Hey there everyone. Hope you all have been well so far in this brand new year. Especially to those of you who, like myself, live in Southern California, what with all these fires raging on. I'm thankful enough that my city and those of my relatives and friends are just far enough away from the fires to remain safe, but the obvious side/after effects such as the ash is still a concern. To those of you who do live closer to the fires and especially those affected directly by them… I hope you all are okay and will recover.
Onto some much lighter news, I do believe I've figured out what my next fic will be… despite this one being far from over, ha ha. Well, I say that, but I've 2 fic ideas I'd love to try out, it's just a matter of figuring out which one I want to do first. Without spoiling, one idea is a Fate/Elden Ring crossover, specifically a bit of a Fate Strange Fake one… though even then, that might be a bit of a stretch to say. It's more accurate to say I'd be taking a character who originated from FSF appearing in the Lands Between, with plenty of references to FSF itself and whatnot. A fairly straightforward plot I've in mind for it, but still something I'd love to write.
The other idea I'd recently come up with is a DMC crossover with Haunting Ground, set sometime between DMC 3 and 1 for the former but at the very starting of the latter's story. I'm quite tempted to do this idea first since I am currently not anticipating it to be a long fic – in fact, it might be just as brief or even shorter than my Village of Darkness fic. But of course, plans could change once I get into a groove, but I still don't think it'll be a long-runner.
Anyways, hope either (or both) of those ideas grab your interest and give you something to look forward to, though it won't be for quite some time, lol.
But other than that… yeah, not too much else to say at the moment.
So, without further ado, let's get on with the chapter.
And once more, if you're affected by the SoCal fires in one form or another, I hope you are safe and well.
P.S. First section of this fic might be a little triggering, can't be too sure honestly. Just be forewarned.
Chapter 16 – Stalwart
Following his delightful stroll and chat with Penny and her friend Ciel, Veratyr had made his way from Atlas down into Mantle. In comparison to the pristine stone and steel of Atlas, which hovered in the sky like the heavens, Mantle was founded long ago in a huge crater and had long since become a grimy kind of place, dark and otherwise muted colors to be found everywhere. Though civilization still bustled in this once great city, it was clear at a glance that it was a poor place, with typically ragged clothes being worn by most people and average at best products being sold in every shop there was.
That wasn't even getting into the horrid conditions that the workers in the mines had to suffer through, laboring to the brink of death in order to harvest Dust for the Schnee Dust Company.
Nonetheless, Veratyr had perused the streets with contentment in his heart, for even in these poor conditions, he could still see people living life as best as possible. It was heartening, in fact.
Even so… he could tell that while many were living well enough, there was still an undercurrent of confusion and even some measure of discontentment. It was something he's always been able to sense – a lack of purpose, of drive, in most people.
This was something he hoped to change one day, a day that might soon be approaching if things continued to unfold as he partly foresaw, partly hoped.
But he was digressing.
Over the course of a few hours, he'd taken his time making his way from the travel port between Atlas and Mantle all the way over to the region that citizens here had taken to calling the Crater Caverns. These caverns had long since been abandoned by the SDC, all the Dust having been mined from them and causing the company to find greener pastures to continue their operations.
He went unbothered by the slums he had to pass through to get to these caverns, even as many people eyed him with equal parts confusion and caution. His appearance, something of a dichotomy in some ways, tended to draw the eye… plus, from what he could discern, it was quite uncommon for anyone that might be either a huntsman or mercenary to come out this way, at least not without wanting to stir up some trouble.
Ah, but trouble was the last thing he wished to cause.
In any case, he reached the Crater Caverns without issue and made his way inside. Heading deep within, he eventually reached a sort of hub area, where workers in the past presumably would come to in order to gear up or relax before heading back down deeper into the caverns. Said hub had more than several pathways that branched away, leading deeper into the caverns, though time had naturally caused some of these pathways to collapse in on themselves.
This was of no concern to him; he was already more or less where he needed to be.
From within the confines of his well-worn coat, he pulled out some rope and proceeded to find the nearest beam to tie it to, making sure to find something to stand on as well – a work bench that had remained sturdy despite how long it's been down here. He did need to make sure not to tie it too low to the ground, after all.
As he took his time going about his work, Veratyr let his senses flow and take in his surroundings more properly.
There was one particular ability of his that could only work in certain 'hot spots' so to speak, where the barrier between this world and the other was thin enough that his spirit can pierce through the veil.
It had been through this ability that he'd come to learn much of what he now knew, with time and space becoming virtually meaningless concepts to him. While discerning the future was impossible, for the future consisted of innumerable branches, delving into the past was a different matter.
And it had been through this ability, first activated back when he was but a child that he'd come to learn of Ozpin's past as Ozma… along with a number of other relevant facts that helped shape his 'plan' in modern days.
But this ability of his could only work properly in these hot spots, with his hometown being among those locations. This location was one other such example. In times past, miners and others who worked in such rough and oftentimes lonely conditions tended to be quite superstitious. And to the many out there, he was sure it'd be quite a shock if they were to ever learn that sometimes superstition – and faith by association – can have power.
It had once been argued in the past that digging deep into the earth was akin to digging straight down into hell. Though not true in the most literal sense, that was still something with a great deal of belief in it, especially during the Crater Caverns' peak. Thus, the fears and concerns of the miners back then had coalesced into something he and only he could take advantage of in this moment.
And this shall be where the other feature of this particular ability will come into use.
But not yet. Not quite just yet. Best to wait a little while longer.
Nonetheless, it never hurt at all to prepare.
The rope now fastened to the beam, Veratyr tied the end of it still in his hands into a firm noose. Then he placed it on himself, all while humming a tune.
Once it was secured to him, he calmly strode to the very edge of the work bench… and proceeded to wait.
It was not yet time to jump. But he was plenty patient here; in fact, it'd only make that moment of release all the more worth it.
Vernal followed after the unnamed group of assholes across Haven's open campus grounds with impunity. Despite the lack of hiding spots around here to remain hidden, not a single one of them so much as glanced back, allowing her to tail them with almost zero caution.
That said, she still kept her hands firmly on her weapons. If those fuckers so much as slowed down, she had to be ready to move. That shitbag Shen was already enough of a monster to deal with, so trying to take him on again, and this time with him possibly backed up by his own allies that were all likely just as tough to fight, would just be a death wish.
That wouldn't do, not one bit. She had to save Raven before she could even think of getting the fuck out of here.
Still, she couldn't help but gnash her teeth together over how badly this entire thing had gone. She and Raven both had hoped to track their tribe's slaughterers down, kill them with impunity and then walk off into the distance with their vengeance satiated.
But now the capital of Mistral was in chaos, they'd lost even more members of their dwindling tribe… and now Raven, beaten unconscious, was being taken by this group deeper into Haven Academy for some damned reason.
With a quiet grunt, Vernal tried to think of her next move.
Letting these guys reach their destination seemed like a bad idea – there was no telling what would become of Raven thereafter. But trying to pull off a one-woman distraction and rescue attempt here would likely go tits up.
Damn it all, she needed something here to work with-!
"-Hmph."
Shen, having been leading the group so eagerly, actually came to an aggressive stop after smashing his way through a large set of doors into what looked like Haven Academy's main area – the grand hall, if she had to guess what it was.
The rest of the group stopped as well, forcing Vernal to hang back outside for a moment due to how close to the newly made hole they all were.
Thankfully, she was still able to peer into the huge room, making out some stupid looking statue that was flanked by stairs on both sides…
…And up on one such set of stairs was none other than the headmaster himself, Leonardo fucking Lionheart.
Vernal's heartrate quickened a little.
If even the headmaster was out here now… maybe she really could pull this off.
With something akin to hope now blooming in her chest, Vernal remained crouched but now with some tension in her legs.
At the very first chance she got, she had to get in there and save Raven.
She just had to hope Leonardo would be useful for once in his fucking life.
The headmaster of Haven had quickly barged all the way from his office to the grand hall, just in time to see the intruders smash their way through the doorway with a rather unnecessary level of force.
Said group was quick to notice him and actually came to a pause. The one who'd battled Raven and won had been the first to take notice, however, it was the tall and muscular woman trailing not far behind him that had then chosen that moment to speak instead.
"…Leonardo Lionheart. Headmaster of Haven." She uttered out his name and title with only a marginal amount of acknowledgement. "You've stepped out to defend your little abode, I see. I can respect that. But I advise against interfering."
Though young, looking to be in her mid to late twenties from what he could tell, the woman spoke with authority. She was much like Salem, Leonardo couldn't help but think in that moment, used to getting what they want, be it through words or by force.
It was enough to make him almost step back, the woman's words triggering an unconscious response of his… but then he managed to rein his worst response in. Then after a few seconds, he finally spoke.
"I don't know what you've come here for," he slowly began. "But please… just leave. Surely, it can't be worth all this trouble."
The woman's eyes narrowed. "I believe you can discern what our goal here is. And we've no intention of leaving until it is in our hands. Now I shall say it once more – step aside. Do so… and perhaps your dear academy will remain standing."
Leonardo gulped yet still found the strength to somehow remain perfectly at attention. "I cannot do that."
The woman stared at him, her gaze almost respectful now. "Very well then. Shen."
The man named Shen, who'd defeated Raven herself, wasted not even a microsecond in moving. Why, he'd begun before the woman could fully utter his name, such was his eagerness.
Shen shot off the floor and towards Leonardo with a frightening speed, effectively ignoring gravity as he traveled in such a perfectly straight line. Even so, the headmaster of Haven had anticipated his weak pleas to go unfulfilled and thus had been ready to move as well.
Rather than try to jump back up the stairs or risk a head on confrontation, Leonardo had opted to roll forward and down the stairs. Then, with a deftness that belied his age, he twirled about in mid-roll to throw himself off the stairs and onto the floor below, just in time to see Shen suddenly change direction in mid-air and now slam into the stairs themselves.
The man emerged immediately from the now ruined stars, running towards the lion Faunus with murder in his eyes, not out of anger but simply from a pure dedication to not be stopped here. It was a drive that Leonardo recalled feeling once upon a time, in his far younger years.
But then Shen abruptly slowed and threw a punch forward despite there being a few yards in between them still. Leonardo tilted his head to the side, avoiding the intense air pressure that would've struck him directly in the face if he'd remained still.
Leonardo then took off in a sprint, but not towards Shen. Instead, he ran for the wall and then actually ran up said wall with Shen jumping after him. The much younger and fitter man landed on the wall feetfirst as though it was the floor and ran up it after him.
That is, until Shen reached out with a single hand to rip off a portion of the stone wall and promptly hurl it with deadly accuracy at Leonardo.
Leonardo backflipped off the wall to avoid the thrown rubble – only for another piece to come flying his way. It was less than four feet away from him… but that still gave him plenty of time to finally activate his weapon, Stalwart. The shield-like weapon came alive in a way that hadn't been done in a very long time and with reflexes and instincts honed by decades of experience, he immediately loaded a single shot of fire Dust that he then used to blow the rubble into smoke.
Shen came leaping through said smoke, but it had still served as an effective enough smokescreen for Leonardo to flip sideways, just narrowly avoiding the man's knife thrust. This flip put Leonardo on the railing of the other set of stairs and he kicked off it towards yet another wall just as Shen kicked off the air itself to deliver a mighty chop that obliterated said railing.
Rather than give chase, however, Shen now remained relatively stationary, glaring at the headmaster as Leonardo used his deceptively strong lion tail to hang from a chandelier in the grand hall. It was a level of strength that was abnormal from such a thin looking limb, but time spent in his youth training with monkey Faunus friends of his had led him to develop a similar level of dexterity and strength with it.
The headmaster matched Shen's glare with an analytical gaze.
Though the battle between the young man and Raven had been fast and brief overall, he'd still done what he could to take in the details.
As far as he could tell, Shen was very strictly a close-range combatant, with only the air pressure from more concentrated attacks and thrown rubble serving as mid to long range options for him. But despite this 'weakness,' he more than made up for it with his unnatural ability to just plow through everything thrown his way. It seemed like not even physics could slow him down in any way.
The only thing that had seemingly been able to slow or even halt him outright had been Raven's Maiden powers… but whether that was due to the sheer power in her attacks or something else was unknown.
In any case, Leonardo knew that trying to exchange attacks with this man would be a huge waste of Dust, not to mention taxing. A protracted battle would only see him eventually make a wrong move and end up dead as Shen's knife thrust to his heart had indicated.
From a certain perspective, it would seem he's damned if he does fight him directly and damned if he just tries to play keep away…
…But there is always more than one way to fight.
Taking a breath, Leonardo gripped Stalwart's trigger… and then fired a blast of ice Dust into the ceiling.
It was a low powered shot, only causing the ceiling itself to be coated with snow that then rained gently down upon the rest of the room.
The other intruders, who had all remained where they were, watching like some audience at a theater, took note of this odd move of his. However, they didn't seem keen on interfering for the time being. This was something he was continuing to count on.
He fired several more rounds in quick succession at the other walls, causing the manifesting snow to keep building up. By the time he fired one final time, Shen had finally tired of waiting around and went on the offensive again.
Rather than charge at Leonardo, however, the man slammed a fist into the nearby wall, the concentrated power of the strike somehow transferring up the wall and to the ceiling.
And by extension, into the chandelier, which exploded as the force reached it.
By then, Leonardo had already let go and fallen onto the wooden railing of the second floor, covered in snow. It gave the varnished wood a much slicker quality and he used it to gracefully slide across the grand hall as he cycled out the Dust in his weapon for a different type.
Upon it cycling to a new type, Leonardo gripped the railing. Partly to slow his sliding, but also to actually rip off a small portion of it and throw it like a small javelin at Shen.
But by then, Shen was already mobile, the young man jumping to the second floor and slapping a palm upon the railing. Once again, the force of the strike transferred through the railing, causing it to explode from the power and sending both splinters and snow flying everywhere.
Leonardo jumped off the railing just in the nick of time and instead ran towards Shen this time. His bold action actually caused Shen to blink in surprise before the man rushed at him in turn.
Obviously, this was a fake out; Leonardo had no intention of a direct battle and both participants knew this. Sure enough, as the distance between them rapidly shrunk, Leonardo slid across the floor in time to avoid Shen's extremely low uppercut that would've probably taken his head off. Then, in yet another moment of almost uncharacteristic boldness, Leonardo grabbed hold of Shen's right leg, causing the man to lash out with a powerful front kick using this same leg.
But Leonardo just used this as an impromptu launcher, letting go of Shen's leg just as the man kicked. Now the headmaster went sailing down the second floor, much to the now audible confusion of the other intruders.
"The hell is he-?" loudly mumbled one of them, the deathly pale man that had previously sported such a smug expression.
"Indeed," Leonardo muttered as he slowed himself down, feeling a bit of sweat now. "Just what the hell am I doing?"
Said sweat wasn't just due to the exertion he was undergoing… but also due to the sheer amount of heat he'd been building up this whole time within Stalwart. He'd been compressing as much fire Dust as he could… and now it was time to let it loose.
The ice Dust from earlier had turned the room into quite the chilly environment with the snow having continued to drop the temperature this whole time. And now with the fire Dust…
Leonardo braced himself, knowing he wouldn't emerge unscathed from this. But it had to be done.
Taking on Shen was a fool's errand. He honestly didn't know if this move would work at all on the man. But the same probably couldn't be said of the others.
Finally, he unleashed the condensed fire Dust, the blast of flames rapidly heating the cold air, causing it to violently expand. Suddenly, the grand hall didn't feel so grand in size, unable to handle the insane rate of air expansion.
No one, not even himself, got so much as a chance to make a sound before the grand hall – and indeed this entire section of Haven – suddenly exploded with the force of an air strike.
…
…
…
Vernal came to with a not so quiet gasp, followed immediately by sputtering and coughing. Disoriented as she was, it took her a moment to realize she was buried underneath rubble and a lot of it. It was primarily on desperate instinct that she even tried to push the debris off of herself despite barely being coherent in her own thoughts.
A few minutes go by with her being damn near blind and deaf to the rest of the world, so focused was she on just getting out of here.
As the debris finally began to shift and be pushed away, memories of what had happened finally came back to her.
That cowardly Lionheart – more like insane headmaster, she amended – had caused this entire goddamned section of the academy to be blown sky high, no doubt in an attempt to take these freaky fucks out.
She'd caught onto what he'd been doing too late and had gotten knocked out in the blast as well, hence her current situation, she only now realized.
How she'd even survived with her aura already so low to start with, she didn't know nor cared. She was just glad to still be kicking.
But what about Raven?!
With one loud final grunt, she outright smacked aside the final piece of debris atop her, revealing to her the aftermath of Leonardo's borderline suicidal move.
And she could only gasp.
The grand hall in its entirety, along with even parts of the academy connected to it, had been utterly annihilated, revealing the sky and campus grounds outside. The thing remaining of the grand hall was that stupid statue, which had remained almost insufferably intact barring some obvious chipping here and there. Sturdy shit, evidently.
It was a level of explosive power that could only be rivalled by a Maiden at her strongest, Vernal thought in that moment, for this would have been more than enough to take out any Grimm out there no matter how big and ugly it was.
But her gasp had a twofold cause to it.
The level of destruction Leonardo had knowingly and willingly caused had been the first reason for her reaction.
And the second reason was that those damned freaks of nature had survived it all.
The one named Bliss, who still carried Raven in his arms, was hunched over. His vague butler-like outfit, once so immaculate, was now blown apart in some spots while other parts of his outfit were clearly singed. The young man himself was breathing rather heavily, a sign that he wasn't doing so hot at the moment, showing that even these freaks could apparently tire in some form. Alas, he was all too quick to control his breathing, implying he was already recovering somehow.
…At least the bastard had apparently shield Raven, who looked no worse for wear.
Meanwhile the other man in the group now looked quite disheveled, albeit to a far lesser extent than Bliss. Having been seemingly knocked to the ground, he was rising up and grimacing audibly. The angle Vernal viewed him from made it hard to ascertain how much actual damage he took, however.
The veil wearing woman remained in the exact same pose she'd been in just prior to the explosion… and she was outright missing chunks of her clothes and body. Bone and raw muscle were exposed in several areas such as her right arm, lower torso and seemingly even part of her own face, judging by the lack of a veil, which had been destroyed in the explosion. But much to Vernal's growing shock, both the woman's body and even clothes appeared to be restoring themselves.
And then, there was the final member of this absurd entourage – the tall and muscular woman named Rya, standing just as tall and proudly as she had before… and without so much as a single hair out of place. She'd been completely unbothered by the fucking explosion.
That is, physically.
"Hmph," Rya audibly snorted out. "…To think you'd go this far, Leonardo. I don't know if I should think you bold or simply audacious."
Vernal followed the woman's line of sight… and beheld the two combatants responsible for all this, genuine amazement in her expression.
From amidst a pile of rubble close to that stupid statue, Leonardo emerged. Most of his clothes had been badly burnt or otherwise damaged and even with the benefit of aura he had still suffered considerable injury in the form of burns and bruising all over his face and his exposed torso now. Nonetheless, that he was able to emerge in one relative piece despite being at ground zero of the blast was genuinely amazing.
But then there was Shen. Physically, he was none the worse for wear, not showing any visible signs of damage in spite of all that just happened.
And yet…
The man grunted in that way Vernal knew all too well, even stumbling about a little.
The fucker was actually dazed. By far, this had to be the most something had affected him as far as she could tell.
"Shen," Rya called out, folding her arms over her chest. "I take it you will continue?"
"Do you even need to ask?" he grumbled as he regained his balance and sense of self.
"I suppose not. That aside…" Rya then turned her head…
…And looked directly at her.
Oh shit, Vernal could only think in that moment. All that struggling she did just now to break free had clearly caught their attention, made all the more evident when the others turned her way as well.
"One of her tribesmen, I see," Rya drawled out. "Here to rescue your dear leader, I presume?"
Vernal, rather than reply, merely gritted her teeth and readied her weapons, which had miraculously survived the explosion along with her.
"I see you've spirit. But it is terribly misplaced, girl," Rya continued. "Much like Leonardo here, there is precious little you can do to properly impede us. And on that note… Shen, forget the fight. It's clear he'd only try to stall you longer. Just clear the path for us. That is your purpose and it's only out of respect for it that we're not interfering still. But that can change quite soon if you continue to dawdle."
Shen glanced to Rya, the woman sternly pointing at the statue dead ahead.
Obviously, it must be worth some attention now because Vernal could only watch as Leonardo suddenly let out a roar and charged directly at Shen. For someone that had been described as a coward at times, especially recently, he sure showed a lot of guts to attack the younger man head on like this.
It clearly took Shen by surprise too, but the man recovered his focus quickly and ran forward to meet the headmaster of Haven in kind…
…Only for Leonardo to fire a blast of lightning Dust just over Shen's shoulder and at Bliss instead. The butler-like guy did an almost full-body tilt in order to avoid the large lightning bolt formed from the Dust, but it still took him by surprise given his current expression.
Shen seemed taken aback as well by this sudden action. He was probably so used to people focusing on him when he was moving around that it never occurred to him that his foes might target others.
Leonardo used this brief opening to then perform a light jump over Shen, grabbing hold of him with both hands… and actually managing to lift him up and throw him.
"Wha-?!" Vernal could only gape, unable to discern how he'd just done that when all other attacks had accomplished nothing.
"Oh?" Rya sounded surprised as well but still appeared unconcerned overall. "You are a clever one after all, dear headmaster."
Shen, for his part, flipped around in midair and kicked off nothingness itself. But by the time he did this, Leonardo was already out of his immediate range and was now rapidly approaching Shen's allies.
His shield-shaped weapon spun wildly, cycling through different Dust types before the headmaster slammed his fist into the ground, unleashing a wave of ice that jutted up and around the whole group. The newly formed ice wall looked to be about a dozen feet high and closed in on itself, almost forming a perfect dome while looking to be approximately a few inches thick.
But he wasn't done just yet.
As Shen switched directions to target him properly, the headmaster managed to aim upwards and fire off several blasts of lighting type Dust. Normally doing this would accomplish nothing other than wasting precious ammo, but thanks to the effects Raven's powers had had on the weather in the area, the situation allowed for some degree of manipulation.
In this case, as he fired the lighting bolts up, they quickly mixed in with the clouds above and promptly fired back down – stepped leader strikes. And they were aimed directly for the small opening in the very top of the ice dome that he'd made.
The bolts struck true in almost perfect unison, lighting up the inside of the dome so much that Vernal could barely make out a thing before the dome exploded.
Despite herself, she let out a laugh. Haven's normally spineless headmaster wasn't exactly known for being much of a fighter anymore, yet here he now was, dauntlessly doing what he could to stop this mad group before they could get even a step closer.
And evidently, he figured that if stopping Shen wasn't possible, taking out his allies would at least be one hell of a win.
Vernal could respect that.
Alas, by the time he'd accomplished this, Shen was upon him. The younger man slammed into Leonardo's back with unrelenting force, an elbow digging into the base of the headmaster's spine.
Leonardo cried out as he was forcibly slammed into the outer layer of the ice dome – which then collapsed spontaneously, revealing Rya with an outstretched finger. Meanwhile her other hand looked to be crackling. She must have done something to counter the lightning.
That got a grimace out of Vernal and finally spurred her into action. Fuck waiting any longer because she clearly wasn't going to get another chance at this rate.
As Shen prepared another strike to the stunned Leonardo, Vernal raised her weapons and shifted them into their gun form. With a loud cry, she opened fire on the man from afar.
Sadly, her bullets didn't hold a candle to the explosion Leonardo had caused earlier and thus they just halted upon impacting against him. But it did garner his attention for a split second – just long enough for Leonardo to wrest himself free from Shen's grasp and slap an open palm against his enemy's chest.
That was when Leonardo appeared to activate all four Dust slots in his weapon, generating a chaotic torrent of power that managed to blast Shen away.
Or so it seemed at first.
"NO!" Leonardo let out such a loud and booming cry in the following instant that it almost stopped Vernal from continuing to fire upon Shen.
What had looked like Shen being affected yet again was actually a ruse; he'd used the chance to instead back off and head towards that stupid statue. He held something in his left hand as well – a pocket watch?
Beside the statue was some piece of the grand hall that had survived, albeit far from intact. Shen neared it and appeared to activate some kind of odd mechanism, for a slot opened up and he swiftly inserted the pocket watch into it.
The statue lurched at first, then wobbled and then finally began to descend.
"The fuck?" Vernal muttered.
"Stop them!" Leonardo, taking note of her presence, desperately commanded. "They can't be allowed there!"
With the circumstances being what they were, Vernal saw no reason to argue. And seeing as stopping Shen was just a waste of time, she chose to aim now at the others-.
"Your guns are loaded, huh?" spoke the smarmy looking guy amongst them.
Vernal held down on her weapons' triggers, only for nothing to happen. They were fucking empty.
Her shock lasted only a split second before growling in frustration. Screw it, close combat it is. Better them than Shen.
Blades of her weapons extended fully, she threw herself at the nearest one while Leonardo went after Shen, who had now hopped on top of the plate above the statue – a platform, Vernal belatedly realized.
She aimed for the guy who'd just spoken, the one who'd done something odd to her weapons just now… only to suddenly switch gears and go for Bliss instead.
The smarmy guy, having just been about to speak again, blinked dumbly as he'd fallen for her feint. Sadly, Bliss didn't and even with Raven still in his arms, he was able to easily slide back in time to avoid the first swing, then twist to the right in order to dodge the follow up attack.
Vernal promptly spun around and let loose a roundhouse kick at the smarmy guy since he was closer now, but despite not being much of a fighter given his poor form, he was still quick enough to guard against her attack with a forearm block that caused both of them to stagger back.
Clicking her tongue, she eyed the veil wearing woman, who'd been practically motionless this entire time, even when she'd suffered serious injuries earlier. The tribeswoman outright chucked her left blade at the woman, hoping to impale her directly in the throat with it-.
-Only for the absurd to happen yet again, the woman lifting the veil just enough to expose a mouth that seemed just a little too wide and with teeth much too sharp. She opened wide and somehow managed to swallow Vernal's entire blade whole before promptly biting down, audibly munching on the weapon.
Vernal straight up paused at that, only snapping out of it when the smarmy guy prepared to speak, his breath hitching serving as the indicator here. She delivered a surprise haymaker, the attack connecting this time across his jaw. To her mild indignation, rather than dropping him outright, it merely sent him reeling, more from shock than pain.
God damn it, what is with these fuckers?! Why are they all so abnormal?!
She followed up with a front kick to the smarmy man's gut, knocking all the air out of him and sending him stumbling into the borderline unresponsive woman, who finally let out a sound of surprise.
As this happened, Vernal turned around to see the leader of this little strange group, Rya, walking off like it was not her concern. She was heading directly for where the statue had once been, an opening there where it wasn't before.
Turns out the statue had been a secret elevator. In hindsight, Vernal supposed it made sense.
In any case, she couldn't let the big bitch and her stupid butler go after Shen and Leonardo, both of whom had clearly gone below by now. Especially not when the butler guy still had Raven in tow.
"Get the hell back here!" Vernal howled as she aimed for Rya. Given Bliss' getup and overall mannerisms, she figured targeting Rya would get a response out of him.
And sure enough, she was right on the money.
Bliss had been content to just dodge her initial attacks then trail after Rya. But now that Vernal was going for a huge slice with her remaining blade at the woman, he finally took action.
He did so by switching Raven's position under his left arm while lashing out with his right to smack against the flat side of her blade – which is exactly what she wanted. Using the sudden shift in her attack's momentum, Vernal performed a full spin and landed a solid side kick to Bliss' left shoulder, then brought her blade in for a second hit. The kick jostled him and the blade managed to nick him slightly, loosening his grip enough for Raven to nearly tumble out of his grip.
Vernal outright abandoned her weapon and snatched at her leader with both hands – only for Bliss, now with both arms free, to close the distance between them and land a perfect straight punch in her face.
With her aura low, the blow proved enough to nearly shatter her nose and render her vision bleary, just long enough for Bliss to continue his sudden offense. A series of unbelievably fast jabs struck her exposed chest, even striking at her armpits before an elbow swiped upwards and connected with her jaw.
Vernal damn near blacked out and it was only through pure grit that she even remained vaguely aware of her surroundings still. She was quite aware, however, of her grip on Raven faltering and the bandit leader crashed to the ground almost comically.
With a rapid shaking of her head, Vernal cleared the cobwebs in her mind just barely in time to see Bliss reached into his tattered clothes… and pull forth fucking tableware, knives and forks to be more specific.
She would've cackled at the ridiculousness of it all if it wasn't for Bliss shanking her with one of the knives in that instant, the blade easily sinking into her defenseless right thigh before a fork stabbed into her left forearm.
Just as Bliss proceeded to aim for her liver, she was able to reach out a hand and slap aside his attack with a flicker punch to his elbow joint, followed then by a backflip that she'd intended to take his head off with. Unfortunately, he leaned back in time to avoid her foot.
Landing in pain, Vernal quickly wrested the knife and fork out of her thigh and forearm respectively and chucked them aside.
That was when the smarmy guy made his grand reappearance.
"You're not all that hurt." He uttered.
As soon as he finished speaking, pain unlike anything she's experienced before struck her, primarily in the spots she'd just been hit in. Vernal couldn't quite bite down on the scream that had bubbled up in that moment and she fell onto her knees.
The pain lasted but a few seconds, but that had been far more than enough time for Bliss to put on a burst of speed to collect the discarded knife and fork before returning to his previous spot. With more knives and forks held between each finger, he approached her. Though his expression was still surprisingly professional, the intent in his eyes was nonetheless clear:
He was going to dispose of her here and now.
The young man prepared to strike-.
-Only for Raven nearby to finally wake up in a violent display of power, torrents of fierce wind and lightning emanating from her.
Bliss was literally blown back. Meanwhile the smarmy guy, just far enough back to remain standing, had to shield his head and upper torso to avoid being pelted with some of the debris now being chucked around by the winds. As for the veil wearing woman, she merely placed her hands atop her outfit in order to prevent the updraft from exposing her goods.
And then, there was Rya, who finally ceased walking and calmly turned around.
She looked ready to say something, but Raven was clearly having none of it. "Vernal, get down!"
With an expression that was a mix of glee at seeing her awake and concern over her own preservation, the young bandit threw herself as far to the side as possible.
Just in time for Raven to completely forgo any fancy displays of the elements in favor of unleashing raw, unfettered power.
Even as the resulting release of magical power sent Vernal tumbling far further than intended, she couldn't help but grin madly.
Time to put these sonsabitches in the fucking dirt.
Following the descent of the hidden elevator – he couldn't believe the man had been able to notice and steal the pocket watch from him! – Leonardo had foregone virtually all manner of restraint and had rushed at Shen.
Alas, Shen had wasted no time boarding the elevator and taking it down, forcing the lion Faunus to essentially throw himself down the opening. In midfall, he wasted no time firing several bursts of lightning and ice Dust at Shen, who actually went out of his way to dodge.
In this case, he merely sidestepped the shots and effortlessly balanced himself on the very edge of the elevator. This gave Leonardo the chance to flip around and land on the opposite end.
"You cannot do this!" the headmaster couldn't help but cry out, emotions warring within him.
Ever since he'd joined Ozpin's inner circle and had been made aware of the Relics and magic and Salem, he'd vowed to ensure the Relic here would remain secure. This was a vow that held strong even when Salem had strongarmed him into her 'employ,' something the woman was aware of and only allowed because she was also aware that the power of a Maiden was required to access it in the first place.
Thus, it can be said that he had the weight of two powerful figures bearing down on him should he fail to uphold this solemn vow, even if both figures were as opposite as could be in terms of temperament and overall views on how they treated their allies.
But more than that… beneath all his sniveling and cowardly tendencies that had only grown more pronounced in recent years, Leonardo just didn't want to fail himself any further. He's let down so many in his life, himself most of all. Now with so much riding on the line, he couldn't afford to do so any further.
Once more, he charged at Shen, who took up a guarded stance. The young man knew quite well that Leonardo had figured out at least one 'trick' to his odd invulnerability.
Firstly, during the course of their brief bout moments ago and through the footage of the battle with Raven, Leonardo had determined the man to be quite literally unstoppable so long as he was moving. It wasn't a matter necessarily of being unbelievably strong and tough, it's just that whatever odd ability – not a semblance but something similar enough – Shen possessed allowed him to ignore everything thrown at him as if it weren't even there, up to and including physics themselves.
However, there was an apparent limit to how much he could actually ignore. Raven's usage of the elements, along with the explosion he'd caused earlier, proved that a strong enough force could overcome this seeming unstoppable nature of his, albeit not to the point of causing him injury. Granted, the level of Raven's earlier attacks had had an easier time affecting him despite lacking in power to the explosion so there were clearly some other factors at work here, but the point still stood.
But more importantly, what the headmaster had deduced from their battle so far was something far simpler and exploitable.
Shen lashed out with a low kick, forcing the headmaster to hop over it – only to then spin around and push Shen's attacking leg with a small kick of his own. This caused Shen to overextend himself, forced into doing a spin that was promptly transitioned in a backhand that Leonardo ducked under before retaliating with a shove.
And his shove worked, pushing Shen right off the platform.
This was the 'trick' in question: trying to stop Shen in his tracks, that is, trying to budge him in the opposite direction or halt him entirely was impossible. However, using his own motions against him by way of redirection seemed to do just fine so long as one was good enough to pull it off.
Shen twirled around in midair and then launched himself at Leonardo – no, at the platform itself. He crashed into it like a human comet, causing the platform to actually jostle loose and tilt back. With a grunt, Shen gave a shove and forced it off the statue completely.
The platform, now in freefall, slowly spun about like a coin. Leonardo, grabbing hold of the opposite edge, reared back a fist and slammed it into the platform with all he had, releasing one of his last shots of fire Dust. The platform spun about faster now, careening towards the side of the massive cavern that the Vault lied in… and with Shen slamming into the side of the cavern along with the platform.
Alas, the man evidently remained unhurt by it due to no noise being made and instead he kicked the platform, sending it flying out now. Leonardo, unable to hold on much longer due to all the spinning and moving in general, had no choice but to let go.
For this simple effort, he was unable to react in time as Shen came flying in with a kick that impacted against his jaw. The headmaster nearly blacked out from the hit, his remaining aura mitigating the damage only marginally. A few more blows like that and he'll soon have no extra defense at all to go on with.
The now openly fell towards the bottom of the cavern, or rather, to where the Vault lied at. Leonardo hit the ground hard and with Shen atop him almost immediately thereafter. Shen went in for a headbutt, but Leonardo managed to twist out of the way in time to avoid a direct hit, though it still felt like his left ear got smashed in.
With a great howl of exertion, he once more used Shen's motions against him and kicked him off towards the Vault.
Rather than go on the offensive again or just make a mad dash towards said Vault, Shen calmly got up, muscles tense and fingers twitching while Leonardo shakily stood up as well. He gasped and coughed and hacked as he did so, his aging body feeling the effects of all that's happened so far. Unlike Shen, still young and further bolstered by his odd ability, the Haven headmaster was far from unstoppable in any form.
But, and much to his own surprise, he was proving to be surprisingly stubborn.
"I've heard you were a coward," Shen finally said for the first time in their confrontation. "Clearly, all those people were wrong."
Leonardo didn't answer the man, opting to just nurse his bruised ribs with a free hand. He could've used some aura to heal himself a little, but that would only work against him in the long run. He needed as much remaining aura as possible for defense alone.
"But despite your efforts, it won't be enough," Shen continued, his gaze fierce. "You will not bar my path. Nothing will. I cannot allow it."
At that, Leonardo cracked a chuckle. For what reason, even he couldn't fathom. "And I cannot allow you and your allies to open that Vault."
Shen stared, not with malice… but with respect, almost.
Neither one of them said anything further before charging at each other anew.
And there we go.
Sorry if the battle between Shen and Raven felt a little awkward in the previous chapter. Same thing for the earlier part of the battle between him and Leonardo. In hindsight, writing battles involving a character with his particular ability does make it rather difficult to do.
Thankfully, I believe I did a good job once I got around to introducing the 'trick' to leveling the playing field with him.
This also served, I hope, as a good way to show off Leonardo's more nobler characteristics and abilities in general. Because honestly, the way he was handled in canon felt pretty lackluster. Granted, from what I understand of it, volume 5 of RWBY had an odd production, with different teams of writers/animators handling different chunks of the battle at Haven without any notes on how to put all the scenes together, but even so, it really shafted Leonardo (and quite a few others) hard. Sure, one could chalk it up to Oscar having a considerable portion of Ozpin's power and skills by that point and to Leonardo being out of shape and scared shitless, but even so, he didn't get a chance to show what a headmaster level huntsman can do. That he died to a Seer Grimm of all things further muddied the matter.
So with that said, I did what I could to give him a chance to really show his stuff without making it look like I was making him Out of Character. He'll be getting some further fleshing out in the next chapter or two as well as I really start to lean on the canon characters.
Same thing kind of goes for Vernal as well, who's another character that I think didn't quite get a time to shine. While hardly my favorite character from the series, I also felt she didn't really get any truly good moments either. Her brief bout with Bliss was meant to sort of rectify that and she'll be getting a few more minutes of screentime as well in the next chapter.
On that note, if it seemed odd why she was able to do so well against Bliss despite him and Shen murderstomping the Branwen tribe, please keep in mind that the other members are pretty much just thugs in terms of mannerisms and overall skill level, with only Raven and Vernal being their most notable combatants. Raven, along with Qrow, were sent to Beacon for the express purpose of learning how to fight like huntsmen to improve the tribe's combat power and Vernal, being Raven's body-double for the Spring Maiden, was basically her disciple so it made sense she'd also be trained to a reasonable level of strength and skill.
Also, there is another reason why Bliss seemed to struggle so much with Vernal, tying into his purpose and Principle actually… but that won't be revealed for a little while longer. As for Gwrtheyrn and Viktoriya, they're not exactly physical combatants in the same way the others are, though that isn't to say they're completely untrained; they're just not trained/experienced in physical combat in the same way nor to the same extent as the more powerful RWBY characters like the academy teachers and headmasters. However, make no mistake, these two can more than make up the difference with their respective abilities which were further hinted at in this chapter as well.
I especially have some plans for Viktoriya, but that is also another thing that will be revealed in time.
In the meantime, I will also be focusing on the canon characters getting more time to show their stuff and start to up the personal stakes and dilemmas for them too. Consider this chapter something of a taste tester in that respect.
…Whew, man, this AN is turning out pretty lengthy, ha ha.
But I've said all that needs to be said for now.
Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Until next time!