Percy opened his eyes, rolling over quickly. His senses were off. Something had gone wrong.
Wait...
He counted five including himself... where was Ruby?
Her dog, Zwei, came back in, barking like mad.
Percy narrowed his eyes, checking her bed.
Her earpiece was still there. She'd forgotten it.
It didn't really matter if he could still call her. He pulled out his scroll, but it beeped saying there was a low signal.
Of course, there was, they were in the middle of a ruined city, for fuck's sake.
Percy nearly tore his hair out in frustration. No communication.
"Get up!" he quietly roused his team and Oobleck.
"What's going on?" Blake drearily mumbled.
"Get up and ready. Grab earpieces and weapons, Ruby's in trouble."
"Damnit," Yang grunted, "I knew this would happen. Zwei might lead us to the scene."
"Let's go then."
-----
Ruby shook her head groggily, opening her eyes.
She could feel herself being dragged by the two White Fang people. There were more of them moving crates, and there were Atlesian paladins moving them. There were things being put in trains... they looked kinda like bombs.
Why? It didn't make any sense.
"Hey boss!" one of the dudes dragging her called out, "We found something you might wanna see!"
"Is it good or bad, Perry, because lemme tell ya, I have had a day."
Wait... was that Torchwick???
No...
Ruby struggled, trying to escape from their grip, but they just ignored her.
"Uh... it's a little girl?"
The criminal himself came out from the railcar, "That would be bad... Merlot!"
A gray haired, elderly man with disheveled hair emerged from the car. His left eye was robotic, its color a mismatched red, with claw marks around it. He wore a light gray jacket, with some kind of cube symbol and the words "Merlot Industries" on it.
"Torchwick..." he sighed, "Can you never do anything right?"
"Bahh..." the thief spat on the ground, "Little Red here wasn't supposed to be here!"
"And yet here she is. Clearly we have a full team of huntsman on our hands."
"And how do you propose we deal with them?" Torchwick practically spat at the gray haired man.
The man smiled smugly, "Roman, you know that I am a scientist, first and foremost. There is no need to use your... unsavory, brutes... except those two holding the girl there. They're very useful."
The two guys holding her didn't seem to understand the sarcasm and only nodded dumbly.
Torchwick barked out a laugh, "You and I both, Merlot."
An evil smirk made its way onto the mad scientist's lips, "I believe my Grimm will be more than capable of handling these puny huntsmen."
Ruby's eyes widened. His Grimm?? Could he control them in some way??
She had to get to the others... she had to warn them.
If only she'd brought her earpiece...
Ruby began to struggle, but the two grunts held her down tightly. The man took notice, and the mad scientist approached her.
He crouched down, "Aww... is someone worried about her friends? Do not fret, my Grimm shall grant them a painful death."
Torchwick took a long drag of his cigar, before puffing it out as he strolled towards the man – Merlot.
"Are you so sure that these... mutant Grimm of yours will be able to finish off a team of those brats, and a huntsman?"
The gray haired man waved his hand arrogantly, snarking, "Of course. My Grimm could finish off a whole team of huntsmen if needed, let alone an untrained team."
He leaned towards Ruby, almost in a paternal way, "Tell me child, do you know where your team is?"
Ruby shivered under his gaze, and she turned away from that... mask of a man.
"I would never tell you!" she narrowed her eyes in defiance.
"Oh, well," he sighed, "that's just too bad. In that case, I'll have to send out my Watchers."
Ruby wasn't dumb enough to think that those weren't his Grimm.
"B-But what about the faunus?"
"Don't worry about them. They all understand that this is for the greater good of the faunus."
The two faunus holding her nodded along obediently.
Ruby hissed in anger. Didn't they see what they were doing? Were they all blind?
The man turned to walk away, but Ruby called out, "Wait! What's the point of all this? Why make mutant Grimm? Why?"
The man turned around, smiling hauntingly. Ruby shrunk back in fear at the absolute hollowness in his eyes, the sorrow, and the loss of will.
"I lost everything to Grimm. My village... plundered. My family... gone," the man clenched his fist, shaking, "where were the huntsman and huntresses sworn to protect us? They were milling about in the city. The city does not care. Take Mountain Glenn. What happened when there was an infestation of Grimm in Vale's first expansion? Huntsmen and huntresses there to defend them, but it didn't matter, not to Vale's council. Can you guess what they did? They sealed off the tunnels, leaving thousands to die, and the huntsmen along with them. Villages rise and fall everyday outside Vale's walls, but they're only little villages. If they cannot pay for protection from huntsmen and huntresses, they cannot get it."
"No..." Ruby was horrified, disgusted.
"Too many people, too many negative emotions... it draws the Grimm. People cannot be eternally happy. They will be sad at some point. Tragedy causes such. But imagine a world in which there exists a smaller population. Less Grimm will be attracted. And less people killed. All thanks to the work of my Grimm, which will slowly take over the mindless, bloodthirsty Grimm. My Grimm are intelligent, they can be controlled. Imagine a world in which Grimm didn't attack the people, where less mindless Grimm are attracted, where no one has to live in perpetual fear."
"You would kill more people!" Ruby almost shouted, horrified.
He sighed sadly as if it pained him deeply, "A necessary sacrifice, I'm afraid. Population thinning."
"It's genocide!" Ruby shouted, eyes wide in disbelief.
"But random, dispassionate, fair to rich and poor, faunus and human. And I call that... mercy."
"You're a madman! A-a-a monster!" Ruby couldn't believe what she was hearing. Here he was, trying to save the world by killing it?
The man only sighed again, as if he were reprimanding a petulant child, "Sometimes the hardest choices require the strongest wills. If that means I'm going to be labeled as a monster, then so be it."
"Wait! It doesn't have to be this way!" Ruby changed tactics, trying to plead with the man, trying to make him see sense.
Merlot only shook his head sadly, "It has to be this way."
The man walked away, as Torchwick moved closer to her, smoking his cigar.
"Little Red, Little Red. Always so positive, trying to save the world. Either way, I don't know where your friends are, I need to know where your friends are, but you won't tell me," the man held his cane gun to her chin, "What am I going to do with you?"
Ruby narrowed her eyes in response.
-----
"Ruby's scythe!" Percy narrowed his eyes, seeing it at the edge of a sinkhole. A massive one at that.
"Oh no..."
"Do you think she fell?" Weiss hunched over the sinkhole, looking down into the darkness.
"Fell?" Oobleck squinted his eyes through his spectacles, looking everywhere but the sinkhole.
"Down there..." Weiss literally had to point.
"Oh my..." Oobleck took a moment to ponder, "Of course... of course, of course, of course! How could I be so stupid?"
"Doctor Oobleck, what's wrong?" Yang looked positively confused.
Oobleck popped into Percy's face, stroking his chin.
"Mountain Glenn! Yes, an expansion of Vale that was inevitably destroyed by creatures of Grimm!"
The man switched to Yang, "Previously home to thousands of people."
He swapped to Blake, "Working people, commuting to the city, the main city. Developed a subway system to the inner city."
He swapped to Weiss, "Grimm attacks increase! Population in danger, now desperately searching for shelter! City evacuates into metro tunnels and what do they find?"
The man knelt, swapping to Zwei and staring at the dog with deep understanding, "The southeast quadrant of Vale is known for wild forests and deep caves!"
"Doc, what are you saying?" Yang said, eager to get to Ruby.
"He's saying that the hole Ruby fell in... was the underground expansion of Mountain Glenn as they tried one last resort to save themselves. They built an underground city..." Percy mused aloud.
"Precisely! Mountain Glenn was Vale's first attempt at expansion. It worked for a short period of time, thanks to an aggressive perimeter defense and unique transportation. The city developed an elaborate subway system to carry citizens safely from the new territory into the main kingdom. Sadly, without the many natural barriers Vale had to protect its borders, Mountain Glenn was doomed from the start."
The five of them moved towards the sinkhole carefully.
"As the end drew near, the citizens of the territory made one last attempt at survival... They took up shelter beneath the city, in massive caves that they had cleared out for the subway. And they had cut themselves off from the surface. It worked for a little while, but an explosion opened the mouth of another cavern filled with subterranean Grimm. After that... the kingdom officially sealed off the tunnels, creating the world's largest tomb."
"All good and well," Percy interjected, unfazed by the positively scandalized expression Oobleck was giving him at having been interrupted in the middle of a lecture, "But Ruby is down there. We have to find her."
"Drop, circle formation, weapons out," Percy called out naturally, with even Oobleck following his instructions.
Percy pulled out Riptide, flicking the cap off. They were surrounded by empty buildings not unlike those found in the city above.
"Is this the underground city, Doctor Oobleck?"
The professor nodded in affirmation, "Indeed it is."
"Door in front five yards," Yang called.
"Open it quietly, and Doctor, behind her please."
Oobleck obliged, and the two of them called out a stairwell leading downwards.
Percy frowned. He peeked over the edge of the building they were on, noting White Fang guards at the bottom patrolling the premises.
Yang saw him looking down and smirked, "I say we just jump them."
"No," Percy shot it down immediately, silencing Yang's retort with a glare, "We'll just attract more guards. Going down the stairs isn't an option either, it's too slow."
Percy thought for a moment, "Blake, do you have a silencer?"
"On your weapon," he clarified at Blake's confused look.
"Yeah?"
"Great, fire at those two guards down there when I give the signal. We're going to climb our way down."
"But can't you and Weiss just use your wards and glyphs? And I can just fire my gauntlets?" Yang pointed out.
"We're trying to be quiet here. It has to be discreet, even if you and Weiss aren't helping with your non-black hair."
"Hey! My hair is perfect, thank you very much."
Percy rolled his eyes, but started the climb downwards, as Blake readied her firearm.
The others followed soon after.
The climb down was nothing compared to the climbing wall he'd gone through back at camp. There were no treacherous boulders, or streams of lava that randomly came down. It made it relatively easy for him, and soon enough, his feet touched the ground.
Oobleck made it to the ground just after, followed by Yang and Weiss.
He motioned for them, and they turned the corner before seeing the back of the two guards.
Percy pressed his finger to his earpiece, "Blake, take one shot on the front guard to knock him out."
A quiet shot rang out not a moment later, knocking out one of the guards, and the second guard only had time to look upwards before Percy clocked him in the side of the head, and the faunus dropped to the ground unceremoniously.
Yang pouted, "Aww man, you didn't even let me get any action?"
Percy shook his head in amusement, "You'll be seeing plenty of it, don't you worry."
"Uhh... Percy?" Blake called over the earpiece, "What is that? In the distance, to your left."
That was... a good question.
Some kind of Grimm approached them at a rapid pace. But it wasn't any normal Grimm.
It appeared to be a beowolf, but with green, glowing spikes all along its back and the same color spread throughout its body that replaced the normal red. It was almost the size of an alpha beowolf, with intelligence shining in its eyes. More than a few followed it, all of them converging on their position.
Percy narrowed his eyes.
"Okay, scrap the silent recon mission. Fire at will!"
Oobleck elongated his thermos into a flamethrower, scorching the first beowolf.
It took several seconds for the heat to set in for the beowolf, but once it did, the flame was so hot that the beowolf was burnt to a crisp; however, it exploded into green crystal spikes that flew towards them.
Percy widened his eyes, quickly flicking up a ward shield to protect all of his teammates. These Grimm weren't normal, that was for sure. They were mutated, augmented. He would have to be extra careful.
"Children, we must attack from distance!" Oobleck called out, hopping backwards immediately and dodging the spikes.
They began putting distance between themselves and the pack, but another pack of augmented ursai showed up in front of them.
Percy cursed. They were being pinched, by Grimm no less! How was that possible?
"They're intelligent! Blake, stay up and help Weiss thin the ursai down. Yang, Doctor, please finish the beowolves, if you would."
Percy began charging two expel wards in his hands, even as mutant creeps and deathstalkers began approaching.
He could feel the power just begging to be released, tingling in his palms, but he held on just a little longer, trusting in his teammates and his professor to thin the horde of augmented Grimm. He grunted at the pain as his palms began burning, but it was nothing compared to what he had felt before.
Minutes passed by as Percy continued to charge, feeling the burning of his palms, but allowing the pain to pass over himself and ignoring it, bending like a palm tree in the wind. Just a little longer...
"Fall back!" Percy called out.
Instantly, his team obeyed his command, Oobleck following not a moment later.
Placing his palms on either side of himself, he prepared to release his wards.
With a thunderous roar, he unleashed his fury on the unsuspecting Grimm.
The result was insane. Thousands of spikes flew in every direction, more than a few heading their way. Weiss instantly dropped, her rapier thrusting into the ground to encase the four of them in an ice barrier. Not a second later, green crystalized spikes hit the barrier, some of them partially piercing through the ice.
Percy gave Weiss a grateful look, and she nodded in response, a small smile on her face.
He used Riptide to carve through the ice barrier, as the four of them made themselves outside. He was about to have his team split up when Blake's voice came into his earpiece.
"White Fang! I saw White Fang!" Blake's panicked voice rang over the comms into their ears.
"Where?"
"T-The tunnel! Near the end of the city, right and in front of you!"
Without any prompting, they all took off, with Blake swinging from each building with her ribbon to follow them.
-----
Roman Torchwick chuckled, "Wow, you are much more manageable without that oversized gardening tool of yours."
How dare he insult her baby Crescent Rose!
Ruby grit her teeth, lunging at him with her fists and hoping to at least hit him, but the criminal only stepped aside, leaving her flying.
The infuriating criminal only chuckled again.
"Oh, man. Ya know, Perry, I really did need this," he laughed again, before coming to crouch before her.
"But seriously... how'd ya find this place, Red?"
He put his cane-gun under her chin, and Ruby grit her teeth in frustration. Not only had that Merlot person released his mutant Grimm on her teammates, but he also just left to who knows where! She had to get him, and Torchwick. But for now, she had to get to her teammates.
Maybe she could make a run for it...
She put on a burst of speed with her semblance, managing to get a fair distance away from him.
"Woah!"
Her semblance ran out, and she sprinted as hard as she could.
Almost there...
She turned around to see a fishing hook bury itself in her hood, and she fell onto her back as Roman Torchwick dragged her back towards him.
I was so close! She thought.
"I see you've got some tricks up your sleeve. Let me make this clear..."
Ruby opened her eyes to see the criminal standing over her, smirking.
"We're not through here yet."
An explosion rocked a far building.
"Ugh. Perry, would you and the others load up the train? Attach the car, and spread the word. We're done here. And take care of those pesky huntsmen for me."
Ruby took off in a burst of speed while he was distracted pushing towards her teammates. She dodged the bursts of fire, zipping from side to side to avoid the shots.
"Ruby!" Yang ran up, embracing her.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," she calmed down the team, "but listen! Torchwick's got all sorts of weapons and robots down there! A-And there's a person named Merlot who made some sort of mutant Grimm!"
"What?" Blake asked, tossing Ruby her beautiful Crescent Rose and her earpiece.
"Androids, mechs, bombs, they're all loaded up on the train cars! There's mutant Grimm!"
"We've dealt with the mutant Grimm. But bombs? Ah, that's ridiculous! These tunnels are sealed. The tracks lead to a dead end," Oobleck denied.
"No, no, no! If the train is filled with bombs and dust, they're want to blow holes in the tunnel," Percy looked extremely panicked, "leading to more Grimm coming into the tunnel, and they'll use the dust to blow a hole straight into the center of Vale!"
Crap! That would be bad... very bad.
"We have to get on that train," Percy narrowed his eyes at the distance between them and the train.
"Quickly! It's starting to move!" Blake said.
"Weiss, double boost!"
The two of them formed massive boosting wards and glyphs, stacking them on top of each other.
"Brace yourselves," Percy called out.
They went flying, most of them landing unceremoniously onto the last train car.
"Go! We have to make our way to the front!" Percy called out to his team.
"Um... professor?" Weiss called out, Oobleck quickly correcting her, "Doctor."
"What's that?"
"A bomb."
"Oh."
"Yes, 'oh', indeed," the professor snarked sarcastically.
"Quickly! We have to push our way through those White Fang grunts in front of us, otherwise we'll be blown to pieces!" Percy called out, a massive shield already forming before him.
"Blake! Detach the cart!" Oobleck called out as they moved from railcar to railcar.
Blake was about to slash it when it detached by itself.
"Huh? It detached itself!"
"I guess he really doesn't want us on this train," Yang said, looking worried.
"No, it's not that... he's blowing each cart up and opening Grimm into the tunnel, leading them to the city! Each railcar has a bomb!" Percy shouted over the rushing wind, "we have to get to the front of the train! Push through the White Fang!"
Ruby pushed forward, swinging Crescent Rose at their feet as they decimated the ranks of the White Fang.
"Weiss, ice!"
The ice queen obliged, creating a slippery slope for the White Fang grunts to lose their footing and fall off.
"We have to hurry!" Oobleck called out worriedly, "Percy, Ruby, with me! We're going to stop this train. You three! Go below and stop the bombs!"
The three nodded, jumping down into one of the railcars.
Ruby, Percy, and Oobleck made their way towards the front of the car, only to be stopped by multiple paladins.
"Oh no..."
It'd taken them a while and their entire team to take down one. Oobleck chugged his thermos, before turning it into a flamethrower.
That was so cool! But she had to hold off on questioning her professor on the weapon until later, unfortunately.
Percy was about to call something out, before Zwei jumped upwards and curled into a ball. Their professor slammed his thermos-turned-flamethrower into Zwei, turning him into a fireball.
Zwei slammed into the paladin with force, blowing it to smithereens.
Ruby had stars in her eyes, as Percy looked pretty impressed.
Another one came, and Oobleck launched into the air, using his flamethrower to spin and swing at the thing. The paladin actually staggered, and a piercing ward from Percy finished it off.
"More ahead!" Percy called out, "Piercing Rose!"
Ruby readied herself as Percy sketched a quick piercing ward on Crescent Rose, before he launched her with a boosting ward.
She grinned, swinging her scythe at the Paladin and cutting off one of its legs. Percy and Oobleck finished it off with flames and wards.
This was going to be a piece of cake.
-----
Yang landed with Blake and Weiss into one of the cars.
"I guess this is what we trained for," she commented.
Weiss gave Blake a dust canister that she inserted into her weapon.
All of them wore determined expressions on their faces. This was for the betterment of Vale. They were going to stop the bombs and the train.
The three of them sprinted forwards, eager to get rid of the train.
A pink and brown haired girl landed in front of them, twirling a parasol.
It was that girl from the paladin incident! Yang hissed in anger as she looked at them smugly.
"You two go on ahead. This one's mine," she stated in anger.
Weiss took a look at her and shrugged. She and Blake made their way around the girl as Yang fired at her.
-----
A White Fang grunt dragged a chainsaw along the bottom of the railcar, and Weiss and Blake looked at each other.
Weiss would take this one to distract him. After all, he would be endlessly thirsty for 'Schnee' blood, or whatever they called it.
"You go on ahead," she called to Blake, who nodded, "Got it!"
The faunus chuckled darkly, "Finally I get to kill a Schnee."
Weiss swiped at him with several strikes, landing the grunt onto his back.
The grunt merely got up, however, and charged at her with his massive chainsaw, and Weiss formed a shield not unlike Percy's, except it was with hard-light dust.
She dissolved it and pushed through it a second later, and used Myrtenaster to deflect the grunt's chainsaw. Thankfully, her beloved rapier held up, and she used it to launch a thrust at the grunt.
The faunus fell back, and she pursued, piercing with Myrtenaster in a flurry of steel. However, the faunus swiped it aside with his chainsaw, and kicked her in the chest.
Weiss flew backwards, cushioning herself with a glyph. She rolled away and ducked under another chainsaw slash, and released a line of flame towards the faunus.
The faunus charged through it to her chagrin and shock, however, and slammed his chainsaw onto her.
Weiss couldn't react in time, and screamed in pain as she was flung against the far side of the railcar wall.
She got up, already feeling her scroll beeping and signaling that she was on low aura.
She formed another hard-light dust barrier, before rolling to the side and unleashing a sheet of ice onto the floor of the railcar.
The grunt stumbled, and she summoned glyphs all around her, forming fire projectiles.
She unleashed them onto him and added a fire wave just for good measure.
She huffed, turning away.
That had been annoying enough.
She had to go help Blake.
A roar sounded behind her, and Weiss widened her eyes in shock as the White Fang grunt came soaring out of the fire.
She dodged to the side, but even so, her aura took a massive hit, and she scrambled away from him.
He chuckled deeply, "End of the line, Schnee."
Weiss narrowed her eyes. She wouldn't be overcome by some stupid terrorist.
She focused, channeling her energy into a time dilation glyph beneath her. She rushed forward as white glyphs formed around the faunus.
She burst towards him, landing on a glyph and boosting herself with Myrtenaster towards him.
Each thrust of her rapier hit, and she boosted from glyph to glyph, with the faunus between all of them.
All of her strikes hit, as the faunus hit the ground, and she leapt off the ceiling to attack him.
How was he still up? Weiss had to finish this now.
She was so persistent in her pursuit that she'd forgotten about the side effects of her time dilation.
She widened her eyes in panic as she slowed in the air, and the White Fang grunt merely grabbed her by the throat, "Come here, princess."
He roughly slammed her head into the ground, once, twice, then three times, and her aura fizzled out in a crackling of light blue.
-----
Roman Torchwick stood in front of her.
"Hello kitty cat. Ya miss me?"
Blake withheld a growl. She hated when he called her that, the infuriating bastard.
And judging by the smirk on his face, he knew it too. Too bad she'd be wiping that smirk off his face in just a minute.
"You know, we really oughta stop meeting like this. People are gonna talk."
Blake didn't waste any more time on words as she dashed forward.
She used her semblance to create a fire dust clone that the man swung at. Torchwick was blown upwards, and she jumped upwards, landing several strikes with Gambol Shroud that blew the man into the floor.
She followed immediately, slashing and stabbing while dual wielding Gambol Shroud, but the man managed to deflect the attacks.
Torchwick landed a boot to her stomach, forcing her back for a little bit. He launched backwards, creating distance to fire his cane gun thing at her.
She cloned herself, jumping backwards as the stone clone was blown in half.
She jumped forward, exchanging blows with the thief before getting his cane in the exact spot she wanted.
She cloned again, this time using the ice dust, and trapped the man's cane in it.
She smirked at the gob smacked expression the thief had on his face. She would have to thank Weiss for the dust, and maybe use dust canisters with Gambol Shroud more regularly.
She unleashed arcs of rock at him using rock dust, and ended him with a final piercing of the chest.
Torchwick flew against the wall, and his aura fizzled out in a bout of orange. He tried to get up to grab his cane, but Blake planted her boot on his chest.
She leveled Gambol Shroud threateningly at the man, narrowing her eyes when he raised his hands in innocence.
He coughed, starting to talk with that stupid voice of his, "Why are we fighting? I saw you at the rally. We're on the same side, and you know it."
Blake shook her head. She wouldn't let his poisonous words get to her.
She let her blade tickle the underside of his chin, drawing a little blood.
"Ooh, still feisty. So, what are we gonna do now?"
"Do you really think a little bow on top is really gonna make people forget what you were?"
"What you've done?
Blake grit her teeth in anger, and removed Gambol Shroud from his neck. The criminal appeared to relax for a second, before she slammed her boot into his head.
She made her way to the next car, only to see some kind of elderly, gray haired man in front of her. He had a robotic left eye, its color a mismatched red.
"Who are you?"
"Why, my dear, I am Doctor Merlot of Merlot Industries!"
Blake narrowed her eyes in suspicion, "Do you work with Roman Torchwick?"
"He is no more than a means to a peace, a new age of peace for the people! A Grimm-less-"
The man was cut off by Blake slamming her fist into the guy's skull. He crumpled to the ground unceremoniously. The man had to be stupid.
She shrugged.
-----
Percy's senses went haywire, and his heart seemed to drop into his stomach. He pulled out his scroll to see Weiss' aura completely gone.
Weiss...
Shit, shit, shit!
"Ruby! You and Oobleck handle the rest of the paladins! Weiss needs help!"
"Wait! Percy!" Ruby called out to him, but he dove into one of the railcars. Weiss should be one or two cars ahead of him.
He sprinted, slamming two doors open before he reached her.
A muscular faunus lifted a chainsaw above her head, and was about to bring it down. Percy saw red.
Percy burst towards him, tackling him with the strength of a truck.
The faunus was knocked aside, and Percy went on a flurry of strikes. He buried his fist into the man's stomach, before kneeing him in the groin, while an expel ward burst onto the man's head. He jabbed at the man's vital points brutally, his joints, neck, eyes, and groin.
The man cried out in pain from the damage, but a final thrust from Riptide left the man on the ground, unconscious as his aura fizzled out.
Percy sighed in relief. That had been close. He carried Weiss to the next railcar, knowing Blake would be there.
One look was exchanged between them, and Blake nodded firmly. She would stay behind to protect Weiss while Percy went to go check on Yang.
-----
Yang stalked forward, rising up to her full height to intimidate her.
It didn't work, however. The short girl only glanced up at her, blinking, unimpressed.
She reared her fist back, but the girl merely deflected it.
Yang burst forward in a flurry of speed, punching as fast as she could, but the girl moved her head like a snake, dodging her punches and her occasional kicks.
She blocked Yang's next punch, and ducked, her leg flying upward to kick her onto the ground.
All of this only served to make Yang angrier, and Yang rolled away from another kick.
Yang punched hard and fast, but the girl grabbed her arm and twisted it, then used her leg to kick Yang twice, once in the face and once in the stomach.
She was blown away, and Yang got back up. She released a torrent of shots with Ember Celica at the girl, who merely opened her parasol to block them. She slammed a boot into Yang's stomach, and Yang was blown away again.
The girl backflipped onto a container, crossing her legs and putting the parasol over her shoulder, all while smirking at her.
The girl was toying with her.
That bitch!
Yang growled, stalking forward again.
She swung at her, but the girl merely parried it with her parasol, swinging and twirling like a ballerina. She flipped, unleashing a flurry of kicks that pushed Yang off her.
Ember Celica launched a blast that was blocked by the parasol, but Yang pursued the girl, slamming her fists into her and hoping to overpower her.
However, the girl easily deflected her blows with her parasol, and kicked at her.
Yang allowed herself to smirk. Just what she wanted.
She grabbed the girl's boot and attempted to fling her into the ground, but, in some incredible show of flexibility, the girl managed to land on her feet.
She rushed towards Yang, swinging at her wide with her parasol. Yang ducked, but the girl grabbed her fists and swung herself onto her head, twirling on it in an incredible display of balance.
She built up momentum before flinging Yang onto the ceiling of the railcar, and Yang dropped to the ground.
Yang tried to get up, but the girl slammed her boot into her face viciously.
Darkness embraced her with open arms.
-----
Percy cursed in frustration as he watched Yang's aura dip to just ten percent. He put on a burst of speed that no mortal could hope to attain, ripping through doors to get to her. He burst past White Fang members, knocking them out of the way as he pushed his way down to Yang's railcar.
The door opened, and he saw a pink and brown haired girl standing over her, with a thin blade drawn.
Yang might have been on ten percent aura, but she could still survive this, even if she was knocked out.
Percy didn't care. He'd be damned if he let someone get hurt, even if Yang's ten percent aura might cushion it a bit.
He dashed forward, slashing twice at the girl, who backpedaled, eyes now wide.
A portal appeared behind her, and Percy tensed his legs, in preparation.
A masked woman appeared, rushing forward with blinding speed. She drew a red blade, swiping once at the girl and slashing again before immediately sheathing.
The girl backed up in fear, now glancing between the two of them.
Percy twirled his blade, settling in a stance that allowed him to attack either of them if need be.
The woman's sheathe rotated, and she drew the red blade again.
It seemed as if she had multiple blades, perhaps imbued with dust.
The girl backed off, vanishing into thin air.
He could still feel her running out the door, but decided the effort wasn't worth the risk.
Percy stared at the masked woman in shock. Now that the immediate threat was gone, he could get a better look at her.
She wore a mask not unlike a Grimm, with red eyes he could see through the mask. She had a long, black mane of hair down her back, not unlike Yang's, with a red wrap style top and a black pleated skirt along with black mid-thigh boots and red armored gauntlets.
It might have been an intimidating sight for anyone but Percy.
He'd be damned if he let her harm his teammate.
Percy stepped forward, settling in a more defensive stance to protect Yang, knees bent slightly and Riptide humming in his left hand.
He met the woman's eyes, staring her down with his own wolf glare, daring her to attack.
To his surprise, the woman took a step backwards, before she snorted in what seemed like amusement, sheathing her blade again.
Percy tilted his head in wariness, before he flipped Riptide, turning it into a ballpoint pen and using his hand to make it appear like it had vanished into thin air.
A silent understanding passed between them, and the woman unsheathed the red dust blade again, creating the same red, swirling portal from before.
She turned on her heel and entered the portal, the red and black swirling energy quickly vanishing afterwards. Only then did Percy fully relax.
She had seemed like a kind of bandit of some sort... but how was she related to Yang? And why did she come to Yang at the last moment?
So many questions... and yet no answers.
Percy sighed. It would have to wait.
He still had to stop the train.
He picked Yang up, slinging her over one shoulder as he rushed back to Weiss and Blake. He had no clue how Ruby and Oobleck were doing above, but from the sound of Oobleck's flamethrower and Ruby's shooting, it seemed like they were holding their own and could do so for just a little longer.
Sometime on his way there, Yang had woken up, and Percy set her down on her feet.
"Wha- What happened?" Yang asked groggily.
He shook her shoulders, "That girl was about to get rid of the rest of your aura and kill you. I'll fill you in on the specifics later, but we have to get to Blake and Weiss right now."
Yang finally woke up, and the two of them pushed towards Blake and Weiss, knocking out any remaining White Fang grunts.
He tapped his earpiece, "Blake, any trouble?"
After a brief moment, she responded, "No. Ruby and Oobleck are on the roof fighting."
"Good. Blake, I need you to leave Weiss to push to the front of the train and find anything to stop it."
"Got it."
"Ruby, how are you and Oobleck doing up there?"
There wasn't a reply until several seconds later as her voice came through, "We could use a little help! There's too many of these things!"
Percy turned to Yang, "You in fighting condition?"
Yang smirked, punching her fists together, "Hell yeah!"
Percy quirked an eyebrow, amused at her enthusiasm, "Alright, then get your ass up there. Be careful with engaging though, I don't wanna have to save your ass a second time."
"Tch. As if," she rolled her eyes, jumping out the railcar.
He cleared another railcar before he got to Weiss, and he had to shake her shoulders to wake her.
She shook her head groggily, as if she were clearing her mind, before turning to look at him.
"Weiss, we have to get to the front to help Blake-"
Blake's voice cut through their comms, "There's no lever Percy."
"What??"
"There's no lever!"
Normally, Percy would have checked himself, but he had to trust his team. This was no normal situation.
"Fuck... Blake, Weiss, let's get on the roof. Congregate at the fourth car from the front. Quickly!"
Hearing his panicked voice, the rest of the team gave quick affirmatives, before they climbed out hatches.
Oobleck and Ruby got to them first, before Yang and Blake. The barricaded wall was fast approaching, and Percy grit his teeth in frustration.
They had failed.
The tunnel would be blown up, and the Grimm would pour into the city.
"Weiss, shield us!"
Weiss nodded, spinning before slamming her rapier into the metal of the railcar. An ice cocoon surrounded them reinforced by several layers.
Percy could only hope it'd be enough.
The train crashed into the wall before exploding, and Percy saw only blinding white.
-----
Percy got back his senses faster than the others, as he stood up quickly, scanning his surroundings. The civilians were still petrified at the amount of Grimm that were entering.
"Go! Go!" he shouted for them to move away, "We'll handle this!"
Hordes of Grimm rushed through the tunnel, moving towards them rapidly. Percy briefly considered closing the hole with a ward, but knew it wouldn't hold, not against so many Grimm.
He snarled as the Grimm began chasing the civilians.
A burst of speed ensured that the Grimm was bisected in half instantly, soon turning to dust. The woman he just saved glanced at him in awe, before he frantically pushed her away from the Grimm. Percy turned to face the numerous Grimm from the tunnel, mostly consisting of beowolves, ursai, smaller nevermore, creeps, and king taijitus.
He pushed his way towards the king taijitus, seeing as his teammates were up and fighting. Ruby twirled her scythe in a way reminiscent of her uncle ,Qrow, while Yang fought the numerous Grimm with the same head-on ferocity he'd come to expect from the blonde brawler. Blake twirled and jumped over beowolves, slicing them as Weiss fought like a fencer, combining her attacks with dust.
Percy tore through the beowolves like they were paper, shredding them as he pierced through the belly of another ursa. A creep was decapitated with a swing of his warded long sword as he dual-wielded his blades, decimating the ranks of the Grimm before finally reaching the king taijitu.
The two heads instantly turned towards him, recognizing him as a threat. The black head swooped in from his right, while the white head swooped from his left. Percy vaulted over the heads, turning back and slicing with both of his swords. The scale armor of the king taijitu was no match for a celestial bronze sword and his ward sword, and the black head fell to the ground, separated from its body. The white head screeched in agony, and Percy took the opportunity to shove Riptide down its throat in a thank you.
He drew expel wards every now and then, pushing as much aura into them as fast as possible, and culling more than a few mutated Grimm.
Yet they just kept coming. He could keep going, but his teammates were out of gas, and even Oobleck had begun to falter.
Thankfully, a certain JNPR showed up, along with Sun and Neptune to offer assistance. Team CFVY showed up along with Port and Goodwitch. Atlas robots began parachuting down from the skies, many of them blotting out the sun.
They fought like demons, slashing through Grimm and mutated Grimm like knives cutting butter. The civilians seemed to be safe, as they defended the city from the massive gaping hole in the ground. Things were beginning to look up for once.
Until three massive, mutated alpha creeps showed up on their doorstep.
Percy looked around, but everyone was too busy killing the Grimm and protecting civilians that their hands were occupied. Even the robots were busied by the Grimm or manning the walls of Vale, driving off Goliaths that were approaching in the distance, drawn by the negativity.
One of the creeps moved towards him, its jaws missing him by an inch as Percy rolled to the left. He immediately slashed at the creature, but had to cancel it mid swing as the creep fired spikes from its mouth. Percy deflected them all away with a parrying ward on his hand, and Riptide slashed upwards, scoring a hit on the creep.
Unfortunately for him, Percy was forced backwards as the other two mutated alpha creeps decided to do something, and the three of them converged on him. He jumped upwards, whipping Riptide in a circle as he scored hits on all of their ugly faces. Percy rolled, channeling a piercing ward straight into the mouth and up the throat of one of the creeps. He didn't stick around to see the result, rolling into the guard of another mutated alpha creep and slamming Riptide into its stomach all the way up to the hilt. He pulled it out, stabbing again and again, so fast that his arm was a blur, before he launched up its chest and severed its head in one go. The last creep roared uselessly at him, even as he slid underneath it, cutting its ankles before it turned around and roared at him in anger. He ran towards it, feinting and ducking before running up its chest. He kicked off, slamming Riptide through the bottom of its chin and straight through its skull with force before he pulled Riptide towards him. The result was one ugly bisected skull of Grimm, before it dissolved into black dust.
He landed back on his two feet. Riptide was just so nice to have. There were very few swords that were so balanced and had so much piercing and slashing power.
Percy glanced around, looking for anymore Grimm, but it seemed as if the situation was under control. His teammates were panting, even as team CFVY and Peter Port cleaned up the stragglers. An angry Glynda Goodwitch stalked forward, her features twisted in a frown as she pointed her black crop at the rather massive hole in the ground. Concrete debris began lifting themselves out of the air, and she used her semblance to fix everything again.
He felt for her. It must be hard being a glorified repairman for the school.
"Well, I'd say today was a success!" Yang cheered, as they looked over the fixed sidewalks and the Atlesian soldiers apprehending Roman Torchwick.
"But... people still got hurt," Ruby pointed out, "A-And we never got that Merlot guy."
"We did our best," Percy clasped her on the shoulder, "Don't worry about Merlot. I'm sure we'll catch him eventually."
"N-No, you don't understand," Ruby shook her head, black and red locks falling over her forehead, "H-He made the mutant Grimm... to kill people so that less people would die to the Grimm!"
"H-He said less people would mean less emotions and less deaths to Grimm... like what happened with Mountain Glenn... the Kingdom sealed the tunnels, leaving thousands to die and the huntsmen that were defending them too. and his mutant Grimm would help with that... H-He might have died on the train..."
She was hurting, he could see that. She was blaming herself irrationally.
"Ruby, look at me."
Her innocent silver orbs snapped to him, glistening slightly with unshed tears.
"None of this, none of this is your fault," Percy stressed to her, "you are not responsible for what he has done, or his possible death. You did your best, and that's what matters, even if people got hurt. They would have gotten hurt even more if you didn't step in. Ruby, our role as huntresses and huntsmen is to protect the world to the best of our ability, and losses will happen. You're my friend, Ruby, and I won't let you suffer."
Ruby opened her mouth to say something, but Percy pulled her head into his chest, wrapping his hands around her small body as she sniffled into his chest.
He stroked her hair softly, letting her cling to him.
"Group hug!" Yang broke the moment with a shit-eating grin on her face, piling onto them.
"YANGG!!" a muffled Ruby screamed indignantly.
-----
Percy stood in the office of Headmaster Ozpin, along with General Ironwood, Qrow, and Professor Goodwitch.
Ozpin began, opening his hands, "Now, we all agree that Perseus has proven himself?"
"Of course, Ozzy, kid has a good heart, and can beat my ass," Qrow snorted before drinking from his hip flask again.
Percy rolled his eyes. That was the best he was gonna get out of the old man, as far as he could tell.
Ironwood gave a sound of grudging agreement, "I am more than impressed with his leadership in the field from Doctor Oobleck's account. Thanks to him, we found traces of a virus that had been uploaded to the CCT that night in Atlas' systems, and promptly purged it. He has proven himself to be quite the useful asset."
Percy bristled slightly at the term 'asset', before forcing himself to calm down, knowing Ironwood didn't mean anything from it. His wording just sounded all too much like the attitude of the Olympians...
Goodwitch nodded, "I believe Mr. Jackson has proven himself on multiple occasions."
Ozpin leaned forward, "Good. Now, what I am about to tell you is going to be world changing."
Percy tilted his head, intrigued. Could this be the threat the gods had warned him of? Was this his official quest?
"The Grimm have a leader: her name, is Salem."
The room seemed to darken at the very thought, getting colder, whispers from shadows all around them as if she were Tartarus himself or some other kind of god.
Percy ignored it all, though. He'd seen unspeakable things that were fear itself, and he wouldn't be intimidated by any little party trick.
A leader? Well, that wasn't all that surprising considering alpha Grimm often commanded lesser Grimm in little packs, and even sometimes were capable of strategy. Despite that, common belief and textbooks dictated that all Grimm were mindless, and it must have been mind-blowing for anyone who lived on Remnant. He hadn't until a few months ago, though.
Percy shrugged nonchalantly, "Ok."
The reactions were immediate. Qrow spat out his drink, as Ozpin choked on his heavenly coffee. Ironwood stiffened, and Goodwitch stumbled slightly from her spot.
"What do you mean, okay, kid?" Qrow pointed out, one eyebrow raised in question.
Percy shrugged again, "It's not all that surprising, to be honest. Although rare, Grimm sometimes use tactics in small packs like animals, and if the Grimm have a leader, we just need to kill her, right?"
"You make everything sound so simple," Qrow scoffed, "She commands the Grimm. The Grimm are her spies, the origin of her power and strength."
Ozpin continued, gesturing to all of them, "We are a secret brotherhood, the protectors of the world, along with the other headmasters of the huntsmen academies. We fight the evil that no one has seen, and keep the forces of Salem, otherwise known as the Queen, at bay.
"She, although sentient and partially human, has an innate appetite for destruction; she seeks only the end of Remnant, the end of days, to wipe the world clean and create one anew. We keep this information from the public; imagine the mass panic that would arise if a sentient individual was revealed to be behind the Grimm."
Percy nodded, understanding his reasoning and agreeing with it wholeheartedly.
"Neither your friends nor your teammates can know anything of this."
Percy froze. Keeping information from his friends? The ones he cared for like a second family? He couldn't go behind their backs like that. That would not do.
He narrowed his sea green eyes in warning, prompting Ozpin to explain.
"They will be let in eventually, but they need to first prove themselves. Words can slip by the mouth easily, and you must understand why we are taking such precautions."
Percy leaned backwards, having to agree. If any of his teammates leaked anything, it would endanger the entire thing.
"It doesn't make it feel any less wrong though," Percy had to point out, despite understanding his reasoning.
Ozpin sighed, seemingly aging before his very eyes, "Secrets must be kept for the betterment of the world."
Percy nodded in understanding, albeit very reluctantly. He was already hiding his demigod heritage from them, and this was just another secret to tack on to the mountain of lies he was slowly starting to build up.
"Here," Ironwood stepped forward, placing a minimalistic, two-tone bronze and black ring into Percy's hands, "Wear this. It is state-of-the-art Atlesian tech, waterproof, dustproof, etc, and spans across great distances and through obstacles. This will vibrate when we need you. There is a small staff room on Amity Colosseum for us to meet in that will allow you access once you scan your ring."
Percy wasn't dumb enough to think it didn't have a tracking device in it, but he wore it nonetheless. It fit surprisingly well on his left ring finger, sitting snugly and comfortably on it.
"Be ready for anything," Ironwood clasped his hand, looking deep into his eyes, "Remnant needs us."
"Of course, General."
With a turn on his heel, Percy strode out of the headmaster's office, absorbed in his thoughts.
-----
On the rooftops of Vale, a golden-eyed woman in a red dress met with a silver-haired man and a green-haired, red-eyed woman.
"All in all, I'd count today as a success," Cinder purred, placing her hand on her chest.
Emerald snorted, shaking her head, "Those stupid kids really made a mess of things."
"Yeah," Mercury agreed, "but we should keep an eye on that Jackson kid, he could be trouble."
"Don't you worry, Mercury," Cinder smiled, a vicious smirk on her face, "I have a little present prepared for our friend Perseus."
Mercury shrugged, trusting in her, "Besides him, though. A lotta faunus didn't make it out of those tunnels. You still think the White Fang's gonna listen to us?"
"No."
The three turned around to see a tall, red-haired bull faunus in a black blazer with red rose sigils and a white crest symbol.
"They would never listen to a bunch of human scum like you. But they'll listen to me."
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I hope you enjoyed this long chapter, nearly nine thousand words long! Review, comment, favorite, follow, vote, but only if you enjoyed! It helps motivate me to write more.
'til next time!
-thann3