Fou watched as Team RWBY met back up with him, Neo Blake and Tearwyn. His mind tuning them all out as he observed the nearby surroundings. His eyes roamed the destroyed buildings and twitching piles of bodies he made. Yet it never seemed to ease the feeling of being watched, as if a predator was silently skulking around in the surrounding darkness.
"Also, Neo and I are proud~ You put that abu- tortu- training to good use!" Tearwyn chimed into the conversion, her mouth tripping over her words as Fou forced a snicker down. "Did she say abuse…" Weiss asked quietly, looking lost for words.
Fou's ears perked up before anyone else noticed the sounds of the bullheads arriving. Neo nodded sagely as she turned around, picking up her Grimm counterpart. Fou's eyes turned to a moving shadow, slinking off into the darkness unseen by Team 3.0, unease the only thing he could feel at that ominous sign.
He continued to stare at the corner the shadow moved to as Neo and Co left the cave. His eyes only left as various huntsmen from vale rushed into the cave, his tail swished across Neo's back, getting a small nod from her confirming she also noticed the Seer.
"Very good, team RWBY." Ozpin congratulated them as they stepped out, several bullheads landed in the clearing near the hole they made in the wall. His eyes roamed over them, checking for injuries, before smiling as he waved them over. "I'm glad to see the week off school has truly paid off." He turned to Neo as she gently let down on an offered stretcher.
Ozpin turned to his universes girls, all carrying their respective counters parts, placed them gently on the offered stretchers. "In time, I believe with your help… We can take Salem on together. But for-" Ozpin was smiling, talking to thin air as he held each of Team RWBYs members eyes. But he was interrupted, the sound of a bullhead behind him start to take off caused everyone to turn to the vehicle and see Neo in the pilot seat waving at them.
Arturia, Tearwyn, Blake and Fou all sitting in its open side door. They waved goodbye to theme as they all turned to the image that shattered like broken glass of them smiling at them. "W-Wait!" Yang yelled, running towards the bullhead. "Neo! Where are you going!?" She screamed as she jumped. A wooden practice sword with a tiger charm slammed into her forehead and sent her back flat on her ass.
"Sorry for doing this, but Salem can't wait." Blake had taken over the controls, allowing neo to stand in the open door and yell down. "I'm not willing to put you in harm's way by rushing you into that fight." She smiled at them, the rest of RWBY attempting to jump and latch onto the bullhead only to be shot down like Yang. "And I can't wait that long, or Salem will do something else. I'll be back!" Neo shouted to them, Yang and Ruby gaining hurt expressions as the door closed, and the bullhead rushed off into the sky.
"Are we really that weak that we can't even…" Ruby muttered as she watched the bull head get further and further away. Yang clenched her fist ready to strike the ground, but she paused, staying still for a few moments before letting go and giving a deep exhale as she stood up and helped Ruby.
Thinking about it rationally, it made sense to her. Neo had barely demonstrated her power while training them, but still beat them all black and blue. Tearwyn was an untouchable Goddess, Fou was some kind of Cute monster with sword magic, Blake was like some legendary Ninja-Monk-Sage and Arturia is an incredibly strong lance.
They really had no place in a battle like that, especially if Neo thought they wouldn't have the power to take care of her right now. But it still irked her to no end as she helped Weiss up. "I don't like it either, Ruby. But what can we do as we are now?" Weiss bit her lip as she rationalized the whole situation.
Blake 3.0 stared solemnly at the retreating bullhead, 'that other me is capable of it though… I wonder what she did you get to that point?' Her fist clenched as, unknown to Neo, she had stoked something within their hearts.
"Did she just STEAL a Bullhead!?" Glynda Angrily screamed, her mind on the logistics of the situation of being down one.
Ozpin remained silent, sweat dropping down his brow as he hoped to not be the one to answer her.
-The Bullhead-
"I think they might be angry with you." Blake commented, leaning her back against the wall behind Neo. "Better mad than dead, Blakey." Neo stared forward, her face and tone rather serious. "Mas-Neo, you can fly these…" Arturia paused as she gestured around her, "Machines?" she asked. Neo glanced back, seeing Tearwyn use Fou as a fluffy throne as he inspected his Fortunate Destroyer.
"Had to buy 'Piloting' but yeah." She sighed, her hands moving across the console, pressing buttons and flipping a switch. "We'll be there in two hours, so get some rest if you can." Despite her calm voice, the atmosphere was tense as she quietly flew the bullhead.
-Dragon Continent, former city of Acadia-
Fou stared out the cockpit window at the desolate city. What was once a vast sprawling city, much like the main four of Vale, Atlas, Vacuo and Mistral had been standing in this place. A metropolis built during this universe's Salem's disappearance. Now? In the very city centre was an enormous gothic castle, it looked as if someone placed Castelvania right in the middle of a post-apocalyptic city.
"Yeah, this is some Fallout meets Castle Wolfenstein shit here." Neo noted, her eyes searching the ground as the bull head circled, looking for a place to land. "What's The New Order?" Fou spoke up, getting a snort from Neo, who spotted a landing zone.
"It is a nice looking Castle though… Hmmm~" Tearywyn commented, a contemplating look on her face as her eyes roamed over the castle as they landed. "It fells rather…" Artoria paused, looking back to Neo, "Ominous though." She cross her arms with a frown on her face.
"I imagine it's supposed to, being salami's eavil lair." Tearwyn giggled at the insult to their current enemy's name. "I get the feeling this won't work but…" Neo trailed off, looking to her trusty spear.
Artoria nodded, her form instantly changed and appeared in the waiting hand of Neo. "Thank Tearwyn I don't have to say the chant anymore…" She flourished the spear once as she turned to the castle, Tearwyn's soft giggle floating into her ear as both Fou and her took their places on Neo's shoulders like Shima and Fukasaku take Jiraiya's.
Magic burst from Neo's body as Blake hid behind her, pressure built up from the energy as Neo crouched a bit. She pulled her hand back, the energy condensing into a spiral of divine energy around Artoria, it took neo less than a second to aim her lance at the castle.
The air was stale with anticipation, letting out an exhale, Fou watched the faint cloud of moisture leave Neo and dissipate into the air.
"Rhongomyniad!" The world fell silent for a moment, the divine energy having coalesced to the tip of her lance. It blinked out of existence for but a moment.
And then the world disappeared into yellow as the energy blasted forward, launching into the castle. Only for a barrier to surround the entire gothic manor as the ground it sat on shook from the force of the light, but… It. Did. Not. Break. Not for the whole time, Neo held the beam.
Only as the light started to fade out did she see signs of the barrier fading out. A plan started to form in Fou's mind as Neo Tsked, they both knew that if she spammed it, the only thing it would do would tire her out.
His menu opened in front of him, flashing through menu's as swords blinked into existence for a second before being sold to his shop. Finally, after a moment he stopped, and a specific destructive thing appeared in his Forge. He raised a brow at Neo as Enuma Elish appeared, power softly emanating from it as the three segments that made up it's "Blade" lazily turned.
"I suggest you don't try that one Either." A voice called, echoing around the empty ghost town. "I'm rather found of all my possessions here and you almost knocked them over…" It was calm yet distinctly annoyed. Neo was the first to look up, the rest following and all laying eyes on the one they came to put an end to.
"Guessing you're Salem, then?" Neo raised a brow, cocked a hip and crossed her arms. "Well… the fake one." Fou snickered at the pure sass she returned. "And you're the fake Neopolitan? The one my underlings saw in that… Soul Eater world?" Salem responded in kinda with a dry drawl, calm as she was. "I had a feeling I'd meet you. Well, come on in. I've been waiting long enough." Salem delivered in a flat, bored tone as she turned away to walk further into her castle.
"How does she…" Blake seemed alarmed, taking a defensive step forward. Neo raised a singular hand, stopping the Belladonna from moving further. "We'll ask once we're inside." Neo said with finality, though she too was on edge. Everyone but Tearwyn was.
"I don't like this…" Fou said, his face worried as his eyes stay trained on the barrier. His eyes flickered back to Ea for a moment as he thought about the strength it had. Neo already started to move forward, leaving him no choice but to dismiss the splitter of Heaven and Earth.
"Be careful, Neo…" Tearwyn said, unease in her voice. "I feel a very strong Godly connection to this Salem." She warned.
'God's can still be killed.' Fou thought to himself as they passed an open hole in the barrier around Salem's home. It promptly closed behind them after they passed the threshold, ensuring that escape would be hard unless they killed the one who controlled the barrier.
Entering the main doors, they arrived at a souls borne lift, one meant to obviously take them much higher. Stepping onto the platform, Fou kicked the lever and started their ascent. Magic barely surged under them, pushing the stone platform they stood upon up.
Second after second ticked by in the tense elevator ride, it took a minute for the platform to come to a stop after ascending the ridiculously tall Castle. Together they stood in a throne room, no window except for the one behind the big lady Salami herself.
She glanced up from staring into her glass of wine, different from how the original Salem looked. Dark red hair, fair skin, amber eyes, black horns adorning her head and large clawed wings that acted as another pair of arms seemed to jut from her back. She leaned back in her throne as she turned her full attention to us, she raised a brow before she sat up. The clanking of heavy plate Grimm armour, barely audible.
It covered everything but her face, perfectly contoured to her very body. "Nice to meet you." She called, "I was starting to get bored again. Ever since I lost contact with Cinder," She shrugged, picking her golden goblet up and swirling it under her nose for a second. "I figured you weren't going by the script anymore." She took a sip, completely unbothered by the relative force of nature come to fight her.
"Well, who the fuck reincarnates in a story and follows the script?" Neo spoke indignantly, causing Fou to cringe. 'I may not have stuck to it 100%, but damn does that hurt.' He jumped down from her shoulder as she rolled it and took a step forward. "Pussies who don't get far, that's who." Neo Iterated, observing Salem.
Salem paused for a moment, she stared down Neo for a second before she put her goblet down and laughed heartily. "Yeah, I agree!" A wide smile was plastered across her face, glee glinting in her eyes. "I mean, why even bother telling that story at all if it's simply the original plus some insert?" Salem snorted.
'Shit, that's really been me, hasn't it.' Fou further cringed, reflecting on his own actions. Neo even nodded in approval, further crushing Fou's fragile thoughts and furthering his self-doubt.
"But that doesn't matter right now." Neo started to pace, side to side before Salem. "Why'd you do all this? Some dark god's demands? And how are those two reincar-" It was at this point that Fou tuned them out, staring at his own paws as their voices faded to the background while he retreated to his forge.
"I really did fuck up, didn't I?" He asked, despite there being no-one else around. 'Foolishness, Dante.' Fou turned, behind him displayed proudly on a Traditional Japanese Sword Display was the Yamato. 'Foolishness. Might controls everything. And without strength you can not protect anything. Let alone yourself.' Despite the blade not being sentient, despite it having no spirit or voice.
Vergil's words echoed.
'It is the path you have chosen. Take pride in it.' Kotomine's voice echoed from deep within, beckoning him to continue as he was. "But what if, I don't want to." Fou's face fell, looking lost as he tried to come up with the words to express how he felt. 'You piece of trash. You have nothing real within you.'
Ea lazily floated in the Air, Gil's voice blaring into Fou's. "But I have-" His eyes flashed to Fortunate Destroyer, 'An imitation made by copying people should be turned to junk.' It was like a tidal wave was launched, voice after voice assaulting his mind, person after person, all putting him down and stopping him from getting a single word in edge wise.
And then he couldn't breathe, his vision and hearing returned to the battle. A suffocating semi-divine pressure bearing down on him. 'Am I… Going to die?' His first thought, one of despair.
Then it stopped.
Neo was in her proxy form, lance clashed and struggling against Salem's great sword made of Destruction magic. A manic grin grew on Salem's face as her Aura clashed against Neo's that protected the one's behind her, and all Fou could think of at that moment?
It was how he envied that strength, that care free will to just change shit as they saw fit. 'A man without fear cannot be wise.' Saber's voice floated in his ear. 'What's past is past. I cannot redo it, nor go back to it. I have escaped from that scene and still continue to live. All I can do is look forward.' Kanshou and Bakuya appeared in the air.
Fou moved before Blake, the Married blade's fitting nicely into her hands. The world seemed to shutter as his Time Alter activated. 'What… Am I doing?' He asked himself. His body encased in a blue glowing Avatar of Okita Souji Alter, her 9-foot-long blade slashing impossibly fast as he invoked Tsubame Gaeshi.
Despite the technique bending the laws of physics to multiply its existence and create a prison, Salme still evaded both his and Blake's attack with incredible speed, launching herself backwards. "You did all this shit because you…" Anger radiated off her. "You were BORED!?" Neo scowled in anger as Salem licked her lips.
"Like you were fucking playing a game!?" Fou paused, his mind catching up as their previous conversation sat at the forefront of his mind. 'Oh… She- She played god… She became a whole world's beloved Goddess and then just… Killed her children to see the look on Ozpin's face?' His fur stood on ends. 'She… She killed, betrayed, set against each other… On multiple worlds?' Lycoris smiling crossed his mind.
"I'm not a good person." Neo stated. "But you..?" Bells rung in Fou's head, the voices of the sword's owners now nothing but muted background noise. 'I wanted to feel their suffering and other feelings.' Salem's demented smile and voice echoed in his mind. "You took their freedom- no… an entire world's freedom for shits and giggles!"
Salem gained a cocky grin, looking directly at Tearwyn sitting on Neo's head. "Oh, you have a Goddess with you? Young too." She remarked, crouching. "After I'm don-" Salem didn't even have time to finish her threat as Neo's face became devoid of all emotion.
It was a split second, her fist meeting Salem's Jaw and launching the bitch through the entire throne. The pure air pressure from the force of the punch ruffled Fou's fur and battered the room into a dusty mess.
"You keep my Tearwyn's name…" Salem quickly stood up, licking her bloody lip, that healed fast enough to not leak more than a couple drops. "OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!" Once more, Salem was in a clash, weapons locked with Neo. Her hand extended out towards Tearwyn.
"No." It was all Fou uttered, his magical energy bursting the avatar he created. Gae Bolg spinning in air as red lightning crackled around it. He didn't even need to call its name, the spear flew with his body straight past Neo and clipped some strands of the exposed Hair Salem had.
Salem broke from the lock, turning in place and catching Blake's blade in between her Elbow and knee. It was only Blake's own flexibility to bed nearly in half backwards that stopped the great sword from taking her head.
Unfortunately for Salem, that left a gap open that Neo and Fou were all too happy to take advantage of. The ground grew divots as she was pushed back from the combined force of both Rhongomyniad and Gáe Bolg impacted the flat of her blade. She pushed, launching them both off, her eyes widened as Sparks of red electricity appeared across the shaft and blade.
In but a moment, the tip of the spear was in front of her armour, and then it blasted her through a pillar. Dust flying everywhere as Salem let a single drop of sweat go before standing up and pulling the vibrating speared away from the Grimm plating and destruction magic covering her heart.
She tossed the spear away, not paying attention to it as it dissolved into blue dust. She tilted her head with a frown as Neo's lighting fast thrust caught another couple strands of hair. Annoyance flashed across her face as she slammed a fist into Neo's stomach, shattering the illusion like glass.
Salem felt a divine presence behind her, alarm flashing on her face as she made to turn. Locking eyes with Blake, she knew in the split second it was one or the other. Her blade flew into the air above as her own Dark Divinity was unleashed, with a wave of her hand she threw her blade, now covered in authority, at the massive pillar of light coming for her.
Dust obscured Fou's vision as a cataclysmic clash of Divinity shook the room for a moment, Darkness met Light and warred against it. Darkness encroached and overtook the light after a moment, impacting straight into Neo's body with the full force of Salem's Divinity.
"NEO!" Both Fou and Blake yelled as she was carried off through several Dozen rooms before the energy erupted, causing the entire castle to shake. Both turned and rushed down Salem, panting from the attack and left on a shaky defence.
Fou swiped her leg out from under her, causing her to react too late, the spears stabbing into her legs. Her arm whipped up to stop Blake from landing an Axe kick to the head, unfortunately for Blake, despite turning her head into paste and Fou getting another Arm stabbed into the ground, she took the full brunt of a concentrated blast and was firmly planted into a wall while her aura finally broke.
And despite Fou being able to stab her other arm, her magic was eroding the Scarlet Spears. Fou's breath raced as his mind quickly thought through what he could. Goku may have been a dumb fucking Idea, but he couldn't let this bitch live… Not with the infinitesimal chance, that she could go after his Dau- Lycoris
"You little shit." Salem snarled, her head regenerated, alarm flashing across Fou's face as the Round table was brought to the forefront of his mind. She flexed her limbs, showing how futile his restraints were as they shattered, her hand started reaching for him. 'NO!'
A smirk plastered across Salem's face as Neo descended upon her. The hand that was previously reaching for him was now holding a handle, plunged deep into Neo's chest and heart. Shock filled Neo's face and eyes, her body limp as Salem hefted her up with a victorious smile. "One done, TWO LEFT!" Salem's hand raised to crush Neo's head paused as a smile graced upon her lips.
Neo's hand rose, finger's mirroring Itachi's own as her hand tremble in front of Salem's eyes. Annoyance graced her face as Neo pointed to her left, head turning to nothing, puzzlement stayed on her face for a moment before befuddlement as she spewed blood. She didn't even look down, she didn't need to as she felt the glowing gold spear pierce her unprotected heart from behind.
Her eyes turned back to the now fading imagine of Neo holding a mocking smile, she didn't even get a chance to react. Red spears tipped in gold pierced her flesh, one after the other, until she was nothing but a pin cushion. An eerie ethereal scream, not from Salem, echoed in the hollowed room as Salem fell to her knees.
Neo sighed in relief as her hand fell to her side, Rhongomyniad lodged in the body. A soundless angry scream set in stone on the corpse's face.
"It's done…" Neo panted, holding her left ribs. "That divinity shit hurts though!" Neo complained as she moved to help Blake. "Damn…"
Fou was frozen, panting hard, not from exertion, but from his own conscious fight or flight. His fur bristled as he waited, waited for any sign of Salem coming back with a false death. "As it should!" Tearwyn's voice was muffled, all he could focus on right now, was getting as much oxygen as he fucking could at the moment as he continued to watch the body.
"Gods are no joke, Neo. Even Demigods~" Salem's hand twitched, Fou's breath hitched. "Heh…" Salem's head turned, nearly 60 degrees, allowing her to make eye contact with Neo. Fou moved before he could even form a thought, standing behind Neo and next to Blake's legs.
"Oh well." Salem said, grin becoming even more unhinged as the weapons in her body started to fall out. "Would have been more merciful to die to me…" She seemed to lament, "See you in hell!" Her head moved, fast enough to break her own neck with a sickening crack.
And that's when it happened, in the instance that she died, her presence changed. Instead of the castle, it reverberated through the entire continent, shaking the very foundation of the land they stood upon.
Darkness spread from her body as her head reset itself, no longer was she looking behind her as if she was an owl. It was if a god had descended into the world, taking over Salem's body with its own power.
It's power eclipse everyone's in an instant, turning around, Salem's face broke into a snarl. "Do you know the penalty I'll have to pay for this…?" Fou's body collapsed to the ground, the pressure baring onto him as Blake started to quietly choke, her hands clawing at her throat with fear on her face and unfocused eyes.
Her glare was even worse than her snarl, as she locked eyes with Fou for but an infinitesimal moment, "Hpmh…" She looked directly at Neo, and faster than anyone could perceive, she was standing there, fist slammed into Neo's chest with sickening crunches as all of her ribs broke.
"Suffer and die." There was no time to scream or fly back, and then it clicked in Fou's mind. She didn't die, another person interfered. Empowering her. "I'll reunite everyone you care about with you soon after." Her hand caught Neo's throat as the pressure from her punch sent Blake and Fou away into a wall.
"No…" He whispered, as he both saw and heard Salem's new sword appear, an irked expression on her face as she plunged the blade into Neo's chest and slammed her body into the floor. Blood splattered around the corpse as Salem slowly pulled her blade out, licking the lingering blood off with a snake like tongue.
"Neo…" The pressure eased, allowing water to collect in Blakes eyes as she held a hand out, one covering her mouth with water flowing on it. Fou could hardly figure out what to do, the only thing he could come up to was run aw-
ERROR! ERROR! ERROR!
USER IS DIMENSIONALLY LOCKED TO THIS UNIVERSE
USER, CANNOT, LEAVE.
"You ain't going nowhere, you little shit."
"Sh… She's…" Blake muttered, unable to fully comprehend the situation at hand.
"Dead? Yes." Salem looked refreshed at the broken look upon her face, "Such a nuisance," She inspected her blade, taking as if she was inquiring about the weather. "These reincarnation…" She scoweled.
Fou definitely stood in front of her, no more was he showing off with summoning golden portals behind his weapons, blue electricity crawled across the tower shield he summoned.
"The Ultimate Protection, the place where Knights of the Round gather, Centre of the Castle of White Walls, Manifest yourself!" His magic power exploded, an aura of blue now mixed with red as Rage grew in his heart. His envy of her power warred with his rage of her actions, Neo's words coming to mind once more. 'Who the fuck reincarnates in a story and follows the script?' He grimaced, thoughts running wild.
'I did, and maybe it's time I changed. Changed MY story!' Determination grew as his mouth opened. "Useless bunch." Salem spat. Raising her great sword to strike, salem took a single step before pausing as Tearwyn's joyous giggle echoed in the hollowed Halls.
Salem's head whipped up to the top of Fou's shield, locking eyes directly with Tearwyn. "What's so-" The newly minted Goddess was blindsighted by a fist impacting with her face, time seemed to sit still for a moment as surprise graced her features.
She was punted into the floor, through it even. Each and every floor she hit shook the castle for a total of 40 times.
Fou's shield disappeared with a tap from Tearwyn, his eyes wide with confusion as Neo stood. Different from how she was minutes ago. Divinity poured from her body as she stood tall and proud. Nine flowing fox tails waved behind her as her new Fox ears twitched at the sound of Book's falling.