Blake
Menagerie...
The island had come a long way since Salem's rule; the country was now a bustling home for Faunuskind, filled with hope and dreams. Trade was improved between the island and the rest of the world now that things had improved drastically between Faunuskind and Humanity. In the harbour, large trade ships arrived to offload goods. Children played in the clear blue shallow seawater, some with aquatic traits, like fins on their limbs or webbed digits.
In the centre of the town, Blake Belladonna stood upon the Balcony of her home which Ghira and Kali had passed down to her. The two had purchased a lovely retirement home nearby, enjoying every single day together. She wore a beautiful black and gold blindfold over her scars, her hands gripped onto the railing as she listened to the sound of Menagerie. It was such a stark contrast to how it sounded twenty-five years ago. There was no fear in the air. People never felt like they were living on a knife's edge.
It was truly, for the first time... free.
A smile was painted across her face before she turned around to hear the sound of her kids. "Mooom!" A younger voice called out.
"Everything okay, Harley?" She asked.
"I can't find my bag!" He called out. Blake chuckled, shaking her head and walking away from the railing and back inside. She saw them inside of the large central room, where the kids were at the dining table, finishing up their breakfast for the day. Blake walked down the steps, using her White Cane to easily walk down the steps.
"Where did you last see it?" Blake asked him.
"Um..." He mumbled. "I could've sworn I left it down here..."
"Maybe Celese hid it!" Ava teased with a cheeky grin. Celese bolted up from her chair.
"DID NOT!" she argued, and Ava smirked, sticking out her tongue.
"Alright, cut it out you two." Blake told as she pointed her White Cane at them.
Harley was the youngest of the three Belladonna children, only thirteen years old. Ava was in the middle, at fifteen, and Celese was sixteen. Blake and Yang both shared the experience of pregnancy at different points, Harley and Celese were both Faunus, carrying Blake's feline ears and black hair, whereas Ava was Human with Yang's beautiful blonde hair, and definitely her cheeky attitude as well.
Harley, bless him, was by far the clumsiest of the three, always losing things somewhere or another as well. But Blake smiled, and she gently ruffled his hair. "C'mon, let's go find it before you head out to school, hmm?" Blake asked, her voice always being so soothing and able to calm any nerves.
Blake had developed smoke, small grey streaks of hair in her short bob, but despite that, she had aged like a fine wine. She wore a similar coat that her father did as well, taking on the role of Chieftain of Menagerie. She walked around their home together, searching for where Harley must have misplaced his backpack.
"I'm so stupid." he whispered, getting Blake's attention. She stopped, then turned, crouching down in front of him with a kind smile.
"Now we both know that's not true, don't we?" she asked him.
"I always mess up." He shrugged, kicking his foot gently, but Blake just smirked.
"Do you really think your mom and I never made silly mistakes?" She asked him. "But we always fixed them. And so will you." She promised, making him smile.
They looked around and found the living room where all the comfy sofas were and the big tv that the kids loved watching movies and playing video games on. And lo-and-behold... the backpack was sitting right there, against the sofa, where he just was earlier when watching some cartoons. "There it is!" Harley squeaked with joy, picking it up and sighing with relief.
"You see? Problem solved, no drama." Blake said with a supportive smile, suddenly getting a loving hug from her son. She kissed the top of his head, then gasped, feeling her scroll buzz. She pulled it out and there was a message, and the speaker on her phone read out the message.
Call me when you can. It's urgent.
- Ilia
Harley looked at the scroll, then at her mom. "Is everything okay?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure it's just business as usual." Blake assured.
She tucked it back in her pocket, then stood up. "Okay, let's go say bye to your mom before school, huh?" Blake whispered with a smirk.
"I think she's working on her bike." Harley said. Blake chuckled deviously.
"Perfect time to pounce her, then."
Harley giggled almost the exact same way his mother did.
Outside by the garage, Yang was laid down on the floor wearing an orange vest and with all her mechanic tools on her. She was underneath Bumblebee, a newly improved version of her classic motorcycle, covered in sweat and grime from the hard work. She had her headphones on, listening to fun and loud rock music as she tightened the gears and cleaned the inner workings of her beloved bike.
Completely unaware of her loving family sneaking up on her. Blake smirked, shushing her children as they approached. "Hey Yang?" Blake said.
Nothing.
"My love? Love of My Life? Woman I can't live without?" Blake added.
Still nothing.
"Gods, she never learns." Blake laughed before suddenly grabbing Yang by her heels and yanking her out from under the bike.
"WHAT THE-"
Suddenly, her three cherished children leapt onto her in a pile of hugs and kisses on her cheek, laughing. Yang immediately started laughing, hugging the three of them tightly, and taking her headphones off. She sat upright as she hugged them, her hair tied back into a ponytail and her face marked with black stains and oil. "You little devils." She laughed.
"We wanted to say bye but you couldn't hear us!" Celese giggled.
"Well, aren't you three just the best kids a girl could ask for?" Yang laughed, looking up at Blake with an adoring smile, which Blake was reciprocating already. They'd made it... they had their dream family. "But... oh no... look at me? All sweaty and grimy, gonna ruin those pretty faces." She sighed, before giving all three of them big kisses on their cheeks, despite their adorable protests.
"Mooooom!" Ava squealed, giggling. Yang released them, still sat on the floor.
"Okay! Gotta run to school! Byeee!" Celese sang as she ran ahead, but Harley was already in front, easily the fastest of the three kids. Yang smiled as she watched them run off.
"Be safe!" Yang called out.
"And have a good day!" Blake added, both mothers shaking their heads. Yang looked up at Blake, scoffing.
"You totally planned that, didn't you?" She deduced.
"Oh, of course. I did warn you to always have one ear out." Yang said, gesturing to her ear. Yang chuckled.
"Yeah, I had that comin'." Yang agreed. The two stood together. Then Blake sighed, pulling out her scroll.
"Ilia sent me a message... said it was urgent." Blake said as she held the scroll in her hand. Yang nodded her head and got up, standing beside Blake as she called Ilia. They both walked inside of their house together, waiting for Ilia to answer.
She did not take long to respond. "Hey, Blake." Ilia answered.
"Hey, everything okay?" Blake asked, with Ilia on speakers.
"Yeah, maybe better than good. My spies finally located that last Feral One base on Menagerie. They're planning something big, Blake. But if we strike them now, we could put an end to what's left of this Civil War right now." Ilia said to her.
Blake glanced at Yang, and through seeing her aura thanks to Li's teachings, she could see Yang just nodding at her.
"Alright. We'll go take them down." Blake assured.
Oriana
Over in Vale, Oriana and Misty finally found their seats that Penny gave them. The Coliseum was packed, like always. But they both loved the energy these places brought out, that and the fights were always so epic to watch. They both had bags of popcorn with them and sat down together as they watched.
"Who's fighting?" Misty wondered.
"I dunno!" Oriana answered with a big smile. It didn't really matter half the time to Oriana. She just loved seeing these skilful warriors fight it out. Plus the fact it wasn't to the death, or against innocent animals and was completely safe and fair? Made it all the better to watch.
And then they saw the holographic screens project into the centre of the Arena, with Pyrrha and Coco on show. "Well, well, well! Ladies and Gentlemen! We have quite the battle for all of you today, isn't that right, Pyrrha?" Coco asked, smirking.
"That's right, Coco. I'm very excited to see how this fight goes." Pyrrha agreed.
Both Oriana and Misty started squeaking. "That's my mom!" Oriana squeaked.
"Our contestants today are both champions from multiple different matches in the past few years. So hold on to your snacks, because this is gonna get wild!" Coco cheered, pumping up the crowd. Oriana and Misty both turned with bulging eyes to see the Champion Gates on the left side of the arena opening. And emerging from that side were the first two contestants.
"Representing the Legion in this fight today! Harriet Bree and Elm Ederne!" Pyrrha announced, and the crowd roared with cheers. Elm roared with them, holding out her arms to them all, laughing and bowing to all the people watching. Harriet chuckled, then snapped her fingers at the cameras, winking as she walked, before rolling her shoulders and stretching her legs.
"Weren't those two Black Gallows sellouts?" An older man muttered behind Oriana and Misty.
"Yeah. Heard the Legion took them in and rehabilitated them." The other man scoffed. "Waste of resources, rehabilitating scum like that."
Oriana furrowed her brow. She wanted to turn and tell the two of them to shut up, but people still hated the Black Gallows. Always will, and it was hard to let those feelings go, even when these people wanted to be better. Plus... she didn't want to cause a scene, she wanted to have fun with Misty, not get caught up in another incident, so she let it slide.
"Aaaaaand on the other side?" Coco called out. The other doors opened slowly and revealed the other two contestants here for the fight. A woman with long red hair and very revealing clothing emerged first, with dark brown skin and hovering a Sai over her hand as she walked, smirking. And beside her was her massive partner. He was easily twice her size, holding his chained mace, spinning the chain around confidently, and holding his revolver with explosive rounds in his other hand. "Carmine Escalados and Bertilak Celadon!" Coco cheered.
"Whoa, those two are from the Vacuo Coliseum, right?" Misty asked.
"Yeah, I heard about them. They represent the Vacuo Nomads who took over Vacuo after it was abandoned." Oriana remembered.
"Oh, this is gonna be cool." Misty chuckled.
Elm and Harriet walked towards Carmine and Bertilak, waiting for the buzzer to go off. "Oh, this is gonna be a fun fight." Harriet chuckled as she looked at Carmine. The Vacuan Huntress smirked, spinning her Sai through her fingers.
"Oh, we got this in the bag." Carmine chuckled, smirking.
"Oh, those are fighting words. Hah! I like your style, Escalados." Elm chuckled, resting her Hammer across her shoulders.
"Fighters! Are you ready?" Pyrrha called out. The four contestants walked backwards, cheering as they held their weapons to the sky.
"Everyone! Are you ready?" Coco asked, pumping up the crowd with cheers. The crowd roared, but Coco tutted, glancing at Pyrrha. "I'm not convinced."
"No, neither am I." Pyrrha agreed.
Coco bolted up from her chair. "I SAID! ARE. YOU. READY?" Coco bellowed, and the crowd's cheers roared so loud that they could be heard all across Vale. The contestants laughed down below, feeling pumped up by the crowd's enthusiasm as well. Coco sat back down, bumping Pyrrha's elbow with hers. "That's more like it."
"Here we go, everyone! What we've all been waiting for!" Pyrrha cheered, and from a safe spot in his own booth, the Deacon watched as well.
"Let's see who wins today..." The Deacon softly said, clasping his metal hands together.
"Three!" Pyrrha called.
"Two!" Coco called.
The four warriors readied their weapons, and all around them the Arena shifted, the Grave Dust floor morphing into the shapes of mountainous rocks and broken buildings, matching that of a battlefield, just like the days of the Vytal Festival Tournaments.
"ONE!" Both Coco and Pyrrha called in unison.
The buzzer roared. "BEGIN!"
The four charged towards each other, and Harriet blasted forward in a burst of orange lightning, punching Carmine in the face immediately. Elm jumped and swung her enormous Hammer down with all her might, but Bertilak rolled out of the way, extending the chain of his mace and wrapping it around her throat, then yanking her towards him, and firing his Revolver at her. The explosive bullet blew her away, but as she flipped backwards through the air, she transformed her hammer into Rocket Launcher form, firing two rockets towards him.
Bertilak dodged the first, but the second exploded against his chest, and Elm launched, smashing her hammer through one of the pillars of Grave Dust, sprinting towards him. Bertilak launched towards her with his mace, roaring as he swung it towards her face. Only for Elm to root herself to the spot with her aura, blocking the mace and then smashing her hammer into his chest, throwing him backwards.
Harriet sprinted past her, then she ran across the Hardlight Dust walls in front of the cheering crowd. Oriana and Misty laughed in awe at the amazing skills of these warriors. Harriet blasted off, then smashed her fist into the ground where Carmine was just stood. Carmine rolled aside, then launched her Sai towards Harriet with her Semblance. But the speedy Huntress shot into her relentlessly, punching her five times, before dropkicking Carmine away.
Carmine tumbled across the ground, only to levitate a cloud of Grave Dust, then launching the particles towards her. The tornado swirled around Harriet, then it yanked her up into the air. She yelled as she flew up above Carmine, and then the Vacuan Huntress effortlessly carved up her aura with her telekinetically controlled Sai. Then Harriet crashed down against the floor, growling, staring ahead at Carmine, who pulled her Sai back into her palm.
Harriet narrowed her eyes, then she suddenly shot up into the air, and revealed a new ability she had learned with her exo-suit. Golden lightning started channelling through her arms, and then she blasted arcs of energy down onto Carmine, making her scream from the pain. "Whoa!" Oriana gasped.
"What's this?" Coco gasped.
"Looks like Harriet has modified her Exo-Suit, storing kinetic energy in her backpack and then releasing it as a ranged attack whenever she needs it." Pyrrha analysed.
"Oh, damn, that's a deadly skill for a speedster to have!" Coco chuckled.
Carmine gritted her teeth, watching her aura level on the screen above plummet from Harriet's deadly ability, locking her in place. She aimed her Sai up at Harriet before shooting it towards her. The blade knocked Harriet out of the air, and the constant barrage of lightning ceased, allowing Carmine to move once more. Harriet rolled backwards, then shot back towards her, both swinging their fists at each other, becoming locked in place once again.
Behind them, Elm and Bertilak continued to clash, with Bertilak wrapping the chain of his mace around Elm's arm once more, but this time she yanked the Huntsman towards her and slammed her hammer downwards into his chest, shattering the ground suddenly. Bertilak suddenly shot her in the head with his revolver, the explosive rounds concussing her momentarily, and allowing him to roll backwards. He retracted his mace back onto the handle, then jumped towards her, smashing the hammer across her head, before spinning around and knocking her into the air.
He suddenly clenched his fists, and a spinning hurricane of heat formed around him, eating away at her aura, and then creating a powerful explosion. Using his semblance took a heavy chunk out of his aura, but it also made a big dent in hers.
"This is one close match! Everyone is already in the amber!" Coco laughed.
"I'm on the edge of my seat with this fight." Pyrrha chuckled as she watched. Oriana smiled as she heard her mother having so much fun. Coco had taught her a lot about how to be on camera for entertainment. She had learned a lot of great things from her good friend.
Elm stood her ground. Then Harriet kicked herself away from Carmine and retreated to Elm's side. "Alright... new plan of attack, switch?" Elm asked.
"I like your style." Harriet agreed. She charged herself up and jumped onto Elm's hammer, and the huge body builder effortlessly launched Harriet towards Bertilak. She slammed her boot into the side of his head, the golden electricity which coursed across her body burned across his. He tumbled backwards them slammed his mace down at where she was standing, only to vanish and suddenly appear behind him. She jumped onto his shoulder and wrapped her legs around his head, spinning her body weight around, and pulling his head down towards the ground.
He crashed into the floor and Harriet flipped across the ground, landing on her fist and keeping her fists raised, bouncing on her toes with a grin. Elm sprinted towards Carmine, who levitated into a tornado of Grave Dust, and suddenly from the swirling vortex, chunks of hardened Grave Dust launched towards Elm.
But she stood her ground, tanking the hits as she stared at where her foe was, and then transformed her Hammer into Missile Launcher mode, and aimed at where Carmine was floating. Then she fired, launching a pair of rockets towards her. The first exploded into Carmine whilst the second flew over where she just was, the explosion throwing Carmine back to the ground.
The Huntress groaned, her aura flickering and now dropping into the red. She looked ahead and gasped as Elm suddenly launched towards her, and smashed her hammer into Carmine's face, so hard that her aura shattered, and she crashed against the Hardlight Dust Barrier. The crowd gasped at the defeat.
"Ooooh, that's gotta hurt!" Coco narrated.
"And down goes Carmine! A valiant effort, now only Bertilak remains on her side!" Pyrrha added.
Harriet sprinted across the arena towards Bertilak, jumping and kicking him in the chest, landing on one of the floating chunks of Grave Dust and shooting down towards him, punching him in the face. She slid across the floor, leaving traces of golden electricity behind every step she took, before she jumped towards Bertilak with a hard punch. He suddenly swung his head into hers, knocking her backwards, and extended the chain of his mace, wrapping it around her body.
She gasped as it tightened, and he roared, swinging Harriet over his head and into the ground the first time, dealing a massive amount of damage to her aura, instantly dropping her into the red, and then finishing her off with a repeat of the same attack, smashing her into the floor. Her aura burst and crumbled away, and her body tumbled across the floor. He smirked, retracting his mace and staring at Elm, rolling his shoulder.
"Down goes Harriet!" Pyrrha gasped.
"You know what they say about the hare and the race." Coco said.
Now it was down to just Elm vs Bertilak.
The Arena transformed around them, forming structures identical to Basalt Columns all around them, rising high above the two. Elm jumped and landed on top of one of these columns as it rose from the floor of Grave Dust, and Bertilak jumped between them, firing his pistol at her. The explosive rounds shattered the column beneath her feet but she flipped through the air, firing another pair of missiles towards him, one of them blowing multiple columns apart, and then the other only narrowly missed, exploding against the Hardlight Dust Shielding, making some audience members cheer with glee at the explosive performance.
Elm slid down the side of one of the rising columns, and once they rose at the very top, they immediately dropped. She jumped off and tackled Bertilak through another column, crashing onto the ground as the floor flattened around them. She smashed her hammer across his chest but he fired his pistol at her leg, breaking her poise, then he smashed his mace up her jaw, staggering her. Suddenly another column erupted between them, and he jumped away, firing at the Column and then at her. Only for her to jump through, the bullet flying through her hair.
She immediately hammered him into the ground like a nail, crashing back down into the ground. She landed on the side of another rising pillar, firing her last rocket down towards him. The floor exploded and his aura flickered, thrown backwards. He suddenly wrapped his chain around her throat and yanked her down towards the ground, flickering her aura as well. Only for Elm to blast towards him and smash her hammer into his face.
Shattering his aura and ending the battle.
Bertilak crashed through one of the Columns as it descended back onto the ground, and Elm panted, resting her hammer on her shoulder and holding out her arm to the crowd, cheering. Harriet and Carmine both got back up, and they walked together into the centre of the arena.
"And with that, ladies and gentlemen! We have our winners!" Coco cheered.
"With that fantastic clash between Elm and Bertilak, a very close final fight, if I may add, Elm crowned herself and Harriet victorious for this year's St. Fall's Day Tournament!" Pyrrha cheered.
Elm turned to Bertilak as he got back up. "That... was one hell of a fight, Ace Ops." He said to them with a smirk. "Be sure to swing by Vacuo some time. Would be fun having a rematch." Bertilak offered.
"I like the sound of that." Elm answered, giving him a thumbs up.
The crowd cheered at the sight of their new champions, and Oriana was bouncing in her seat with excitement with Misty. "That was so awesome!" Oriana cheered.
"You see, the way Elm and Bertilak fought each other at the end? That was so cool!" Misty laughed.
The two smiled as they enjoyed the end of the tournament together, seeing the Huntsman and Huntresses honourably shaking hands as trophies were brought out for the victors.
Today was a very fun day.
The Deacon
With the Tournament ended, the Deacon walked down the steps of the Coliseum, speaking, shaking hands, signing signatures and taking pictures with the many people in the crowd on his way to congratulate Elm and Harriet on their victory. He continued on his way, then made his way inside of the private lounge beneath the Coliseum where the contestants would go to relax before and after a fight.
Inside there was lots of equipment to help them get ready as well before the big fight. Harriet was sitting down on a bench with an ice pack on her head, groaning as she rubbed it where she had a pretty mean bruise. "Gods, that one hurt. Celadon didn't hold back. I'll give him that." Harriet chuckled.
"It was a pretty close fight." Elm chuckled, scratching the back of her neck.
"It was. I was on the edge of my seat for a moment there." The Deacon admitted as he approached. The two Huntresses gasped, their eyes widening. They both stood up straight with their arms behind their backs.
"Sir. Forgive us. We didn't know you were there." Elm apologised, but the Deacon just chuckled.
"Please, let's drop the formalities. This is your day." The Deacon said as he approached them. "You've come a long way with your recovery. How does it feel to hear people cheering you on again?" He asked.
"Well, we still got some stink eye every now and then. But... it feels good." Harriet admitted with a small smile.
"Things are improving, and the lives that people like Nathaniel Killian ruined will improve as well. The two of you are shining proof of this fact. Vine would be proud of how far you've come." The Deacon explained, and even though they couldn't see his face behind that helmet, they could tell there was a kind smile to match his words.
"Thank you, sir." Harriet softly said with a smile.
"So. What're your plans for tonight?" The Deacon asked.
"Gods, I haven't even thought about it." Harriet chuckled.
"Oh, I have." Elm assured.
"Oh gods, you have?" Harriet asked with fear in her voice.
"What? My parties are dominant!" Elm said.
"I dunno about dominant... but they're great for you. You handle hangovers like a champ." Harriet grumbled.
"It'll be good for you, besides you already have a headache. You'll hardly notice a difference." Elm joked.
"Har-Har." Harriet groaned.
The Deacon laughed. "Well, enjoy yourselves. That's what's important. Remember, you've earned it." The Deacon said as he pressed his metal hands on their shoulders, looking at them both.
"Thank you, sir." Harriet said.
"Care to join us?" Elm asked.
"I'd love to, but alas." He said, swiftly gesturing to his helmet.
"Oh, yeah." Harriet chuckled.
"Wait, you don't have a little port for a straw?" Elm asked.
"I thought about designing that. Didn't really go according to plan when I couldn't get the thing out." The Deacon admitted, the three of them laughed at that. "And besides, this is your victory. Don't let me get in the way." The Deacon said as he walked away.
He walked down a hallway, seeing more security working hard, until he suddenly froze like a deer in headlights. Pyrrha and Coco were both walking over to greet him. "My, my! The Deacon himself." Coco chuckled, shaking his hand.
"I must say, sir. The amount of work you've done for all of us, the money you've funded so many important charities with? It's nothing short of incredible, and I can't help but thank you enough." Pyrrha said with such a kind smile on his face. "And... helping fund Amber's research into curing Noctis Putrida? As someone who fought alongside Cinder, I thi-"
Pyrrha's words faded into nothing in his head, and nothing started to come through. They could not tell beyond the helmet, but he was shellshocked, just staring at her, and hiding the trembling fear in his bones. Hearing his voice in the back of his mind, just repeating the same phrase repeatedly.
"Open your eyes."
"Open your eyes."
"Open your eyes."
Until he snapped out of it, jolting slightly. "-ow that Cinder would be so proud of everything that Amber has done."
The Deacon nodded, exhaling shakily for a moment, then recomposing himself. "Amber truly is a gifted friend of the Legion, and of all of us. I wish Cinder was still with us... so I could thank her for saving her life all those years ago. That girl... she's a treasure, she truly is." The Deacon said.
Pyrrha smiled.
"I couldn't have put it any better myself." Pyrrha said.
The Deacon shook her hand. His grip was quite firm as he shook Pyrrha's hand. "Thank you, both of you. You helped put on a wonderful show today." The Deacon said.
"We ever gonna get the legendary Deacon on our shows one day?" Coco asked, and the Deacon laughed.
"I like to keep you guessing." The Deacon charmingly answered, making Coco chuckle.
"Now, I'm sorry to keep you. I oughta meet up with some more... security consultants." The Deacon groaned, both Pyrrha and Coco groaned as well, rolling their eyes.
"Good luck." Coco chuckled, the two of them letting the Deacon go. The Masked Huntsman walked down the corridor, then went down another, and he felt a chill, knowing it was coming back.
He stormed into the nearby bathroom and he gripped the sink, panting. He couldn't bring himself to take his helmet off, afraid of what he would see. He instinctively reached into his pocket and pulled out his scroll, staring at that Anonymous Message again.
The one with the footage of Jaune and his family living a happy life.
"Stop... you're better than this..." He winced, shaking his head.
"Open your eyes..." Jaune's voice whispered in the back of his mind.
He stared at the reflection, suddenly seeing himself again, in that moment. He could not recognise his own face anymore, but he recognised Jaune so clearly. Eyes glowing bright purple, grabbing onto his face, and forcing him to watch. Holding his eyes open, and laughing in his ear, before whispering. "Open your eyes."
The Deacon could hear the screams of his friends being horrifically tortured.
And Tyrian's maniacal laughter as he enjoyed it. Remembering how Jaune tricked them into thinking he was breaking them out, only to lure them into a trap, one that ended with Tyrian brutally torturing them all.
And the whole time.
Jaune didn't just watch.
He forced the Deacon to watch them be tortured.
There was... so much blood.
The Deacon blinked, and was brought back to reality, his breath shaking as he stared at the person he had become. Not even a proper face... just a helmet... hiding himself from who he really is, for his actual face only would remind him of his pain.
But his heart was still hammering, and he could barely breathe as he hyperventilated. He grabbed onto his helmet, and suddenly air hissed from the vents, and he calmed his breathing down a bit. But as he stood there, he kept repeating the same phrase to himself, closing his eyes behind the helmet.
"You're better than this... you're better than this..."
He pressed his metal hand against the wall as he kept muttering that again and again. Until he opened his eyes... and found himself no longer in that bathroom. He was in a white plane of existence... one he was all too familiar with. "You are, aren't you?" The voice of Sun Wukong asked him.
He turned and saw him stood before him, smirking as he walked around, spinning Ruyi Jingu Bang through his fingers. His long blonde monkey tail flicking as he walked. "I mean... look at everything you've done for the past twenty-five years? You felt that anger, that desire for revenge. Payback... but you never went after him, did you?" Sun asked him.
"I..."
"That's right." Neptune agreed. "You chose to help people, always put their needs before your own. Because you're a Huntsman at heart, you always have been." He said with a big smile on his face, resting Tri-Hard across his shoulders. His blue hair flicked back with his golden goggles rested against his forehead.
"I know you wanted to make things right, to get back at him. But revenge wouldn't ever make things better, would it, mate?" Scarlet asked.
"None of us want that for you." Sage added, stood beside his boyfriend. The Deacon looked away, staring at his hands and seeing the blood on his hands, blood he never spilled, but still felt responsible for.
"But why does he get to have a happy ever after?" The voice of Russel asked him, appearing from the fog behind the Deacon, his blades tightly in his grasp. "He's the reason you're like this... why we're dead... and why you can't even look in the mirror."
"No... Tyrian did that..."
"Tyrian was just a mad dog." Sky Lark chuckled, shaking his head. "Some savage mutt that just wanted to make us suffer. He'd do whatever his master wanted him to do." Sky said.
"But Jaune? He lied to us. Tricked us, and made us suffer, made you watch." Dove said. "No matter how much he tortured us... how much pain Tyrian put us through. That betrayal cut deeper than anything Tyrian did to us."
The Deacon looked away and pressed his hands against his head.
"The cycle of revenge cannot continue, you know that." Neptune said to him.
"But why do you have to continue to suffer every single day? Why is it so unfair that he got away? Adam didn't, he's rotting in a cell. Why isn't Jaune?" Sky Lark asked.
"Just because the Invincible Girl is married to him? Even she can't stop the punishment he must face for what he did to us." Dove stated with anger in his voice.
"Tyrian is dead. Let it end there." Sage begged.
"Let us rest." Scarlet also said.
But then... they all spoke at the same time.
"What... would... we... do?"
Suddenly the Deacon opened his eyes, finding himself back in reality, staring at the looping footage of Jaune sent by that anonymous person. He tightened his grip on his scroll.
And in a moment of vengeful rage.
He crushed the scroll in his metal palm.
Blake
In the outskirts of Menagerie...
There was the Industrial Sector, mostly Warehouses, where lots of materials were being stored. This was a newer sector of Menagerie. Now that the Grimm were extinct, it was now possible for developments to expand where it was once a danger.
Inside of one of these Warehouses, were the thinning remnants of the Feral Ones. They were not the massive threat to the world that they were twenty-five years ago, but a threat nonetheless. There were roughly sixteen Feral Ones in here, and there were loading high yield explosives in crates aboard trucks, preparing them to be moved somewhere. "Alright! This one is ready to go! Get it to the station!" The Feral One ordered to the driver, and the vehicle roared off.
As the vehicles sped away, suddenly they heard a thud on the roof above them. The man looked up, and he drew his pistol. Everyone was now on high alert as they looked around the source. "Hey!" A Feral One yelled, aiming his machine gun outside of the Warehouse, and stood out in the open, was Blake Belladonna. Her black hair blew in the wind, as did the back of her blindfold.
"Drop your weapons and turn yourselves in." Blake commanded.
The Feral Ones snarled as they aimed at her. "Our message will be heard. The White Fang abandoned what the Faunus stood for, abandoned what we should be. We are the Dominant Race on this planet, and we will make Humanity fear our strength." The Feral One Captain stated.
"And you betrayed us more than anyone. Marrying a Human? Being a mother to a human child? You know nothing of what it means to be Faunus." Another Feral One snarled.
Blake sighed.
"I take it that's a no?" she asked.
Suddenly Yang erupted through the roof, punching the Feral One in the head so hard that it knocked him unconscious. She was not alone either, as Ilia slid past and wrapped Lightning Lash around the leg of another soldier, tripping him up. She yanked the man towards her and knocked him out with her boot, resting her weapon on her shoulder.
"Last chance, everyone. Turn yourselves in. Otherwise, we're gonna have to leave you all with some pretty mean bruises to heal in prison. I know what I'd do." Ilia stated, shrugging her shoulders.
"Yeah, I'm sure you do." The Captain suddenly clicked a button on his scroll and drew his gun, firing at Blake, but she vanished into thin air. And suddenly she swung around and kicked the Captain in the face, knocking him to the ground. Suddenly one of the crates exploded, and an old Paladin Drone emerged from it. The Paladin was hardly in the best shape. Rust had claimed it and it was barely moving correctly, but even an outdated Paladin was still a threat.
The Paladin suddenly unleashed a storm of bullets towards them. With two down, they still had another fourteen to take down, alongside a Paladin now.
Easy odds.
Yang blasted into the air, firing shells loaded with lightning dust to stun them, the shells hit three of them, knocking them unconscious, then she landed on the wall then blasted off it, grabbing another Soldier by the collar and slamming him across the floor, leaving him unconscious and hurting. The Paladin suddenly charged towards Yang and smashed her through the wall.
Yang bounced backwards, then slid across the dirt, switching to her missiles, launching the shrieking projectiles towards the Paladin. It raised its heavily armoured arm, blocking the explosions whilst firing more bullets towards her, but she used the recoil of Ember Celica as a speed boost, effortlessly avoiding the bullets.
Now only ten remained inside.
Blake dodged the incoming swings of another soldier who was using an old Black Gallows baton, charged with electricity. She ducked, then crossed Gambol Shroud over, before flipping backwards and kicking him up into his jaw, knocking him unconscious. Blake then sprinted forward, and swung herself around the room and roundhouse kicked another soldier into the wall, and loaded her non-lethal rounds into her pistol.
She fired three times, taking down three more soldiers instantly, leaving them wheezing on the floor as the voltage made them jolt on the ground.
Five left.
Ilia slashed Lightning Lash across one light hanging from above, spraying golden sparks in front of her, and blinding the last five soldiers. She and Blake both rushed forward, and Ilia wrapped the electrified whip around another soldier, shocking him until he was unconscious. She dodged the shotgun of another, then jumped onto him, wrapping her legs around his head and smashing him against the floor. She got up fast and locked a soldier's arm and pinned her to the floor, forcing her to release her weapon, before knocking her out with her fist.
Blake finished the last two off, deflecting incoming bullets, and yanking a ceiling fan down between her and one soldier, then wrapping the ribbon of her grappling hook around one soldier's neck, choking him, and firing a stun round into the one behind her. She pulled the soldier towards her and jumped into the air, spinning and kicking him in the side of the head, leaving him just as unconscious as everyone else.
Blake looked around. "Where's Yang?"
Outside, Yang continued to battle the Paladin, which continued to fire on her, only for her to blast a shell into its leg. The Paladin dropped to one knee and smashed its arm into the ground. It continued to spray bullets desperately, only for Yang to jump on top of its head, and start relentlessly firing shells into its inner workings.
"I! HOPE! YOU'RE! HUN-GRY!" Yang yelled as she fired shells in between each syllable until the Paladin went critical. She jumped away, and the machine exploded behind her. She smirked and flicked her ponytail, smirking proudly.
A few moments later, the White Fang arrived to take the Feral Ones into custody, and Yang stood with Blake and Ilia. They looked at the crates storing high explosives, military grade ones. "These are old Black Gallows bombs. Artillery like this wouldn't have been destroyed in the Hanging. Still usable... must have been salvaging what they could from the old wrecks. Thought we got all of them." Blake sighed.
"Unless some Black Market dealers got their hands on some and sold them to the Feral Ones." Yang suggested.
"It's possible. Black Market spiked after Salem's death." Ilia agreed.
"Before you landed on the roof, Yang? I heard them talk about a station... we need to track that truck, figure out where it's going. We don't know how many explosives they have or what they're gonna be using it for. But my money is on them attacking Menagerie. We gotta stop them." Blake explained.
"I'm on it. I'll get my spies out searching for the trucks. We'll search every station." Ilia assured.
Blake walked over to Yang, sighing as she gave her a hug. "Nearly there, Blake. Soon this damned Civil War will be over." Yang assured.
"I feel like it ended years ago... just some terrorists are all that remain now... but yeah... I hope this ends soon." Blake sighed, pressing her head against Yang's.
Peace was within sight... all they had to do was stop the Feral Ones here and now.
After that?
Nothing could get in their way after that.
Just peace.