A/N:
You'd all be surprised how nervous I was passing so much time (nine whole months!) these last few chapters, and going so far as to more or less skip over the Vytal Tournaments, but someone basically hit the nail on the goddamn head: It would've just been pointless filler. Fun initially, but after a while... There's a plot to get back to, and passing a bunch of time just to not skip over it so quickly would make things drag on too much.
There's also something to be said for an in-context reason, that being Aldric neither wrote in his journal during this time or even thought any of the events noteworthy in the first place, but I digress, I've also vowed to never again set a story in medias res/set a concrete amount time in the future its beginning is to avoid that specific problem.
With that said, let me tell you guys something.
When I have a chapter stockpile for this story, I tend to try and wait five days minimum before putting up the next one, and It was a fight to not release this chapter early.
...
I fight I lost after finally getting around to actually watching V5, and subsequently learning V6 was starting in, like, two months.
So, let's get to it, shall we?
Chapter 56
Stuffed inside of a rocket-propelled locker, hurtling through the air, with a shield bequeathed to her that she absolutely didn't deserve and didn't want, Pyrrha Nikos, with tears streaming down her face, was desperately trying to rip the door to the locker off of its hinges with her semblance. Her friend, however, had ensured she couldn't, not in time to stop him from marching to his death in her stead. Ever the lateral thinker, he'd used his semblance to practically weld the door in place, meaning the time and effort required for her to break it off was just long enough that, by the time it happened, she was practically over Vale.
The door sheared off of the locker with the sound of metal tearing apart, and Pyrrha immediately began obeying gravity. She had to scramble to catch Ash's shield before it could fall too far away from her, and with her semblance cloaking her in an onyx glow, she dragged at the metal on her body and fastened to her back to slow her fall from that of one that would paint her across the ground, to that which would let her daintily touch down without any injuries. She turned her head to Beacon Tower, just able to see the Grimm dragon leap off of its side and begin orbiting it, literally raining Grimm. Pyrrha knew that she would need help if she were going to save Ash, she couldn't go through all of those Grimm and still expect to be of any help to him when it came time to fight the new Maiden.
Especially when she began to feel the woman's power climb, so high that it felt as though it were crushing her. Ash was out of his league, terribly out of his league, and he had to know. So, the red-headed warrior guided herself back to Beacon's grounds, landing on the dormrooms. She fished her scroll out of her pocket and hesitated, wondering who would still be close enough to help her.
Looking outwards, she could see that a vast swath of Vale was on fire, but it appeared as though dozens of naval Airships from all countries were clustered around one area in particular, hammering the surrounding areas with precise air-to-ground fire. This clear safe zone reminded her of the sheer number of people that had actually come to attend the Vytal finals, and how all of them would be evacuated to Beacon, but with the dragon now here, no doubt they'd be taking everyone further down to the city to get them away.
That meant that her team, Ash's, and the others, wouldn't have gone nearly as far as she'd thought.
She dialed Jaune.
He picked up almost instantly, he sounded out of breath, huffing and puffing every few syllables. "Pyrrha!" He called out, "Pyrrha, where are you - are you okay?!" He pleaded.
"Jaune -" Pyrrha started pacing, "I'm fine, but I need your help, Ash -"
"What happened? Where are you?!"
"Jaune, I'm fine!" Pyrrha stressed, "but there's something happening, the -" How would she put this quickly? "- the woman in control of the dragon, she's killed Ozpin and -"
"Ozpin's DEAD?!" She heard him scream, soon accompanied by astonished gasps from elsewhere in the background. "WHERE. ARE. YOU?!"
"I'm at the dorms, Jaune, but Ash - listen! Ash went to fight her!"
There was a moment's silence, and then she barely heard him speaking, as though he'd lowered the phone. "Hey! Are any of you guys still okay? We need to go now!" She couldn't hear the responses, "man..." His voice grew closer. "Pyrrha, half of us are exhausted and wounded. Ruby, Ecru, Yang, and I are the only ones good enough to keep fighting. We'll meet you at the dorms -"
Pyrrha shook her head and cut him off. "No, Jaune there's no time. Go to the tower and we'll all meet up there." She looked up to said tower -
Just in time to see each and every single glass surface on its exterior shatter with the sound of a distant clap of thunder. A few moments later she felt the edges of the shockwave that had done it, and gasped when, a moment later, a gout of fire shot out of the side of Ozpin's office, slowly shifting around in a circle, before fading away.
"Gods!" She heard Jaune curse, "Pyrrha, we're on our way!" He hung up, and Pyrrha leapt from the side of the building, using her semblance to float down, arms at her sides.
She was immediately accosted by a few Grimm, no doubt having been attracted by her rampant worry for Ash. Fortunately, after drawing her weapons and securing Ash's shield to her back, dealing with them didn't require much effort, so when they were dissipating into smoke after a few stabs to their necks, she was sprinting back to the tower at full speed. The occasional Grimm sprouted up but was put down just as fast in Pyrrha's desperate rampage back to Beacon Tower, it now echoing with more frequent thunderclaps.
She wished she could say she couldn't believe he would do this. She wished she could say she couldn't believe he'd just throw himself at the fire like this, and even give up his main weapon before he did it! But she knew better. Ash was a man who would give up everything for those in need, and what was more he was a person who wholly believed in the power both a person and a symbol had. She didn't agree that she was more important than him, but she knew that others would find out that Ozpin had chosen her over everyone else, which would make her important in their eyes, validating Ash, and that crushed her.
She prayed - she actually prayed - that she, Jaune, Ruby, Ecru, and Yang would make it to him before the new Maiden did something terrible. But as she sneaked another peak up at the tower, her heart stopped and she knew her prayers wouldn't be answered - because from the light of the fires that has sprung up, she could see the Maiden hoisting Ash up by his throat, and then throwing him out of the tower fast enough to leave contrails in the air behind him - and he was hurtling straight towards the dragon.
Pyrrha screamed out of fear, seeing Ash struggle to overtake the momentum the Maiden had created before the dragon would literally eat him. The best he could do, however, was move himself out of the way and leap off of the dragon's giant maw. This slowed himself down enough to a halt, and the next Pyrrha could see, Ash straightened up and thrust his hand out.
Second later, his hand recoiled back, having caught something, which then identified itself - lighting up with a distant, bright blue glow.
Pyrrha felt elation, realizing and remembering that Ash was armed with a weapon of attack, and not an instrument of defense. The weapon he specifically used when the situation called for lethal force.
This elation was shattered when the Maiden suddenly was surrounded by a similar light, but of a deep, bloody red glow.
She had a weapon just like his.
"No..." She whispered, as Ash shot back towards the tower and disappeared in its depths, clashing with the Maiden.
Pyrrha redoubled her efforts, forcing herself to run faster as her mind ran wild with what Ash was dealing with, the pain he must be in.
The battle he must be fighting.
"So tell me... You who fashion yourself a goddess." Said Aldric, as he cracked his gray, sheening knuckles, and crouched down low into a fighting stance, as a wide grin began to grow across his face.
"Do you bleed?"
The woman's eyes narrowed, and she began to levitate, as the very air around her distorted from the sheer heat she was generating. Her eyes were covered in massive auras of fire, their shape reminiscent of the wings of a butterfly. The ground underneath them, and the air around them, shimmered and shook as the two combatants pulled out all of the stops, and drew all of their strength, one to be rid of a pest as fast as possible, and one in the hopes that he may, just may, be able to survive this whole ordeal. All across the academy, and even down in the kingdom, many paused a moment and turned their heads to Beacon Tower, as the Fall Maiden, and Beacon's Master, drew out everything they had. A flaming bonfire versus a napalm campfire, their combined energies were enough such that even civilians, with little aura to speak of, could feel something was off. Aldric felt the weight of the raven-haired Fall Maiden's power crushing him, but he didn't let his grin falter, as he rang the bell.
"You will." And the two launched at each other.
Aldric and Cinder clashed in the center of Ozpin's office, their forearms slamming into eachother and their faces instantly contorting into frowns. The shockwave sent by the impact sent flying everything not nailed down, the impacts of these things splintering windows, and after a moment Aldric and Cinder hit the ground. She ducked underneath a wide right cross and responded by uppercutting Aldric in the stomach. Aldric didn't budge, instead countering by clenching both fists and slamming them onto her back like an ape. She fell to her hands, but bent her legs up and kicked him with both feet, each one hitting a forearm and forcing him to fall back. She sprang back to her feet and then darted forward.
Aldric palmed away a straight right and followed it up with a left elbow to her cheek, and a right punch to her stomach, before throwing both hands over her back and slamming his knee into her gut, bending her over him. Cinder responded by reaching up and clawing at the side of his face, her nails digging into his cheek, and causing just enough pain to let go of her. She dropped to her knees and spun around, kicking his out from underneath him and then, as he fell, she sprang up and pounded her fist into his chest, burying him into the ground with the sound of concrete cracking. Aldric rolled out of the way of her next punch and then leapt up to his feet, throwing his fist around and trying to backhand her. She blocked it with her forearm and then leaned in to hit him with an elbow; he caught the blow with his chest, it slipped off of him and then gave him the opening he needed to hit her with a powerful left to her back, the sound of bones splintering filling the air as she stumbled forward, almost falling to the ground, but recovering and rolling to her feet just as Aldric came in and tried to stomp down on her leg. Cinder coiled up and then sprang at him; his hand thrust out and caught one of her arms, and he used this grip to swing her over his head and slam her into the ground like a mace.
Before the debris from the impact even settled, Aldric was on top of her and wailing, raining down blows with each second, the assault lasting for several seconds, each punch emphasized with an angry grunt from Aldric and a bark of pain from Cinder. Her response was to plant her palms on his stomach and detonate her aura, sending him flying up into the ceiling, burying him into it. Aldric pried himself out of the ceiling and threw a chunk of rock at her; she batted it out of the way with a backhand, shattering it into a cloud of debris, which Aldric shot through with a loud, wild roar.
Cinder hopped away from Aldric's attack, and then had to fall to the defensive as Aldric launched himself at her. She caught one punch with her hand, and then another with her face, but she spun into the momentum and backhanded Aldric with her own fist. Aldric recoiled back, and then lurched forward, ramming his knee into her chest, grabbing the back of her head, and then following up his first knee with a second, and a third, before she grabbed his knee with her hands and halting his attacks, using her superior power to push it back to the floor, and she kicked up with her rear leg, it curving over her back and then smashing it into Aldric's face.
Aldric's response was to let go of her, let her stand up straight, and then throw a haymaker into her face, her skin folding up around his fist and her head twisted around almost one hundred and eighty degrees. She, however, steeled herself and instead of stumbling backwards, anchored herself to the ground, and pushed back, overwhelming Aldric's strength and turning her head back forward, now leering at the levitating Master, angrily defying him as she lifted her hand and locked it around Aldric's wrist.
His response was to drop like a rock and arc his fist up to Cinder's chin, before elbowing her in the chest. She didn't let go, however, and instead tightened her grip and pulled Aldric close, chopping at his throat with her free hand before punching him thrice in the ribs and then kicking him to the other side of the office. Aldric dropped to his hands and knees and then flipped over, his feet ramming into the window he would have smashed into. He used the window to spring back at Cinder, who caught him, spun him around, and then threw him back at the window, this time succeeding in smashing him face-first into it.
Aldric almost went through the glass, the shards stuck in his cheeks proving this easily enough as he pried himself out of it. He landed on the ground, wiping his face with the back of his hand, bloodying it with his new wounds, as Cinder, hands held out to her sides and elbows pressed to her hips, brazenly walked right to him, a smirk on her face.
"What 'power' you wield, 'Goud Etiolate'." She taunted, "where is the ferocity which you forced upon the terrans? Your mighty shield? Hm?" She held one of her hands up, Aldric recognizing what she was about to do.
He leapt to the side just before the ground exploded beneath him, scrambled to his feet and then leapt away before she did it again. On the third time, however, he rolled to his feet and then planted his hand on the ground, and as it began to glow from the heat Cinder was pumping into it, Aldric forced those heavily excited atoms to slow their roll, and soon the both were fighting for dominance, her trying to heat up the ground and make it explode, him trying to keep it from doing anything the sort. Her smirk dropped to a sneer, to a frown, as her arm began to shake.
Aldric snorted, "hey, Lady In Red!" His voice wavered from the effort he was pouring into keeping the ground from blowing up beneath him. "Chill out!" He smashed his fist into the ground and revealed the true extent of his stunt, as an icy stalagmite shot up from the ground. She leapt out of the way and, upon landing, folded her arms, a frown wrinkling her face. "So..." Aldric popped his back, "warmup's done?"
She grinned, "quite." She said, holding her hand out, a sword forming in her empty palm.
Aldric let out an airy chuckle, and nodded. "Yup." He wiped the blood from under his nose. "You know, I upgraded my armor after that fear and dead men?" He held up his fists in a boxer's stance.
"And that explains your missing shield."
"Nah, I've just been meaning to put it through its paces." He sprinted back towards her, and she to him, gripping the glass blade in both hands and swinging it his head as she grew close.
Aldric raised his right arm to block the attack, the blade slammed into his forearm and shattered into millions of glowing pieces. She spawned another blade and swung again, Aldric punched this one and it shattered too. A left and a right from Cinder ushered a responding right and a left from Aldric, both attacks creating and destroying a new blade, and on it went for thirty solid seconds. Every attack had a new sword in Cinder's hands, and each new blade was destroyed by another punch from Aldric, filling the air and a couple parts of Aldric's face with the burning glass. Cinder fell back a step and tried to thrust at Aldric with a longsword, but Aldric turned into it, avoiding the attack and bringing his hand up, closing it around the blade. It ground to a halt in his armored, cybernetic hand, and with a rough jerk, he snapped it in twain and pulled her forward.
Cinder fell into her momentum, bent over at the waist, but used this to her advantage, summoning another blade and then stabbing upwards. This one bypassed Aldric's defenses, but hit the suit beneath his clothes, the tip digging into it and causing a biting pain to jump up into his ribs. The blade again snapped into pieces and, with his cybernetic hand, he rammed it into her back, and buried Cinder into the ground.
She turned it into her advantage and, with fire blasting out of her feet, shot deeper into the ground and tunneled through to the floor below them. On anyone else, her intention may have worked, but on Aldric's radar, he knew exactly where she was and where she'd pop up, so the question he was asking himself was what her play would be - and it was answered when the many multiple gears that made up large portions of the ceiling suddenly came crashing down, falling like mortars, and his efforts at dodging or deflecting them proved great enough distraction for Cinder to then shoot out from under the ground, a sword the size of her held tightly in her hands, which she beat him with, slicing across his back and throwing him into the falling gears. Aldric of course got caught in the gears and then pinned to the ground, which gave Cinder the leave she needed to sprint towards him, tip of her blade dragging against the ground and a wild look in her eyes. She laughed as she sprinted towards him, her blade leaving a fiery trail in the ground.
So Aldric decided to take off the kid gloves too, and with his semblance, pushed the gear off of the ground, slid himself out of it, kicked off of its edge, and blasted it towards her. She carved through it with one large upward slice, and the two halves shot through the room, one getting lodged in the elevator shaft, the other crashing through one of the many pillars in Ozpin's office and causing the ceiling to groan.
Cinder grinned and tore her blade out of the ground - sending a gout of fire in front of her, each one sprouting out of the ground with a loud crack and a spray of heat and flame. Aldric merely arced an eyebrow, walked two feet to the left, and watched as they passed him by.
"What'd you expect me to do, run -" He turned and Cinder arrived, he raised his arm and blocked the blade, and as she struggled against him, he continued, "run... That way?" He nodded behind him. "Wait, were you the chick on the highway? If so that's the second time you've thrown something at us and expected our response to be to run away from it, in the direction it's rolling." His grin grew, "I thought we'd taken off the kid gloves?"
"Oh... We have." Cinder then vanished.
Aldric blinked.
Oh right... I forgot she can do that. He still hadn't figured out that trick, actually.
Aldric could barely sense her with his radar, but she was moving so fast that she looked like a blur of motion and color, it was hard to get a read on her.
Worse was that she figured this out when she got him with six successive hit-and-runs, causing him to spin like a top after she nailed him in the face. Aldric's response was to raise his leg and then slam his foot into the ground - turning the entire floor into a veritable ice rink and immediately making Cinder lose her footing. Now slipping and sliding all across the floor, Cinder leapt into the air, fire spraying out of her feet. She planted her feet on the wall and then blasted off of it; Aldric turned towards her and cocked his arm all the way back, it straightening out at the elbow as he lowered his stance and braced his legs.
Cinder bellowed out as she flew towards him, and Aldric met said bellow with one of his own, and when she reached him and threw her fist forward, he shoved his forward as well. They both met at the knuckles, the floor beneath them shook, the ice shattered like glass, blowing around as though they were in the center of a windstorm, and the shockwave they created was strong enough to shatter every single window in the office. The twos' shouts and roars only grew in volume, but Cinder had the proverbial high ground, and could pour more power into her fist, and more fire out of her feet.
She won out.
Aldric's suit managed to blunt the attack, but like with Thor before her, that didn't do anything to stop her fist from continuing forward when it rammed into his chest, bending his ribs, a few to the breaking point. Aldric shot back like a rubber band, bouncing twice off of the ground and nearly falling off of the ledge, his fingers just barely able to find purchase and stop him. He hauled himself back inside but immediately was on the run as Cinder shot him with a huge spray of fire. Aldric avoiding it by throwing himself out of the way and then ran around the edge of the office; Cinder followed him up until the moment Aldric hopped up, came down like a ton of bricks, tore some concrete out of the ground to make an improvised barrier, and then with a powerful left strike, broke it from the ground and sent it hurtling towards Cinder, the fire spraying off of it in all directions, in a starry pattern.
She cut off the fire and instead blasted it with a bolt of lightning, causing it to explode. Her victory was short lived, however, as Aldric again flew through the cloud of debris, this time feet-first, and hands held high over his head and clenched into fists, it appearing as though he were falling sideways. He slammed both feet into Cinder's cheek and she went flying with a shriek of pain; Aldric flipped rightside up and landed on the ground, before charging right after her.
She crossed over the threshold and actually flew several feet outside before she flipped over and then, with a burst of fire from her legs, jetted right back at him. Their arms clashed again with another, smaller, shockwave, and Aldric followed it up with a cross to her face. She spun over sideways before landing on the ground and then roared as she shoved herself back up and pounded Aldric's face in turn with an uppercut. Aldric stumbled off to the side, but used the momentum to spin around and roundhouse Cinder. She met the kick with one of her own, Aldric kicked again, aiming lower and trying to sweep her leg out from under her, but Cinder's response was another kick, their shins rapidly and repeatedly slamming into eachother and locking in place. They kept this up for three more kicks before Cinder gave up because of equal parts pain in her leg and the need to try something else.
They split apart, and Cinder took the initiative, lunging forward and throwing a lightning-fast superman punch, clearly trying the speed angle again. Aldric decided to play with his semblance, and proved to be the immovable object to her unstoppable force: Relying on his suit to take the hit, and his semblance to keep his body from deforming, Aldric took the punch to his chest, and the result was as though Yang had punched his shield: A bell toll and a shockwave. Cinder tried again, but Aldric met her left strike with a right, she tried again, uppercutting him, but he blocked it with his elbow, each and every impact sending out a clap of thunder and a gust of wind. He threw a jab at her with his right, but she stopped it with her white-hot palm. She thrust her knee towards Aldric's pelvis, but Aldric, owing partially to his newly honed instincts and partially due to eighteen years of avoiding hurting that particular area, was able to avoid this attack, leaning out of the way and causing Cinder to overextend herself.
Her foot hit the ground and she found herself leaning far too forward, Aldric slammed his boot onto Cinder's foot and locked her to the floor. Cinder wrapped her fingers around Aldric's neck and heated them up so much that his shirt caught fire. Aldric put it out with a brief thought from his semblance, and decided to play with it. Throwing as much of his concentration into his semblance as he could without sacrificing his ability to defend himself, Aldric started tearing ambient, freefloating atoms out of the air and rearranging them.
Twenty two protons to twenty two electrons, to just that many and a few more neutrons, the air itself wouldn't have enough for him if he wanted to keep this subtle, so he started stealing from the debris of the fight around them as Cinder planted her palm on his chest and electrocuted him so bad he swore he could see his skeleton from inside the suit. This finally convinced him to let go of Cinder's leg, but he didn't try anything fancy, he lunged backwards and hopped away, keeping her attention focused on him as a lance of solid steel was rapidly coming into being behind her.
She didn't notice a thing, merely grinning, before she charged. Aldric met her grin with one of his own and stalled for more time, ducking out of the way of a fast right punch and bobbing and weaving out of her followup attacks. It took everything he had to keep this up and he still took some hits for his trouble, his ribs starting to ache something fierce, but after thirty seconds, the spear was ready - and with a grunt, he pulled it right towards him.
Cinder heard the air whistling and only got a brief look over her shoulder to warn her of what was happening. She dove out of the way, but it still dragged across her cheek. Aldric caught the spear and spun it in his hands, growling as he saw her aura, bolstered as it now was, take the attack without even flinching. As a final touch, Aldric tossed it up in his hands, got a better grip, and then threw it at her with all his strength. She thrust both hands forward and beat at the spear with hurricane-force winds, inadvertently kicking up a lot of their battle debris and beating and tearing at Aldric with it. Aldric pushed on the spear with his semblance, and when the tip touched her hand, he clenched his fist - instantly heating it up until it was white hot.
He only realized how poorly thought out this decision was when Cinder took that newly glowing metal, heated it up further, let it melt, and then crushed it into a tightly compacted sphere. Aldric let go if it and Cinder picked it up, it hovering over her head before she spun around and hurled it back at him with a concussive blast and a wave of both of her arms. Aldric gasped and backpedaled, holding up both of his hands defensively, and then thrusting them forward as the molten metal ball reached him. A thin, translucent barrier radiating pale clouds of mist appeared in front of him, and when the molten steel touched this barrier, the latter shattered, but not after filling the air with steam and causing the orb to cool so close to absolute zero that even the small space that touched Aldric's ice shield was so cold that the rest of the orb's heat wasted away in trying to equilibrize it.
The now blistering-cold metal sphere reached Aldric and hovered above one of his clenched fists; Aldric compressed it down further until it was the size of a baseball. His fist and his arm both shaking with the effort, he punched the air hard enough that his entire body lurched forward; the hyperdense baseball of steel shot forward, and Cinder had to create a multitude of forcefields with her powers in order to defend against it. It crashed through all of them, more and more of it disintegrating and flaking away as it reached her, but she kept ahold of these new metal shards, now filling the air in front of her. As one, they all turned to face Aldric, Cinder smirked, lazily raised her hand and splayed open her fingers. Some of the shrapnel became cloaked in electricity, others glowed white hot, others became frozen cold, and others still had their edged beaten to a razor sharpness by wind, before they all shot back towards him.
Aldric lifted his hands and then threw both of them to his right, causing all of these shards to hit his low-pressure area and immediately begin orbiting around him, as though they were a hurricane. He began tearing at the atoms that made these shards, them all flaking away and disintegrating in golden embers. When he was satisfied, Aldric lifted his right hand, clenched it into a fist, and rearranged those atoms again - one proton to one electron - instantly filling the air with hundreds of pounds of hydrogen, all of which began to spin and coalesce into a dense, spherical cloud of gas in his right palm.
One spark lit the gas ball in his hand, and he caught that heat and forced it further inside until all of it was one dense ball of reddish-white plasma. Aldric then thrust his hand forward and let that plasma fly, roaring out as he was lit in a deep red glow by the hydrogen plasma.
Cinder, in response, caught the plasma in her bare hands, sliding back several feet and gathering it all in front of her chest. She kept gathering it until Aldric ran out, and when it all reached her, she held it in both hands and then pressed.
Aldric watched in abstract terror as she forced that glowing red sphere to compress further and further, down to the size of a golf ball, to a dime, a beebee, and smaller still, until even the red glow had vanished, and then, as though someone had flipped a switch, all light began to slowly compress down into the area the plasma had just been. In a runaway effect, soon Cinder was holding a motherfucking black hole in her hands; her head snapped up, a vicious, animalistic smile curling her lips and a fire both magical and metaphorical lighting her eyes, before she threw the fucking thing at Aldric.
Then it vanished after not even making it an inch past Cinder's hand, leaving nothing in its wake but a light gust of wind, and most of the debris on the floor briefly rolling to that spot.
Aldric and Cinder both stared at the place the black hole had been as the office grew utterly silent, the Maiden in confusion, the Master in shock.
Cinder blinked at it, then looked up to Aldric, the facade created of the two briefly being broken as she tried to comprehend what had just happened. Aldric, however, had his shoulders slumped and his head lolling about as he groaned in sheer relief and delayed realization.
Aldric didn't know nearly as much as he should about black holes, Schwarzchild Radii, or Hawking Radiation, but he knew just enough about about all three to know that he'd just witnessed a literal miracle of science and should just be thankful he was alive. So, after thanking the late Professor Hawking, Aldric shook his head, decided to stop playing ping-pong with Cinder if she was going to try and play with literally the most terrifying thing he could imagine, and instead try the Goku method and deck her in the schnoz. Then he sprinted back into the fray to do just that.
Cinder, an angry scowl on her face, vanished again, appearing in front of Aldric with her elbow in his stomach. He was stopped immediately, and the force of her attack overcame his speed, and sent him flying back to the edge of the office. He hit the ground and rolled until his arm was dangling out in the open air. Aldric groaned and tried to get to his feet, but Cinder was there - and she grabbed him by the throat and hauled him into the air.
"A good trick, Goud."
"You almost killed this entire planet you crazy bi-" She tightened her grip on his throat, causing his words to be choked out.
She rolled her eyes, reared her arm, and then threw him with out of the office all her might.
Initially Aldric tried to figure out what her game was, because she knew he could fly - but when he heard the chest-rattling roar of the Dragon, and realized that his momentum was so great that he might not stop himself in time, he realized what she wanted to happen. He pushed at himself with his semblance, trying to overcome his backwards momentum and slow himself down, but it was no good - the dragon reached him too quickly, forcing him to yank at his foot to get out of the way. He smelled the damn thing's breath as its jaw passed within inches of his face, loudly snapping shut.
It hurtled past him, and the near-miss slowed him down enough that he could force himself to halt. He stayed there, in the sky, floating, taking a moment to himself to let his heart catch up.
Okay. He thought, gasping for air. Time to change tactics. He reached down, and unclipped a certain weapon from his belt. This'll be the real test. This entire thing had been the two playing with eachother, literally going through the motions of Aldric's growth from the day they'd met: First hand to hand, then their powers, then their real powers, and now? Now it was time for the two of them to bring it all home and lay it all out on the table. By drawing their lightsabers, they were making their declaration: This was where the fight became lethal, where they would make Goud's death believable.
And, Aldric worried, where Cinder would tell him exactly when she'd begun listening to his and Ozpin's conversation. If she'd heard Torchwick and Taurus' voices, Aldric's life was forfeit and she would stop at nothing to kill him; and if she hadn't, well, his life was still in danger - at the level they were playing that was a given - but there was a much smaller chance she'd intentionally kill him.
With a flick of his wrist, Aldric ignited his lightsaber with a bright blue glow and a loud zhoom! Cinder, seeing this, did the same, sliding her own from the small of her back, thrusting it downwards, and igniting it with the sound of a plasma torch, the red blade first sprouting out from the hilt, and then the side vents. Aldric tightened his scowl and, with a battle cry, hurtled forward, sword clenched in both hands and held low. Cinder fell into a defensive stance, her blade upended and pointed to the ground as she fell onto her backfoot.
Aldric reached her and swung his blade up, holding it perpendicular to him and crashing into Cinder, their blades meeting and forming a cross where, at their intersection, the plasma grinded together and lit up with a bright white flash and the sound of guitar strings scraping against each other. Cinder was forced back several feet, giving Aldric the room he needed to plant his feet on the ground, rip his blade away from hers, and then slice at her again horizontally. His blade scraped off of hers, and she responded by hopping back a step, bringing her bright red sword to bear, and thrusting it at him. It took all of Aldric's speed to spin his in a clockwise motion and parry hers, whereupon, now with her flank open, he lunged forward and slammed his fist into her ribs. She took the blow, but only because it allowed her to swap her sword into her left hand and wrap her right arm around Aldric's neck. Her next attack came when she reversed her grip with a flourish and then roughly stabbed at Aldric's stomach. Aldric twisted to the side, it sliding inches past him before she snapped it back and then lunged, swinging upwards so fast that all Aldric saw was the blur of color.
Aldric was firmly on the defensive now, forcing himself to remember that as much as Weiss and Pyrrha had given him, Cinder was someone who had fought with swords as a matter of course. Aldric had picked it up only to diversify his arsenal. The level in skill between them was vast, and this was shown in the ways the two used their swords. Cinder swung hers like a cutting instrument, both compensating for, and using the lack of weight in the blade by throwing more power into every swing without sacrificing speed, whereas Aldric used his as a burning instrument, less trying to lop off his opponent's limbs than he was merely trying to touch her with the blade and burn the hell out of her. Her stance and combat style reflected the design of her sword - she swung it like a longsword, whereas Aldric held his tightly in both hands with a style reminiscent to that of kendo. The result was him twisting and turning his blade back and forth, counter and clockwise, horizontal to vertical, to defend her savagely fast horizontal swings, each impact sending no feeling up his arms but filling the air with the zap of swords striking eachother and the brief flashes of blindingly bright white light that came from the two sources of plasma combining.
Cinder chopped down with her sword and locked it to Aldric's. Aldric's eyes snapped down to the violently wavering jets of red energy pouring out of the vents on the sides of her weapon, then back to Cinder, whose face was lit by the deep red light of her blade. He scowled, teeth bared, and then shoved forward, throwing her off of him and then ducking underneath her followup. He then lunged towards her, burying his shoulder into her stomach and causing her to stumble back, allowing him to dash forward and force her on the defensive. He swung his blade over his head and then down towards her shoulder, and she twisted hers up to block his with a loud zap. Aldric followed this up by kneeing her in the stomach, she used the momentum generated by this and added to it, speeding back, dragging her sword along the ground and leaving a glowing red-hot groove in her wake. Her head snapped up, a grin on her features, as Aldric took back up his neutral stance, sword held in both hands, angled to his right, and hilt held low, just in front of his stomach, his own face wrinkled in a frown.
Then he thrust out his hand, fingers splayed out and tensed hard enough that his entire arm shook. Cinder blinked, expression melting to one of confusion as the tension slowly melted out of her body - only to immediately be replaced when she heard the horrifically loud sound of grinding metal coming from behind her. Her head whipped around and saw one of the two halves of the gear they'd thrown about earlier being ripped out of the elevator shaft and then being heaved right at her. Cinder's sword vanished, leaving the only source of light Aldric's deep blue as she dove to the ground. The giant gear flew over her prone body, now careening towards Aldric, who leaned out of the way and let it fly straight past him and out of the tower.
Cinder sprouted up again, blade reignited, but then found that Aldric had vanished, leaving her alone - a beacon of red in a sea of black. She took up the defensive stance now, strafing the office and searching for any sign of Aldric, completely unaware that the Master, his hand still held aloft, had used the gear as a distraction, so he would have time for his next party trick: Creating a telekinetic barrier of such infinitesimally small size, that even the very photons in the air couldn't get past it, instead being diverted around it - in effect bending the light around him without requiring him to take ahold of those photons and move them himself. Aldric had, in short order, cheated his way to invisibility, and while this did mean those same photons were now missing his eyes entirely, he'd long since learned how to see without those, and with his radar guiding his hand, Aldric slowly lowered his hand back to his now sightless sword, and charged again.
Cinder realized he was playing a trick when she heard the vibratory thrum of his lightsaber as he swung it at her, and she had to use her powers and blast herself out of the way as fast as she could, completely unaware that she'd been millimeters away from losing her nose to his sword. She flipped over backwards, feet landing on the wall and blade clenched tightly in her right hand. Her head snapped back and forth, expression of confusion melting to one of annoyance; she had, after all, learned from Emerald too, and knew how to get around this particular trick.
So with a mighty heave, she shoved off of the wall and then slammed her blade into the ground, forcing it so deep into the floor that its hilt touched concrete. She forced her power into the ground beneath her feet, and the result was as though a meteor had come in and hit that exact spot - the floor buckled underneath her and soot and debris shot into the air. As much as Aldric could keep himself invisible, that didn't mean a damn thing when he still had physical presence in this world - and that proved itself true when she instantly zeroed in on the human-shaped gap in the air, hurtling towards her.
Aldric let go of the pretenses just as he reached Cinder she tore her blade out of the floor with a shower of molten rock, and his collided with hers with a loud zap. Before they could continue their duel, however, both of their heads shot down at the sound of the floor beneath them groaning loudly. They both snapped back up as realization dawned in those precious few seconds before the shock of their battle inevitably came crashing down on the tower.
Literally.
Ozpin's office, after bravely weathering the battle between the Master who feared his power and the Maiden who craved it, finally caved in and collapsed, the floor crashing down to the one beneath it and cascading outwards until it reached the outermost edges of the office. Aldric and Cinder fell to the floor beneath them, the debris destroying the CCT terminals that filled the floor below them, but they themselves were only briefly slowed down - they were on their feet and fighting again the moment they touched the ground, now battling each other in a literal shower of debris. Aldric and Cinder were each a blur of red and blue, their cuts, chops, and swings clashing with eachother just as they sliced through falling debris, soon surrounding them in bisected, glowing hot bits of stone and filling the air with the sparks that shot out from each cut.
Unfortunately, as she had displayed to him before, especially with her newfound power, she was simply faster than him, and after feinting him into deflecting an attack that wouldn't come, Cinder slashed upwards - the blade going for Aldric's arm so fast that he couldn't bring his own around to block it, and couldn't use his semblance to deflect it. It him, dragging against the black vibranium mail that clung to his body, and instantly filling the air with so many sparks that it was as though she were pressing a blade against a grindstone. Aldric leapt back after the blade left his arm, and Cinder took the opportunity to do the same, the both of them curious as to what would come of what she'd just done.
As the aftermath of the floor above them collapsing calmed down, Aldric looked down to his organic arm. His sleeve had been burned off, and he felt his skin roasting underneath the otherworldly metal, itself glowing red and radiating heat from the brief contact with Cinder's lightsaber. Aldric bit back a curse, instead lifting his gunmetal gray eyes to meet Cinder's glowing orange orbs; Aldric swallowed through his now bone-dry throat. The dynamic of the fight had been changed, both he and her now knew she could actually go for potentially lethal injuries and, while he may not be able to shrug them all off, his armor would protect him initially - and he still didn't know if this meant she knew, or if she were just going to use this information to help the act.
Okay... That speed isn't good, but she's too strong for me to forcibly slow her down. Aldric frowned, using his semblance to cool his armor and numb his arm. How... His eyes briefly glanced past her, to the elevator shaft. That might work...
He charged Cinder again, she quickly able to bring her blade up to block an attempt by him to lop her head off. Aldric kept pushing, swinging the lightsaber less like a sword than a baseball back, the hilt clenched in both arms and his entire body twisting and turning with every swing. She immediately started backpedaling, right in the direction he wanted. Aldric kept it up, forcing her back towards the elevator shaft, the only idea in his mind being the slight hope that a lot of her prowess may be coming from the room she had to operate.
He considered rethink the how of how he'd force her inside when he sensed a giant boulder get picked up and heaved at him, but the solution to that was as simple as using his semblance to break it into pieces. Cinder tried to overtake the momentum Aldric was making for himself with his powerful swings, reposting on him more than once, and forcing him to take a few hits he otherwise would have avoided at all costs, all in the effort of pushing her to the elevator shaft.
She did exactly what he wanted her to when she found her back to the wall - detonating her aura and ripping the two doors from their hinges to buy herself a little more room, and when she found herself with no more ground behind her, she, with her blade locked to his, looked behind herself, then to Aldric, smirked, and then leaned backwards, falling back-first into the elevator shaft.
With his radar, Aldric didn't need to do the whole 'lean over the edge' deal to see if she'd survived - he knew well and good that she was clinging to the walls of the elevator shaft, inverting her own gravity such that Aldric's 'sideways' was her 'down'. Aldric followed her example and hurled himself over the edge, his hand grabbing at the floor and swinging himself downwards, faster than Cinder had been prepared for. She had to bring her blade up horizontally to block Aldric's lightning-fast downward slash, and when the Master's feet hit the side of the elevator shaft and he telekinetically overrode gravity, he dragged his blade further downwards, tearing it free of hers, before he lunged upwards and slashed in the same direction. His blade hit the 'ground' as he did so, and its tip even dug against the 'wall' too, and Cinder's did much the same when she bent over backwards and twisted her blade into position to parry him. Their reach and their blades long enough to hit and drag at all surfaces around them, soon every single swing had them hitting the wall or the floor and filling the elevator shaft with sparks and globules of boiling hot metal, bringing just a little flame-like orange to the environment otherwise filled with deep blues and reds, and the thin line of purple where those lights met.
Aldric viciously cut at the air as Cinder struggled to adapt to their new environment, the change in them having been akin to going from a boxing ring to a phone booth. Unfortunately, this meant she figured out fast that this meant they were in an environment where their skills with a blade determined the flow of the battle. Her first act was to hop back and dodge out of the way of Aldric's next chop, and when Aldric lunged forward to try and keep up the pressure, she swung her blade around in a wide arc, practically pirouetting with it, and cutting through everything around them, the air, the walls, the cable in the center of the shaft, none of it was spared. This forced Aldric to dive underneath her and slip past her, canceling his attack in the effort of avoiding hers. He hit the ground and had to sheathe his sword so he wouldn't faceplant on it, and when he did, he had a momentary lapse in concentration that sent him sliding several meters down the cramped elevator shaft before he could cling back to the 'floor'.
Cinder took advantage of this immediately, dashing forward and putting Aldric on the defensive, and with the split in concentration from fighting gravity and using his semblance defensively, this meant he took hits. Minor hits, but with each impact the portions of his suit she was cutting at glowed brighter and brighter, until he could hear his skin sizzling, and as Cinder's attacks grew faster and more precise, he actually saw the magical metal melting from the heat and fusing together, and felt the blade horrifying go through the thin mail and cut into his body in the more seriously weakened segments, and that's when Aldric realized Cinder was doing one of two things: Actively trying to kill him, or shift the power dynamic back in her favor by literally cutting away at his suit's integrity. Worse was that the suit's glowing meant she could do it - it was thin layers of vibranium, it didn't need to be as thick or as rigid as his shield, not to work like it did, and especially not if it wanted to keep its mobility.
Aldric felt himself proven right when he realized Cinder was focusing a lot of her attacks on his left arm - the arm he could afford to replace. Aldric shifted back, using his dominant side more often, but she still managed to cut and tag at his cybernetic arm, until the metal was so hot that it glowed white and shifted with a liquid quality. She saw dollar signs at this, lunged forward, locked their blades together, and then grabbed at his arm with her left hand.
It took two mighty tears before she ripped the sleeve off of Aldric's arm. The mechanical limb now bare, Aldric's eyes snapped up to Cinder's, meeting the orange, glowing orbs, but then looking past them and widening in fear.
"SHIT!" Aldric threw himself at the 'ground' and smashed at it with his semblance, creating a small crater for him to cower in.
Cinder about-faced and then let out a similar curse, but Aldric then threw everything he had into his semblance, forcing her to move too slowly to avoid the elevator plummeting towards her. In her haste to take the battle back in her favor, she'd earlier cut the cable to the elevator, and it held out as long as it could before finally obeying gravity, and slamming into her like a speeding semi-truck.
It took her along for the ride.
"Professor Goodwitch!" Pyrrha cried out, sprinting towards Beacon Tower. "Professor Goodwitch, Professor Ozpin is dead, and Ash is going to fight the woman who did it!" She heard the sounds of heavy combat over the scroll link, and with the damage the tower was taking, knew she wouldn't have a connection for long. "Please, we need help!"
Over a distant cry of effort, all Goodwitch gave her was, "help is on the way!" Before hanging up.
Soon Pyrrha was at the fountain, but there was no Jaune. Frantically, she looked from the shaking, shouting tower, to the direction of the docks, where she could hear the sounds of fighting, a lot closer than it had any right to be. Forcing herself to acknowledge that she needed Jaune and the help he'd brought if she were to help Ash, she took off towards them and followed the sounds of combat.
The grounds were abandoned and empty, but this didn't last long - as at full speed she quickly found Jaune, Ruby, Ecru, and Yang fighting dozens of Grimm. Approaching them with her weapons drawn, she realized that she wasn't even as needed as it looked - they were tearing through the Grimm as quickly as they arrived, with some being blasted back by Yang's gauntlets, some being bisected by Ruby's scythe, some crushed under Ecru's bat, and others sliced apart and burned alive by Jaune's -
"Jaune!" Pyrrha couldn't believe her eyes - Jaune looked like Ash had after his attack on the docks, covered in his own blood and wounds, and his every attack had the weight, speed, and laboriousness of those wounds behind them, but still he fought on, his weapon smiting Grimm left and right.
Pyrrha threw herself into the fray, twirling her sword in her hands, it shifting and extending until it turned into a spear. She threw it, it exploding forward with the sound of a gunshot and soaring into the air, burying itself into the belly of a boarbatusk launched by an uppercut from Ecru. It quickly dissipated into smoke, and she leapt into the sky, grabbing her spear, turning it to a rifle, and laying down precise fire even as she came in for a landing. She dropped to the shoulders of an Ursa and, after shifting her rifle into a sword, buried it hilt-deep into its neck, wrenching it this way and that until she fell through a cloud of Grimm-smoke. The battle continued like this another five minutes, in which she saw Ecru's aura flash, before the Grimm trickled down to a nothing, instead retreating, running for the Tower.
Everyone quickly rushed to Pyrrha, with Jaune being the first to speak up, "Pyrrha, are you -"
Pyrrha hugged Jaune to quiet him down, before holding him out at arm's length, "Jaune, I thought -"
But he shook his head, "it looks worse than it is, but where's Ash?"
Ecru chimed in with a loud, "why do you have his shield?!"
Then Yang, "and what's this about Ozpin being dead?"
Pyrrha took a few steps back and looked back to the tower, realizing she hadn't heard or seen anything since Ash had drawn his sword. "He's up there... He gave it to me. I don't think he intends to make it out." She wavered, "and it's the person he's fighting." She turned back towards them, "she killed Ozpin... And that's -" But as she spoke, the ground shook again, and Ecru gasped, covering her mouth with one of her hands.
Pyrrha whipped around, and saw the dragon coming in for a landing in front of the tower. Still leaking Grimm, the giant creature seemed to know that its master, or its ally, or whatever the Maiden was to it, that she was in danger - that Pyrrha, Ruby, and Jaune and everybody were coming to attack it.
"She's in control over that?" Jaune gasped.
Pyrrha nodded, "kind of."
Ecru, however, sounded excited. "Alright!" She raised her fist to Yang, who bumped it. "Yang! You, me, and Jaune - we can take care of that thing!"
"What?!" Jaune shouted, as the Grimm being spawned by the dragon began charging across the grounds, past the fountain and straight towards them. "I'm going to do what?!"
"Your sword blows up Grimm, Vomit Boy." Yang grinned. "And me and Ecru are our heaviest hitters. So we keep that thing busy while Pyrrha and Ruby go help Beebee." She shoved Jaune on the back, "unless that Ursa took more out of you than we thought."
Jaune shook his head and let out a sigh, "oh, man..." He nodded his head, psyching himself up. "Okay... I can do this." He looked back and forth at everyone, "alright... Let's go!" He and everyone charged the Grimm.
It took two seconds before they all clashed, Pyrrha and Ruby in the back, Ecru, Yang, and Jaune in the front. Pyrrha could see now that the training Jaune had been forcing himself through was paying dividends, but it wasn't making him nearly as good as the others around them - he was still slow, he still lumbered about and stumbled. He still took hits he could avoid and still required clear effort on his part to remember to raise his shield against them. He made up for it all, however, in raw determination - perhaps the same thing that had beckoned him to take his ailing, bleeding body to the Tower. It was the same drive that was killing Ash, right now, in that tower.
Aldric sheathed his blade and flipped over to his back. He was slowly sliding out of his crater in the side of an elevator shaft, but he didn't resist it, or slow it down. He took his chance to rest, to gasp for air.
Fuck. He cursed. Fuck... Fuck... Fuck. It wasn't lost on him that, of the two of them, she'd fought two gods and was pretty much without injury, whereas he parts of his body had been ventilated, he could feel a few ribs broken, and she'd figured out how to tear apart a previously impregnable suit of armor, and, if there even was a later, he wasn't even sure if he could fix it.
His feet were dangling freely in the elevator shaft, and he began sliding faster.
Yes, he knew he'd not used his magic yet except for that stunt with his eyes, but he was saving for a very specific purpose, he couldn't use it willy-nilly, not without consequences he couldn't afford, not in this fight, not here, not now, and since his only other option was one that would reveal Goud had hidden a lot more than just his power, that meant he only had one option: To try and open up an avenue for him to kill her, and if he couldn't, pray to anyone that would listen that he was wrong, and Cinder was just letting the adrenaline get to her.
He slid out of his crater and began plummeting through the elevator shaft like a rock, soon falling forward enough until he was speeding towards the ground head-first. The elevator crashed to a halt at the ground floor, hitting the blast door that kept anyone from accidentally going down to the Vault. Aldric didn't move until he was but a few meters from the elevator, whereupon he righted himself, crashed through the hole Cinder had previously burned in the roof of the elevator, and then slammed into the ground. His suit, damaged though it was, protected him from much of the landing, and his impact only added to the dust and debris that was shooting out from the ruined elevator shaft. Outside, past the lobby, he could just see with his radar a battle raging outside the building, the dragon and multitudes of Grimm fighting what he assumed was Ruby and whoever she'd assembled to come rescue him.
But it was what was under the elevator that stole his attention -
Cinder exploded up from the bottom of the elevator, her blade filling it with its harsh red light. Aldric grunted in fright, lunging to the side to dodge her downward chop. He hit the wall of the elevator and bounced off of it, reigniting his blade and cutting at her with a wide swing, burning and melting through walls and the ceiling alike. Cinder spun out of the way and batted his blade aside with hers, before turning it into a thrust, which dug into Aldric's chest and slid off. Aldric barked in pain, feeling his chest burning as though he'd laid down on a grill, but he had no time to deal with it - because as he and Cinder swung again, her downwards and him upwards, the elevator groaned, shaking and falling several inches.
Aldric and cinder's blades met in a cross as the blast door keeping them away from the vault, already weakened by Cinder's earlier flight, finally gave in and collapsed. It crumbled to pieces, and the elevator fell again. Cinder, with a snarl, kneed Aldric in the stomach - shooting him back and ramming him into the wall of the free-falling elevator. He hit the wall and then yelled in fear, wrenching his head to the side just in time to avoid Cinder ventilating it with her serrated red blade. He elbowed her in the face and then blasted her to the other side of the elevator with his semblance; her blade nearly fell to the ground and through the hole, but with their falling, its descent was slowed enough such that she could snatch it out of the air. Cinder picked up her blade and swung it heavily with both hands, and Aldric shot his blade up to catch it -
And then his vanished with a barely audible zip!
Cinder, stunned, and dedicated to her attack, massively over extended herself as Aldric used his semblance to ensure he didn't get hit. Again her blade was buried into the wall, and again the elevator's descent slowed thanks to it. He gripped the hilt of his blade tightly in his still-armored hand and then brought the butt of the hilt down hard on the crook of Cinder's right elbow. It stunned her and caused her to stumble forward - nearly face-planting on the wall and giving Aldric the time he needed to spin around her, lock both of his arms under hers in a full nelson, then knee her in the back twice, before heating up his cybernetic hand until it glowed white hot. The burning pain caused Cinder to cry out and let go of her weapon - which Aldric kicked away with his semblance, before smashing the hilt of his on the back of her head.
Cinder stumbled forward, falling to the ground as though they weren't in a plummeting iron box, but as Aldric took his chance to recover, he found that this had been Cinder's plan - she rolled into her momentum and flipped onto her back, a bow in her hands and arrows already flying at him, some glowing with fire, some wreathed in electricity, others covered in ice. With so little space between them, Aldric knew this was going to suck - and when she fired, Aldric beat at the arrows with his saber, turning some to ash, and taking others to the weakened, molten sections of his suit, but this also turned out to Cinder's advantage, as she shot the ground at his feet with an arrow that detonated a second later.
Sent flying into the roof of the elevator, his sword clattering to the ground and stopping inches from the hole in the floor, Aldric's head hit the metal wall, his vision swimming, heavily concussed by the explosion. He wasn't able to recover fast enough for Cinder's response - her blade flew back to her hands and ignited with another shriek of plasma. She leapt into the air, burying her knee into Aldric's stomach, blade held in both hands and out to the side. She dug one of the side vents into Aldric's shoulder, and used the main blade to limit how much his head could move, and instantly his suit began to heat up white-hot; Aldric began screaming in pain as his flesh burned and sizzled, and Cinder only pushed harder - skipping straight past melting the armor and going to boiling it off.
Aldric clenched his left fist and, with all of its strength backed up by his semblance, lunged downwards and locked it around Cinder's wrist, using the plasma not two feet away as a fuel source to steal excited electrons and electrocute Cinder so badly that, by the time it was over, she was openly smoldering, hands spasming, aura flickering across her body, and her blade sliding across Aldric's chest and going inactive without her grip. It clattered to the ground next to them, and Aldric collapsed - allowing Cinder to force herself back into it. She straddled Aldric and slammed each fist into Aldric's face. A left, a right, another left, Aldric's head whipped back and forth with each impact, his face soon splitting open and leaking blood, his nose bent at a horrible angle and his cheeks swelling up.
Then the elevator slammed into the ground with a sound reminiscent of a car crash: Glass and metal breaking and bending. Cinder and Aldric each were thrown out of the elevator and deep into the Vault, both of them coughing and groaning in pain. It took two entire minutes for them to recover, it taking all of Aldric's strength just to get to his knees, while Cinder was already stumbling to the side on her feet, hand held out and the hilt of her blade sliding across the ground, as though pulled by a length of string.
Aldric coughed and groaned, voice wavering in pain as he tried everything he could to force himself to his feet. One look at the hole she'd burned in his armor told him everything he needed to know: It was right above his heart. She was playing coy, be it intentionally or otherwise. From this chink in his armor, this veritable Achilles Heel, she could do whatever she wanted: Fake his death, or actually carry it out.
Bracing himself against the wall and using his cybernetic hand to haul himself upright, Aldric, shoulders slumped, organic arm hanging limply, some blood leaking from his mouth and his entire body feeling like one giant bruise, he turned his head over to the side and saw, in the center of the vault, half buried in rubble, Ozpin's body - his cane impaled in his chest and covered in his own blood.
Huh... Aldric lethargically turned back to Cinder, feeling his radar slowly constrict. I guess she really did kill 'im... He clenched his right hand tightly, forcing it to work again and brushing his skin against his jaw, wiping the blood from his face and smearing it across his left cheek.
Aldric witnessed the blade she'd lost slide across the ground and then shoot through the air, landing in Cinder's palm and then sparking to life. Aldric met Cinder's eyes, and saw a fire in them that had nothing to do with the blade in her hands. With a tired groan, Aldric tried to do the same for his, able to see his blade mere feet in front of him, but it didn't respond to his commands. With a curse from the Master, the Maiden braced herself and then charged forward, blade aimed right for Aldric's chest.
But then, distantly: "Ash!"
In any other situation, even ignoring the force multiplier that was Jaune's sword, Grimm numbering even in this many would be child's play for the number of Huntsmen and Huntresses fighting them.
But this wasn't any other situation. There was a dragon augmenting the Grimm in a way none of the assembled fighters were truly prepared for, because for the first time in history, the Grimm were employing tactics. Intelligence. They knew to avoid Jaune's blade else court instant death, they knew to keep Yang and Ecru separated, and they knew to stay out of Pyrrha's range. And then, of course, was the dragon itself, appearing to lead them, as it focused, of all things, on Ruby. It was all the Rose could do to stay out of the Dragon's reach, constantly sprinting away with her semblance and employing hit-and-run tactics on what Grimm she could reach. Pyrrha and the impromptu team had hardly moved an inch after clashing with the Grimm, Ecru's initial plan to focus on the dragon had been thrown to the wayside, left only with the pandemonium of having to deal with smart Grimm.
And through it all, Pyrrha's sense of impending doom, for both herself and for Ash, was only growing higher and higher. She would dispatch one Grimm only for two more to rush her from either side, forcing her to leap away. She would take to the sky with her semblance, only for a flying Grimm to come screaming in and crashing into her, throwing her right back into the fray. She would shoot at the Grimm and they would scatter, finding cover or - in displays she knight couldn't fathom - would be cover for the others.
Pyrrha, her back to the fountain, could just barely see inside the tower's main entrance, dark as it was. Her expression was half determined and half worried sick, as she tried to figure out some sort of way through this. What surprised her, however, was that it wasn't her to come up with the solution.
No, the solution came in a shower of rose petals, as Ruby came in for a landing and sliced apart several Beowolves, buying her and Pyrrha seconds before the dragon would arrive and try to burn them alive.
"Pyrrha! Idea!" Ruby shouted out in rapid fire, as she blasted two Grimm and forced them to scatter. "The tower! Funnel them! We -" She gasped, head snapping up and silver eyes aglow with fear, before she vanished.
Pyrrha saw the shadow before anything else, and she threw herself forward with her semblance, leaping out of the way of a giant molten fireball that blew apart the ground where she and Ruby had just been standing, setting the whole area ablaze and even incinerating some of the Grimm.
Funnel? Pyrrha wondered, rolling to her feet and spinning around in a full circle, slicing apart the calves and tendons of several Grimm around her, before smashing the side of her shield into the flank of one, and burying her spear into the neck of another. What does she - Pyrrha was sent flying forward by a raging boarbatusk, but found that she hadn't felt the impact at all.
A glance over her shoulder as she landed told her all she needed to know: Ash's shield had taken the hit.
And that was when it clicked: While not necessarily capable of creating a shield wall like the armies of old, Ruby wanted to do the next best thing, and line everyone up in Beacon's lobby. The front entrance would bottleneck the Grimm and make them easier to deal with, so long as they had one or two of them to do it with. Ruby could then attract the attention of the dragon, but the question would be which of them would fight it?
Pyrrha's attention turned to Jaune as she backpedaled away from an attacking Griffon. Would his sword be able to damage the dragon?
She shook her head - they'd have to gamble on it, there was no other option. Any less than two people bottlenecking the Grimm would be ineffective and would let some slip past for whoever ascended the tower to help Ash, and as strong as Yang and Ecru were, Ecru's aura had already broken and he highly doubted Yang could punch the dragon as well as she'd done the Nevermore at the beginning of the year.
So, Ruby's idea in mind and a plan having formed around it, Pyrrha raised her shield and prepared to charge. She paused, however, sparing her shield a glance as several Grimm came to surround her. Hers was already damaged and mangled, claw marks marring its surface, and what she needed to do right now - she worried her shield may not survive.
So, with a frown, she deigned to borrow Ash's - just for the moment. With her semblance, she focused hard - the concentration required for the strange metal his shield was made from - before she used it to swap out her shield with his. Now armed with his star-spangled defender, Pyrrha launched herself forward, crashing into the Grimm and stabbing viciously at them with her spear, it shooting back and forth with multiple gunshots. She tore through the Grimm, filling the air with the dark clouds of smoke, and she took more than a few passing glances to her back, feeling her aura slowly drain, before she broke through their defensive line and made it to Yang.
The Grimm immediately redoubled their assault, knowing how bad of an idea it was to keep the two of them together - but Pyrrha didn't let her momentum die down. She rammed the broad side of the shield into Yang's back and used her semblance to keep the brawler from falling to her hands and knees. Getting the hint, Yang joined her in circling around Beacon Tower's fountain, the two of them, with an ever-increasing horde of Grimm at their feet, rushed towards Ecru, who, though bloodied, was sending Grimm flying with each heavy swing of her bat.
With Yang and Pyrrha both working towards this goal, they broke through Ecru's Grimm just as fast as they reached it, and now with the three of them, they rushed for Jaune. The Arc looked terrible, exhausted and covered in sweat. Each swing of his blade accompanied an agonized shout of effort, but also preceded a flash of light and a burning Grimm. With three Huntresses rushing towards him to assist, it took even less effort to get him out of there - but Ecru was forced to throw one of his arms over her shoulder and helping him follow them as Pyrrha led them to the tower.
Behind them, just as they cleared it, Ruby led the dragon on a merry chase, causing the giant creature to slam into the ground and destroy the fountain, causing it to crumble into rubble. As it recovered and shook some giant chunks of debris from its head, Ruby changed course and followed her allies, the entire group sprinting for the tower. Over the sounds of the dragon's roar and the wild calls of the Grimm behind them, the motley crew reached Beacon Tower.
In the distance, as they skidded to a halt and turn to tackle the approaching horde of Grimm head on, Pyrrha saw a battle waging inside of a busted open elevator. She couldn't see much through the thick cloud of smoke that had risen up in the wake of the elevator's impact with the ground, but what she could see painted the picture clearly: Two glowing blades, one straight and blue, the other wavering, serrated, and red, clashing at a frantic pace, filling the air even so far away with the distant sound of zaps and the flashes of white light as they hit eachother. For a moment, Pyrrha had hope that they might be able to reach Ash, but the universe chose instead to take this hope away from her, as the elevator suddenly and unceremoniously plummeted out of sight, taking Aldric and the Maiden along with it.
Pyrrha, holding tightly to Ash's shield, about-faced, nimbly spinning her sword in her fingers, it elongating and thinning out until taking on the form of a spear, which she held tightly as she and the others braced for battle. The Grimm were seconds away, a horde of oily black shielded by white exoskeletons, led by the dragon looming above them.
Pyrrha swallowed thickly, "we stand here." She declared, forcing her voice to calm.
Ruby picked up, she seeming to be far more collected than the older of the two. "Yang, Ecru, Jaune you guys need to stay here, at the front. We can funnel them through this door." Pyrrha saw the brawler and the batter each nod, determined expressions settling on their faces, while the swordsman steeled himself, breathing heavily.
"And the dragon?" Pyrrha asked, hoping beyond hope that Ruby wouldn't say what she thought she would.
But Ruby proved her right, and wrong, by saying, "did you see it earlier? It could have hit the tower but it didn't... So I think as long as we're in here we'll be safe. But you and me need to move fast -"
Pyrrha nodded, picking up on Ruby's line of thought and turning towards the direction of the elevators. "They may figure out to fly or break in while we wait."
Pyrrha and Ruby sprinted off just as Yang and Ecru opened fire, indiscriminately laying waste to Grimm and trying to stem the tide as best they could before the veritable tidal wave of Grimm would reach them, and Jaune took up a defensive stance between the two, shield and sword held high and ready. Pyrrha was unable to force herself to ignore the sounds of the Grimm howling and dying, and the rapidly growing sounds of the three of them engaging in a melee, especially when she realized that as much as they could bottleneck the Grimm, some would still make it through. A look over her shoulder confirmed this: For every ten Grimm that got destroyed by the defenders, one managed to slip past the chaos. Jaune noticed a few and tried to intercept, only to be accosted by others and have to deal with them, or risk the already crumbling integrity of their defense.
So Pyrrha made a call: "Ruby!" Ozpin had told her about Ruby, about people with silver eyes and their skill in battle, and she had to bank everything - Ash's life included - that he had been right. Ruby looked over at Pyrrha as they reached the elevator, and nearly stumbled over herself when Ash's shield was thrust into her arms, but she got no time to question it, as Pyrrha turned her to the elevator and pushed her with nothing more than a "Go!" Before she turned to face the oncoming Grimm.
Now alone, Ruby slid Ash's shield to the weapon mount on her back and leapt into the elevator shaft. She stuck the blade of Crescent Rose into the wall to slow her descent, and soon all that was there to accompany her was the sound of metal splitting metal and the sparks that filled the air as a result. Ruby steeled herself as she reached whatever basement the tower had underneath it, and swung out of the elevator shaft, using her scythe as a pendulum from which to do so.
Time slowed down as she saw Ash, leaned up against a wall and covered in his own blood, staring down who Ruby recognized from the tournaments as Cinder Fall - and her eyes widened when she saw Cinder armed with a sword almost exactly like Ash's, differing only in color and its longsword design.
Acting fast, as she reached the apex of her leap, Ruby called out, "Ash!" And with her semblance, threw his shield towards him like a Frisbee, flower petals trailing behind the spinning disc.
Aldric blinked, eyes shooting open wide and seeing Ruby swinging out of the destroyed elevator shaft. With Cinder still charging him, Aldric grinned languidly, straightening up. "Ruby... I'm done. I'm gonna need, like... Five minutes -" But he realized that something else had followed Ruby.
Or rather, she'd brought it with her.
He saw his shield hurtling towards him, a few rose petals trailing behind it.
Aldric nodded his head to the side, "never mind -" He thrust his hand out and the shield sped past Cinder and fell into place. "WE'RE BACK IN BUSINESS!"
Cinder came within feet of him.
He dropped to his knee.
Cinder raised her sword high for a decapitating strike.
Aldric secured his shield to his arm.
Cinder reached him.
Aldric raised his shield, teeth bared.
Cinder swung.
The blade slammed into his shield and sparks began flying as though someone had lit off a steel wool sparkler. All Aldric could hear was the sound of plasma grinding against metal, Cinder's sword trying its absolute best to melt Aldric's shield. Aldric's knee was pressed into the ground as though he were shouldering the weight of a mountain - Cinder was using all of her power to try to win this. Aldric, in response, used his to push back, and in seconds the ground was shaking and the air was howling, it joined soon by Aldric and Cinder alike as they began roaring out in defiance of eachother. The Maiden who had spent her entire life earning her power, and the Master who had spent the last two years systematically stealing his. The ground splintered underneath them and the vault was set ablaze by the flying sparks. Soon the two of them were on a lone island situated in the epicenter of a crater that only grew larger as their struggle continued.
Then, Aldric saw something.
A spot of light on his shield.
Not from the growing fires or a or even the sparks flying in all directions, but from the shield itself.
His eyes began to grow wide, as did the spot of light, until it was a thick line of glowing, white-hot metal.
Aldric felt sweat begin pouring down his head, knowing he couldn't do anything about this without giving her the advantage.
But then, a lot closer: "ASH!"
Aldric looked over his mechanical bicep and saw Ruby taking aim. The Rose slammed the blade of her scythe into the ground to steady it, before she pointed at Cinder. She fired, and the slug shot towards the Maiden.
Cinder, however, was able to deflect it without a second's thought, and send a fireball their way - but this momentary lapse in concentration gave Aldric the chance he needed to lunge upwards. He shoved his shield to the side and slid Cinder's blade off of it, calling his back to his side as he rammed his fist into Cinder's stomach. She stumbled back, and Aldric chopped at Cinder's throat with his shield. She caught it with her hand and, sensing the awkwardness of their position, killed her blade, stowed it on her back, and then tried to uppercut him from beneath the shield. He blocked it with his metal hand, the impact of her fist on his palm sending out a small shockwave and causing the entire vault to shake, filling the air with clouds of dust and debris. Aldric shoved it back, but she grabbed ahold of his shield with both arms and then twisted it violently, trying to tear it from his grip. Aldric flipped into the direction she torqued his arm, but roundhoused her on his way over, causing her to stumble back and let go of him as he landed.
His sword returned to him, but he didn't have the time to ignite it - the ground at his feet detonated, forcing him to run. When he landed this time, he sensed Ruby charging deeper. Aldric gritted his teeth and ignited his blade, and as Ruby grew closer, she did so just in time to see 'Ash' charge the Maiden.
He stabbed at her, at an upward angle.
She lunged at him, both arms held straight out.
Skidding to a halt, for a moment, Ruby couldn't understand what she was seeing - she only saw the two of them, leaned forward, their glowing blades sticking out from behind their opponent. The dust, smoke, and debris of their battle making any finer details too hazy to make out.
But then she saw Aldric's fizzle out, blue smoke wafting from its hilt. Now lit from within the smoke of battle only by a deep, harsh, blood red light, Ruby saw him stumble forward, heard his ravaged cough, and witnessed his shield hit the ground as his hand grasped Cinder's shoulder, it the only thing keeping him conscious.
Her eyes grew wide as she saw Cinder dig the blade further into Aldric's chest, her own heart practically stopping when she heard his anguished grunt of pain.
"You tried, Goud Etiolate." She heard Cinder gloat. "But clearly... Not hard enough." She tore her blade out of his body.
Ruby limply watched as Ash collapsed, a hole gaping in his chest, right around where she knew the heart to be, and the rest of his chest glowing brightly from the aftermath of Cinder's last attack. Her jaw slowly fell open as his body crumpled beneath him. He fell to his knees, his back folded in on itself, and his arms fell to his sides. Then she felt tears well up in her eyes as she watched Cinder viciously raise her blade, and slice it across his chest, before ramming her heel into it for good measure.
Aldric fell to the ground.
And he wasn't breathing.
Cinder's gaze lifted, and that was when she realized Ruby was even here in the first place.
Cinder gasped, eyes snapping open wide.
"ASH!"
"NO!" Screamed Cinder, as Ruby became enveloped in a halo of pure white light.
Her aura depleted, arms burning from effort, ammunition depleted, weapons growing dull and damaged from overuse, and back to the elevator shaft, Pyrrha kept cutting at the endless hordes of Grimm. She knew she was out of time, and that she had no idea how to get everyone - least of all Ash - out of here alive. The Grimm kept coming, and they only got smarter, the Dragon having attached to the tower and began pouring Grimm into the upper floors. The entire assemblage of Pyrrha, Yang, Ecru, and Jaune had all been forced back to the elevator. Pyrrha thought she could see activity outside, beyond merely more Grimm showing up, but she was so focused on not dying that she couldn't figure out what it was.
She didn't realize something had gone horribly wrong - or perhaps horribly right? - until all of the Grimm surrounding them suddenly froze, seizing up and then writhing, screaming and howling as though they all were in some kind of pain. Pyrrha, gasping for air, wiped some sweat and blood from her eyes - and immediately felt Jaune fall into her when the ground started shaking, in the worst earthquake she'd ever felt.
What the - But before she could even question it, a pillar of white light shot up through the elevator shaft, shooting out of the open doors and spilling out into everything present. Pyrrha suddenly felt winded, as though all of the strength and stamina she had left had been stolen form her at the snap of a pair of fingers. Jaune lost consciousness entirely, Yang and Ecru had to brace against eachother, and the Grimm -
The Grimm began vanishing, exploding into clouds of black smoke and fading away, and that was when Pyrrha realized that this wasn't good or bad.
It was both.
Ruby had awakened her powers.
But what had caused her to do so?
She looked at the elevator shaft, but had to turn away as the light grew blinding and the earth shook harder, stealing Pyrrha's feet out from underneath her. She thought she could distantly hear the dragon shrieking out in pain, but the light and the ringing welling up in her ears made her not sure if it was that, or just the Grimm around them dying.
Whatever it was, it ended just as soon as it started, and it left only an eerie, dead silence in its wake, the only sound being that of wind blowing across Beacon's grounds.
Feeling a fuzzy numbness in her chest, Pyrrha first checked Jaune to ensure he was still alive, and after confirming he'd merely lost consciousness, she lumbered over to the elevator shaft. Fully intending to plant her sword in the wall and jump in, she found herself stopped by a hand on her shoulder.
"Whoa, kid." She heard a voice rasp. "Hold on." She turned to find Qrow standing behind her, pushing her to the side and frowning at the elevator shaft.
"Mister Qrow -"
But Qrow shook his head. "Beacon's lost, kid. The terrans aren't helping us and that Dragon's doing too much for the White Fang's help to mean anything. I'll go down and get them, you take your friends and -"
But he was interrupted by a pained grunt from Yang, who shoved off of Ecru and advanced on Qrow, a hand pressed to her side. "That's my sister down there, Uncle Qrow. And our friend." She shook her head, "we're not waiting."
"You're half dead." Qrow pointed out.
"It's the other half that matters." Yang indicated one of the other elevator doors, "can any of these take us down?"
Qrow sighed, "not with the power out, kiddo." He said, leaning into the elevator shaft and looking down. "Good news, though..." He picked up his sword and rammed it into the wall, before prying off a plate, that revealed a lever hidden inside. "Oz always plans ahead." He took the lever in his hands and began cranking it, causing hundreds of other plates to begin splitting open, revealing a ladder that would lead down to the vault.
Ecru spoke up, as she lumbered over to Jaune. "I..." She gasped. "I can't make that climb." She said, nursing a nasty head wound and a limp arm, her bat hooked into one of her belt loops. "I'll... I'll get him out of here."
"You do that." Qrow nodded, as he hopped onto the ladder and descended without another word, taking the rungs two or three at a time.
Pyrrha and Yang, exhausted as they were, followed him, their pace far slower.
Pyrrha prayed that the continued, albeit weaker, quakes of the earth weren't indicative of something terrible she'd find down there.
This was why he'd saved his magic.
Call it a spell, call it a contingency, call it a gamble that shouldn't have paid off, call it whatever one would like, the results were the same: He'd shunted as much magic power into his bloodstream as he possibly could the moment after Cinder had stabbed him with her lightsaber. This magic turned to stem cells, which he knew were functionally magic in the biology field, capable of staving off aging, curing diseases and, most importantly, fixing otherwise unfixable wounds and conditions, and since Aldric knew he'd be walking out of this with a pretty sizeable hole in his chest, he'd decided to just pour pretty much everything he had into making the stem cells.
The good news was that he didn't feel a breeze in his chest.
The bad news was - JESUS! It felt like someone had skinned him alive, left the nerve endings, set his entire body on fire, drowned it in salt water, and then set it on fire again. He was in agony, he felt a weakness in him that he hadn't since his first fight with Cubone, an emptiness he hadn't ever experienced before, and to top it all off his entire body felt fuzzy, tired, and exhausted. Sensations felt distant, sounds felt muffled, colors muted, it was as though he were experiencing the entire world through six layers of cloth. This separation, the simultaneously agonizing and terrible pain and the distant sensations, it felt as though both his body and his mind were broken, and it only served to make the anguish afflicting him all the worse.
Okay... I better open my eyes. Assess the... He paused, realizing that whatever was under his back wasn't metal, or fur, and he couldn't feel the vibrations of an engine keeping him in the air.
They weren't on the back of a Grimm getting the fuck out of dodge. They weren't in the aviator. They weren't in the pelican.
Oh... He opened his eyes. God... He groaned, it degenerating into a long, airy sigh. Fuck.
The vault was getting ready to fall apart. The ceiling had huge fissures running through it, chunks of stone were openly cracking off and falling to the ground, dust was streaming constantly, the ground shook with each impact. Most of the pillars running the sides of the vault had already fallen to pieces, it looked like the entire goddamn place was ready to implode any minute.
Aldric tried to turn over to his side, but doing so instantly filled him with a horrendous pain, as though his entire skeleton had been replaced with broken, jagged glass, that every movement risked breaking him further. He often liked to use the phrase 'it was everything he could do' to describe his doing something requiring great effort, but this was one of the few - if the only one - instances where it literally took everything he had inside of him just to turn over to his side. He was left panting, exhausted, streaming sweat, left arm pinned under his chest and right arm limply pressed to his back, with just the effort of turning to his side.
This... This is Ruby? He asked himself, needing to take the time to rest his eyes, to recover some minuscule amount of strength. This is... This is what she can do? What people like her can do? He didn't know if he was feeling it worse because he was a Master, or if this was literally what anyone with aura would feel if they were subjected to a Silver Eyed Warrior's wrath. Side note... He took in a deep breath, steeling himself. Need... Shorter term... I'm thinking 'Templar'. He opened his eyes again to examine the carnage around him.
And he didn't like what he found.
If the ceiling above him, the roof that kept the underground vault from collapsing, was damaged, then the ground beneath it looked like a wasteland. Giant piles of rubble strewn about everywhere, with ever more falling down from above with every passing second. There were fires creating small plumes of smoke that wafted upwards. The ground was torn open with fissures as wide as cars and deep as canyons. Ozpin's body had fallen into one of these, gone forever, Cinder was barely visible, her scarred, openly bleeding, burned body resting atop a pile of rubble, one arm in front of her, and one hand dug into the rocks, as though she had tried to claw her way to freedom and safety, but had suffered just as Aldric and had simply fallen victim to the aftereffects of Ruby's titanic power.
And Ruby -
Oh... Jesus.
Ruby was, obviously, at the epicenter of all of this. Waves of devastation spreading outwards, and small streams of dust and debris falling right onto her from above. She was at the base of a large pile of rubble, and had miraculously managed to being buried by this due to the intervention of two large pillars falling around her, creating a veritable barrier around which the pile of debris flowed. But while she was stuck in a pit between a literal rock and a hard place, Aldric dragged his eyes upwards, following the trail of dust to the ceiling, where he found, to his mounting horror, that her luck was running out: A giant, jagged hunk of detritus was getting ready to fall, the dust streaming from its sides slowly picking up speed and growing in volume until it looked as though someone had just taken a sandcastle and dumped it out. Aldric could tell that this thing would hit her wholesale, falling between the pillars that shielded her thus far, it would spear her and end her life in an instant.
Oh... Kay. Aldric swallowed thickly. Okay... Okay, c'mon, Neb... He gasped for air. Think... Think, think, think... The quickly escalating heartbeat in his chest was only making the pain worse, but he had to fight through it to try and find a way out of this.
He couldn't try and move over to her, to use his body - and, specifically, his suit - to shield hers. His right arm could barely twitch, let alone drag him along the ground, and as strong as it was, moving his left arm required him first to get off of it, which was clearly out of the equation, any more pain would probably black him out before he could get something productive done.
Pain... Fuck! He gasped, some spittle flying from his mouth. I've... I've gotta... He gritted his teeth, but his body wouldn't obey his commands and move! I've gotta... He blinked. Gotta... And an idea formed in his head.
His eyes slowly dragged downwards, where he saw his shield and the lightsaber, discarded mere inches away from where he'd fallen, and then further down, to his belt.
Now... That could work. He swallowed thickly and, with every twitch of his leaden hand, forced it closer and closer to one of the pouches on his hip, aiming for one in particular - the very one in which he kept one of the few unshrunken artifacts from his plane crash. It filled his body with more of the mind-breaking agony, it refusing to clear up even as his brain instinctually flooded it with endorphins. But progress, while slow, was still progress, and after a minor eternity, he was able to reach the pocket and pop it open.
Out soon tumbled a small, orange bottle, with a white top, it filled with dozens of small capsules.
Aldric gasped with effort, his head covered with sweat and face red with both pain and effort. He slid his hand far enough that it was able to fall from his hip like a lead weight, and then was able to reach the pillbottle just as he noticed larger pebbles beginning to fall down to Ruby. Running out of time, Aldric gripped the pill bottle and popped the top off with his thumb, it feeling as though it would shatter into pieces as the plastic resisted the action. He stopped concentrating as hard at this, and allowed his hand to spasm in pain for a few seconds, which caused the small, powdery-white pills to come spilling out.
He scooped two, and slowly pushed them over to his face. Cheek pressed into the ground, Aldric opened his lips and stuck out his tongue, lapping up the pills, before slowly pushing them to the corners of his jaw, and biting down hard.
Crunch,went the pills in his mouth, instantly filling it with their contents. He crunched down a second time before gathering as much saliva as he could, and swallowing.
It took twenty seconds before they kicked in, and soon, all of the pain melted away, losing the fight against Aldric's recovered stash of oxycodone.
Aldric coughed once, then again, entire body suddenly feeling empty as the pain evaporated. He convulsed for a moment, before he planted his hand on the ground and pushed. Feeling stronger now in the absence of pain, he pushed as hard as he could, and was able to force himself up to a seated position, and then, unsteadily, he rose to his feet. A small warmth had appeared in his chest, Aldric could barely recognize it as the fuzziest remnants of the power he had exercised so much of tonight, and he immediately put it to use as a crutch to help him to his feet.
He stumbled over to his right, now standing just above his weapons and leaning against a pile of debris, both hands bracing him against it.
Let that... Be a lesson, kids... Aldric thought, rubbing his metal against his suddenly numb face. There exists no problem that can't be fixed with controlled substances... So long as one ignored the fact that his throat was dry, he was pretty sure there was still some remnants of the pills in it, and it felt as though his tongue was twice its normal size and fuzzy as all get-out.
Aldric opened the eyes he hadn't realized he'd close, and then blinked in confusion as he noticed a shadow growing around him. Wasn't that a Zelda enemy? Was he about to be teleported to the beginning of the dungeon? How'd he kill them there, he had to -
"Oh shit!" Aldric fell to his knee and thrust his hands skyward, his semblance immediately grabbing ahold of a huge pile of debris that had broken loose from the ceiling, it feeling as though he were trying to keep the entire world from falling apart, as though he were Atlas, with the world on his shoulders.
Then, of course, things went from bad to worse - as this pile of debris had a destabilizing effect on the whole ceiling, and soon Cinder was being buried first in dust, and soon to follow piles of stone. Aldric had to throw his hand out to the side and split his waning power between both piles of debris, the muscles in his organic arm straining wildly underneath his skin and the servos in his mechanical limb grinding loudly, the telekinetic strain having a physical effect on his body.
But of course, the world wasn't done yet - because through the slowly descending piles of debris, Aldric could just see, past his own mounting pile of death, Ruby's death sentence beginning to obey gravity.
"Fuck!" Aldric gasped, a dollop of blood spraying out from his mouth, his head feeling as though it were in a vice grip.
Aldric tried to grab ahold of his shield with his semblance, but that resulted in the debris over his head falling several inches and picking up speed. He let go of his shield and focused more on his debris, but that nearly killed Cinder as he tried to find his balance again, the result being his debris nearly touching his metal palm and Cinder's hovering a few feet over her back, and both piles still slowly descending.
Okay... Aldric gasped. Okay... Think. He felt short of breath, it was taking more and more effort to keep everything from literally falling apart, he thought he could feel his muscles shearing themselves apart inside his arm and his chest. Think - think faster! C'mon, come - But then his concentration slipped. The briefest of hiccups as he took in just one shallow, ragged breath.
Aldric was buried in the time it took him to blink. Cinder's left side was crushed moments later. There was so much weight on him that Aldric could barely breathe, and he was pretty sure it shouldn't feel as though something was spilling out of his thigh as freely as it was.
Plan B... He thought, faintly. Plan B... His entire body was convulsing, his leg was feeling warm and wet, the entire world was fading away. Plan... He only had enough power, enough effort, for one last act. B... He used what he had left to pick up his shield, it now hovering just a few inches over the ground.
Just as the stone that would kill Ruby finally fell from the ceiling, he threw the shield at Ruby.
It slid into place between the two fallen pillars just as the giant rock made it to ground. The boulder hit the star on the shield and quickly began shattering to pieces, burying Ruby, but otherwise leaving her unharmed.
Aldric blacked out.
"Ruby!" He heard a loud, raspy voice call out.
"Ruby!" Came a female voice, before being joined by a much more panicked woman's similar cries.
"Ruby!" He heard the third voice scream, "Ruby! Ash!"
"Beebee!" The second voice added. "Ash, come on!"
Aldric was freezing cold. His entire body was numb. When he opened his eyes, he saw only darkness. He had been buried by rubble, he could just barely see a huge stone pressing against his chest, restricting his breathing.
But he felt his power. A tiny amount - barely a thimble full - bubbling beneath the chill. Was that his soul? Was that literally everything he had left? That small shot of energy that, when faded away, would signal his death? Or was it that minor amount of aura his body had desperately scrounged up to keep him alive?
"Ruby! Ruby where are you?! Answer me!" This voice almost sounded like Qrow's.
Just one more... Aldric wheezed, as he shut his eyes. Let me do just one more thing...
He felt out with his radar pulse. He saw Qrow, Yang, and Pyrrha desperately searching the ruined vault, as even more rubble streamed down from the collapsing tower above them. They were randomly throwing aside bits of rubble, digging into promising-looking piles, and leaving red-eyed and holding back tears. Or actively sobbing in Pyrrha's case, as she screamed the names of both of her friends.
But none of them had found Ruby, buried under several layers of rubble, protected by the ever-faithful star-spangled shield, or even Cinder, partially hidden by the debris pile that had crushed her left half.
Just one more...There was so little left inside of him that to compare it to how he'd woken up today would be like comparing a firecracker to a fission bomb. He could only do one more thing, and when he did it, that would be it. He remembered what happened last time he used literally everything he had. If he did this, that would be his last act. It would be all of his power, and all of his everything. When he used this last bit of his power, he would die. He knew it.
He just had to pray his backup plans would pan out without him.
Just one more... He thought, focusing everything on the rubble right above his shield. Push!
And he did.
It didn't blast into the air like he'd hoped, but he'd caused enough of a 'hiccup' in the rubble, that Qrow, nearby, saw the movements. He sprinted over to her.
"Ruby! Uncle Qrow's here!" He screamed, desperately, as he wedged his sword in between two larger stones and pried them off, as Yang and Pyrrha dashed over to help.
When they unearthed enough rubble to see Aldric's dust-covered shield, Pyrrha gasped. "Ash!" And two of them threw more chunks of stone in every direction, with Qrow briefly scanning over the entire vault, before he assisted in prying the shield out of the rubble, and revealing Ruby, covered in dust and debris, and unconscious, but otherwise untouched.
"Ruby!" Qrow shouted, as he stowed his scythe on his back and bent down to pick up his niece, bridal-style.
"But -" Pyrrha sputtered, looking from the dust-covered shield in her hands, eyes filled with dread at the paint that had been melted off of its center, the horrendous scorch marks that marred the rest of it, and then looking around the crumbling vault. "But where's -"
But she was interrupted by yet more debris falling from the ceiling.
"We need to go!" Qrow shouted over the sounds of the vault imploding around them.
"WHAT?!" Pyrrha rounded on Qrow. "Ash is still in here and he saved her! We have to -" But Qrow rounded on her and slapped her hard enough to be heard even over the crumbling vault and the collapsing tower, leaving her stunned.
"You told me he was fighting the Maiden! That means that kid was so weak he had two choices: Use that shield to save himself, or use that shield to save Ruby!" Qrow yelled over the showers of rubble. "He made his choice! And if we don't get out of here, his sacrifice will be meaningless!"
"No!" Pyrrha cried. "No we have to -"
"Pyrrha!" Now it was Yang, as Aldric's world was suddenly enveloped in darkness, the radar gone, the power along with it. "Pyrrha, he's right! Beebee..." She sounded hesitant, before steeling herself. "Goud is dead! We need to get out of here!" And the longer they spoke, the further away they sounded.
Aldric couldn't make out the rest of their argument, furthermore he was pretty sure he couldn't feel his heartbeat anymore, but one of the last things he heard was the three of them leaving, and soon after, the sound of more rubble hitting his pile, driving the rock over his chest even closer to it. He literally could not breathe anymore, though with the absence of a heartbeat, that wasn't necessarily the worst thing.
I... He wondered, faintly. This is... Was it really a bad thing he was dying? Good... Considering all he'd done? Isn't it?
God, Aldric felt exhausted.
So he went to sleep.