"Alpha? So what, are you saying you're a god now? Alpha and omega and all that crap?" Marrow asked.
"Well, as close to a god as I can be right now. I'm missing a piece and once I deal with you two...I'm going to rip the Omega out of Salazar," Marion explained.
Rex looked disgusted. "Okay, you're delusional if you think that's gonna happen. I don't even know what the Omega Nanite is! This is the first time I've even heard of it!"
"You've...always thought that your powers were controlled by your semblance, haven't you?" Marion asked.
Rex's expression softened. "Y-yeah, actually..."
"Shows how good a deception Ironwood weaved for you." Marion smirked. "This Omega controls the active nanites within your body and is responsible for the creation of your little machines. My Alpha does the same, the only difference being that my builds are just a bit more...efficient."
"So then if yours is so great, why do you want mine?" Rex asked as he threw down another Atlesian Knight and stomped its head to pieces with the Punk Busters.
"Because they were always meant to be used as one. Your parents had a theory. If the Alpha and Omega Nanites were brought together...well, they didn't know exactly what would happen, but they guessed that the merger would be almost like apotheosis, the birth of a god. Or be so close that the actual difference was irrelevant."
Rex clutched his chest. I know next to nothing about you, mom and dad...but you clearly didn't want them merging if one of the most powerful man-made creations is with me. And something tells me she's not supposed to have the Alpha Nanite.
"If that's the case..." Rex held out his arms, and morphed them into the Smack Fists. "Then I'm not surrendering my powers without a fight."
"I never expected you to," Marion smirked.
Without wasting a moment, Marion made her move, charging towards Rex with incredible speed. Rex noticed that her builds constructed themselves faster, almost instantly. Her arm formed into one of her massive War Hatchets that slashed at Rex and he barely blocked it with his own build, swapping out from the Punk Busters to his own axes with their own energy blades. The impact of the attack heavily damaged the weapons, though.
The force of Marion's strike sent shockwaves through Rex's body as he struggled to hold his ground. The impact reverberated through his constructs, causing them to flicker and falter under the immense power of Marion's assault.
"Alpha. Better than the Omega. It's just facts," the traitorous Ace-Op smirked, as her blades shifted into the Butcher Hooks. Rex initiated a rapid repair sequence, reinforcing his damaged constructs and upgrading their defenses. In the blink of an eye, his build was fortified and repaired with a fresh jolt of energy, and just in time as well. Marion's hooks slashed against the newly constructed Block Party's shielding.
While the hooks began to burn through the shields, though, the Black Knight was vulnerable. Harriet leapt into the air and came rushing down with Thorn in her hand. The throwing star sparked against Marion's suit, but the hit distracted her long enough to give Rex an opening. One of the Block Party shields morphed into an orange-plated blade with a downward pointing blade, a gray barrel pointing out atop it. A few energy shots fired out and sparked against Marion's armor as, apparently, she didn't really have a dedicated defensive build. The other Block Party shield morphed into another blade and Rex rushed in, lashing out with a combo of quick and precise strikes.
"Like the new build?" Rex smirked, "Call it the Slay Mantis for obvious reasons!" After Marion ducked under the last swing, both barrels pointed at Marion and fired, knocking her into a powerful kick from Marrow.
Marion staggered backward, the combined assault from Rex and Marrow momentarily disorienting her. The barrage of energy shots from Rex's Slay Mantis build had taken a toll on her armor, leaving visible scorch marks and weakened sections.
He's stronger than he thinks and if he realizes that, the Black Knight thought to herself, Well, we can't exactly have that now, can we?
"You'll need more than just a new toy to defend your precious Omega," Marion sneered, her voice laced with a newfound intensity. She held out her arms and her nanites responded, reshaping her hands into a different sort of cannon, one that was smaller, lighter, with more concentrated blasts. Marion pointed her newly built weapon at the trio and unleashed a devastating blast of deafening sound.
Everyone, from Harriet to Robyn, covered their ears as the deafening sound struck them. Even Watts had to throw off his ear piece from the loud feedback that went off in his ear.
"Damn it, Marion!" Watts cursed.
"What's the matter, Salazar? Do you not have a SOUND build? Oh, wait, my bad! You can't HEAR ME!" the Black Knight grinned.
Suddenly, giant spider legs shot out of Rex's back, propping him up to face Marion while a four-eyed visor appeared over his face, covering his ears in the process. Under the construct, his ears were bleeding, but he still had some fight in him.
"Good thing I can't hear you! You're probably saying some annoying 'ohhh, I'm more powerful than you' bullshit right now!" Rex's new mechanical limbs began to cary him towards Marion, drilling deep into the ground.
"Huh...ok. Call me intrigued. Didn't know about that one," Marion admitted, stopping her sonic assault when one of Rex's spider legs jabbed at the former Ace-Op. She dodged out of the way and morphed her cannon back into her scythe, lashing out and cutting the leg in half.
Rex almost fell forward, but the leg automatically repaired itself. Marion was caught off guard, giving Rex a good window to swing back and kick his opponent in the face with all the force he could muster in his normal legs.
She was knocked back from the hit, but she stabbed her scythe into the hangar floor to stop herself. The glowing blade cut through the metal as Marion came to a sudden halt.
"Ok...better than I thought, prototype. I'll give ya that," Marion smirked.
"I have a name," Rex hissed.
"I prefer prototype. After all, who really remembers the name of the rough draft instead of the finished product?"
"You're toying with me, aren't you? You're trying to get in my head, try and psyche me out." Rex frowned. "I can spit back too, y'know."
"Kid...I've been toying with you since Haven. That one little encounter and you couldn't get me out of your head, could you? There's a reason I didn't show up earlier, or why I didn't really do much since. I know you. You didn't have anything at first, so if someone gives you the smallest breadcrumb? You would chase that lead through hell if you had to, destroy yourself if you have to. And I counted on that. I'm in control. I'm the only one who would've actually told you anything and that's just...so entertaining to me," Marrion explained.
Rex's scowl deepened as Marion's words cut through him. He clenched his fists, his resolve strengthening against the psychological and verbal onslaught. He wasn't going to just give up from a few words though, and he stood up to his full height.
"Oh well look at this. The scrappy prototype thinks he can stand up to the perfected version, me," Marion scoffed. "But I know all your weaknesses, your fears, your insecurities. And I'll be sure to exploit every single one of them."
"Typical villain speech…but I wonder who else can boast that about you?" Rex taunted. Marion got into a ready position, ignoring the jeer, as Rex was joined by Marrow, Cammie, Harriet, Qrow, and Robyn. Elm had just enough strength left in her to grab hold of Timber and shift it into its rocket launcher form, taking aim at her former teammate. The numbers were against Marion now, especially since all the androids Watts had sent in as back-up had been cut down, their wrecks strewn across the hangar floor.
Before the battle could continue in earnest, however, a scream, one full of millennia worth of fury, echoed out, shaking Atlas to its very core. Marion looked around, recognizing that shriek anywhere.
"Damn, and just when things were getting good," the Black Knight sighed.
"Was...was that-?" Robyn asked.
"It's her. She's back," Rex realized in shock.
"And with her return...I take my leave," Marion added, making a break for the open hangar doors. Harriet raced after her, but she was just a bit too slow. The Black Knight ran and dove off the side, falling through the air. Her body morphed and shifted to build up a massive jet-bike, her version of the Rex Ride.
"Maybe next time Hare! And next time, maybe someone won't have to die to save you," Marion taunted before she tore through the sky and away from the slowly falling city.
With a burst of speed, the former Ace-Op tore through the sky, leaving Atlas behind. The echoes of her taunts lingered in the air as the city continued its slow descent towards the tundra.
Harriet watched as Marion disappeared into the distance, her mind filled with a mix of conflicting emotions. She dropped to her knees and started to hyperventilate. Harriet's breath came in short, rapid gasps as she sank to her knees, overwhelmed by a torrent of emotions surging through her. She was struggling to process...everything.
She'd kept it together throughout the entire fight because of sheer adrenaline and anger, but now the source of it was gone. All those questions, all those doubts, came flooding back to her.
"Harri-?" Rex started.
"C-check on...check on Vine, first!" Harriet snapped.
The room went deathly silent.
"...Harriet." Elm said. Harriet snapped around face her, only to see Elm carrying Vine in her arms, his body dangling lifelessly.
"...He's gone."
"No...no, no, no, no, no...this- this is...this is my fault, isn't it?" Harriet asked, looking at Thorn still in her hand. Suddenly, it just felt wrong to hold the weapon.
"No. It's not. It...it was his choice to take the hit for you." Elm tried to reassure, voice quiet. "He...he made his decision..."
Even though she knew the words were true, Elm began to softly sob.
"And he made the wrong one," Harriet muttered, "I don't...I don't deserve this...this second chance. This is his and I fucking stole it..."
"Do you really believe that, moh-" Robyn started, so used to goading the speedster with the nickname that she almost didn't catch herself, "Harriet?"
"You're asking that? You, of all people? You and Qrow have probably wanted me dead from the moment I first threw you in those cells and now you're trying to act all sympathetic?!"
"Some people up here, in Atlas, might've been acting. We're not," Qrow said, "At this point...we've all lost people. We know what that's-"
"Don't give me your sanctimonious 'We understand' speech! You lost people you were close to, but they never-!" Harriet snapped back, stopping herself for a moment, "The people you lost actually saved someone who was worth it."
Despite all of her current issues with the Ace-Ops' speedster, seeing her broken like this, seeing her devalue her own existence like this, Cammie couldn't help but feel regret for Harriet.
"Harriet, I-" Cammie began, but Harriet stood back up.
"Where the hell are the others?" the speedster asked, clearly trying to avoid the conversation. "Where are they?"
"The Vault. Well...sorta. They're covering evac for both cities," Robyn explained.
"Both? How is that-?"
"The Relic," Marrow answered, "Whole plan hinges on that."
"How the hell are they managing that?" Harriet demanded. "Don't tell me they used the relic for some bullshit escape."
"...well, not just that." Rex corrected.
"What did they DO?" Harriet demanded.
Back in the central evacuation hub, Cinder grabbed both Weiss and Penny by their faces, the latter from up close while the former was grabbed with the elastic Grimm prosthetic the Fall Maiden sported. Her good eye flared with energy as she bashed the two together. Her own Aura was still ok, damaged but not enough to really worry about. A quick pick-me-up wasn't off the table, however. Cinder's Grimm claws tightened around Weiss's face as blue energy flowed from the heiress's body and up the sinewy replacement. The siphoned Aura shifted to an orange hue as the stolen energy integrated into Cinder's own, recharging it.
"Weiss!" Ruby called out, shifting Crescent Rose into its sniper mode and taking aim at the arm of one of her biggest nemeses. The other nemesis in question lashed out with a swarm of tendrils that wrapped around the weapon's barrel and forced it off the side, making the usually accurate deadeye miss her shot, the bullet traveling off into the void. Vilgax blocked a combo of flaming punches and kicks from Ben with his free arm before he pulled his tendrils back from Ruby. The red hooded huntress sneered and spun her weapon, slashing apart the tentacles as they returned. They stitched themselves up quickly and reformed into Vilgax's arm, just in time for the tyrant to duck under Ben's latest strike and punch the hero in the stomach with unparalleled force. The air left the hero's lungs as he doubled over from the hit. The last of the Murrians made his bio-whip go rigid again and he thrust down, almost like he was mimicking one of Weiss's rapier thrusts, but Ruby rushed in and slashed the whip in two. Crescent Rose's blade had changed to its energy form, neatly slashing through the metallic weapon with searing heat.
At the same time, Mercury was playing what could effectively be dubbed as a deadly game of tag and right now, Blake was it. With her Berserker shadows still active, there wasn't much he could do to actually attack the feline Faunus. Ceres was a different story, however. So, when Blake's shadows came for the assassin's son, he made it a point to dodge their strikes or kick them away, making them vanish in puffs of smoke, each disappearing with a banshee-like scream. When they were dealt with, Mercury went on the hyper-offensive, pushing Ceres back as much as he could. The Archimedian exile dodged, parried, and countered all manner of kicks and combos, her own fury starting to grow, evidenced by scales growing on her arms and face. Mercury's latest kick connected with Ceres' gauntlet, just like he wanted. The belt in his shotgun leg rotated and loaded in a very special Dust round. The new mechanical wings Talaria sported gained a slight purple glow to them and Mercury smirked. Ceres gasped when she took notice a second too late. Mercury fired off the gravity Dust round and sent them both flying. Ceres tried to stop herself with her flames, but the manipulated gravity was too much and, with one final kick from Mercury to knock her away, she sailed right through the portal to Vacuo.
"NO-!" Ceres yelled before she was cut off by the rippling energy of the gateway.
"Now...it's just you and me kitty ca-" Mercury began, before he was cut off. The tip of Gambol Shroud's katana blade was suddenly buried in Mercury's shoulder, an infuriated Blake still holding onto the makeshift weapon.
"Thanks for talking so much," Blake hissed, "Makes it easy to get. In. Close."
"Get...the hell...OFF ME!" Mercury yelled, landing a powerful kick to his opponent's chest that knocked her away, sending her skidding down the golden pathway. Mercury ripped the small black blade out of his shoulder and growled, tossing the dagger-like shard back at his opponent, barely missing her feet. He looked back and noticed Ruby and Ben's fight with Vilgax.
Quite the distraction.
Perfect.
Cinder looked to Weiss, the heiress's wild and terrified eyes bringing a sick smile to the Fall Maiden's lips, but that smile faded for a short second. A horrifying scream reached into the central location from outside, full of rage and hatred. The mastermind of this plot could recognize that fury anywhere and what was just a satisfied smirked turned into an outright, beaming smile.
"She's back. She's BACK!" Cinder announced triumphantly, followed by a short chuckle, "Which means, I should stop playing with my prey and get what I came for."
With that, she threw Weiss aside like a ragdoll, the heiress coming to rest just before the portal to Vacuo. Her Aura, weakened as it was, flickered for a moment as she began to weakly stand up. With her arm now free, Cinder reached behind and stole the Staff off of Penny's back.
"N-no!" Penny yelled, her blades rearing up and lashing out at Cinder from close range. The Fall Maiden swatted them away with her new makeshift weapon easily before she tossed Penny in the air, racing above her and cracking her in the face with the Relic as if it was a common baseball bat.
At the same time, Ruby leapt back from one of VIlgax's crushing downward punches, but she wasn't gonna just play defense. She spied a familiar golden adornment hanging from the villain's hip and decided to make a choice. She made a mad dash at Vilgax, right as Ben was smacked aside by a powerful backhand. The Murrian turned and saw her racing towards him, firing off a barrage of bio-grenades that all failed to blast her into the void. Ruby turned into a storm of petals and raced right past Vilgax, snatching the Lamp off his belt.
"Gotcha!" Ruby smirked.
"Insolent child," Vilgax hissed.
Ruby held the Lamp up and smirked. "What's to stop me from throwing this thing through the portal to Vacuo?"
Vilgax said nothing and simply looked over to Weiss. She was slowly getting back up, getting her bearings and coming to her senses. Vilgax's eyes began to glow with a crimson light.
"Your compassion will force you to save her," Vilgax answered, "Won't it?"
"Wha-" Ruby followed the tyrant's gaze, her silver eyes going wide when she saw Vilgax looking at Weiss, "Weiss! Get out of-!"
Too late.
Her words were almost drowned out as Vilgax's eye beams fired, swerving around Ruby like gusts of wind. The energy illuminated her face and she watched as the beams connected. An explosion rang out as Weiss was launched into the air. Ruby was about to race to her teammate's aid, but a boot connected to the back of her head and made her fall on her face. The Lamp flew into the air, only for Mercury to reach out and catch it.
"Huh. Wonder if there's an actual genie in here. Maybe you can wish your sister back with it," Mercury scoffed.
Weiss's weapon slipped out of her grasp as she flew back. Ruby scrambled to her feet, her heart racing with fear as she watched Weiss hurtling towards the abyss. She tried again to race towards her friend but Mercury cruelly bashed her in the back again.
"No. Not today." Mercury smirked.
"Weiss!" Ruby screamed, her voice cracking with desperation. "Weiss, no!"
Winter was marching towards the nearest portal, hand on her saber and ready for a fight. She knew that, once through to Vacuo, the Grimm would swarm the evacuees. She had to be ready. But then she suddenly stopped in her tracks. Something felt off. She couldn't shake this feeling, this absolutely terrible feeling that just hung around like a fog. Before she knew it, she raced for the portal, ready to draw her blade. She passed through to a scene of absolute chaos. Her eyes immediately locked onto Weiss and they widened as the elder Schnee sibling saw her sister begin to fall through the air. Time slowed down for Winter; she didn't even remember drawing her saber or summoning her Manticore. It was like time skipped forward. She raced after Weiss, the younger sister falling through the void. Winter reached out to grab her sister's hand.
And missed.
On the other side of the portal, Kylie couldn't explain this feeling of dread she had. For a moment, it felt like something terrible just happened. Albedo said Neo fell in, right?
"...Weiss?" Kylie asked, staring at the portal door.
Weiss' last sight was her sister.
Screaming.
Crying.
And then she was gone.
Ruby didn't even make a noise. Her expression was locked in pure horror. She couldn't move. No. No. Weiss...Weiss was her partner. Her friend. Bestie next to Ben. No way she could...Not after...
Mercury laughed madly. "Better wish her back too!" He joked, a dark smile on his face. "This is priceless. You should have been faster, little Red. Maybe if you weren't so distracted, so weak, so slow, the ice queen wouldn't be gone. Your sister wouldn't be gone. Neo wouldn't be gone. Emerald wouldn't be gone."
Ruby's eyes narrowed, anger starting to burn through her grief. "Shut up," she whispered, her voice shaking. "You don't know anything."
"Oh, I know enough," Mercury taunted. "You're the most delusional, blindly optimistic person I know. You think that your little team of misfits can change the world, but you're just fooling yourselves. The real world is cruel and merciless! You're toxic, Ruby! You act like this great 'leader', but all you fucking do is drag them down! Hold them back! Maybe..."
Mercury leaned in for effect.
"The world would be better off without y-"
The assassin never finished his sentence. A sudden blur of movement from the corner of his eye caught his eye, making his voice trail off. He barely had time to turn his head before a massive fist connected with his jaw, sending him reeling backwards.
Ben's expression was dark.
His fist was bloody.
And he looked furious.
"You're not the first person to call her that..." Ben growled, "The last person who did was close to a god, Mercury. But we're still standing...and he's gone. What does that say about your chances, you heartless son of a bastard?"
Mercury smirked. "You don't have the guts, Tennyson. I doubt you could even-"
Ben, again, didn't let him finish his sentence. The Omnitrix wielder kicked him in the face, making his opponent stumble backwards and fall to the ground.
"You were saying?" Ben hissed, as he started kicking Mercury. "How's it feel, huh?! How's it feel to be the one on the ground now?!"
Mercury tried blocking the kicks as best he could, but Ben's ferocity was something else. Maybe this was it, maybe this was the day that Tennyson crossed the line. The assassin looked up and, for a moment, he didn't see Ben, shouting down at him. His eyes went wide when he saw Marcus.
"No...I buried you, old man. You don't get to come back as a ghost and haunt me now!" Mercury muttered. Before he could retaliate, Vilgax struck back in his place. The Murrian tyrant leapt into the air and fired down on the trio with his optic blast, sending them all flying. Ben rolled down the pathway while Mercury and Ruby fell onto a bridge below. Ruby's grip on her precious scythe had been loosened, the weapon landing and skidding to the edge of the golden path, teetering on the literal brink before falling.
"Shit-!" Ben yelled, watching it fall. The weapon soon dissolved, but that made Ben pause for a second. Something about this felt...strange. He looked around the place once more, and a single thought rang in his head. This entire pocket dimension was a spectacle of creation, a place meant to save and transport.
That just sparked a question. Why would the realm of creation 'destroy'?
"NO!" Ruby reached out down towards Crescent Rose, her eyes going wide as she saw her weapon fade away in the void below. His girlfriend's breaking voice tore his thoughts away from his train of thought as he looked back up to see Mercury march over to her.
"Your little rescue...failed," Mercury sighed, "I hope all of this was worth it."
And that's when Ben rabbit punched him in the back of the head.
"It fucking wasn't. But I'm sure Emerald will be happy to see you," Ben growled.
Mercury staggered from the hit and fell off the side of the path. The Omnitrix wielder didn't even bother to watch the assassin fall and fade, instead turning to Ruby. She was on the brink and it was obvious. Yang, Neo, Emerald, Weiss...they were gone. Ben was about to try and comfort Ruby, only for a hand to shoot up from over the side and grab her wrist. The red-hooded huntress gasped before she was pulled over the side.
"RUBY!" Ben yelled, moving to where his girlfriend disappeared from and leaned over, only to see Mercury hanging on for dear life. Ruby, in an effort to avoid falling into the endless abyss, had grabbed hold of Mercury's mechanical leg and dangled off of it.
"Pull. Us. Up," Mercury demanded, "And don't...even think of pulling something! I let go, we both fall!"
"I can just turn into a-" Ben countered, only to get grappled by several of Vilgax's tendrils. The warlord dropped from above and shook the entire pathway, marching closer and closer to Ben, a look of rage and sick joy in his eyes. This was the moment he had waited for.
"H-hey V!" Mercury called up, "Little help here?"
The Murrian spared Mercury a glance before he held out his arm and let it unravel. The component tentacles slithered forward, with some wrapping around the assassin's arm. He sighed in relief before he heard something clink. His eyes widened as he saw one of Vilgax's tentacles move away from him, the handle of the Relic firmly wrapped up.
"What...what are you-?!" Mercury asked, before three of the tyrant's tendrils bored into the stab wound Blake had so viciously left in the assassin's shoulder. Mercury winced in pain as the wound burned from being widened, blood seeping out and staining the green tentacles. He couldn't stop himself from screaming out in pain now, his grip already starting to weaken.
"Your efforts will not be forgotten, Black. A bold ally you were and a noble sacrifice you made. All. For. Salem," Vilgax grinned, without even looking at his supposed ally.
"You...basta-!" Mercury called out, only for one of Vilgax's tendrils to stab into his shoulder further, cutting off the insult and resulting in another scream of pain.
"You will finally know Cinder's gratitude...posthumously, at least," the Murrian tyrant said smugly as the pain finally overwhelmed the assassin's son. He lost his grip and began to fall, the Murrian's tendrils letting him plummet. Ruby fell with him for a moment, but Blake, in an effort to at least save one of the Rose-Xiaolong family today, stabbed what she could of Gambol Shroud into the golden ground and swung from it, catching Ruby at the last second. Mercury's eyes were full of fear and fury as he fell before he too vanished into the void.
Ben felt nothing as he watched Mercury vanish.
"Is something wrong, Tennyson?" Vilgax frowned. "Is death now just a numb feeling?"
Ben frowned, before he turned to look at the Murrian overlord. "Sorry. I need to do something thinking..." Ben morphed into Brainstorm and began dodging some wild tentacle lashes from Vilgax.
At the same time, however, Penny was now on her own against Cinder. Seemingly, anyway. Cinder had actually handicapped herself here, using the Staff in one hand and her usual glass scimitar in the other. The staff was an unwieldy weapon, long and cumbersome when using it single-handedly.
"Oh Penny," Cinder sighed, "You should've ran away long before now."
"I will never run. Especially with my sister by my side," Penny frowned, eyes narrowed.
"Sister?" Cinder asked, bemused. "You mean that pathetic little power core inside you?"
"Don't you dare call her that!" Penny's eyes flared with energy, her blades reappearing and all aiming right at the Fall Maiden, "You know nothing of sisterhood..."
"I know nothing?" Cinder repeated, gritting her teeth, "Your so-called 'sister' is essentially a living battery, whereas mine is flesh and blood. We've gone through hell together, I've shielded her from the worst torments that this city threw at us. I've killed to protect her and you have the gall to call this little mockery of life sisterhood? You've only had flesh for a few hours now and you're already delusional!"
At that, Penny snapped. She raced in, flying into the air with a scream of rage, taking her blades with her. Cinder didn't even move, so unphased by the redhead's fake rage, as the Fall Maiden saw it as. The crystalline blades came crashing down at Cinder in two large arcs, both of which she blocked with the golden shaft of the Relic of Creation. She spun in place and batted away some of the blades, creating an opening through which she thrust her glass scimitar towards Penny in an attempt to end this quickly. Instead, Penny turned into a speedy blur of green and sped around Cinder, landing slashes to her sides and a powerful kick to her back.
Cinder stumbled forward, caught off guard by Penny's sudden speed and agility. But she quickly regained her composure and swung her scimitar at Penny once again. Penny, however, was ready this time. With a swift movement, she caught the scimitar between her blades and twisted it out of Cinder's grasp. The Fall Maiden's eyes narrowed in determination as her scimitar clattered to the ground. Without missing a beat, she activated her Semblance, creating a new glass blade in her hand.
Penny readied herself for the next attack as her opponent charged forward, swinging her new weapon with deadly accuracy. The Protector of Mantle parried each strike with ease, her own blades moving in a blur as she countered with lightning-fast strikes of her own.
Cinder was happily taking advantage of her aggressive stance here, pushing back Penny with each savage strike. The new Winter Maiden made uncertain moves back as her fiery counterpart continued her assault. Penny tried to fight back, lashing out with two of her blades, but that was just what Cinder wanted. She swatted aside the weapons with the golden staff as if they were nothing, before cracking Penny in the side of the head with the ornamental Relic. Before Penny could even properly right herself, the sound of a blade tearing through fabric and flesh echoed throughout the void.
Cinder's glass sword had finally found its mark. The crystalline versions of Floating Array clattered to the ground as Cinder grinned in satisfaction. With her blade digging into her rival's flesh, the twice-disgraced Maiden moved her Grimm hand and stabbed Penny in the side, the claws of Cinder's Shadow Hand slipping in between the redhead's ribs.
"Why Ruby thought a fake like you deserved this power, I'll never know," Cinder sighed, forcing her opponent to her knees violently, "And to be honest...I don't care. I have. What's rightfully. MI-!"
Cinder's pupils shrank as she felt...
Nothing.
Ruby pulled herself up, just as she saw Cinder grab Penny. Cinder looked lost for words. Impossible. No. No, this couldn't be ANOTHER Vernal situation, right? Penny was the Maiden. She saw her use the full power of the Maiden just a few hours ago. How could this be-!?
Cinder looked at Penny. She looked for a very, very long time, searching the girl's eyes for something.
And found it.
"...you're not her." Cinder realized.