Cinder winced as she stared at the wound in her dark hand, her teeth gnashing. The boy had penetrated her Aura…?! How di—
She froze. Of course, it was Grimm… All that preparation… how had Salem not mentioned this?! Again, a fatal flaw revealed only when she'd already suffered?
"WHY DID YOU DO IT?!" the boy demanded. She ignored him.
"Jaune! STOP!" a youthful voice ordered.
"Wait!" cried another.
It was all noise to Cinder. She knew she was surrounded by enemies… fleas hoping to impede her. But this one had bitten her… HER!
And to the right, Emerald, hogtied and blindfolded. To the left, Mercury lay unconscious. Hazel knelt, missing a limb. "Failures…!" she hissed to herself. "All failures…!"
"STOP IGNORING ME!" Jaune commanded, racing in with his sword raised.
It was all too much to bear.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHH!"
Both of her voices unleashed a blood-curdling howl of rage as an infernal circle erupted from her, shoving several figures away as she became a blast furnace. The boy planted his feet, shield raised against the blaze even as it began to glow with the heat. He alone remained there as the scorching torrent cooked everything for twenty yards in every direction.
She maintained the heatwave, even as he dared to step forward, his Aura dancing and his soles stranding with melting rubber…
Qrow Branwen blinked, blown awake by the same person who knocked him cold. He stared around, wobbling to his feet. Oscar's back was towards him, the lad wheezing.
"W-what? I'm…?" Oscar said, fully himself again. "Why'd you go?! He needs help!"
Within, Ozpin spoke, sounding nearly as exhausted. "I-I… WE need to recover… I fought too long; I didn't anticipate a threat like Hazel as well! We're of no use like this…"
"B-but he'll…! Ngg…!" Oscar grunted, trying to take a step forward only to stumble.
"So that monster's back on the prowl…" Qrow noted, taking in the scene and cracking his neck before spotting— "RUBY!"
He could barely move before she became a twisting scarlet blur and plowed directly into the hemisphere of heat… only to nearly bounce off with a yelp.
Qrow dashed to catch her, nearly bowled over himself. "Are you okay?! Ruby?"
She groaned. "Too strong… H-how is Jaune…?"
"Not being forced out too?" Ren finished for her. "We have to move! He'll be incinerated!"
Cinder watched on, the kid's sword point prying into a crease of the stone as he braced, taking another step. No… 'flea' didn't describe this tenacity. He was more of a tick…
Behind her, the fountain water boiled, shrouding the area in steam. The fountainhead itself plumed into the air like smoke, like a geyser.
"You think your little TOY will save you?!" she demanded. "ANY of you?! You're ALL going to burn!"
"I-I won't stop…" Jaune told her, Aura flaring. "Until her soul can rest…!"
And then the boy thrust the bottom of the shield into the stone, cracking it. Grimacing, he stood up to bear the brunt of Cinder's heatwave lifting the sword's handle high.
Jaune knew as he did it that this was the point of no return. Everything, or nothing. As Crocea Mors slid into its mate and the mechanisms worked, Jaune knew the shield was so hot that the two parts would weld together, never to part again.
And as the greatsword reforged, its workings squealed to a final stop, throwing sparks. The time for caution was over.
"Until…!" Jaune repeated, rearing the blade back. "You've PAID FOR WHAT YOU DID TO HER!"
He charged in, swinging wildly and with such ferocity that Cinder could only half heartedly counter with her own short sword as she beheld his hate for her. Oddly, fury directed at herself was calming in the face of her own rage. In fact, anger became sadistic amusement as a thought crossed her. "Oh, of course… you're Nikos' little lapdog…"
Jaune grit his teeth. "Keep her name FROM YOUR MOUTH!"
Before he could attack, bullets whizzed by from numerous directions, Cinder wincing as she formed several midair runes which negated them one by one. In frustration, her clawed hand mimed clasping something beneath her, before pulling it sharply up.
Crackling in response, the stone floor jutted up as a perimeter wall, perfectly encircling the two and shielding them from line of sight. "She should have simply ran off," Cinder added as though nothing had happened, heat still wafting off her form, though less intense. She was entertained enough not to melt him before she was finished. "But she was going to inherit MY power, so she foolishly came to claim it… Not that I don't understand…"
Jaune stood there, off guard, suddenly in shock at her suggestion.
She capitalized on it, dashing close faster than he was prepared for and seizing him by the wrist. She twisted it, forcing his huge blade down before kicking him in the knee and bringing him to kneel. All the while, he fought to raise the sword again. "W-what is WRONG with you?! You think Pyrrha fought you for some stupid POWER?!"
Cinder held fast, blinking, the superheated air cooling still further in their private kiln. "Idiot child… why ELSE would she try a thing so foolish…?"
"PYRRHA NEVER WANTED YOUR DAMN POWERS!" he reiterated, tears evaporating as soon as he shed them. "It TERRIFIED her! She was so afraid she might lose who she was, lose her friends! But she agreed because she'd give ANYTHING to protect people from the likes of YOU!"
Cinder's amusement waned as her brows furrowed, and she processed his words like the ravings of a madman.
"She was ready to DIE, if it meant stopping you from hurting anyone else! That's what it means to be a HUNTRESS! And that's what a THING like you will NEVER understand!"
Cinder stared at him, frowning thoughtfully. Ultimately, she scoffed, raising her blade. "Clearly… And that's why all Huntsmen die in vain…"
Jaune lashed out, but Cinder's blade neatly shrugged off the predictable swing, and the greatsword clattered from his hands. She raised her own sword high. "Nothing you do to me matters…!" he managed. "Don't you get it?! Because I can't lose…!"
She frowned. He really was mad.
"Because…" he continued, the steam still rising from his eyes, "even if you kill me… I can see her again…"
Jaune didn't dare to blink, as Cinder reared back for the killing stroke… and saw her freeze.
Eyes bulging, teeth grinding, Cinder looked to be working against some unseen foe.
"N-no…!" Cinder groaned, trying again and again to bring the sword down. "Not this…! Not again, we FIXED THIS! Ruby, I could HURT her…! Why YOU?!"
Jaune was almost transfixed, but didn't complain, reaching for his dropped sword. But Cinder suddenly could move again, kicking the blade away before pressing her human hand over his forehead. "Listen!" she ordered in a whisper.
Jaune had no idea what was happening, but obeyed, noticing chips being blasted out of Cinder's wall by the others outside.
And then he heard it. Or rather, FELT it: a voice not his own. A voice without voice, a passing thought foreign to him. It didn't sound like anything… but somehow, he could tell it was female, and that it wasn't Cinder. It noticed him. It acknowledged him.
"You… Jaune…?"
No sooner had this passed than Cinder's grip shifted to his throat, lifting his eyes to hers. Suddenly, Cinder used her own rasping voice, deathly quiet… but no less threatening. "M-make… her… stop!"
Jaune's mind barely processed Cinder's demand, stalled upon the unseen speaker from inside her. He didn't know whether to hope for it or dread it.
"Pyrrha…?"
Cinder's eyes narrowed, and she dropped Jaune, turning her back while she kept her eye on him. "Nevermind… An anomaly. You're no threat. So I'll take you at your word. If killing you isn't an option, and you have a death wish regardless…"
He struggled to get up, the intense heat eating away at his Aura, as large as his stores were. Cinder dispelled her sword and plucked a long, ornate spear from the ether. His heart panged, as he wondered if her choice was meant to twist the knife in him.
"...then let's see just who you treasure behind curtain number ONE!"
Jaune's mouth went somehow drier as, with a gesture, part of the stone wall before her exploded into shrapnel, catching Weiss Schnee entirely by surprise as she flinched.
"NO!"
Cinder staggered in surprise as she was suddenly tackled from behind as she let the spear fly. She swore she only took her eyes off him for an instant!
Barely taking the scene in, Weiss winced as the spear sailed by, though not without a glancing blow that tore at her dress and sent the Aura around her waist sputtering.
Cinder expected a struggle, but the idiot had only hit her to sprint towards the Schnee girl. Fine. A kabob was okay with her. She summoned a second spear, aiming true. She couldn't knowingly aim at him, but the boy might just fall on her sword regardless...
Jaune Arc raced towards Weiss, eyes flitting between her and Cinder, with no mind for what became of himself. No weapon, no plan, but… it couldn't happen again. It could NEVER happen again!
Weiss had scarcely recovered from the graze when he nearly reached her, feet pounding the stone, the next spear already in midair. She raised a glyph at Jaune's back in warding, but it barely took shape before the spear stretched and shattered it.
She watched him twist to plant his feet, skidding to stop before he struck her. And as if by instinct, his left arm raised to block the coming blow with his absent shield…
...and something responded.
Cinder blinked as her spear struck nothing and clattered over them, spinning off out of sight. Indeed, nothing was there… Though looking closer, the air seemed to ripple, twinkle, refracting light into a prism of colors like chromatic aberrations. The boy seemed as astonished to see it as she or the heiress girl, canceling a force that had obliterated her own defensive barrier.
Scowling, Cinder raised her arm again, but Jaune's right arm acted on instinct once more to slash across the air as if with his sword.
Cinder barely glimpsed the same sparkling force in motion before it struck her, blunter than a blade but with force she couldn't contest. It seemed limitless! Her black mask cracked with the impact, and she felt herself tossed back through the back side of the wall she created.
Conceding, she forced herself down, letting it pass over her as the chassis of a truck might pass over a squirrel. The part-visible force carried on, a slice passing through the roof Gohan had landed in earlier, tossing splinters and sawdust. It was all the more impressive at surface level, sweeping the billowing steam and heat apart as Cinder's spell broke.
The Rogue Maiden toppled for a moment, Weiss and Jaune took in the sight and its implications. The boy turned. "Weiss? How… When did you get… here…"
Weiss noticed his pale appearance and caught him awkwardly as he very nearly collapsed.
"Whoa…!" she exclaimed, backing up against his considerable weight. "Th-that's a story for later! Jaune, is this your first time using your semblance?"
His eyelids flagged. "My semblance…?" he repeated dumbly.
"Well what else could it be?!" she demanded.
"My semblance…!" he said again, his eyes widening as he tried to stand.
"Ah! Ah! No!" she ordered, holding him down. "First time, your semblance takes a lot out of you, and before that you wore it down practically fighting in an oven! I-I can barely touch your armor, it's practically glowing hot! Here…"
She summoned a glyph over them, and it spun as frigid air descended gently.
"Y-you… think we're DONE here?!"
Weiss looked up to see Cinder, already on her feet, posture hunched over like a hulking beast in spite of her size. The former heiress stood up straight, Myrtenaster lifted in challenge. "You think you can still fight? I'd run if I were you."
Cinder's eye twitched. "What…? From YOU?!"
"No," Weiss admitted. "From the man you blew through a building when I arrived."
Cinder's nose crinkled at the suggestion. "He's dead."
"Oh, he underestimated you," Weiss said, nodding, "and you even wiped the floor with him… But he's like that little boy."
Cinder's jaw went slack. She'd forgotten all about the boy. Indeed, she thought him the Spring Maiden… but it was Raven. So who was…?
"He's alive, recovering. I've seen him go to town… literally," Weiss added with a smirk. "And once he's on his feet… he's probably going to kill you."
"You think such an obvious bluff is going to scare me?!" Cinder demanded, flames swirling in her hand.
"No," Weiss answered simply, before something crackled and snapped on the other side of the remaining wall Cinder constructed. But it was nothing until the handful of street lamps in the quad glowed bright enough to be seen in daylight, before bursting one by one… promptly followed by two wall-mounted transformers bursting suddenly in a froth of sparks. At last… they heard a guttural, blood-curdling scream.
Weiss smiled. "It's to distract you."
And then the wall blew in at Cinder, as though rocket-propelled. A summoned flaming greatsword split the coming mass in half before it tumbled to rubble across the floor, and Cinder peered through the resulting dust, glimpsing only a pair of blue spheres before—
She launched over the dust cloud entirely on a pink trail, Magnhilde switching forms in midair before striking the earth where Cinder just stood, the very ground deforming as tiles raised, as though they bobbed upon an ocean swell. Cinder could barely keep her footing before the girl was nearly in her face, scowling like a vengeful specter.
Nora Valkyrie's eyes glowed like neon bulbs, pink sparks wreathing her form. In desperation, she'd taken notice of the downed wire that maimed Hazel… the rest came naturally. "You're not taking ANY MORE of my FAMILY!"
"JAUNE!" Ren called, one eye on the conflict as he searched for his teammate, finally setting eyes on him and sprinting to his side.
Cinder growled, frustration mounting at the entire affair. "This agai—"
But Nora lashed her hammer like a whip, the muscles in her slight form visibly engorged with power. Cinder made a token effort to block the blow and instantly regretted her flippancy as her human arm was smashed against her chest and otherwise took a blow hard enough to knock her nearly off her feet. The next blow was predictable, and she took it seriously, but still felt a numbing sting ringing up her black limb as she blocked with her forearm.
What a bother. She backed off the next swing as it came down, the blows strong enough to make evasion the most practical choice. She could punish her misses and wear her down if this power boost amplified her Aura…
Nora delivered an upswing that missed wildly, and Cinder was ready with a fang of ice as long as a man…
The only ones who could see the fight properly leapt up as Cinder hurled it, only to be as surprised as Nora herself to see the spear strike her sternum and shatter harmlessly into chips fit for a cold drink.
That answers that. Already Cinder could see the other twits chasing after them through the dust cloud, and fending them all off while chipping away at the airhead was unfavorable. "Impressive… but I wonder just how much you can stand?"
She raised a palm to the air, and the sky offered an ominous grumble a split second before she pointed at Nora's heart.
All present were blinded by the forking bolt as it made contact with Nora, her eyes blanking as she gripped her hammer with crushing force… and began to scream.
"STOP!" Ruby shrieked, preparing to leap in with the others until the electric tendril split off to menace the air in their direction, all while Nora Valkyrie continued to writhe and scream.
Light strobed, the light of day as darkness in comparison. The air stung with ozone. Cinder watched on. Nikos, the girl named for fire, was by fire consumed... and by thunder, from hell's heart, she'd see this one likewise doomed…
It would be any second now. She'd fly apart as embers, and Cinder would demoralize the lot, before she went through and executed them one by o—
A pulse rent the air, and Cinder shuffled back as she was thrown off balance, the light growing somehow brighter before it started to dim. The shrieks of agony morphed into an embittered war cry. At last, astonished, Cinder could peer at the girl.
Her flesh was shrouded by lightning… No, she was lightning. Her eyes were searchlights, she crackled with unfettered power. Not a trace of peach skin or orange hair could be seen beneath the dancing pink arcs. She appeared almost supernatural, like if she found a socket she could simply vanish into the wires and pop out somewhere else.
"You're still—?!"
"Alive?!" Nora growled as the others stopped dead at the sight of her upon passing the dusty shroud. It didn't help the image that her voice had taken on a strange distorted twang. "Yeah… funny story… I found out my semblance as a little girl after getting struck by lightning!"
Cinder barely had time to raise her Grimm arm as Nora struck from above significantly faster than before, and cried out as the bones very nearly snapped. She summoned another spear and raised it in warding, but a followup swing snapped it in half, and Cinder stumbled backwards as it disintegrated.
"Thought it was a one-time deal, so thanks… After all, lightning never strikes twice…"
Cinder heard enough. She had to put down this buffoon, now. She let her palm erupt. Not a stream, nor a burst, but a swelling explosion that blasted much of the quad in the redhead's direction with a white-hot cloud. Even now, she could see the Haven ornament from the destroyed fountain lose its shape and collapse into a softening, malformed lump of metal...
"But I DO!" Nora Valkyrie cried suddenly, a swipe of Magnhilde sweeping the veil of remaining smoke, before twisting its motion into a vicious uppercut.
Cinder's chest and chin burned in spite of her Aura as she was launched into the air, somehow still not broken. How much longer might she and Raven have fough—?
Nora was above her already, hammer raised to deliver an awesome blow with her full strength. She screamed as she brought it down, fit to bloody her own throat, and Cinder knew she couldn't take the full force without consequence.
Ice fountained from her hand, barely enough to soften the blow, but enough to insulate against the accompanying shock. It just worked, still pelting her straight into crumbling stone below and splintering her mask as the hammer slammed into her head. She wheezed, the wind knocked out of her as the shattered stone very nearly buried her.
An ominous shadow preceded footfalls, and Cinder stared up to see Nora with her hammer raised again…
But rather than splitting her skull like a watermelon, the heavy head of the weapon pulled her backwards to stumble as she breathed heavily. Looking closer, it seemed she'd put her all into the last attack, the pink glow all but gone. Perfect. She raised her hand, another blast readied.
"NORA!" Ren cried, leaping in and clasping her by the shoulders as he shielded her. The resulting detonation sent them both flying, breaking apart to roll onto their backs as they landed, groaning.
Cinder looked up to see the peanut gallery roused at last, storming her location as if it were their opportunity to kill her. And perhaps it was… but the sentiment was mutual.
Jaune reached her first as she rose to a knee, having picked up his sword. With a sweep of her hand, spears of stone erupted in his path, pointed at his chest. Holding up his arm, that same shimmering force reduced them to shards as he met them, as if it were pure force. She braced as he swung… and the force didn't attack as before, to his evident distress.
A sweep of Cinder's hand and a gust carried Jaune skyward. She drew her bow in a flash and fired like he was a clay pigeon. But instead the pigeon was her arrow, blown apart by a deafening gunshot. She glanced around.
Qrow stood with his two barrels smoking, gave Cinder a single look before blasting the tile beneath him to fill the space with dust. She neatly moved aside as the blade in its entirety spun through the air at her like an enormous knife, something black barely arousing her curiosity as it sailed over head.
But then there was an off sound behind her, and a clambering as the air was split. She turned to barely catch the grizzled Huntsman behind her, armed and swinging!
She winced as the half-conjured sword she raised was dispelled by the hit as her aura took the rest. How had he moved so fast? Sheer luck, she heard a clatter and lost balance as a tile supporting her gave way to the pressure. Qrow prepared for the plunge.
Blue bolts danced off her fingers as she held nothing back, one arm supporting her against lying flat. Qrow groaned as he gripped his unformed scythe, even as the force blew him a few feet onto his own back. There was but a moment's reprieve before the lightning returned, and Qrow's world turned to one of pain as he writhed.
Cinder stood up as she kept one hand assaulting Qrow. No half measures...
'*KUCHINK*'
"Urgh…!" Cinder croaked, black hand recoiling from the shot which grazed it. She already knew who it was…
"CINDER!" Ruby cried, eyes alight, barrel smoking. Half of them were on the floor, exhausted, peering at the staredown taking place. Oscar watched fearfully. Neptune appeared nearly frozen. Weiss alone readied her sword. "Leave them OUT of this! I'M the one you want!"
"Ruby, NO! GET BACK!" Qrow demanded in fear.
"...I'm sorry, Uncle Qrow…" she said, scythe rearing back.
Cinder managed a sneering smile. "I'd wanted you to see him die… but if you're so impatient, the opposite will DO!"
Her hands spouted fiery jets as she sailed at Ruby like a missile.
Gohan finally saw the battle he'd been sensing from the start since he shadowed Vegeta as the Saiyan Prince hobbled forward with greater and greater vigor.
His stomach fell out as he set eyes on Cinder, the woman who hit Vegeta. He knew he could see her too. Gohan wondered if he'd need to try restraining him. That wouldn't end well…
Vegeta watched like a hawk, his teeth bared, and Gohan could feel the energy building inside him. Frankly, it was a wonder he hadn't already taken off. The Warrior wasn't one to hesitate. Was he studying Cinder? Ensuring, perhaps, that what happened before didn't happen again?
Gohan looked to see Ruby battling her, flitting around Cinder's attacks, effecting little but being whittled down herself. He wondered if leaping in wouldn't be the best option, even if Weiss was poised to join her.
All of it was bad.
"Gohan?!" cried a familiar female voice, snapping him from his thoughts. "Gohan! Over here!"
He turned just as yellow and blue encompassed much of his vision from the left.
"Bulma?!" Gohan cried as he was suddenly bear-hugged.
"I dunno whether to scold you or kiss you, little man, but… uh..." Bulma trailed off as her eyes traced Vegeta's shape behind him. "Why is Vegeta with you guys again…?" she whispered.
"I KNEW that feeling was familiar!" came another voice, and Gohan looked over Bulma's shoulder to see Krillin jog the last few steps.
"Krillin!"
"HahaHA! I don't believe it, that's everyone but Goku! I… I uh…" Krillin paused, finally turning to note the battle taking place, and all its casualties. "You guys are sure hosting some shindig up here, huh? Shoulda' brought some potato salad…"
Back in the battle, Ruby was finally overwhelmed, tossed on her front before Cinder's heel jabbed into her back. "Urghh!"
"It's not how I wanted it," Cinder said, almost bored with the affair, "but that's today's THEME isn't it?"
Gohan saw it and tensed. "Ruby…!" He took a step, but found Krillin's hand on his shoulder as he looked off to the left.
"Hold up, little bud," he said.
"But—!"
"This might just take care of itself, venue permitting."
"Huh?!"
Cinder raised a leg high, prepared to bring it down on Ruby's neck… only for it to be caught at its zenith by a length of black ribbon.
Bulma sighed as she stood up. "He means we both brought 'plus-ones.' "
"HYYYAAAAAGH!" a voice cried out as a thick brown boot slammed between Cinder's shoulders, and launched her into a lopsided backflip as the ribbon was stubborn to release its hold. She twisted in midair, jets of flame barely righting her course as she landed nearer to Haven Hall and looked back.
Cinder's eyes widened, blinking a moment as she appraised the impossible. "No…" she sighed to herself in question.
Ruby stared up into a face framed with luxuriant golden hair, into tired eyes of lilac which stared off at her enemy.
"Get away from my sister, BITCH..." Yang Xiao Long ordered coldly, calmly, but with the most chilling venom Ruby Rose had ever heard in her voice.
Yang reached her hand out, and Ruby hesitated in a rush of a thousand feelings, and then stared at her right hand, metallic and—
"HEY BLONDIE, how's the ARM?!"
Before Ruby could identify the voice, an awakened Mercury Black sailed in at her right flank… but without even looking, Yang ducked low, and leapt up as he passed overhead to sink her metal fist into his gut with a resounding shot blast.
He skipped over his trajectory and landed in a totally uncontrolled tumble to the other side of the quad, groaning.
"Alright," Yang answered. "How's the LEG…?"
Yang finally turned her full attention towards her, and Ruby saw the icy demeanor melt. She smiled. She hadn't seen Yang smile more than a grimace since Beacon. It was all so—
As she took Yang's hand, she was pulled to her feet in one sharp movement, and before more could happen a hand cradled the back of her head and she was tugged into the crook of her sister's collar, the blonde's chin resting on her crown.
Ruby tensed, but accepted the embrace, still utterly shocked.
"I'm sorry…" Yang whispered. "I love you so much…"
Ruby's feelings finally found focus as tears spilled with a gasp, and she hugged back as hard as she could. "I-I love you, Yang…!"
Every onlooker that understood sat astonished, all but one. Cinder beheld the four, her breath intensifying.
Weiss was speechless, but found it in her to smile, meeting the eyes of a similarly floored Blake as the moment continued.
But the scream of a fire blast broke the spell, even as Blake leapt before it, flashing as she stepped back and to the side to leave an icy statue. Weiss crossed her in the opposite direction, glyph standing as a bastion to protect against the flames and chunks as the statue was blown apart. Yang reluctantly let go, all eyes on their foe as she re-entered a combat stance.
"B-Blake…?" Ruby exclaimed, suddenly realizing she was surrounded by her team… Team RWBY, reborn. She was overwhelmed. "Am I dreaming…?"
"Well," Yang began, "if you are, think happy thoughts. This one got Pyrrha, right…? It could go both ways."
Ruby Rose hurriedly wiped her sodden eyes with her sleeve, and smiled as silver eyes sparkled. "No way… Not this time…" she vowed, taking a combat stance. "...I have my family back…!"
Her team felt her words in their very core, even as Cinder advanced in her assault. They leapt apart as one as the Rogue Maiden leapt in, blades whirling. Simultaneous gunshots rang from the four as Cinder winced, forming her bow and drawing three arrows, whirling to fire upon every target but Ruby like a turret. Landing at their feet, the explosive runes screamed as they leapt up and away from the inevitable blasts.
"Ice Rose!" Ruby called out, leaping up and over Cinder with a report of Crescent Rose. Weiss crossed her to meet in midair over Cinder, the glyph forming before Ruby's shot, encasing Cinder instantly in a bloom of ice crystals as large as she was.
But in an instant Cinder roared as she erupted with flames, and the ice shattered. She immediately began hurling flames, ice and lightning in every direction as the four neatly evaded her every move…
At the outskirts of the battle, Ren, Nora, Blake's team and the four from Namek watched, transfixed. Nora Valkyrie stood on her knees, eyes welling. "They found each other…! It… It's like a miracle…!"
There was a sound from the back as Oscar flashed green, stepping forward with a serene smile that could scarcely contain itself. "No… not a miracle… Much… much better…"
Bulma had to tear her eyes away to see the frozen expressions of fascination on Gohan, Krillin and even Vegeta. Surely this was nothing to fighters on their level…?
"Do you feel that…?" Gohan asked.
Krillin nodded. "Their energies… What is that? It's like they're… harmonizing."
Ozpin tilted the boy's head at this. "Ah, so you sense it as well?"
Cinder finally leapt like a missile and caught Ruby in midair with a flash of flaming claws that sent her spinning at immense speed. She slammed the point of her scythe into the stone, kicking up sparks but barely slowing her. A black glyph formed at her feet, wilting as it slowed her fast enough to catch Gambol Shroud's pistol as it was tossed to her on a ribbon.
"Sunset Spin!" Ruby ordered, as her momentum was turned into a swing from the spot where Weiss was using a glyph to anchor Blake to the ground.
Hearing the command, Yang grabbed Ruby's hand as she passed, as though Blake's kusarigama had grown several sizes.
Cinder growled, prepared to end the foolishness by merely blasting Weiss and Blake's immobile forms, but it was too late.
Linking arms, Ruby pointed her scythe blade out and behind them as Yang pointed Ember Celica opposite. Both fired repeatedly, spinning them like a huge, bladed yoyo as their orbit drove them at Cinder.
Salem's servant threw her hands forward as she constructed a wall of ice, pushing against it as the other side was sliced and gouged by Crescent Rose. The force was too much, as the slick sleet slid over the ground to push Cinder with it as her heels skid over the floor.
"I've seen it before," Ozpin told them, "they take to it naturally… A vanishing feat, the other reason I took notice of Team RWBY. The bonds that brought them here, and the reason Huntsmen are grouped in fours at all. When four like hearts and minds unite, they fight as one."
Weiss extended a hand, a red glyph appearing behind the sisters to replenish their lost momentum as it threw them forward. The ice finally shattered as Cinder was thrown, though not before the scything blade raked her several times. She rolled to a stop as Ruby and Yang spun around and released, landing beside their partners.
Cinder stood up, willing fire to expand from herself… which sputtered in place of the expected roar. The Maiden tearsign along her eye went out. No…! After all this, she COULDN'T have expended herself, could she?!
Ozpin closed Oscar's eyes as he smiled, the others torn between him and the battle underway. Vegeta, however, appeared torn in an additional direction. His brows twitched as he looked between the four girls, and her...
"Four Huntsmen… Four Kingdoms… Four galaxies… Nature's strongest shape is the triangle… The strongest form composed of these, the tetrahedron… four points, four faces… Through this principle, they achieve the ideal… the fabled skill… Tetrasynchrony."
Team RWBY were airborne, pouncing upon Cinder's position without fear, putting her on her back foot as Blake and Weiss took point. Blades whirled as Cinder's countered, before they leapt to the side as Ruby and Yang took their places, charging in as they opened with simultaneous gunshots which Cinder barely defended against with magic. Golden glyphs formed beneath the sisters as Weiss' time dilation took hold, and they began serving up fists and steely fangs in a blur incomprehensible to any but the three warriors from Namek. Too fast for Cinder Fall to counter for long. The blunt of Crescent Rose smashed along Cinder's collar from the left, before a left cross from the other side connected with her jaw, and then a floor glyph behind her burned red as she was launched gaily into the air to perfect juggling heights.
Just catching up to Cinder's backpedaling, Blake and Ruby's hands reached to each other wordlessly, and both vanished in a red and black smear as they whirled around Cinder's form before she even lost upward momentum. The two seemed to appear above her, as Cinder herself looked to have been suddenly mummified by lengths of black ribbon, each limb pinned.
For good measure, Blake and Ruby took hold of the scythe's staff to spike her down like a volleyball, where she winced and bounced against the stone. A glyph propelled Yang to meet her, a monstrous fist sending Cinder to spin all the faster as Ruby appeared in the spot she'd land, still under the influence of dilation.
But as fast as she was, even Ruby Rose didn't see it coming as a gloved hand shoved her to the side to stumble as the spell of Tetrasynchrony was broken. She sought the owner's eyes.
Vegeta, Prince of the Saiyans, had bullied his way forward, fist cocked and creaking against his glove. Dust blasted as a white flame suddenly howled around him.
Still spinning, Cinder could scarcely contemplate what was happening, and not because she was dizzy. The children, for all their freakish speed and synergy, could scarcely hurt her… She'd bust free of this foolish restraint and…
Her mind halted as she met hateful, pitiless black eyes. Wait! I KILLED hi—!
And then her mind was halted in a more literal sense as the fist connected with her face, and all sense of sense and self were obliterated. Cinder herself couldn't be sure if she were alive or dead as she rocketed through the sky like an artillery shell.
Team RWBY's collective necks craned as their foe was swept out from under them, but it was safe to say that all eyes were on Cinder as she was belted out of Haven… out of Mistral… gleaming like a shooting star to slam into the distant foothills with a visible plume of impact. The noise didn't reach them for a matter of seconds, echoing a muffled popping.
"CINDER!" a shrill voice shrieked, and all eyes turned lower.
Hazel's remaining hand had removed Emerald's blindfold, Mercury unconscious and slung over his shoulder. Emerald was staring tearfully at the distant crater of Cinder Fall's making, utterly still, despite her hands being free again.
There was an almost idle raising of weapons in threat, to which Hazel sighed as his eyes closed, clearly hoping to escape to safety under the cover of battle, and not equipped to do so in full view of the amassed heroes.
Blake's ears rose and twitched as she stared at Hazel. "What… he's here too? What side is he on…?"
When it was clear that the threat had passed, there was a rustle of movement as the battlefield practically sighed its relief.
"Whoa!" Krillin shouted. "Vegeta…!"
The Prince didn't acknowledge him but to scoff, finally turning away from the spot where his prey had vanished. "So he's here as well… just when I was starting to relish his absence."
And slowly the sidelines began blending as the danger passed.
Ruby felt numb as she steadily lowered her guard. "We…" She blinked. Had they actually done it? Was Haven spared?
"Did that really just happen…?" Blake asked, staring skyward, glancing at Bulma with the other strangers. She knew one of them could even fly. Bulma told wild stories about friends of hers protecting their planet… Every other crazy thing about her had been true...
"So that was…" Yang began behind her, still staring at Vegeta. "Who is that guy?" Was this more of Krillin's mystery powers? He did seem to KNOW the guy. "That's the nearest I've seen to getting literally punched into next week."
"He's with me," Weiss sighed. "I did warn her this would happen."
"Forget them!" Blake cried, smiling wide as she crossed the distance and crushed a surprised Ruby in a hug she all too quickly accepted. "What are you all doing here?! Haven?! How in the world…"
"Oh, you know," Ruby began, "trying to save the world and stuff…"
"I was looking for my sister and got… sidetracked," Weiss explained, glancing at Vegeta.
"Same," Yang added, nodding to Ruby.
"Stopping the White Fang from destroying this school," Blake explained, glossing over the finer details. "Yang and her friend just sorta showed up."
"Frien—?" Weiss smiled warmly as she approached, only for Blake's shotgunning arm to pull her in like a mantis.
"I-I don't remember you being s-so… affectionate…" Weiss said, as she tried to get comfortable amidst the ceaseless pressure.
Blake blushed, her ears folding as she shook her head. "The last thing I need right now is distance… I missed you all… so much." She paused for a moment, finally catching their pleasant if mystified faces.
She stepped back. "I-I'm sorry, I know, I… I left without a word, I hoped you'd write me off so my past couldn't hurt you… it's… I shouldn't expect to just walk back into your lives like… like nothing happened. I…"
"You hoped we'd 'write you off?' " Weiss repeated, stiff.
"Blake, we accepted your past," Ruby said, cautiously. "We would have helped y—"
"I know! I know… and it… it terrified me!" Blake blurted. "I didn't want you to… I couldn't bear to see you get hurt… Not after…"
Yang felt something burning inside her chest as the ghost of a smirk found her face. "After what happened to me…"
"Blake…" Ruby muttered sympathetically.
Weiss sighed. "Well that's just… No, I'm nobody to judge. I could have fought my father a lot harder about staying in Vale. But a large part of me… just wanted to pretend it never happened. I regretted that the moment we landed in Atlas. I should have left then."
Ruby stared between her friends, one after another. "None of that matters… we're all here now… and— Oh dookies, that's right! YANG, what the what…!?" She took one huge step and started feeling up her sister's prosthetic.
Yang's eyes shot open. "Oh, right! It's… strange to use, or it was. Like, I can feel pressure and stuff, but nothing else, and feeling it move when I tell it to without FEELING it is freaky, but… hey, I could never take off the old one if I needed to before. It comes in handy."
There was a chorus of snorts, before Weiss added. "Well that didn't stop you in the end, now did it…?"
"Whoa!" Blake exclaimed.
"Too soon…!" Ruby whispered.
Yang's eyes went huge and her mouth gaped open as she shuddered with laughter before finding her voice again. "Oh my GAWD, you SKANK!" She cried, fist playfully smacking Weiss in the shoulder, giving her an instant dead-arm as she winced. "Don't upstage my joke!"
Weiss rubbed her shoulder, eyes lidding in her best emulation of Atlesian snobbery. "That wasn't a joke… it was a pun, and you should feel ashamed."
Emboldened, Blake threw her hands on their leader's shoulders. "Ruby! You grew up in like… a few months?! I can hardly believe that's you!"
Ruby laughed uneasily. "Ha ha… yeah… Puberty really kicked me in the face outta nowhere… Me and the guys —we've been calling ourselves Team RNJR since… y'know— well, we had to do some bounty missions just to pay for some better-fitting clothes."
"S-so, what friend?" Weiss tried to ask again.
"Oh yeah," Yang said, looking around to find Krillin with Gohan and Bulma, mingling like they knew each other. "I'll introduce you in a bit."
Blake relaxed, chuckling, "Then I'll show you mine… Over there. HEY!"
Blake waved over at Bulma, who Ilia stood a distance to as she appeared lost. Behind her was Sun, who despite his hobbling and injury had already found the rest of Team SSSN and was slapping shoulders like they'd just won a football game.
Ruby fixed Blake with a blank stare. "But… I know Sun…"
"N-No, not…" Blake began, working to catch the chameleon's eye. "ILIA! Come here!"
Clearly as thankful to be included as she was uneasy for feeling out of place, she jogged over.
Yang, meanwhile, regarded Blake with concern. She had no doubt her partner was thrilled to see them all again. She herself could barely believe they were surrounded by all their friends, fresh from several victories, and now this… together. Ruby had been right. It was like a dream.
Yet, Yang had watched Blake cry her eyes out over Adam. She was not okay. Some of this was for their benefit.
Ilia reached them, and Blake nodded in her direction. "Team RWBY… this is Ilia… She's an old friend."
Before she knew it, Blake saw that Ilia's eyes were fixed on one of her teammates in particular.
"You're really…"
Weiss tried to sigh as politely as possible. "Weiss Schnee… yes."
Ilia turned back to Blake. "You're really friends with Weiss Schnee…"
"Are you a… fan of my fa—?"
"No," Ilia said, more coldly than she meant as her skin flashed red and her freckles yellowed. She returned to normal in the blink of an eye, but Weiss' brows rose.
"Ilia… was in the White Fang… with me," Blake explained. "She's just—"
"N-no, I understand," Weiss said, closing her eyes. "I'm no fan of my father either. In fact, I'd rather not call him that going forward."
Yang tilted her head. "Wait, yeah, so your dad let you come here…? It doesn't sound li—"
"He headed a fundraiser… 'for Vale'... a naked stunt I was stupid enough to hope was sincere… Just sympathy theater, a desperate show of generosity to pressure the General into lifting the Dust embargo. I performed, mingled, and realized very quickly just how much the attendees cared about Beacon. About as much as a pigeon cares about a statue, really."
She spoke very quickly, stiffening as the others held onto her every word.
"I… snapped. Made a scene, lost control of my semblance, and… My father pulled me aside. I confronted him for the first time… he struck me."
The air nearly froze over at that, Yang blinking as her eyes reddened and all of them fidgeted in place.
"And then he disinherited me," Weiss finished.
"What?" Blake and Yang asked at once. Ilia's mouth was curiously parted.
Weiss nodded. "Ultimately it's his choice. It happened before to Winter… but he crafted some story about how my trauma at Beacon led me to pass on my inheritance to my brother, just to save face with the public. I'm sure he expected I'd fall in line after that, desperate to hold onto my lifestyle. He didn't expect me to invest the little freedom I still had and… gain infinitely more freedom. I'd call that good business."
"S-so…" Ilia started, weighing the implications. "You're… You don't have any…"
Weiss shook her head. "All I have to my name… is my name. And Myrtenaster of course."
Ilia took a step back. "You gave up everything? All that wealth and recognition… just to be a Huntress? A Schnee did that… and befriended a faunus from the White Fang…"
Weiss flushed. "Well, when put like that…"
A solemn smile bloomed on Ilia's face, her eyes sparkling as she pulsed as yellow as a sunflower. "Thank you for sharing that."
Then she turned from the group, hands on her elbows as she stared towards Haven Hall. Blake approached as Weiss found Yang and Ruby flanking her.
" 'Guess that whole family thing I said means a little more now, huh?" Ruby said, before both sisters embraced the third. The third blinked… and hugged back, her grip ferocious.
Blake caught up to Ilia. "You alright?"
Ilia stared skyward, shaking her head. " 'Alright?'No… That… doesn't describe it. I'm very happy, Blake… that I trusted you. I never really believed people could change for the better… and right over there, stands a Schnee with a good, beating heart. Despite everything she must have grown up believing. It was one thing to want to believe you, but seeing her, talking to her…"
Blake let her speak, as the smaller girl's finger dug into her tear duct as she blinked.
"All my life, I was sure humans and faunus were fated enemies. But now, I have real hope for the first time since I was a child… Blake… I think you saved me…"
Blake's ears perked slowly as she smiled, before Ilia turned and wrapped her arms around her friend.
Qrow looked over the scene, sighing as he approached Ozpin. "We really clinched this one, didn't we?"
Ozpin sighed. "I think we both know that's unlikely to be true."
Qrow shook his head, glancing sideways at Gohan and the newcomers, the biggest one with the absurd hair and blue armor in particular. It took exceedingly little of this for Qrow to catch his eye, and the man glared at him, arms crossed.
"No… we barely saw Gohan in action, and he was reserved almost the whole time." The Huntsman didn't look away from the piercing black eyes, which bore into his own in silent challenge. "Then this one swaggers in and half blows a Maiden to the moon? If he's not Gohan's big bad, then what is? They could have cleaned house any time they wanted, and none of us would have had a thing to say about it."
Oscar's head nodded solemnly. "Still, I think we should count ourselves fortunate these ones are apparently on our side."
At that moment, Qrow and Ozpin heard something shuffling their way. Tearing his eyes from Vegeta, Qrow instead found tired, tear streaked eyes of a red he usually only saw in mirrors.
"Raven…?!"
They looked upon her, battle-worn and carrying the body of a stone-still young woman, bridal style. She collapsed to her knees in front of them, staring at the floor.
This didn't go unnoticed. Yang stared, disbelieving, whispering, "Mom…?"
Ruby's brain clicked after hearing it, and she stared in fascination. She'd only ever heard stories or seen pictures of her estranged… well she really didn't have a name for what Raven was to her as far as family… if they were really family at all. And strangest of all, her sister only seemed so surprised. Then she remembered there was a dead girl mere feet in front of them. Nobody she knew, but...
Yang started walking after her, and Ruby wasn't far behind.
"Raven, what's going on?" Qrow demanded, certain he wouldn't like the answer. "Not like you to make a move and stick around."
Yang stopped next to them with a final clap of her boots. "Mom, what… Did you change your mi—?" Yang stopped as she looked upon the woman in her mother's arms, and the blood staining her front. "Vernal…! Is… is she dead…?!"
Krillin had recognized Raven almost immediately and crossed the distance. Gohan followed, curious to the newcomers and this new commotion they were causing. Bulma followed closely, mainly out of fear she might be left alone with Vegeta, who regarded it all with indifference, keeping one eye on Weiss.
Raven's eyes winced closed as she set the body down carefully. "There was no 'Vernal'… her name was Rufina…"
Krillin strode next to Yang, broaching, "What's she doing here…? What happened to…?"
Yang didn't take her eyes off Raven as she addressed him. "That's what I'm asking…!" she said through her teeth.
" 'Vernal'…?" Oscar's voice chimed in, approaching with clear interest. "So the Spring Maiden was slain…? Was it the woman in red? What became of her power…?"
" 'Spring Maid—? What is he on about?" Yang asked, utterly lost.
"Yang, not now," Qrow ordered.
"Oh god!" Exclaimed Bulma, noticing Vernal's body and doing her best to shield Gohan's eyes. "Don't look, come with me Gohan… just… over there…"
It was this that finally roused Vegeta's attention as his brows rose in confusion and offense. "You're mollycoddling a Saiyan child?"
"What's it to ya'?! He doesn't need to see this! He's only half Saiyan anyway!"
"The hell is a Say-in?" Yang wondered idly.
"He's witnessed nearly a score die since I first laid eyes on the brat… stupid Earth woman!"
"EXCUSE ME?!"
Bulma abandoned her efforts instantly, all fear vanishing in the face of her own pride. Sensing a potential disaster, Weiss zipped between them in seconds.
"H-hold on! Take it from me, that's a bad idea," she said carefully.
Bulma's scowl softened. "Take it from you…? I'm sorry, you are…?"
"Weiss Schnee; Vegeta and I have been… traveling together for a continent or so."
Bulma's expression finally morphed into that of surprise as her eyebrows shot up. "No fooling? How'd you survive that situation? Last I was looking, Vegeta's most common form of greeting was an explosion."
Weiss sighed. "I've been asking myself that for a while n— Wait, so you do know him? Are you a fighter too?"
"More of a lover, kid," Bulma replied, tossing her hair with a wink. "I mean, I don't know know Vegeta, but hey… be they from Earth, Namek or wherever it is Saiyans come from… men are still from Mars, and I'm fluent in the language."
"...What's a 'Mars'...?"
"Wasn't your first wish on Shenron going to be for a boyfriend?" Krillin snarked, leaving Bulma to freeze as her face reddened. "Come on, guys, this is serious!"
Qrow sighed. "Thank you… The power couldn't have gone to Cinder, a Maiden with twice the power would have blown us all off this school. So if nothing else you fought her off, but why face the music if you were robbing a Relic?"
Raven was uncharacteristically quiet, muttering. "Nowhere else to go…"
"Qrow, you seem shockingly unsurprised by this," Ozpin said, deathly serious.
"Of course I'm not surprised, she could've done that any time! The school's been totally undefended!"
Ozpin looked him in the eye. "Did you already know she was here?"
Qrow growled. "I saw her sneak in after Leo. If I told you, you'd have stormed in after her."
"You are exactly correct!" Ozpin told him, frustration mounting. "You let her do this?!"
"Like I was in a fit state to stop her! Better her hands than Salem's."
"Neither of which would be possible without the presence of Spring!"
"Don't look at me, that wasn't my play."
Oscar stepped closer to Raven, cane smacking the stone as his face became hawkish. "Where is the Relic?!"
"HEY!" Yang shouted at last, drawing the attention of the others as she towered over Oscar. "Stop badgering her, let her explain!"
Qrow sighed in frustration. "Yang—"
"I said let her EXPLAIN!"
Silence fell. Oscar's face glowered at Ozpin's command, but patience ultimately won out. Yang didn't know him from any child after all.
Satisfied, Yang knelt down a hand on Raven's. "Mom… what's going on? Why did you come here?"
It wasn't lost on Qrow that Yang spoke as though she and her mother had met recently, but it was almost negligible compared to seeing his sister display something she hadn't in decades: vulnerability.
Her eyes raised to meet Yang's. "The Relic is safe… I sent it to Tai."
"To Tai—? What the…?!" Qrow blurted, before Yang's eyes flashed red and fixed him in their sights.
"Please continue," Ozpin droned in strained politeness.
"We planned to gather the Relics for so long, but there were too many unknowns… It would have been declaring war on Salem, and we didn't believe they were safer in our hands until we knew where the other Maidens were…" Raven paused, Qrow and Ozpin growing especially restless. "But none of that matters now, so we made the one move we had while we still could."
" 'None of that matters now…?' " Ozpin repeated, mystified.
Qrow carefully interjected. "I don't get it… Tai? You didn't have some Tribe buddies to send it to?"
"They're dead," Raven blurted, voice shaking. "They're all dead."
The four present recoiled. Yang was first to speak.
"Dead? But we were there not hours ago!" she told them, "What are you talking about?! Did they all turn on you?!"
"Heh," Raven laughed, fidgeting, "there was dissent after you left… They tried to paint me a failure. I was prepared to cut down every challenger and remind them of my strength…" She stopped a moment, her eyes going large. "But then… it was just standing there."
"It?" Ozpin repeated.
Raven didn't immediately answer. "It spoke like a man… but it was a monster…! Not Grimm, not… not human…" she told them, teeth bared as though she were still struggling to comprehend it all. "It wandered among my men… It was looking for someone. Someone that was there only recently."
Yang's mouth went dry. Krillin caught her eye, his attention now gained in full.
"A few of my men tried to intimidate it… fools… In a flash, there was nothing left of them…! The others drew their weapons in panic… in seconds the camp was on fire… They were all being killed… That laugh… We were powerless… I took Rufina, made a portal and begged the gods that we would escape before it came our turn…"
The description caught Gohan and Krillin like an uppercut. The very wind went still. A clomping behind them announced Vegeta, finally taking acute interest. "Did he have horns? Red eyes?"
A ragged breath escaped Raven as her memory burned. "Stop…!"
"He did, didn't he? I sensed him on the move hours ago… You fool, you got his attention didn't you?!" Vegeta demanded, rounding on Krillin.
"What?!" Yang exclaimed, "Who?!"
Ruby watched it all unfold in silence, but she remembered everything Gohan had told them. She understood what they were talking about, even if most of them didn't. She recalled that glimpse she'd gotten of ki through Gohan, and that overwhelming presence that dwarfed everything.
"Frieza…" Ruby said at last, drawing their eyes. She barely noticed as she said it, the breeze changing direction, her cape twisting to flail westward.
And then, as she watched, Gohan, Krillin and Vegeta all appeared to seize as one, standing rod straight, eyes agape. Apart from Vegeta, they were visibly shivering. All eyes on them, their gaze turned to Haven Hall, and in particular towards a dark profile standing on the roof.
This time, Raven gasped, as a grim chuckle filled the air.
Skin of pink and alabaster, horned head tipped up as his red eyes barely crested his lower eyelids. His teeth might have glinted, were the Sun not at his back, casting most of his figure into shadow.
"What is that charming old expression?" Frieza asked, glaring at the three warriors. "Speak his name… and he shall appear…"
A/N: It's been FAR too long…
Yes, as I prefaced to minimize disappointment, there is no animation as yet, and I'm leaving those to effectively be a "when it's done" affair rather than hold the story hostage as I pursue my pipe dream. The knowledge that Volume 8 is just around the corner finally pushed me to action. You guys deserve better.
I have a lot of 3d assets and my new computer is COMPLETE! Or at least, in a larval state. It will get its own introduction, but I call her the TET4… Yes, TET as in "Tetrasynchrony," 4 for redundancy and because it's the 4th pc I've ever owned. Yes, it IS RWBY themed, including custom colored cables.
I say "larval state" because new graphics cards have released this year, and I'm shooting to complete my build with an RTX 3090 and custom water cooling in the coming months. TET4 is a BEAST at simulation, but is held back in rendering.
If you want a reason for my lack of progress… it's complicated… or simple… A mixture of starting woes and outright melancholy. I've made a LOT of progress getting assets set up for animation, smoothing out issues that might have been disastrously (more) time-consuming… but modeling and animation have suffered greatly. We've been fortunate in dodging most of 2020's bullets, but regardless the Age of COVID19 is… draining. It's hard to get off a week of nonstop work and turn around to throw your all into 3ds max, but it's worse when every day some new horror rears its head in the world. I wish I could say escaping into my work was how I coped, but writing is more natural for that.
Anyway… If you couldn't tell, the animation for THIS chapter is meant to adapt RWBY reuniting to take down Cinder, an event that not only NEEDED to happen in Volume 5, but needed fanfare for brothers' sake!
If you want to imagine it before I finish the darn thing, I actually wrote the sequence to music. Originally I edited a cut of the song "Ambiguous" from Kill La Kill, but then I realized the timing was eerily similar to… don't laugh… "You Say Run" from My Hero Academia. I went from the idea of having a separate "You Say Run goes with anything" version of the video to just giving in to the madness and using it for real.
For timing, the song would start when Ruby breaks down after Yang hugs her…
0:22, Weiss and Blake cancel Cinder's sneak attack.
0:46 "I have my family back…"
2:05 Ozpin explains Tetrasynchrony.
2:27 RWBY moves in as one to finish Cinder.
2:50 Vegeta steals the win out from under them and lays Cinder out.
There's definitely more precise timing in there… beat for beat even… but I've talked enough about the animation.
Obviously I didn't mind the IDEA of Jaune and Cinder having a personal confrontation with a lot of V5's beats… I just hated how it cut Ruby's importance down to nothing and that Ren and Nora were written to feel no investment in his safety or Cinder's downfall. Oh, and I never thought Jaune's original semblance was worthy of the buildup. Tyrian clearly thought there was something special about him, and a support power (only used a handful of times in the series to date) always came off lame to me. That, and his ability to heal grave injuries this way cheapens battle damage. He could quickly restore Goku, and then this story would be forced to become just the Namek saga on Remnant, which I'm trying to avoid.
Basically, his semblance in this is Unstoppable Force. He can project waves or spheres of force which behave like solid, invincible masses. They say "no" to physics and only specifically indestructible (magic or divine) objects can resist it. He can use it as an impenetrable shield around himself and others or bore through almost anything, though the "edge" of the force is not sharp.
This would make him a titan among conventional Huntsmen, capable of astounding feats of destruction or heroism… In the Z Universe though? He can shove powerful fighters back and defend against their attacks, but blowing a Z villain through rock and rubble is just another day in the office. And no, he can't Antman-Thanos a sphere somewhere he can't see. The spheres cannot move from the place he spawns them, so he can't shove one down Frieza's throat and blow him up, or shield himself on the go.
So how do I balance this power if it's literally unaffected by external forces? Well, Jaune can activate it indefinitely… but is drained by successive uses of it. If he uses it, he must do so as sparingly as possible to maximum effect. If he spams it, he loses steam fast.
Also, Jaune is surprised to find Cinder is beset by some conscious force protecting him from her wrath. He believes it's Pyrrha. Could this be? How would it have happened? And if not Pyrrha, then who?
Nora achieves a tremendous boost in strength by absorbing power from the downed wire, enough to challenge a Maiden by herself, if temporarily!
And finally, the four are together again, all in disbelief and joy. As they join to battle Cinder, the nature of their strength changes. Perfectly in sync, and of the same mood and mind, they achieve Tetrasynchrony! Four as one! It's not their first time doing it either…
...Yeah, apart from what I intend to do with this concept in the future, I invented it because the constant theme of "four" in RWBY felt like it should mean something. In the earliest drafts of this story, before ultimately figuring out the lore, I placed Remnant in Universe 4 for this reason, but ultimately stuck to Universe 7… for several reasons. The principles behind Tetrasynchrony relate to the strength of objects geometrically. You can't be stronger than an object composed of as few sides as possible, made up of triangles, the strongest 2-dimensional shape.
No, this doesn't make Team RWBY physically stronger…
But of course, Vegeta wasn't about to lose out on paying Cinder back, nor be shown-up by a gaggle of girls after failing to flatten her before.
And after some catching up, Raven reveals the horrifying reason she came here… She fled something drawn to her camp, something that tore the place apart. Salem's forces have been stopped for now… but the other boot has dropped. It's time for our Z Warriors to step onto the field at last… It's time to meet Frieza.
Comments!
TF2 Crossover Man: Your support is appreciated man, seriously. Never doubt that.
Limit-Breaking: I assume you mean body swapping. Honestly, I don't think it would. Or rather, if it DID, I don't think Ginyu would like the result…
Vikasa: You're in the Discord, so I know you already know about the animation stagnating… still hurts to read this, lol. "Peg-leg Sasuke," it's still funny. I'm surprised Mercury is ANYONE'S favorite character, but I won't deny writing him was fun.
Also, looks like your fears for Frieza panned out…
X3runner: I'm glad you liked how I handled Adam, but I couldn't disagree with you MORE on judging Blake and Yang for putting him down. You're acting like Blake would have stabbed Adam even if he wasn't OBVIOUSLY going for the pieces of Gambol Shroud to keep attacking her. Their actions were entirely justified. They gave Adam EVERY opportunity to stop and leave in peace, but as I wrote for Ilia… "He was never going to stop."
Honestly I think this take on them killing Adam is hot garbage, and I still have beef with the likes of MuffinManDan who bang this drum. I just as easily could have written that for Adam's end.
Mr.J316: Thanks! I don't know if West Kai would PERSONALLY train her, but being rewarded with her body and allowed to learn from other such privileged warriors? Absolutely!
Gojosin: Mmm… I'd save that question for a chapter or two, hehe.
G119: D'oh! I should have written "caught-her-eyes-d' "!
I love adorkability in general… Nerds are cute!
"I look forward to seeing Goku Super God Fist Ruby in her training arc."
O_O PLEASE rephrase! Oh god!
Also, you're thinking of South Galaxy.
Jackalope89: Well… yeah…
Sabo88: A fact that still shocks me to consider! Reading it still makes me smile like an idiot…
Kage-kitsune9001: Really glad you're enjoying it! Hopefully your question is answered now about why Raven hadn't just warped away… She literally only had Tai left for an escape, and while she'd clearly do it if she had to, sneaking past him gives her… conflicted feelings.
ProtoPontifex: That might be one of the most glowing compliments I've ever heard. Wow, glad you're enjoying it! And don't worry, we're only JUST getting to the fun stuff, to the action, and to boatloads of answers!
Ceps: "Like all RWBY stories," huh? Well, I think there's a common thread there, don't you?
Connor1999: Wow, that's the first offer of donation I've ever received… Yours is not small praise, and I feel damned awful I haven't been more fruitful in the animation department. I can only promise to do all I can. I certainly didn't drop THOUSANDS on my new pc setup to NOT make the animations, but comments like yours are what drive me to press on despite how daunting it all can be.
Maybe if I have an animation finished and it gets some community attention I'll open one, but for now that would seem… presumptuous, and premature.
I'mAAnimeMaster: Well, I hope I'm meeting your expectations on that last part… Seriously though, next chapter is going to be apocalyptic…
glitchheart: The fact that you are barely familiar with RWBY makes you FASCINATING as a satisfied reader among my colleagues and myself. How did you FIND this story? I would have so little patience to read something I only half understood in terms of media, but it's incredibly flattering to hear I was able to effectively introduce the world of RWBY well enough in this story that a total outsider could follow it.
c12Guest: Glad you're enjoying it! Yeah, I will TOTALLY admit that these first several chapters play out like "how RWBY should have been." Believe it or not, when this story started, we were in the hiatus between Volumes 4 and 5, so really I was writing the story as up to date as possible per the time. After Volume 5 though, I just happened to be in the position to fix a lot of the problems it created, and was fired-up enough to get down in the mud and work it out.
Yes, this did mean putting the Z plot on the backburner, but I feel it was justified. The characters are able to familiarize themselves with each other as people and the Z characters get an idea of how this world works and who these people are as they try to get along while avoiding Frieza's retribution. Frieza is a looming threat, but not an immediate one. This first act of the story is meant to ease everyone into place before the Z plot and the threat of Frieza inevitably take center stage and steal the show.
You can see this already now that Frieza is HERE, everyone is together… and clearly the Emperor of the Universe isn't going to be ignored.
The last dozen chapters have been about the Z Warriors being mysterious strangers of vague purpose in a world that doesn't know them, only hinting at their power. Now… It's Team RWBY et al thrust into a new world, and they must decide how they will navigate it.
MosquitoesLoveMe: Thanks, but I have enough stress from power scaling fanatics without specifically courting their scrutiny.
Son Kenshin: Hopefully you now see that I wasn't wasting them… I was saving them ^_^
xanamarion3: You make a lot of assumptions… Especially given I explain how Remnant humans exude power they don't seem to actually use or are aware of… in Chapter TWO…
The demands of your ilk are so boring… You're so OBSESSED with quantifying power with absurd-as-fuck numbers that you can't even countenance a "lesser" universe as being anything more than waterboy for the other. Even when I make them so insignificant to the players in the field and DON'T EVEN LET THEM EXPRESS THAT POWER, they don't instantly crumble when the other guys breathe on them… therefore the story sucks.
Yeah, sure… Have you considered that maybe some people aren't as anal retentive about this, and that power levels have exceedingly little to do with story?
I'm not advocating all out absurdity… but Dragonball itself likes to make its weakest characters weirdly durable against even godlike beings on a whim. You're playing favorites if you're pretending I'm uniquely sinning against DBZ…