RWBY: Dual Eclipse
Author: Master C.V.G.
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
Scene Change
Chapter 29: Revelations
"For Lady Kurosugi!"
The TDF Fleet and Replica Yoshitsuna were coming under fire by a sizeable armada of varying ships - small fighters, fairly large cruisers, and what looked like satellites that launched swarms of lasers.
"How did Kurosugi get this many followers?!" Brutus locked the Yoshitsuna's weapons onto many of the larger cruisers, firing off what artillery was available. Mita, in the meanwhile, was doing everything she could to keep the ship steady.
"Wish I could tell you!" Aika retorted over the comms line as her own ship rocked from the incoming gunfire. "Return fire!" She ordered her troops to counter-attack.
"This is why I dislike fanatics." Zio groused as he tried to focus Star magic onto the smaller crafts. He did his best to aim for the center of whatever cluster of ships he could locate, trying to ensure that one spell could cause a destroyed vessel to crash into another one, causing a domino effect.
York was keeping on his toes... erm, peg-legs, as he lead Tia and Tarma in repairing any major damage the enemy fleet managed to inflict.
The ship suddenly rocked violently as alarms blared.
"What the?" Mita brought up a diagnostic display of the ship, finding two new foreign objects within the right wing... and several life signs were deploying from them. "Ramsleds! We've been boarded!"
"Leave 'em to us!" Raphael took Hilde and Zotia with him to repel the intruders.
Ruby Rose's Heart
Unknown Time
"Mom?!" Ruby was, for lack of a better descriptor, stunned beyond belief at what she was bearing witness to.
Summer Rose, her mother long believed dead, was here... somehow.
"Is this real? No way this can be real, I mean..." Ruby's mind was making a valiant attempt to make sense of this. "Maybe I've been studying too hard?" Sadly, it wasn't working. "Yeah, maybe that's it!-"
Her thoughts were immediately interrupted by a playful, yet strong flick to her forehead.
"Owies!" Her hands immediately went to her forehead.
"This is no hallucination, Ruby." Summer gently chided her daughter.
"But... how? Why?"
"As for why, I'm not fully certain. As for how..." She made a sweeping gesture to their surroundings, "..it seems that Mr. Raoul's machine was able to channel my spirit."
"How, though?! You just don't contact the dead like that! This is like that one movie Yang brought home!"
"Believe me, even I don't fully know how or why this is happening, but that can wait. We've got business to attend to."
"Huh? Like what?"
"Your eyes, for one." That caught Ruby's attention. "I'm certain Ozpin drew attention to your eyes..."
Ruby nodded, noting that her mother went rather silent.
"Mom?"
"...honestly, I should be waiting for you to be older, to get more experience before I teach you this... but time is not on our side."
"What do you mean?"
"...something is very wrong with the world, Ruby. I'm not certain what it is yet, but something tells me Remnant is not what it should be..."
The sounds of growling could be heard outside the house, putting Ruby on alert.
"What was that?! That sounded like a Beowolf, but how could they-"
"Close, but not quite. Looks like they've found us." With that, Summer got up from her seat and motioned for Ruby to follow her. Still a bit confused by all of the recent events, she followed closely.
Outside of the house... to say that a lot of Grimm had approached would be the understatement of the day, if these creatures really were Grimm. However, Ruby had yet to understand that concept, so upon seeing the horde she had immediately whipped out Crescent Rose.
"Why are there Grimm here?!"
"These... aren't quite Grimm." Summer explained, getting a rather confused stare from her daughter. "But defeating them all the same will yield something interesting."
Ruby blinked, not quite comprehending what her mother meant by that statement. Still, if these things were like the Grimm, then getting rid of them could only be of assistance, right? Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained, as her father would say.
The Grimm horde saw the young huntress-in-training preparing to attack, and so readied themselves to do the same.
Around the same time, Glynda found herself wandering through the nigh-endless thicket of trees, when she heard growling, a familiar sound of many of the Grimm. Her hand went to grab her riding crop, but when she heard the sounds of battle beginning to grow she immediately took off for the source.
Dr. Oobleck's Class
12:53 P.M.
Yang was starting to find herself getting a little too antsy. While she was able to keep pace with the Doctor's ramblings at nigh-inhuman speeds, her mind was squarely focused on Ruby.
While Ruby had been called to Ozpin's Office before, it usually pertained to her duties as team leader. But this time, it apparently centered on her recent dreams and how they were impacting her performance...
She couldn't quite wrap her head around it - from what Ruby had described to her in private, it was more like either a fever dream, which was unlikely as the Beacon Nurse had noted Ruby to be quite healthy, or some kind of nightmare.
Maybe it was due to her lunch habits? She did tend to ingest a bit too much sugar, even if training and Aura use burned through the calories at a record pace.
Lilac-colored eyes quickly flicked upwards to where Oobleck was currently gesturing wildly around a map, depicting the lower half of Sanus. She did her best to listen in, trying to catch enough of a clue as to what he was teaching so that she could deflect some amount of suspicion if he called on her to answer.
As always, Weiss was listening with rapt attention, keeping her notes for class up-to-date. Blake, by contrast, looked a bit on the uncomfortable side, as if she'd been sitting down far too long... in fairness, Oobleck was known to go off on tangents, albeit nowhere near as bad as Port's.
She was only able to see JNPR out of the corner of her eye, and she'd put Lien down that they were in a similiar situation to her own team, minus their leader being called away. Nora had an nigh-endless amount of energy, and while Jaune was improving in his combat ability, he still tended to get a bit distracted during class.
Ruby Rose's Heart
Unknown Time
As Ruby sliced and diced her way through the hordes of Grimm-like Subconscious, she felt something odd beginning to pass. Every enemy slain, every swing she made to slay them... it was like the haze she had felt over the past few days began clearing up, bit by bit.
With a mere glance she knew where to hit the enemy to inflict even more damage, where to angle it further for the most efficient strike - in a few cases, she tore right through a few in a single swing!
Almost as if on instinct, she dodged an attack that was about to come at her head from a blind spot. Flipping forward to dodge, she brought her boot up to smash one of the Grimm-shaped subconscious in its chin, staggering it considerably. One swing later and the handle of her scythe caught it right in its face, sending it down to the ground.
Ruby couldn't put it into words - she felt amazing, alive... like her training was being accelerated several fold. A new idea began to creep into her mind.
The ghost of Summer Rose simply remained near the back, watching as her daughter continued to improve. Not a single one of the Grimm even seemed to notice her, instead focusing on going after Ruby.
After about another minute, the horde of Grimm-like Subconscious finally dispersed, slain by her scythe. With the danger passing, Ruby put Crescent Rose away.
"Well done." Summer spoke up, catching Ruby's attention.
"Mom - what just happened? I feel... incredible, like I just jumped way ahead in my training!" Excitement welled in her voice as she turned to regard her ghost-mom, not even caring anymore about the increasingly odd situation. "Like, did you see that flip!"
Little did Ruby realize that as she poured her heart out to her ghostly mother, the world around her was slowly starting to regain trace amounts of color - the trees, the bushes, her house...
At the same time, Glynda found herself entering a small clearing... a stump lay nearby, as did a house. She looked up, and upon sighting Ruby, went to call to her, only to stop as she sighted the other character. Her blood began to run cold, and for a moment she wasn't certain if her eyes were deceiving her. She blinked, she rubbed her eyes, she even took a moment to clean her glasses... but no, her eyes were not deceiving her.
Against any and all odds, Summer Rose was here... but how? Why? Part of her wanted to imagine it was a facet of Miss Rose's mind, much like how Ozma was in Ozpin's mind-
"Glynda!" What snapped the Headmistress from her thoughts was the excited call from Summer... followed up by the ghostly woman speeding over to deliver a tackle-hug, only to then pass through the Headmistress. "Oh, whoops. Kinda forgot about that."
Ruby was trying to hold back a laugh, whilst Glynda was stunned, confused, and generally weirded out by the recent events... not to mention that when Summer passed through her, a slight wave of cold came with it.
Meanwhile...
"Hm?" Ozpin suddenly stopped, looking off in another direction.
"Ozpin?" Nelius had noticed the Headmaster's behavior. "Something going on?" A hand went back to grasp the handle of his axe.
"...thought I heard something - I figured we might've gotten close to figuring out this situation. I begin to think I was merely hearing things."
"What kind of things?"
"Like an old friend... but one that passed away years ago."
"Given this is Ruby's heart... I'm willing to bet you mean her mom, Summer." Ozpin nodded, confirming Epsilon's guess.
Right before Ozpin could say more, the ground began to loudly shift, catching their attention.
"What in the..." Before the Headmaster's very eyes, the trees began to part, almost as if gliding through the soil to create a path forward. "...I'm not seeing things, am I?"
"If you are, then this is one hell of a mass hallucination."
"No telling what might lay ahead. Let's proceed carefully." Nelius warned as they set off for wherever the path would lead them. After about two minutes of walking, a small clearing could be seen ahead of them...
"Glynda!" What sounded like an older Ruby could be heard coming from ahead of them. Upon arrival, they could indeed see Glynda, and - was that a woman in white passing through her?! "Oh, whoops. Kinda forgot about that."
Hold on, if Ruby was over by the house, then who... Ozpin blinked, just to make certain he wasn't seeing things. When his vision remained unchanged, he decided to wipe his glasses.
"Summer?" He tentatively asked, mostly to make certain this wasn't merely one of Ruby's memories. When the woman in white looked directly at him, his initial doubt began to dissipate.
"Hello again, Headmaster... though this isn't exactly how I'd imagine greeting you again." Hearing Summer's voice again, after so many years... to Ozpin, it felt like a punch in the chest.
"I'm not seeing things, am I?"
"Nope~"
Mantle Clinic
3:46 P.M. Atlesian Time
"Faded, my boy! Good to see you again!" Stepping out from behind a desk was an elderly man with greying brown hair and dark skin. He was clad in a red vest worn over a cream-colored shirt with a pink bowtie. His pants were a mustard color, held up by a red-brown belt, and leather boots. A green cap sat atop his head.
As the man moved out from behind the desk, it was clear he was sitting in a mobile chair, held aloft by four mechanical legs.
"Um, hello again, Doctor Polendina..." The young child, now identified as Faded, silently greeted the enthusiastic doctor.
"Now now, after all you've helped out with my work, no need to be so formal." Doctor Polendina then turned his attention to the trio that brought Faded in. "And as for you, I doubt the dictionary has the proper words to express my gratitude."
"Think nothing of it." Ten-Threads replied. "That said, it was Adamine who pointed out the altercation." He gestured to the redheaded member of their group, whom simply gestured over to their green-haired companion.
"Yet it was Abellio who took on the brunt of the issue."
"...I know what it's like to be in his position." He simply stated, though Faded felt his own blood run a bit cold hearing such a statement.
'A big guy like him... used to be like me?' Faded wasn't quite able to imagine a situation where the 6'7" man made of muscle could end up being a - then it hit him as his eyes started to widen.
"Papa, I'm home~" A female's voice could be heard from behind the trio, whom turned around to see a young redheaded girl in a gunmental gray dress. Aquamarine eyes had first focused on the trio, then to the man she called her father, before...
"! Young Faded!" In what could only be described as an anime-style Flash Step the redhead bolted over to Faded and in one unnaturally fluid motion picked the child up and began to deliver a hug to him. "Oh it is so joyous to see you again!"
Faded, however, wasn't quite able to return the sentiment, on account of the redhead's hug being a bit more akin to a death grip. Much as he tried his best to flail, her grip on him was simply beyond his current strength to break free of.
"Penny, dear, you might want to lighten up on the affection." Doctor Polendina advised, which caused Penny to immediately loosen her grip.
As Faded tried to regain some amount of feeling in his everything, Adamine was doing her best to restain a chuckle.
TDF Drydock 19
Unknown Time
Scattered throughout the universe were several TDF stations, used as multipurpose hubs - information, bounty turn-ins, rest stops, the list could stretch onwards for a while. The Yoshitsuna and Aika's fleet settled into the docks.
With a simple heave, Raphael tossed seven more of Kurosugi's devoted into one of the ramsled interiors, which was currently being used as a makeshift prison for the would-be assailants. Counting the ones already inside, this particular pod was housing about fifteen total people, an assortment of random demons and humans.
"That ought to be the last of them." Stepping back, he allowed the machinery of the TDF to carefully extract the intrusive pod, opening a hole in the ship's side. After a few seconds, multiple TDF mechanics began to get to work on repairing the damage, with York and Mita helping oversee repairs to the Yoshitsuna.
Repairs were estimated to take about five to six hours, which gave the ship's inhabitants some time to spread out and gather some supplies alongside information.
Raphael, Hilde and Zotia were giving a testimony regarding the repulsion of the invaders. Zio, in the meantime, had found another of his kin, and was trading some spell ideas.
The pods were being delivered to a holding block, where the invaders would be detained for individual questioning once they regained consciousness.
"It's like dealing with an infestation..." One of the TDF officers, himself a halfling-demon, groused. "Take in ten of 'em for questioning, a hundred more pop up in their place. Still boggles the mind how Kurosugi has this many faithful."
"One of the great Netherworld Mysteries, m'boy." A senior officer, a young human woman with clear mechanical limbs, stated in response. "Either way, a report from the Underworld should be coming in soon to confirm what Admiral Aika reported."
"Might not be professional of me to state, but I hope it's true that Kurosugi is done for. I still remember going through the reports of her prior activities... and they say demons are depraved."
Ruby Rose's Heart
Unknown Time
"...how?" Ozpin couldn't help but ask. "How are you speaking with us?"
"I'd say it's thanks to his machine." Summer pointed over to Nelius. "Regardless, it does let me pass on a message."
"That being?"
"As I told Ruby, something is wrong with Remnant, and that wrongness is what let me communicate with you all."
"Wrong how, though?" Nelius asked, not knowing how much time they'd have left. While he had used a fresh Lighting Crystal for fuel, there was no telling how much of it had been used by this point.
"That is what's been tripping me up... it's like the answer's there, right in front of my face, yet any attempt to grasp it slips through my fingers."
Without warning, the general air around the group began to distort, as if seeing bursts of static on a screen.
"Oh dear... seems my time is coming to a close for now."
"B-but, I finally-" Ruby hadn't even gotten to begin when Summer gently placed a finger on the young Huntress's lips.
"We will meet again, Ruby - that I can promise you. For now, return to Beacon."
Everyone's vision went white, before they were returned to Ozpin's office.
Chapter 29 - Complete