Battle at the Ever After
"Aw. At this pace, you will end up irradiating the whole world. Exploring it without having an aura activated will be impossible." The Rabbit complained, staring at the screens and sitting on the floor with her legs crossed, hands below her face. "If there's even an acre left to explore after you are done."
"Usagi-chan, give up already on the idea of exploring this place on foot. You should have joined instead the expedition and reconnaissance corps." The Boar standing next to her shrugged, while opening the fan she was holding.
"But that would mean missing all the action and never being part of the big fights!" The Rabbit rejected the proposal with a reproachful tone.
"For a world that supposedly has a powerful anima mundi, it did not give much of a fight." The Monkey remarked.
"Chivo and my mentor mentioned something about Ever Afterans relying badly on a metempsychosis or reincarnation process, which they called Ascension. The Great Tree grants it to anyone who perishes or touches any of its parts. And that's a problem." The Wolf stated with contempt.
"How so?" Asked in return The Monkey.
"Because it gives anyone an easy key to self-improvement. Even to those who don't deserve it. The Tree fulfilling all the time the wishes of this world's inhabitants, without any struggle nor obstacle in their way, has reduced Ever Afterans into a weak, self-indulgent, and complacent race." He grabbed one of his sheaths and pulled out a sword, to point it at the screens displaying Ever Afterans fleeing their world.
"They are ignorant about how bad other worlds have it, compared to theirs." The Wolf said with a cold and stern voice.
"A merciless sharp tongue, as always." The Boar made fun of his preconceived opinions on life.
"May I remind you that I'm your superior and The Zodiac member in charge of this operation? I outrank the three of you. Unlike myself, you've never been part of a conquest mission before." The Wolf said with authority and a loud voice. "Another sign of disrespect and I will motion your dismissal."
The Rabbit, not bothering to say anything, tenderly hugged The Boar's right leg, resting her head on it. The Monkey simply crossed his arms and supported himself on The Boar's left shoulder.
•
"Neo, remember to keep your aura defenses always up. The weapons of this belligerent civilization are different from Remnant's." The Blacksmith advised Neo.
This time she was reawakened from stasis near late afternoon, around the area in which The Door, which team RWBY and Jaune had used to return to Remnant, was located.
This place brings me bad memories... Like most places I know of, now that I think about it.
Neo soon noticed that hundreds of Ever Afterans were already making lines to escape through The Door.
Are these the only ones left?
Neo asked telepathically to The Blacksmith.
"No, there are more evacuees left in other acres escaping through improvised doors I opened, but securing this area is vital. There are too many enemies across all the acres for you to face alone, so asking you to protect everyone in The Mother Tree's Acre is already a very demanding task." As The Blacksmith finished explaining the situation to Neo, the latter saw in the distance Grippers being pulled back with energy strings into the respective Monolith they descended from.
"The enemy airships are releasing robots to capture evacuees. I ask of you to stop them; in case these make it to the acre."
Some Grippers were already carrying back to the airships Ever Afterans, such as toy soldiers, animals, and other kinds of anthropomorphic inhabitants.
Do you know what these remind me of? Claw machines with plushies and toy prizes at arcades, which are rigged to suck money out of idiots.
"..." The Blacksmith didn't bother replying to Neo.
•
Back in the flagship's commanding room, a screen displaying the Grippers in action caught The Rabbit's attention.
"You know what those remind me of? Skill cranes with cute prizes at game centers. The ones I usually end up losing most of my savings on."
"..." All the crew present in the room didn't bother replying something to The Rabbit.
•
As Neo was constructing toy soldiers with her semblance and sending them to different points across The Tree's Acre, for them to act as improvised 'vigilantes' and guards, she heard shots and detonations in neighboring acres.
"Robots from the enemy faction are about to reach this acre through the northeast acre's bridge. I'm trying to slow them down using spacetime distortions, but these aren't very effective against machines with no will or emotions. They also appear to count with some kind of energy string, that helps them not get lost." The Blacksmith gave an update to Neo so that she could prepare for what was about to come.
Seems a battle here is inevitable.
Neo gripped Hush's handle tightly.
RWBY, how did you manage to do this all the time? I couldn't even protect him, much less I feel confident about protecting this many people.
Being aware of Neo's thoughts, The Blacksmith tried to calm down her concerns.
"You will not be alone, Neo. The tree will provide you with assistance. Remember that touching the roots and leaves won't affect you." Hearing this, Neo built a Jabberwalker construct to head toward the bridge mentioned by the Blacksmith.
Although Neo was aware that mounting in the open such a dangerous-looking creature would frighten some of the evacuees, it's not like she had much choice, if she wanted to make it fast to the area about to get invaded.
Already heading there. I will turn the toy soldier constructs placed there into Ursa Grimm to buy time.
"Wait, can you control all of them perfectly? They aren't going to attack any evacuee in the crossfire, right?" The Blacksmith hearing this asked alarmed.
Neo mounted the recently finished Jabberwalker with a saddle on it.
Got a good glance of the 'claws' stealing our prizes. If I construct something with an enemy or target in mind, it will only go for it.
She paused for a bit, placing her right index finger under her lower lip and her eyes filled with self-doubt.
l think. Most of the time. Hopefully.
Neo then proceeded to give slight kicks to her mount for it to start moving.
"Please, make sure you dispel in time those constructs if they go out of control." The Blacksmith requested to her.
When Neo arrived at the bridge a battle was already ensuing on it. To her surprise, there was an Ever Afteran with a mount on the other border of the neighboring acre, fighting 'claws' and stopping them from capturing evacuees.
Who is that mouse with a sword riding Jaune's companion?
The Blacksmith hearing this tried to say something to Neo, but one of the claws made it past the mouse into the bridge. Already three of them were attempting to cross it.
Three constructs, counting the one I'm mounting. Two Ursa Grimm and one Jabberwalker vs. Three Claws... It's a fair fight.
She didn't lose time charging at them just to notice too late that the 'claws' counted each with machine guns in their 'head' sections. The Ursa Grimm began to break apart, while the Jabberwalker managed to shield itself behind the Ursa, crouching and using its arms to shield its rider, who had opened Hush for extra precaution.
These machines are weird. They don't seem to be firing the usual aura bullets.
"Powder combined with tungsten bullets. This civilization seems to rely on many forms of weaponry and ammunition. They probably see your constructs as targets too dangerous for capture. Be careful." The Blacksmith warned their ally.
Once the two Ursa Grimms broke down, Neo quickly stepped down from her mount, ordering for it to go under the bridge. Using the remaining broken shards of her two fallen creations, Neo improvised an aura shield to reinforce Hush.
Thanks to its claws, the Jabberwalker easily could keep itself attached to the bridge, going under the section the three claws were standing on and coming up on the other side, behind them. It didn't lose time charging into the back of the one that was the farthest from Neo, crashing head-on, breaking its back-up string body portion, and making it drop from the bridge into the abyss.
"End. Destroy. End. Destroy. End. Destroy." Before the second farthest claw could turn around entirely, the Jabberwalker was already slashing its energy string portion with its claws. Neo realizing that the claw's body was more durable than it appeared at first glance, ordered her construct to instead lift it and drop it from the bridge.
The third and last one managed to turn around and shoot at the Jabberwalker's body while it was lifting and getting rid of the second one. The construct wasn't going to last. Thinking fast, Neo transformed Hush into Ruby's favorite scythe-gun, Crescent Rose, and slashed at the back portion of the claw's body to get rid of its energy string, as soon as it turned around. Her target kept moving though, shooting down the Jabberwalker entirely, but before it could do more, Neo decided to jump on its body using an aura-enhanced step.
Let's see if this works.
After landing on top of the claw, she placed both of her hands on its body and summoned a whirlwind of her aura shards to entirely cover and color it pink. The claw struggled for some seconds until finally, Neo had it under her control.
You look better in pink—no need to thank me.
The evacuees on the bridge, who had been ducking till now to avoid any stray bullet, stood up and cheered for Neo. Realizing that they were thanking her for taking the claws down, Neo still standing on the hijacked body of the third one, elegantly took off Roman's hat and bowed down to them. Soon, most of them resumed their escape and Neo proceeded to use her latest 'mount' to get to the other side of the bridge.
Noticing that The Mouse and Juniper had been captured by a web shot from one of the claws and that it was about to start flying back toward the airship it came from, Neo used her mount's machine guns to bring down and destroy it.
Nice job. From now on, you shall be named... Flitter.
Using Hush's hidden blade, she cut down the web to free its captives.
"Thanks, lady. You sav- AAAAAH, YOU!" The mouse for some reason screamed at her.
"You don't give me good vibes!" Quickly and acrobatically the mouse picked the sword that they had dropped on the ground earlier.
Surprised and puzzled, Neo finally took notice that the mouse was abnormally big for its species. Approximately, half a meter.
What's the problem, capybara? I just saved you.
"Um, Neo. Remember Little, Miss Rose's mouse companion? The one you stepped on?" An annoyed Neo replied quickly to The Blacksmith's thought.
No need to rub my past crimes and mistakes on my face. Especially, right- Oh, no.
She stopped pointing her blade back at the mouse, displaying a face of concern and regret.
"I ascended them around the same time as Miss Rose. Little now goes by Somewhat." The Blacksmith informed her.
But why does Somewhat still hate me? Didn't you wipe off Little's memories?
"Yes, but Little's heart still remembers all the stuff you did to Miss Rose and them. Somewhat doesn't recognize nor remember you, but the strongest feelings in one's heart can never be removed entirely via ascension."
Somewhat doesn't remember me, but they still hate me.
Neo started to get lost in her thoughts about ascension once more.
That means they probably forgot even about the person who was their friend, Ruby Rose.
Neo started to feel pain in her chest.
I know I'm in no position to ask for this, but can you please tell Somewhat to head into a door? I don't think Somewhat would listen to me, even if I used one of my constructs to speak.
On a tree nearby to the bridge, The Blacksmith's figure manifested.
"Somewhat, it's too dangerous to stay here. This is a lost battle. Head to the Tree's Acre. You can either help others there or head straight into The Door to escape." Somewhat, surprised at the figure that had appeared out of nowhere to speak to them, lowered their sword.
"Fine, but what about her? She's probably also dangerous." Somehow the mouse's words hurt Neo more than any hit team RWBY had ever landed on her.
"She's on our side now. Let her help us." The Blacksmith clarified the situation.
Shots in the distance interrupted their conversation.
"This acre has fallen. The tree will soon use one of its roots to destroy the bridge. All of you, go back to The Great Tree before it's too late." The Blacksmith urged them.
Riding Juniper and 'Flitter', Somewhat and Neo crossed the bridge making sure that all the evacuees had made it to the other side. Suddenly, one of The Tree's big roots came from under the acre's ground, positioning itself over the bridge to crash down violently.
I didn't know The Tree could do that. Thanks for not forcefully ascending nor killing me, back when I was making the Ever After a mess.
"That will slow down the enemies' advances and buy us a bit of time at ground level. But their flagship is about to make it here." The Blacksmith said telepathically to Neo.
•
"Grand Admiral, Grippers on The Tree's Acre are under attack. Monolith 3 has lost 4 squads." A low-ranked cadet in the commanding room, wearing a kestrel mask, reported without looking away from his computer.
"Display on-screen any footage we got of the Ever After's defense forces." The Wolf replied with a mix of curiosity and annoyance.
At his command, multiple holographic screens in the room showed images of Neo riding Flitter and leading constructs of Grimm and Jabberwalkers while being aided by Somewhat and Juniper against a small squad of Grippers.
"WHAT!?" The Wolf shouted in shock.
The Monkey couldn't avoid laughing.
"A mouse, one deer, a pink spider, and a clown girl with a parasol walked into a bar." The Boar made fun of the situation.
"AH, KAWAII! They sure beat our forces at adorableness!" The Rabbit joyously claimed before a jolt halted her impulsive head. "But that girl..."
"She looks like a Zenithean. A human, not an Ever Afteran." The Boar followed up on The Rabbit's assessment. "And it looks like has a semblance."
The screens showed Neo constructing another Jabberwalker to replace one that had fallen against the latest batch of Grippers.
"Inu-san, that means that this girl is a top priority target. So desu ka?" The Rabbit asked excitedly.
"Yes, unfortunately." The Wolf said, almost grumping.
"Which means?" The Rabbit continued to happily request replies from his superior.
"During conquest battles a Zodiac member must be deployed to secure the capture of valuable samples." The Wolf replied, citing one of the invasion protocols he had memorized.
"Sooo?" The Rabbit once again spoke teasingly.
"Usag- Rabbit. Under the protocols for sample collection, it is imperative to secure the capture of the target on display. At any cost." The Wolf stated, trying to regain some of the authority and composure he had lost in the last minutes.
"No bombing this acre, Inu-san." The Rabbit energetically stood up, mockingly giving a hand salute to her superior before heading to the launching area of Monolith 1.
"I will take Ranran out for a walk... Well, a flight." She said, leaving the commanding room.
•
"Watch out. The Tree is bringing down this bridge next." As The Blacksmith informed Neo and Somewhat, another giant buried root raised from the ground to collapse on the bridge and destroy it. "All the bridges that connected to this acre are down."
How is the evacuation going?
Neo, still riding on Flitter's improvised saddle, requested an update from the Blacksmith.
"In this acre, it's almost done. The process is going smoothly, thanks to your efforts, but you should head to The Door. The airships nearby released a group of big flying androids. These are sturdier and more dangerous than the claw enemies you've been facing so far."
Flying Paladins!? They got improved versions of those!? What kind of crazy world am I fighting!?
She started to hesitate about how much she should keep delaying crossing The Door.
"Neo, think I saw a couple of Grippers chasing evacuees. I will go ahead." Filled with courage, Somewhat headed on Juniper to help.
Distracted by her thoughts, Neo took a moment to process what they said, but before she could charge into the area to which Somewhat headed, she perceived an ominous sound coming from the sky. At the same time, she heard shots from far away and felt ten of her battle constructs, placed across the acre, suddenly disappear. It was the work of the 'flying Paladins' The Blacksmith had told her about.
Except the one flying 20 meters in front of her was no Paladin at all. It was something far more advanced than anything she had seen back in Remnant. The gray and black 'android' from head to toe was between 8 and 9 meters tall, not counting the big 'jetpack' it was 'wearing' to fly around. On its hands, it was holding a very long rifle. Probably 5 meters in length, considering its long barrel. On its waists and legs, it had one axe and a couple of more guns. One that resembled a pistol and the other one a machine gun. Neo could also discern a pair of spare arms, which were folded between the jetpack and the unfolded arms. Its head had horns like those of a bull. While on its face, a bright yellow 'visor' acted as its eyes. The jetpack counted also with some weapons attached to it. One that resembled a rocket launcher, and the other one a big metallic sword. Purple lines glowed across its body and jetpack.
Gravity dust. Even the Atlesian army could not implement that technology into their Paladins. At least not to this degree of efficiency. Plus, they shot down easily 10 of my constructs. Probably can detect sources of aura and lock on its target from afar.
The sad and sudden realization that the claws she had been fighting weren't part of the invaders' actual offensive forces made her freeze on the spot. The claws were designed to mostly capture fleeing civilians, such as the Ever Afterans, not to fight nor destroy threats in a real battle. The flying 'thing' in front of her, now that was an actual killing machine.
Before Neo had time to plan something, the flying 'android' aimed at her with its rifle.
Wait, no. Stop!
Neo's eyes turned white. As she was about to panic and order her mount to move, a sudden flash of red landed on the gray and black android. It received a kick so hard, it crashed diagonally into the ground, making a crater and releasing shockwave in the process. Neo took time to identify what had just saved her life.
It was another flying android but with a sleeker, red body and light blue highlights. On its head, it counted with a bright violet visor for eyes and bunny ears.
•
"Inu-san, nani sore!? Why did you deploy these many Minotaurs!? One of them almost shot dead the cute doll girl!" The Rabbit angrily said, who was inside the pilot cabin of her red 'Ranran'.
"The Minotaurs were launched with the order of attacking any potential threat that isn't the girl, such as The Tree's roots." The Wolf coldly replied through a comm device inside the pilot cabin.
"Usagi-chan, the Gripper that clown girl took over with her semblance is probably confusing the Minotaurs' detection systems. If you shoot it down without injuring the girl, that will probably stop them from attacking her." The Boar explained to her.
"Also, the target is escaping." The Monkey added with indifference to the conversation.
"Nani!?" The Rabbit looked back at the cockpit's visors to confirm his words.
Ranran began chasing after Neo and Flitter, but as it was about to reach them, big roots started to emerge from the ground, trying to bring down the red mecha.
"Usagi-chan, The Tree is trying to protect the clown girl. Remember to not get hit by its branches, roots, or engulfed by its leaves. Otherwise, you will get ascended." As The Rabbit was doing flying maneuvers to dodge them, The Boar sent her another urgent message.
"Understood, but ironically, I'm also trying to save her. Besides, if I have a firm grasp of who I am, ascension will not affect me. Right?" The Rabbit said a bit nervous.
"In theory, but that thing is becoming more aggressive and going out of its way to attack. Rather play it safe." The Boar advised her friend.
"The Ever After itself is finally fighting back. It knows why we are here." The Wolf said menacingly over the comm device.
After zigzagging around a couple of roots, Ranran finally managed to get a view of Neo clear enough to take down her mount. "Forgive me, adorable doll. It's for your good."
•
I lost sight of that damn robot. Where is-
As Neo was looking around for Ranran, she heard a detonation. In that instant, Flitter exploded. Due to the inertia her body had accumulated, she was sent flying away from the wreckage that used to be her mount.
Flitter, nooo! I will avenge you! The tea party for Ruby will be nothing, compared to the punishment your killer will receive!
Using one hand to stop Roman's hat from falling off her head and the other one to catch Hush, Neo quickly activated Overactive Imagination for a new Jabberwalker with a saddle to appear below her and land on its back before crashing into the ground.
•
"Sugoi, the doll is amazing... But she summoned another thing that will get her shot! I don't have any choice, but to convince her in person to surrender." The Rabbit said worried, as Neo was heading toward a Minotaur without realizing it, flying 50 meters above ground.
Detecting the Jabberwalker construct's aura, the Minotaur started to descend and aim its rifle at Neo. The Rabbit without hesitation, shot the Minotaur to call its attention.
"Ranran, I leave him to you. AAIS activated." She opened the front of her pilot cabin, as Ranran ascended to reach the Minotaur's current altitude.
"Usagi-chan, what are you doing!? A root is going for you!" The Boar alarmed her.
"I must do this to save her, Ye-chan. Despite the nature of my semblance, I don't wish to see this girl die." Without waiting for another reply, The Rabbit jumped out of the cabin, as Ranran intercepted the Minotaur.
Before she could reach the ground and location Neo was heading to, a root quickly came out of the ground intending to hit Usagi.