Chapter 53: Aching wounds
"The two of you really need to stop making Ruby your personal body pillow in the middle of the night" sighed Weiss as team RWBY made their way outside. "It's embarrassing"
Blake chose to turn away, hiding her face while Yang sported a goofy grin in her face.
"You're only saying that because you haven't tried it yourself. You know…you could always sleep on top of her. It's wiiide open, just waiting for you to occupy" she nudged the white princess.
Blake hid within herself even further, for as much as she wanted to deny it, her feline instincts simply didn't let her be to herself when there was such a comfortable and warm source of heat as Ruby. To Yang, it was just another day of spending time with her family, especially with Summer and Crescent. She had no reason to hide the fact that she enjoyed doing what she did, even when asked about it openly.
Though Weiss had a vague idea about it being the case, it still didn't stop her from feeling extremely embarrassed whenever she had to gaze at the sight of two of her teammates sprawled on top of an amused looking Ruby. It also didn't help that Ruby was older than even her own sister, and much, much older than themselves.
Even if her appearance didn't, Ruby's mannerisms certainly showed it. Though a week had passed since Ruby's 'change' it was still hard for the snow princess to view Ruby in a concise way. She imagined it would take her even longer to really get used to Ruby as she was, to see past her physical self and see her for who she truly was. It was strange, much more so that she could ever express it in thoughts or words. Not long ago, the snow princess had always put down the scythe girl as an immature, incapable, naïve, out-of-place brat who was too young to even take classes with her, let alone be their leader. Nothing more than a little country girl who grew up without a single care in the world, unlike herself who had to deal with the pressure of being a part of the Schnee family. To think that the person standing in front of her would be the very same from not too long ago, it was unthinkable. Incomprehensible. Like it went against the rules themselves. Humans were quick to adapt to their surroundings, and yet, she felt she would never fully get used to Ruby as she was now.
Perhaps it was that sentiment that led her to notice Ruby's cold and distance stare off into the distance over her peers who seemed to idolize her to the point of complete trust.
"Is something the matter? You look tense" asked Weiss, ignoring Blake and Yang while placing a concerned hand over Ruby's shoulders. There was no response from the cheetah faunus at first, before she finally noticed the snow princess's hands on her.
"Huh..? Oh me? No no, not really" she answered. "Sorry, I was just lost in thought"
But Weiss was unconvinced. "It didn't look that way to me. I may not know exactly what's going on in your head, Ruby, but I believe I can atleast tell when something is wrong with my team leader"
"Don't worry, it's nothing to worry about. Not for you guys atleast. I was just thinking about a few things" she assured with a small smile and rubbing Weiss's head. But the snow princess appeared to be mildly annoyed.
"Come on, we're not children you know" she protested, turning away embarrassed. "I know we're not as old as you are, but you wouldn't treat us like you treat Crescent"
"Haha I know I know, my bad! You guys are just so adorable that I cant help it" she replied with a wide smile. "But it's really nothing. If you must know, I suppose it's something that Team CFVY told me and Ozpin earlier. About how some of the Grimm they faced earlier on their way back home were strange"
"Strange grimm? You wouldn't be talking about yourself, now would you?" snickered Nora's voice, followed immediately by sigh of disapproval from Ren. Nora hopped to where Ruby was, tapping her shoulder playfully and flashing a grin. "I can see why they'd be worried about it in that case. Especially Velvet"
"Ruby is hollow, an arrancar. Not Grimm, Nora" corrected Ren. "The grimm they mentioned are the ones they met on their way to Beacon. I'm fairly certain they would have a very different description of what they fought if it was actually Ruby"
"I know! I was just having a bit of fun! Such a party pooper as always, Renny boy, you're really no fun" pouted Nora disappointed, nudging the deadpanned Ren away.
"But if I may ask Ruby, what exactly did they mean by strange? Considering everything you've seen, I would be surprised if anything existed in this world that could make you say that" asked Pyrrha, walking alongside them.
"Mhm, they said that the Grimm looked much more different than regular Grimm, and that some of them didn't even have masks. Some others that DID have masks had see through holes instead. And they bled when they were cut, something that Grimm don't usually do" responded the cheetah faunus.
"See through holes..? That almost sounds like.." said Blake.
"Yeah. Like hollows" responded Ruby with a serious expression. "I actually went around after that and checked in the vicinity and didn't really find anything of the sort. But I don't think they were mistaken either. That's why I've been thinking if I should go back and check if something has happened back home"
There was an odd, uncomfortable silence.
"But I don't think it's anything to worry about" commented Summer, speaking from within Ruby's body. "Because after all, The God of Darkness did tell us that Remnant would be different than the one we knew after we came back. It didn't seem like something very serious, and maybe us being here is what caused it, since we're not really from around here, in a way. Ozzy boy seemed to agree with the hypothesis as well, since after the god's initial intervention, the humans of this world were left fundamentally different than before. Like how no one here can use magic save for humans such as mommy Salami and Ozzy boy. I wouldn't be surprised if the Grimm changed because he brought us back here"
"That….makes sense but, then, isnt that bad?" asked Weiss. "If the Grimm, which are creatures that were already formidable become something like hollows which are even stronger, then…hold on, don't tell me that's why you've been worried?"
Yang looked at her sister with concern. Clearly the fact that she missed out on her sister's worries and the fact that someone else noticed it stung a little. But Ruby seemed to have calmer expression on her face. She let out a long sigh.
"Yeah. But hollows are not all that different from Grimm. There are hollows weaker than even the weakest of Grimm, and there are other hollows that are much more powerful than the strongest Grimm. During my time in Hueco Mundo, I've seen all kinds of them. As for the Grimm without masks, I can't really say. Maybe that's just another change brought about by the God of Darkness's actions. I do plan to head back home at some point and ask Urahara-san or big-sis about it, but for now, I thought it would be fine to observe the situation a bit more. And of course, that also includes protecting the people here if something powerful does pop up" she replied.
"She's talking about this 'big-sis' again" thought the blonde brawler to herself. For one, Yang was beyond curious to know or even meet the person that her sister referred to as big-sis. Yang never missed the fondness and familial tone Ruby had whenever she spoke about her, and as before, it only irked her feeling of missing out on the events of Ruby's life even more. Though she knew who this 'big-sis' was, Yang was the kind of person who always preferred to see and do things in person rather than hear or read about them. In a way, perhaps it was the fact that the blonde felt cheated out of her role as the elder sister by this 'big-sis', despite the gratitude she had for this person in helping Ruby during her difficult times.
Her thoughts were cut short when scruffy looking orange haired boy and a brown-haired girl with pigtails, both of who were around their ages and wore uniforms stopped dead in their tracks in front of Ruby with panicked expressions. They appeared to be stressed and Ruby was rather surprised that both of their spiritual pressures were dwindling and were borderline depleted. The girl's reishi was enveloping both of them, and Ruby could feel a myriad of emotions from them. Fear, angst, anxiety, anger and a small touch of relief. None of it seemed to match the surroundings around them. But what really caught her attention was the tiny blur of black and white that raced towards her and into her chest.
"Zwei!" she exclaimed in surprise, comforting the poor corgi. Even without her ability to sense emotions, she could tell that the poor dog was terrified and stressed out, not to mention absolutely tired.
"What the hell…?!" cursed Yang, "He's injured..! Don't tell me…you did this to him, didn't you?!" The blonde practically lunged at the duo, before Ruby held her back.
"Calm down Yang, I doubt it was them" she said. "Their reishi is really weak. And though they don't show it, they're likely just as injured as well. It wasn't them"
"You're Re-..Ruby, aren't you miss?" asked the boy, still maintaining unbroken eye contact with her. He seemed to be in a state of bewilderment himself, as if he couldn't believe what his eyes was seeing. The girl on the other hand was cautiously watching the rest.
"Yeah, that's me. Were you two the ones who found Zwei?" asked Ruby.
"You could say that. I'd say it was the mutt that wouldn't leave us alone. But he did save our skin, so I'm willing do look past my general dislike of dogs" he responded, earning another outburst from Yang the moment she heard 'mutt'. But Ruby firmly held her back.
"Hold her back for a bit, wont you?" she requested Weiss and Blake, who did as they were told.
"How did he get this injured? I doubt you both did it. It would take something far more dangerous to reduce him to this extent" she questioned, kneeling down by his side and slowly healing his wounds, surprising the boy and the girl.
"How? What do you mean how?! Havent you heard anything?" he asked incredulously, before letting out a sigh of disbelief. He looked at his partner skeptically, who looked equally appalled. She squirmed uncomfortably and Ruby could feel the girl's reishi dwindle even further, and annoyance adorned the girl's face.
"I know, I know, I'm getting there, but you didn't tell me she'd be this clueless…!" hissed the boy back, before letting out another long sigh. "Come with us, without those brats. We'll tell you everything you want to know. About what happened to that dog, as well as everything else you've been blind to"
"And just who are you calling a 'brat'?" argued Weiss angrily. "How rude!"
"That's the pot calling the kettle black" said Blake.
"And just what are you insinuating by that?!" argued Weiss, looking at Blake.
"Guys, guys, let's not argue amongst oursel-"
The brown haired girl staggered, wincing in pain and getting down on her knees. The air seemed to crack and shatter like glass, indicating the unmistakable depletion of their auras. But what surprised them even more was that the boy and girl were gone. In their place were Roman Torchwick and young girl with pink-brown hair.
"D..dammit Neo, you couldn't hold it in for a second more?! Well, you were in pretty bad shape yourself, so don't blame yourself" stuttered the orange haired criminal, taking a defensive but defeated posture.
"Roman Torchwick?!" exclaimed Blake, immediately reaching out for her weapons. "How the hell are you here?!" Upon Blake's declaration, Weiss, Yang, and the rest of team JNPR took out their own weapons, with varied expressions and reactions on their faces. Blake pointed Gambol Shroud at Roman's face, glaring daggers. The criminal mastermind on the other hand weakly raised his signature cane in front of his face without a shroud of fear, despite his injuries. Though they were but huntsmen in training, Blake was surprised that Roman and the girl could continue to be so unperturbed when faced with such a disadvantageous situation, especially given that their aura was gone and that Blake for one wouldn't hesitate to attack him for any reason.
"Huh, would you look at that. I could've sworn I didn't see those hidden away on your head the last time we saw each other. Shoo shoo, go away kitty cat. I really don't have the time or patience to deal with a bunch of ignorant little kids playing heroes. The adults are talking here" he scowled, making a waving motion with his hands.
"Yeah, you wish!"
Blake wasted no time swiping at Roman, but before it made contact with the criminal mastermind, the black blade was deflected by a brief flash of silver. Parrying the faunus's blade was a thin, rapier like sword coming out of the handle of a cane held in the ice cream girl's hands. Weiss matched Blake, following up for her and engaging the girl, who more than effortlessly matched the snow princess. Her movements were strained and the girl winced every time she had to parry the snow princess's sword. Even so, there was proficiency in her blade and her movements. Her steps were fluid and her eyes sneered at the black and white duo with vain confidence. Confidence that she had complete control of her enemies' movements.
The blonde brawler then joined in, engaging a series of powerful strikes against Neo, only for Roman to intercept her instead of Neo. However, neither of their strikes reached their targets. Standing in between them was Ruby, her hands holding their weapons in place.
"All right, all right, no need to get worked up" said Ruby softly, as if placating two children squabbling over their toys. Placing herself between the two clashing sides, she skillfully stayed their weapons. "You guys are still not strong enough to face them, though I suppose this was a good lesson learnt" she told her teammates. Roman was understandably surprised, while Neo was more annoyed than surprised as compared to her partner. And yet, both of them had enough sense to tell that there was nothing much they could do but back away, especially given their current situation.
"Amazing…" remarked Pyrrha, having watched the whole exchange. "Clearly they were fighting without their auras and without energy to spare. And yet, they could comfortably take on three of us. They aren't normal students.."
"Students? You sure about that? I doubt any academy would accept the infamous Roman Torchwick as a student" commented Ren dryly. "I suppose one couldn't be notorious without good reason"
"Why would a criminal mastermind come all the way here though? Not sure robbing dirt poor students makes for much profits.." added Nora, tilting her head.
"Shouldn't we be asking how they were able to get in here in the first place? I'm surprised these guys were able to make it all the way here without being noticed by the likes of Prof. Oz" wondered Jaune.
"Just before this one's aura shattered, they had completely different appearances. Maybe one of them has a semblance that allows them to shift appearances" pointed out Weiss.
Ruby however, was merely looking at the duo curiously. "I'm surprised you'd show up here so openly when the whole city's out there looking for you. Don't tell me Cinder sent you here.."
Roman raised his eyes in surprise. "Cinder…? Now why would…oohh….heh….would you look at that. I was wondering what kind of monster you'd be to make Cinder learn her place and make Neo this scared of you. I'll admit I was completely taken in when Neo talked about you as if you were the cream de la cream of all huntsmen or something. But I never thought you'd be this clueless about things happening right in front of you. You're a special kind of dunderhead, aren't you? What a terrible waste of talent. To think we went through hell and back just to get here, I don't know whether to laugh or cry…"
Ruby raised her eyes as well. "What do you mean?"
As if to answer her question, Amber came running towards them with a panicked look on her face.
"Ruby! Oh thank heavens, you're here! There's been a terrible situation..! Huff…huff…!" Running towards like her life depended on it, the brown haired fall maiden simply couldn't wait to spill out thoughts to the cheetah faunus.
"It's alright, just relax and tell me everything slowly.." she advised, patting Amber. Taking a few deep breaths, she slowly continued, but her tone was still just as grave. "Ruby..something really terrible has happened! …Grimm! Hordes and hordes of them have been spotted all over Vale, and are converging around Beacon! It all happened so soon that there wasn't even enough time for word to reach us here! The news was reporting it at first and then one by one things went radio silent. The teachers and the huntsmen we have here have all gone to remedy the situation, but I'm not sure they can do much against such numbers. I wanted to go but Qrow asked me to let you know first before moving out himself! He, the professor and Glynda are keeping the students safe and have started repelling the Grimm that appeared in the Emerald Forest!"
There was a stunned silence amongst the group, so much so that the presence of Roman and Neo seemed to have momentarily left their minds entirely. Weiss immediately brought out her scroll, turning on the first news channel she could find.
Nothing.
In one of the most advanced cities in the planet, right at the heart of one of the central hubs for communication with the world, Weiss Schnee got nothing on her scroll as she searched for information. Were things really that bad that not even news channels could function? Which told her more than enough about the severity of the situation.
Ruby had an unreadable expression on her face, one that even Amber couldn't make out. Was she contemplating? Thinking? Surprised? Angry? They couldn't tell. All there was, was silence.
"So word finally makes it here, huh?" asked Roman, almost bitterly. "Seriously, things have been going to hell ever since Neo dropped out of the sky and into the ocean from that old hag's place. She wont even tell me what happened there. If those things from Patch hospital are the ones terrorizing the kingdom, I sincerely pray for the lifeline of this place"
"Patch hospital?! What the hell are you talking about?!" demanded Yang angrily.
"I'm talking about the burning, killing and destroying that those weird Grimm have been doing at the hospital and all over Patch of course. Rather than hearing it from me, I would ask you to go see for yourself, but I doubt any of you lovelies could handle the sight. It was rather ghastly" he said with an expression of disgust. "But of course, our strong and powerful, somehow-turned-into-a-faunus Red can protect us and the students, wont she?"
Several emotions were going through the blonde's mind, one that her teammates could more than understand. After all, it was her and Ruby's home. The same place, that not too long ago, had been the picture of peace and serenity, a place where Taiyang lived. But now, to hear that the same place was likely gone in the blink of an eye was incomprehensible.
"Amber….look after my sister and my friends for a bit" breathed Ruby, before tapping her fingers at the air, opening a shimmering portal and disappearing.
"Hey wait..!" called out Yang, reaching out with her hands but to no avail. An ominous silence followed after Ruby's disappearance, leaving those around to wonder what would come to pass next.
The sounds of crackling flames and the smell of burning grass, wood, plastic, metal, flesh, hair, bones and clothes hit her sensitive faunus nose.
A sight that was ghastly and yet familiar. The moment she appeared in front of her home, the wooden cabin that was supposed to be her home was now in shambles, along with the rest of the houses surrounding the once peaceful neighborhood.
Her chest pounded heavily but it wasn't out of disbelief or fear. No. It was a very old, forgotten, but familiar feeling seeping into her mind. And a deep, deep hollowness from a time she thought had long passed.
How did she miss this? How could mere Grimm cause such untold destruction in such a short time? How could this have slipped right past her? HOW did she not sense ANY of this until it got to this point? Where was her father? Where were Ozpin, Glynda, Qrow and the rest of the staff? How, why, where, what?
Questions invaded her mind, until she felt her mother's voice calling out to her. Almost as if by reflex, she swung her arm, unleashing Crescent Rose holstered in her hip in a practiced manner with godlike speed. The deadly scythe passed clean through the two assailants. Warm blood splashed on her, bringing back a brief flash of memories. Looking down on those she cut down, her eyes blinked rapidly before she could register the unbelievable sight in front of her.
They were unmistakably Grimm, and were unmistakably something else entirely. Both were unmistakably familiar. The see-through hole on one, plus the humanoid like body with sharp spikes, clawed hands and a maskless, hairless face with two mouths for eyes and a vertical eye in place of a mouth on the other meant they could only be one thing. Though the first of the Grimm didn't surprise her too much, the second one certainly did.
"….Togabito….?!" she rasped, gritting her teeth. The questions invading her mind only grew numerous. And somewhere, in a small corner of her mind, she wondered if her appearance in this world the way she was now was the cause. A price to pay for her impossible existence to be made possible.
"…..I don't sense Tai anywhere…" remarked her mother's voice. And true to her word, Ruby Rose could not locate the spiritual pressure of her father, no matter how far within the confines of the island she searched. Naturally the first place she looked was the broken-down cottage that was her home, only to find no signs of life. Whether Taiyang had fallen prey to the Hollow and Togabito like Grimm or whether he had made his escape somehow, she couldn't tell. The cottage held no clues, save for the lack of living things within.
"But Zwei was there with those two" remarked Ruby to herself. "Why…?"
"…..Mhm…..I'm not sure. I don't think Tai would've abandoned Zwei. So then…how did Zwei meet up with Roman Torchwick of all people? They did say something about Patch Hospital. If they came from there for whatever reason, I can see Zwei slipping out to escape these Grimm and meeting up with them. Still, that still leaves Tai. Let's quickly check out the hospital" suggested Summer, and Ruby didn't miss out on the slowly seeping worry in her voice.
Even at blinding speeds, she didn't miss out on the death and destruction all around her. People trying to escape, people who resisted, people caught up in between attacks, their guts and entrails spilling all across the pathway, blood splattered over buildings, roads, lamp posts, other fallen humans and faunus, dead Grimm who were still slowly melting down into a black puddle, the peaceful town of Patch had it all. A sight that would have utterly unnerved even veteran huntsmen but one that only hit Ruby with a familiar stench. Though pity welled up withing Ruby, she couldn't bring herself to feel much more. In her lifetime, she had simply seen far, far worse. But outside of pity, she couldn't help but feel a slow throbbing withing her heart. As if the small part of her which she thought she would never see again was slowly beginning to surface, much to her displeasure. Though the sinking feeling in her stomach was stronger still, she couldn't suppress the anticipation within her.
There were no flowing rivers of red, nor unholy architectures in greyish-green, nor endless plains of dull brimstone. However, the burning flames, bodies strung up in crosses and poles, some burning, some bleeding to death, some still miserably alive with missing body parts and the numerous creatures sprinkled around the hospital grounds sent familiar feelings and flashes to her mind. She could hear all sorts of sounds. Pitiful wailing, moaning, painful screams, the sounds of things burning, breaking, cracking, wails of the creatures, roars of things that couldn't be anything but hollows and menos, growls and snarls of the creatures of Hell, followed by the unmistakable sounds of the togabito gnawing on bones, flesh, meat, each other, other hollows, as well as hollows doing the same.
Like the appearance of a predator in the midst of the jungle, the creatures turned their attention to her. Some went silent, some backed away, while others, especially the hollow grimm, still approached her steadfast.
Ruby's body moved automatically, working off on ancient reflexes, wielding her gun scythe with deadly accuracy. With each swing of her hand, two or three hollow Grimm or Hell Grimm would be shred apart, cut clean through with lethal efficiency before Ruby moved in to the next foe. The Grimm would neither see her approaching nor react to her god-like speed. Her balas punched straight through each enemy before they had a chance to counter attack and her ceros would clear out scores of enemies with ease. And the cheetah faunus moved over to the next one before even taking a chance to look around, merely honing in on the next foul spiritual pressure.
Though the scene was familiar to Summer, much more so than Ruby, her daughter was no longer the Vasto Lorde trapped in Hell. She was slaughtering the forces of darkness in front of them without so much as a scratch, and yet possessed clear lucidity in her eyes. She swung her weapon with controlled bloodlust, and her expression was far more human than it had ever been back during her days in Hell. And yet, Summer Rose felt the need to reach out to her daughter.
"You alright sweetie?" she asked softly. "You're breathing a bit heavily than normal. Will you be fine? I can take over if you'd like"
Ruby acknowledged her words with a mental thumbs up, but continued to clear out the enemies. Though she spoke no words, Summer seemed placated. All in all, the area was growing quieter and quitter, with the area growing bloodier and bloodier.
When the path before her had nothing but black and red gore, flesh, blood and burning corpses, Ruby's eyes faced towards the lone figure standing before her. It was the figure of a pubescent female humanoid, with 70% of her skin covered with the same black tar as the pools of darkness and patches of white everywhere else. Her pitch-black eyes seemed to blend in along with the rest of the body.
"You…." Murmured Ruby, tightening the grip on her gun scythe. Her body unconsciously throbbed with anticipation at facing an opponent she never thought she would ever face, especially back in Remnant.
The guardian of the first layer of Hell continued to stare at Ruby, as if studying her intently. But the rose huntress knew exactly what she was waiting for.
"So, you wont attack me unless I'm a sinner of Hell or unless I attack you first, huh?" she asked, speaking in the Hellian tongue.
The princess of Hell said nothing in return, but to Ruby, that was the same as confirming her words.
But the rose huntress was not going to let things go that way. She could guess what had transpired here, and the string of events that led to the massacre and destruction of her home. The people of Patch were good, honest people. Her own people. Likely, they retaliated like any other normal person did when the 'Grimm' showed up, and that was their downfall. Ironically, the Hell Grimm would have left them alone if they hadn't attacked first.
"No…in the end, the Hollows for one wouldn't have simply left them alone" stated Ruby to herself, shaking her head.
"The people here are putting out their aura constantly at all times after all. And you know better than anyone just how irresistible that would be" added Summer. Ultimately, it seemed as if the fate of these people was sealed the moment these 'Grimm' showed up. She still had no idea why there were Hollows and Togabito in the skin of Grimm. But at the moment, there was only one right thing to do.
Moving in with blinding speeds, she swung horizontally at the guardian in front of her, who, to her surprise, parried her attack. The guardian retaliated by drawing a very familiar looking long obsidian black blade with chains from her mouth, unleashing a relentless flurry of blows with surprising dexterity. Though her form was still sealed, Ruby was still an arrancar, an Espada. Back then, she had been but a Vasto Lorde, and hadn't had as much trouble as she did with the princess of Hell as she did now.
She made finger guns, firing off balas in between her attacks, which the princess either slashed away with the obsidian blade or simply used her nimble movements to avoid. The guardian didn't simply attack with her sword however. Out of the blue, Ruby would be a hair's breath away from receiving a face full of buckshot. Or she would be dodging a flurry of thrusts from a spear like zanpakuto replica. And again, in the next split second, she would swerve sharply to avoid searing flames from a flamethrower. Whichever weapon the guardian procured, she knew exactly how to use it at that instant in the most advantageous way. Throwing Tensa Zangetsu's replica at her and reaching out into her mouth again, she pulled out a big, arrow head like zanpakuto, swinging back with powerful but slower strikes.
"Now it's Karin's zanpakuto…" she thought to herself, using her sonido to avoid the blows and retaliating with her gun scythe.
*CRAAACK*
The blade of her sniper rifle-scythe chipped, sending a noticeable crack along its length. The guardian paused her assault momentarily, and even had an odd expression on her face. It sent a twinge of anger within her, coming from her own mind as well as her daughter's. Despite the fact that it was nothing more than an imitation of what Crescent Rose once was, it still held a lot of sentimental value to her. It was, in essence, still a part of her. Ruby simply holstered her scythe into its packed form and picked up the replica of Tensa Zangetsu that the guardian had thrown at her earlier.
"Sweetie, do you think you should use my power to..?" asked Summer, but Ruby dashed forward with the weapon she currently held at her hand. She didn't want to believe it. She didn't want to accept the fact that she hadn't already made short work of her opponent in her current form and needed the power of her resurreccion. It was absurd and outlandish. Her abilities were clearly far superior compared to her abilities back in Hell. It must have something to do with the unnatural appearance of these beings here in Remnant.
The exchange of blows grew more intense, with the flurry of blows from Ruby growing faster with each passing moment. She received seven cuts in total, three of which were only skin deep on her forehead, left knuckle and abdomen while two of them were slightly deeper on her sword arm, two more lacerations on her legs and one deep gash on her chest. Her breathing was noticeably heavy at this point, but outside of that, held in Ruby's hand was the head of the Guardian of the 1st level of Hell, while her decapitated body fell limp on the ground. There was a cold, almost unnoticeable glint in the cheetah faunus's eyes, as her argentine eyes stared at the familiar feeling of holding the princess of hell's head.
"You waste your time. There is nothing for you here. I am here but to fulfil my calling as the overseer of my mother's domain. I hold no animosity towards you. You have truly lost your primal desires, it would seem. You look guilty holding my visage in your hands, despite being the victor. How oddly curious. There was once a time I cursed the very moment I was made to yield passage to you. And yet, seeing you like this is oddly appropriate. You were a lot more intimidating back then. A force that made the very realm of the damned tremble. And now, you are nothing more than a means to an end for my mother. You can understand my tongue thanks to your daughter, and yet, I understood you much more when you were a sinner in Hell than I do now. Even so, I was bested yet again. In the end, even as one who escaped the confines of Hell still cannot escape the bonds of Karma itself. And nor will your family. Round and round, fate goes. As such, this is but a temporary reprise. On that note, is it truly wise for you to linger here? After all, he is not the only family you have in this world, is he not?" spoke the decapitated head in Hellian tongue before melting into a black puddle into the ground. All of the weapons as well as the slaughtered Grimm did the same, disappearing along with the defeated guardian.
Ruby continued to stare in the direction of where the decapitated head had once been, her heart still pounding at an accelerated pace. Her mind didn't even register her current injuries. She began thinking back to her actions, and why she had come back in the first place. In the end, not only did she still have no clue about what was going on, she also did not find Taiyang or save anyone in the Island of Patch. Her enemy too, had disappeared.
"I know what you're thinking sweetie. But there's nothing to be ashamed about. Unlike back then, you truly defeated her one on one without relying on tricks. Using your own abilities. And you only got a few scratches. You are not weak" stated Summer.
"Maybe. But given my current abilities, I should've been able to take her on without getting injured. If I had the same level of strength I have now back then, this match would've ended in seconds. I….I wouldn't have let my worry about things elsewhere concern me. I was so focused back then. So determined. And now…" replied Ruby, downcast.
"You were also cruel back then. To me, that would be the wrong choice of words. But to the eyes of anyone else, you were definitely scary. And heinous. It's no wonder our little headless princess said the words she did. My darling honeybun has suffered enough in her lifetime. I'm sure even my darling doesn't want to go through her edgy phase, now does she?" chuckled the estranged soul reaper, hugging her daughter mentally.
But her enemy's last words worried her. In her hurry to get back here, she'd completely missed the fact that she'd left Yang and the others back at Beacon completely vulnerable. Clenching her teeth, she opened a portal and dashed through.
"Uncle Qrow! Professor!"
No sooner after Ruby's sudden departure, they could see the familiar form of the animorph walking towards them. But one glance at his staggering gait was enough to tell them something was amiss.
His clothes were torn at places, and he had lacerations at many places in his body. His weapon was being used as a crutch of sorts and it had definitely seen better days. Chips and cracks, as well as blood and dust coated the heavy looking scythe. One of his eyes was bloodshot, and his other free arm was being used to lean on Glynda, who looked only slightly better than Qrow did.
Her hair was disheveled and undone, a sharp, piercing wound on her midriff was staining her outfit red little by little. She was using her own free hand to cover her bleeding wound while limping towards them.
"I've never seen something this ridiculous before. It took them no time to overrun the Emerald Forest. If not for the Headmaster…The students….the academy….damn!" cursed Glynda, gripping her riding crop tightly. "To think the two of us would be this useless…..Ms. Rose was truly undermining her words"
"Glynda! Qrow!" shouted Amber, running forward and taking him from Glynda. His mouth curved into a small, strained smile, but it was evident it was nothing more than a farce.
"Heh heh…now isnt that a kicker. First that Glynda carries my sorry ass all the way here and now you. Maybe all the shit I go through is worth it for times like these" he chuckled, earning him a sharp tap on the head by the Fall Maiden.
"Even jokes have their limits! Why did you go there all by yourself?! I told you I can help!" she scolded him.
"Don't bother" he said, waving her off. "You see her? That's after she pounded just short of 20 of those fuckers, only to be chased by the entire lot of them. They move and attack in ways I haven't seen anywhere. We're lucky we were able to move our asses out of there alive. Ol' man Oz's keeping the little brats inside the school, as you lot should be. Please tell me you let my scarily adorable niece know about the shit that hit the fan" He finished, pointing first to Glynda, and then to Yang and the others. It was only then he noticed the two figures by their side. "Whoa whoa whoa! The hell is Roman Torchwick doing here?!"
"That's…"
Just then, distant growls and snarls filled the air. Just behind the Academy buildings, the huntsmen in training, the criminal mastermind and his sidekick as well as the huntsmen could make out flashes of dust and sounds of combat, followed by dark figures appearing in the background, becoming bigger and bigger.
"Damn, how the hell did they manage to follow us back here so quickly after being reduced to a damn puddle!" exclaimed Qrow, straining himself to wield Harbringer and facing the approaching enemies. However, his path was blocked by Amber.
"Enough. Don't be ridiculous. You've done enough and you're in no condition to stop me, let alone those things. I will hold them off. I've already let Ruby know about the situation. I'm sure she'll be back. I'll hold them off until then" declared Amber, her eyes glowing weakly. It was clear from her form that she was at best as good as one of the huntsmen in training in her current condition. But even she was in a much better situation than Qrow. Glynda straightened herself up, ignoring the wincing pain from the wound on her abdomen.
"I'll support you as well" she stated.
"We'll help as well!" added Weiss, joined in by Blake, Yang, Pyrrha, Ren, Nora and even Jaune. But they found themselves being stopped by Qrow.
"This isnt the time for little brats like you to be doing anything. Be good little kids and go take cover with the rest of the brats at the school" he rasped. Roman and Neo on the other hand, found themselves completely ignored, much to their relief. Not that it mattered since they never had their sights on any of them in the first place. They were far more concerned about getting themselves far, far away from the approaching creatures.
Amber and Glynda charged in, with Amber taking the lead owing her relatively uninjured condition. The first of the Grimm took on the shapes of various animals like most other Grimm, with some noticeable differences to the color of their fur and see through holes in their bodies. Without anything resembling a weapon, her options were limited to using her powers as the Fall Maiden. Supported by Glynda's telekinesis, the Hollow Grimm were nothing that the duo couldn't handle without sustaining major injuries. The problem however was their rapidly draining spirit energy. Each move they used that wasn't from a conventional weapon or dust powered weapon drained a portion of their reishi reserves. And this was much more prevalent in Amber's case given her unstable aura.
The moment Amber slew her first Grimm, teams WBY and JNPR immediately knew there was something disturbingly wrong.
"They're…bleeding?" asked Pyrrha to herself, almost as if she didn't want to believe what she was seeing.
"Grimm…bleeding…?" questioned Weiss, repeating after the red head. Her thoughts went back to the strange Grimm she spoke about with Ruby just minutes ago. For some, this was truly another side of the battlefield that they had never experienced in their lives before, save for seeing things in movies and tv shows. For some within the two teams, such as Blake who lived a large part of her life as part of the White Fang, Weiss due to her upbringing within the Schnee family and Nora and Ren during the Grimm attack that tore apart their childhood home, this was a familiar sight seen with different perspectives. And for the rest, it was an insight into the uglier sights of a real battlefield. Dread and anxiety crept in like the Grimm that steadily advanced onto them, becoming worse and worse with each passing second, both figuratively and literally.
However, that was before these 'Grimm' appeared.
"Wh…what is that…?!" exclaimed Weiss fearfully.
Maskless and possessing forms that made then shudder from their sheer appearance and presence alone, these 'Grimm' were unsettling even before attacking them. However, what Glynda had determined puzzled her as it did the others. These things were rather selective in who they chose to attack. In that instance, they seemed to be going in the direction of Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan, followed by Qrow and then Glynda. Though not their primary targets, it mattered little since stray attacks from their conflicts with the Hollow Grimm that would make contact with the Hell Grimm was more than enough to have both types of Grimm to chase after them.
While the two plus two adults fought the Grimm, both deliberately and out of no choice, the kids were left frozen where they stood. These 'Grimm' were far too different in their gait, mannerisms, attacks and everything about them seemed wrong. Unsettling. To the point that Amber and Glynda, started slowly retreating towards them and away from the abominations. Qrow cursed the fact that it was taking all he had just to stand up. Tension, nausea, unease and other derogatory were beginning to well up within them, with each one reacting differently to it. And ironically, what made it worse was that these Grimm had not attacked them even once. The mere possibility that they could at some point was far more uneasy compared to if they would have attacked. And what was more, these things were creatures that expert huntsmen had trouble dealing with. Even if they could handle themselves for a little bit of time, there was no doubt that eventually, all that waited them was death.
Weiss was gripping Myrtenaster tightly, suppressing her shivers and instinctively huddling closer to her teammates, holding in her emotions and trying to come to terms with everything. And just by her side, to Weiss's surprise, was the black and white corgi, tired, panting but still ready to fight back if needed. The company did make the situation slightly better for the snow princess.
Blake looked far more composed, and yet, she was still undecided on the right course of actions. She knew they were hardly strong enough to support the adults and yet, they were definitely trained enough to atleast defend themselves. And to her, attacking an enemy not interested in attacking them was folly. She had no intention of participating in a battle they could avoid.
Pyrrha was much too focused on keeping her teammates safe, atleast until the time Ruby returned. And as such, her focus kept her from being distracted by the gnarly sights in front of her. She was a warrior who grew with the battlefield even now.
Jaune was terrified, afraid to even hold his weapon. And yet, the sight of his friends doing their best in coming to terms with the current situation forced him to put on a strong front, even though his only wish at the moment was to escape as far away from reality as he could.
Ren and Nora were taking in the possibility of reliving a traumatic part of their childhood, and Ren was already masking their emotions, which seemed to be working wonders. The Hell Grimm were staying away from them at first and now stopped looking at them altogether. It gave them some comfort.
However, Yang was different. Most people had their own ways of dealing with stress, anxiety and reacting to spontaneous situations in general. She was a lot simpler compared to her peers, and a lot more volatile. And she dealt with such things in her life using her fists.
The blonde huntress in training lunged forward, driving her dust powered shotgun cestus into the nearest 'Grimm', out of fear, anxiety and stress. Something that her peers could understand and also be disappointed with. The Grimm exploded from the force of the blast, leaving the blonde covered in a gory mess of flesh and blood. The fey expression on her face only grew graver, causing her frenzy to continue with increased fervor. But the instant that she initiated her attack, the feeling around the battle field did a complete 180. Gazes that had previously looked straight past Yang were now intently locked onto the blonde brawler, with the nearest ones making their way towards her. And in their instinct to protect their comrade, Blake, Weiss, Pyrrha, Ren, Nora and Jaune joined in on the carnage.
But the folly of their actions was kicking in, little by little. With each punch from their fists, shot from their guns and slash from their weapons, they could tell that their battles with these Grimm brought them closer to death by the second. If not for the adrenaline, their aura and survival instincts, they would have been long dead.
A strong energy blast from a nearby Grimm caused Yang to falter, and her Aura shattered, alongside her composure. There were still two enemies nearby, and her other friends were still pre-occupied with other enemies. There was enough of a distance between her and her current enemies that she could still make a quick getaway. But in total panic, the blonde did the complete opposite of what she intended to do. Rushing blindly at the two, she drew her fists back and threw a punch at the left most one.
"My my~~…now this is odd. Did she really just leave, just like that? While leaving such wonderful specimens behind like this? Is this really that little kitten who once commended respect from the likes of Aizen himself?" came a sickly sweet, masculine voice. "I am rather disappointed"
The group sharply turned their heads in the direction of the voice with their hands reaching out for their weapons in sharp reflex. Despite the chaos and commotion from all the fighting, things went eerily silent. All movement from the battlefield stopped instantly, atleast from the Grimm, which in turn caused those fighting them to halt their own movements. There was simply something infinitely dangerous from the thing beside them. Something much more eerie and vile than the things around them.
Standing right in the middle of the gathering was a tall lean humanoid figure who seemed to be covered in black tar at certain parts of his body, like it was corroding into his very soul itself. The parts covered by tar looked as if they had been corroded to the point of leaving stringy muscle fibers and bones, while the rest of his body looked relatively human. He had shoulder length pink hair and amber/black eyes. There was something resembling a protrusion that looked like a horn. Chains dug into and around him throughout his body, but they did not seem to have any place of origin. There was also what appeared to be a pale white halo located right behind his neck. The rest of his untainted body was covered by a black outfit of sorts. And placed right on his uncovered abdomen was Yang's fist, that had landed squarely onto the thing in front of her while missing her intended target.
"Wh..what the hell?!" exclaimed Yang internally, with panic kicking in. It took a second for the blonde to even register that this thing not only appeared out of nowhere, but was able to take a punch from her Ember Cilica without anything happening. It was as if her very soul was sent to shock from the immense presence in front of her. There was absolutely no warning, no clues or hints whatsoever. Before anyone knew it, that thing in front of them was just there.
Whatever it was, it made them feel vile, putrid. More than any Grimm ever had, more than anything anyone had ever seen, including the adults. Glynda found herself shivering at the presence of the thing in front of her, Qrow had an expression that oddly mismatched him and Amber could feel her heart beating painfully with each second. Roman Torchwick lost any and all semblances of being collected, as he automatically reached out for Neo, who looked like she was just short of experiencing a heart attack.
The children on the other hand, were understandably frozen in their tracks. Their minds simply could not comprehend the myriad of stimuli this thing was sending them. So much so that none could even register the chaos and commotion happening right behind them at the Academy buildings.
The thing in front of them however, had a very gleeful and euphoric expression on his face. He spared one single glance at Yang, eying her as if she was the most precious prize on the planet
"I have just confirmed that a direct attack has been made upon me, a jailer of Hell. And as such, retaliation is now possible and the sinner shall be judged for her transgressions of daring to halt a jailer of Hell from fulfilling their duties~~. This, of course, is by no means, out of my own interest in my desire to observe the one known as the kin of Ruby Rose. Not at all" he spoke, his grim growing wider.
*SCHICK*
The blonde saw a brief glint of silver and a dull thud that cut into the macabre silence around them. Her eyes could make out a glint of gold falling down right beside her.
And after that, came the piercing pain that shot up from her arms along with the visual panic of seeing her two arms lying uselessly in front of her.
"Ah…ahh….hua… ….huaraghg….HHHHHUUUAAAARRRGH!"
They watched in horror as the blonde let out a blood curdling scream while frantically and desperately to soothe the burning pain pulsating from her bleeding stumps, which weren't even long enough to touch each other. She was slowly and pitifully stretching out what was left of her arms and reaching out for her arms lying on the ground, almost as if prodding at it in an attempt to attach it back to her hand. Tears were leaking out of her eyes, dripping down her face and mixing with the blood from her arms on the ground.
"Aah~~How utterly unsightly! Such a squealing, weak little thing. To think that one such as this could ever be related to that Ruby, my dear little kitten who wouldn't break even for the worst of the worst tests I did on her. Truly genetics mean nothing when it comes to the behavioral patterns of humans. How utterly fascinating and yet repulsive!" The abomination of a man almost moaned at the sight of Yang desperately reaching out for her arms. And then, the thing in front of her did something which the blonde brawler would forever remember for all of her lifetimes, and the image of it would be burned onto the minds of everyone watching.
Slowly walking over to her sliced off arms, he lifted one of them, lovingly caressing them and then-
*SLLLLLICK*
A sickly wet sound ripped across the air, as the deranged thing lovingly licked across the length of the arm, blood and all.
"Now I can see the relation. You truly have some part of her blood. Although that is where it all ends. Oh well, I do believe something good can come out of it with enough time. After all, time is something the two of us will soon have~~. I must now store away the collected specimen for later study" he said, opening his mouth wide, much more so that was humanly possible and then in one fell gulp, swallowed her sliced off arm whole.
Before anyone had the chance to react to the lurid sight, a white and grey blur sped right past them, a glint of silver following almost instantaneously after. The sharp sound of metal hitting something rigid followed soon after, immediately followed by the sound of snapping. Harbringer, which was already in shambles before was now thoroughly cracked and shattered, falling down in a glittery rain of metallic shards.
Those that knew Qrow Branwen, especially his professional side as a huntsman, knew just how vary and shrew he was. Not only was it a part of the job requirement, it was especially important for him. He, who was always away on surveillance missions on Ozpin's orders, needed to be resourceful, cunning and possess the mindset of a survivor. This was even more prevalent thanks to his Semblance. Though his character had its flaws, as a huntsman, he was unquestionably one of the best in his field, both in terms of combat ability and experience.
And yet, that sight of his niece lying sprawled on the dirt in such a pitiful condition and more importantly, the very thing he just witnessed happen right in front of him made him forget it all, along with his own body's wasted condition.
His opponent, like before, looked just as manic as he did when Yang first attacked him.
"They just keep coming and coming! And to think this one happens to be her kin as well! Now that an attack from the opposing party has been confirmed, I, as the jailer of Hell, now pronounce punishment for Qrow Branwen his rightful punishment for daring to halt a keeper of order from performing his said duties. This, of course, has absolutely nothing to do with my desire in capturing more of my little kitten's kin to study. Absolutely not~~" he cooed with glee, grinning widely.
*SQUELCH*
One instant everything had been colorful and lit, and in the next, it went pitch black.
Although not as intense as his niece in front of him, Qrow Branwen's cries of pain were no less disturbing. Perhaps it was due to his general stature of toughness and keeping his cool even in the worst of times. Even the bewildered Yang had seemed to have forgotten about her own plight for a split second, watching in horror as her uncle had just been blinded. For held in the mysterious man's hands was a pair of round, crimson orbs, ripped right from the head of its owner.
"Another fantastic, top level test material! I always wondered why I was so fascinated by those silver orbs of hers. And now, I know why, thanks to the mistress of Hell. Who would've thought something that I once deemed irrelevant would be the keys to something absolutely fascinating?! I wont make that mistake again~~" he remarked.
The onlookers from Remnant watched as the outworldly thing popped contents held within his hands straight to his mouth, as they watched in horror and disgust.
"QROW!"
The Fall Maiden abandoned protecting herself from the still present hoard of Grimm, rushing straight at the blinded Qrow.
"You damned foul, demented, monster!" Glynda raised her arm with shaking hands, half glaring and half in terror of the situation in front of her. She was a very logical woman, one who put her emotions aside when it came to times and things that mattered. And yet, she couldn't hide her expression of fear, of giving up. But she wouldn't. As long as the children were around, she would always find herself doing what it took to assure them that there were those they could depend on, those that cared and guided them. As an educator and as someone who practically spent a majority of her life watching over children.
Even if there was absolutely nothing she could do to the abomination in front of her, there were still a lot of things she could do, even in the current bleak situation. She could draw that things attention to herself and give the children time to escape. She could engage the still present Grimm and lessen the damage from when the children got a window of opportunity to escape. She could use her semblance to move them to safety. She could do all of these until Ruby got back. And nothing would be enough to satiate the immense regret and helplessness she felt for the conditions Yang and Qrow were in.
"….And don't think I've forgotten about you, my lovely~~I'm going to take your eyes as well, they're much to precious not to collect as part of my study. Of course, this is all part of your punishment. I promise~~" said the enigmatic being, staring down at Yang, who gasped in sheer horror. The fright in Glynda's eyes increased ever more, and her semblance automatically went into overdrive. She could see the abomination in front of her take its eyes of Yang, and focus its attention on her instead. And, much to her disbelief, her semblance, which at its peak had the ability to lift an entire multi-storey building was doing absolutely nothing to the one in front of her.
The being simply tilted his head curiously, looking at the deranged disciplinarian.
"Hmm. I'll never understand why humans make the strangest of decisions. None of you had any reason to bring any of this upon yourself. And yet, knowing that, you still do. Self-preservation is an instinct of any animal. A law of nature, you could say. In my view, you humans should be sent straight down just for breaking the natural order of things. My dear little kitten understood that perfectly. You lot however, I find it hard to believe come from the same race she does. But sadly, my mistress sees things in a different way and much to my irk, I can't go against those directives. If you had simply abandoned the weak and the foolish, you could have avoided this fate. How boorish that I need to stand and explain such things" he scowled to himself. "But you'll have plenty of time to reflect on your actions, along with the rest here. I'll personally attend to you all myself"
The blonde disciplinarian watched as he reached out to her with his untainted hand. Despite her resolve, she couldn't stop her shaking hand and her quivering eyes.
In the end, despite everything, she did not want to die. Not in the way that she could imagine herself doing so in front of this being, and certainly not to this abomination.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw what appeared to be a brief flash of light.
*SQUEELCH*
With a sickly unpleasant sound, warm, sludge like fluid splashed onto her, like lathered honey. And along with that, Glynda watched a stringy piece of connected tissues, bone and meat fly past her head and fall onto the ground behind her, along with several other body parts. The abomination in front of her looked mildly surprised at first, and then an expression extreme euphoria filled his 'face'. A large chunk of his body seemed to have exploded away, by some kind of powerful impact. And through the hole on his body, Glynda and the rest watched wide eyed at the dark haired faunus standing beside Yang. Her back was turned to them, as she stood facing Yang, Qrow and Amber.
The sobbing and mumbling blonde brawler immediately stopped the moment the figure stood in front of her. Yang watched her expression, one that looked so alien even in comparison to the abominations around them and the one responsible for slicing off her arms and eating one of them. Those silver orbs spent a solid moment staring down at the two in front of her, before kneeling down, and gently lifting the brawler's arms and placing an arm over the misfortunate huntsman's eyes. There was a brief greenish glow emanating from her arms, and while the pain hadn't subsided in the least, Yang could see that the bleeding had stopped, as it had with Qrow's eyes.
There was no relief welling up from within her or anyone else around them. Their rescuer herself did not speak so much as a word. After the green glow faded from her palms, the cheetah faunus looked up at Qrow and Yang once more, but rather than looking straight at them, she was looking past them in their direction.
A sharp, painful shiver ran along Yang, Qrow and Amber's spines, and their pupils contracted twice fold more from fear. And though they could not see what the three of them did, a chilling lull creeped up on the rest looking upon the back of the cheetah faunus.
The pink haired being himself seemed to grew absolutely delighted from the feeling he felt from the girl in front of him. His attention had all but disappeared from Glynda, and he simply turned to face the girl.
"Ahhh~~We finally meet again, my cute little kitten~~!" he moaned "How beautifully you've grown!"
Yang Xiao Long found herself struggling for words. Words that she no doubt had for the person in front of her. Words of gratitude. Words of relief. Words of annoyance. And her feelings even more so. However, at that moment, there were no words she had for the one in front of her, only doubt. She had no relief, no anger, no happiness or sadness to feel towards the one who protected her.
All she had was fear.
Those silver eyes were a symbol of familiarity and fondness, a precious memento of her mother, as well as the light that was her sister.
Now, she knew not to whom those set of silver eyes belonged to as they started past her.
The one standing in front of her currently was definitely not Ruby Rose.
Phew, that's it for now! I'm really sorry about the extremely long break, I really had it quite difficult with my job and my extremely packed schedule. Though short, I just felt like I needed to put out something, even if I had a longer chapter in mind initially. But I promise that I'll work hard on getting out the next chapter without this much of a break. Thank you so much for all of your support and yes, the next chapter will be rather eventful. See you next time!
Response to Reviews:
Lucian Naruto: Yeah she probably does.
Argorok: Thanks a lot!
Spellflame: Nope, not him! But it's a bit complicated. It'll be revealed soon. Ruby will be rather livid about a lot of things for sure.
Monster King: Thanks!
Cassnova5424: Haha he sure is!
firewyrm2: I get you. I focused a good portion on Ruby on this one, and it will focus a lot on Ruby and her gang very soon. And some of the bleach protags as well.
Guest: I tend to be rather packed nowadays, but I'll see if I ever get time to check out another story.
RandomName3064: Thanks! Glad that was the case! Yeah, I really wanted Sienna to be a little more involved than in canon. Penny will be yet another big surprise for Ruby after everything else she's already dealing with. Yeah you're right. Hoh boy. Oz didn't appear in this chapter, but you'll see what he was doing in the next one. Glad you like the new Salem! She too will make an appearance in the next chapter. As for the 5, I'll focus a bit more on what they want in the next or the chapter after that. Thanks a lot! It's reassuring to hear that I'm doing stuff right! Yeah, and they're with our gang now. Things will be interesting for sure.
Mobian: Yeah, but oh boy, things went to Hell, literally, before any of that huh? Lot of interesting stuff to come for sure!
Xeno01: Lol Roman has a lot of things to be surprised about. Zwei is indeed a good boy. Hmm, the underworld doesn't have some kind of ultimate 'goal' per se, but they do have a role. The idea is that they simply fulfil their role wherever they exist. That is to judge souls and punish them. They simply follow certain rules and certain laws regardless of where they are. This chapter in the beginning explained a bit about why seemingly innocent citizens got attacked as well. The Quincies are definitely not their allies. No one is. The arrancars will re-appear very very soon, no doubt about it. As for Ruby….yeah. Not sure how anything will look like. The next chapter will be out sooner than this one was.
Variso: Thank you so much! Really appreciate the support!