"Make me," he says.
Roman would have rolled his eyes; that toddler-esque level of a brazen rebuttal was something he'd expect to hear from kids - and Neo, but he couldn't exactly say that to her face without incurring some dire, or in many cases irritating, consequences.
But it appeared good enough, because damn, these monsters were fast.
Had it not been for his constant training with Neo and a lifetime of running from trouble, he may have been impaled when Cinder shot her arm out. The thing was like a harpoon with how it cracked the pavement next to him. He really should have been asking both how, and why, her arm stretched like putty, but he hadn't the time as she'd rocketed their way.
"Hey hey! Watch the ha-" Leaning back, Roman had to roll and tumble just to get away from the tendril swing. What, were they playing jump-rope now? Skidding on his hands and feet, he prepared to leap again, only Cinder's tentacle thrust went wide. From his left, he heard the unmistakable clapping of his one true partner in crime: Neo. Standing and dusting himself off briefly, he thanked her. "On second thought, keep thrashing." He sent a little nod towards the shorter woman. "Impeccable timing as always -"
She dashed into him, apparently saving his ass yet again. This time he could actually reorient himself with little trouble; Neo had tackled him plenty of times during their partnership, so much so that they'd both developed a routine of how to roll back into a standstill with style. Back on his legs, he hissed; it seems Cinder had found a way to circumvent Neo's little tricks, and that meant trouble.
"Oooh." Clicking his tongue, Roman wrinkled his nose. "Off by a touch there."
Cinder's lifeless, hollow eyes were obscured when a tornado - a freaking tornado of all things - circled her. He'd have questioned that too, had he not seen the Branwen woman hovering up above with all her glowy atmosphere. And that really was the best word there, atmosphere, because she was absolutely coated in what looked like a miniature storm of the seasons. Lighting, snow, and all manner of nature's best and brightest when it came to destructive force circled closely around her body, weaving into, and out of, her general vicinity like several rounds of twine.
Neo tugged him by the side, pulling him away from the oncoming man who crashed past them. Skidding across the tiled pavement, Qrow stood and shot back into the fight, leaving Roman to thank his partner yet again, and sigh as he saw the monstrosity the rest of their sorry ilk were facing down.
"Guess it's too late to back out now, huh?" Neo nodded, and he straightened his coat. "Whelp, when the ship to sanity island departs without you, the only thing to do is embrace the delirium. En garde!"
He was sure he'd regret this somehow.
.
.
How unusual, I thought to myself, blocking as much of her mass as I could.
This... being that had once been Steele, or so she claimed, presented little in the way of the bestial mentality Cinder had fallen into. Whereas the false maiden fed her destructive impulses, unwillingly drowning herself in a tide of uncontrollable madness, this servant of the goddess appeared paradoxically ordinary. With her physical appearance being more grotesque as opposed to her erratic partner, her personality remained orderly, although with a touch of interest. Even in my irregular state I could tell there was amusement to be found when the monster was the least monstrous of the pair..
Rather than fight me with anything resembling a Human weapon, she'd merely adopted various shapes and sizes to her limbs. One moment there were thin blades, with a hook or two at certain lengths along the needles, to presumably capture and redirect whatever got itself caught in its grasp. Another moment and a sphere twice the size of her head would emerge, flopping along a spiraled thread of black wire, and yet it would defy gravity seemingly at will to both tie up the opponent, fling itself back, and arc forward with force enough to crack the concrete at our feet and nearly total a hunter's aura. But my boney plating far outclassed the miniscule force generated by such tactics, and so I was left without damage...
Although not entirely unharmed.
While my emotions could not be preyed upon, my body still buckled and bent to physical pain, and despite being able to grit my teeth through most of it, I still flinched when it reverberated across, and at times even within, my armor. That, however, was not where my main problem lay. Even though the pain of her more intense assaults crippled my stance, forcing me to flinch with each blow and at points throwing off my balance, it had nothing against the worst aspect of her almost senseless fighting style.
The true detriment to us stood in her defense, or I suppose it would be best put as her lack of defense.
Qrow made an attempt to get in close with Winter, using her glyphs to bounce him within the air and redirecting his angle at sharp turns. But as he would draw close, and even if Steele herself was not focused on or looking, her very body would go on the attack. Claws, blades, and all sorts of shapes would birth themselves from between the plates covering her skin, lashing out at him as newborn appendages and necessitating a retreat under the threat of close quarters combat. Being both melee styled fighters, one would presume this wouldn't be an issue, but every blade has a limit.
There's always such a thing as too close: a weakness shared by about every weapon in this world save poisons, and I highly doubted any form of liquid toxin would have beneficial effects for us; last I checked, the Grimm were near immune to all dangers save physical annihilation, with the only solid exception I recalled being Dr. Merlot's developments, but he was a special case who's curated methods were now lost to ruin, so we would have no luck there.
I attempted to keep up the pressure, hoping that, at some point, her body would need to slow. I ended up being wrong with that assumption as well.
"You're holding back." She spoke, squinting through the holes of her mask. "She said you could not be defeated."
Restraint could be quite the useful tool. Keeping your absolute best hidden from sight until the enemy has played all their cards. Steele clearly knew what I had in mind, and I wouldn't lie, she had me delving deeper into my bag of tricks to keep from being pushed back. Inch by inch, she was charging ahead, seemingly pulling the strings of our performance along. I could keep up, but just barely.
I'd rather have not needed to set any traps, but I'd emptied my bag of all other options. My speed was matched effortlessly, and my power mirrored hers. With no Grimm to call on for potential aid, I had but one ability left to tip the scales, and it was one I'd just begun to learn.
"Over here, bitch!" Yang inserted herself violently into the battle, although she had the same success as her uncle. Her fist was caught, and she rebounded off the makeshift shield of what appeared to be ribs protruding from the newly sprouted tail. Caught by a glyph mid-air, Yang accepted the one at her side who looked to strengthen her already blazing aura with power.
I spied a miniature explosion, and wearing a violent smirk, Yang fell to the ground again. Several more glyphs surrounded her, each one just as chaotic. The explosions spread larger on all sides, and I caught glimpses of her blocking each one; devouring their power, although at the cost of her aura. With her semblance relied on trading out the power she took in, it was no secret she now banked on the raw ferocity of whatever technique she had in mind to discharge all that collected force.
In the meantime, Ruby blinked by my side.
Unlike the rest of us, she actually had the speed needed to slip in and chip away at Steele, although her weapon did next to nothing in way of damage, merely scratching the surface of the bone. From outside our close quarters, Blake took shots while dashing around in what I assumed was an attempt to find any openings in Steele's armor.
Blake had just about as much luck as the rest of us, for every shot I saw that snuck between the plates and touched the blackened skin fizzled out, as it had on the bone.
And then there was Robyn's woman.
May seemed not to focus on any one enemy, instead dishing out bolts wherever she could. On the bright side, this meant Raven wasn't left to deal with Cinder on her own. Along the darker shade however, I couldn't tell if this was to Raven's benefit, or not.
While unbelievably powerful, Cinder behaved no better than an animal, with sparse sparks in the fight where she'd react with more than a simple lunge or fireball. Her storm, while ready to shred flesh from bone, looked to be countered mainly by Raven's own magic, along with some decent improvisation in terms of tactics. Although, from the few flashes my eyes got time to see during my own defense, Yang's mother didn't appear all that excited or reliant on her own powers, as I had expected to see.
I couldn't blame her, really, as the increase in strength via the collaboration of two different sets of power showed itself quite plainly within Cinder's wild state; dealing with the strength of one maiden was bad enough, but Cinder doubled that now, and theoretically had half of the elements dancing at her fingertips.
Raven needed help, but we couldn't seem to break free from Steele's march.
Yang blazed past me along a road of glyphs. Many I could tell belonged to Weiss, however I saw some from Winter as well, and a stray eye showed Qrow dashing in at an angle forty-five degrees to the left of Yang's illuminated path. It seemed as though the man was set to potentially capitalize on any damage his niece had prepared, banking on the close proximity of their attacks to somewhat confuse Steele's senses.
An ordinary person would need time to consider how they should block, but Steele, as she'd proven time and time again over these past few minutes, merely took on Yang's speeding fist with her arm, leaving a portion of her lower ribs to spit out another arm, which reached out and caught Qrow by the blade. At the same time, a snake of bone whipped out of her upper shoulder, wrapping around some invisible object, and as both Roman and Neo shattered into view while being squished together, I was forced to count Neo's semblance out; Steele could sense negativity, and with the stress everyone was facing, trickery would bear no fruit.
Steele did all of this while entirely focused on dueling me, and even had the gall to toss the others aside as she leaned in closer during her advance.
"Your friends have some neat tricks." Using a hand, she wrapped her fingers around my sword, putting a stop to our clanging and tugging me close. Not good enough, I needed skin on skin contact. She'd coated herself in bone; I needed bare flesh, even if blackened, to enact any success. Instead of launching a surprise attack, she pressed up tighter, nearly kissing with how her lips moved a mere thorn length from mine. This still was not sufficient either, as she needed to be the one to initiate the touch; any advances on my part would arouse suspicion, and I knew she was already wary of me - for her, success for her goddess was the only acceptable outcome. "But they don't appear experienced in combat with our kind."
I managed to pull Pale Bloom free, and she took a hop back, avoiding one of Ruby's periodic dashes, which led to the girl slamming into Blake, who'd just circled around again to the right of us.
"Our ilk aren't too common, last I recall." Salem, Cinder, Steele, and last of all, myself: these were the only members of our kind that I knew of. Although, from how she giggled ahead of me, I had a feeling she wasn't specifying our direct breed.
"Of us specifically, you are correct. However, I'd believed the constant assault of the lesser species would instill some experience of how to approach us in combat."
"Us?" I questioned, slowly starting to circle her, all the while everyone else tried their hands again and again. Ruby dashed in, but her picks and cuts never even earned her an eye. "Cinder and you are the only ones they're focused on here."
"Of course." She responded, allowing Yang to deal a heavy blow just below her stomach. A crack echoed out, and while Yang made a small chuckle at the apparent success, Steele flicked her away, quick enough that her arm left its own afterimage. The clear view afforded afterwards showed no signs of damage, meaning the crack had healed as soon as it broke out. "But that's only them."
"And what do you mean by that?" I asked as Qrow and Winter dashed in from opposing sides. Steele never even moved, she didn't need to, because a pair of veiny tentacles erupted from beneath the pavement at their feet. I saw flickers of darkness around Steele's shadow, and understood then that she'd spawned the appendages from her soles alone. Both whips lifted the pair mid-pincer, hammering them repeatedly into the ground and flailing them about to knock everyone else away, before ultimately slamming the two together high up in the air.
Both fell with little fanfare after that, and Steele stepped over them on her way to me.
"Plenty of Humans and Faunus alike wish to see you dead." She strode up, teasing me to close the distance with her careless approach. "Humans see you as a rogue monster, whereas the Faunus view only a stain on their already dwindling reputation."
Just a little closer, I just needed her a little closer. My aura tendrils could, realistically, extend rather far for what they were, however I couldn't risk Steele catching even the slightest hint. If I were to defeat her, it would need to be in a single blow. Each step swayed the gentle air around us, and though stagnant, the mild vibrations accompanying each sent shockwaves throughout. I felt no fear, nor emotion, but that didn't erase the damming concern that an improperly timed move would shatter the secrecy of my skill.
Almost there, she was so close.
"What threat do they pose?" Just a touch more; I only needed to reel her in. "I've died once before, but death, as it seems, holds little sway over me."
"Yes~" She moaned, reaching forward as tendrils rocketed around the field. Each of my allies was challenged by three each, and while not incredibly thick or durable, they were enough to keep everyone else distracted, even going so far as to lash out at stray shots and techniques aimed towards the woman herself. It appeared none were permitted to interrupt our moment. "Death knows better than to disobey its goddess; her love of you stays its hand."
Somehow, I knew this was wrong; Salem had nothing to do with my abstinence from the other side.
Her defenseless, impure and yet so ordinary looking fingers were less than a hair's width from gracing my cheek when a loud crash chanted throughout the air. Ignorant of how painful its cry was to everyone's ears, even that of my own, the dying screams of shattered glass were accompanied desperately by both gunshot and the familiar, although unexpected, whiff of arrow fire. Steele rounded her head around to see who dared interrupt her praise of Salem. And while her body had not moved, her broken focus proved time to strike. I could not rely on speed before, but her focus died for a second, and that second was all I needed.
Taking my chance, I pressed my cheek against her outstretched hand, letting the tendrils who'd gathered across my skin bite into her flesh and soul.
Like all its victims before, this caused the individual to buckle underneath a display of unimaginable pain, although to be quite honest, I was under the belief that she would be the one buckling, and not I. Paralyzed in a manner I could not describe, my body hardened along all joints, for had they not, I would have ripped away. Although it seemed I took the pain meant for her as my own, Steele herself was not left untainted.
But based on the visible effect my power had on her, I'd consider it enhancement.
Sucking in a sharp breath, her body quivered, but not with pain as I'd hoped. She never locked up, but looked to be trembling from something; excitement, maybe? It didn't matter, because she locked her eyes with mine, and pulled me into a smothering embrace. Getting as much of her body into contact with mine had no consequence towards my own suffering, thankfully, but it seemed to empower her.
The pain ceased so suddenly it threw me for a loop, and then my armor began evaporating. Every muscle beneath what felt like tattered and tanned skin ached, indirectly crushed by what I assumed was some factor I had not considered when attempting to immobilize Steele.
Finally, and as the assault of projectiles picked up, she released me, and I flopped to the ground like a puppet whose strings were cut.
"Get away from him!" That was Ironwood's voice. Taking far too much energy than it should have, I reared eyesight towards him, and spied Robyn as well. Not having the strength to concern myself with why they were here, I instead lay where I fell, watching the chaos unfold as I tried to muster any power I could. She'd drained me almost entirely, but even so, it felt as though something was amiss with my body. The general scowled, yelling as he unloaded his ammunition uselessly into Steele. "Get to V!"
Robyn nodded, and Steele appeared to pay her no mind as she dashed towards me. I don't think she cared about anyone or anything in that moment, because from my pitiful, sorry place across the stone, I could see the air surrounding her seep into the black of her Grimm.
Grimm... had that been it?
I'd never tried my powers on any creatures of Grimm so far; only Humans and Faunus. When dealing with the light-bearing entities of Remnant's population, my tendrils locked them into a world of illusionary pain. According to Vine, it did no real harm to his body or mind, even leaving his memory after some time, but in the moment it was enough to supposedly disrupt all bodily function.
Did it have the opposite effect on the Grimm instead? It injured me, that much I could tell without need of a second example, but had my power actually enhanced Steele, or was she holding back until an opportunity presented itself. Part of me hoped it was the former, that she was waiting for a reason to make our battle interesting; so far, she'd looked almost sleepy whenever dealing with anyone aside from myself.
Her near orgasmic response to my tainted touch hinted otherwise though, and I knew better than to deceive myself with the toxic idea of chance.
Robyn reached for me, ready to swipe me away and dash towards safety, but Raven had other ideas in mind. As with her entrance, Raven Branwen cannonballed towards the battlefield, and due to what seemed like rotten luck alone, her body took Robyn along for the ride. My chances of relative recovery, dashed by the malice of the one floating dangerously above.
Cinder stared down at me with hatred mirroring those who'd experienced a millennium of genocide. In my current state, I stood no chance, and so I would need to accept whatever fate awaited me, hoping beyond hope that I would have time to get back from the obelisk in the mines to make a difference.
"Get up."
I recognised the bare hand reaching down towards me. His silver eyes sent shivers throughout my own, though ethereal they were in his current form, and against all odds, emotion rushed back into my mind like a raging whirlpool.
"Have I died already?" I'd wanted to ask, only to be interrupted by a shocked gasp. My eyes landed on Ruby, but her own seemed tied to the naked phantom offering me his hand, a mirage I knew all too well: the other side of myself, who'd only ever spoken within my dreams - at least, when I was alive.
The fact that she could see him proved this was no dying illusion.
Author's note
…
Alright, so this chapter was rough, but what can you do?
We get a bit of a wild mess here, with Steele fending off everyone, all the while dueling in what feels like a one-on-one with V. Can she be doing better, yes, but why would she? All she needs is to tucker her target out, and then steal him away; everything else is just a game - a bit of fun for the short time of her mission. Although, with how she reacted to V's new power, things may change on her end.
Roman snuck in his point of view, showing us that both Cinder and Steele can see beyond Neo's semblance, meaning stealth is a no-go.
And then comes the ending this time, where a certain spectral mirror makes himself known.
Anyway, that's it for this one. Until next time.