Chapter 23
Adam Taurus snarled, narrowing his eyes.
He pushed against his former mentor who had dared to stop him from finishing what he'd started.
They rapidly traded blows back and forth, Adam gritting his teeth as he tried to force himself on the offensive. Yet she was skilled, incredibly so. Raven had always been like that.
She kept him on the backfoot, slowly chipping away at his aura. She used a red dust blade to launch a torrent of searing fire at him.
Adam shrank himself as best he could, holding Wilt horizontally and absorbing the energy into his blade. He tanked the rest with his aura, grunting slightly as he felt the burn.
But the woman sheathed, quickly switching blades, and an ice dust blade popped up. She swung it ferociously, launching a torrent of ice that froze his left arm.
He growled, slamming his frozen arm into her block, which served its purpose of shattering the ice, but he ended up receiving a painful boot in the chest in return.
He stumbled backwards, blocking the tirade of swings that came afterwards with his blade, Wilt absorbing the power. Striking and sheathing three times in quick succession, he unleashed a trail of fire following his blade, and he managed to force her backwards, and go on the offensive.
Adam fired Blush at her multiple times, the semiautomatic firearm forcing the woman to block expertly, as she deflected the bullets with her blade.
He rapidly hurled Wilt like a red saw, causing it to spin speedily in the air. The human blocked with her blade, even as Wilt's bloodred blade glowed with absorbed power. He jumped in the air, catching it, before slamming it down, unleashing a wave of red energy, and shattering her dust blade.
The woman rolled away, redrawing another blade from her sheath.
"Funny how this has come to bite you in the ass, huh?" Adam sheathed his bloodred blade, keeping his hand on the hilt.
Raven narrowed her red eyes through the mask, growling "You were never grateful for the training I gave you."
"Why did you come? The strong live, the weak die," Adam quoted, drawing a snarl from her, "Those are the rules."
"One save," his mentor scowled, "Those are the rules."
"And yet I never got a save," Adam grunted, "Hypocrite."
"Because taking you in was the save. And you repaid the kindness by leaving," Raven narrowed her eyes, "Joining a fool's dream for faunus equality. All that potential... gone to waste because, like a naïve child, you wanted to ignite some kind of revolution."
Adam grit his teeth, but said nothing more. She had picked up a lonely, desperate bull faunus, and trained him, making him a part of their tribe. Tensions between him and his mentor had been heated when he left the Branwen tribe for the White Fang, who had saved him in the first place. Raven had screamed at him for joining a cause that she saw as useless. At the time, it had hurt him more than he cared to admit.
Through his rose-tinted glasses, she had been his idol back then. Strong, powerful, and he'd used everything from the Iaido style down to the clothes as inspiration. She'd even given him his emblem, a wilting rose, apparently related to one of her former teammates.
But that was it; she wasn't strong, or powerful. She led a tribe that preyed on the weak civilians, content to sit back and watch the world burn. She rarely, if ever, visited her teammates; the world-famous STRQ was fractured, broken. Because of her.
"You were always content to sit and watch on the sidelines, forever too weak to do anything."
That apparently struck a chord with Raven, as she snarled again in anger, placing her hand on her blade's hilt again.
He was forced on the backfoot yet again when a gravity dust blade slammed into him.
He managed to block it with his aura, but the impact of the dust still ended up sending him straight through a wall.
Adam rolled, blocking furiously as a wind dust blade met his fire dust imbued blade, but her wind dust blade augmented the speed of her swings, leaving a small gale that forced him back. He fired Blush at it several times with his off hand while putting distance between them, managing to shatter the blade.
Still, she pursued, zig zagging from side to side towards him. Unfortunately for her, she didn't mix up the speed of the zigs, and he timed her mentally, before firing Wilt from Blush.
The pommel of Wilt slammed into her forehead, ricocheting back into his waiting hand as he slammed Wilt down. Despite the blunt force pinging off her forehead, Raven still managed to block, even if she was momentarily disoriented.
He went on the offensive, wide slashes from Wilt forcing her backwards, deadly arcs of fire trailing behind his blade.
She evaded him at first, then drew a lightning dust blade, locking blades with him. His muscles tensed as slight electricity ran through his red blade and into them, but Wilt glowed red as it absorbed it. Still, he fired Blush, forcing her to unlock the blades.
He put space between them, squeezing off more shots from Blush to force her to block.
He chuckled darkly, smiling. She had made a critical mistake; she'd let him charge his semblance.
His hair, katana, and emblems glowed a foreboding red, causing her to take a step backwards. And yet, there was not fear in her eyes, but a wariness in them. She knew his semblance, but she also knew the raw power behind it after he'd charged it.
Adam swung in a downwards arc, Wilt leaving a trail of fire behind it. A bloodred arc of pure power carved through the air like butter heading towards her. It shook the ground with true power as it slammed into her body, exploding into a red ash that obscured the entire area.
He sheathed Wilt once more, satisfied.
Raven was adaptable, using several dust blades to keep him on the backfoot, rapidly changing her style to keep herself unpredictable, even if he'd seen it all before. She'd prevented him from finishing what he'd started. It wouldn't be stretching it to say she would have killed him if he hadn't used his semblance there. He'd been building up all of the energy from the strikes, only unleashing a small bit to throw her off.
He approached the red dust as it cleared, swiping it away with his blade as his footsteps quietly crunched on the ground. His single good eye scanned around the rubble for her body, knowing that she had to had survived that attack.
But he noticed that absolutely no one was there. A small black bird, a raven, flew out from the place, but there was no other life where she should have been.
Adam whirled around as a lightning dust blade slammed into his chest with force. Despite the instinctual aura he flooded the area with, it still hurt like hell, knocking him back. His muscles tensed as the electricity ran through his body, causing his reactions to slow slightly for a moment.
And that moment was all Raven needed. She lunged for his chest, but Adam managed to mitigate the damage. Still, the fire dust blade hit his shoulder with strength, and his red aura crackled in warning. He grit his teeth in pain as he rolled away, trying to put some distance between them.
She was on the offensive however, and she wouldn't stop. With him on the backfoot, she lunged towards him with incredible speed, her blade carving through the air.
He desperately blocked again, but she twisted the blade last minute, sliding it against his and managing to land another painful hit to his abdomen.
His aura flickered, on the very verge of shattering, and he knew he had to play it safe.
His former mentor pushed on the offensive again, and Adam had no choice but to keep evading, using everything in his path to stop her. Broken chairs, books, furniture, tables, anything he could use as a shield. Still, she easily sliced through everything he hurled at her.
Raven drew a purple gravity dust blade when the next table was hurled at her, slashing at it and using much of the dust inside to reverse the table and hurl it at him. Adam had to duck under his own projectile, and he deflected the next thrust, allowing her blade to slide between his arm and his side, and pinching it, his hold not allowing her to remove it. He thrusted Wilt at her, but she bent under the slash.
She unexpectedly wrenched the blade against his grasp, breaking the fragile purple blade in half. Adam widened his eye behind his mask as she thrust the broken end of the gravity blade into his face.
Such was the gravity dust-augmented strength behind it that the blow sent him dozens of feet away, crashing through tables, desks, and furniture and leaving ashes and dust in his path.
He managed to right himself with Wilt as he slammed it into the ground, skidding to a stop as he sheathed it, preparing to draw again. His blood aura crackled, before dissipating, and Adam knew he no longer had it.
He reached for the comforting presence of his mask, but it wasn't there. Instead, his fingers touched the skin of his face, and his remaining good eye widened in shock. His eye darted around for the mask, before landing on the broken halves of it.
She approached him through the dust, watching him carefully.
"Had I known you would do this, I wouldn't have trained you."
Adam laughed, coughing slightly as he struggled to his feet, "You know what they say. Hindsight is twenty twenty."
"Don't you understand!?" Raven's voice was disbelieving, "Don't you get it!? You joined forces with her agents!If she saw your eye... you receive a fate worse than death!" she roared at him, fists clenched.
He took a step back. "Your eyes are why I trained you! Don't you understand what she would do to you?"
"Raven, you're not making any sense!" Adam snarled back.
"You would become another pet project, a lab rat..."
"Just like her."
Who, though? Who exactly was she referring to?
He didn't have any more time to ponder the topic, however, as she bent her knees slightly, hand on her hilt.
She drew, her red dust blade springing from her sheath, as she took a stance again.
Adam cursed, knowing he couldn't win this fight, not without aura or his semblance. Still, he readied himself, knees bending slightly. If he was going to go down, he was going to go down fighting for the greater good of the faunus.
He placed his right hand on Wilt, unsheathing it slightly and showing a bit of the katana. The familiar motion comforted him, his faithful blade flickering in the dark.
It seemed like all was lost, when the ground rumbled violently, causing both of them to lose their balance. He stumbled slightly, trying to regain his footing as Raven did the same.
The dark clouds overhead rumbled forebodingly, lightning flickering between the clouds. The wind whipped up to hundreds of miles an hour, the gales biting at them almost violently, causing him to have to squint to even see.
A heavy presence bore down on them, demanding their attention, forcing them to look. Adam and the woman both whirled around to see a man approaching them.
His deep sea green eyes were glowing with power, the very ground rumbling with every step he took, water rushing behind him at his command. The air seemed like it vibrated at his very presence, trembling before his might. A strange pressure bore down on Adam, an intimidating air about him.
It was as if he commanded the storm itself.
How was he doing that? He didn't have the slightest clue.
There weren't many things that Adam Taurus was afraid of.
But this man… He was not to be trifled with; his very presence put him on edge.
He cut an intimidating figure. He had black, disheveled hair, and was tall and broad shouldered, holding himself with the confidence of a seasoned warrior, with a glowing golden blade by his side. He leveled his blade at the two of them, turning his piercing gaze onto Adam first, then the woman, who tilted her head in what seemed like slight recognition. He could tell even from under the mask that she was as shocked as he was.
"Leave."
That was... awfully kind of him.
Adam grunted in slight thanks, noticing that this new human didn't even know his face or his name. Thankfully, only his voice had been broadcast to the CCT and the world. Otherwise, he would be in a world of trouble.
Still, the human cast a glance at the broken mask on the ground, then locked his gaze on Adam, narrowing his eyes. The man didn't make another move though, seemingly letting him go.
He didn't particularly want to challenge this powerful human even in top fighting condition, and he was nowhere near that. He didn't want to fight either of them, the man or Raven. If this stranger had not showed up, Raven most likely would have bested him and killed him. It was better this way.
Raven nodded silently, sending a look filled with some kind of emotion to the man, though he couldn't read it. Did she know him too?
She slashed her red blade in the air, and creating a red and black vortex. She walked through it, her long black mane swishing behind her from side to side as she left.
Adam grunted in slight pain as he pushed himself to his feet and began silently limping away, feeling the man's questioning eyes on his back.
He would live to see another day for the betterment of the faunus.
The battle at the docking bay wasn't looking so great.
The teams had managed to evacuate most of the students, but increasing amounts of Grimm poured into the vicinity, eager for human flesh and blood, and only augmenting their negative emotions, even if they tried to stay positive. They sent small groups in to try and escort more out to the docks, but more often than not, it was a futile effort.
Things were not helped by the enormous Wyvern circling overhead, black pools dropping from the dragon-like Grimm's body and perpetually spawning more Grimm.
The teams had long run out of dust ammo, resorting to standard ammunition, but even that was starting to empty. Their auras were low, stamina even more so.
Jaune fired Pathfinder relentlessly, the gold and white firearm constantly jerking back from the shots, recoiling into his shoulder. In a way, the motion was comforting, at least. He was killing a Grimm with every shot, but even then, it wasn't enough.
They just kept on coming. Nora had long run out of grenades and ammo for her sidearm, only able to swing her hammer against the horde. Pyrrha ducked in and out of the tight weaved circle they had, her javelin spearing the heads of Grimm like butter. Occasionally, she tried reaching the maiden power, but it wouldn't budge an inch, too stubborn to come out. Ren bludgeoned them with his blades, wide arcs cutting into the dark creatures.
Weiss had long ago ran out of dust, only able to thrust her rapier into the ranks of the Grimm. Even so, her fight with Adam had given her injuries and left her weak and vulnerable, and her aura had only just started regenerating. She couldn't afford to take any hits, otherwise she would be out for the count.
Ruby bludgeoned the hordes of Grimm with her red scythe in wide, swinging motions, with Zwei by her side, the small corgi providing what support he could. Without ammo to use for recoil, however, her scythe felt like a long, cumbersome metal pole in her hands, and her shoulders burned from swinging it, barely keeping it up. All of them protectively surrounded Yang, who was still out cold. Blake could only slash relentlessly with her katana, and she preserved what few shots she had left in her sidearm.
Team SSSN wasn't doing much better either, all of them only able to slash at the stampede of Grimm with their weapons, barely holding them off on their end. Sun in particular was struggling, his gunchucks having long run out of shots, and his bo staff's blunt damage not doing much to the much thicker armor plates of the Grimm, only able to target certain weak points between the armor plates.
Even with the addition of Mercury, they were struggling. Despite all his expertise, the assassin was also starting to run out of ammo in his pistols and boots, and soon had to resort to a mere knife to fight them off.
Suddenly, the ground shook uncontrollably, churning and shaking, and causing them to stumble and lose their footing. The wind began howling with fury, whipping up with increasing strength. Ominous clouds rumbled angrily above, gathering together. A hurricane formed all around them, turning the winds into an overwhelming gale.
He appeared before them, his ethereal sea green eyes smoldering with untapped, raw power. He raised his arms to the sky, beckoning.
Bolts of lightning fell from the heavens, killing Grimm by the dozens and hitting the ground with tremendous force. Lightning zipped across the dark sky with wrath, causing his electrifying silhouette to light up the very sky. Thunder roared furiously in the storm, as hurricanes decimated the ranks of the Grimm before their eyes, water piercing into the Grimm.
It was divine, celestial. It was… godly.
There was no other way to describe it.
The absolutely massive Wyvern above was spawning Grimm relentlessly, creating more than a few problems for them.
Summoned by his divine wrath, a torrent of white lightning flashed across the stormy sky, the pure brightness blinding them as thunder rumbled. A pure white bolt the size of a mountain struck the Wyvern, reducing it to ashes.
Their jaws were open in shock at him, utter expressions of disbelief present on their faces.
He didn't seem to notice, however. Ignoring them, he launched off the docking bay into the water, the water humming the second he hit the water.
He burst towards the city of Vale that was being bombarded by Grimm outside its walls.
Hundreds of thousands of Grimm charged the walls of Vale, the morale of the people at an all time low. The frightened people only drew in more and more Grimm, and the huntsmen and soldiers were struggling to hold the line, even with a particularly powerful Penny Polendina.
Until he arrived.
Perseus, the Destroyer, the Stormbringer, slayer of titans and giants, bane of monsters. The son of Poseidon, and the last demigod.
He burst out of the river into the air, millions of gallons of water dutifully following him as he landed into a roll.
He stalked forward with the aura of a predator, summoning his power once more. Great clouds rolled over the mountains that surrounded Vale, bringing darkness from above, blotting out the sun. The edges of the sky became blackened with ambient darkness, eclipsing the shining stars, until it seemed as if it were nighttime. His divine sea green eyes flickered with the wrath of a thousand suns, promising pain and death to the unsuspecting Grimm that charged towards him, roaring in glee.
He let loose.
And unto Remnant did the Wrath of Perseus unleash.
Violent gusts of wind rushed like wolves across the field, forcing the Grimm backwards. Hurricanes formed left and right across the plains, whipping up to hundreds of miles per hour, screaming.
Waves dozens of feet tall roared with power, bowling into the Grimm by the hundreds. The rain from the dark, vengeful clouds tripled in intensity, the very droplets hardening into sharp icicles, penetrating into the ranks of the Grimm, sliding between their armor plates.
Thunderbolts struck with divine retribution onto the giant nevermores that circled above and the Grimm goliaths that shook the ground, promising pain and agony to all. It flickered in the clouds, thundering, before his silhouette became lightning itself, illuminating the heavens as it flashed across the stormy skies.
The ground churned and shook before his power, his wrath, thunderbolts sheering off the mountaintops in the distance, the chunks of rock falling onto and killing the leagues of Grimm below.
He burst forward, Convergence and Riptide naturally forming in his hands. He fought like a man possessed, his blades pure blurs of speed as waves slammed into the Grimm, watery tendrils piercing through the bodies.
There was no thought, no strategy to his fighting.
He was destruction incarnate. He killed mercilessly, thoughtlessly, decimating the ranks of the Grimm. He beheaded the Grimm like mere insects that were undeserving of his attention, Riptide and Convergence easily finding gaps in the white plate armor of the Grimm, rending apart flesh and bone.
Any damage he might have taken was either blocked by his aura or healed instantly by the constant sheen of water over his body. There was no stopping him, there was no slowing him down.
When the last Grimm was killed, Percy stood over entire plains of black dust, his body coated with slick sweat.
He allowed the storm to subside, the sun reappearing along with bright blue skies. Convergence faithfully dissolved in his hand, and Riptide changed back into a pen with a flick of the wrist. The black dust remains of Grimm coated his pauldrons and vambraces like a second skin, and he used small waves of water to clean them off.
He turned towards Vale's walls as he heard the huntsmen and soldiers cheer in victory. Riptide reappeared with a flick of the hand as he raised the divine blade to the skies in triumph, inciting another thundering roar of approval from the people.
As he got closer to the walls of Vale, he realized what the people were doing.
They were kneeling.
Many of them had their heads bowed as if he were some venerated one, hands clasped together, shaking slightly.
The assault on Vale had taken its toll on everyone, and many were still shaken from the sudden attack of the Grimm, as well as the White Fang declaration that had been broadcast across the kingdoms of Remnant.
As he walked through the streets, he found he was unopposed, unrivaled; untouched. The street was devoid of people, absolutely no one blocking his path. Instead, on each side of the street, people were kneeling, speaking in soft, muted tones.
He heard whispered prayers and worship coming from the people of Vale, the thanks and gratitude that continuously emanated from them.
They looked at him with a newfound hope, with true reverence, as if he were their saving grace, their lord, their haven from the monsters of Grimm that plagued this beautiful world. Many were openly weeping, their tear-stained faces of joy burning into his memory. Others merely closed their eyes, heads lowered to the ground in clear deference, thanking him profusely.
Percy did not want to deal with the connotations of that and the absolute can of worms that would open right now.
He hadn't made it far into the city when he turned away from it, choosing instead to jump into the river. He burst forth in the water at incredible speeds, boosting himself towards Beacon.
As he reached the ruins of Beacon, he pulled himself out of the water. And yet, as soon as the comforting presence of the river left him, he felt… almost pitifully weak.
His limbs felt heavy, and his head was throbbing slightly. He could feel his heartbeat, but it felt... distant, like it wasn't his heart that was beating.
He began staggering slightly, feeling strange, for some reason. He keeled over onto the ground, vision blurry. He barely saw the worried faces of his teammates rushing towards him in the corner of his vision, and he slumped onto the ground, his vision narrowing. He saw them shout and point, but it was far away; it was almost as if he had cotton stuffed in his ears.
That was when he passed out.
AN: So, Adam vs Raven. There's that, and a whole lot of details that I put in there that you're welcome to read into.
Added Raven's dust blades actually doing what they're supposed to do, since in canon, they were pretty disappointing.
Realistically, Raven beats Adam, but Adam still has his own arc to fill, which is why I had them disengage. And what better way to have them disengage than Percy himself? He doesn't attack either of them because they're unknowns, and he has to help the people. Raven helped him before on the train, so he lets her go, and since Adam's mask isn't on, Percy doesn't recognize him as White Fang.
Percy doesn't see the SDC brand over his eye either, because of all the dust and debris flying around, and how blurry the actual brand itself is. I know this is kinda weak, but Percy wouldn't had let Adam disengage had he seen the mask.
Moving on, Percy destroys the Wyvern. Ruby never uses her silver eyes because they're awakened through a sort of trauma and will to protect family (in canon, through death of Pyrrha and to save her teammates from the Apathy). So she never unlocks them and freezes the Wyvern here.
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