The Reunion
A young woman was looking around a bedroom in the house with a confused look. This woman had a blonde hair that extended to her upper back, though some of it was gathered into a high bun.
"This... this is." The woman's light blue eyes widened as she looked to the king-sized bed in the room. The woman then spotted a body length mirror and took in her appearance. She was wearing a two-piece dress, consisting of a sleeveless diagonally angled white backless pleated top with a raised pale blue halter top underneath. The lower part of the dress was the same white as the top, but it was held to her waist with a purple sash. The skirt itself extended to her ankles. "But.. how?" the woman said as she touched her gray, circular earrings.
Suddenly, the door to the room opened startling the woman.
"Mommy!" the four little girls that came through shouted before rushing the woman and hugged her.
"Wh-what?" the woman looked confused as she looked at the four girls. Each of the girls had blonde hair of varying shades and three of them were fair like the woman, but the youngest of them had a darker skin tone. The oldest of the girls had a blue dress and brown eyes. Her platinum hair was chin length. The second oldest had a slightly more yellow, neck-length hair, than the woman and she the girl wore an orange dress with a sun embroidered on the skirt. The third one had a pink dress, and her platinum hair was partially embroidered. The youngest of them wore a green dress and also had platinum hair, but she also had a green hairband.
"Mommy, come on!" the youngest insisted, grabbing the woman's hand and started pulling her. The sisters did the same.
"Daddy said that food is almost ready." The second eldest said as the woman allowed herself to be herded out the door and to a small hallway.
The woman saw four different doors and a staircase that led down. "Must be the girls' rooms." The woman thought aloud as she was then pulled downstairs to a large room with a dining table already set.
"Girls, don't pull your mother like that." A man's voice said from the stove where he was stirring a pot.
The girls all let go of their mother's arms before walking the rest of the steps down, "Sorry, Daddy."
The father of the girls wasn't much older than the woman. The man was somewhat dark-skinned with a messy brown hair. He was looking at the five with kind brown eyes. He wore a green-blue tunic and black pants with brown boots.
"Go on, dear. Sit on the table. I'll get this in a moment." the man said to the woman who looked like she had seen a ghost.
"Ozma?" the woman managed to say.
"Girls, have you washed your hands yet?" the man then asked the girls.
"Yes, daddy." The youngest immediately piped up.
"No we haven't." The oldest said while giving the little sister a look.
"Let's go wash them." The second eldest said, "Mommy can come too."
"Wh-what?" The woman said, before shaking her head, "I mean, yes. It's important to wash your hands before eating."
With those words, the five moved outside to a washing basin. Which allowed the woman to look at her surroundings outside. The small two story house was in the middle of the woods. Though the structure was sturdy enough that no wildlife would get in. The woman looked to the dirt road that led away from this house. While she couldn't see the end of it, she knew that there was a village a short walk away.
Once the woman and the girls returned to the house, they all took their seats at the dining table.
"Right on time." Ozma said as he placed a big pot on the table, filled with soup. "I managed to buy some spices from a traveling merchant. Prepare to lose your tongues."
"Yaay!" The girls said as one.
The woman on the other hand didn't cheer, she just took in the wonderful smell of the soup. It really was making her hungry.
"...Ozma... did... anything strange happen?" the woman asked hesitantly as Ozma took a wooden bowl and took some soup from the pot for his wife.
"Hm? What do you mean?" Ozma asked as he placed the bowl in front of the woman before also serving each of the girls.
"Can we eat now, Daddy?" the second youngest daughter asked impatiently.
Ozma chuckled before replying, "Let's eat, everyone."
With that, the girls dug in alongside their father.
The woman looked at the delicious smelling soup hesitantly before taking a spoonful and tasted it. "It's delicious." The woman said in slight shock. "It tastes just like... Just like." The woman trailed off. Then a sob broke out of her. Then one sob turned into many more.
The youngest stopped eating and looked to the now crying woman. She then looked to her father in worry, "Daddy. Why is Mommy crying?"
The husband had already noticed his wife crying, "Dear? Is something wrong?"
"This is too much." The woman said, as tears flowed freely down her cheeks.
The other girls were now looking worried. The younger two of the four looking like they wanted to cry too.
Ozma got off from his seat and moved to hug his wife. "Darling, what is too much?"
"This...all of it..." The woman clutched the spoon she was holding tightly while using her other hand to cover her eyes. Though it did little to stop her tears.
"Salem, what's wrong?" Ozma asked as he wiped a tear from Salem's face.
"...not..." The woman said softly through her sobs.
"What did you say?" Ozma asked.
"Not real." the woman said more clearly.
Now the husband was more concerned, "Salem, please talk to me. What's wrong?"
Salem dropped the spoon before standing up so fast that she threw Ozma off of her. "This isn't real!" Salem screamed, and as if to assert her statement, the house was crumbling away. All the furniture, the dinner table, even the children and the husband crumbled away, leaving only darkness. Until finally, the woman herself crumbled to dust. Except the fair skin that crumbled away gave way to ashen skin with red lines. The white dress was replaced by a black one. And the blonde hair crumbled out of the large ashen bun's way. Finally, the fair tear-stained face shattered, revealing the ashen face of Salem, the Queen of Grimm. However, tears were still flowing down her face. They were the only thing left of that charade that happened.
"So, you broke through that. Impressive." A voice said in the large circular room Salem found herself in.
The witch turned her black-sclerae, red eyes to Klaus whose form she could see clearly. "Was it funny?!" Salem demanded, "Was it funny to see what those monsters stole from me?!"
Klaus shook his head, "No, I just wanted to confirm something."
"And what would that be?" Salem said, taking deep breaths. It wouldn't do for her to lose herself now.
"I wanted to confirm that deep down, you are still Salem." Klaus explained, not feeling the least bit threatened by the witch.
"What do you mean by that?" Salem asked, now more intrigued. Though she still looked furious.
"Even if I told you, you wouldn't accept it." Klaus shook his head.
"Stop playing your games with me, you backstabbing thief." Salem said as the lines on her skin and her eyes glowed red faintly.
Klaus quirked an eyebrow at this, "How have I 'backstabbed' you? And what did I steal from you?"
Salem opened her mouth to answer but found that she couldn't answer either of the questions.
"Ahh. So that's how it works." Klaus said with a sad smile. "Such a cruel situation. But I suppose, other than that, we are the same."
"You are nothing like me!" Salem screamed, though she didn't understand where this surge of anger and hate came from.
"Aren't I? We both committed a sin and payed for it." Klaus told Salem with a saddened look. "The only difference between us is that I sought redemption."
"Why should I seek redemption for anything?! I asked them for one insignificant thing!" Salem pointed one finger up for emphasis.
"All those millennia, and you still don't understand what you were asking him to do." Klaus shook his head, "Not to mention trying to play one for a fool when the other wouldn't grant your request. Did you honestly believe that the God of Light wouldn't act after his brother brought Ozma back?"
"What are you- Hold on." Salem finally realized something, "You speak as if... you saw what happened."
"...I extracted all the information I needed about you, Remnant. And the Brothers." Klaus explained.
"Is that so?" Salem said, now smiling, "Then you also know that fighting me is meaningless."
Klaus chuckled at this, "I have no means of giving you what you wish now. And the Conduit will not give it to you either."
"The Conduit? Oh yes, that's what you call it." Salem said with a smile before then frowning, "Tell me, if you have nothing that can stop me, then why not just surrender the Conduit to me?"
"Who said I cannot stop you?" Klaus said with a pitying look.
"You just said that you have no means of-" "That doesn't mean I cannot stop you." Klaus interrupted, "Besides, there is someone I wish to speak to. So I will need you to step back for a moment."
Salem shook her head before smirking, "Just another foolish man." Then she raised her palm towards Klaus to make Grimm arms sprout from beneath him and strangle him. The thought of this wretched man who dared to show her the only thing she ever wanted, but was denied, in pain filled her with limitless joy. But that joy turned to confusion when nothing happened. "What is this?" Salem questioned as her magic wouldn't activate.
"I told you, I learned all that I needed about you." Klaus said, now sitting right in front of Salem.
"What?! When did you-?" The next thing Salem knew, Klaus had placed his hand on her left cheek. And that was the last thing Salem felt before everything faded away.
Mercury, Hazel and Tyrian were watching the hallway they had all entered. So far, there was nothing coming at them. But according to Watts, something might come at them if he made one wrong step.
"Can't you hack that thing faster?" Mercury asked, slightly nervous about what might come if the doctor failed.
Inside an office that the three were actually guarding, Watts let out a weary sigh as he had set up multiple Scrolls around a single terminal in the room. The doctor opted to stand instead of sitting on the comfy looking working chair that was in front of it. The Atlesian scientist was swiping his hands across the multitudes of Scrolls as if he were playing an orchestra of some kind. Without looking up from his work, Watts gave his annoyed response, "For the last time, you can't rush art like this."
"But what if those drones come at us again." Emerald said, feeling nervous as the drones they had to fight seemed to come every time Watts managed to hack another door. Later on, it turned out that it was because Watts was able to bypass the door's security check that the drones were alerted and came after them. The drones themselves didn't pose too much trouble, but Watts had theorized that they might normally be supporting a security team of some kind. But since there wasn't anyone here, it was just the drones.
The doctor did give credit to whoever designed the security on these doors. It gave him a small challenge to bypass the security checks to open the doors that wouldn't budge otherwise. As for the alert that got the drones on them, sadly it was rigged in a way that disabling the silent alarms meant putting the door on security lockdown. And then there was this terminal. This room was labeled as the office of the Head of Cyber Security. And Watts guessed that if he could hack the terminal here, then they might have more freedom of movement around this station if not unrestricted. Still, the security code of this terminal proved much more difficult than the doors.
"It's a shame that whoever designed this is long dead." Watts said as he kept swiping the Scrolls to gain access to this thing. "I would've liked to shake his hand for actually giving me a challenge."
This caused Hazel to look in, "Are you saying this system's creator is your equal?"
"Oh no." Watts chuckled, "But I do have to admit, whoever designed this was a genius." Watts then smiled as a pop-up appeared on one of the Scrolls "Access Granted" was the text on it. "Finally. Took me long enough." Watts sounded more impressed than annoyed at cracking the password to be so hard. "Now then, let's see what we can find from here." Watts pressed on the pop-up on the Scroll. "Hm?" Watts pressed again as the screen didn't seem to react to his touch. "What is -?" Watts cut his question short as the sound of someone blowing a raspberry sounded out from the Scrolls.
Everyone gave a quizzical look at Watts who looked extremely confused. Then all Scrolls started playing audio of someone laughing maniacally like a cartoon villain. Finally, all screens on the Scrolls had a large pop-up window open that had a large smiley face that was sticking its tongue out. Above the offending emoji was a text in capital letters, "GOT'CHA, LOSER!"
"No." Watts said in horror as the implications of this offending message being on every single Scroll he had around the terminal was registering in his mind. And then all Scrolls started short-circuiting, some of them actually exploded. "Nonononono!" Watts panicked as all these custom-programmed Scrolls that he had linked together to maximize processing power were destroyed right before his eyes.
"Watts... what happened?" Tyrian asked, part of him taking delight in the look of horror on their doctor's mustached face.
Scorax also clicked its fangs in confusion. Tilting its head to show it didn't understand what was going on.
"I-I..." Watts stammered as he gingerly picked up one Scroll that was still sparking a little, screen flickering with the offending message on it as if taunting him one last time before dying. "I take everything back." Watts finally said calmly, dropping the destroyed device.
"What?" Emerald asked unsurely.
"Whoever designed this was a bloody arsehole!" Watts slammed his fists against the terminal. The machine not taking any damage from the abuse.
"Whoa." Mercury let out in surprise, part of him feeling smug at the mustached jerk getting screwed over, "So someone actually beat you?"
Watts looked furiously at Mercury, hands clawing the air as if he wanted to strangle the boy. But the scientist let out a defeated sigh, "Yes." and then he allowed himself to collapse on the work chair. Massaging his temples to ease the migraine that such a complete defeat caused. "I just... I can't believe that whoever designed this...actually expected someone to get through."
"What do you mean 'expected'?" Emerald was the first to ask.
"I mean that whoever designed this had the foresight to plant some kind of counter-hacking protocol. A virus perhaps." Watts said tiredly, "But to make something so precise and somehow ensuring that none of his own possible equipment would be damaged in the process... It's just..." Watts free hand resting on the armrest of the chair tightened. "How did he do it? Maybe some kind of code in his own equipment that tells the virus to back off? Or was there some kind of digital tripwire I triggered?"
As the scientist listed what safety measures the designer of this system might have put in place. The rest of Salem's crew looked highly worried.
"Well... this could be a problem." Tyrian pouted a little, "Now we don't have any better access. And our good doctor has lost all his toys."
"No I haven't!" Watts snapped as he fished one last Scroll from his pocket. "I always keep one away just in case."
"Can you try again?" Hazel asked.
"Not without risking losing our only means of opening the doors." Watts explained, "Honestly, if this place was manned the way I guess it was supposed to be, I think we would have been apprehended a long time ago. The worst part is... this system just made Atlas security code look like a joke!" The man slammed a fist against the armrest. "Why didn't I ever think of something like this."
The rest of the crew could swear they heard Watts let out a sob as he said the last part.
"So the civilization that built this is more advanced than even Atlas." Hazel said with a sigh, "And yet they still somehow destroyed themselves." the large human clenched his fists in anger.
Mercury wouldn't say it aloud, but he was internally feeling a little happy that someone put that oh-so-intelligent prick in his place.
Unbeknownst to them, they had all been watched. Klaus closed the footage of the incident. "Another victim of Walter's pettiness." the Architect shook his head.
"I would feel sorry for Watts, if I hadn't seen what he was like from Salem's memories." Said a woman's voice, different from Salem's.
Klaus turned to face the form of the Grimm witch at his right, but there was a small difference to her. Namely, that the left side of the Grimm Queen's face had turned to the complexion of a fair human. And the facial structure was also somewhat different from Salem. Most strikingly, the witch's left eye had become storm gray, with white sclera, like a normal human's. The left side of the ashen hair also had large grey streaks. "I will take your word for it, Galea." Klaus said with a small smile before turning it into a frown, "Are you sure there's nothing else you can tell me?"
Galea who was now completely in control of Salem's body let out a sigh, "I'm sorry, Klaus. But like I said, I took your- Zanza's attack, and then I woke up inside Salem. I could see what she was seeing and I could hear what she could hear. And occasionally, I would get flashes of her memories in exchange of her getting flashes of mine. But she hasn't seen anything regarding Bionis and Mechonis. Just our lives here before what you and Walter did."
"I'm sorry." Klaus looked away, guilt eating at him. "Your current predicament is my fault."
"Klaus no." Galea said, hugging him from behind. It felt strange for Klaus that the arms hugging him were those of Salem, but the face, pressing against the side of his own face was still Galea. "I know you didn't want this. Truth be told... I'm just glad to see that you are still the Klaus that I knew."
"Galea... the Klaus that you knew was a fool." Klaus said, and yet he didn't look slightest bit guilty about that part anymore. Such a thing wouldn't do anything at this point, after all. "And because of that foolishness, I ultimately destroyed our world. Walter was right, there were variables neither of us had taken into account."
"Klaus, what you did was wrong and reckless. But what's done is done. All either of us can do is live with the consequences at this point. However short that time is now." Galea hugged Klaus harder.
"...Zanza will die soon." Klaus said simply, "And when he does, so will I. But that was a long time coming."
Galea let go of Klaus and moved to the front. "...Is it...that boy?"
Klaus smiled, "Yes. He and his friends survived. Your faith was well placed."
"What about the girl?" Galea then asked, still smiling at the confirmation.
"She is still fighting alongside him." Klaus said with a small smile. Then he frowned, "There is so much we need to talk about, but so little time."
"I'm just... glad to be here. And to see that you're not like Zanza." Galea let out a small tear fall down the left side of her face.
"But there is one urgent matter we must talk about." Klaus said with a look of determination on his aged face.
"What is it?"
"...It's Walter." Klaus said gravely, "He has been trapped in Remnant all this time."
"What?!"
Outside the Architect's room, Rex and the others had moved past the short hallway and saw through the window what was happening outside.
"Are those all Sirens?" Mòrag asked as outside was three Sirens blasting their particle cannons down upon the world.
Roze moved closer to the window to see several black Artifices with glowing red wings descending upon Alrest. No doubt going towards the Titans below. "And Gargoyles." the Reaper Blade identified the Artifices.
"Pneuma, where is Malos?" Rex then asked, realizing that they now had to hurry.
"If he's here, then I know where he must have gone." Pneuma said.
Roze got away from the window with a grave look, "He's gone to Aion, hasn't he?"
"Yes." Pneuma confirmed, "The greatest of all Artifices. The Artifice that exists solely to destroy the world."
Weiss looked terrified, "Is Aion just one Artifice?"
"Yes." Pneuma said, "Why do you ask?"
"...Because if Malos found his way to Remnant, then... I don't think we have anything that can stop it... much less reach it." Weiss said, looking out to the Sirens outside of Alrest's atmosphere. Those Artifices alone would probably enough to destroy the Kingdoms practically without a fight.
"We have to stop him!" Ruby said with a determined look.
"Right." Rex affirmed and the gang ran the hallway, Pneuma taking the lead to Aion's hangar.
Inside a large hangar, Malos was looking at the deactivated Aion. The large dull gray cross on its chest, which would glow the same green as Pyra's and Mythra's core once activated. "Time for you to fulfill your purpose." Malos said as he raised his palm towards it, his Amethyst Core shining with power. "Hm? A password? As if I need such a thing." Malos chuckled as he tried to crack the code.
In Klaus' room, Galea had taken a seat that Klaus had formed for her. "I just... I can't believe it." Galea said, digesting what she was told. "Poor Walter."
Klaus didn't say anything, but he did agree with Galea's sentiment.
Galea looked to the ashen left hand, "Maybe I shouldn't have told Salem to run. If I had... then maybe..."
"Don't say that." Klaus said, "You didn't know. And even if you had... I'm afraid that wouldn't change their course of action."
"Maybe you're right." Galea admitted before chuckling. "You know... Salem laughed."
"Hm?"
"She laughed." Galea repeated, smiling herself, "For a moment I thought she had lost what little semblance of sanity she had left. But then again, given the irony..." Galea let out a small laugh herself, "It is funny."
"I can see that." Klaus said, "But as long as she's dead set on her goals then she remains a danger to all."
"I know." Galea said, "Believe me, I know. Still... are you sure I can't just...talk to her?"
"Based on what you have learned of her, can you tell me that she will change her mind. Or even believe you to begin with?" Klaus asked in a melancholy tone.
Galea sighed in defeat. "No. She would call me a liar for the sake of not facing the reality."
Klaus looked a little down. " Do you think the God of Light was right to deny her pleas?"
"That's a difficult question." Galea said, "And if you don't think too deep, then the answer is obviously no. But if you get down to the implications, then there's no way Salem was the first."
"It would have been unfair on all those he had denied before." Klaus affirmed, "I didn't check the numbers, but there must have been enough for the God of Light not being able to grant that request. Not in good conscience anyway."
"A difficult position." Galea said before then standing up, "Speaking of difficult positions, do they stand a chance against Aion?"
"...In case the Director would try to activate Aion manually, Walter placed a password on Aion that would stop it from activating, unless you figure it out." Klaus explained.
"And you haven't been able to crack the code?" Galea asked, "Surely you could have done that with the time in your hands."
"I never even tried." Klaus admitted, surprising Galea, "I was too focused on recreating life to have any interest in Aion. But knowing Walter, the code is probably something only he can make sense of."
Galea had a skeptical look, "Are you confident that Malos can't crack it?"
Klaus looked down in thought for a moment before answering, "No."
"Then my question still stands." Galea crossed her arms, "Do they stand a chance against Aion?"
"...According to Walter, Aion's internal computer requires the entire Trinity Processor to be linked up for optimal function. With Ontos gone, and Pyra and Mythra not co-operating, Malos has to take on all of that data-processing by himself." Klaus explained.
"Which would mean that the machine isn't capable of operating in its peak capacity." Galea finished in thought, "Could Malos push himself to reach the optimal functions?"
"I'm sure he could, but I doubt his Core can take it for very long." Klaus said with a frown. "But this would mean... No. He will find a way."
Galea didn't share Klaus' confidence, "Even if he did... would he even know it?"
"Not conciously." Klaus replied, "But given the evidence, there's no doubt it will surface when he needs it."
"Fine." Galea accepted the explanation, "I guess there's still one thing I don't understand."
"What is it?" Klaus asked, facing the woman possessing the Grimm Queen.
"How did Walter get his hands on it, if he has been imprisoned this whole time?" Galea asked.
Klaus smiled sadly, "He didn't need a direct access."
"What are you... Oh." Galea's mouth made an O shape as she realized what had happened.
"Indeed." Klaus said, before looking worried, "Unfortunately this meant that the other one gained a free pass. Which begs the question, what will it be used on...? If it hasn't been already."
Galea was filled with dread at the thought. Given Salem's situation, she couldn't help but fear for Remnans. It was like one of those tabletop games where the game-master was actively against the players. "Those poor children. Never understanding what they truly got themselves into."
"Which is why I couldn't tell them." Klaus said, "If I had... It would have plunged them into despair."
"But then... if they can't know, haven't you just set them on the path to destruction?" Galea then asked.
"Oh, but they can know." Klaus said with a small smile, "I have given them the means of finding out. It is up to them whether or not they can realize it."
"What do you mean?" Galea asked Klaus who then gave her a smirk.
"That lamp they are carrying."
"You... what?" Galea wasn't sure if she understood.
"There is a set of questions that it normally isn't allowed to answer. But now it can." Klaus said, sounding slightly proud of himself.
"What questions?" Galea asked before smacking herself after realizing how redundant that question was, "The ones that Ozpin and Salem never thought of asking."
"Yes. I wish I could see if my hunch about them is correct." Klaus said hopefully. Then he took a more serious expression, "But first, they need to overcome Aion."
"Speaking from personal experience, I feel confident." Galea said with a small smile as she tapped the right side of the face that was still that of Salem's. Aside from the red iris against the black sclera being replaced by the same storm gray as Galea's left side.
Klaus actually chuckled at that. Still finding it bizarre that the spiteful witch's side of the face mirrored that of Galea's side's expression.
Rex and the others were running through a very large hallway. Pneuma taking the lead.
But Roze looked worried for some reason. Then he saw a red circle on the wall moving. "Guys! We got incoming!"
Everyone stopped and turned to see the red disk with hooked legs dropping on its feet. The giant machine also had a single left arm with a scrapping drill.
"Is that another Sovereign?" Zeke asked as he drew his weapon alongside everyone else.
"Worse." Roze said as a golden halo lit up above the robot.
It was Pneuma who finished Roze's train of thought, "Artifice Colossus."
"That thing's an Artifice?" Weiss asked in disbelief. After seeing a giant serpent like Ophion, and then the majestic form of Siren. Weiss thought that all Artifices looked like powerful beasts or divine figures.
"Yes." Roze said simply as they all prepared to engage the machine. "And Artifices have more firepower than Sovereigns, so don't underestimate it."
"Makes sense." Qrow commented, remembering the Siren's blasting at Alrest.
Tora charged the Artifice, Drill Shield in the front. "Tora can handle this!"
The Colossus replied by lifting its foot and stepping on the Nopon inventor. Despite Tora managing to bring the shield at the front and bracing himself against the weight of the Artifice with both wings, it still looked like he was about to be crushed.
"Overload Thunder Beam!" Zeke unleashed his Art. The Artifice stumbled back, but it didn't seem to have done any visible damage.
"Electra, hug me." Nora said and the little Blade gave a Power Hug. "Gimme a boost!" Nora then chirped as she ran to Jaune.
Jaune braced his shield and planted his feet to the ground. The Arc Driver then felt Nora jumping on his shield before helping her launch. Right on top of Colossus that extended its hooked legs to stand taller.
"Nora Smash!" Nora slammed directly on top of Colossus' disk-like body. But the machine just lowered back down, not even having a dent on its top.
As this happened, Blake was equipped with Nox's Scythes and tried to hit it from behind. But she was blasted at the far wall by thrusters on the Colossus' rear.
"My lady!" Nox screamed.
"I'm fine!" Blake snapped, ears folding.
"Okay, don't attack from behind." Jaune commented as he sent an Arclight at the Colossus. But it spun its disc-like body that made it swat the ranged Art with its drill arm.
But as it did that, Mòrag swung at its leg with Agate's axe. The axe bit into the leg but didn't seem to do any substantial damage. "This is troublesome." Mòrag commented as she moved away from the legs attempt to kick her.
"Yeah, you said it." Qrow agreed as he first took the said leg with Kasandra's hammer.
Seeing her chance, Nora dashed to the remaining leg and used Stormbreaker to sweep the remaining leg from under the Artifice. "Got it!" Nora cheered as the machine tumbled over. Except it fired its thrusters again to boost itself back up on its feet. "Hey! That's cheating!" Nora complained as she brought Electra's hammer in its shield mode to take on the drill that the machine was winding up. But to everyone's surprise, the Colossus fell forward, a pair of hands coming out of its knees to brace itself on the ground and then the drill it had lifted up moved right in front of it before striking down on Nora. Almost like a hammer.
"Crap." Roze let out as Nora was still able to get the shield up to take the blow.
But even with the charge Nora was getting from Electra, she was straining against the force applied against her. Strangely the floor didn't even dent from the struggle between the two. Even as sparks lit up all over the Colossus' body due to Electra's ability.
"Hang in there, Nora!" Electra cheered her Dirver, still hugging.
"Shattered Mirror!" Weiss let out, loosing an Ether Arrow on the drill arm with enough force to get the Colossus off of one of its legs.
Rex saw his chance and shot his anchor at the Colossus' raised leg from the other side of the mech. "Wulfric!" The bestial Blade immediately grabbed the wire, planted his feet and yanked. The machine was now fully on its side in an awkward position. This also meant that Nora didn't have to deal with it.
As this happened, Zeke, Yang and Tora quickly closed in on the downed Artifice.
"Stratospheric Thunder!"
"Rising Dragon!"
The prince and the blonde unleashed their respective launching Arts to get the thing high into the air.
"Poppi, get Tora there!" Tora said, preparing the shield.
"Roger, Roger." Poppi obliged and grabbed her Masterpon before activating her boosters and soared at the uncontrollably rising Artifice.
"Steady Drill!" Tora unleashed the Drill from the shield and with Poppi's boost smashed right under the Artifice. Drill screeching against the advanced alloy. At this point, the gravity had finally taken hold of the Colossus again, which meant that Tora's drill was now scrapping inside the Colossus.
Suddenly, a flurry of red and black petals soared past them and above the Artifice. The petals soon dispersed, revealing, Ruby, Blake and Nox.
Blake raised both Scythes high and then brought them down in Black Maw. This pushed the Artifice further against the Drill.
"Poppi, abort!" Tora said frantically, and just like that, Poppi raised her legs to Tora's sides to blast them both away from the falling Colossus. Managing to land safely, Poppi put Tora down as the Colossus crashed on the floor.
"Tora and Poppi make a hole! Fire in the hole!" Tora instructed as the Colossus got back up, and sure enough, it did have a large hole on its body.
Immediately, Oscar fired Thousand Years of Pain into it. Penny followed it up with Super Laser. And Ren fired Blossom Burst inside. The three Arts got straight into the hole, but it was actually the explosive shot from Ren that actually made the Artifice go down, judging by how it spasmed before collapsing.
"That was... surprisingly easy." Rex said with a small frown.
"Yeah, because we got lucky." Roze said in annoyance, "That, and Colossi are just heavy assault troops."
"Heavy assault troops?" Ruby repeated.
"That's right. The real problems are the likes of Siren who can do orbital bombardment." Roze commented with a frown.
"Which is why we must go now." Pneuma said, before almost running forward.
"Wait, stop!" Roze grabbed Pneuma by the ponytail to stop her.
"Ow!" Pneuma swatted the offending hand away and turned to glare at Roze.
"Sorry but look." Roze said, pointing to the wall further from them. Turning to look, Pneuma saw the problem. Across that wall evenly spaced, were multitudes of Artifice Colossus. All on standby. "If we get close enough, they will activate and attack us."
"And we don't have the time to deal with them." Ruby realized where this was going, "Pneuma, can you stop them from activating when we get near?"
"Not from here." Pneuma said, still looking annoyed at her ponytail being grabbed. "And the control center is in the opposite direction."
"We don't have to do that." Roze said moving to the far wall opposite of the wall lined with Colossus. "If we hug this wall here, we should be just outside of the proximity alert."
Pneuma looked skeptical about this, "Roze, why do you know this?"
"Does that matter right now?" Yang asked, "We're in a hurry!"
Pneuma wasn't convinced, but she did follow anyway. Although everyone found it strange to varying degrees that Roze knew this much. Not just this, but all the things up until now.
As Roze predicted, by going along that wall, the gang was able to avoid the rest of the Colossi.
Soon they reached the end of the hangar. There was a large lift at the end, but it had a red light above it.
"Stay here." Pneuma said as she moved up a flight of stairs to the walkway above them and to the end of the walkway closest to them. There she pressed on the terminal there before returning to them after the light on the lift turned green. "Okay, I have activated the elevator. Get on." Pneuma said as she moved to the lift itself. Once everyone was on, the lift slowly raised them higher. Then the wall that lifted along them lowered itself, revealing a hallway with another screen at the end of it. Moving there, Pneuma pressed on the screen and they were lifted to a large open hall with a walkway to a large door. "This is it. This is the entrance to Aion's hangar."
"So beyond there, is the most powerful Artifice of all." Qrow said with a small sigh, "And we're supposed to stop it if Malos has already gotten in."
At this moment, a light bulb went off in Kasandra's head. "I just realized something, why can't we have Pneuma's Siren destroy the ones outside?"
"Because Siren won't be able to defeat the others by itself." Pneuma replied before anyone else got ideas. "And as long as it doesn't attack, then it won't be attacked in turn."
"Then why not have Siren ambush Aion when it exits its hangar?" Nora of all people suggested.
Roze burst into laughter at hearing that, earning various stares. "Oh, you were serious? Let me laugh harder!" And then the Reaper Blade actually did, almost doubling over.
"What's so funny?" Jaune asked.
As if on command, Roze looked at Jaune like he was stupid. "Let's see: Aion has shields strong enough to take on Siren's firepower. Also, if Malos gets Aion out of that hangar, he can glass all Titans at once. And third, Aion can just take control of Pneuma's Siren with Master Override."
Everyone looked shocked at the last part. Pneuma then opened up a holographic screen and pressed a few things on it. "He's right! Aion is capable of overriding all Artifices within a certain radius, remote or manual."
"Can Malos take control of your Siren now?" Rex asked in worry.
"Don't worry, Rex." Pneuma said confidently, "My Siren is currently outside of that range."
"Can't Siren still blast Aion from that range?" Blake asked, "I mean it did fire from the orbit."
"Yes, but Aion's sensors will see it coming before Siren can fire." Pneuma said with a frown. "Which would give it ample time to dodge and then return fire."
"And it would be safe to assume that Aion has firepower equal to Siren's, at bare minimum." Aizen added in with a frown. "And who knows what else, I don't like our odds."
"Don't tell me you're giving up now?!" Weiss snapped at the nobleman.
"No." The non-chalant tone of Aizen surprised everyone. "Even if we wanted to turn tail and run, where would we go?"
"If we give up hope now, there will be nothing left of Alrest." Mòrag added in.
"That'd leave all the people we care about dead, and a whole bunch of innocent folk besides." Zeke added his two gold.
"That worst possible outcome." Tora said, flapping his wings.
"But we're not in this alone. Jin and the other Torna guys are counting on us." Nia said with a determined look.
"You said it." Dragunov agreed with a hard look, "Jin told us to stop Malos, so that's what we'll do. No matter what." The dragon struck his fist into his palm.
"Besides." Yang said, giving Ruby a teasing look, "Our fearless leader went and promised Klaus that we would help save Alrest. It would look bad if we turned back now."
As Ruby's cheeks flared up, Weiss nodded firmly, "Yes. Though I would've appreciated if our leader had at least put it to a vote, if only for formality's sake." At the last part, Weiss gave a mock stern look to Ruby, who's cheeks flared a little more.
"Team JNPR isn't backing down either, right guys?" Jaune said, turning to his teammates.
"Duh! All those people will die if we do." Nora said like the answer was obvious.
"We became huntsmen to help people to begin with." Ren added in with a smile.
"Saving the world is kinda part of the deal." Pyrrha said firmly.
"...I want to help too." Oscar said firmly, "We've met too many people to just walk away."
"Guess we're all in agreement." Qrow said with his arms crossed.
"We've run into all kinds of trouble on the way here." Zeke said with a grin, "But we made it this far."
"This may be the most formidable obstacle yet, but we can surpass it like any other." Mòrag agreed with Zeke.
"When friends all together, nothing is impossible!" Penny said cheerfully.
"This is it! This is our final battle." Rex said with a grin and hands on his hips. "Let's show Malos what Drivers and Blades can do together!"
"Yeah!" was the chorus that followed. And then everyone turned to the large door, beyond which Malos was waiting.
AN: Yep, it was Galea who was inside Salem all this time. Unlike Klaus, her half of the body from which Salem stole the power to open breaches from was unconcious. But after she was killed by Zanza as Meyneth, she woke up in Salem's body.
This chapter ended up short, because I know that I will probably have more to write with the challenge that is the battle against Aion. Honestly, part of me wonders if I can even do this... But I'll do my best, because at the end of the day, that's all anyone can do.