There was no way Ruby could miss, and she didn't. Everything was working towards her advantage. She had the angle, the close distance, the bigger weapon, and the element of surprise. Altogether, she knew they would be enough to make the difference. Any other night in any other place, she knew things would have gone without a further hitch or wrinkle.
As she discovered, however, this was not any other night.
The shot Ruby had fired flew true and straight. Despite the brief shake and rise of her scope from the recoil, her sight picture was clear. Her shot had flown exactly where she had wanted it to. Unfortunately, it did not reach its mark.
What must have been fractions of a second before the shot would've connected, Ruby found her attack intercepted. Instead of the bullet striking the giant Fang she spied through her scope, it struck something smaller. A streak of red flashed into the space between the two. The bullet struck against the projectile, sparks cascading as the two pieces of metal collided, the softer of them shattering and spattering apart.
The whole world slowed down for Ruby.
The Faunus who had appeared beside the giant stood, arm and hand outstretched. A sword stretched out from their hand, the metal a crimson shade that matched their hair. He was dressed in a fashion that Ruby felt familiar, all black and splashes of red. Black slacks, red shirt, and a black coat that reached down to mid-thigh, all tinged and fringed in a similar crimson to his hair and sword. A floral flourish to the hem of his coat. His jaw was sharply pointed, lean and angular. His eyes covered by the bone-white mask of the White Fang, accented with fluidly flowing flourishes of red.
Above the mask, a pair of black horns jutted from the crown of his head.
Even as the world began to creep back into motion for Ruby, the red-haired Faunus craned their head up. Almost automatically, his gaze seemed to track perfectly back to her. She could almost feel his gaze peering through the scope back at her, as the giant Fang beside him began to react to what had happened.
Ruby saw the red-Haired Faunus' lips curl upward, revealing teeth in a way that mocked the very idea of a smile.
…
Adam Taurus had grown quite sick of how circumstances had progressed, both pertaining to the revolution, and to the matter in Vale he'd found himself dragged into. He knew it was only a matter of time until he would have to set his sights, and the White Fang, in the Kingdom's direction. But he'd rather have them in his time, under his lead.
Not that of a human, so that his people could serve another human. The only benefit he saw was that all of the supplies they had gathered were left to his people's disposal. Weeks of planning and careful stalking of the Kingdom's streets had lent itself to being quite beneficial indeed. A small amount of balm that only barely assuaged his bruised ego. That was, until he found his efforts being stalled, seemingly on all fronts, by some phantom enemy. It got to the point that Bane had to be sent to handle the issue directly. Only to then accomplish nothing in the process.
The sum total of these losses had put Taurus in a bind. He'd lost too many members to be ignored, and the continued losses meant they would soon be losing more in Vale than they could recoup. If any of his efforts, and the support of his personal followers, were to continue then this had to change. Further failings and losses could not be tolerated. Drastic measures would need to be taken. A decision only further cemented once he'd learned his dear Lady Belladonna was involved.
An assault on one of Vale's oldest standing facilities had been a pipe dream. One that would require more support and supplies than he knew he would be able to secure under different circumstances. But fortune had it, then, that the pieces had been set in place for him. All he needed to do was make the move.
Everything from there had gone off without incident.
The riots in the smaller prisons would keep Vale distracted. The chaos would incense the Grimm enough that Beacon's main concern would be with containing them. His supporters who were already within the facility itself would ensure that the true objective wouldn't be accounted for. Not until it was far too late.
Taurus could not have asked for matters to proceed any more smoothly than they had.
Until, of course, someone finally intervened.
He lowered his blade, Wilt, from in front of his lieutenant and sheathed it into its scabbard, Blush. Through the wind and rain of the brewing storm he could see where the shot had come from. Even in the darkness overhead, the vibrant red of their assailant's cloak stood out. Almost as clearly as the gunfire and explosions that echoed from the gate of the arsenal.
"It would seem we've finally been discovered," the Lieutenant growled, a massive arm passing to the chainsaw, hanging over his shoulder. He brought it to bear around in front of him, taking a step forward. "What do you want us to do?"
The rest of the lower initiates turned to look at them, all looking for direction as they worked. Waiting for his word to stop what they were doing and begin to fight back. Just as he knew they would. But what they needed was to have that night be a success. Something that could be accomplished without distraction. He and the lieutenant would suffice, give or take a handful of others.
After all, now he had something it had not occurred to him he would like to have.
Interlopers. People he could freely make an example of.
"Stay the course," Adam ordered, gaze remaining locked on the red cloak caught in the breeze. "Get the Bullheads and supplies in the air. Take some people and deal with the ones at the gate."
Another crack of thunder, and Taurus' weapon rose in front of him. The blade barely left its scabbard enough to catch the bullet aimed for his chest. He could feel the power behind it begin to pool amongst the reserves in his aura. Waiting.
"They just haven't figured it out yet," he sneered, smirking up at the roof of the hut. "We've already won."
Without another word he darted forward, his Aura-enhanced stride reducing him to a blur that only few could track. One that even fewer could hit. Evident as another shot rang out, missing him completely as he raced towards the hut. In mere moments he'd reached it and launched himself from the ground, rebounding off of a light post as he climbed. Within a blink he was at height with the hut.
Just the same as the little red sniper whose head snapped up towards him.
His feet touched down on the roof, and Blush's action fired. Wilt leapt from the scabbard with bullet-like speed as Taurus' hand caught it, directing it. The crimson blade arced out in a slash that had bisected bigger and stronger things than the tiny girl in front of him. His strike missed as the girl threw herself sideways, dragging the massive rifle in her hands with her. In the same motion, dragging the muzzle of her weapon towards him as gravity began to drag her down the side of the hut. Taurus' left hand pulled Blush from his side, the scabbard catching the muzzle of the rifle as she fell, the next shot flying past Taurus' side as she fell. The girl's weapon began to shift its shape as she began to gain speed, falling towards the ground. The rifle's bipod pulled together into a massive scythe blade.
Taurus threw himself down the side of the building after her, the muzzle of Blush aimed at her.
The girl's eyes widened as he fired. Rose petals flared around her, briefly, before the bullets hit their mark, and her body solidified.
Taurus kicked off the roof, spinning into a slash as he fell with the girl.
Just before his blade reached her, the rose petals reappeared and the girl fell apart into them. The petals formed into a cloud that moved under a wind of their own, flying away from Taurus almost faster than he could move. Almost.
Before his feet even touched the ground, Taurus' blade snapped to the side, digging into the hut. He redirected himself off of it, ripping it free from the hut as he did. He sheathed it back into Blush as he hit the ground, charging after the storm of petals as he held the weapon to his side, the charge leading them out into the open ground between the huts, initiates only barely avoiding them both as they moved.
In the middle of this ground, the girl became solid once more. Her foot dug into the ground as Taurus caught a better look of her. Young, dark red and black hair, with silver eyes. But most telling of all: the oversized red cape and hood. It was then that he recognized her.
The 'Red Hood' who'd intercepted their efforts regarding the general.
He almost felt he should thank her for helping set everything in motion. Then he decided he would. Cleaving her head from her shoulders would be quick enough to count in its own right.
As her booted foot sank into the dirt, she spun, her scy-fle arcing back around at him. But Taurus hardly even needed to slow his stride. He dipped beneath the weapon as it swung, avoiding the haft and blade. Red Hood's gaze tracked him as he went, a light of surprise and focus mingled in her eyes.
Once more his blade sung outward through the air in a draw strike.
Red Hood's weapon shifted in her hands as she reached the end of her swing, the haft lifting vertically between Wilt's blade and her body. Its crimson edge skated over the metal of her weapon's receiver. Just as quickly the scy-fle began to spin her hands as she began to angle the blade for another strike.
As the receiver moved away from her body, Blush's muzzle angled from Taurus' hip. Her eyes widened again as thunder and fire echoed between them. The shot hit Red Hood in the chest and barreled her backward. A pained cry escaped her as she tumbled backward. More cries and gunfire echoed in as she hit the ground, coming from the gate.
Once more, Taurus closed the distance between them, thrusting his blade down at the girl.
Barely aiming her weapon, the girl pulled her weapon's trigger and the muzzle flared. The recoil blew her to the side right before his strike could reach, his sword's tip burying itself into the dirt. The recoil, however, did not send the girl far, only a few scant feet as her body skidded against the ground. Only as she came to a stop did the muzzle raise once more, angled for Taurus.
Again, his own blade rose to meet it, Wilt's blade carving through the dirt as it rose and catching the bullet and muzzle flare, both syphoning into Taurus' growing reserve. Even as they did, Red Hood sprang to her feet, blade whirling about her and singing through the air. This time Taurus did not dodge the strike, instead he brought Blush up to catch Wilt as he sheathed the two, using both to guard. The strike caught on the closing blade and only further fed themselves into his reserves.
Red Hood's gaze darted quickly between his weapon and hers, trying to understand what was transpiring. She missed as the scabbard was aimed at her head.
Pulling the trigger, Taurus fired the hilt of Wilt at Red Hood. The blade flew out at blistering speeds and struck its target, the hilt of it crashing right between the girl's eyes. She staggered as it did, the blade dropping through the air as she pulled. Hooking the blade of her weapon further helped Taurus close the gap. He launched himself forward and caught Wilt as it fell, the handle falling naturally into his hand. Its crimson edge gleamed, reflected itself in the light of the girl's eyes.
Then his blade finally struck her.
He slashed to the side, and the blade caught itself against the girl's Aura. He felt it drag along the length of Wilt's edge as he cut at her, its honed edge snagging at her clothes, only kept from them by the thin protection of her soul. Another cry escaped her as the blade finished carving its path.
In the same motion that it did, he leapt, spun, and kicked the girl in the side of the head.
With surprising tenacity, the girl retained herself. As the kick rocked her, she swept to the side, collapsing once more into her petal cloud. The mass of petals and wind swirled past Taurus, and he tracked it with ease. She did not go far, only barely behind him before reforming. When she did, her eyes were on him with intense purpose and focus. Her scy-fle had already begun blurring into a swing, the blade extended outward into the wide pattern of a war scythe. Taurus smiled as he spun Wilt to connect with the strike, guiding the blade past him as he slipped beneath it. As it did, the blade pivoted on its hinge, back into its crooked blade as she spun the weapon towards him again.
For a moment, Taurus contemplated ending the fight between them. He knew he could, with the power he'd stored from her strikes alone. But he didn't.
He didn't need to.
Right before the girl could strike him again, a large hand snapped out from behind her. Before she could even realize what was happening, an iron grip closed around her throat and hauled into the air. One of the girl's hands remained on her weapon as the other rose in surprise to the one around her throat. Her head struggled to turn, see who held her.
Then Bane dragged her to the side and slammed her head against one of the metal huts. The sound rang as loud as any gunshot.
"Cocky brat," Bane spat gravely.
He reeled his hand back as the girl looked blearily up at him. The spot on the hut where he'd struck now had a sizable dent in it. Taurus sheathed his sword as Bane's grip tightened.
In his free hand, Bane began to rev his chainsaw.
Fear lit in the girl's eyes and she struggled against the grip of the larger Faunus. But Taurus knew she didn't have the physical strength to escape. Few who'd found themselves in Bane's grip lived to speak of it. Even as she kicked and swung her legs at him, trying to find purchase, she was too short to manage it. Her face was quickly becoming a shade of purple-red as well, as she struggled to breathe. Her arms fumbled to grip her larger weapon, only to have it batted aside by Bane's saw.
Taurus turned away from the girl as he let Bane take charge of her. He'd wanted for his lieutenant to take care of matters at the gate, but he did not mind going to tend to them himself. Or, he would have.
"Ruby!"
Were it not for the sound of an all-too familiar voice.
Seamlessly, Taurus spun towards the voice and leapt towards it, sailing upwards into the air to intercept it. Wilt launched from Blush once more, caught in his hand.
Crimson steel connected with the blackened blade of Gambol Shroud, the swords skating against each other. They swept past one another as Lady Belladonna revealed herself, falling from the dark and stormy air. But even as she carried on past Taurus, he spun towards her. Blush left his side as he fired, the bullets phasing through Belladonna as a copy of her appeared on the ground. The copy spun as her blade collapsed into its pistol shape, and she fired.
Gravity took hold of Taurus and he began to fall, catching the bullets with Wilt as he did. A quick use of Gravity Dust had him crash all the faster to the ground, before launching towards his new target. His blade swept out in a crimson arc, and clashed with the cleaver-sheath of Gambol shroud. Lady Belladonna only narrowly drew in time to catch the attack.
Taurus' smile redoubled, as he saw the way Blake looked at him. Somewhere between hate and anger, tinged subtly with a shrinking fear. He hadn't wanted their reunion to happen at a time such as that.
But he would take what was given to him.
"Hello, my darling." Taurus spoke.
…
Were the circumstances any different, Blake Belladonna wouldn't be there. For as much as she wanted to change and make amends for the things she'd done, she knew there were things she couldn't do. Chief among them, was to be anywhere near Adam Taurus. In her time with the White Fang, she'd come to understand one thing about Adam Taurus: he was dangerous, beyond anything else that he was, and that Blake knew to be true, Adam Taurus was dangerous. The bodies he'd left behind and destruction he'd wrought could stand as evidence to it.
Even more so, he was stronger than her.
She had countless hours of training and mental scars that could attest to that.
Enough to tell her that, even as the two of them circled each other, weapons drawn, she would lose. There had been a clear reason why she had abandoned Adam rather than confront him. It was clear what had happened to anyone else that'd tried. Some part of her had known that, at some point, she might have to confront him. That in continuing down the path she'd chosen to walk, she would have to face him again.
She'd only hoped it would have been a long time ahead in the future, not scant months after having left him. But it appeared fate would have other plans. Ones that not only involved her facing him then and there, but surrounded by her former brothers and sisters. All while they continued with the same acts she had left the White Fang for. It made her heart race and ears ring, almost loud enough to drown out the whine of the spooling Bullheads. Which, at the corners of her sight, she could see were continuing to peel away, slowly, laden with the White Fang's spoils.
The initiates near her and Adam began to slow, observing the fight. They recognized her, she knew they did.
"Adam," Blake spoke, resolving herself. Even as every part of her screamed to run away.
"I was hoping I'd see you again, dear," Adam said, sneering at the endearment. "Hadn't thought it would be so soon." His smile grew cold as his stance shifted. "But I don't mind making a little time."
The two continued to circle each other, as Blake saw more members gathering around her. She tried to take in everything that she could. None of them were moving to intervene. Something that could change in a heartbeat. More pressing though, the reason she'd intervened at all.
Bane still had his hand around Ruby's throat. Even as he watched the situation unfold, she struggled in his grip, legs thrashing, arms trying to grip her weapon and muster a swing.
"Where are you looking?" Adam asked, almost hissing in her ears.
Blake blinked and rolled backward, only narrowly avoiding the blade of Wilt as Adam lunged forward in a draw strike. The weapon shifted in his hands and came about in a second strike, one that Blake parried off the cleaver of Gambol Shroud. As the blades connected, Gambol Shroud shifted from its sword to pistol mode. The weapon spun wide and she pulled the trigger twice, aiming for center mass on Bane
Almost lazily, Bane pulled his chainsaw between the shots and himself, lowering Ruby slightly as he did.
In response the muzzle of Blush spat fire into Blake's chest.
Blake had less than a second to react, and had trained to do so. Her Semblance activated as she swept to the side, leaving a frail shadow of herself where she'd been standing. The blast from Blush destroyed the shadow as she flew back, firing her pistol thrice more. Each projectile collided with Adam's blade as he parried them. She chastised herself silently for this. Blake knew how Adam's Semblance worked. There was no telling how much power he'd already passively stored.
"A disgrace that you would abandon the cause to begin with," Adam said, diving for her with another swipe of his blade. Wilt parried off her cleaver as her pistol shifted back to her blade. She slashed at him and caught nothing but air as he side-stepped the strike. "But to think you'd even turn against it."
"I didn't turn away from anything!" Blake shouted, swinging her cleaver at Adam, before reversing her grip on her sword and whirling into a trio of strikes with the two weapons, each deflecting off of Adam's blade and scabbard. "You're threatening innocent people!"
"There's nothing innocent about these 'people', love." Adam retorted, Blush spinning around his hand, the haft of the scabbard colliding with the side of her head at the deflection of her last strike. "You should've kept running."
Blake's head rang as the strike connected, the feeling of it sharp and sudden even through her Aura. She rocked to the side with the blow and parried the next strike that followed. Gambol Shroud rose to parry it, and she called on her Semblance once more, an act she found more draining than the first use. Wilt connected with her shadow's blade as she passed behind Adam, spinning her leg low to catch his knee.
She found the muzzle of Blush pointed in her face, aimed under Adam's arm.
Her shadow vanished as Blake threw herself to the side avoiding the shot. She aimed Gambol Shroud and fired quickly once more. One shot at Adam, another through the crowd at Bane. The first shot missed as Adam swept to the side. The second managed to clip the arm still holding Ruby, who Blake noticed was struggling less. The shot lowered Ruby enough, however, that her feet could touch the ground.
Even as she did, Adam pressed in, his sideways sweep rising into a kick that caught Blake in the chest.
"Still using the same tricks. The ones I taught you," Adam sneered.
"Sienna taught me," Blake bit back, the blade of Gambol Shroud collapsing back into its sickle form. She threw the weapon low, arcing it out on her ribbon. The length of it passed near Adam's leg.
Then lashed around the haft of Blush, wrapping around and taking hold of it.
"And I made sure they stuck," Adam retorted.
He jerked back on the ribbon, ensuring it was wrapped as tightly to him as it was Blake.
Blake's gaze passed between him and Bane. Ruby was grasping tightly onto the larger Faunus' arm with her free hand. Her feet found purchase on the ground, and scraped as Bane began to approach them. The circle of White Fang grew tighter as more members closed them in.
Adam noticed this as well, seeming to think on what to say, as the members recognized her. When he spoke, it was with grim certainty. "She's a traitor to the cause and a coward," He announced. "She's betrayed everything the revolution stands for, and her parents stood for."
"They don't stand for this!" Blake shouted.
"They don't stand for anything," Adam replied coolly. "They hide in Menagerie as our people suffer in the mines and factories. Eaten by machines and dying of Gray Lung." His blade pointed at her. "Just as you've chosen to run and hide."
"OH YEAH!?" A new voice snapped.
A trio of figures came crashing from the sky above Adam. Two glowed with the golden-yellow light of the sun at high noon. They came flying at Adam in tandem, one wielding a staff in an overhead swing. The other, two pairs of nunchucks, whirling from disparate directions. The first sailed over Adam's head as he ducked the blow. The second had their strikes parried, and counter-struck with Wilt's blade. Both glowing figures vanished almost as quickly as they appeared.
The third was Sun Wukong.
He leapt in as Adam's blade hung in the air from the counter-strike, landing on the blade itself. His weight drove the tip into the ground, lowering Adam's arm and guard as Sun's leg snapped up in a kick.
The blow caught him under the chin, and forced him to step back, releasing the crimson blade. But Blake could still feel her ribbon tethered to Blush. She pulled back on it, and Adam's grip kept him from going far.
Despite this, Adam still raised Blush to guard against the Sun, as his staff spun around in front of him. The two collided with the hard clack of wood and a ringing of hollow steel.
"She's still here, isn't she!?" Sun growled.
Then, two more things happened.
The first that Blake saw, as she recovered herself, was seeing Sun's staff snap in half, taking the shape of its twin shot-nunchucks, both snapping toward Adam from disparate directions and forcing him to sidestep the strike, still anchored to Blake.
The second announced itself to Blake in a flurry of wind and rose petals. One that slammed its way through the crowd of White Fang surrounding them like a wrecking ball. It barreled its way through Adam and Sun, breaking the contest between them, and forcing Blake to move with them at the same time. As the flurry of petals flew through the space, they solidified, but didn't lose their speed.
Ruby Rose balled on herself, before slamming both of her feet against the mass of Bane's chest. The force and speed of her petal burst sent both tumbling and rolling. As she hit the ground, she planted Crescent Rose's stock into the dirt and the muzzle in the space between her feet on Bane's chest. She squeezed back on the trigger, firing.
All of the combined force ripped Ruby free of Bane's grasp, and sent the larger Faunus flying. He crashed through the other side of the crowd and carried on for a distance, impacting another of the metal huts.
Free of the Faunus' grip, Ruby hit the ground and began gasping for air. She coughed and wretched as the fresh, rain-filled air hit her lungs. Her body skidded along the ground in a low crouch.
"Ruby!" Blake said.
"I-I'm fine," Ruby gasped, body shaking with adrenaline.
All at once the Faunus around them began to break apart, reaching for weapons. In a blink they were surrounded by dozens of guns and blades.
Worse, as Blake observed, when Adam grabbed Wilt from the ground, released from under Sun's foot. Her ears could pick out the growl of Bane's chainsaw as he picked himself up.
"Well, this isn't going to plan," Ruby said, chuckling nervously, voice hoarse.
"On the contrary," Adam sneered. "This has gone almost exactly how I wanted it to." He glowered at Blake. "Getting this chance at an early reunion is just a bonus. Isn't that right, dear?"
Blake's stomach did a flip at the word. Try as she might, she couldn't keep the small tremble out of her blade hand. They both knew the effect he had on her, and it just made Adam smile coldly.
Behind them, far back towards the gate of the Arsenal, more and more gunfire could be heard. The sounds of Yang and Weiss doing their share of the work.
"Isn't this the part where everyone else goes running to see what the problem is?" Sun asked, almost casually. "Leave the heroes to duke it out with the bad guy in a showdown?"
"Shut it, traitor!" one of the myriad White Fang snapped, earning only a cursory look from Sun.
"The only problem worth worrying about is the one already before us," Adam spoke, calmly sheathing his blade, a normally peaceful gesture twisted by the one doing it. "A human, a traitor, and a monkey."
"That the best you've got? I've heard better," Sun countered, smirking.
Blake shifted on her feet as Sun tried to banter with them. Despite the casualness he was giving them all, she could tell he was stalling. Buying Ruby time to recover and Blake time to think. That Adam hadn't simply resumed the attack meant he was also taking the situation seriously.
"We should all expect better," Adam said, gesturing to all of the White Fang that held them in their sights. "Look at what they want to make us!" He addressed them. "Little better than weapons against the cause, against what we're due! None of us are safe!" Adam's gaze then fell back onto Blake. "Not even Chief Belladonna's daughter!"
"I'm doing what's right!" Blake shouted. "This is insanity, Adam–!"
"This is justice!" Adam shouted, cutting her off. "For all of us! For all those you've chosen to turn your back on! To serve the likes of her!" He gestured to Ruby, as she recovered herself. "Look at yourself, Belladonna! Reduced to little more than some guard for someone like her, dragging others down with you!"
"I'm not her property!" Blake retorted. "I'm her friend! The only one dragging people down here is you! You're murdering innocent people!"
"None of them are innocent, Belladonna," Adam replied. "Not for the crimes against our people. You're the only one who's seemed to have forgotten that."
It was all lies, and Blake knew that. Just as she knew none of the people surrounding her cared. They all fervently believed what Adam said. They wouldn't have followed him there if they doubted him. Everyone who'd died that night had died because of Adam. Just as everyone who'd died because she'd followed him once, died because of her. She only wished that they could see what they were doing.
But they wouldn't. She knew that.
An explosion echoed from the front gate of the Arsenal. It drew more of the attention from the surrounding White Fang. Including that of Adam's lieutenant.
Adam visibly exhaled in annoyance, before gesturing with his hand. "Bane, take some people and go deal with that, if you would?" He then gestured to the rest of the White Fang. "The rest of you, finish what we came here to do." Adam's attention then returned to the three of them. "I'll handle things here with Lady Belladonna."
A moment passed through the air, before the White Fang began to move. Bane made a sharp noise and gestured for a number of the White Fang to follow him. They broke away from the group, as the rest resumed their work, lowering their weapons. As they did, Blake heard Ruby speak. Her huddled form touched her Scroll.
"Yang, Weiss, there's more people coming-" She breathed.
"Called it," Sun smirked, spinning his weapon around him in a flourish.
"No. You haven't," Adam said, scowling coldly. Blake could feel his gaze still fixated on her. "When we're finished here, the kindest thing I could do is drag you back with me. Educate you on where you went wrong."
"We'll stop you," Ruby said, huffing as she finally began to catch her breath, standing. "Blake's right, the only thing you're doing is hurting people." She readied her scy-fle. "We're going to stop that here."
What Adam did next tore a pit in Blake's stomach.
He chuckled.
"You have no idea what's coming for you," Adam spoke. "If you even survive tonight."
A blur of motion followed as She, Blake, and Sun all launched themselves at Adam.
His sword flashed out from its sheath. A resume to their struggle.
Because Blake knew, full well, this wasn't a fight they could win.
…
Weiss preferred to be smart, and tactful, when using her Semblance. This came with a good reason: it was a hereditary ability to her family. One that had been passed down from her grandfather, to her mother, to Weiss and her siblings. Likely having been in the family even before her grandfather. Hereditary Semblances were not common on Remnant. Many tended toward being individual and unique. Even when there were undercurrents and similarities running between them, it was scarce to find any two Semblances that were exactly the same. Or, so close as to be near identical. How her family's hereditary abilities had manifested, she did not know.
What she did know was that by the time they'd reached her, how to use them had been engrained. It was almost as thoroughly known as the abilities themselves. How she was expected to use them was documented, what her Semblance did was mapped out and formulaic. Her Semblance had almost literally come with an instruction manual on how to use it. Including how Dust reacted with its usage. She was certain there were things she had not yet discovered how to use. Advanced techniques and combinations, reserved for when she knew how to reliably use her abilities. But the basics, those were expected to be mastered flawlessly. How they were expected to be used, measured in a meticulous enough fashion that deviation was unacceptable. Impeccable measure, meter, and control were expected in their application. In much the same way, she had at one time realized, were no different from singing. A wrong note, a moment off tempo, or a hitch in the voice, and the song was lessened. The music lost its charm as it changed away from what it was intended.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
In much the same, she had to match what was expected of her Semblance. Grace, control, and flawless execution. Never brutish, never inelegant. Always 'just so'.
As such, utilizing it in some ways was something she had never considered.
For instance: Utilizing Gravity Dust in conjunction with her force glyph to launch a door off its hinges. As she'd proceeded to do when she and Yang forced their way into the Arsenal. The effect had almost been like a bombshell had gone off.
Which was to say, completely inelegant and as graceful as a sledgehammer to a fine Mistralian teacup.
Some small part of her found it extremely gratifying, though she would never admit that. She had an image to maintain.
It had also allowed her to create the opening she and Yang needed to put their adversaries on the back foot. The more physically prone of the pair had used the explosion caused by her semblance to charge in. With intense focus she had begun pummeling everyone who stepped in her way. Worryingly, the only sound Weiss heard from her as Yang went was the sound of her weapon, the thundering of her weapon's shotgun ringing through the air with each strike. But Yang herself said nothing, and made no noise beyond the occasional grunt and huff of breath as she fought. No jokes, no laughs or cheers. Only the intense, focused silence required of serious combat. Weiss felt she should have been happy with how serious her normally bubbly teammate was taking the matter.
Instead, she was worried. Brooding and sulking was already more the territory of two other teammates. She did not need that to expand to three of them, lest the general demeanor of things become insufferable.
She did, naturally, also find silence unnerving. Just as her partner had, when they'd noticed it outside the Arsenal.
Unfortunately for the lot of them, that time was not the right one to address it.
Weiss was not sure what had become of her teammates after they had forced the doors. But she could surmise that something had gone wrong. A feeling she only grew to acknowledge as more White Fang from elsewhere in the Arsenal seemed intent to focus on her and Yang. The few that didn't only moved to do their work faster. Though she felt her focus should not be on them.
A glyph appeared before Weiss as a stream of bullets was concentrated on her. The projectiles collided and sparked against the glowing wall of force she raised between them. With grace, she darted from behind it and allowed the glyph to fade as she summoned another. The cylinder of Myrtenaster glowed a cool blue-white as she drew on the Dust in it to feed her Semblance. From the new glyph, a trio of thick icicles grew, flying forward from it as missiles of solid ice. Each tracked and aimed for their own target. She watched as two of them struck their targets, sending them sprawling to the ground, or into the walls of the huts. The third failed to reach where she had aimed, but had struck the ground with force enough to blow the assailant aside. Seeing the opening, she let the glyph fade and summoned another from beneath her feet, letting the power of it force her forward, as she swept over the target with her blade. This second strike sent the target skidding away, in enough of a fashion that Weiss was confident they wouldn't be an issue. As they flew away she summoned another glyph in time to ward off a sword-wielding Fang, who rushed her defiance of her display. Almost effortlessly she parried his sword, circling it off the blade of Myrtenaster and thrusting forward. The strike bound them backward, in time to be caught by Yang, who punched them into the dirt as she passed to another combatant.
Weiss thought about how the Courier had said she'd needed to expand beyond her swordsmanship, and felt gratified. She knew the weight and intention of his words were well met. Had the situation permitted, she'd have spent more time thinking on his words. However, that did not change the degree to which she believed in the capability of her hand at the blade. In this moment, that was perhaps more important than what she could do otherwise.
As Yang raced towards another member of the White Fang, Weiss followed quickly with her. A glyph appeared beneath Yang's feet, launching her all the quicker to her target. She responded to it with proper speed, and flew into a punch that sent her target flying, cratering them into one of the metal huts.
"I've got this," Yang said dismissively.
"I know," Weiss answered. "But last I checked, we were supposed to be working together."
"We are," Yang said. "You just need to spend less time talking."
Without another word, Yang flew away from Weiss, resuming her assault as she sailed between White Fang like a pinball. Rebounding with each strike of her weapon and punch thrown. Weiss wished she could carry the conversation with her blonde teammate further than just a few words. Any other time there was no excuse for her not to. Sadly, this was not any other time. She could hardly fault Yang for not wanting to converse in the middle of a fight, most sane people didn't try to do that. It was the same as asking to be sucker-punched.
Understanding that, she tabled the conversation, right as a pair of White Fang leapt from the alley beside her, hatchets and swords in hand. They got no closer to her than the mouth of the alley, where the first of them met a black glyph, and was cannoned back into the second. Uncouth, but effective, she found.
Though their plan of action had been limited, Weiss knew they needed to regroup quickly. The longer they spent apart, the more likely it was that the White Fang would push back against them. She knew their goal was to escape with whatever wasn't nailed down. But the numbers weren't on her team's side. How they were supposed to succeed was a matter of whether or not the White Fang could escape. Hence, they needed to make sure as few Bullheads as possible left the arsenal.
Something she knew they were failing at, when another lifted into the air over the arsenal and listed away.
Considering where she knew Ruby, Blake, and Sun had entered from, it didn't bode well.
"More Bullheads are leaving!" Weiss shouted, trying to grab Yang's attention.
"Ruby's handling it!" Yang countered, catching the blade of an attacking White Fang before hitting him with a combination punch. Even as she did, Weiss saw bullets strike her from the flank, as another White Fang scurried from the cover of the metal huts. Bullets sprayed from a sub-machinegun as they fired from the hip, sidestepping to the next piece of cover.
Before he could reach it, Weiss launched herself from another glyph. Her graceful flight threw the air landed her between the White Fang and their prospective cover. They twisted at the hip, attempting to point their weapon at her. As they did, she parried it off her blade and stabbed at them thrice in quick succession, each one blowing them further back and off-balance. Her blows guided him backwards against yet another glyph she summoned. As their foot landed on it, spires of ice erupted from the ground, encasing and trapping them. She then struck them in the face, ending the fight.
"If she was handling it, they wouldn't be escaping!" Weiss shouted. "Something's wrong!"
"Blake and Sun are with her!" Yang shouted back.
Weiss looked at her blond teammate, at the same time deflecting the axe blade of another attacking White Fang. She gracefully spun to the side and let them sway past her, before striking them twice in succession. The blows caused them to stumble far enough that they landed on another of her glyphs. Which then unceremoniously catapulted them away, over the wall of the arsenal and out of sight. Just as unceremoniously, Weiss turned her attention back towards her teammate and began racing towards her.
With hardly any effort at all, Yang weaved between the bullets that flew by her, doing so with as little effort as she did the swings taken at her. Her focus was razor fine on the fight that transpired around her. She was not open to taking any chances, nor accepting a hit she did not need to. Not then. Even if she knew it would fuel her semblance to do so, her anger and frustration wouldn't allow it. She wanted to be the one to do the hitting rather than be the one to get hit. Yet all the same, it put a churning sensation in her stomach every time she swung. Even as she skirted danger and struck solidly against the enemies in front of her, she could not shake the feeling. It gnawed ceaselessly at her, as she floored and ground everyone who stood before her.
Ember Celica roared as she threw a straight into the face of another of the myriad goons attacking her. Again her stomach lurched as they hit the ground. Still, she pressed on.
Two more White Fang had emerged from one of the metal huts, carrying crates of something. Explosives, supplies, it didn't matter to her. They dropped the crates as she flew towards them, teeth bared in a scowl and a growl in her throat. It erupted into a roar as she struck.
Only for her fist to crash against a wall of ice. One that appeared with a flash of light and a hiss of freezing air. The connection between it and her weapon sent a spider-web of cracks through the material. But its thickness kept it from shattering, aside from the small blowback from where the ice and her fist met. Cool mist fell from the wall as she observed it, the ice just transparent enough to see through. Her targets were on the opposite side of it, encased mid-fall. Both stunned momentarily, before attempting to free themselves.
Before Yang could react, more of the ice began to surround her. The ice flashed up in walls that almost fully encompassed her. Not trapping her, but clearly blocking where the White Fang could enter from. Ensuring that she couldn't just fly off towards another group of them.
Yang scowled, and turned towards the one responsible for the frigid interception.
"What is your problem tonight?" Weiss asked, storming towards her teammate.
"My problem!?" Yang barked. "We're in the middle of a fight! You can't expect me to spend every five seconds talking to you!"
"Something's wrong Yang!" Weiss protested. "Ruby, Blake, and Sun could be in danger right now, and you're brushing it off like nothing's wrong."
"Because we're in danger right now!" Yang snapped back. "We have our own thing to do, don't act like we're just here for kicks…" Yang's shoulders slumped slightly. "They'll be ok without us."
Weiss's gaze narrowed on Yang as she looked at her blond teammate, her brow furrowing as she tried to understand. Ultimately though, when she couldn't, she resorted to a more obvious method of information gathering: "… Yang, what's the matter with you?" Weiss asked. "You've been acting strangely all day, even Ruby's noticed."
The frustration in Yang's features redoubled. "Nothing. Nothing's wrong, we're just fighting."
"… Yang, I don't want to be doing this here either," Weiss told her, primly. "I know this isn't the time. If I could hold this off until tomorrow, or even a few days from now, I would. But this? This isn't like you. You're Ruby's sister and Blake's partner. You should be charging straight for them if you thought something was wrong." She observed the field of ice around them. She could've sworn she'd heard something humming. "Talk to me, because this isn't the time to be taking dangerous risks with any of us."
Yang continued to glare down at Weiss. The thought briefly passed through her head how close Weiss was in height to Ruby. Perhaps the biggest difference in them being that Weiss preferred higher-heels than Ruby. She and Weiss were closer in age than either of them and Ruby, but it caught her in that moment. Gave her something else to focus on than the swirling emotions inside of her.
In that moment, all at once, that churning in her stomach erupted. Returning to her as it had throughout the day.
Since her conversation with the Courier.
Sadness.
Fear.
Confusion.
Dread.
Loathing.
A relentless desire to find the nearest toilet and puke her guts out.
She had absolutely no idea how to deal with any of it. All the years she'd spent training with her father, and it had somehow prepared her for none of what experienced in that brief moment. The only thing she could do was allow it to be for that brief moment. Before she crushed it back down with all of her anger. An anger she couldn't direct at anyone or anything.
Least of all, her teammates.
"… I don't know," Yang told her. "I… I can't talk about it right now. I don't know how."
Weiss searched Yang's eyes for a moment, trying to discern if there was some other meaning to her words. But she could not see it. If there was one thing she could count on her blond teammate as being, it was honest. She didn't lie. It just wasn't a part of who she was. So if she couldn't find it in herself to talk about it, then it wasn't just because she was trying to act as though nothing was wrong. Not like certain other people.
Weiss swore she heard another buzz in the air as she spoke to Yang once more. "Well, we're all here for you. I know I'm not the person who should be saying it, but we are. If something's wrong, then you need to say so. We can't help if we don't know what's wrong."
"… I know…" Yang looked around, curiously. "What's that noise?"
Almost in response to Yang's question, the buzzing hum that had been in the air redoubled. Enough so that both of them could easily track it.
The noise came from behind one of the walls of ice that had been raised. As it grew louder, Weiss recognized what it was. The rev of an engine. As she did, she watched as a massive, chained-saw blade chewed effortlessly through the wall, as though the structure had not been near to two feet thick, but rather a mere inch of some weaker material. The toothed-blade arced through the ice before retracting and arcing back through it at an additional angle.
Then the cuts that had been made were kicked open.
Beyond the wall of ice, and climbing through it, was a massive White Fang. Weiss likened him in size to Yatsuhashi of Team CFVY, perhaps even bigger. His entire face was covered in a bone-white mask. In his hands, a positively massive chainsaw, handled in a way that was more akin to a sword. A chainsword.
The White Fang lumbered through the opening he had made. Weiss could tell the moment his gaze locked onto the both of them.
He chuckled darkly.
"How lucky," He growled, voice like a myriad of bass-like instruments. "I've always wanted to kill a Schnee."
Weiss wasn't not put out by that statement. Despite what the knot in her stomach protested.
Yang slid into another stance beside her.
"I don't know how I feel, but I know how we're going to deal with him," Yang intoned. "Can we please put this away for now?"
It almost sounded to Weiss as if Yang was begging her to do it.
Though not necessarily happy about it. Weiss assented. For Yang's sake.
She raised her sword. "We'll deal with him first."
…
Ruby felt her boots scrape along the ground as she slid backward. Crescent Rose spun in her hands as she handled it, the weapon shifting to its rifle configuration, the blade splitting into its massive bipod as she planted it into the ground. Her head quirked down to the weapon's scope as she braced it against her shoulder.
Through the looking glass and past the razor's edge of Crescent Rose, Ruby saw the scene as it played out. Watched as the red haired Faunus did battle with her friends, the brief flashes of metal clashing against metal as the storm around them worsened. Blake dived towards the bull Faunus with a slash of her blade, as Sun swung his staff down from the other direction, only for the bull Faunus- 'I'll call him the Bull' - to intercept both. Blake's blade parried off of the Bull's, as Sun's staff connected with the sheath raised to meet it, blades ringing soundly as the sheath and staff cracked against each other. With a flourish, Blake's blade was easily redirected, casting her aside as the Bull rounded on Sun. As the blade came to connect with him, Sun's staff broke apart into its shotgun-chuks. Both hinged weapons spun in Sun's hands, arcing over the sheath, and spinning to connect with the blade, the action cycling as the muzzle aimed for the Bull's chest…
Only for the red haired Faunus - 'I'll call him the Bull' -to kick the muzzle upward and away from him, right as it flared with gunfire. He twisted his sword and wrenched it free from Sun's weapon, spinning and planting a heel kick into his chest. Forcing Sun backwards, the Bull spun towards Blake, his crimson blade flashing up as Blake fired her pistol at him, her shots colliding with the edge of the blade, sparking and blossoming through the gloom of the storm that swirled and danced around them, only to be broken when the Bull raised his sheath once more, firing a shot of his own, forcing Blake to dodge to the side.
Ruby took the opening and fired.
She missed.
Just as effortlessly, the Bull's crimson blade arced over his shoulder. Its edge connected with the metal and dispersed in a way that made the blade briefly glow. For a brief moment, the Bull spun towards her and smirked back at her through the scope.
Ruby's hand cycled the bolt of Crescent Rose as she readied another shot. One she found herself unable to take as a bullet whizzed past her head. It was followed by another as the bull Faunus harried her, forced her to dash away with her semblance, uprooting her scyfle. She blurred around the fight in an arc, keeping ahead of the Bull's aim. As she flew, she could see the motion of things. Watched as Blake ran towards the Bull, as Sun summoned a pair of clones. How the two clones dove at the Bull with a kick and whirl of shotgun-chuks. How they clashed against his sheath and sword as Blake swung at him with sword and cleaver in a cross-slash. Seamlessly the Bull's feet slid backwards and away from the attack, dipping out the strikes the two clones had thrown at him, both vanishing as they hit the ground.
His summons ended, Sun began to flourish his shotgun-chuks. The weapons flipped and articulated around him by their levers and chains. But every motion and pass began and ended with their muzzles pointed at the Bull, who pulled back and away from the shots, his blade only rarely rising in an attempt to catch the shots. Not due to being unable to catch them, Ruby realized.
As Sun's assault continued, Ruby and Blake resumed their own. As Ruby briefly left her dash, Blake summoned a copy of her own, springing off of her and coming down with an aerial strike, one Ruby added to with another shot from Crescent Rose, then followed by resuming her dash, launching towards the bull Faunus.
Despite Sun's assault, the Bull handled the efforts of all three. Easily he slipped around Blake, putting her between himself and Sun, forcing Sun to pause in his attack, lest he hit her. This opening allowed him to parry Blake's heavier strike off his sword, then counter slash as she passed him, his sword carving into her Aura as gravity carried her down. No sooner had she reached the ground than his sheath swung back towards her. The long face of it cracked downward against the back of her head, the base of her skull.
Just as Ruby closed the space, swinging Crescent Rose in a horizontal slash at the Bull.
Still he met her.
After striking Blake, the Bull took a step toward Ruby, the sheath spinning around in his grip. Right as she would have been able to strike, the distance was closed before she was ready. Crescent Rose was still mid-swing.
But the muzzle of the sheath was against her chest.
With hardly a moment to react, Ruby began to dash, feeling her form fall away. Rather than pullback, she pushed towards the Bull, knowing she would not be able to get away in time. For a moment, she felt the Bull begin to lose his form as well, her Semblance dragging him forward in a way she was only just beginning to understand.
Then his weapon flared against her chest, the bullet crashing into her.
She felt her dash fail, her form solidifying as the built momentum washed uncontrollably over both of them. With little control or grace, she crashed past him, tumbling to the ground as the tip of Crescent Rose bit to the ground errantly, only serving to further rob her of control.
The Bull reacted with aplomb, rolling across the ground and to his feet, using the momentum to launch himself at Sun, blade and sheath flashing back to his side.
"You left us for this, Blake!?" the Bull demanded. "A child and a traitor no better than you!?"
"We were attacking innocent people!" Blake shouted, clawing her way up from the dirt, her head clearly reeling as she struggled to rise. "I didn't leave, the White Fang was supposed to bring peace!"
"We fight for what we were denied!" the Bull roared, catching both of Sun's weapons as they swung, sheath and blade batting both aside as Sun spun and caught them. With just as much ease, Sun collided the two weapons in a practiced motion and reformed his staff. Together they parried and batted off of the blade and sheath as they danced and rang with each other. "For what we deserve!"
"Dude, chill out!" Sun grunted, his staff rising in a short, quick strike aimed for the Bull's chin. It failed to connect as the Bull's sheathe rose and rebounded it once more.
Ruby grit her teeth and sucked as deep a breath as she could muster. Her chest hurt, her lungs ached. Breathing, necessary as it was, suddenly felt more akin to a luxury she'd rather do without. The pain of it bouncing around between her ribs. She'd been struck like that before, a few times. By Yang, when sparring, her father and uncle while learning the basics. Once, when they first got Zwei.
The ache in her chest was most like that last one. Zwei had been a lot more rambunctious in his younger years.
Then there was that really big White Fang that had slammed her into the wall minutes earlier.
Despite the pain, however, Ruby forced herself to a knee. Her eyes cast quickly towards Blake. Her teammate was struggling to get right herself as well, only managing to get as far as her knees before swaying and stumbling back down. A reminder to her how all it took, sometimes, was a single lucky shot.
But the Bull had not managed such on her.
Balancing Crescent Rose low, she forced herself to her feet and leaned forward, her gaze honed to a razor's edge in front of her. She steadied her breathing, forcing her way past the pain in her chest. Then she flew forward once more, body erupting into a flurry of furious red petals, rapidly building momentum as she rocketed towards the Bull.
As the Bull continued his assault against Sun, Ruby swung Crescent Rose in a horizontal slash. Pulling the scythe-head back in a reaping motion as she did, the blade missing its mark, one she had known would, a feint, as the Bull raised his sheath to block the strike again. When the blade came up short, it took him by surprise.
For the first time since their exchange had begun, Ruby Rose managed to land a strike.
Crescent Rose flipped in her hands, the blade hinging forward into its war scythe form, leaving the Bull no time to counter or parry the strike. The elongated blade raked across his back, skimming over his sheath, the force of it catching on him and pulling him sideways. A brief moment of failure that created a second opening for Sun to fill, his staff rising in an upward stroke aimed for the underside of the Bull's chin. One that the Bull swept his sheath around to intercept, catching the staff at length.
Only for the staff to hinge itself as well, releasing the length of chain that made one of the pair of shotgun-chuks. The muzzle hinged upwards at even greater speed and landed the blow, the Bull's chin snapping upward with the force. Seeing his opening, Sun pressed inward, reversing the spin of his staff into a downward blow.
But the blow missed.
Despite the hits he had taken, the Bull easily swept around the staff. His sword slid gracefully off it as he stepped towards Sun, slashing him with the blade. Sun sucked a hissing breath and pulled a step back as the Bull reared his leg up, then planted it into Sun's chest, driving him back.
As he did, Ruby spun Crescent Rose over her shoulder and brought it head back to bear. The blade hinged itself back down and exposed the muzzle of its rifle. Her hand fell easily into the trigger of the weapon as she cycled the action and chambered another round. At near point blank range she fired.
The Bull spun and slashed the bullet from the air, sparks cascading off his sword.
It was only because she was so close that Ruby could see something she had missed before. The way the Bull's Aura seemed to glow and warp over his blade, as he caught the bullet. Like water disturbed by a single drop, flowing back into itself as his red hair began to glow.
"Pathetic."
He then seamlessly switched targets and attacked Ruby instead. Ruby narrowly raised the receiver of her weapon in time to catch the blade as he swung. She could feel its edge biting against Crescent Rose as it dragged upwards across her. As the blade began to arc back down, Ruby weaved out of its path, only to slide into the way of the sheath. The haft of it only narrowly missed her head. As it did, Ruby pulled Crescent Rose close and swung in a short counter-strike. The scythe blade skated across the Bull's blade, raised once more to catch the strike. As it passed, that same rippling glow passed over its length. The sneer on the Bull's face shifted into a vicious grin.
The muzzle of his sheathe came within a hair's breadth of her head and fired. The bullet missed, but the muzzle bloomed and thundered beside her head all the same. She reflexively recoiled all the same. Her body shifted to intercept something that wasn't even there.
The Bull's leg snapped up and kicked her in the ribs before she could even see it coming. Crescent Rose flourished in Ruby's hands as it did, trying to buy her room. It hit nothing, she didn't know whether or not it should have, but it did nothing for the sharp pain in her side. Even as her weapon whipped about, the Bull shifted his posture, his hands snapping his blade back into its sheath and letting it fall back to his side. Hugging it close, grip on the weapon shifting.
Ruby knew what was coming next, she'd seen him do it several times already. A draw strike.
But something was different. She didn't know what it was that triggered the thought. A difference in his posture, the tightness in his grip, or the look on his face. All Ruby knew was that something was different.
Something bad was about to happen.
It was as though his very Aura was bleeding malice.
Whatever was about to happen, she knew it was coming moments before it did.
Then she felt something wrap around her waist, and she was wrenched backward. Her gaze cast downward briefly as she flew, spied the black ribbon that dangled from the hilt of Blake's sword, saw the pistol and blade hooked around the length of it. Ruby let it carry her, spinning through the air as she went, her boots scraping along the ground as she landed, skidding. She found herself stopping back beside Blake once more. Her teammate now recovered from the blow to the head, panting heavily.
Ruby's head swiveled back around towards the Bull.
He stood at a distance, scowling towards them, blade ready in his hand.
Just as Sun came crashing down over top of him, staff swinging outward with all of his power and weight behind it. Just as effortlessly, the Bull turned towards him. Sheathed blade cracked against staff as Sun's strike hit home, and he came to ground. He then sprang off the ground and thrust the staff forward, before spinning it in a motion that vaguely reminded Ruby of rowing. The whole of his attention on the Bull in front of him. Which was rewarded with the Bull drawing his blade, accelerating it with the firearm built in the sheath. The blade flew forward at great speed, the Bull more catching and flicking it than swinging it. Sun's staff split once more into its shotgun-chuks as it did, the more agile weapon hooking around the blade as it swung towards him. Its edge canted away from him as Sun swung his own in kind, the muzzle flaring as it passed through the space where the Bull's head had been, then dipping away from the attack, retracting his weapon once more. The muzzle of Sun's weapon flared as both pairs of shotguns flourished and swung at the Bull.
"We're not going to win," Blake said, her voice tense and hushed. "We can't."
"Yes we can," Ruby said, insistent. "We've got him on the ropes."
"You don't know him. I do," Blake answered solemnly. "He's playing with us."
"We can take him," Ruby said, unfaltering as Sun continued his assault. "We just have to do it together."
"It won't matter!" Blake hissed. "I've seen him take on dozens of people at one time! we're hardly slowing him down."
"He's never fought us," Ruby told her. "We can do this…" She turned her gaze back towards the fight before them. "… Ladybug."
"Ruby," Blake insisted.
"Ladybug!" Ruby shouted, followed by her bolting forward, dashing with her Semblance.
Despite her hesitance, Blake followed. If Ruby was determined to go through with the maneuver, then Blake failing to would only put her in direct danger. They had practiced the move long enough for Blake to know what she was supposed to do.
As Ruby moved, she saw Blake hurrying alongside her, running as fast as her feet could carry her.
Then Ruby arced upward into the air, flying over her intended target.
The Bull parried off Sun once more as he watched her fly over him.
Then dashed at him, reforming and slashing Crescent Rose outward at his flank. At the same time, Blake flew in from the other side, sword and machete drawn up and ready. They then crossed the Bull at the same time, slashing him as they went, momentum carrying them as they went. Only a few meters away, they found themselves skidding. They slid as they arced back around and crossed again, striking once more. They continued in this formation, moving faster and faster with each successive strike, blurring together faster and faster.
The Bull caught the opening strikes, kept pace as they moved faster. But he began to falter when Sun saw his opening and struck, waiting for them both to pass as he swung his shotgun-chuks, faster and faster, louder and Fiercer.
Until, after one strike too many, the Bull scowled.
"Fine," the Bull growled. "You first."
Blake and Ruby arced past him once more, and Sun combined his shotguns once more. The staff swung down towards the Bull in an overhead strike.
The Bull let it fall. His hands lowering his weapon to his side, sheathed.
That same feeling flooded back into Ruby. A sense of dread she couldn't name.
It wasn't for her.
As she and Blake ran towards the Bull once more, Ruby could see her face.
There was a look of dawning horror in it as well.
"Sun!" Blake shouted.
"Wilt and die," The Bull spoke.
He drew his sword. A flash of light issued forth.
Sun flew backwards as Ruby skidded to a stop. The world seemed to slow down as she watched the scene play out before her. The way Sun's staff collided with the Bull's blade. The way the blade's crimson steel cleaved through it as though it weren't even there. That same rippling energy, his Aura, racing out along the edge of the sword, flashing out in a wave that preceded the weapon itself. This energy alone cleaved through Sun's staff.
It would've cleaved through Sun as well.
But with perhaps a moment's more attention, Blake intervened. Her weapon flew out towards Sun, just ahead of the Bull's strike. Her weapon collided with Sun's head and sent him reeling backward.
The bulk of the attack flew past him. What didn't lashed outward against his bare chest. A brief howl escaped him as it seared his skin and flesh, the force carrying him away.
But the Bull wasn't finished.
As Sun's weapon clattered to the ground, The Bull flew towards him.
Sun caught himself, moving to find his balance. Arms moving in front of him, somewhere between a guard and a flail.
Only to catch on the muzzle of the Bull's sheath.
A single crack of thunder issued.
Sun howled.
His arm wrenched against itself in the wrong direction. A gaping wound of blood, Aura, and bone burst from his elbow.
It was followed just as swiftly by a kick to the stomach that sent Sun to the ground. His Aura shattered, blood pouring from his wound. Without missing a step, the Bull spun around and faced Ruby and Blake. Not giving them even a moment to react.
Ruby's mind raced to process everything that had happened. She felt her blood chill and stomach drop.
"You just don't get it," the Bull spoke, voice cold and furious. "You hurt me, Blake." Without looking back he stepped over Sun, who struggled to do little more than keep his own wound shut. Not even as the Bull readied his blade over Sun's head.
The Bull's gaze rose to both of them. But when he spoke, Ruby knew who he was talking to. It wasn't her.
"I'm going to destroy everything you care about."
His sword began to fall.
Ruby and Blake came back to themselves, flying into motion.
Then a massive blast engulfed them all.
…
*Two minutes earlier*
Yang Xiao-Long loved a good fight. She was pretty sure she got that from her dad. There was a visceral thrill that came with it that she tried other ways to emulate. The closest she'd ever come was when she'd first started riding Bumblebee, her motorcycle. The adrenaline, the wind in her hair, the sense of power and freedom as everything flew past her. All with just a hint of danger to it that emphasized every piece of a given ride. It was as close a substitute as she could find to fighting without trying things she knew would be bad for her health. Something she knew would only be a substitute as well.
But, in that moment, at that time, Yang almost found herself wishing she was anywhere but where she was. Being astride Bumblebee would've been a reprieve that would allow her to put her thoughts elsewhere.
Instead, she felt the shock of every punch she shot back through her arms. Heard the ring of Ember Celica as each blast issued from its muzzles. Saw the flash and glare of each gunshot that was fired blur in her vision. But the only thing any of it instilled in her was an emotion she couldn't put to words. Something sad, angry, hurting, and hateful that wouldn't go away and was directed entirely at her. It had been there all day. She hadn't let it slow her down.
Not until she'd seen the bodies outside the prison.
Then it came rocketing back to the front of her mind. A sense of gravity that dragged her along with it. Even as they'd begun trying to fight the White Fang at the arsenal, it was there.
Now was a time she could fight without restraint. Do what she needed, to topple whoever was in front of her. She should've been ecstatic.
Instead, she was afraid.
Of what, she couldn't even say. Not to anyone but herself. No one would believe her, or understand why she felt the way she did. The only person who could've helped her had only gone and confirmed her fears all the same.
Now she was fighting for her life.
Silently terrified all the while.
"Yang, look out!" Weiss shouted.
Before Weiss had even said anything, Yang had already been weaving out of the way. Sweeping to the side as the giant White Fang that attacked them swung his chainsword. The teeth chattering and chewing effortlessly through everything they touched. In that instance, the dirt and ground beneath them. Yang knew enough about mechanics to know that should've ruined its cutting edge, especially after the first time. But the Giant had already struck the ground half a dozen times and was still cutting effortlessly. She had to chalk it up to aura, maybe a semblance. A semblance explained more things.
As Yang moved out of the way, a trio of ice-spikes flew through the spaces. Two were immediately swept from the air as the chainsword swung back up to them. The third hit its mark, striking the Giant in the shoulder. Only for the ice to shatter on impact seeming to have no effect upon him. Despite this, Yang forced herself back into the close fight. Leaping high as she slammed her fist into the side of the Giant's head. Ember Celica roared as she struck, and as Yang began to fall, she let off a combo punch, striking the Giant solidly in the chest.
All three blows hit their mark.
But the Giant, mister Big, was unfazed. Just as easily and as though she was little more than a fly to him, Big released a hand from his weapon. The massive paw swept out and struck her backhanded.
The blow hit Yang, and it felt to her as though she'd been hit by a wave at the beach. Immediately she was thrown backwards. Semblance unable to meaningfully absorb any power from the blow. Yang spun as she went, firing Ember Celica so that she could control her fall and direction, landing herself beside Weiss.
"Man, what is with this guy?" Yang groused.
"I don't know." Weiss answered, glaring at the space beneath Big's feet. A black Glyph briefly appearing beneath his feet. Only for him to make the slightest motion with his shoulder, and the glyph would flicker and disappear. She didn't even know that was possible.
"I'm just more than you can handle, little girl." Big rumbled.
Yang scowled at the Giant, a part of her more than ready to make him eat those words, despite her state. But having been trying for several minutes to deal meaningful damage, and failing, she didn't rise to the obvious bait. Not when her Semblance wasn't anywhere near boosted enough.
All around them, members of the White Fang who had been either fighting them or moving equipment watched. They cheered as Big tossed them about, shrugged off their efforts. They hadn't interfered since the opening moments of the fight, when one of them had tried to join in, and been cratered into the ground for the effort.
Things were not going well for them.
"I'm starting to think you were right about Ruby being in danger." Yang admitted "We need to shake this guy and find her."
"I'm glad you recognize that." Weiss answered, looking sternly at the Giant "How do we do that?"
"I don't know, you're the idea one." Yang countered.
"Mind if I cut in?" Big asked, charging towards the both of them, chuckling at his own stupid joke.
His massive chainsword chewed through the air as Yang and Weiss weaved away from the strike. The Giant turned and followed after Weiss, choosing to single her out. He had been throughout the fight, since he announced his intent to 'Kill a Schnee'. He only paid Yang any attention when she'd gotten close enough to attack him.
As she did then.
Firing Ember Celica to launch herself, Yang flew up behind the Giant and came crashing down into him. Her fist hammering into the back of his skull, shotgun ringing out.
The Giant's head didn't even so much as flinch.
"I didn't forget you." Big growled "Wait your turn."
One of the Giant's hands reached back and caught Yang as she began to fall. His hand wrapped around her face, fingers digging in as he flung her around forward of himself. Where she went crashing into the ground in front of him.
Immediately, she raised a guard over her.
The giant's boot came crashing down onto it, the unerring force behind it stomping past her arms and crushing her into the dirt. She felt the wind be driven from her lungs.
"Yang!" Weiss cried.
"Stop running, Schnee." The Giant growled "Stand, fight, and die." The force of his heel dug deeper into Yang's chest. "Or I can start with the blonde one instead."
Even as she was being pinned to the ground, Yang saw the toothed edge of the chainsaw pass near her face, idling. Each hooked tooth gleamed coldly.
Yang pushed back with all the power her aura could spare, but the Giant refused to move. All that training and this is what it earned her? She knew how strong she was, this guy should've weighed nothing to her.
Her eyes started to sting. She hated everything about how this day had gone.
"…Fine." Weiss said, voice furious and cold "You want me to fight you?"
Yang heard the sound of Weiss' glyph summoning, saw the black sigil beneath her, beneath the giant again.
"Get off my friend first." Weiss commanded.
The moment she did, Yang allowed her Semblance to activate. With a roar, she erupted in a wreath of fire and force, launching all that power upwards at the Giant. Pushed harder By Weiss' glyph, as though launched from a Cannon. The Giant lost his balance as he did, buckling backward scant inches.
Enough for Yang to roll out from beneath his boot.
Not missing a beat, she planted Ember Celica into the ground and fired, launching herself up. She spun as she rose, lashing her leg out and kicking the Giant in the head with her heel. Before Gravity could take her, she lashed her fist out and struck the giant, the recoil spinning her the other way. Which let her other leg snap back around to catch the Giant square in the face. She felt both strikes connect, felt the Giant shift under the blows. They'd been working.
The Giant swung his chainsword towards Yang as she fell, and she fired Ember Celica a final time. The blast launched her out of reach as her hair trailed fire. He lurched towards her, ready to give chase. But found himself struggling to move.
Yang saw that Weiss's glyph had changed. It had grown smaller, shifted its place. It now sat under only one of his feet, the boot locked hard against the ground. Yang's gaze trailed back to Weiss as she stood there, the effort and strain clear in her face. Her aura beginning to glow visibly in the dark and stormy air. A brilliant white.
"Just so you know:" Weiss said solemnly, her focus intense on Big "I have no idea what's going to happen next."
She raised her sword in front of her, tip pointed towards the sky. The cylinder at its hilt began to glow as he palm passed over it, one of the chambers lighting with an electric blue.
The glyph beneath the giant's foot vanished.
Only for another, smaller, white glyph to appear at the base of Weiss's blade.
With a flourish she whipped her weapon out towards the Giant, tip directed at him. With each passing second her aura only glowed brighter, grew stronger. Until Yang felt she was almost painful to look at.
With a sharp yell, Weiss released her attack.
A spark of lightning Dust jolted from the cylinder of her weapon, traveling down the blade. As it went, it became encircled by the glyph. The two flew forward along the blade, to its tip. Growing faster, bigger, brighter and, as Yang could hear, louder. Until it reached the end of the weapon.
Where they leapt off, and the glyph faded.
In its place, a bolt of lightning flew from Weiss's weapon, catapulting through the air. It flew wild and jagged in its path, branching and turning and roiling wildly as it coursed towards the Giant.
Where it missed.
Big leapt to the side, away from the bolt of errant and unrestrained wrath that had been thrown at him. It continued to sail through the air, past where he had been.
It flew and crashed through the doorway of one of the metal huts behind him. The bolt slagging the door with ease and striking what lay inside.
Munitions.
A half second passed, as the world held its breath and everyone present saw what came.
"…dra-" Weiss began to say.
Everything else was lost as a wall of force and thundering furry crashed into her, Yang, and all of the surrounding White Fang.
…
When Yang awoke, she found herself surrounded by rubble and debris. Her semblance had been deactivated, and she felt as though her aura had been broken. Evidenced, she found, by the small cuts bleeding on her cheek and arms. Her world spun and head hurt, dust filled the air around her. Both the magical and mundane varieties. The rain only slowly helping to drive both back to the ground.
She picked herself up slowly, disoriented. The explosion had felt worse than anything else she had experienced, which said a lot to her. Had she not already activated it, or had her aura broken, she imagined she would've scary strong afterwards.
As it was, Yang just felt hurt, and she felt it everywhere.
Slowly, painfully, she began trying to pick herself up.
"Weiss…" Yang struggled to say, ribs aching "What… was that!?"
Yang didn't receive an answer. Not one she could hear over the ringing in her ears.
As the dust continued to clear, more of the arsenal came into view. By some miracle, Weiss hadn't set off more than the one hut. But even that one hut had left a massive crater in the ground where it had been. Gouts of fire, pillars of ice, and newly formed rocky spires now dotted everything. Even appearing on top of the metal huts, no trace of their origin. Whatever lightning Dust may have been stored within had seared and slagged the ground around them.
Genuinely a miracle it hadn't hit any of the other buildings.
Yang continued to look around the space that had been cleared by the blast. Many of the huts had been toppled. She could hardly see any of the White Fang that had been around her moments before.
But she saw Ruby.
Some dozens yards away, she could see her sister now. She was struggling to her knees, leaning against Crescent Rose for support.
"…Ruby?" Yang asked.
The dust cleared more.
Her hearing cleared and focus returned in an instant.
She saw Ruby.
But she was the man with the sword looming over her too.
"Ruby!"