The Bird and the Garden 3: The Final Adventure

Chapter 45: The Cost of Freedom

"Get off him!" Tai screamed, punching Sasha in the hip. The elf spun around, towering over him. He didn't even faze her.

"That the best you got, cyka!?"

Tai yelped and cried when she beat the living hell out of him, Vao's body scrambling to his feet with a fistful of sand. He threw it into Ozpin's eyes before body-checking the knight away, picking up his head and slamming it back on his shoulders. He didn't have enough time to stop Yin from kicking him in the thigh, the dullahan spinning around to fight him. Vao was playing dirty, grabbing the healer's wrists and kicking him between the legs. Yin headbutted him in those nose, pulling at his long hair, ripping his head off again.

"Kiddie Killer!" Vao screamed.

Yin felt a surge of anger, the repressed memory of Rojo's cathedral flowing through his mind. He tucked his brother's head under his arm, punching his lights out.

"Fuck you! Fuck you! FUCK you!"

Vao's body soared forward, dropkicking him to the ground. Yin was launched, Vao's body catching his head before dropping it back on his shoulders, stomping forward to continue their rampage.

Just as Vao had raised his foot to stomp Yin's face into the ground, he stopped. Yin sat up, pushing his foot away and looking around warily. Sasha had Tai by the collar, her fist reeled back as she looked over her shoulder. Ozpin looked up from where he sat on Pyrrha's chest, the two staring at the ground. Everything was shaking, a low and deep rumble filling the air.

"A... An earthquake?"

Yin slowly stood to his feet, the adventurers staring at the ground. And when they looked at the horizon, they watched the dunes ripple, almost like the waves of the ocean. The rumbling grew louder, and louder until it was almost deafening. The ground surged up like a mountain, finally exploding as the massive shadow engulfed them.

"No... No fucking way," Tai muttered quietly.

It was far bigger than anything they had seen. Built out of ancient metal, it towered over the distant walls of the Secret City, standing at thirty meters tall. An ancient golem, a dwarven construct from before the Secret City was lost to history.

"Those are still functional!?" Sasha yelled. The golem looked down at them, a head of red metal shaped like a bob cut gleaming in the light. And finally, the golem's eyes flickered, an image appearing in front of it. An image of the very last person they expected to see.

Archbishop Leaf.

["Gyahahaha! Sup, kids!? Check out my new toy!"]

Sasha gritted her teeth, anger surging through her veins. "Leaf!?"

Leaf was standing in the control room, a cigarette dangling from his grinning mouth. ["Oh, hey Giant! Long time no see! How's the folks? Oh. Wait. Gyahahaha!"]

Sasha flinched, hurt flickering in her eyes. The ground shook as the golem stepped, turning towards them. Leaf was laughing like a little kid. "Oh, wait! Met good ole executioner's axe, right?"

Yin took a step back, every instinct screaming for him to run. He grabbed his katana, drawing the blade into the open air. "How... How the HELL did you get here!?"

Leaf snickered, leaning forward. "Some creepy fella. Dunno what you did to piss him off, but he kinda wants you all dead. And whaddya know? I want the same thing!" His smile fell, giving way to who he truly was. A nasty, angry man with a penchant for going on a killing spree. "You killed my best fuckin' friend! Yeah he was into kids, yeah it was gross 'n shit, but he was still my best friend!"