I would like to start this chapter by rewinding the clock for a little bit just to see things from a different perspective. Let's start with Peter who was having a great day or rather he was having a great day until it stopped.
From there we'll make our way back to the present.
Peter's day started off like any other one, he was sitting in a jail cell aboard an Atlesian battleship when he was suddenly broken out by an ice cream-themed shortstack who had murdered the guards to reunite with her partner-in-crime Roman Torchwick. With their help, Peter quickly reunited with the rest of his crew and Rufio. Then with the help of the shortstack and Roman, Peter and his group made their way into the armory where they stole advanced prototype weaponry that they then used to slaughter the rest of the crew and take over the ship. It was all normal stuff but it was so satisfying. And the cherry on top was that they were going to get paid to go down to the Academy below them to use their new toys to hunt down people on a list, what fun!
But the moment that truly lit up Peter's day was when by sheer happenstance he came across the person at the very tiptop of that hit list: Pyrrha Nikos.
What happened was that he had been walking through the fourth floor of the Western wing of Beacon Academy looking for any targets inside the building, he found none and wasn't surprised. The Academy was under attack by Grimm and Robots, everyone was busy helping out, if he wanted to, he could look out the window and he'd be able to see the fighting happening right now in the courtyard. And while he would normally love to bear witness to violence, he had a job to do… but maybe a single peek wouldn't hurt? Besides, maybe he'd be able to spot one of his targets down below.
The sight that greeted him was indeed one of chaos and violence, but at the same time, he found himself unsatisfied. While plenty of the Academy Defenders had fallen it was nowhere near enough for him and it wasn't just his sadism speaking. They're going to outlast us at this rate. I thought machines would turn the tide in our favor but they scrapped those buckets of bolts, and even the Paladins got taken out too fast. And now those kids and soldiers are regrouping inside where they'll be the strongest!
He then started laughing, "OH WELL, THAT'S NOT MY PROBLEM!"
He was right, none of this was his problem. There was no obligation to keep him or the rest of his repulsive group here, there was no consequence that would befall him that he would care about. He couldn't care less about the ultimate outcome, the only thing that mattered to him was getting paid and that meant finding the targets on the kill list and speaking of targets…
When he finally stopped laughing he decided to make a sincere effort to find anyone on that list, and he did. Out on the courtyard was a familiar head of red hair on top of a young well-built lady dressed in earthy Mistralian armor, Pyrrha Nikos the Invincible Girl, and the number one target on the kill list. She was busy fighting both Grimm and Machine with the aid of a Twink dressed in green wielding an equally green pair of pistols, the twink was no Pyrrha Nikos but he was good.
This was not a fight that Peter wanted to pick, but with his new toy, he wouldn't have to fight them at all. So he bent his knees, pulled and held the trigger on his laser cannon to charge the beam, used his Semblance to move his shadow around his feet to anchor himself to the ground, and then he waited. Now Peter did not seem like the kind of person who had much patience and he didn't, but he had enough… just enough to wait for Pyrrha to turn her back to him before firing.
The Beam melted right through the reinforced glass window of the Academy and struck the young woman right in the back with searing might knocking her into the mud, but it did not break her Aura. The Grimm tried to swarm her but the green-cladded Twink covered her and before long she began to move again.
"Fuck," Peter loudly said to no one but himself. "Just how much Aura does that bitch have!?"
Had Peter been a real assassin he would have fled and tried again later, but being the impatient amateur that he was he instead began to charge up another shot as he watched the young warrior try to lift herself out of the mud. He was so focused on her that he completely failed to consider the light that his weapon created as it charged, light that was now drawing a lot of attention ever since he took that first shot.
He fired again and to his shock, Pyrrha suddenly jerked up into the air in a manner that looked unnatural. It was as if some invisible force picked her up by the pieces of her armor just to move her out of the way of the beam. But it didn't just move her out of the way, it turned her around so now she was facing in Peter's direction… if he had any common sense he would have started to run, however, Peter was an idiot.
Pyrrha and the Twink opened fire in the direction of the fading light of Peter's laser cannon and it wasn't just them. That laser beam, while powerful, had made Peter stand out as a dangerous foe that needed to be taken out, and now every student, soldier, and Huntsman who could afford to take a shot was doing just that.
It's hard to describe what Peter was going through right now, so many things were happening at once and all of them were unpleasant. Bullets of different calibers fired from different guns were flying towards him from multiple directions as multicolored explosions were happening above, below, in front, and to the sides of him. And amongst it all were various objects like the debris of the walls and floor crumbling from the barrage or sharp projectiles such as arrows or darts and even things like chunks of ice or a rock or a ball of fire and even a kitchen sink. And to top it all off, the floor beneath his feet gave away under the wave of destruction and caused him to fall into the floor below and then it happened a second time.
But that was a blessing in disguise, if he hadn't fallen then he would have surely perished in that shower of death.
Eventually, the shooting stopped, why it stopped was something that Peter didn't know. He was too busy being in a considerable amount of pain to care, "That… that was the worst experience of my life."
Unfortunately for him, he was wrong. He was right to assume that this was the worst experience of his life but wrong to assume that it was over. There was a reason why the defenders had stopped shooting at him, it was the same reason why they pulled their forces behind the walls of the Academy and that reason was squads of unidentified airships. The same airships that were now hovering right above Peter's location were now firing cheap rockets and dropping cheap bombs to prepare the area for a ground invasion.
Peter did not enjoy this but the people firing the explosives didn't know about him nor would they have cared even if they did. Nor did they care when their assault caused the floor beneath Peter to give away yet again causing him to fall to the ground floor, and as if that wasn't bad enough, the wall in front of him partially collapsed burying him in the rubble.
As for the airships, it didn't take long for them to burn through their munitions, that was part of their job. They weren't here to wage a prolonged siege that could only end in their defeat. They were here to hit fast and as hard as possible before deploying the troops they were carrying, they completed the first part and were now commencing with the second. So they began to land in the courtyard that they lit up mere seconds ago and when they touched down, they opened the bay doors allowing armed Faunus to emerge dressed in combat suits and wearing white masks designed to resemble the faces of the Grimm. The White Fang were starting their assault.
That was when Peter began to pull himself out of the rubble or rather he attempted to and soon found himself stuck, "Um, can I get a little help here?!"
Most of the White Fang foot soldiers heard him but for the most part, ignored him, their attention was wisely focused on the people shooting at them. However, there was one who proved to be a bit more foolish, or perhaps he was smarter than the others given how the others were charging to their deaths, "Huh? A-are you talking to me?" One of the Grunts asked Peter rather confused why a human was asking him for help.
"Yes, I'm talking to you!, who else would I be talking to?"
"Okay… but why are you talking to me?"
"Well, I decided that now would be a good time to make a new friend who can GET ME OUT OF HERE!"
The Grunt wasn't sure what to do, Peter was a human but it would be rude to just leave him there. So he looked towards his comrades for guidance, but unfortunately for him, they had little to say on account of the heavy fire that they were under. The Grunt then turned their attention back to Peter, "I'm sorry, but aren't we enemies? You're a human and I'm a member of a freedom fighter group trying to help Faunus by attacking an academic institution that trains protectors of all including Faunus. I'm pretty sure that makes us enemies?"
"I'M ON YOUR SIDE! DUMBASS!"
"Eh!?"
"We both came here to kill a bunch of kids! Now help me get out of here!"
The Grunt took deep personal offense to this baseless accusation, "Maybe you came here to kill kids but I came here to help fight for Faunus rights!" As he said this, a new wave of Grimm howled in the distance to announce their intentions making their way over the courtyard and devouring everyone that they found.
"THEN WHY ARE YOU ATTACKING A GODDAMNED ACADEMY!? HOW DOES THAT HELP ANYONE? SERIOUSLY, THEY HAVE NO PROBLEM ACCEPTING FAUNUS AND THEIR GRADUATES PROTECT EVERYONE INCLUDING FAUNUS! YOU'RE NOT HELPING ANYONE, YOU'RE JUST MAKING THINGS WORSE!"
The Grunt realized this contradiction between his words and actions. It hit him like a sledgehammer to the head and all he could do was try in vain to reconcile them, "Well, maybe this could, We-w-We can- If only they- they could. I-I-I DON'T KNOW!" The Grunt broke down falling to their knees as tears ran down their face. And their mind ran wild thinking about all the lies they had been told throughout their lives.
Peter on the other hand was not amused nor was he feeling much empathy for the Grunt whose worldview was collapsing. His utter lack of sympathy had nothing to do with the fact that he was still trapped beneath rubble; Peter was just an asshole. He was a murderous asshole who was in this mess because he and his asshole friends came here to do horrible things and bit off more than he could chew. And now he was stuck underneath some rubble as explosions went off around him, bullets whizzed through the air, and the Grimm were going to come back any second now.
"At least it can't get any worse than this." If Peter had any sense then he would have never uttered those words. The universe was always listening and was always more than happy to answer…
In this case, the answer took the form of a very familiar voice approaching from behind, "Och ah wouldn't be sae sure aboot that, mah dear sweet munchies."
Peter's face paled and struggled in vain to pull himself out of the rubble as Tock walked ever closer. He then remembered the White Fang Grunt he was talking to just a moment earlier and tried to call out to him, "HELP ME! For the love of the Brothers, Help Me!"
The Grunt didn't hear him, he was too busy being in the middle of an existential crisis.
"Ye seem tae be stuck, ah wonder whit cuid hae happened tae leid ye tae this moment. Mibbie it haes something tae dae wi' ye hunting kiddies?" Tock was standing right on top of the rubble that was pinning Peter, in her hands was the weapon she took from Belle and she was pointing it right at his face.
"H-how did you get that gun?" Peter fearfully asked, suspecting the worst.
"Ah kicked Belle's ass 'n' teuk her toy. Didnae murdurr her, if that's whit ye'r wondering. 'Twas th' Grimm, thay git her while she wis trying tae mak' an escape... Dinna worry, ah won't let thaim tak' ye."
"T-thanks?"
"Sin a'm daein' ye a favor, why don't ye dae yin fur me?"
Peter had terrible feelings about this, but he'd rather take his chances with her than rely on himself or the idiot who was still in the middle of a crisis of faith. "Sounds fair enough."
"Tell me aboot that list. Tell me everything."
"Get me out of here first."
"Kin ye hear it?"
"Hear what?"
"Listen."
Peter channeled what little Aura he had left into his ears and paled when he heard the sounds of rapidly approaching feet and growls, the Grimm were getting close. "Please… if you have any humanity in you. Please get me out of here."
"Tell me aboot th' list 'n' ah swear that th' Grimm will nae harm ye."
"It's just a list of young women that our employer wanted us to take out. I don't know why Salem has it out for those girls. I swear, that's all I know!"
Tock stared into Peter's panicked eyes, now she wasn't the kind of person who believed that the eyes were the windows to the soul. But in this instance, she could see his sincerity and it pissed her off. He really didn't know anything and yet was willing to kill children because some pale-ass bitch asked him to.
"Well, I told you everything! Now get me out of here!"
"Ah ne'er said a'd git ye oot."
Peter was panicking, "BUT YOU SAID THE GRIMM WOULDN'T HARM ME!"
Tock didn't say anything. She didn't need to say anything. Her actions were going to do all the talking and Peter understood exactly what she was saying when she drew one of her swords and raised her arm to swing.
Meanwhile, Adam Taurus and Tyrian Callows were comfortably sitting in an Airship that hadn't yet landed. There were plenty of airships that had yet to land, those airships contained the good fighters and they were waiting to see what happened to the first more expandable wave to figure out where it was safe to land. And if it was necessary, Adam was prepared and more than willing to send in a second and third wave, in fact, he was already thinking about doing it.
"Come on! It will be fun!" Tyrian sadistically insisted.
Adam mulled it over for a few seconds, "Hmmm… oh why not! I got plenty of men who are having second thoughts, this experience will either harden them or get them out of my hair which is also a win in my books!"
Adam then used his scroll to give the order but as he did, a second scroll that was attached to the wall of the airship began to ring. "That's the group comms, Tyrian could you answer that for me?"
"With pleasure!" Tyrian grabbed the scroll and answered, "Hello, yes this is Adam's ship but he's busy with another call, what's your status?... You're with the courtyard squad... And how are things going?... You found some human saying he's on our side? That's probably Peter, yeah he is with us, how is he?... To shreds you say?"
"What was torn to shreds?" Adam asked as he ended his own call.
Tryrian put a hand on the scroll's receiver and then answered, " Peter, he was one of the bounty hunters Salem hired. Also, he was cut to shreds, not torn. There's a difference."
"Noted, how are the troops?"
Tyrian gave Adam a thumbs-up before continuing his call, "And how are the troops?... To shreds you say?"
"Ask them about the transport ships"
"And what about the transport ships?... To shreds you say? And what about?! Hello? Hello?... Oh, there you are, what happened? You say you are being torn to shreds? Damn, that sucks… Hello? Hello?"
The call ended and Tyrian put the scroll back on the wall before looking over to Adam and saying, "So apparently the courtyard squadron was torn to shreds." But Peter was cut? Something else must have taken him out.
Adam all but shrugged, "So I heard. Though I'm not surprised. It would have been nice to be able to land troops there, would have saved us a lot of time but anyone with a brain knew that spot was going to be a meat grinder."
"Then why send anyone there at all?"
"We had to try, besides, any bullet wasted on the expendables is a bullet that won't be fired at us." Adam sighed before walking over to the cockpit to give the pilot instructions while whispering to himself, "We'll have to take a more roundabout path."
When he returned Tyrian had a question for the Major, "I never asked you what you're getting out of this. Why help Salem?"
"Don't tell anyone I said this but I would have never been able to pull this off without her. Sienna doesn't like me and as long as she runs the White Fang, I just won't have the supplies or manpower to really strike the humans hard."
"Okay then. Why didn't you take the supplies Cinder gave you and run? She wouldn't have been able to chase you while she was undercover at the school."
"True, but while we have different goals, they're not mutually exclusive either. Rather, it seems that our goals are almost complementary. She wants to wage war on the Kingdoms and I want to wage war on humans who just so happen to rule those Kingdoms but you already knew that, so why are you asking me?"
"Because Salem is always looking for new… talented and ambitious people, to join the winning team."
Things clicked together in Adam's head, "And that's why you're here… to evaluate the White Fang."
"No. I'm here to evaluate you… and technically the Lost Boys too but we always sort of knew that they weren't going to make the cut. Frankly, they've added nothing worthwhile to this mess, I have no idea what Hazel was thinking when he brought them here."
"Who's Hazel?" Adam asked while grabbing onto a handrail, "Also, we'll be landing soon so you're going to want to grab the rails or buckle in.
Tyrian grabbed a rail just before the airship lurched downward, "Thanks for the warning. As for Hazel, he is just a mountain of muscles and repressed trauma that happens to be one of my co-workers."
"Repressed trauma?"
"Have you heard the theory about how Semblances are a reflection of how the user reacts to trauma? Like take your Ex, for example, she ran away and by sheer coincidence, she has a Semblance that creates clones to take the hit while she…"
"Runs away," Adam answered as he considered other people that he knew, it wasn't perfect but the theory was holding up. Ilia is a coward who is always trying to fade into the background and has the ability to blend into her surroundings…
Meanwhile Tyrian explained what he meant earlier, "So Hazel handles his trauma by repressing so it can't hurt him and coincidentally his Semblance is the ability to stop feeling pain."
"Holy shit!" Adam said just before his own mind betrayed him with some self-reflection. Hold on, my Semblance allows me to take damage and store it up for an attack but only if I block the attack with an object… so I don't let myself be hurt, but I do hold on to damage so I can throw it back at people. That… doesn't sound like a good way to deal with things, it's actually pretty toxic… Wait! Does that mean… I'm toxic?
Meanwhile Tyrian watched with growing concern as Adam got out in his own thoughts, "Adam? Adam? Hello? You're spacing out. It's kinda weird."
"S-sorry, I was just-!?"
It was at that exact moment that the right side wall of the airship was torn violently open. This was because while the airship was descending, it had gotten close enough to the ground that a certain woman from inside the Emerald Forest was able to throw her weapon at it. The weapon in question was a buzzsaw attached to a chain and the woman in question was Professor Anne Green, she was not alone.
"That was awesome!" Cecco shouted as he watched the airship crash into the ground and Anne yanking back her weapon and catching it as though it was the easiest thing in the world. "That's it! When all of this is over, I'm attaching a chain to my hammer and turning it into a wrecking ball!"
"Tch, you'd just end up breaking your bones trying to catch it," Mason said as he shouldered his rifle and admired the smoke rising from the forest where the airship had crashed. This woman is a veteran, it must have taken her decades to throw that good.
"I could practice, it'd be worth it if I could do throws like that. Besides, it's not like I need a Semblance to do it. It's pure skill and muscle and I already got the muscle!."
Turley leaned against a tree to rest up a little bit while the others talked, the three of them had by pure chance run into some soldiers stationed on the cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest supporting Anne Green who was at the bottom fighting inside the forest itself. They decided to help and that turned out to be the correct choice as shortly afterward the Knights turned around and attacked them instead of the Grimm. Had they not been there the results could have been catastrophic.
And then those airships showed up which led to even more Grimm… which led to them descending into the forest to help Anne while the soldiers regrouped. Those monsters are fucking assholes, it's a good thing that there were no Alphas among them. Anne is probably the only one here who can handle something like that.
"Hey, Turley! What do you think of my chain hammer idea?" Cecco asked.
"It sounds dumb." Turley truthfully wasn't listening so he had no idea what the chain hammer idea really was, but it did sound dumb.
"I disagree-" Mason responded fully intent on explaining his reasoning but Anne interrupted him.
"We got company, two survivors from the crash. They're coming in slowly, I think they want to figure out how many we are."
"Maybe they're coming to surrender," Turley suggested. "Staying in the forest is a deathtrap, and two Grunts aren't going to do much to the four of us especially since we got supporting fire from up top."
"If they were coming to surrender then they would have lowered their weapons."
Mason would have asked how she could know that but before he did he saw how her eyes were glowing and assumed correctly that it was an ocular Semblance, "Just two of them?"
"Yeah, I think… I think I recognize them." Anne narrowed her eyes as she tried to make sure and only became more certain as the pair drew closer, "One is possibly Adam Tarus-"
Turley pushed himself away from the tree and readied his machetes, "The leader of the Vale Branch of the White Fang!? That man is on the Most Wanted list!"
"And whose is the other one?" Mason asked as he moved behind a tree for cover and readied his rifle.
Anne finally recognized the other figure, "Tyrian Callows! I knew that bastard was alive!"
Cecco positioned himself next to Turley before asking Anne, "I've heard that name before, wasn't he an infamous Serial killer, one so bad that Mistral and Atlas teamed up to take him down?"
Turley nodded and added, "Grimm attacked the convoy taking him to a maximum security prison, there were no survivors. The crazy part was that the area had already been cleared of Grimm."
Anne answered, "You're both right, but I always suspected he survived. Pickerel was the Huntsman who caught the psycho, he was a good friend and-!"
"And he made for an excellent appetizer!" Tyrian cackled from the shadows as he drew ever closer.
Anne began to rev up her buzzsaw as she answered back, "So is there a reason you and Adam have been taking your time?"
"Dramatic effect mostly," Tyrian confessed while still hidden in the shadows. "A good fight is like a meal, it needs to be prepared properly and with care, or otherwise it all goes to waste."
This was a blatant attempt at getting under their nerves and Anne was not going to stand for it, she wasn't going to let that bastard run his mouth as he pleased. But now she needed to be patient, right now the environment favored Tyrian and Adam, the darkness of night and foliage of the forest hid them well while their Faunus heritage prevented their vision from being obscured… She could deal with foliage, earlier she had used her weapon to clear a swath of forest and could do it again. She was planning on doing it again just so that the soldiers above could provide better-supporting fire.
But she couldn't do anything about the dark. Or can I? I can see the crashed airship, there is a fire but it's too small. But if I struck the Dust tank with my weapon, it would explode and the resulting fire would help light things up. Yeah, that sounds like a goo-!? She never got a chance to finish that thought.
At that moment, Adam decided to make his move by using his sheath (it's also a gun) to shoot his sword right at Anne's face… 99% of the time, there is no good reason to ever throw your sword, and even in the remaining 1%, there is almost certainly a better option. Throwing your primary weapon without any means to retrieve it was always a bad idea. While Adam had great aim, he had no means to recover the sword beyond manually walking there and picking it back up… but he was fast.
Adam Taurus was without a doubt one of the fast sprinters in Remnant despite not having a speed-based Semblance. He was so fast that when the hilt of his sword struck Anne right in the face he was there to catch it. And now he was right in her guard, ready to swing right into her unguarded neck.
*Bang*
Mason fired his rifle but he wasn't sure what he was shooting at, the truth be told, he had pulled the trigger on reflex when Anne got hit and it was a good thing that he did. Mason didn't hit anyone, he didn't even come close but the sound of the gunshot was enough to make Adam take a step back and try to guard with his sword. It wasn't much but it gave Anne enough time to recover and knock Adam away from her.
"I guess this will be a little harder than I first thought," Adam said as he sheathed his sword and took up the stance for a quick draw. "But only a little harder."
Anne quickly glanced around and spotted Tyrian trying to sneak around, he was almost certainly planning on attacking them from behind when Adam made his move. She wasn't about to let them pull off a pincer attack but she didn't want to leave herself open to Adam either. "Cover Me!" she shouted loud enough for everyone to hear her before swinging her weapon in a massive arc.
The buzzsaw slammed into the trees with the force of a rockslide and broke right through them. It toppled one right after another leaving Adam and Tyrian without the privilege of their cover and it just kept going. Soon it reached Anne's goal, the crashed airship, and struck the fuel igniting it and causing an explosion that ignited parts of the forest and prevented either Adam or Tyrian from using the dark.
Meanwhile Adam and Tyrian simply watched, Anne was open to an attack but it was a trap. If they attacked then Mason, Turley, and Cecco would try and stop them. And they didn't know enough about that trio to say for sure how that exchange would end. But they weren't worried, this just meant that this ordeal was going to be a straight fight and a fight was exactly what they came here to do.
Tyrian emerged from his hiding spot and stood beside Adam, the two made for an interesting pair with how their appearances contrasted. Adam wore a mask and was dressed in an expensive dark suit with an intrinsic white and red embroidery, it was clear where his priorities lay and it wasn't with his men. Meanwhile, Tyrian had no mask and was dressed far more simply with a white shirt and pants. Yet that smile of his along with the gleaming steel claws on his wrists and that scorpion's stinger which was his Faunus trait… it was just bloodthirsty. Though that wasn't to say that Adam wasn't bloodthirsty as well, he was just better at hiding it and that was the contrast. Both were psychos but one hid it and the other showed it off.
Anne prepped her weapon as Cecco and Turley stood by her sides with Mason in the back, they had a numerical advantage but that was something only amateurs put their hope in. All it took was a bad step and those numbers wouldn't mean shit, what they needed was a plan and they didn't have time for one nor did they know each other well enough to rely on signals and vibes… the best option was to split up and split Adam and Tyrian up.
*BRRRRRRRRRRRR*
The buzzsaw was revved up along with Anne who wasn't going to let two psychopaths dictate the pace of this fight by making the first move, "Leave Tyrian to me." That was the only warning she gave to her comrades of chance before swinging without hesitation. She swung overhead and right down in between Adam and Tyrian who were quick to move away as her allies moved in. Her Buzzsaw hit the earth and kicked up dirt that made it hard for either one to take any clear shots at her, not that Mason was going to give them that chance as he took shots of his own.
Adam drew his blade to block the shots aimed at him before trying to rush down Anne. However, Cecco got in the way with a strong thrust of his hammer along with a slash from one of Turley's machetes. Those were blocked as well but the force behind those blows pushed Adam a fair distance back while letting the two bounty hunters isolate him from Tyrian, not that he minded all that much. A few more hits like that and I'll be able to annihilate them in one stroke.
Cecco took a step forward to pursue but paused, "Hey, guys… is it just me, or is his clothes slightly glowing?"
Turley's eyes narrowed, the light from the fires wasn't the best for observation but if he focused he could see something. The patterns on Adam's coat did seem to be emitting some kind of light, Dust Weaving? That expensive, really expensive… so that's the kind of asshole we're dealing with. The kind who buys designer coats while their employees are barely making ends meet. More importantly, we don't know if it's just for show or if there's a nasty trick hidden in those threads.
"Are you admiring my coat?" Adam asked rather boredly, "I thought we were fighting." Are they stupid? Or do they know how my Semblance works and are hoping to somehow outwait the stored damage? Either way, I can't let them slow me down, their gunman will get a few shots off but I can take it… Adam made his move without giving either one a chance to answer. He sheathed his blade and just like before pulled a trigger on his sheath which shot the blade out like a bullet.
Turley was struck right in the face and before he or anyone could react, Adam had already crossed the distance, grabbed the handle of the midair blade, and was turning it into a vicious cut as the others struggled to keep up.
Meanwhile, Tyrian was managing to close the distance on Anne but she was prepared for that. All it took was a sharp tug and the Buzzsaw came flying back into her hands, nearly hitting Tyrian in the process and while that would have been nice, it wasn't why she called back her weapon.
The serial killer got in close enough to stab at the older huntress with one of his claws but his steel struck the chain of her weapon instead. What?! Tyrian was surprised but he didn't let that slow him down, instead he just kept up the offense using his claws, legs, and even his scorpion stinger to try and prod her defenses to find any weak point.
Anne responded by using her chain as a flexible shield, her buzzsaw as a bludgeon, and her Semblance to allow her to keep track of his every move. It was working.
So Tyrian decided to try and get on her nerves, "Well, you're putting up a much better fight than Pickerel ever did!"
Anne didn't answer, in this situation she preferred to let her skills do the talking. But that only made Tyrain want to try harder, "Do you even know why I'm here? Do you know why any of this is happening? Did Ozpin tell you anything?"
She didn't answer but that didn't mean that it wasn't working.
Tyrian kept pushing his attack, "You went on a mission with team JNPR to a settlement that didn't even have a name. While you were there a group of thugs attacked, they were aiming for the students under your care. Specifically, they were after one Jaune Arc, why do you think that happened? What made the boy special?"
Anne gritted her teeth and kept going but she couldn't ignore it or the fact that he knew so much. So she tried to distract herself by focusing on other concerns, Why haven't we been receiving any supporting fire? What's going on up there?
"You seem distracted," Tyrian had a plan forming in his head but he needed to position himself just right to pull it off. So he made some distance between himself and Anne while switching his wrist claws to gun mode to keep up the pressure, "And what about your new friends?"
"What about them?!" He's trying to flank me. If I could make him stand still for just a second then I could nail him and possibly end this fight!
"They are the crewmates of that crocodilian bounty hunter that's been running around campus. Would you like to know her connection to Jaune? Did you know that she's been sleeping with the boy and even married him? Are you aware of the age gap between them? Or the fact that the boy was drunk when she first took him to bed and drunk when she made him marry her? Or that there's a target on his back because of her?"
The words forced themselves out of Anne's throat, "How do you know all of that!? How long has there been a hole in our security?"
Tyrian found a good spot to make his plan work and stood there and prepared himself for the hit that was coming, "Did you know that Ozpin is aware of everything and signed off on it? Even Glynda was okay with it, ever wondered what else they are doing behind your back?"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
The Buzzsaw struck Tyrian with the force of a charging bull knocking him right off of his feet and sending him flying backward… towards the spot where Mason was taking cover. And by the time Anne realized what she had done, how she had been played for an absolute fool; It was too late to save Mason.
Structurally speaking Beacon Academy was the same as it ever was but now the atmosphere was utterly alien, battles tended to do that. They took what once was so familiar and warped them into something unrecognizable and terrible. What once was a classroom was now a fortified position, hallways were converted into chokepoints, doorways were now traps, and everyone was discovering uncomfortable truths about themselves. The life of a Huntsman was one that nearly guaranteed a violent confrontation with another person, not all monsters were Grimm. The students understood that, for years they had prepared themselves mentally as their teachers prepared them physically.
But many were still taken aback by just how easy it really was to end a life. These students had sparred and fought with each other but the White Fang weren't students. They were just people whose lives led them here to this moment and most people weren't Huntsmen. Most people dropped dead when shot, for many students it was a surreal moment watching a member of the White Fang be shot, fall down, and then just lay there… then the Grimm came back and started their vile work.
It was a terrible way to go, it was a terrible thing to watch happen and be unable to do anything about it. The White Fang was the enemy but that was not an end that any of the Students would have wished upon their worst of foes… but they did not have time to do anything else but watch out for their own. Sometimes the best thing that can be done for the sake of your mental health is to find a productive distraction and there was plenty that needed to be done.
"Please stop squirming, Pyrrha," Ren asked as he tried to apply some medicine to the spot on her back where she had been shot. Maybe I can use my Semblance here…
The two of them were in a corner of the lobby that had been converted into an impromptu first-aid station. Around them were students and soldiers, all patients who had injuries that didn't require much attention. The nurses were all volunteers who had first-aid training while one of Beacon's in-house doctors supervised the nurses and quickly looked over every patient to determine how serious it was. If it was serious then the patient was given immediate treatment before being sent to the School's medical bay, everyone else was being treated there.
"I'm fine! My Aura blocked it." Pyrrha protested out of a childish desire to avoid feeling that uncomfortably cold medicine coming into contact with what was now a sensitive spot on her back. Though to her credit, she had enough self-control to stay sitting.
"That's not necessarily true, a powerful enough attack can pierce a weak enough Aura without breaking it. That beam blindsided you completely, it's better not to take any chances." Ren took the medicine and gently applied it to a red slightly swollen spot on Pyrrha's back before bandaging it up. We got lucky. If her Aura had been more depleted then this wouldn't just be a small burn. If the attacker had run after that first shot failed then maybe they could have made another more successful attempt… we shouldn't be relying on luck.
He took his hands away when he was done but didn't tell her, a small mischievous part of him wanted to see how long it would take her to notice. It was a childish act that was rather inappropriate given the circumstances but he didn't care, a little bit of childishness was good for the mind and soul, especially given the circumstances. And it wasn't like he was just going to stand there wasting everyone's time, he was going to be putting away the medicine and bandages while peeping the place for the next patient.
It took a few seconds but Pyrrha did notice that Ren's hands were gone which confused her, "Are you already done?"
"Yes."
"But, it was so quick. When did you put the medicine on me?"
"While I was talking, you just didn't notice because I used my Semblance to numb your anticipation."
"Huh, that's really clever."
"Thanks and I'm sorry but I'm going to need you to get up. There are other people that need attention."
Pyrrha chuckled, "No need for apologies. But can I get an Aura Booster before I go?"
"Of cou-?!"
Before Ren could finish, a tan student with dreadlocks and a green vest walked up to them and asked, "By any chance are you guys teammates of Jaune Arc?"
Ren and Pyrrha gave the guy an annoyed look before Pyrrha answered as she got out of the seat to make room for the next patient, "Yes we are, can we help you?"
"Thank the Brothers! Can you tell me where he is? My teammates got hurt and I was hoping that he could use his Semblance on them just like how he used it on me."
Pyrrha gave Ren a confused glance that he returned, confirming that just like her, he didn't know anything about Jaune finding his Semblance. Pyrrha then looked back at the stranger and asked, "Are you sure you're looking for Jaune? Or maybe we're thinking about two different people. Our Jaune is a cute blond with a hook hand."
"That's him! He was the one who fixed me up with his Semblance!"
"But that's impossible, he doesn't have a Semblance, unless… unless he just unlocked it." Pyrrha quietly said that last part to herself.
However the stranger heard it and his eyes widened, "He just unlocked it?! Then we have to find him! He might not know what he's doing or how much more he can do!"
"Just what is he doing?" Ren asked as a soldier with a sprained ankle sat down for treatment.
"My Aura was nearly broken when Jaune and Nora found me. He carried me to the shelter as Nora covered us. By the time we made it inside, my Aura was nearly recovered. I don't know how he did it but I know for certain that Jaune restored my Aura as he helped me inside."
"If what you're saying is true then we need to find Jaune, his skills are needed here," Ren calmly said thanks to his own Semblance suppressing his excitement over what was great news. "Pyrrha, you should go with…," he looked at the stranger, "Um, what's your name?"
"Roy Stallion of team BRNZ."
Ren gave Roy a nod before casting a glance at Pyrrha, he didn't need to say anything for her to know exactly what he wanted her to do. And she was more than happy to do it, "If I remember correctly, Jaune and Nora should be helping construct barricades in the west wing," Pyrrha said to herself and Roy.
"Then let's go!" Roy ran towards the West Wing with Pyrrha happily following close behind.
The discovery of a Semblance was an event worthy of celebration due to the sheer level of difficulty tied to it. There was no way for anyone to know what their Semblance was before they discovered it and the process usually involved a good deal of self-reflection, a bit of luck, and a lot of stress. And the situation that they were in now was without any doubt the most stressful one that they would ever face.
So Pyrrha was happy to have something to celebrate, or rather she was happy.
As she followed Roy, she spotted Glynda and Ironwood off in a corner away from everyone else, as though they were afraid of being heard, and Penny was with them… It wasn't any of Pyrrha's business but she did find herself slowing down to watch and maybe even hear them. She was too far away for the latter but she was close enough to see Penny hesitantly nod her head as Glynda and Ironwood said something as their faces held an expression of relief mixed with guilt.
Pyrrha had no idea what they had said but the look on their face told her everything. Gylnda and Ironwood had asked Penny to take on the burden that Pyrrha refused, and Penny accepted.
Author's Notes: Fun Fact Tyrian's backstory can be found in RWBY Vol 7 episode 7. There is a moment in the episode where they are talking about him and on a screen is his backstory, you have to pause to read it and even then it's hard to make out the words but it's all there!
As for the Lost Boys… fuck them, they're uninteresting fools so I'm just going to off-screen them all except for Rufio. I had a fight planned for him when I introduced him and god as my witness, it will happen!