Author's note: This chapter, I'll do something I don't normally do. But this one time works too well, so yeah.
Two days after the Apophis was killed, everyone was fully rested again. Mantle was still safe, thanks to the wall, but the military was incredibly low on ammunition. Ruby had known that this would happen, but she didn't know exactly how bad it would be, and had hoped for the best. She, Jaune, Qrow and Clover were on their way to Ironwood's office, when she got a message on her scroll. She checked it, sighed, and put her scroll away again.
"Do any of you know what happened there?" James asked after the other four had gathered in his office.
"The Apophis," Ruby answered, "I sensed it a few days ago and did some research. Apparently, it was trapped in ice by a previous maiden because they couldn't kill it. So, we woke it up." The room was silent for a moment, and Ruby swallowed nervously.
"You… woke up something like that?" James asked, "Why?"
"Because we had to kill it eventually," Ruby answered, "And now was the best time. Your military was as good as never before, Mantle had all the protection we needed, we had three maidens, two of which dealt more damage to Grimm than normal, and Sirena said that we would make it."
"Then why didn't you tell me?" James asked, getting angry.
"Because of the pact you made with Sirena," Ruby answered calmly, "It forces you to protect the people of this kingdom to the best of your abilities. Not the best of your judgment, or your knowledge, just your abilities. If you can do something to protect people, whether you know they're in danger or not, you'll do it. If me waking this thing up would've killed anyone, you would've told me not to do it, even if you didn't know I was doing it in the first place. But, thinking back… you hadn't prepared your forces."
"He changed… his soul," a low and rumbling voice said, and everyone turned to an unusually dark shadow. Dark red sludge dripped off the walls and everyone got ready to fight. It formed a puddle on the floor and an arm came out of it. The arm pressed its hand on the floor outside the puddle, and Niob slowly surfaced from the sludge. Seeing him, everyone put their weapons away again.
"Niob? What are you doing here?" Qrow asked, "And what do you mean he changed his soul?"
"Sirena has cut contact with us a few weeks ago," Niob answered, "I was sent in her place. My investigation has revealed that she entrusted Ruby Rose with leading the operations in this area, so I will follow her decision."
"How did Ironwood change his soul?" Ruby asked, "Is that even possible?"
"It is," Niob answered, "Intense trauma can affect the body. Worse trauma affects the mind. The worst kind of trauma affects the very soul. Something happened to General Ironwood that made him reject his semblance. That was enough of a change to negate the pact he made with Sirena. That is why I volunteered to come here. I have yet to see the effects of this soul corruption in full, and am quite interested in recreating this process myself."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Ruby asked, looking at James, "Do you know how this would've ended if we didn't have your military to help us?"
"Wait, do you mean you want to corrupt your own soul?" Qrow asked, staring at Niob in shock.
"I had to keep this a secret," James said, "People trusted me to make the right call, and if they knew I wasn't perfect any more, they would lose that trust."
"I need to," Niob answered, "For the safety of all I hold dear, my semblance cannot be allowed to exist."
"No, they wouldn't," Ruby said, "People don't lose trust because you're flawed or fallible. People lose trust because you don't admit to those things. I'm aware that I'm not perfect, but I'm open for suggestions from others. My team knows that, if they think they have a better way of doing things than what I'm suggesting, they can tell me, and I will listen."
"I… guess I understand that, actually," Qrow said, "My semblance is a curse, as you know. But even so, I wouldn't want to change it."
"I do that, too," James said, "And yet, people don't trust me. That is why I can't trust anyone either."
"Emotion-based probability manipulation," Niob said and explained, "Your semblance affects probability based on your emotional state. You grew up in a hostile environment, hence why negative emotions are more common in you. If you learned to focus on the good things, good things would happen around you. But not me. I am different."
"That's not what trust is," Ruby said, "Trust is a risk, always. If it weren't, it wouldn't be trust. If you know for a fact that people will do what you tell them, it's not trust. It just means that every other option is way worse than what you told them to do. Trust is walking up to a stranger at a mall and asking them to watch your stuff while you go to the bathroom. Trust is an honor. It puts people on a pedestal, and they want to stay there, so they will do what you trust them to do. But if you expect them to follow your orders because the alternative is not worth it, that's not trust. That is fear, and ruling by fear is tyranny."
"Wait, you mean my semblance can do good?" Qrow asked, "Even without the enchantment on my sword?"
"In any case, let's talk about why I called you here," James said.
"Yes, it can. You just need to learn how to use it," Niob answered. James cleared his throat and gave Niob a stern look. He exchanged looks with Ruby, who telepathically told him to go out into the tundra and kill Grimm that come close enough to Mantle that he can see them. Niob left the office, and James opened a file on his computer.
"This is what is left of my military's resources," James said, showing a list of ammunition types.
"You have got to be kidding me," Qrow said and asked, "Just three bullets? How do we defend the city with that?" Ruby felt everyone's eyes on her, giving her judging looks because she effectively disabled the military.
"Luckily, we have the dust to make more," James said, "We just need other materials as well. And those are the problem."
"No, they're not," Ruby said, gaining everyone's full attention.
"What do you mean?" James asked.
"How do you feel?" Ruby asked, "You too, Clover. How do you feel towards me?"
"I'm upset that you woke that Grimm without telling me," James answered.
"Me too," Clover answered, "But, something tells me you have a plan."
"Me too, kid," Qrow said, "It's almost like how I feel that Sirena can keep me and my loved ones safe."
"That is because I do, and she can," Ruby said, "The silver eyes have a passive ability. Sirena told me about it in Mistral, pretty early on, but I didn't fully understand it until Harriet had her accident."
"Wait, what?" Qrow asked, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"I was afraid of how you'd feel," Ruby answered, "Based on what Sirena told me, I thought that I just made sad or hopeless people around me think that I could lead them into a brighter future. I thought it just brainwashed people to follow me, whether they want to or not. But when I tried to cheer up Harriet, nothing happened. She was clearly hopeless, so if what Sirena told me was true, my powers should have affected her. But they didn't. It was only when Oda came in that Harriet's emotional state improved. Oda is a leader, like me, so her silver eyes trigger when she is sad. She has this same passive ability as me. But hers worked on Harriet, because she could actually help her walk again. The best I could've done was teach her to astral project, which wasn't what she wanted."
"So, what does that mean?" Clover asked.
"It means that my powers only work when I can help," Ruby answered, "If someone is sad, or hopeless, and I can't do anything to help them, my powers won't affect them. But since you three are neither sad nor hopeless, and instead feel like I have a plan, it means my plan can accomplish what you want."
"So you do have a plan," James said and asked, "Why didn't you say so sooner?"
"And what is it?" Qrow asked.
"How can we help?" Clover asked.
"Maria is already working on it," Ruby answered, "Basically, when the Apophis died, it released vast amounts of Grimm essence into the atmosphere. It was made even worse by the negativity of the people of Mantle, which is why I fought it at night."
"Wait, Grimm essence?" Qrow asked.
"The stuff Grimm are made of," Ruby answered, "It is the accumulation of negative emotions that the Grimm have absorbed. When they die, it scatters and reforms elsewhere. Except, it forms smaller Grimm than what initially died. Only the powers of the silver eyes can permanently destroy this essence."
"Then, why didn't you do that?" James asked, "Why risk so much when you could have neutralized it for good? You could have prevented my military from becoming useless."
"No, I couldn't," Ruby answered, "It was too powerful, and there weren't enough silver-eyed warriors around to do that. We could have waited, and hoped that future generations can do it, but it would've taken too long and given Salem too many opportunities to destroy this city. I had to make a decision. Wake it now and kill it the normal way, or risk it waking up later, before there are enough people to neutralize it. I chose the safer option."
"So, how many new Grimm are there?" Qrow asked, "And when do they come?"
"Some are already forming," Ruby answered, "And based on some calculations I did on one of the military's computers, there will be over a hundred billion new Grimm, if all of them are Sabyr." Qrow and Clover were shocked for a moment, trying to wrap their heads around that number.
"So, what is your plan?" James asked.
"Maria and I will petrify any Grimm we find," Ruby answered, "Then, Maria will transmute them into metal, which you can use to make more ammunition."
"Alright," James said, "I'll get a Manta ready for each of you, and see if we can transport them once they're petrified."
"I'll ask Willow if we can borrow some of her cargo ships," Qrow said.
"Good idea," Ruby said, and the mood in the room got much lighter than before. Suddenly, James got a message on his scroll that a huntress was being attacked in Mantle. Ruby, Jaune and Clover contacted their respective teams and headed out, while Qrow went ahead. James also contacted his best military nurse, as well as Maria, just in case.
~o~
When Ruby's Group, the Ace-Ops and Destiny arrived in Mantle, they saw Tock and Tyrian standing over a defeated rabbit faunus in mostly pink clothes. She tried to crawl away from the two, and Harriet quickly ran over to get her away from her assailants, and the Ace-Ops got her to the Manta. Destiny wore a normal doctor's outfit, but also a wide sash with two rows of syringes, which were filled with an anesthetic, in case she had to defend herself.
"Look who it is," Tock said upon seeing Maria, "Ya haven't aged a day."
"T- Tyrian?" Destiny asked, "How are you alive?"
"Wait, you know him?" Clover asked, staying between his team and the imminent fight to make sure the others weren't attacked. Tyrian cackled shortly.
"Of course we know each other," Tyrian answered and asked, "Did you really not tell them about me, dear sister?" Everyone was shocked at that revelation. Tyrian pouted mockingly, and Destiny angrily grabbed one of the syringes on her sash.
"I'll handle him," Destiny said and rushed in. Her eyes turned purple and her right hand was surrounded by purple energy. Tyrian rushed in as well, also using his semblance.
"Ready for a rematch?" Tock asked and attacked Maria. Maria blocked the initial attack with her weapons and went on the counter offensive. Tyrian and Destiny exchanged a series of blows, trying to disrupt the other's aura.
"Why do you refuse to use our semblance properly?" Tyrian asked.
"I am using it properly," Destiny answered, "You soiled our family name!"
"Don't lose yer head, love," Tock said with a laugh and attacked Maria, aiming for her neck. Maria leaned back to dodge to attack and kicked Tock in the chin.
"I wasn't planning to," Maria said. Ruby and her friends tried to find an opening to step in, but the two fighting duos moved too quickly, and they would risk hitting Destiny, mostly because none of them knew her fighting style well enough to work with her. Maria was less of a risk, due to her semblance, but it was still dangerous. Qrow dropped his sword, took a deep breath and focused on helping Maria. His hero, his idol, his only positive role model. Tyrian tried hitting Destiny with his right hand. She dodged and hit his right shoulder, disrupting his aura in the area. Tock kicked Maria against a wall and rushed in to hit her with a flurry of sword strikes. Before Tock reached Maria, a roof tile fell down and hit the ground, startling everyone and giving Maria a split second of time. Tock struck her with her swords, but Maria created an ice-dust clone to trap her weapons.
"You never trained a lot, did you?" Tyrian asked and changed his stance to keep his shoulder away from his sister. She hit him with a spinning kick against the left shoulder, turning his torso just enough to inject him with the anesthetic.
"Actually, I did," Destiny answered as Tyrian slumped over and passed out. She grabbed another syringe, took the needle with her right hand and threw it at Tock like a throwing knife. The needle was coated in a purple aura, and Tock used Maria's ice clone to block the attack. The ice statue shattered and the syringe fell to the ground, where the purple aura disappeared. Tock sheathed her swords and picked up Tyrian, who was acting rather drunk.
"Tyrian, can you hear me?" Tock asked, "Answer me."
"Pretty lady," Tyrian said with a hazy smile and stroked Tock's cheek.
"I can heal him," Destiny said, "If you both agree to come with us peacefully, and answer for your crimes." Tock thought for a moment, then turned and ran away. Destiny deactivated her semblance again and picked up her syringe. She marked it with a red marker so she knew to sterilize it again, then put it in her sash again.
~o~
Tock ran into the building she and Tyrian had taken up residence in, and put Tyrian on his bed. She had no idea what she should do, or what she could do. She had to find an antidote. Tock took the syringe out of Tyrian's shoulder and looked it over. She couldn't decipher any of the words written on it, but she knew a place where she could hopefully find someone who could. It was a stretch, but she had to try. She went to a shady tavern in Mantle and walked up to the counter, where a big man with short black hair looked at her.
"Hello," the barkeeper said and asked, "How can I help?"
"I want to order a rather special drink, not sure if you've heard of it," Tock answered, and the barkeeper understood what she wanted.
"Well, if I know it I can see if I can mix it," the barkeeper said.
"I'm in the mood for a yellow chain," Tock said, and the barkeeper got a bit confused.
"I'm sorry, but I don't know that one," he said.
"It's an older one," Tock said, "Ya might have ta ask yer boss." The barkeeper pulled up a rather old looking clip board, flipped a few pages, then looked up at Tock to compare the image on the page with her face.
"Well, it's here alright," the man said and asked, "But… how?"
"Last time I was here, ya had a 'no dumb questions' policy," Tock answered sternly.
"Right, sorry," the man said and asked, "So, anything else?"
"No, just the drink," Tock answered.
"Alright then," the barkeeper said, "This way." He opened a small hatch built into the counter, and let Tock walk through. He then opened a door that was disguised as a booze shelf and Tock disappeared behind it, hoping to find someone who could help Tyrian.
~o~
Ruby's Group, the Ace-Ops, General Ironwood and Destiny were standing in the General's office, with Destiny looking guilty and feeling hopeless.
"Is it true what Tyrian said?" James asked.
"Yes," Destiny answered, "We have the same mother, and his father was a scorpion faunus."
"And the same semblance," Qrow said.
"Yes, we got it from our mother," Destiny answered, "But it's only hereditary if a woman has it, for some reason."
"Why did you start working as a nurse?" James asked.
"Because that's what our semblance is meant to do," Destiny answered, "After the war, some soldiers couldn't leave the battle field. Nightmares, visions, all manner of problems. And with their aura, they were too dangerous to be left alive. One of my ancestors stood up. She discovered what her semblance could do, and decided to take care of those who would be too dangerous for everyone else. If they had an episode, she could step in and help them calm down, even with their aura active. We still do this to this day, with retired huntsmen and huntresses. Tyrian is the only one in my family to not do this kind of work."
"I see," James said, "In that case, and given that you helped disable such a dangerous criminal, I suppose we can keep this particular member of your family off the records."
"Thank you, Sir," Destiny said, "I'll leave now, I still have a patient to care for." She left the office and headed to the medical bay.
~o~
When Ichigo was sure that she was alone, she got up and snuck away. Her aura quickly got rid of the small cuts and bruises Tock and Tyrian left on her to make it seem believable, and she went to get her weapon. She had no idea where she should go, but she could tell where she better shouldn't go. She reached a door that seemed promising, and put her right hand against it. Listening to the sound of the moving parts, she made a mental image of its internal mechanisms, before using her semblance to break it. The door slid open with little resistance, and Ichigo walked through, searching for the prison cells.
~o~
Jaune was walking through Atlas Academy, when he sensed someone activating their aura in the medical compound. He focused on them and realized that it was the woman they had saved from Tock and Tyrian. She walked around, seemingly looking for something, and stopped in front of a security door. Within seconds, without even touching the key pad, she had opened the door and was through. Jaune contacted Ren and Nora to meet him at the prison cells, thinking this was a plan to free Arthur. He then used Petal Burst, slipped into an air vent and appeared in front of the woman, assuming a rather intimidating pose.
"You were fine all along?" Jaune asked, "Then… why?"
"My semblance lets me store some of my aura for later," Ichigo lied, "I passed out before I could activate it, and when I came to, it healed me."
"Sorry, I didn't know that," Jaune said and relaxed again, "That's a pretty impressive semblance."
"Thanks," Ichigo said and asked, "Anyway, can you show me around here? I came to help with the Grimm, and I'd like to get to know everyone here."
"Sure thing," Jaune answered, "I'm Jaune Arc, a huntsman from Vale. Follow me, I'll show you everything."
"Nice to meet you, Jaune," Ichigo lied, "I'm Sakura Blossom, from Menagerie. Anyway, can you show me the prison? I heard you captured one of the enemies, and I'd like to see what kind of person would do this kind of thing."
"Of course," Jaune answered and walked ahead, leading Ichigo to the prison. On the way, Jaune took some breaks to get out of Ichigo's field of view, texting Ren and Nora to be ready, and also had Ruby look through cyberspace to see if the name had any matches. Along the way, Ichigo inspected the wall in several locations, secretly using her semblance to fill the wall with cream, augmented with fire-dust from the pockets on her skirt.
~o~
After walking a few minutes, they approached the prison, and Ichigo looked around. A central compound led to several rooms with four hard-light cells, which could be activated on command.
"So, you've brought friends," Ichigo said, drew her mace and asked, "What gave me away?" Ren and Nora came out of different lockers and drew their weapons, and Jaune also got ready to fight. Nora still had scars from taking such a powerful lightning strike, but had insisted to keep them, since they look cool.
"I noticed the way you look at everything," Jaune lied.
"I see," Ichigo lied, "Anyway, I'll be off now." She slammed her mace on the ground and created a powerful gust of wind that blew away the three humans, then jumped into one of the rooms with the cells.
"She's fast," Ren said as he got back up. He tried to tackle Ichigo, but she kicked him in the face three times in rapid succession, sending him flying backwards with the last hit. Jaune charged at her with his sword and she blocked the strike with her mace. She went on the attack, but Jaune blocked the blow with his shield. Just as the mace was about to hit, Jaune activated the gravity-dust in his shield to repel the attack. Ichigo used the momentum of the dust and swiped Jaune's legs away from under him. Nora charged at Ichigo, but Ichigo kicked Jaune into her. She then hit the key pad with her mace and closed the door to the room, simultaneously destroying the pad and overloading the one on the outside.
"So, which one of you is Arthur?" Ichigo asked the two men, "Actually, I don't care. I'll get you both out." She pressed the button to open Arthur's cell, and the hard-light barrier disappeared. Just as Arthur was about to leave, Ichigo shoved him back into the cell and ducked, a split second before Elm bust down the door to the room. Ichigo secretly put a chunk of hardened cream in the way of Arthur's cell wall, augmented with fire-dust, and jumped to the other side of the room, pretending to be knocked down by the impact. After the dust settled, Elm pressed the button to close Arthur's cell again, and when the hard-light wall activated, it cut through the red chunk on the floor. The chunk exploded, destroying the two cells and sending Elm flying backwards. Before Elm could recover, Ichigo hit her with her mace and knocked her out.
"Thank you," Arthur said. Jaune and Nora came back to fight Ichigo. Nora tried hitting her with her hammer, but Ichigo jumped over the weapon and to the ceiling. She pushed herself off the ceiling and landed behind Nora, wrapping her right arm around her neck. Jaune sent an aura shockwave at Ichigo, but she made a roll forward and threw Nora in the line of fire.
"Nora!" Jaune called out and glared at Ichigo. She quickly jumped back on her feet and kicked both Jaune and Nora out of the room. Jaune and Nora got back up and wanted to charge in again, but Ichigo created a fence made from fire-dust cream, blocking the way into the room. Jaune took a step back, then prepared to cut through the material.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Ichigo said, "I lied about my semblance. I rigged the entire place, and if any part of it gets damaged, well… you saw what a bit the size of a walnut can do." She threw a dozen throwing daggers made from fire-dust cream into the wall and they exploded, opening the way to escape. She then created three hang gliders from regular cream, and she, Arthur and Aritz escaped. Ren came back and looked around.
"What… happened?" Ren asked, and Team RWBY and the rest of the Ace-Ops arrived as well.
"That woman, Sakura," Jaune answered, "Apparently, she works for Salem. The entire thing was a set-up to get Arthur and that principal out of here."
"So, we just allowed an enemy into our base?" Harriet asked, "And what is that stuff?"
"It's apparently highly explosive," Jaune answered, "And everywhere in the walls. I could tell that she did something, but I had no idea what it was."
"Don't worry, we'll find a way to get rid of it," Ruby said and gave Jaune a reassuring smile.
~o~
Ichigo, Arthur and Arnold Aritz landed in front of the storage unit that served as their temporary base of operations, and Ichigo made the hang gliders disappear again.
"So, who are you?" Arthur asked.
"I'm Ichigo," Ichigo answered, "Tock, Tyrian and I were sent to get one of you out of jail."
"That would be me," Arthur said.
"Good, then you can go," Ichigo said, looking at Arnold.
"But I want to help you guys," Arnold said, "Sirena got me fired from my last job, after all."
"We'll see," Arthur said and asked, "Now, where are Tock and Tyrian?"
"I don't know," Ichigo answered, "Well, Tyrian is inside, but Tock is missing. Guess we'll just have to wait for her." They entered the building, and Arthur and Arnold looked around the large space filled with pink furniture.
"Why is everything pink?" Arthur asked.
"If I make it any other color, it explodes," Ichigo answered. They spotted Tyrian lying in his bed, sort of just sloshing around like a semi-liquid.
"Tyrian, what happened?" Arthur asked and walked over to the scorpion faunus.
"Strawberries," Tyrian said, slurring the words, "Strawberries!" He tried to move his arms to reach out to Ichigo, who wondered if her shape really resembled strawberries enough to fool the heavily intoxicated killer. Arnold walked over to Tyrian as well and tried looking at his eyes.
"Look at me," Arnold said, "I have medical training. If you look at me, I can try to find out what's wrong with you."
"I don't wanna," Tyrian complained. Suddenly, Tock came running into the room and shoved Arnold and Arthur aside.
"Outta the way, losers," Tock said and ran past them, knelt down beside Tyrian and tried to find a good spot to inject the reversal agent for whatever his sister had given him.
"Pretty lady," Tyrian said and tried to raise his hand to stroke Tock's cheek, but only managed to flop his arm around like a wet noodle. Arthur suppressed a chuckle, and Tock glared at him to make him shut up.
"Maybe I can help," Arnold said and walked up to Tock, "I have some basic medical training."
"If he don't make it, we'll need two graves," Tock said, stepped away and handed Arnold the syringe. He looked at it and his eyes widened.
"What did he get hit with?" Arnold asked and said, "Nevermind, let's get to work." He gave Tyrian the anti-serum, and within a few minutes, Tyrian came back to his senses. Tock rushed over to him and hugged him, tears of joy streaming down her scaly face. Arthur, Ichigo and Arnold left the building, to get out of the uncomfortable situation.
Author's note: Destiny being Tyrian's sister was not really planned from the start. She started out as just a joke character, but then, like most of my OCs, she developed a mind of her own, and before I knew it, she had family. I liked the idea, since it is hilarious and gives me an excuse to use Tyrian's semblance for good. So, here we are. She also has better control over her semblance than Tyrian, which, again, I find hilarious.
So yeah, technically, Tyrian could coat his bullets in his aura to make them pierce other people's aura.
Anyway, "ichigo" is Japanese for "strawberry."