A/N: One last chapter before Christmas break. Enjoy!
Tangled Shore
Blake and Yang were waiting to get into a club.
Not just any club. An alien club on the Tangled Shore. One called, the Empty Tank. They were going there to pick up a lamp created by the two Brother Gods of Remnant that their headmaster, Ozpin kept hidden along with three other relics from the clutches of the current leader of the Grimm by the name of Salem. The one responsible for Summer Rose's first death which resulted in her becoming a Guardian in the first place.
The Spider explained to the five the whole story between Ozpin, the Brother Gods, Salem, Grimm and the relics. Summer also explained about Salem being the one who killed her in the first place. The knowledge of that made Ruby and Yang hate her and wished for said individual to be right in front of them right now to administer their own brand of justice. But that was for another time. Spider went on to explain why one of them was on the Tangled Shore in the first place.
Turned out, it was Dominous Ghaul that found a way to breach the vaults the Relic of Knowledge was hidden in, aka Haven Academy. After Ozpin escaped his captivity on the Dominus's flagship on Earth, he recovered the relic and handed it over to the Spider on the suggestion of Cayde-6 to keep it safe and away from Remnant. Why, no idea. The Spider's method of hiding it, was not only employing the entity within as a member of his staff, but by moving it every so often so that no one could acquire it. Hence why Yang and Blake were waiting in line at the club, the current hiding place of it.
Originally, all five of them wanted to come with, but it was best to split up and deal with the other problems on the shore. So Weiss and Summer went to deal with a up and coming kingpin by the name of Garut Gra'am; a trapper of exotic fauna, and Ruby and Savek teamed up together to make some weapons. That last team up was Ruby's suggestion to the Spider since they needed a guide on the Shore and weapons to deal with the Scorn, and since Savek was skilled at both, she requested the scavenger to accompany them. The Spider agreed for not only will he make a profit on weapons designed by Savek when the whole thing is over, but keep a closer eye on the situation as it develops.
"You know, if you asked me that we would be waiting in line at an alien club on a series of cobbled together space junk and debris, that we would be recovering a magic lamp containing a spirit of knowledge created by the gods of Remnant that was hidden from our apparently immortal headmaster from the literal Queen of Grimm herself, I would say that it sounded like an anime plot." Yang said waiting in line. "Sounds like one. But at this point, I'm not even surprised anymore." Blake said looking around her then back at her Scroll, reading over the dossier the Spider provided for them. "So, the lamp has the ability to answer any three questions every 100 years, as long as they pertain to the past and present, never the future. And you must be specific on how you phrase said questions." She said moving with her partner as the line moved. If they wanted to know Uldren's plans, the Relic of Knowledge was key.
Soon they were at the front with a tall Cabal Legionary as the bouncer. Said bouncer wore the faded colors of the Red Legion.
Both Yang and Blake tensed, hands on their weapons. While the Red War is over, there were still hold outs around the system and on Remnant. But the bouncer waved them through. The doors opened, they went down a flight of stairs to another door and they found themselves in the Empty Tank.
There was a bar along the side of a wall, a dance floor and numerous booths lined across the wall or scattered about. And it was filled with numerous species from across the system. Fallen of House Dusk, Devils and Wolves mingled with Cabal of numerous legions. Humans and Faunus along with the previous listed races danced on the dance floor where a Fallen DJ along with their servitor played music. Flying through the crowds, Shanks serving drinks and food floated along their paths.
"This is my element!" Yang said as she made her way down along with Blake made their way to the bar. An Eliksni Captain manned the booze as they approached. "Two strawberry sunrises, no ice and one of those umbrellas as well." She said to the bartender as the latter went to work on the drinks.
"Do you really think it's wise to get drinks at a time like this?" Blake asked watching some Faunus drinking alongside Cabal. Most of the humans and faunus here were either criminals or unaffiliated with any Kingdom from Remnant, just making their way. "Oh Blake, if you need info in a club, you need to establish a report with the one who controls the booze. For the bartender knows all that goes on." She said grabbing their drinks and handing Blake hers. Downing their drinks they looked around. Spying on an overhead office up above, they turned to the bartender. "Was wondering if you could direct us on how to approach the owner of the club?" She said looking him in the eye. The bartender looked at them and grunted. "I'll take that as a no." She said before grabbing the bartender, flipping over her and Blake and slamming him across a table behind them!
The music stops as the patrons looked at the two of them. All of them soon brought up hidden weapons and pointed at them. Both Blake and Yang readied their own about to throw down.
"You know, there are other means of getting one's attention." Said a voice from up above. From a doorway of the office was the owner of the establishment; Azilis a Fallen Marauder of the former House of Devils. "So, you wanted to see me?" He asked them from up above. "Yeah." Yang replied. The fallen marauder nodded before shouting to all, "The next rounds on the house!" The patrons cheered and went to get their chosen poison. "Come up, lets see what you need." Gesturing them to come up.
As they followed the owner, they failed to notice a certain grey-haired human watching them. Taking a scroll out of his pocket, he called his boss. "Hey Cinder, you won't believe who just arrived." Said Mercury Black.
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On another portion of the Tangled Shore called Four-Horn Gulch, Weiss and Summer were hunting a Cabal Hunter.
"According to the Spider, the Cabal Centurian by the name of Garut Gra'am arrived shortly after the conclusion of the Red War as a hunter and trapper. He seeks out big game across the system and either displays them as a trophy or auction them off to the highest bidder. After the Spider's Palace was bombed by the Scorn, he rose as a contender for the throne." Weiss said reading the dossier. "Looks like we will be going hunting." Summer said bringing out her Legendary Class sniper rifle called; A Single Clap.
Deciding to forgo going on sparrows, the two decided to go on foot. Scanning the ground, Summer looked for footprints to their quarry. It was Weiss who spotted the footprints.
Summer knelt on the ground and scanned the footprints. "These are at least an hour old at least." Summer said. "Right. You can tell by how faded they look due to the dust blowing over them. Since there's barely any wind here, footprints would take a long time to fade away." Weiss said looking about. Summer got up to her feet and looked at her. "That's correct. You learn that in Beacon?"
"Some of it from before the whole Vex Invasion. The rest was from Byf's class on tracking enemies." Weiss replied. Beacon does have classes to teach students on how to track targets, both Grimm and human criminals. And after the Vex Invasion on Remnant with the introduction to Guardian Byf's classes, their skills in tracking their quarry went up significantly.
A rumbling beneath their feet could be felt. Both Weiss and Summer readied their weapons for a fight. Summer squinted her eyes and saw a dust cloud coming their way. Bringing up her sniper rifle, she spied what was causing it. Grabbing Weiss, she jumped down into a ditch and squashed herself against the walls.
"What are you…mmmff." Weiss tried to say before Summer's hand clamped on her mouth. She brought a hand to her own face and made the quiet gesture. Both looked up and watched as the dust cloud approached. Hundreds upon hundreds of Scorn ran by them
Thanks to Spider's intelligence, they got a full understanding of the Scorn and what types there were. Right now, there were dozens of the Ravagers with their chain lanterns and headless bodies somehow still alive; fifty of the Wraiths which wielded flaming clubs in all four hands; seven hulking Abominations; and finally, the remaining were the crawling Screebs that will suicide charge you before blowing themselves up.
On her own, Summer could have handled that many, but with Weiss, not so much. So, the two watched silently as the large group passed them by until the sounds faded away. Seeing the coast was clear, both Summer and Weiss looked to the ground. What footprints they could have followed were destroyed by the charging Scorn.
"The Scorn destroyed whatever trace of that Cabal. Another reason why I need to put a bullet in that Awoken douchebag prince's head!"
"Colorful, but not all's lost. Garut Gra'am is a trapper…a hunter, right? We don't need to find him. All we need is for him to come to us." Weiss said, an idea forming in her head.
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Four Horn Gulch was quiet save for the screams of Scorn carried on the winds. Garut Gra'am moved silently against the walls of the gulch, his armor adorned with camouflage he acquired from the black market on the Shore. With the fragmentation of the Red Legion, no one noticed him leaving to make a name for himself out here. And what a name he made!
Using his knowledge of his hunting days on Torobatl well before enlising in the military, he managed to bag himself quite a few specimens for the right bidder. He caught a pack of golden Warbeasts for the exiled Emperor Calus, an Ogre from the sect of Xivu Arath for a kingpin on Remnant for his fight pits, several rare birds on Nessus for an Agent of the Nine, and five Guardians for a Hive Wizard on the moon. He shook the dead ghosts around his neck in remembrance of those hunts. All those hunts he made gave him enough credibility to be a contender as the new head honcho of the Tangled Shore. And right now, to cement his claim, he was after an albino Warbeast.
He honestly never heard of such a thing, for the Warbeasts come in either red, purple, gray or gold. Never pure white. And yet, he heard from some vendors that there was one spotted in this region.
He found the prefect spot and set up shop, kneeling on the ground and waiting for the perfect moment. Minutes dragged on, yet he stood still and waited. That's when he saw it! A pure white Warbeast ran across the field, seventy five feet away! He adjusted the sights on his gun and looked down the sights. It was a beauty alright! Pure white scales, piercing blue eyes. His fingers went to the trigger.
So keen on his target, he didn't notice the sniper across from him aiming right at him until the echo of the shot sounded. He slumped down with a bullet in his eye, dead.
The albino Warbeast looked to where the shot impacted before dissipating, the snowflake glyph below it remaining just a bit before it too vanished.
The owner of the sniper rifle, revealed to be Summer looked to the architect of their plan. "That was good thinking Weiss. How's your aura?"
Weiss lowered her weapon and checked her scroll. Seventy percent remaining. It was her idea on using her Semblance to summon a construct of a Warbeast and have it gallop around the place for a short time. All summons that took the form of foes long beaten would look white no matter what they looked like originally. She knew that word would eventually get around about it being sighted and as a trapper and hunter, Garut Gra'am wouldn't resist it. "Alright. Let's head back to Spider." She said watching as Summer emptied the cartridge before loading new rounds in.
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Deep in the Spider's safehouse, both Ruby and Savek were hard at work making weapons. Turns out, Savek had blueprints upon blueprints of weapons she made in her spare time. From pulse rifles to even bow and arrows. That last one was based off of a weapon that a famous Awoken woman had that the Eliksni still tell tales of.
Right now, Ruby and Savek were working on a grenade launcher called Edge Transit. Made out of some spare parts, they were hard at work creating their seventh version. Ruby using her expertise assembled the weapon while Savek welded them together. After the creation process, they went to the range to test out the firing mechanism. That's to Spider's forethought, a weapons testing area was made in all of his safe houses in such an event to either have those in his employ to either practice firing or test out a new weapon. Both Ruby and Savek came to the range and readied the weapon. Putting protective covering over their heads, they aimed the weapon. Giving a thumbs up to her fellow weapon enthusiast, she pulled the trigger.
With six THUMPS, the projectiles fired towards the target and impacted it. With a large explosion, smoke filled the room. Coughing from the smoke, they waited for it to clear. They saw that the target was semi-intact with everything around it destroyed. Ruby frowned down at the weapon. "Seems the accuracy on this is still off. Maybe if we adjusted the sights and the barrel…" She continued as she and Savek went back to the workbench to work on it more.
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Yang and Blake followed their host into his office overlooking the club. Within the room were banners and trophies on the walls and shelves. The banners being from House Dusk and devils with the latter being more in abundant.
"A reminder of where I began. One should always know where they started to reach where their going." Azilis said as he made his way to a desk and sat behind it, gesturing them to sit across from them. They took their seats.
"So, what can I do for the two members of team RWBY, led by the daughter of Summer Rose?" He said that last bit with a bit of a growl. Both Yang and Blake looked to one another slightly. "You've heard of us?" Blake asked. "Oh yes. When word got out that Summer Rose had a daughter in her past life, that got a lot of attention out here. So, I'll ask you again, what do you need?" He asked.
It was Yang that responded. "A certain individual told us that you have a certain something that could help us. A certain Spider…" Azilis four eyes widened just a bit before leaning back in his chair. "Oh yes, I do." He said gesturing to the top shelf where numerous items resided. Some were weapons and armor from numerous species. But the one that stood out was a small golden and blue lamp with puffs of blue smoke coming out of the top. Both Yang and Blake knew that this was the Relic of Knowledge based off the description the Spider gave them.
"The Spider had brought this relic to my club every so often, having me hold it for him, then having one of his minions reclaim it, send it somewhere else. Then a couple of weeks later, send it back to me. And when I do have it, I wonder why its so important to the Spider. He has me hold some of his most valued trinkets, yet with this one bauble, he has it transferred from one place to another. Why? You wouldn't happen to know the answer?" He squinted his eyes at them. Blake and Yang looked to one another from the corner of their eyes wondering what to say, however fate intervened when a noise from the club down below.
Azilis got up from his seat and went to the window. Just as he arrived at said window he ducked when the decapitated body of a Cabal Colossus crashed through the window. Blake tackled Yang to the ground as the body came right towards them and crashed into both the desk and the shelves, sending the contents onto the floor. Blake recovered, and noticing that her face was directly into the valley that was Yang's cleavage quickly got up, hiding her blush. All three of them got up and looked at the chaos down below.
It was chaos down below in the club. Patrons flipping over tables and using them as cover, shooting at those attacking them. Some managed to quickly run to the doors and escape, and what was left remained on the floor dead. The attackers: the Scorn led by the hulking figure that was Reksis Vahn the Hangman!
The hulking brute of the Scorn Barons swung his flaming chain sending patrons flying to their deaths, shrugging off the shots from patrons defending themselves. Black blood dribbling from his chin as he swung his weapon, the reason why there was now a headless Cabal Colossus apparent. Swarming around his legs were Scorn of the Screeb and Raider variety. Screebs charging at the patrons and exploding, sending bits of themselves and their victims all over the club. Raiders using their makeshift guns cobbled together from junk firing back. The hulking Reksis Vahn saw a servitor cowering in the corner and grabbed it, lifting it over his head before spitting it in half with his strength. The servitor wailing in agony as the Ether within bathed the Hangman as he laughed at its demise.
"You bastard! You know how much it costs for a servitor!?" Azilis shouted bringing up his own weapon to shoot the scorn, protecting his club. Yang, seeing their chance to get the relic without any hassle, ran to grab the relic. However, she stopped in her tracks when buckshot impacted the floor in front of her. She turned and saw a face she hadn't seen in a long while.
"Hey blondie, miss me?" Mercury Black said standing in the doorway.
Yang frowned at the man before her.
Mercury Black, a member from a huntsmen team sent from Haven Academy during the Vytal Festival some years back. That was before the Vex Invasion of Remnant. Before Summer Rose uncovered evidence that he was part of a group bent on destroying Beacon Academy and creating strife between the kingdoms. Him and his team were now wanted individuals from not only Remnant but the Vanguard as well. Word was that during the Red war these two and their boss, Cinder Fall made a mess in Atlas before fleeing to parts unknown. Looks like he and by extension, his team found a place on the Tangled Shore.
"You've got some nerve showing yourself here!" She said cocking her gauntlets. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." He said pointing behind her. Yang turned briefly, her eyes widening. She saw Blake with a blade to her throat, courtesy of Mercury's partner, Emerald. The green-haired woman had her weapon at Blake's throat. Yang tried to wrap her mind around how Emerald got past her and behind Blake. "Don't blow out what few brain-cells you got. I've trained a lot since the last time we saw one another." Emerald said gesturing to behind Mercury. Yang's eyes widened when a second and third Emerald appeared on either side of him.
Yang recalled from the info regarding these two that Emerald had a semblance that created hallucinogenic illusions. "Which one's the real Emerald? Is she to my left, my right, or behind your friend about to give her a neck-smile?" Mercury smirked tossing the relic in his hands. "Right now, we've got what we've came for, so we are going to walk out of here, you stay there, and we'll let your friend go, alive." He said as the Emerald behind her walked around Yang, Blake in toe as they joined alongside Mercury. "And just to be sure that we're serious, and your friend doesn't get any funny ideas on using her own semblance." Without looking, the Emerald that had Blake at knife-point made a small scratch to her neck, aura flashing before a small drop of blood appeared. "Bastards!" Yang shouted knowing that any violence she brought about, Blake would suffer. "You like? Emerald here had some Hive cleaver lined across her blades. One of the very few things that could penetrate aura." Mercury explained.
Yang recalled from her class with Guardian Byf as he explained that Hive swords and cleavers were some of the very few things that could penetrate aura. Something to do with hive magics or something. Yang knew that these two were serious.
Mercury and the three copies of Emerald along with their hostage walked backwards out of the room, eyes on Yang. Just as they crossed the threshold, the one with Blake in her grasp, kicked her towards Yang. The blonde caught Blake just as the three copies and Mercury ran towards the exit.
Mercury and the three Emeralds ran through the club, the fight still going on. Right now, their only goal was to get out with the Relic and head to the hideout with Cinder. They made it almost to the door before a stray shot from a Cabal Legionnaire his Mercurys foot sending him forward, the Relic falling out of his hands. It landed and rolled on the floor. One of the Emerald copies went to grab it, only for several dozen Relic appeared, burying the original. She looked up before the flaming ball and chain that Reksis Vahn wielded smacked her in the face to a bloody pulp. Her body flying before fading away.
The real Emerald clenched her head as her copy vanished along with the other one. While her semblance evolved to the point in creating numerous illusions that looked real to all, the downside was that she could still feel the pain of one. However, the benefits far outweighed the bad.
"Oh, me oh my! Which one's the real one? Heh-heh-heh!" A voice from up above. The two looked up and it was two other members of the Scorn Barons; Kaniks the Mad-Bomber and the trickster Arakses. "Indeed, my brother in arms, which is the real relic of Knowledge, and which is a bomb?!" Arakses shouted from above them. The two jumped down and stood in the doorway of the exit. "Is it this one in our hands, or the ones in the pile?" She shouted lifting what looked like the Relic of Knowledge in her claws. She turned and looked to the hangman who was still having fun killing. "Oh hangman! We've got what we need." She stopped seeing the Hangman grab several servitors and place them in a large cage around his waist. "And it looks like you've got some new toys to play with! Let's get out of here!" She shouted.
The Hangman had heard his sister and with a final swing of his chain in the club, he turned to the two and charged out the doorway, destroying it. Kaniks and Arakses clung to his large body as they bid farewell.
Mercury and Emerald gritted their teeth as they grabbed one of the Relics on the floor. The second their fingers brushed against one, it turned into a bomb and exploded in their face. Luckily, it was a web bomb which created a field where they were slowed to a crawl. Unlucky for them the second one blew up, the others blew as well.
Having seen the three Barons run off with the relic, Blake and Yang ignored the two and ran out of the club. They made it out and saw Reksis Vahn run in one direction, while seeing Kaniks and Arakses on the back of a Fallen Pike go in another direction. Yang saw that the former had the Relic around his waist, while Blake saw the latter two with it in their claws.
Two questions ran through their heads:
Which one do they follow, and why do they need the Relic?
