raven ran to the doorway covered in glowing fans before touching it. The fans started folding out of the way, revealing a desert like area with a cobblestone path leading to a glowing blue object not too far away. "Vernal, thank you for everything," Raven said to her now dead subordinate.
(Play Xenoblade Chronicles 2 OST: Counterattack)
Then she sensed danger, acting on instinct, Raven dashed to the side to avoid whatever struck the ground at the spot she used to occupy. Turning to the new foe, Raven saw it was a large figure in rags, wielding a large spear.
The figure glanced into the Vault before turning to Raven with his glowing blue eyes. "I don't know what that thing is," the stranger said as he took a combat stance, "But if you want it, then that's all the reason I need to keep you away from it."
"Who are you?" Raven demanded. This guy didn't know about the Relics? Or was he just trying to play her.
"Someone without a place in this world," the stranger said before charging Raven.
As Raven and the stranger in rags clashed, Yang was nervously tapping her foot as Dragunov used his flames to melt through the ice. "Can't you hurry it up a little?" Yang asked, now worried about the guy that suddenly came from the elevator shaft, ran to them and actually jumped over the ice wall.
"Yang, I'm still not at full strength, with only using this much heat I can recover faster," Dragunov shot back before grinning. "Besides…I'm already through," Dragunov said, noticing how his flames were now blasting through. So, he stopped firing.
"Good, let's go," Yang said as she dashed through the new hole with her Blade right behind her.
The two ran into the sight of the stranger fighting with Raven. "Mom!" Yang sounded out, ready to go and defend her. Except Dragunov grabbed her shoulder.
"Yang, look." Dragunov said while pointing at the stranger in rags, "Look at the spear."
Yang looked at the spear which was moving quickly to jab at Raven. "What about it?" And she couldn't see it properly.
"That's Talos' Megalance," Dragunov said before shouting to the battle, "Talos! Whose side are you on?!"
This caused the combatants to pause. The figure in rags sighed before tearing the clothes off to reveal the familiar armored figure. Complete with the glowing blue lines around it. Except the lines around his hands were glowing red like blood.
"I'm on the side of Pyrrha's friends," Talos replied as he returned his attention to Raven who had wide eyes at what she was fighting, "Something that I remember team RWBY and the rest of JNPR being."
Yang and Dragunov also had wide eyes for a different reason. The armored Blade's Core Crystal had red spots on it, like stains. The two had seen this on a picture that was in Thauron's journal.
"He's…a Flesh Eater." Yang and Dragunov thought in unison.
Raven on the other hand was gritting her teeth, this guy wasn't a pushover and now her daughter and that Blade that seemed to have it out for her were also here. Worst of all, this Talos sounded like he was on their side, so she couldn't take advantage of a three-way battle.
(OST change: You Will Recall Our Names)
Back up in the hall, Hazel was officially screwed.
"Poppi Crushing Blow!" Because he just got hit by Poppi's special Art which was series of jet fueled punches. Complete with blasting with Mech Arms' cannons with each hit for good measure. Hazel stumbled back from the hit. But it wasn't over yet, "Blade Combo: Volcano!" And then the very thing did happen right under Hazel's feet.
Hazel was once again blasted off his feet and onto the ground. "This…isn't…possible," Hazel said with great trouble. Still standing up after all the damage he had taken to his Aura.
"Wulfric, you good to go?" Rex asked the beastly Blade who grunted in affirmation. Alright, let's go with everything we got! With that, Rex and Wulfric were covered by golden glow before Rex struck from the side, preventing Hazel from getting back up just yet. Then Rex tossed the Megalance back to Wulfric, who then delivered a series of powerful jabs at the large human.
"Taste…the power…" Wulfric sounded out as he brought his arms across his chest. The Core Crystal charging with power before uncrossing the arms. "Of Apocalypse!" Wulfric then fired a huge beam from his chest at Hazel who was launched through the wall next to the door all the way to outside.
Outside, the battle paused as the wall was blasted from the inside and Hazel was blasted out. The large human got back up with great effort. He was pretty sure that his Aura was on its last leg.
Unfortunately, for Hazel the ground beneath him had huge red cracks appear.
"Blade Combo," Wulfric sounded out inside the main building, "Mega Eruption."
And then the said eruption happened under Hazel's feet. Much greater than the one Poppi caused, which meant that Hazel was blasted some ways into the air, before he fell down, his Aura breaking upon impact. The large human tried to get back up, but halfway, lost consciousness. And without his Aura to fuel them, the Crystals on his arms stopped supplying power.
"What was that?!" Sun exclaimed at the sight of the now unconscious human with Dust crystals sticking out of his arms.
"That was Wulfric's attack," responded Mòrag who saw briefly what it was that blasted the human through a wall. Then she parried an attack from a Fang Driver who tried to take advantage of her momentary distraction.
"Wulfric is here?!" Nia exclaimed as she was in a power struggle against a Fang Driver with a Greataxe with the Gormotti armed with Dagas' Greataxe. "Does that mean, Rex is here too?"
"Yeah," Zeke replied right before unleashing another ULFS Max on a group of Fang Drivers. Some of them were saved by their Blades using their barriers to block the attack. "Along with some new friends we have made." The Tantalese Driver added while blocking an attack from a regular Fang that thought they had time to deal with him instead of the rest of the Faunus militia who had superior numbers. Not to mention many of the Fangs were hesitant to fight them.
"Really?" Nia asked as she switched to Dromarch and used Healing Halo to give Zeke and Mòrag a boost in health. "That kid has a real knack for making friends in odd places," Nia said with a small shake of her head.
With Adam, he had now drawn out Wilt partway with Blake and Nox preparing to engage him. "You shouldn't have come here, Blake. I've made some powerful friends," Adam threatened.
"Oh yeah?" Said Sun who walked in with a smug look, having switched to Wu's Trick Pole, "Where?"
Adam took out Blush with a shaky hand, the burns restricting his movement. "Tell me," Adam said through the pain in his left arm, "Does Blake have all her friends do her fighting?"
"Nah, this is a volunteer gig," Sun said while twirling the Trick Pole.
"Besides," Wu chimed in, "For someone who claims to have friends, I don't see anyone doing a lot of fighting for you."
Indeed, all around, regular grunts were getting on their knees and putting their hands behind their heads. While most of the Drivers had told their Blades to stand down. And it looked to be a matter of time before the rest of the more driven Fang Drivers would be taken down.
"You worthless bitch!" Adam screamed as he dashed at Blake who instead of Gambol Shroud, had Nox's Dual Scythes.
"Butterfly Blade!" Only to be intercepted by Nia who Adam couldn't see because of his temporary tunnel-vision.
"Headshaker!" Sun followed it up by giving a powerful smack at the side of Adam's head.
"Shellhead! Show us something nice!" Nia then called out to Zeke who instantly glanced to their direction to see Adam getting toppled down.
"Hehheee!"Zeke chuckled as he dashed while charging Big Bang Edge with electricity. "Stratospheric Thunder!" And then he slashed upwards, launching Adam into the air.
"Nox!" Blake shouted out, which instantly made his Blade crouch down so that Blake could step on his shoulders, before standing back up as fast as he could while Blake used that as a boost to jump slightly above Adam's level who was trying to control his erratically spinning body. "Black Maw." And then Blake unleashed the Art which was empowered by Nox's Black Predator now that Adam wasn't focusing on her. This maneuver caused Adam to fall back down hard enough to make a small crater. As this happened, Blake landed several ways away from Adam who got back up with a growl at Blake which was soon shifted to Nox who was still linked to Blake. "How dare you!" Adam shouted at the dark Blade. "It's because of you Blake doesn't obey anymore!"
"Adam!" Blake shouted, in anger at the mad bull's logic.
"What is he, a stalking ex or something?" Zeke asked, with a raised eyebrow.
"Something like that." Nia said, having heard the short version of Adam's relation to Blake.
Adam then charged at Nox while using the charge that he wasn't allowed to use earlier. His hair and red parts of his clothes glowed.
(Song End)
"NOX!" Blake screamed just when Adam unleashed a powerful slice at the dark Blade before anyone could even try to stop him. Except Nox's instinct screamed at him to dodge long before Blake shouted so the dark Blade bent backwards to barely let the slice sail past his face. Which meant that Adam had now wasted his semblance. But that didn't mean that the mad bull was done so he instead switched to trying to take out the Blade's face. Only for Nox to back away just enough for just the tip of the blade to barely graze his face. And not just the face, Adam cut down both of Nox's facemasks which made them fall off. Now everyone could see the dark Blade's true face. And it was actually quite underwhelming. Just glowing blue lips that had glowing blue lines going along his cheeks from the corners of the lips.
"So that's what he looks like," commented Wu just as Sun moved in to give Adam a Power Thrust at the back. As Adam stumbled a little forward, Nox decided to return the favor of having his face out to the world. He grabbed the bull faunus' Grimm mask and yanked it off.
"No!" Adam didn't appreciate it as he tried covering his face.
But this made him open for an attack from Nia who Adam lashed out at. Thankfully the Gormotti backed away the moment she got that hit on Adam. But this meant he had to turn to the direction of the others which meant they all saw his face.
(Play Xenoblade Chronicles 2 OST: Drifting Souls Instrumental)
"Whoa!" Sun exclaimed at the sight.
"Well that explains a lot," Wu also commented.
"So that's why hates anyone that isn't Faunus," Pandoria said with a sad expression.
Only Blake didn't react, for she had already seen it. There, on Adam's face was a brand that went over his left eye which had a red sclera and gray iris without a pupil. Making it useless. The brand was a rectangle which spelled "SDC" inside of it.
"Are you happy now?" Adam asked Zeke who had a slightly horrified look. The man had seen a lot, but nothing like this. "Does it make you happy to see my scarred face?! Knowing that somenone branded me like an animal?!"
"No," Zeke said simply, "Look I'm sorry that happened to you, but you can't hate many because of the actions of a few."
"SHUT UP!" Adam shouted in anger while Nox got back up, "Someone like you who hasn't felt pain in his life can't-"
"You shut up!" Pandoria interrupted, getting in front of Zeke with an angry look, "How dare you assume that my prince hasn't felt pain in his life?!"
"Pandy." Zeke sounded out, never having seen his Blade this angry.
"Look, man," Sun also added in," I get that some humans are shitty, some even shittier than others. But by doing this, you're no better than them."
"SHUT UP YOU FILTHY TRAITOR!" Adam roared as he charged at Sun with a look of madness in his good blue eye. "What does Blake even see in trash like you!" Adam shouted as he prepared to strike.
Then he felt a slice at his back. Blake had moved behind and used Shadowspin. The bull faunus lashed out behind only for Blake to retreat right next to Nox who looked scared.
"So that's what you've hidden from me," Blake said to her Blade before giving him a firm look in his eye, "No, there's more isn't there? Open your mouth." The dark Blade shook his head in response. "Nox…I promise you, no matter what, I will not find you repulsive," Blake said remembering the first reason her Blade never spoke aloud.
Nox held Blake's gaze in his lone eye for an instant, before opening his mouth. Despite her words, Blake's eyes widened a little. Turns out that the glowing blue lines aren't a tattoo, they were also his lips. And behind them, Blake saw the entire row of short sharp jagged teeth. Blake then took her eyes off of the monstrous teeth and looked at her Blade's eye again. Nox was terrified.
"It's alright," Blake said, taking one of Nox's hands, "I already figured it was something like this." She didn't lie, Blake had her suspicions ever since Nox's first scream. "But this changes nothing," Blake then said with a firm look, "You are still my Blade, it would be selfish to say otherwise after all you have done for me. So, please Nox. Help me now."
The dark Blade let out a single tear from his visible eye before nodding firmly as the Blade and Driver were covered in golden glow, signaling that their affinity had reached maximum. Then Nox reached for his eyepatch and ripped it off, surprising Blake. "Unleash…the Abyss…"Nox said before opening the closed eye. Darkness burst out of it, wrapping itself around in in smoky tendrils. Then the Dual Scythes that Blake still had unleashed the same darkness which wrapped itself around her.
"Nox…what is this," Blake asked surprising even herself by not feeling afraid of this darkness.
"By…unleashing…the Abyss…within…my left…eye…I have…activated…my…final ability…Abyssal Being!"
"I see," Blake said, still not feeling any different from before. But if it's a power originating from Nox, then surely he wouldn't use it if it was harmful to her. "Let's end this," Blake then said firmly, earning a toothy grin as Nox's good eye shifted to a cross.
(Song End)
As Blake and Nox had their moment, Adam's attention was grabbed by Mòrag who joined the fight. All the other Fangs have been subdued already and Adam glared around him, trying to find a way out. Also, Mòrag got separated from Brighid earlier for a moment, which forced her to resonate with Aegaeon's Core Crystal. So now, the water Blade that used to be Niall's was by her side along with Brighid.
"Trickster Style Super Art!" Wu exclaimed, having gotten his weapon back from Sun. The silver furred monkey Blade grasped one end of the pole, "Wind Dragon Lash!" And then proceeded to lash at Adam with the weapon turning into an eight sectioned nunchuk. Adam did try to block the attack, but even when he stopped one section, the remaining ones curled and struck him in an unnatural pattern. Even when he once parried the tip, the rest of the sections lashed at him by releasing a seemingly infinite amount of ether chain. This meant that Adam took quite a beating from Wu's level 2 Special Art. The bull faunus practically unable to defend himself.
"You can't be this strong!" Adam screamed as he prepared to attack with Wilt, only to realize to his horror that his sword had disappeared from his hand along with the sheath that had a gun.
"Huh. This is new," commented Wu who was holding both Wilt and Blush. "Haven't snatched someone's weapon before," the monkey added in.
"Give that back you Atlesian freak!" Adam commanded. Only to then be struck by something shadowy that ran past him. Actually, two such things. It didn't take long for Adam to realize that the shadowy things were Blake and Nox, the latter having what looked like a demented grin with his pupil in an X shape."…Blake?" Adam asked in disbelief at the determined, yet peaceful look, that didn't belong to her.
"Adam…It's over, whether you like it or not," Blake said with conviction.
"Welcome…Adam Taurus..." Nox was able to say with a blood thirsty grin that revealed his monstrous teeth, "To…the end…To…Final Nightmare!" The last two words being said by the dark Blade and his Driver in unison. With that, Nox and Blake charged Adam. Blake with one Dual Scythe in her right hand, while Nox had the remaining one in the left. Adam tried punching at Blake, but then the smoke covering the two expanded, covering a small area in it. Rendering Adam blind.
"Whoa," Commented Sun who was watching at the sphere of dark smoke covering the area, not allowing anyone to see what was happening inside.
"Look!" Nia then exclaimed as she, along with everyone else started to see holes in the smoke. Through those holes, they saw Blake and Nox attacking Adam from all sides. Sometimes taking turns, sometimes both at once. Until Adam was launched up and out of the smoke. Followed by Nox and Blake. Nox taking Adam's left, and Blake taking the right.
Adam saw the abyssal ninja and his former partner with the smoke that previously blinded him now being absorbed into the Dual Scythes, making the dark ether Blades bigger and, in Adam's mind, look like a pair of fangs ready to take a bite out of him. Which brought an emotion to Adam he had never associated with Blake until now, fear.
"Final Nightmare." Blake and Nox said in unison, "Jaws of Terror!" Before dashing through the air on the opposite sides of Adam, slicing at him and launching him some ways away from everyone.
With that, Blake and Nox landed. Blake let out a heavy sigh. While Nox placed his unoccupied hand over his left eye as the Dual Scythes' blades shrunk back into their normal size. When Nox removed his hand his eyepatch was back, sealing the abyss behind it. Afterwards, Nox also reformed his face mask, covering his monstrous maw from the world once again.
"That was awesome Blake!" Sun cheered for his friend who didn't look like she was willing to celebrate. Instead, Blake's eyes were on Adam who was struggling to get back up while clutching at his chest. Because of the searchlight that was still shining on him, Blake could see that Adam had a large X-shaped wound on his chest. His Aura was broken by the last attack and wounded him for a good measure.
"No…This isn't over!" Adam shouted as he then started limping away.
"You're not going anywhere," Sun called after the bull ready to charge in, until Wu grabbed his shoulder.
"Sun, look," Wu said, while pointing a little ahead of Adam. Perceval was walking towards them.
Adam saw his Blade walking to him. "Perceval? Finally! Kill them all while I escape!" Adam shouted as he pointed to Blake and the others who were unsure of why Adam's Blade chose to appear now. "Huh?" Adam sounded out when Perceval didn't make a move. "Do as I say!" Adam shouted before throwing a punch at Perceval. Only for the assassin Blade to catch the fist and squeeze it hard enough to make Adam cry in pain.
"No…more," Perceval sounded out before punching Adam in the cheek, causing his Driver to fall down on his side.
Adam tried to get into a sitting position, but he was only able to move on his back. "Perceval! What are you-ARGH!" Adam cried out when the assassin Blade stepped on his chest, right over the wound.
(Play Xenoblade Chronicles 2 OST: Desolation)
"Something I should have done a long time ago," Perceval said in slight anger, "Besides are you really that surprised it turned out like this?"
Adam cringed at the pain of Perceval's foot pinning him down, before he realized who it was that told him Blake was dead. "You…YOU LIED TO ME?! HOW COULD YOU BETRAY ME LIKE-ARGH!" Adam's beginning rant was interrupted by Perceval stepping on the wound harder.
"The fact that you ask that is good enough reason," Perceval said coldly, "Besides, haven't you lied to me constantly?"
"What are you talking ab-" "Blake abandoning you for her selfish whim? Blaming her about your pain? Was anything you told me true?!" Perceval shouted the last part, not wanting to hear his Driver's excuse.
"Everything I've done was for the Faunus," Adam argued.
"Was it, Adam?" Perceval asked, "Was anything you've ever done for anyone but yourself?!" The assassin Blade stomped on Adam's chest. "You didn't even tell me about that scar on your face." This time Perceval sounded a little sad, "Now I know that you would have become like this, with or without Blake."
Blake wasn't sure why but Perceval's words made a weight drop from her chest. Then her heart sank when Perceval summoned his Chroma Katana and unsheathed it.
"You were right about one thing, there are necessary sacrifices," Perceval said as he pointed the purple blade at Adam's chest, "Now it's time to make the one truly necessary sacrifice."
"Perceval no!" Blake shouted out.
"DO NOT STOP ME!" Perceval shouted, making Blake flinch. Then the assassin then switched to a softer tone, ignoring Adam who was now desperately struggling under Perceval's foot, "After tonight he will only grow worse. And even if he is arrested, he would find a way to escape and bring more misery and pain upon anyone that crosses his path. You know that I'm right." At the last part, Perceval gave Blake a sad look.
This caused tears to gather in Blake's eyes, because deep down, she did know that Perceval was right.
"Blake, this guy stabbed Yang," Sun reminded the feline Faunus. While he understood that Adam was someone Blake cared about and that Perceval helped them by turning on Adam, he just couldn't bring himself to think either was worth crying over.
"I know but-" "I'm sorry," Perceval interrupted Blake, earning a surprised look from Blake and Sun. "I'm sorry for hurting your friend, and I'm sorry for both hurting you and blaming you for Adam's state."
"Perceval…I-" "No." Perceval interrupted Blake firmly, lowering his Katana for the moment, "I don't seek forgiveness. I just want you to know that I'm sorry for the pain I've brought to you and your loved ones."
"Someone, stop him!" Adam then cried out desperately, "You can't do this!"
"I can, just as easily as you did to Sienna Khan and countless others you wished me to kill," Perceval replied coldly.
"He's lying!" Adam shouted as he looked to his subordinates desperately. Even though all of them were detained.
"No, he isn't," Ilia spoke up, "Adam killed Sienna Khan to become the High Leader. A plan I…supported." At the last part Ilia looked down in shame.
"More importantly," Haze added in from among the Faunus militia, "Adam ordered me to be killed because I asked questions. Questions that would disagree with his madness. I wouldn't be here talking if it wasn't for Perceval!"
"You were neither the first or the last back then," Perceval felt the need to say to the Faunus youth, and by extension anyone else that was here.
"You…you traitors!" Adam shouted, "Anyone who opposes me deserves death!" Then the mad bull started thrashing, even when Perceval added more weight on his foot.
"He…he said, Sienna was killed by a human," a detained Fang grunt said in shocked horror.
"You bastard!" Another shouted. It snowballed from there as the Fang grunts that knew the truth tried to defend Adam. Only to get yelled at by those who believed the cover up and didn't know about Sienna's death.
"Do you see Adam?" Perceval asked sadly, "This is what your rule would have brought to all. Misery, pain and division among your own people."
"What's wrong with that?!" Adam shouted, only for Perceval to once again point his katana at Adam's chest.
"The fact that you ask that is proof that you are bound by the chains of hate cast on you by the ones who did that to your face," Perceval then said, "Blake tried to break you from those chains and failed. Now, it's my turn to release you from your pain and anger, permanently." Then the dark Blade thrusted the katana straight through Adam's heart. "Goodbye Adam," Perceval said as he lifted his foot off of the shocked faunus' chest. Then the dark Blade walked away from his Driver and looked to a horrified Blake.
"I know he must have meant something to you once," Perceval said sadly, causing Blake to look him in the eyes. The yellow dots with black sclera that looked like some kind of optics. "But the Adam you knew was gone the moment you ran…No that Adam might never have even existed," Perceval spoke, "And even if you had stayed, he would have eventually abused you in ways I dare not imagine."
Blake then had a look that mixed confusion with horror, because in her mind it felt like…it was Adam speaking and not Perceval. Even having Adam's form briefly overlap Perceval. Except this Adam didn't have an ounce of spite or hate on his face. Just…a sad smile that also conveyed regret for all he had done.
"I hope that from here on out, you can find the happiness that was denied from you…Goodbye, Blake," Perceval then said before closing his eyes as his body glowed blue. And then his form faded away. Followed by an inactive Core Crystal clattering onto the cobblestones of the Haven courtyard.
Blake glanced to where Adam was stabbed and sure enough, he wasn't struggling and Perceval's Chroma Katana had vanished. Adam was dead and Perceval had reverted into Core Crystal. Blake knew she shouldn't. She didn't want to, but despite everything, Adam was someone she cared about and him being gone made the feline faunus break down in tears.
"Whoa, Blake," Sun said now looking worried as Blake fell down to her knees and cried. Then the monkey faunus felt a push on his shoulder.
"Make yourself useful," Wu hissed.
"What do I say to her," Sun said in small panic.
"You don't have to say anything," Zeke said with a supporting look, "Just be there with her." The last part was followed by a pat on the back.
That was all the encouragement Sun needed. "Blake?" Sun sounded out as he crouched down next to her. The girl didn't respond, just kept crying. Then Sun lightly embraced her, which prompted Blake to hug the monkey faunus and sob away into his shoulder instead.
While this happened, Nox had moved to inspect Adam's corpse. As far as the dark Blade was concerned, his Driver's tears are wasted on trash like him. But he also knew that saying that would not do anything to help, so he kept that opinion bottled up. Nox then looked to the stab wound at Adam's chest. The blood looked appetizing, but that would most likely earn even worse reaction from his Driver. So instead, the dark Blade merely moved his hand to Adam's face and closed the now dead terrorist's eyes. Then his gaze fell upon Perceval's Core Crystal. Part of him wondered what he would have been like if Blake had awakened him as her second Blade or something like that. Then his eye fell on something else, next to the inactive Crystal, a Scroll.
(End OST)
Back inside the Vault Raven has started using her powers as the Spring Maiden to the fullest. But she soon learned that Talos was able to absorb her magic and send it back at her through his shield. And when it wasn't the metal Blade, then…
"No one can survive Dragunov's flames!" Dragunov roared before unleashing Exhaust Nova from the awakened dragon heads. That's right, Dragunov was at full power once again. And his affinity with Yang had reached maximum. Raven grit her teeth before using all her power to create a huge katana of ice before she thrusted the tip at the incoming white flames. The resulting clash of hot and cold seemed to have dispersed the flames around, only for Raven to realize that the ice Blade was melting from the attack. Slowly but surely.
Yang meanwhile looked worried. Thanks to wielding Dragunov's talons she was able to even the battle with her mother, but it seemed that the blonde' s Blade was hell bent on destroying Raven. Yang, while she didn't like the woman that gave birth to her, wasn't sure if she hated her enough to want her dead.
"Impossible!" Raven cried out as she used everything she had. But Dragunov merely put more effort with a mighty roar of rage. A roar that covered the sound of several new cracks appearing on his stone body. Golden flames escaping through them.
In the end, Raven opted to getting out of the way instead of meeting the fire Blade head on.
"Dragunov that's enough," Yang finally said.
Dragunov did stop firing, but he also gave his Driver a look of pure outrage. "We're about to destroy this bitch! Why should I stop?!"
"Because this is pointless!" Yang snapped at her Blade which seemed to snap him out of his anger that was glowing gold in his cracks. A glow that soon shifted from gold, to orange, to red, and then it was gone. "Mom, this is pointless. Why do you even want the Relic?" Yang asked Raven.
"Because it will grant me a fighting chance against Salem," Raven replied back in annoyance.
"How do you know that?" Yang asked with an incredulous look, "You don't know what it does or how to use it."
"I will figure it out," Raven said with a look of conviction.
"And before that, Salem will get to you," Yang shot back, "You already painted a target on your back by becoming the Spring Maiden, imagine how hard Salem will try to get you once she finds out you have a Relic."
Yang's words seemed to get through to Raven who now had a look of realization. "But if you give the Relic to me then she won't care about you," Yang then said.
"…You don't want to do this," Raven said firmly.
"No," Yang replied, "But I'm still doing it." With those words, Raven started walking away from the Vault. "Mom," Yang then called out after Raven, causing her to stop. "…What happened to the last Spring Maiden?"
The black-haired woman turned to look at Yang, "Why do you care?"
"…You killed her," Yang said with a horrified look, "I can see it on your face. Why?"
Raven let out a sigh, "No matter how much I trained her. No matter what I said or did, she just wasn't cut out for this kind of life."
"So, you just killed her?" Yang asked, "Just like that?"
"I told you, she wasn't cut out for this, and with her powers she would have been hunted for her whole life," Raven said defensively.
"So, you decided that her life was meaningless and that you should be the one to hold the power, instead," Talos said accusingly, "You sound like Cinder."
"Who do you think you are judging me?!" Raven demanded from the metallic Blade, "And how can you even be here without a Driver?!"
"That's none of your concern," Talos shot back, "You did what you did for your own selfish lust for power."
"It was mercy!" Raven shot back in anger.
"Which is it mom?" Yang then asked, while giving Talos a pointed look, "Are you merciful? Or are you a survivor?" Raven opened her mouth. "No." Yang then said, "I'm done now. Just…leave."
Raven scowled at Yang who had already turned to walk into the Vault to get the Relic.
Raven then moved to make her own exit, only to feel a large hand grabbing her shoulder. "Yang may be done with you," Dragunov said with a heated glare, "But I'm not. I have many things I want to say to you, and even more things I want to do to you. But I will just condense it all into a single sentence; Only one good thing has ever come out of you."
"And what would that be?" Raven asked with a glare as her eyes glowed briefly with power.
Dragunov chuckled before turning away and walking away from Raven. Not deeming the bandit woman important enough to tell something so obvious.
During this exchange, Talos had moved to Emerald who was still imprisoned in ice. The metallic Blade raised his Megalance to strike at the ice block. But then his glowing blue eyes flickered green for an instant before he lowered the weapon. "Pyrrha wouldn't want this," Talos thought with a sigh before turning to the Vault where he saw Yang and Dragunov entering. Raven having disappeared.
Inside the Vault, Yang had reached the pedestal that held the Relic. It looked like a large lantern with a glowing blue sphere inside of gold metalwork and a handle on blonde picked up the relic. Then she was hit by the fact that her mother didn't just abandon her again, but that she basically told her to. She didn't want to cry over something like this, but emotions and logic rarely go hand in hand. Her vision blurred with tears as she fell to her knees and cried. So distraught was Yang that she didn't register the heavy footsteps of Dragunov approaching her. Not until feeling a large hand on her shoulder. Turning to look Yang saw Dragunov with a soft look that honestly looked weird to her.
"For whatever it's worth, I'm still here," Dragunov said as he gave a firm squeeze to Yang's shoulder.
"…More than you realize," Yang replied as she placed her unoccupied hand over Dragunov's. "Sorry you saw that," Yang then said as she wiped her tears. She wasn't exactly fine, but she wasn't near a breakdown, which was good enough for her to stand back up.
"Don't apologize, you stood back up," Dragunov said with a light pat on her back,"We should go, so that the others don't get stupid ideas like you being in trouble."
"Yeah…let's," Yang said, unable to hold back a chuckle. But as she and Dragunov then walked out of the Vault, Yang gave a questioning look to Talos who was waiting at the entrance now, "How did you become a Flesh Eater?"
Talos' eyes widened in alarm, "How do you know about that?!"
"I got a journal that mentions them," Dragunov gave the simple response.
"…This journal…does it mention how to become one?" Talos asked warily.
"No, only what they are," Yang replied. The journal mentioned that Flesh Eaters are Blades with human cells weaved into them, but it doesn't say how it's done
"That's a relief," Talos said, sounding very much relieved.
"Why is that?" Dragunov asked.
"Because to this day I…Never mind," Talos said with a headshake, "Now, could you tell me what's so special about that lantern?"
"You don't know about the relics?" Yang asked.
"No, I don't," Talos admitted.
"…It's a long story and I'm sure that everyone else would like to meet you first," Yang then said with a small smile.
"Yeah, it's been Xiao Long since we've seen you," Dragunov punned, earning a playful smack from his Driver. This just wasn't the time.
"Let's just go," Yang then said walking to the elevator.
"What about her," Dragunov asked, referring to still frozen Emerald.
"Leave her," Yang said with a small glare, "It sounds like Salem will want to have a piece of her later, now that she's failed."
"I like the way you think," Dragunov said and with those words they left Emerald to her icy prison for however long.
Up in the Hall, Weiss had been fully healed, Mercury got easily taken down when Hazel was blasted out of the building. Worst of all, for Mercury, all Blades have recovered enough to fight.
"Dammit! You weren't supposed to-Argh!" Mercury cried out at the punch he got on his face. Courtesy of Nora.
"You're lucky we aren't breaking your legs right now," Nora threatened.
"When Emerald gets back, she's gonna kill you all," Mercury said confidently, hoping that once she has obtained the power of Spring Maiden, she could kill everyone quickly.
"Emerald can't possibly beat us all, even if she somehow stole the Maiden powers," Roze pointed out, "It took Me, Ruby, Pyrrha and Talos to take out Cinder after all."
As soon as the reaper Blade finished saying that, they heard the elevator coming back up. Mercury smirked a little as he looked to the elevator. Only for his face to fall at the sight of Yang and Dragunov. "You!" Mercury then shouted at Talos.
"Hello, Mercury," Talos greeted in a smug voice.
"Talos," Jaune sounded out in disbelief. A disbelief which was shared by everyone.
"Master Talos," Joana sounded out in mild shock to her system.
But Rex and Pyra noticed something on Talos' chest. "He's…a Flesh Eater?" Rex said in amazement.
"A-what-now," Ruby asked, being snapped out of her shock at seeing Pyrrha's Blade in front of them.
As the three walked down the steps, Talos was glaring at Oscar, while Yang noted something missing from the room. "Where are Lionheart and that big guy?" the blonde asked.
"Hazel was blasted through the wall," Qrow replied as he pointed at the said hole with his thumb. Then his look soured, "As for Leo, he ran away."
"Why isn't anyone after him?" Dragunov asked.
"Aizen did go. He said he didn't need help," Weiss explained next.
Then Qrow decided to ask an important question, "Yang, what happened to Raven?"
"…Gone," Was all Yang was willing to say.
"And she just left the relic," Oscar asked in disbelief, still being in control.
"She was afraid of Salem too much to take it," Dragunov said with a satisfied grin. "What's going on outside?" Dragunov then asked noticing lights going on through the high windows.
"Rex!" came a shout from the doorway that surprised everyone, especially Rex and Pyra.
"Nia!" Rex exclaimed happily at the Gormotti who dismounted Dromarch and started walking towards the group.
"Quite a number of people you've met," Nia said, eyeing the people, her gaze briefly lingered on Talos. Which briefly made her face fall, until she focused back on her friends.
"Where have you been, Nia?" Pyra asked next.
"We worry about you," Poppi added in, still in QT mode.
"Long story," Nia said while Dagas was slowly entering behind them, eyeing the new people with small amount of disdain. "What are you guys doing here?" the Gormotti Driver then asked in return.
Pyra and Rex looked at each other before smiling. "It's a long story," Rex said with a smile. It would take a while to explain everything to Nia. Not to mention the Remnans wanted to know how and why Talos was here. The golem Blade was not looking forward to explaining it.
AN: There we go. The battle is over. Hazel, Mercury and Emerald have been beaten. Lionheart ran away with Aizen on his heel. And Talos has returned as a Flesh Eater. Next up will be vol 6. Although I will make a chapter or two first to wrap things up for vol 5 events. Then we shall see what new hijinks team RWBY JNPR and the Alrestians get themselves into. Until then, I will be first spending Vappu(Finland's laborer's day) at the cabin. Toodles XD
