Author's Notes:
-Hello readers. Needless to say, I got another chapter for you. As you have likely noticed, sometimes I make suggestions for music to listen to during certain scenes in brackets. If/when you go to listen to the music I have picked out, I'd advise you to go for the lyric version of the video so that the music starts immediately. (Fun fact- Originally, this chapter was going to be titled in homage to Linkin Park's song Breaking the Habit, but I decided to save it for later.)
-In unrelated news, the artists who created this song are stellar. If you haven't already, I would highly recommend checking out Lindsay Stirling and Lzzy Hale, who is the lead singer for the band Halestorm. (Seriously- they're both pretty awesome.)
Now then, let's pirouette in the dark, shall we?
Nora looked at her friends in horror. Ren was unconscious, Orville had been gravely injured trying to protect her, and now she was all alone. She bit her lip and tried not to cry. She couldn't afford to show any sign of weakness. Tyrian saw through it all. But instead of attacking her, he took pleasure in her torment for a few moments.
Gods help me, how can I fight him? Nora thought.
What was a woman to do when she knew the battle couldn't be won? The only thing she could- continue to fight no matter what. Surrendering to her rage, she took her hammer and charged towards Tyrian, crying out, "You monster!"
Tyrian, however, expected this. He dodged her downward swing, and as she swung her hammer side to side, he continued to evade her every move. She spun her hammer in a circle in an attempt to hurt him, but he ducked down under and kicked her down. The hammer was still in her hands as she was sent flying back-first into the wall. He approached her, kicking her down, and with his tail and hands, wrestled the hammer out of her grip and threw her against the wall. He soon pinned her right wrist down, only to get an electric slap from the left. Feeling the pain jolt through his left arm, he let go of her and received a swift kick to the shin.
The scorpion growled as he was knocked to the ground. However, he noticed Magnhild not too far from him. As Nora charged herself for more electric energy, he grabbed the valkyrie's weapon and used it against her. Swinging the hammer, Nora found herself shocked as she dodged his swings.
She was soon knocked through the wall of a nearby home. The family living there, consisting of two adult women and one girl about eight years old, looked in shock, and as Tyrian entered, horror as the two resumed their battle. The civilians fled as Tyrian tossed aside the hammer. He advanced, and Nora was slashed in the right shoulder by Tyrian, cutting off part of her black vest. She tried to punch him, but he blocked her fist and twisted her arm, causing her to scream in pain. He grabbed the other part of her vest to try and restrain her, but she eventually broke free, tearing the vest. He threw the fabric aside and tackled her down, pinning her wrists with one arm as he proceeded to slash at her stomach, causing her to scream out in pain.
Nora, physically crying from the pain and her aura beginning to weaken, somehow found the strength to jab her assailant in the gut with her right knee, forcing him off her. She jumped up to put some distance between her and her attacker. She looked at her ripped white shirt that now exposed her midriff. She glared at Tyrian, trying to strike him in the chest with her electric hands, only for him to dodge her every move. With one last horizontal slash, she began to bleed from her right arm as her aura broke and she hit the wall.
The Little Valkyrie fell down and looked weakly at her opponent, her eyes beginning to blur.
I can't stop him. But hopefully, I can get someone who can.
As she laid there, she moved her right arm to retrieve her scroll, and pressed the emergency button. She then pressed the distress signal button and quickly typed in the names Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune Arc. She pressed the send button just as Tyrian hit her on the head with his right armblade, knocking her out. He stepped on her scroll, breaking it into pieces.
"Perfect. Now that they're down, no one can stop me."
He exited through the hole in the wall and went off to the nearby abandoned building to fetch Ruby from her hiding place.
Meanwhile, Jaune and Pyrrha had just finished taking the ambulance to the hospital. Once they made it to the emergency entrance, Apollo got the attention of the hospital workers and the injured Scarlatti Alliance members were whisked away to be treated for their broken legs.
"Alright. Hopefully we can catch a breath, and a break." Jaune stated. At that moment, both his and Pyrrha's scrolls violently vibrated. They got out their scrolls and gasped as they saw Nora's distress signal. "Oh no... Nora! Ren!"
Pyrrha looked saddened. "Something must have happened to them."
In the background, Apollo helped the hospital workers get the injured victims onto movable stretcher beds and rolled them into the emergency room. Jaune asked, "What do we do? There's still so many Grimm attacking and civilians in danger. If they couldn't stop him with Orville's help, we'd have to send more people, but they're still needed to save Aletheia. Who could stop that madman? And who could possibly face him alone?"
The masked heroine looked towards the village, still burning and crumbling to the ground, the fire reflecting in her eyes. "I'll stop him."
Jaune looked at Pyrrha with a look of fear in his eyes. "Pyrrha you can't." She turned back to her team leader as Apollo arrived back to the scene. "If the three of them couldn't stop Tyrian, how you would you stop him all by yourself?" She blinked and tried to hold back her tears. "I can't lose y..."
Without letting him finish his thought, Pyrrha put her hands to his face, grabbed him and kissed him. His eyes were wide open in shock before he returned the gesture, closing his eyes and throwing his arms around her waist. Her hands made their way to his neck and rested there as he deepened the kiss.
Jaune looked at her with an annoyed smile. "Was that just to shut me up?"
"Not entirely." Pyrrha stated. "Look, I know the last time I did this, I made a foolish decision. I never should have faced Cinder alone and if I hadn't done that, we wouldn't be in this mess. Last time I made a bad choice. But now that Ruby and everyone else is in danger, there's no choice. I have to fight Tyrian, and if we want to save this village and its people, I must go alone."
Apollo arrived back at the scene, asking the red-haired warrior, "Ms. Nikos, have you gone mad? Tyrian's bad news, really really bad!"
"I don't know much sanity I have anymore, but I would like to think that after being reminded that I was living a lie, that I'm somewhat better!" The red-haired warrior retaliated. "Also, Tyrian's not as dangerous as Cinder."
"But he's still dangerous!" Jaune exclaimed.
"I know, but there's no time. Head back to the village and stop the Grimm. Save as many civilians as you can. I'll use Nora's signal to track down our friends and stop that madman before he gets away."
The red-cloaked woman left without another word, and Jaune yelled behind her, "I hope you know what you're doing!"
Pyrrha barely heard his words as she ran into the city. She tried to dodge the fire and crumbling structures and ignore the cries of the citizens, no matter how much it hurt her. And it really hurt her.
She looked back at the scroll to confirm she was going in the right direction.
I just hope I'm not too late...
Back at the hospital entrance, Jaune stood there with a pout.
"I know you're concerned about her, but we can't stay." Apollo told him. "We must fight the Grimm, so back into the fray."
He gestured Jaune to come forth and the two went off to aid others in the village.
Back over in the western side of the village, Tyrian stood there with a smirk on his face as he carried his prize over his shoulder once again. Ruby looked at her unconscious friends and the poisoned Orville before giving a muffled gasp in fear.
"I must admit, aside from a few bumps in the road, this operation is going very smoothly." Ruby tried to scream, but her screams were still muffled. "Oh worry not, little flower. You will be spared the same fate as your teammates. Assuming they even live through the invasion." She screamed even louder yet still muffled.
"Leave her alone, Tyrian!" a familiar feminine voice called out.
The scorpion faunus turned to find Pyrrha standing there, much to his dismay. "Interference?! Aw, come on!"
Pyrrha glared at him. "I'm warning you- stand down, surrender and let her go- or I will have no choice but to deal with you myself!"
The traitor laughed. "Do you really think you stand a chance against me? Your teammates and Orville couldn't stop me, so what makes you think you could succeed where they failed?"
After a brief moment, she answered, "You kidnapped my friend, hurt my teammate friends and horribly injured a huntsman! You and your evil ways must be stopped!"
The madman smirked and set Ruby down. "Well, it's your funeral."
She charged towards the madman, who fired gunshots towards towards her. With Froidcoeur, she deflected those shots right off, and he came in towards her. Before the armblades could strike her, she lifted up her blade to intercept the attack. She used the ice dust in her sword to try and keep him at bay, she aimed ice dust waves at his feet, trying to freeze him in place. Unfortunately, he saw through her plan and jumped up as an ice spike formed at the base of the wall where he was standing. She did this twice before realizing he was too fast for her to freeze.
He landed on the ice spike she had formed, slid down and tried to slash at her, only for her sidestep as if it was nothing. The two traded a series of strikes and dodges before locking weapons. Seeing as they appeared to be evenly matched, Tyrian sought to tip the scales in his favor.
"Still playing the role of hero, are we, Ms. Gorlois?" He laughed for a brief moment. "How long are you going to keep up the act?"
The masked warrior glared at him. "What act?"
"Why, pretending to be Rouge Gorlois of course."
She stood her ground. "I'm not using the mask to be a hero!"
"Then why are you still wearing it?"
[cue music- Lindsay Stirling and Lzzy Hale-Shatter Me]
Pyrrha faltered, and it cost her.
Tyrian used the opportunity to knock her down and send her flying. She landed back first on the ground, with the traitor wasting no time in trying to finish her. As he tried to slash at her, she rolled back and jumped in the nick of time so that his right armblade hit the ground. He quickly lifted his arm up, digging the blade out of the ground and kicking up some dirt in the process.
Tyrian smirked. "Looks like I was right then; Pyrrha Nikos is a villain. You Rouge, are a liar!"
"No, that's not true!"
She threw more dust waves as he continued to taunt her. "Isn't it though? The Trojan Alliance sees you for the monster you are. They don't call you the 'Metalbending Murderess' for nothing."
Pyrrha's glare intensified and she swung her sword faster, creating a trail of ice patches on the ground. "I'm not a murderess!"
"Are you? The evidence is plain to see. The whole world knows what you are. They saw you tear her into pieces."
She charged forth in anger swinging her sword down at Tyrian, failing to get his chest, but succeeded in touching part of his right arm with the blade. He grunted in pain and fired shots from The Queen's servants. She backflipped into the air and time seemed to slow down as she thought, He's trying to break me. I can't let him.
Landing on her feet, she breathed in, trying to steady herself as Tyrian charged towards her again.
But at the same time, I fear he may be right. He barely dodged when he swung both armblades towards her. The question is to what end.
[first instrumental solo]
Back in the eastern side of Aletheia, Atum, Apollo and Surya were trying to fight the Grimm. In the background, Jaune was shown carrying a woman who appeared to be about six months pregnant in his arms to safety. He looked very concerned before he faded out of focus.
The camera switched back to the other members of team SOLR. Apollo fired ice arrows at the Grimm, freezing some Beowolves in place. Atum used the blade in his cook to slit their necks and cause them to disintegrate. Surya continued throwing golden balls of light at nearby Grimm.
How did my luck get to be so bad? Surya contemplated. How did our luck get to be so bad? Both my weapons are gone, and I can't keep up this game of blinding Grimm and waiting for my teammates to slay them forever.
Atum swung his crook like a sword, releasing fire dust to push back a Beowolf and an Ursa, but they didn't stay down. "There's too many of them!"
"We can't give up now!" Surya told them.
But who was he trying to convince? His teammates or himself?
The 'archery god' fired some normal arrows at the Grimm, piercing one of the immobilized Beowolves in its eye and the other in the skull, causing it to dissolve. Atum stabbed the Beowolf earlier in the throat, and as it dissolved, another one slashed at his arm and barely missed his face.
Apollo fired an arrow at a Nevermore, hitting it in the eye and causing it to fall to the ground.
Atum jumped up, ascending the fire escape stairs to build momentum, and shot himself upward to meet the Nevermore and slashed repetitively at it. The Grimm soon dissolved before it could fall down on any of the nearby buildings. Using a second spike at the curved end of the crook, he slowed his descent and landed on the ground.
He fired another arrow at a Beowolf, slaying it and reached in his quiver to get more before he realized... "Oh no... Woe is me and me is woe."
Surya looked to his comrade. "Apollo, what's wrong?"
"I'm out of arrows to use against our foes! And broken weapons only add to our woes!" Apollo put his bow on his back as he and Surya nervously put their fists up. They were surrounded by even more Grimm, and Atum was the only armed one left. "Well it looks like this might be where it ends. If so, I bid you farewell my friends."
"No. Not yet. Not today." Atum declared. He handed Surya his crook and Apollo his flail, who looked at him in shock. "Don't worry. I got this."
[after second chorus]
Atum began to glow with a bright orange-yellow aura surrounding his entire body as he activated his semblance. He punched the last foot-frozen Beowolf as it came free, knocking it into the wall of an abandoned home before punching it again, solar power destroying it. He looked at the sky- while the fight between the Scarlatti Alliance and team JNPR-Ruby had begun in the afternoon, the sun was just now beginning to set.
Once the sun sets I won't be able to absorb any more sunlight to power my semblance until next morning. So let's make this quick, before the sunlight and my aura runs out.
Out of nowhere, a shower of normal arrows rained down on the Grimm, causing many of them to cry out in pain and some even to be killed if they were fired at the right place. As the Grimm howled and/or dissolved, the huntsmen turned to find roughly twenty members of the Scarlatti Trojan Alliance standing there.
"Guys?" Surya blinked, throwing another golden ball of aura at the last remaining Grimm. "What are you doing here?"
"We came to help." the female archer spoke.
"I... I thought you ran away."
"Some of our members, including the veterans, fled for the hills." The policewoman fired her gun at the Grimm, a bullet hitting an Ursa right in the face. "But not us." She fired more rounds at the Grimm, knocking them down and even killing one of them. "We're here and we're ready to fight."
"You don't have to do this." Atum stated, punching an Ursa in the jaw, severely weakening it. "We trained you to fight Pyrrha, not creatures of darkness."
"But fighting against the spartan warrior is pointless." the policeman responded before firing another shot at a Beowolf.
"We thought we were doing the right thing. We all did." the female archer began. "But the truth is, we were played. Indirectly by Scarlatti and then directly by Tyrian. Now we have a chance to make things right. To be heroes."
Surya looked at his allies. "I... I can't thank you enough."
He threw a golden ball at another Grimm. The female archer handed Apollo a quiver full of arrows. "Here. Take these."
Apollo smiled and fired off arrows, then followed up by using Atum's flail to decimate the Grimm. Some of the Grimm started to retreat.
"Yes! They're leaving!" the female archer cheered.
Screams were heard from afar. "But the civilians are still in danger!" Surya warned.
"Don't worry." a female sword wielder stated. "We'll save them."
She and nine other Scarlatti Alliance members left the group in hopes of trying to save the civilians. Apollo barrel-rolled over to the 'red gem' leader as he fired off more arrows.
"This is a big gambit we're taking here." He looked at Surya's face. "Is that... a look of fear?"
"I know we've saved villages before, but we've never faced anything quite like this. I'm actually terrified what the outcome of this battle will be. I don't know if we can save this village from complete destruction, save a majority of its citizens from death or injury, stop all the Grimm, and stop Tyrian from getting away with Ruby." He fired another golden ball and checked his scroll bar for aura. He was in the yellow at 30%. "We need a miracle. But can we get one?"
[final verse]
Meanwhile, Pyrrha's fight with Tyrian raged on. The two dashed towards each other, swinging and locking blades with each other. Each one refused to give in. As Pyrrha gave an uppercut, Tyrian ducked below and tripped her with his tail. She rolled over to avoid the armblade aimed at her skull.
As the sun began setting, the light reflected and nearly blinded Pyrrha. Tyrian, taking note of this, grabbed a piece of broken glass about the size of his armblades and used it to reflect the light directly to her eyes. She groaned and put her hood up, while Tyrian grabbed Froidcouer from her grasp while she hasn't looking.
The masked heroine growled and attempted to retrieve her sword from his grasp, but he took her arm by both hands and threw her into the wall. Letting purple aura channel to his hands, he broke the sword and the ice dust fell to the ground. Tyrian took the ice dust and threw it at her, pinning her wrists and ankles to the wall.
She sadly gasped, believing she was going to be killed. However, instead of killing her, he ripped off her cloak with his bare hands and tossed it aside. Ruby sadly looked at her friend as her captor took off her mask.
"You're not the hero you pretend to be." Tyrian began. "You're a faker, a pretender! Well, guess what? You can't pretend anymore." He threw her mask to the ground and stomped on it with his left foot, smashing it into pieces.
The no-longer masked heroine sadly gasped and lamented silently, He's right... I have been lying. What kind of hero lies to everyone, including herself?
The scorpion faunus went back to Ruby, still bound and helpless to do anything, about to take her and run away. However, he looked back at his opponent with a sadistic smile on his face. "You know Pyrrha, originally I wasn't going to kill you, but you've stood in my path for far too long." He slowly approached Pyrrha, sharpening his blades. "You are a villain after all, and villains deserve to be punished."
Ruby shook her head, trying to get the rope off her mouth. Upon succeeding, she cried out, "No! That's not true! You know it's not true!"
Pyrrha looked down sadly, believing it was true and knowing it was the end. Upon looking down, her eyes darted to the duffel bag at her right hip. Her eyes went wide as as she realized...
Tyrian slowly approached her, and Pyrrha closed her eyes in concentration. Her hands, still trapped in the ice, were shown with a faint black outline barely seen. A downward slash from Tyrian's right arm.
"Pyrrha!"
Ruby closed her eyes, unable to watch her friend be killed.
[song ends]
After a moment of silence, she opened her eyes, fearing the worst. But when she did, she did not see Pyrrha stabbed in the heart. Instead, two swords of Floating Array were shown in an X formation to block Tyrian's armblade.
With the levitated swords, Pyrrha used her semblance to push back the scorpion. Then they were used to break the ice blocks on her hands and feet. After freeing herself, she took the blades in her hands and spoke, "I'm not a villain. I'm not even a lost cause. I am a hero, and you, Tyrian are a liar, faker and pretender." She fought the traitor, engaging in a sword-like duel. "I will admit that I've lied, to everyone, even myself. But I did it to protect myself, and by extension, my friends, from the wrath of the Trojan Alliance. I was tricked, framed, into hurting Penny Polendina, which still ails me terribly to this day. "
Tyrian locked his armblades with her new swords. "Then why do you have her weapons?"
"I was weaponless after Beacon's fall, and I needed something to defend myself with." She pushed him back. "When I found these blades, I made two promises on them." She swung them around as she spun herself in a circle, slashing Tyrian a few times in the process. "The first was to never use them on the innocent. You however are far from innocent." Pyrrha took the first two blades and held them above her with her right hand before using her opposite hand to receive the remaining seven swords in the bag, forming a row of swords pointing towards Tyrian. "The second was to find the people responsible for her death, and I won't stop until they are defeated!"
Pyrrha levitated the swords and threw them at Tyrian as if they were knives. He dashed and jumped back, dodging them all, only to be struck by the last one in the right arm.
He laughed at her. "Such noble intentions, but you don't even know who truly caused her demise."
"Actually I do." She gathered the swords together in the circle and spun them in front of her. "Mercury Black, Emerald Sustrai, and the one who orchestrated it all; Cinder Fall, who shall be killed for her crimes!"
The murderous madman gasped. Pyrrha took advantage of Tyrian's distraction, and used it to strike him down with a large green blast from her swords. He barely saw the beam coming and leapt out of the way just in time. The three Grimm roaming behind him, however, weren't so lucky and were immediately knocked down before dissolving.
With Tyrian taking a moment to catch his breath, Pyrrha soon broke the sword circle and freed Ruby with one of the swords.
Ruby cheered, "Wow! That was amazing! Oh, and thanks for saving me."
"You're welcome." She fired the swords at Tyrian, using two of the swords to pin him by the shirt and right pant leg to the wall, while three of them were nearby- one directly above his head, one to his left and the last to his right. "You should help Jaune save the civilians. I'll finish this treacherous rat off."
"But my weapon..." she began.
"You're right. It's dangerous to go alone- take this!"
Using her semblance, Pyrrha handed Ruby a folded up weapon, and she smiled as she unfolded Crescent Rose. "My baby!" She hugged her weapon. "Alright, time to kick some Grimm butt!"
Tyrian picked the swords and tossed them aside as Ruby used her semblance to speed away. "NO!" he screamed in anger and anguish. "You're going to pay for that!"
He fired at Pyrrha with the miniature guns in his left armblade while alternating to strike her from the right, but with her blades, she deflected every shot fired at her. Some of these shots even went back to him and he got hit by several of them, causing his right arm to briefly flicker with his purple aura. Upon realizing his strategy wasn't working, he growled and switched to firing both guns at her.
With her left hand, she used four of the swords to form two X's to deflect the gunshots away from her and with her right hand, used the other five as throwing knives against Tyrian. He dodged most of them, only to have his aura pierced against as he was struck in the left arm. She gathered up her swords and formed a sword circle around herself and spun herself and the swords in unison, firing the swords one after the other in rapid succession. Tyrian blocked the first sword by crossing his armblades, ducking under the second one, jumping up to avoid the third, but the fourth blade hit his right arm, breaking more of his aura. He dodged the fifth with a jump, ducked under the sixth and seventh, but didn't see the eight and ninth released simultaneously in the form of an X. With the X sword-lock, he was slammed into the wall and his aura shattered completely before lost consciousness.
Pyrrha stopped spinning and felt herself become very dizzy. She released her hold on the swords, letting them fall to the ground and hazily pressed her hand to the wall, trying to steady herself.
That was probably the craziest battle maneuver I've ever done. As well as that worked for Tyrian, I'm probably not going to do it again. Still, for the first real fight with these swords, not bad. she thought, trying to undo her dizzy spell. Looks like I'll need to figure out how to use Floating Array to its full capacity before facing Cinder.
As she gathered her thoughts, Jaune arrived at the scene.
"Pyrrha! Are you alright?! Where's Ruby?!"
"A bit dizzy from my finishing move, but otherwise I'm fine, and I already saved her and gave her back Crescent Rose."
"What about Ren and Nora?"
"Oh no, I totally forgot!"
Jaune ran ahead to check Ren's vital signs. Pyrrha fumbled her way over to Nora, gasping upon seeing her tattered shirt and missing vest. Still, she put her hand a few inches above Nora's mouth, feeling her breath on her fingers. Then she noticed the blood slowly dripping on her right arm and started looking in her purse for something.
"Ren's breathing, heart still beating." Jaune confirmed off-screen. "What about Nora?"
"Nora's alive, but it looks like she was assaulted and injured." Pyrrha got out some bandages and began to wrap Nora's arm. She then remembered... "What about Orville?"
Jaune went over to Orville and felt his pulse. "Oh no..."
"What is it?" Pyrrha asked off-screen.
"There's no pulse, no breath." He leaned into his chest. "His heart's not beating... He's..."
He couldn't bring himself to say it, but she knew what he meant. Pyrrha, no longer dizzy saw him, confirming the worst. "No..."
"How could this have happened?"
Free from her dizzy spell, she observed that Orville had not only dried blood on his abdomen, but also a purple substance as well. "I'll give you one guess." She pointed to an unconscious Tyrian.
He slowly began waking up and Pyrrha grabbed the remainder of the rope that was used to tie up Ruby. "Oh... My head..."
Before he could register what was happening, Pyrrha disarmed the scorpion faunus with a wave of her hand before lassoing him with rope and dragging him towards her. "Tyrian, you are under arrest." Pyrrha continued to wrap the rope around his arms as she glared at him angrily. "You are charged with murder, attempted murder, assault, abduction and arguable treason." She held onto the rope. "How do you plead?"
He cackled madly for a few moments, seemingly not bothered by his defeat. "Guilty as charged."
The spartan warrior glared at the criminal. "You're a sick, sick man. Now if I could just find the nearest police station to drop this psycho off at, that would be great."
"No need. We're already here." Two police officers appeared, with one carrying Tyrian's weapons.
As the first one put the weapons in the front of the car, he stated, "We heard reports of a man riding a Grimm and holding a teenage girl hostage." He looked around. "Where is she anyway?"
"She's free now, and helping to escort civilians to safety. I freed her during my fight with the convict."
The second one spoke, "Excellent, and good work defeating him. Is there anyone injured or dead?"
"I'm afraid so. Orville Odur, member of team SOLR, appears to have perished at his hands. I don't know how he was killed. In addition, our friends Ren and Nora have been knocked unconscious, with the latter sustaining significant wounds."
Jaune told them, "Their injures don't look serious and they're fortunately still breathing."
"Hmm." The police spoke through a walkie-talkie. "Requesting assistance. We have two injured trainees and a dead huntsman. I'm sorry about your friends, but we'd be happy to take this criminal off your hands."
"Thank you officers." She handed him to the officers as the second one came back. "Get this son of a biscuit eater outta my sight."
As Tyrian was dragged away, he proclaimed, "You may have won this battle, but you haven't won the war! I'll get even with you team Ruby-JNPR! Just you wait! You haven't seen the last of me!"
He was promptly shoved into a police car. The two cops then walked into the front seats of the car and took off. Pyrrha watched as the car faded into the distance.
Jaune put his hand to Pyrrha's left shoulder. "Pyrrha?"
She turned to face her beloved. "I feel like I should be happy, now that I've regained my wisdom and sanity, and defeated Tyrian, but... I can't." She looked at Orville's corpse. "Not when so many have died in the chaos, including Orville. Dare I say it feels like... a Pyrrhic victory."
"I wouldn't say that's entirely true. You prevented Nora and Ren from being killed, and saved Ruby from Tyrian. Ultimately we saved the village."
The gladiator girl faintly smiled. "I suppose that's true." Her smile faded. "But what of team SOLR? How will we tell them this?"
Just in, Surya, Apollo and Atum arrived at the scene and they all gasped upon seeing Orville.
"No..." Surya began. "This can't be..."
"I'm afraid so." the police officer said, silently confirming their worst fears. "He's dead."
The three ran over to and knelt by their dead teammate.
"Orville..." Surya stated sadly before sobbing.
Atum stayed silent. He looked like he wanted to cry, but couldn't.
"I have no words. What is there to say? All the life in him, just gone... faded away." Apollo recited, a single tear shed.