Somewhere in the Tangled Shore
Reksis Vahn, the Hangman ran through the streets of the few dwellings of the Tangled Shore.
The gigantic member of the Scorned Barons ran with a destination in mind. That destination being Quitter's Well; a place that was considered a dump compared to the other dwellings on the Tangled Shore, but not by much. For the few that had come from Remnant that lived on the Tangled shore, they would compare it to the seedier places within Mantle or Vacuo.
He went deeper down below, having to crouch in places where pipes jutted out of the rock. He passed dwellings fit only for the most desperate of beings. Several of which he passed, but they wisely kept silent or hid from him.
Soon, he arrived in Quitter's Well. He passed several cages containing Servitors of House Dusk, Spider and a few houseless ones. Said servitors wisely retreated further into their cages as he passed. Reksis Vahn licked his teeth in anticipation of having some fun!
He approached a few empty cages and reaching down to some of the cages near his waist, he grabbed the servitors he grabbed from the Empty Tank and tossed them in. The servitors hovered within and gazed around them. Despite them being machines, they knew where they were and felt fear. While he knew that some of them were kept alive till his brother, the fanatic got a hold of them, he could still have some fun with a few of them. Wishing to demonstrate what he had planned; he went to one of the cages. His eyes passing several, he found just the right one.
Opening the cage, he quickly grabbed the servitor and brought it out.
This servitor was Kaliks-14, of the House Wolves. Possibly the last of the servitors of that house before the remnant of it merged into the mega house that is House Dusk.
Setting his ball and chain down, he gripped the servitor with both hands and brought it up over his head. With his strength he pulled. Metal groaned and the servitor screamed feeling itself torn in two different directions. With a shout, Reksis Vahn tore it in half, bits of metal and ether fell on top of the Scorned Barons head. He brought his face up and breathed it in along with the fear of the many servitors within their cages. As the light dimmed in the servitor, he tossed it into a corner alongside a pile of similar servitors that had suffered the same fate.
But he was still hungry for more fun!
He turned to one of his newer acquisitions and reached towards one.
Only to get a fireball to the back of his head. He stumbled back and turned to the source. Said source stepped out of the shadows revealing a young woman with dark hair and a red dress.
"You have something that belongs to me beast!" Cinder Fall said gesturing to the small blue and gold Relic attached to his waist.
After losing the chance of gaining the Winter Maidens abilities during the Red War, Cinder was punished by Salem for disobeying her order of not doing anything during the Red War. After said punishment, Cinder along with Emerald and Mercury were sent to the Tangled Shore to find the Relic of Knowledge, for Ozpin had given said relic to the Spider for safe keeping. Nearly a year planning to get the relic, almost wasted by the coming of these Scorned Barons and their Scorn. However, the situation at the Empty Tank provided them the means of getting the relic, only for it to fall in the hands of the hulking Scorned Baron in front of her. Having kept at a distance and watching, she will deal with this one herself.
Reksis Vahn looked to what she was pointing. His fellow Barons Kaniks and Arakses gave him this relic as he ran. He picked up his ball and chain, the ball bit bathed in flames. Looks like he has a new toy to pay with.
Reksis Vahn swung his ball and chain around and around, the ball catching fire before slamming it onto the ground. The impact sent a pillar and wave of flame right at her.
Smirking, she waved her hand and the wave went right to her hand before she sent it back at the baron. Not blinking, he swung his weapon again and reabsorbed again. Seeing the stalemate between them, Reksis Vahn was the one to change tactics. He charged at Cinder swinging his weapon. As he got closer he swung down. His weapon impacted her head, but the rest of her faded. Looking around in confusion, he didn't see the arrows impact the side of his head.
Reaching for one, he pulled one out and inspected it. Another took its place. He turned and saw Cinder with a smirk on her face, a bow and arrow in her hands. He began to swing his weapon again, but more arrows impacted his body. Turning to the source, he saw another Cinder. And another to his left. And another, and another.
Reksis Vahn's eyes narrowed in recollection. His fellow Baron, Pyrrah the Rifleman had something similar in his arsenal. A method to create copies of himself allowing him not only to hide from enemy snipers, but to fire from multiple directions. Either this woman had a similar ability or someone else is doing it for her.
He began to swing his weapon at his side, ignoring all of the arrows penetrating his skin, ignoring the pain. He long ago lost the means of feeling pain. Once it reached a certain speed, he brought the weapon above his head and swung the weapon around himself, letting lose a long enough amount of chain to hit all those around him. His weapon impacted the duplicates, each one fading from existence until his chain hit two of them. One of them was a girl with green hair and dark skin, the other was the real Cinder. Both fell and rolled to the side.
The Baron roared, the sound echoing through the complex. From the shadows, other flames appeared, ignited by the call of their baron. From the shadows, Scorn of the Ravager appeared. Each one headless, bodies covered in chains and flaming balls and chains in their hands, just like their Baron. With a silent command, they charged at the two. A few from the front got gunned down by Mercury Black who appeared from another part of the shadows. With a silent command of her own, Cinder sent out Emerald to join alongside him as the fall maiden went to deal with the Baron.
Manifesting obsidian blades of her own, she charged at the Baron.
With a roar, he brought the chain up to slam it down. Using her Maiden abilities, she flew up, dodging the flames and brought her blades across her and sliced away, ether leaking from the cuts. She then fell back to the ground and brought her blades against his legs, cutting them. Ignoring the cuts, he brought the chain down again, which Cinder dodged again.
She tried to think of a way to kill the Baron and take the relic from him. Slicing him didn't work. And he is skilled with flames. Her eyes scanned the place, her eyes landing on a huge pipe with warning labels on it. While she couldn't read the language, the red lettering and Eliksni skull on the side gave it away. The universal meaning of Danger: Explosive!
Meanwhile, Mercury and Emerald were back to back dealing with the Ravager Scorn. Mercury kicked one with his shotgun boots, as Emerald dual wielded her guns and killed them. She pointed to one of the lantern chains and fired. The explosion created a chain reaction and killed three more right next to the one that she killed. They found out that the lantern they carried was highly explosive when one imitated the Barons fighting style and attacked Mercury.
Back with Cinder, she was flying by the Baron and blasting him with another fireball. Shrugging it off, he swung again at her, but she dodged it. She drifted towards the pipe and stood there. Dismissing her blades and summoning her bow, she let loose more arrows as the baron approached.
While he enjoyed playing with his new toys, it was time for play to end and time to deal the final blow. Swinging his weapon again and again from his side, he walked slowly towards the human with her bow drawn. He then quickened his pace as he continued swinging, the human sending more arrows into his chest. He ignored them as he continued. Soon, his footfalls quickened and he jumped up then brought the weapon down upon her.
Cinder counted each of his steps as he approached her, still putting arrows into him. She then started counting down as his steps quickened. As he jumped up and brought his weapon down on her, she shifted her body to the side and used her Maiden powers to fly away. His weapon impacted the pipe and with a single spark, exploded. The explosion was so huge that it sent the gigantic Baron flying, body burning and shrapnel from the pipes piercing his body beyond even his resistance to pain. He fell to the ground with a grunt and didn't get back up, even with him still conscious.
Cinder went to the downed Baron and un-clipped the relic from his waist. Looking upon the relic, she could see her face reflected back, successful in her mission.
Only for the relic to explode into confetti with a party sound!
Her face plastered with confetti which she quickly summoned her flames to burn away, she turned as she heard the laughter of the downed baron.
She went to his face and kicked him in said face. "WHERE IS IT!" She screamed.
Reksis Vahn summoned what strength remained of him and looked her in the eye. "Brother and sister…mad bomber and trickster…have it." He grunted, his words reverberating on the walls, for he almost never spoke.
Cinder pointed her hand at his face and unleashed the full might of the Fall Maiden powers.
After ensuring all that remained was a charred husk, she fired another blast till there was nothing but ashes.
She then turned to her compatriots, both Emerald and Mercury having finished the last of the Scorn. Cinder summoned mini-tornadoes to finish off their bodies.
"We'll return to our base. Keep an eye out for those meddling huntsmen and the relic." She said as she passed them to leave this pit.
"What of them?" Emerald said pointing to the locked up servitors that looked upon the three.
Cinder turned to look back at the cowering machines in their cells. Memories of her past coming to the surface, locked up, afraid, despaired.
"Free them." She said, a bit of mercy surfacing before submerged again.
From the depths of Quitter's Well, numerous servitors emerged free to make their way back to the houses or to find a new life for themselves. All of them recording the fight between Cinder Fall and the Hangman of the Scorned Barons. As long as they are functioning, they will never forget their savior.
