Chapter 27) Off the Rails
A/N: Hey! I'm still here! These last few months have been… a bit much, let's say, but I'm ready to pick back up where I left off and carry on with my writing. So, without further delay, here is the latest instalment of 'RWBY Re:Mixed'!
Sprawled on her back after being bowled over, all Ann could do was watch helplessly as the ground gave way, sending Ruby falling down into the sprawling caverns below, alongside the Alpha Beowolf.
By the time Ann had gathered herself up and ran to the edge of the hole, the girl and the Grimm were long gone, one in hot pursuit of the other.
Winding dark tunnels that branched this way and that, potentially home to even more Grimm, and Ruby was alone and unarmed down there.
Ann needed to follow after them. She needed to go down there and help her student, save her, get her back to safety and get them out of here…
But memories of years gone by, of terrible dreams and of waking nightmares, kept her rooted to the spot for far too long.
She was a Huntress, and a Professor of Beacon Academy. She was not supposed to be frozen like this. She was not allowed to freeze. She had a job to do, people to save, students to show the way and ensure they survived long enough to take up the torch they all had to bear.
She knew all of this. Yet she still did not move.
Perhaps it was only a few seconds, or perhaps it was much longer, but Ann did not budge or react until she heard someone calling out for her.
She lifted her head and saw the other three girls making their way towards where she stood. She saw them stop, their expressions shifting into panic and alarm. She saw Yang stare at her younger sister's abandoned weapon. She heard all three of them erupt into panicked yelling as they ran up to her, asking questions faster than she could catch them.
She shook herself once more, and pulled herself back to reality.
She had a job to do.
…
…
…
Gunfire and yelling filled the air on a scale above most situations Ann had ever been involved with, dozens of people shooting wildly while she ran out into the open, trusting in her students to provide her with enough covering fire to keep her safe until she could reach the fallen Ruby and drag her back to the cave mouth.
Her trust was well-placed, and soon they were all sheltered behind a wall of ice. No-one was attempting to pursue them further, so they could safely withdraw and report this entire fiasco to the council.
But then Ruby asked her a simple question, and her answer turned out to be the final piece of the puzzle the girl had assembled in her head, and Ruby was frantically asserting the need for them all to move, now, and stop a potential massacre from being carried out.
Ruby, who had less than a minute prior been fleeing for her life. Ruby, who was injured and low on Aura and almost certainly running on adrenaline alone at this point.
Her teammates must have noticed this as well, yet they all agreed without complaint, or even a word exchanged between them.
She should stop this. She should pull rank on these four and insist that they fall back. They were in no fit state for something like this, and even if they were, this was not the mission.
But those memories, those dark dreams that still haunted her in her lowest moments… they made her freeze before, but now they compelled her to act.
Ann returned Ruby's weapon to her, and the five of them raced after the departing train, leaping aboard and preparing for one hell of a fight.
…
…
…
"Well, that doesn't look good."
Ann was in complete agreement with Yang's statement, as the five of them stared at the very large bomb sitting in the centre of the train carriage they had boarded. A crude device it may have been, mostly raw Dust and tangles of wires, but given the size of the thing it could almost certainly do some serious damage.
"I assume they have more of these in the other carriages up ahead?" Weiss mused.
"With how much Dust they've been gathering all this time, they probably have enough bombs ready to devastate Vale," Blake said, sounding like she was close to hysterics. "They'll kill thousands if these make it to the city!"
"Then they don't make it to the city," Ann said firmly. Looking up, she spotted an access hatch on the ceiling and quickly shot it open with Marigold. "Everyone out, now!"
In short order, they were on the roof of the train. Mercifully, there was enough space for them to stand up there without getting crushed against any rocks or decapitated by low portions or supports.
"Alright, so what's the plan?" Yang asked, raising her voice to be heard over the sound of the engine. "Cut each carriage off and leave 'em-?"
Before Yang could finish voicing her suggestion, the carriage they were standing on jolted suddenly, almost throwing them all off balance. Regaining her bearings, Ann moved to the front of the carriage and peered down… just in time to see the caboose decouple and release the carriage from the rest of the train.
At that same moment, a loud beep and several clicks sounded from beneath them, indicating that the bomb had just been armed.
"Jump, now!" cried Ann as she leapt across the widening gap and landed on the next carriage over, followed swiftly by the rest of the group landing behind her.
"Well, I guess they really don't want us on this train!" Yang yelled. "But hey, makes our job easier! One less bomb to worry about!"
Said bomb detonated as soon as Yang finished talking, destroying the rails behind them and tearing the carriage containing it apart. The roof of the tunnel gave way, as did the walls around the side.
The carnage receded into the distance as the train continued on its journey, but Ann could still make out something amid the wreckage and collapsed rock that caused her to pale and feel sick.
Movement. Dark figures, many dozens of them emerging from the holes that the explosion had opened up. She could make out Creeps, Beowolves, what looked like a small Death Stalker, even a King Taijitu…
The horde of Grimm filled the tunnel, and began to move down the track, following after the train.
"Are they insane!?" Weiss shrieked. "Are they seriously trying to lure Grimm to Vale!?"
Ann stared at the horde, watched as they chased behind the train. It was a nightmare made real. She was a child again, trapped in a cave with no way out and monsters coming to get them all. She was back in the Glenn, helpless as the air filled with screams and shrieks as the monsters tore her home apart and killed everyone she had ever known…
She was in Vale, her new home, now a ruin stained with blood, overrun with the monsters that had yet again come to take everything away from her.
Beacon reduced to rubble.
Her students dead at her feet.
A nightmare made real… about to come to pass.
"We n-need to s-stop the bombs!"
Ann looked around towards Ruby. The youngest and smallest of their group, who had only minutes ago been fleeing for her life, who was clearly injured and running on fumes, had a fire in her eyes that Ann had only briefly seen before.
"If w-we can get to the front of th-the train, w-we can stop all of it! But we still n-need to disarm the bombs to s-stop more Grimm from f-following us! We need to split up!"
Before Ann could respond, Ruby had already turned towards her teammates. "Blake! Yang! Y-you two go ahead over the top and get to the engine! The th-three of us will go below and try to dis… disarm the bombs before they detach!"
Ann saw hesitation on Blake's face, worry on Yang's, apprehension on Weiss'… but without any more words said, they all nodded. Yang and Blake began to run over the top of the train, leaping from carriage to carriage without pausing to look back again. Weiss began to climb back down to the base of the carriage they were on, with Ruby moving to follow her.
She took charge while I was standing around stuck in my own head.
…
Despite the grave circumstances, Ann actually managed a small smile.
You made the right choice, Ozpin. She's a leader, even if she doesn't realise it.
Reloading Marigold, Ann followed the other two girls down and into the carriage.
Lighting up a fresh cigar and taking a long, well-deserved puff from it as he relaxed against the wall of the train, Roman allowed himself to feel a brief moment of relief and calm as the repurposed engine began its single, final journey down the track towards their destination.
A destination that would soon see them plunged head-first into perhaps the single biggest fight of their lives, a gamble that he would never make under normal circumstances, even at his most desperate.
But these were not normal circumstances.
And this was not a normal job.
Nothing about this was normal.
You can worry about that in half an hour when we arrive. For now, just take this moment for what it's worth.
Roman was very good at compartmentalising. His life thus far had made that a valuable skill to have in order to maintain some semblance of mental stability in the face of all that he had to deal with. So when things got a bit too much for him to deal with, he could just push it all down and leave it for another time.
Future Roman would have a lot of issues to handle, but Present Roman could have some peace of mind…
A tug on his sleeve brough Roman back to reality. Looking down at Neo, he sighed and gestured for her to tell him what was up.
[The kids from before are on the train,] she signed.
…
"Wonderful," Roman groaned.
Weiss knew more than most about Dust and how to work with it, and thanks to what her brother had taught her, she also knew a fair bit about technology in general.
But as she looked at the bomb in front of them, she found herself at a total loss. Not because of how well-made it was. Quite the opposite: this… thing was such a mess that she was fairly certain simply nudging against it the wrong way would set it off.
I could try freezing it to render it inert, but that might cause a steam explosion if the Fire Dust still ignites. Pulling out wires at random is just asking for it to go off in our faces, so that's out. Removing all the Dust would take far too long, we don't know when it's set to-
The carriage shuddered, and the bomb began to beep and click. They were already out of time.
"Next carriage, hurry!" Professor Greene snapped.
Weiss did not need to be told twice. She and Ruby followed after the Professor, leaping the gap to the rest of the train and leaving the soon-to-be-blown-up carriage behind.
Weiss expected to find a third bomb waiting for them, probably just as crude as the other two had been.
Instead, they found the next carriage had a passenger aboard.
A familiar, frightening passenger.
"I see you are truly eager to die, little girl," the Lieutenant snarled. "And I am more than happy to oblige."
No-one and nothing else was in the carriage. It was just the three of them, and the hulking, chainsaw-wielding madman who had tried to kill them so many times already.
Said chainsaw revved to life as it was lifted into the Lieutenant's grasp and he took a fighting stance, his attention focussed squarely on one of them above the rest.
Ruby was hiding it well, but Weiss could see her leader and partner shaking slightly under his gaze.
Before Weiss could act, Professor Greene moved in front of them both, weapon at the ready. "You two go on ahead, leave this one to me."
The Lieutenant scoffed. "If you think I will allow any of you to get past me, then you-"
Weiss could only assume that Professor Greene possessed her own speed Semblance like Ruby's, because there was no other way to explain how she had managed to close the distance between the Lieutenant and herself almost instantaneously. Weiss saw his Aura flash several times in the span of a second as the Professor's knife slashed and stabbed at his torso, and she heard him bellow in rage as he responded with a powerful swing of his own.
"I told you to go!" Professor Greene snapped as she dodged the swing. "Both of you! Now!"
Tearing her eyes away from the fight, Weiss grabbed Ruby and pulled her along after her. The two ran past the duelling fighters, the Lieutenant too preoccupied with his opponent to stop them from reaching the door at the far end of the carriage and forcing it open.
Ruby leapt across to the next carriage and opened up the next door, stumbling inside just as Weiss jumped after her.
They found themselves in another empty carriage, no bomb or extra passengers this time.
Only two bombs? Maybe they had to leave the rest behind when we arrived?
Pushing that hopeful thought to one side for the time being, Weiss turned to her partner.
"Are you going to be OK?"
Weiss felt stupid the moment she asked. Of course Ruby wasn't OK. How could she be?
"L-l-let's just keep m-moving," she replied nonetheless. "W-we need-"
CLANG!
Weiss and Ruby both spun around to see that the door behind them had slammed shut, and standing beside it was a familiar girl with tri-colour hair and a parasol in hand.
Neo smirked at them and took a step forwards, twirling her parasol and cocking her head to one side. Her eyes flicked between them both, then her gaze moved past them to the rear of the carriage, towards the door that led onwards to the rest of the train.
A silent, but obvious taunt, and one with a very clear threat behind it:
'I'll kill you if you run.'
Weiss spun the barrel of Myrtenaster to select a fresh vial of Dust, taking her stance and staring her opponent in the eye.
"Together, Ruby?"
The sound of Crescent Rose deploying into its full scythe form was all the confirmation Weiss needed.
Neo's smirk widened ever so slightly, the colours of her eyes swapping as she blinked. She did not take a stance, merely stood there, casual and carefree as ever.
A few seconds passed as the three girls stared each other down.
An explosion of movement followed, and both Myrtenaster and Crescent Rose clashed with the open canopy of Neo's parasol, the dainty-looking thing just as impervious to their assault as it had been before.
Neo never stopped smiling, even as she pushed them back and the battle began in earnest.
Blake ran as fast as she could, leaping from carriage to carriage as she and Yang made a beeline for the front of the train.
We have to stop this. We can't let this happen. I can't let him have this! His war! His pointless revenge! I won't let you do this, Adam!
Was he here? Blake couldn't be sure. He could have already left for some other place, some other plan… or he could be waiting for them just up ahead.
He scared her. Terrified her. She could not deny that, not after what had happened that night after the rally when he had turned up in her life again and reminded her of all her worst nightmares.
But right now, as she and Yang raced down the length of this train loaded with bombs and weapons and soldiers all pointed at her new home and her new life, her fear was drowned out by an all-consuming rage.
I WON'T LET YOU DO THIS!
They were close, only two more carriages away. Just a little further…
"Rock!" Yang cried out.
Swiftly approaching them from the distance was a low outcropping of the rocky ceiling. Too low for them to duck under, and the walls of the tunnel around them were too close to the train to allow them to cling to the sides to avoid it.
There was, however, an access hatch on the top of the carriage they were currently on. Yang fired a shot at it and blew it off its hinges, and both her and Blake threw themselves into the opening just in time to avoid getting knocked off the train altogether.
"OK, guess we gotta go through the train properly from here on out," Yang grunted as she got up from where she had landed. "Let's just hope no-one gets in our way."
"That's my line, Blondie."
A voice that Blake had heard enough of to last a lifetime, that only served to make her blood boil even more. She drew Gambol Shroud from her back as she turned to face Torchwick, who was standing with his cane in one hand and a cigar in another.
"Y'know, we have really got to stop meeting like this, ladies. People are gonna start talking…"
"Get out of my way," Blake growled, holding her sword and sheath at the ready and staring at Torchwick with all her fury.
Torchwick just chuckled. "You think you can play the big hero now? Put on a little bow and everyone just magically forgets who you are? What you've done?"
Yang deployed her gauntlets and moved to stand beside Blake. "I am so sick of hearing you talk."
Torchwick's smile fell from his face, and his expression became cold. His voice lost its playfulness as he tossed his cigar aside and raised his cane.
"And I'm sick of dealing with all of you."
He fired, and Blake and Yang split up and moved to either side of Torchwick to avoid the blast. Yang's gauntlets released a volley of shots just as Blake unloaded half her magazine directly at her target.
Their previous fight that fateful night had proven to them just how skilled Torchwick was. He had trivialised most of their attacks, dodging and defending with such ease that it had almost felt like he had been taunting them at times. And he gave as good as he got as well, responding with devastating strikes and well-timed counters that had left Blake and Yang on the backfoot the whole time, even when they had both been fighting together.
This time, neither girl had any illusions about their opponent. They knew that if they were to have a hope of beating him, they could not afford to give him even a moment's rest.
Torchwick spun his cane to swat Yang's blasts away, but he could not defend against both assaults at once. He took Blake's bullets directly, his Aura flashing to absorb the damage as he turned to aim at Blake and retaliate with a shot of his own.
Blake activated her Semblance and pushed off her Shadow to close the gap between them, recklessly charging Torchwick head-on as he fired upon her. A quick parry with Shroud knocked the cane aside just enough to cause the shot to miss, but Blake still felt the heat of the firecracker round as it grazed her ear and exploded behind her.
Gambol slashed as Shroud sliced, both attacks blocked by the cane and countered with swift strikes to her shoulder and stomach, but Blake neither dodged nor blocked the blows. She just struck again and again, swipe after slash after stab after slice, her twin blades relentless in their assault of her opponent.
Defence was not a priority for Blake now. She had been defensive last time, and it had only served to allow Torchwick to slip past her guard when she wasn't attacking.
This time, she was going all in.
And so was Yang.
Yellow gauntlets and black blades assaulted Torchwick on all fronts as the partners abandoned all restraint and committed entirely to offense. The carriage flashed and lit up in three colours as three Auras were pushed to their limits absorbing blow after blow.
Yang's jaw took a direct hit, the heavy curved end of Torchwick's cane striking her hard.
Torchwick's arm was slashed by Gambol as he failed to fully parry Blake's assault.
Blake's leg screamed in pain as she took a hard counterstrike.
Yang was staggered momentarily by a powerful thrust to her stomach.
Torchwick was forced back by a kick from Blake.
Blake saw stars as her head was slammed into the wall of the carriage.
Torchwick spat up bile as Yang punched him in the gut.
Yang reeled from a counter-blow.
She hit back again.
So did Torchwick.
So did Blake.
And on and on it went, none of them relenting, none of them backing down.
Torchwick was more than a match for them both at once before, yes. But now, he was just a match for them both and nothing more.
It was now just a question of who could outlast the other side.
Blake and Yang continued their assault, heedless of anything else.
Someone was going down soon. It was only a matter of time.
Sidestep and parry. Duck and counter. Twist and thrust.
Against one opponent or a hundred, it made no difference. Ann dodged and weaved and struck back with every opening she gained. Aiming for the heart, the neck, the head. Aiming to finish her foe as swiftly as possible, then move on to the next. That was how Ann Greene fought.
But she had never faced someone as durable or relentless as this man before.
The towering, chainsaw-wielding White Fang Lieutenant took every one of her strikes and just kept on coming. She staggered him, even drew shouts of pain from him, but he did not slow down.
That chainsaw should not have been able to glide through the air as swiftly as it did. It should not have been able to match her pace, to clash with Marigold on equal terms. Yet the Lieutenant handled it like a simple sword, sometimes with two hands and sometimes with one, switching his grip and shifting his footing to answer her every move.
He forced her back with a horizontal slash that came close to grazing her stomach, and then closed the gap to follow up with a hammer-strike aimed at her head.
Ann managed to divert the strike with Marigold's blade, but it only bought her a moment's reprieve. He was on her again soon enough, turning and spinning to deliver a diagonal cut, sweeping upwards for her neck.
Her back was against the wall of the carriage, preventing her from avoiding the blow. She did not have time to move into a new guard stance either. Her only options were to take the hit and hope her Aura could blunt it enough to save her life…
… or use her trump card. Either way, she would lose a lot of her remaining energy.
She had a fraction of a second to make her choice, before the biting teeth of the chainsaw would make a different choice for her.
BEND.
Ann's Semblance was as powerful as it was costly and difficult to control, so despite how useful it could and should have been considering her preferred style of fighting, she rarely made use of it.
Whenever she did, she had to make it count.
With her mental command given, and with a payment of fully half her remaining Aura, Ann focussed her Semblance upon the weapon that was about to make contact with her neck.
As the teeth began to graze her skin, her command took effect, and in an instant the trajectory of the chainsaw was twisted around, its path bent and forced upwards, wrenched from the grip of the Lieutenant and forced to bury itself in the metal ceiling above them. The spinning blade jammed and seized up, and the mechanism powering the chainsaw shut off automatically.
'BEND'. A Semblance that used the power of her Aura to alter the direction of anything that came into contact with her body.
Since she could not dodge or stop the attack, she made the attack avoid her instead.
Make it count!
Ann wasted no time. Marigold was at the ready, and her opponent was now unarmed. A flurry of swipes and slashes cut into the Lieutenant's body, his Aura flashing again and again with every strike.
A few even drew blood.
I may be running low, but so is he!
Ann pressed her attack further, moving faster and striking with more force. This fight had lasted too long, she had wasted too much time on this single enemy. She needed to finish this now, and go after the girls to help them out.
Ann thrust the point of her blade towards her opponent's face, aiming for where his eye was hidden under his mask-
A hand grabbed her wrist, stopping her attack and immobilising her, and Ann realised too late that she had overextended and gotten reckless.
The Lieutenant's fist drove into her gut, forcing the air from her lungs and causing her Aura to flicker around her. Ann did not have enough left to use her Semblance again, and what little she did have remaining was about to break. She could not withstand another blow like that.
She did, however, have a single round left in Marigold's chamber, which was still pointed in her opponent's face.
The gunshot rang out in the space of the carriage, and Ann's last remaining bullet shattered the Lieutenant's mask. His grip on her wrist loosened slightly, allowing her to pull free and put some distance between them both.
Fragments of bone-white ceramic fell at the Lieutenant's feet. He lifted his gaze, and Ann found herself looking him dead in the eye for the first time.
He only had one, the other being a mess of scar tissue. His one remaining eye was a striking, almost silvery grey not unlike Ruby's, and it glared at her with open hatred.
Snarling, the Lieutenant reached up and wrenched his chainsaw free from the roof of the carriage. It roared to life once more, and he held it in a reverse-grip as he shifted into a ready stance, preparing to charge at her.
Ann took a ready stance of her own, one foot forward and Marigold held at the ready.
This next clash will end this fight.
Ann moved, burning some of her scant remaining Aura to boost her speed. A reckless choice perhaps, not one she would usually make, but given the circumstances, she felt that it was warranted.
The Lieutenant moved as well, dashing forwards and preparing to land one final blow.
One final exchange, two fighters meeting in the middle and executing their last moves.
The carriage lit up, and the sound of Aura breaking echoed in the space around them.
The slower of the two fell, blood pouring from their wound.
This battle was over.
Ruby stepped backwards, spinning Crescent Rose around her body and moving the shaft in time to intercept Neo's strike to her ribs.
The dainty, pastel-coloured parasol struck with a force and weight that just did not make any sense. Something so small and lightweight could not possibly be able to deliver blows with that much power behind them, even if Neo herself was truly that strong.
It made no sense, yet Ruby was staggered by the blow regardless, struggling to remain on her feet.
And all the while Neo smiled her little smile.
A wave of sharp icy spikes rushed towards where Neo was stood, but she didn't even spare it a glance before stepping and flipping up and over the attack, landing with perfect poise atop one spike before flipping off and landing directly in front of Weiss, kicking her in the chest and knocking her flat on her back.
Ruby quickly closed the gap between herself and Neo in order to swipe at her with Crescent Rose before she could deliver a blow to the prone Weiss, but once more she found her attack stopped dead as Neo deployed her parasol, its canopy acting as an unbreakable shield against the scythe.
Ruby was out of ammo, so she could not use her recoil boost to follow up with a counter. Instead she was forced to disengage once more to avoid getting kicked herself.
Weiss was on her feet again and beside Ruby, the girls standing side-by-side and panting from the exertion of their increasingly hopeless efforts to best their singular enemy.
And all the while Neo smiled her little smile.
We can't beat her. She's better than us. Faster and stronger and more powerful. She has no openings, no blind spots. Meanwhile, I have no ammo and almost no Aura left, and Weiss is probably running low as well after how many hits she's taken.
And even if we weren't exhausted like this, it wouldn't matter.
Ruby had nothing. She couldn't see a way out. There was nothing for her to latch onto, nothing to formulate a strategy around. Neo had them at her mercy, with a power at her disposal that Ruby could not comprehend.
I don't know what to do…
Neo stepped towards them both, slowly and casually. She twisted the handle of her parasol and drew it, revealing the thin blade concealed within.
She was apparently done toying with them.
Ruby lowered herself and prepared to block the attack she knew was coming, pushing aside her despairing thoughts as much as she could and focussing on being ready to act and respond.
Beside her, Weiss spun the barrel of her rapier, presumably preparing to switch to a different vial and try a different tactic. Ice hadn't worked, neither had Fire or Wind earlier, and Ruby wasn't sure that anything else Weiss had would be any-
CLACK-CLACK.
Ruby saw, in the edge of her vision, the barrel of Myrtenaster come loose, separated from the rest of the weapon and held in Weiss' off-hand.
Had it broken? At the worst possible time!? Could Weiss get it back in place in time to be able to-?
White light flashed around Weiss' hand, and flowed into the contents of the separated barrel.
All six vials began to glow at once.
Ruby's brain caught up with what she was seeing just in time to react as Weiss dropped the barrel and stepped backwards. Acting swiftly, she collapsed Crescent Rose into its more compact form and swung it like a bat, striking the falling barrel and sending it towards Neo.
Her little smile fell from her face, and her eyes widened and both turned white.
Then all six vials erupted with their individual elements all together. Fire, Ice, Wind and Lightning. Purple energy from Gravity Dust. Cyan pulses from Hard-Light Dust. All of it together exploded and enveloped Neo in a small maelstrom of energy, consuming her form and filling the carriage with smoke and noise.
The sounds of the explosion ceased, and the carriage became still. The only noise now was the sound of the train itself moving along the tracks, and the only movement was the drifting cloud of smoke left in the wake of Weiss' gambit.
"That w-was pretty… reckless of you," Ruby commented, partially to herself, as she began to finally come down from her adrenaline high now that the fight was over.
Weiss let out a breath and slumped, but managed to give Ruby a raised eyebrow and a smile. "Well what can I say? My leader sets a bad example."
Ruby would have responded to that, perhaps with a weak laugh or even a comeback if she thought of one, had she not instead spotted a glint of steel amid the dissipating smoke.
Ruby's body, exhausted and wracked with pain, moved on its own just in time to avoid the tip of Neo's blade. The narrow sword-tip grazed her cheek, drawing blood as Ruby had no time to even think of raising her Aura again.
Neo didn't look injured in the slightest. She didn't even have any soot on her from the explosion that had consumed her. It was as if they hadn't done anything at all.
And she was smiling. That small smile of hers, just like before.
She's… unbeatable…
"RUBY!"
Weiss yelled for her. Ruby saw her move, saw her start to run.
She saw Neo draw back her arm and prepare to drive her sword into Ruby's chest.
Ruby tried to move, but she couldn't. Her body would not move no matter how hard she willed it to do so.
Ruby Rose had reached her limit, and she had no more left to give. Not even the strength to lift her arms.
I never stood a chance…
And still, all the while, Neo smiled that small smile of hers, even as she was about to end Ruby's life.
I'm sorry everyone…
I wasn't good enough after all…
It was all-
…
Neo stopped. She froze in place, her blade halting short of Ruby's heart. Her smile vanished, eyes widened, and her gaze fell down at her own chest.
A long, blood-red blade had pierced her from behind.
For a moment, both she and Ruby stared at the blade skewering her.
Then she shattered, and her body vanished.
Wha-?
Was that an illusion the whole time!?
Blinking in shock, Ruby lifted her head to see who had just saved her life, and her eyes were met with a pair of familiar red ones.
Ruby's heart stopped.
She stared at the woman opposite her, clad in red and black and holding a long crimson blade, her dark hair a tangled mane that seemed reminiscent of feathers in places. And those eyes, those familiar red eyes…
Her sister's eyes.
Or rather, her sister had this woman's eyes.
"You…" Ruby breathed.
Raven said nothing. She stared back at Ruby, her expression totally unreadable.
Something grabbed Ruby's shoulder and shook her. She heard someone speaking to her from her side, but whatever they were saying was lost on her.
Raven Branwen. Yang's mother, Ruby's aunt, and her parents' former teammate and friend. A woman she had only ever seen pictures of, now standing before her without any explanation.
Had she passed out from exhaustion and was hallucinating some outlandish scenario?
"Ruby!"
Ruby finally registered Weiss calling her name and shaking her by the shoulder. Blinking, she turned to face her partner.
"Weiss?"
Weiss threw her arms around Ruby and hugged her, eliciting a surprised squeak from Ruby.
"You scared me half to death!" Weiss said thickly. "I thought she was going to… to…"
Ruby felt Weiss shudder against her.
I'm OK, was what Ruby wanted to say.
What she said instead was a mumbled "Sorry," as she stood still while Weiss continued to hug her.
"Ahem."
Weiss pulled back in an instant at the sound of their audience clearing her throat.
"Thank-you," Weiss said quickly as she bowed. "I don't know who you are, but thank-you. You saved us."
"You're not done yet."
Ruby stiffened as Raven spoke. She sounded cold, distant, and tired. So, so tired.
Raven turned and swung her sword, cutting through the air vertically and leaving a red line in the wake of her blade. An instant later, the line opened up sideways into a swirling mass of red and black.
"The rest of your team will need you now. Go through this and help them stop this train."
Sheathing her sword in the oversized sheath worn at her waist, Raven turned and walked into the middle of the carriage, stopping below the access hatch, which Ruby only now realised was open.
"This makes us even. Good luck."
Ruby moved forwards, reaching out towards Raven, a thousand questions on her mind. "Wait-!"
But she did not get to ask them. With wide eyes and an open jaw, Ruby watched in complete shock as the woman in front of her… changed.
It was almost instantaneous. One moment, Ruby was reaching out towards Raven… and the next, and actual raven was flying up and out of the open hatch, out of sight.
So many more questions formed in Ruby's mind from that sight alone that her brain felt like it was about to short out entirely.
…
"WHAT JUST HAPPENED!?" Weiss exclaimed.
CLANG.
The sound of a door opening drew Ruby's attention away from continuing to stare up at the open hatch to see Professor Greene staggering into the carriage, looking quite a bit worse for wear.
"I thought I told you both to go on ahead," she gasped. "Why are you just standing here?"
Weiss rounded on their Professor at once, her expression manic.
"We were fighting that Neo girl again and she was about to kill Ruby and then this lady with a red sword appeared out of nowhere and Neo shattered into pieces and then the woman opened a portal and turned into a bird and flew away!"
…
"What?" deadpanned Professor Greene.
"She…" Ruby took a breath. "She s-said it would take us to Yang and Blake."
Professor Greene seemed to notice the portal for the first time then, her gaze falling upon the swirling mass suspended in the air at the far end of the carriage.
"Well, do you think we can trust this mystery bird woman, Ruby?"
Ruby had no idea how to answer that. Could they trust Raven? Ruby only knew her from stories her parents and her uncle had shared on occasion. They never liked bringing her up much, if at all.
But they had never said anything especially bad about her… Ruby had gotten the impression that they simply didn't get along very well for some reason.
But if Ruby were being honest with herself? At that moment, the question of trusting Raven was unimportant to her. If Yang and Blake were really on the other side of that portal, and they really did need help, then that was all that mattered for now.
She would have to think about all the other stuff later.
"Let's go," she said, mind made up. "W-we have to keep going."
Professor Greene nodded. "Alright then, but if you don't mind, I'll go first."
With that, Professor Greene crossed the length of the carriage and stood before the portal, before taking a deep breath and stepping through the swirling vortex, vanishing into the mess of red and black.
"R-ready Weiss?" Ruby asked, turning to face her partner again.
Weiss knelt down and retrieved a silver barrel from the ground. It seemed that her weapon's individual parts were impressively durable to have withstood the explosion earlier, and the barrel was soon back in its housing, Myrtenaster fully assembled once more.
"I am if you are," Weiss replied.
Nodding, Ruby turned towards the portal, took a deep breath of her own, and crossed through it.
How am I going to explain this to Yang?
Yang could taste blood in her mouth, and she was fairly certain she was missing a tooth. Her vision was getting hazy from too many blows to the head, and she could feel her Aura straining to maintain itself as the fight dragged on.
Torchwick's cane struck her side once more as she lashed out with a hook, her gauntleted fist connecting with the side of Torchwick's face.
Her own yellow Aura flashed in time with her opponent's orange Aura, both at the limit of what they could endure…
But the orange light flashed brighter, then it scattered and faded away entirely.
Torchwick's Aura had broken.
Her flagging strength surging at the welcome, long-overdue sight, Yang twisted with her hips and back, putting all her weight behind one final punch. Her right fist flew forwards, directly into Torchwick's temple.
At the same time, Blake delivered a savage kick of her own to the other side of their shared foe's head.
Both attacks struck at once, and Torchwick dropped like a sack of potatoes, completely and utterly out cold.
Yang and Blake had won.
It was over.
"Out like a candle," Yang quipped, although she lacked the energy to say it as more than a groan.
Blake moved past her, already heading to the door to the next carriage.
Right… train to stop. Gotta keep going.
Yang began to follow after her partner, but stopped when she heard a strange noise ring out from behind her.
Anticipating another opponent, Yang spun on her heel and prepared to guard against whatever was about to come her way.
But it was not an enemy she saw. She saw a swirling mass of red and black, and emerging from that swirl were three haggard-looking figures.
"Ruby? Weiss? Professor?"
The swirl vanished, and the other half of Yang's team plus their teacher staggered across the carriage towards her and Blake.
"What… how did you get here? What was that thing?"
Her sister looked up at her, pale-faced and wide-eyed. "I'll… tell you later?"
"Where are we?" asked Weiss. "Is this the front of the train?"
"Almost," Blake replied. "The engine is just up ahead, through this door."
Professor Greene stepped away from her companions and made her way to where Blake was stood, ready to force the final door open.
"Then let's finish this."
Professor Greene grabbed the handle and yanked the door open, revealing the engine room on the other side.
There was no driver. Yang doubted that Torchwick would have been the one driving this thing. Either they had already jumped ship, or this train didn't need one once it got going.
Yang watched as Professor Greene began to look over the controls of the engine. Yang saw the Professor's face shift from exhaustion, to confusion, to panic as she became more frantic in her search.
"Where are the breaks?" she asked aloud. "I can't find the breaks!"
Behind her, Yang heard a weak chuckle.
"There are… no breaks on this train, ma'am."
Yang turned, her eyes burning and her vision clouding over with a red haze as she saw Torchwick propping himself up against the wall. His face was a mess, but he was still somehow able to smirk at them and laugh.
Yang's hand grabbed at his collar and yanked him up, bringing his face inches away from her own as she glared daggers at the smirking criminal.
"How do we stop this train!?" she bellowed, raising her fist as she did so, making it very clear what she would do if Torchwick didn't give her a good answer.
"No idea," he coughed. "Not my department. You probably wanna file a complaint with the railway company."
Yang drew her arm back. "I can put your face clean through the side of this carriage and into the rocks outside," she snarled.
Torchwick just laughed once more. "But that won't stop this train, will it?"
CLANG.
"Stop them!"
Yang's head whipped up, and she saw the door to the rest of the train wide open, White Fang soldiers about to pour in with weapons drawn.
CLANG!
The door swung shut again, a white snowflake-patterned Glyph imposed upon its surface as it drove the soldiers back and kept them at bay.
The sound of hammering against the metal door indicated that they would not be held at bay for long, especially when Yang also heard Weiss gasp beside her, the strain of maintaining her Semblance clearly taking a toll on her.
"What now, kids?" Torchwick asked mockingly. "How are you gonna get out of this one?"
Yang dropped Torchwick and ran into the engine room, pushing past Professor Greene and frantically scanning the control panel for herself.
There has to be something! Some emergency switch, or a big red button, or a lever to pull! There has to be something we can do!
"I can't hold them much longer!" Weiss cried out. "What can we do?"
The train shook and jolted, causing Yang to hop slightly in place. She quickly steadied herself, glancing downwards as she grabbed hold of a handrail above her…
Yang blinked, her gaze focussed on the floor beneath her feet. The metal floor that looked like it had seen better days, with a small hole in it, through which she could see the rock and rails racing by as they sped onwards.
An idea formed in her mind. An absolutely stupid, terrible idea.
But since she was pretty sure they had no other options left at that point, Yang decided to go with it.
"Blake, shoot me."
Her partner baulked at her sudden request. "What!? Why!?"
"Because I'm gonna need all the extra power I can get if this is gonna work. Now shoot me with all the rounds you have left!"
"Yang, I'm not gonna-!"
"Do it, Blake!" Ruby yelled. "Trust Yang! Sh-she knows what sh-she's doing!"
Of course Ruby would put together what Yang was trying to do. Coming up with crazy plans was something they both did, after all.
Blake hesitated for another moment, but took aim at Yang and held her finger over the trigger of her gun.
"Are you sure?" she asked.
Yang gave Blake as wide a grin as she could manage.
"Trust me!"
Blake's expression became firm, and she fired upon Yang, who took each bullet with her Aura until Blake was entirely out.
The extra impact of those rounds added to the stockpile of energy she had already built up during their fight with Torchwick, bringing her level up even higher. She could feel it simmering within her, a wellspring of power just waiting to be unleashed.
But would it be enough?
She had to make sure it would be.
Yang cocked Ember Celica and moved into position. "Everyone hold on tight!"
Her Semblance activated, her hair ignited and burned gold, her eyes glowed red, and all the energy she had stockpiled was channelled into her right arm.
Yang Xiao Long, burning with power and giving every once of strength she had to bear, drove her fist down into floor of the engine carriage.
Her arm broke. She felt the bones within snap and splinter, felt the pain spike up the length of her arm and stab into her mind. She screamed in agony, screamed in fury, screamed as she pushed past her limits and tore herself asunder.
The bottom of the carriage gave way with a screech of sheared metal, and the wheels driving the train onwards were destroyed.
The front end of the train pitched and twisted, and the occupants were thrown forwards as the entire train began to violently buckle and crumple. Sparks flew about, shards of metal and glass filled the air, screams and cries and shouts rang out in the underground.
With a mighty crash, the train derailed, landing on its side and scraping along the rock surface of the cavern.
It came to a stop, and the engine cut out, the damage it had suffered in the crash rendering it dead weight.
Hello to you all! I'm Not Scot, and it's good to be back after so long!
Sorry for the total lack of updates for such a long time, but I've had a bit of a rough time these past few months, and I needed some time to get myself back in order. I'm fine now, and feeling a lot more like myself, so I hope to be able to keep up the momentum and finish out Volume 2 before the year ends and make a good start on Volume 3 in time for the New Year.
I hope you enjoyed the penultimate chapter of Volume 2. Ann's Semblance was something I was excited to reveal for a while now. If you're curious about how I came up with it, 'BEND' is a reference to a repeated line in the 'Anne of Green Gables' books where she describes important events in her life as being 'bends in the road' she encounters along the way. I took that and ran with it in combination with the fighting style I had already come up with for her, and the result was a Semblance that 'bends' attacks away from her at great cost.
If you're familiar with the Toaruverse, I guess you could imagine it as a diluted form of Accelerator's Vector Control power.
Please do leave a review letting me know what you thought of this chapter, and look forward to 'A Light in the Dark' coming sometime soon. For now though, I shall take my leave.
Until next time,
Not Scot.
P.S: Yes, Ruby and Neo are developing a long-running rivalry, and this is absolutely not the last time they will fight each other.