Ruby
Ruby yells, swinging Crescent Rose straight at Fear as he attacks her, cackling maniacally as he attacks. Formido Falcem just misses her as she hops over it and then dashes into her Petal Form behind him, striking him in the back. He snarls with pain, staggering forward and then spinning round with his Scythe held outwards, just narrowly missing her cheek when he attacked. Blake sprints at Fear and she jumps onto his chest and stabs into his rotten ribs with Gambol Shroud, the Katana's blade tears straight through his rotten skin and flesh and she holds on as the tall Knight staggers around with her holding onto his bones. Fear grabs her and throws her from his chest and he goes to unleash his fear toxin onto her, until Yang jumps in from out of nowhere, punching Fear in the face with her cybernetic fist. The punch is so powerful that it makes an almighty bang upon impact, cracking his jaw, causing it to become dislocated. He staggers back and grabs his jaw, his eyes widen when Weiss shoots towards him and she slams her sword straight into his chest.
He impact throws Fear tumbling backwards. Team R.W.B.Y stand in formation, staring at the Knight as he gets back up, spinning Formido Falcem through his fingers. He grins and draws his Crossbow with one hand, aiming it directly at them and firing straight at them. Blake leaps into the air and performs a back-flip as she cuts the bolt in half mid-flight. Fear stands up slowly and glares at them as Team R.W.B.Y stand before him. Yang readies Ember Celica and she smiles with an excited look in her eyes, just like she always did. Blake holds Gambol Shroud, dual-wielding both the sheath and her Katana with her hair blowing in the wind. Weiss stands with perfect form, Myrtenaster pointed at him as she stands next to Ruby, her rose petals parting from her cape that blows with their hair. Fear chuckles as he stands tall, staring at them. "Of all the warriors I have faced through the years..." Fear admits as he looks at them. "None have been as defiant as you four." He says, almost proudly, as he looks at his foes.
"Don't expect that to change – because we're Team Frickin' R.W.B.Y." Yang replies, even prouder than Fear was when he complimented them. Fear stands there and Loss lands next to him and Death stands with him as well. If Fury had not gone berserk, he would have formed here as well, however his form is absent from this battle. Tyrian turns, trying to figure out where Neo has gone.
But Neo has run off as well, just like the other mercenaries. He grits his teeth with anger after he notices that Hazel has joined their side as well.
He is the only one left that appears to still remain loyal to Salem or is not a coward. Tyrian looks at them all with fear, departing and fleeing from them all when he sees Team J.N.R, Team C.F.V.Y, Sun, Neptune, Kassius, Kragen, Oscar and Qrow stood before them all, ready to fight them all.
Death stands in the middle with Ferrum Arctus drawn and he points the blade at them.
Cinder lands with them as well, and Hazel approaches as well, holding his curved blade in his hand, Sun looks at him with a confused look. But he is not about to have them lose another ally in this fight. Jaune holds his shield up, front foot forward and his grip tight as he stares at the Knights. Nora holds Magnhild in its hammer form as she stares at them with a gritted grin on her face, giggling at the Knights as she stares. Ren points Stormflower at the Knights with a stern look in his eyes, ready to fight them all. Kassius flicks his swords upwards so then the blades extend and he stands with Yang, his eyes focused on them as well. Sun spins Ruyi Jingu Bang through his fingers and he laughs as he stands to Blake's shoulder, and Neptune aims his rifle at them with his yellow goggles pulled over his eyes. Team C.F.V.Y stands at the ready, Coco's chaingun pointed at Death and she pits a toothpick from her mouth, smirking at them. Yatsuhashi holds his huge bronze Sword in both hands, glaring at them by Coco's side. Velvet raises her fists, her bunny ears bouncing every now and then as she stands there and Fox extends his red Tonfas.
Kragen's silver eyes glow bright as he charges his energy into his staff, looking up at Salem as she looks down at him, her eyes glowing bright red as she charges the Relics up. Oscar walks over to Ruby's side and he smiles, staring at the enemy as well, the enemies he met before they became the Spectral Knights that they are now. Qrow spins his sword round, letting the cogs inside churn round at times and his eyes are focused on Death, the one that killed Summer. Cinder's black dress glows as orange energy passes through it, and she looks to her side and sees Hazel there, his dagger in his massive hand, and he looks at her with a smile. She then looks at Kassius and all he does is nod, and she nods back.
It's strange...but with them...Cinder actually feels like she is part of a team, not a pawn in someone else's game.
Salem clenches her hand into a fist when she sees the two traitors, and that everyone else has fled her side, even Tyrian has fled simply because the odds of success are too great. The only allies she has left that are standing by her side are Death, Fear and Loss, who stand ready to fight every single one of them. They fought them once before, but this time...they know how to fight the Knights.
And there are more of them this time.
The only lives on the line are their own.
Salem growls with anger and she stares at the Knights. "Kill them! I must activate the Relics whilst I still can! There is still time!" Salem yells, the lightning bursts from the Relics as the black shadows pour from her skin and upon them, beginning to activate them. Before Ruby can even ask her to, Cinder blasts into the air and flies towards Salem. The Dark Queen gasps and turns, seeing Cinder launching herself straight at her and she slams her fist into Salem's cheek, knocking her backwards slightly. But Salem has her own powers, she channels what appears to be red lightning through her fingers and she blasts it straight at Cinder. Cinder flies past the red lightning bolt and continues to attack her.
Death is the first to attack, firing the black lightning from Ferrum Arctus straight at his enemies. They all scatter and charge towards them. Qrow sprints at Death, yelling with anger and jumping straight at him, striking his black blade with his sword with all his might. The impact creates a deafening bang and he keeps on attacking, Qrow slashes across his armour but the darkness just repairs it immediately. Qrow grits his teeth with anger as he fights, but Ruby has come to help as well, darting towards the Knight of Death to slash him with Crescent Rose. Death spins round and he extends his wings, launching Fatal Feathers at her. She darts into Petal Form and manages to avoid them, spinning round and transforming back into her human form, bringing the scythe down onto his arm. She slices the arm off, but the smoke reattaches it before it could fall off. Death grabs Ruby by her throat and then throws her across the room.
Ruby slams the scythe down into the ground to slow down, and while she does that she pulls the trigger of her sniper rifle, firing bullets straight at Death. Death deflects them with great agility with his sword and then turns fast to stop the blade of Qrow's from even touching him. He scrapes Ferrum Arctus across his sword and then kicks him in the chest. Kragen jumps in past Qrow and he smacks his staff charged with Silver Eyed power across Death's helmet, making him stagger back. Death growls and the plates of metal that cover his head pull back in the darkness, revealing his burning skull inside. The skull roars demonically at Kragen, the eyes glow bright red as he fights so fast and aggressively.
Death swings Ferrum Arctus upwards and impacts the staff, throwing Kragen high in the air.
Ruby turns her head and sees her team are challenging Fear again; he is swinging his scythe extremely fast at them, Weiss bounces around him by using her glyphs to keep moving. He points at her and forms the same sort of Crows that serve the Leshen, since the Lord of the Wood serves him as one of his soldiers. Blake's eyes widen and she gasps, rolling out of the path of the cawing Crows, and Sun stands there, spinning Ruyi Jingu Bang round extremely fast to stop them from getting close enough. He rushes towards Fear and slams his staff against the back of the Knight's leg to make his knee bend slightly, then he swings straight up and hits his chin, making the Knight grunt. Fear growls and he grabs Sun by the face, pulling him from the floor and he slams him straight into the ground. He then kicks him up in the air and spins round to kick him in the side in mid-air, sending him flying.
Ruby grits her teeth with anger and she sprints towards Fear, transforming into Petals as she flies towards him. But when time slows, her petal form slows as well, and Oscar sprints with her petal dash towards Fear. He runs under her Petal form and jumps right at Fear. He pulls his fist back and delivers a hard punch right into his head; he recoils back with a bark and falls back slightly. Ruby forms and slashes right across his chest and he roars with pain as smoke pours from his form, he grits his teeth and swings with Formido Falcem. Yang grits her teeth and she catches the Scythe with her Cybernetic hand and then punches him straight in the chest whilst firing Ember Celica into him.
Coco pulls the triggers all the way back on her Chaingun as she shoots at Loss, who is sprinting at great speeds around her to dodge the bullets. She then throws herself at Coco so hard it knocks the girl off her feet. She sighs with annoyance, and retracts her Chaingun back into its handbag form, swinging round and striking the Knight across the face. Loss snarls and Coco kicks her in the lower belly to make her recoil as she brings the bag up into her jaw. Hazel roars as he swings his Dagger right at her but Loss ducks down and grabs his muscular arm and pushes down forcefully with her foot, throwing the man over her shoulder, despite his much bigger size it seems to be no problem for her. She picks her Tonfas back up and brings them down towards him, but he rolls out of the way at the perfect moment, the blades stab into the ground just as he moves.
Jaune runs at Loss and slams his shield against her side to push her, she may be the smallest of the Knights, but she is still taller than Jaune is. Only a little bit smaller than Hazel is, in fact, she is pushed back across the floor and she stares at him, her eyes glow bright blue behind her veil of shadows. She then rolls across his shield and then lands behind him, kicking him in the back with force. Jaune yelps, thrown back and slamming against the wall, he looks at her and he sighs. "Why do I always get my butt kicked by Girls?" He groans, standing back up after picking Crocea Mors back up.
Cinder flies towards Salem, Nora helping as well as she jumps and Cinder catches her hand. Cinder builds up the crazed girl's momentum up and she throws her towards Salem. Nora guffaws as she blasts at Salem, hammer over her head. Salem's eyes widen and Nora smashes Salem from where she has been floating the whole time, knocking her off and crashing down onto the ground beside them. The Relics remain orbiting where she was once at, sparks of lightning still bolt out from the Relics. Salem turns and begins to use her Telekinesis to good use, lifting rocks from the ground and throwing them straight at Nora. Nora shatters one of them with Magnhild. "Yeah!" Nora cheers, until a second one cuts her off and she is thrown back from the impact.
Cinder yells as she flies right at Salem and slams into her side. Salem grabs the girl by her long black hair and throws her across the room, charging the red lightning through the black veins she has across her body. She blasts the red energy straight at her and she keeps on moving, deflecting it with her Fall Maiden Powers. Her dress glows orange as she forms dust from her ring and launches it all directly at Salem. Salem creates a shroud of shadows around her body that makes the glass completely vaporise upon contact and she darts towards Cinder. She slashes with her hands at her, her nails extend into claws and her eyes glow bright red as she fights. The bladed nails slice across her aura and Cinder throws herself backwards to avoid the monstrous Salem's claws.
Death strikes at Qrow over and over again with Ferrum Arctus, he and Kragen have made what appears to be no damage to him. Ren sprints over to assist, firing Stormflower at the armoured monster but the bullets also have no effect. Death charges the black lightning across his blade and then spins around, creating a line of dark energy that knocks Kragen and Ren back onto the floor. Qrow stands back up and he swings at Death with even more strength. He stands there and he looks at Death, then at something he remembers.
His eyes widen after realising.
When he fought Death back at Mistral, he stood underneath a lamppost and he was able to do damage to him when he was underneath it. Light stops his regenerating abilities somehow...He looks around and then he sees the Spotlights that are still online and can be turned if somebody can get to them. Velvet and Yatsuhashi have been helping Coco and Hazel fight Loss as she slashes at them with those Tonfas. Yatsuhashi roars as he holds his sword above his head and brings it down at Loss, only just missing her when she rolls backwards. "Velvet!" Qrow yells, before getting kicked in the chest by the Knight of Death.
Velvet gasps upon hearing her name and she turns to see Qrow standing back up as Kragen sprints at Death, thwacking his staff against the Knight's head. Her eyes are wide when she sees Qrow looking at her. He points with his sword at the Spotlight that is the easiest to get to, just takes some skilled climbing is all, something she is luckily quite good at. "The Spotlight! Shine it on Death! We may be able to beat him that way!" Qrow calls, blocking the attack from Death as he swings at him with a roar. Velvet's brown eyes look up to the Spotlight and then she looks at Qrow again. She smiles and nods, running towards the rocks that she needs to climb across to get up there.
Neptune stabs Trishula into Fear's ribs and his hair glows brighter as he channels electricity through his body and into the metal. Fear howls with pain as the electricity cooks inside of his undead body, his body shaking erratically as he stands there. Weiss yells, launching straight for Fear and she stabs him right through the temple. The blade of Myrtenaster punctures through the skull and sticks out the other side, but it has no effect on him other than he laughs at her. "Nice try!" Fear laughs, grabbing Neptune and ripping him from his weapon and smashing him into a rock, before he grabs her by hair and throws her onto the same rock. Weiss groans with pain, but she cannot lay there forever, her eyes widen when she sees him jumping towards her with his wings extended, about to stab Formido Falcem into her heart.
Yang leaps at Fear and wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him back with all her might and he releases the Scythe, it lands right next to Weiss' head, shocking her from how close it was to hitting her. Yang yells with anger as she fires Ember Celica over and over again into his neck to try and do as much damage to him as she can. He staggers back and she grabs his head with her cybernetic hand and she pulls back as hard as she can. Kassius sprints at Fear and stabs both blades into his ribs and he pushes him with Yang to help her take him down. She screams as she pushes his head straight down, snapping the spine and causing his head to hang back by strands of skin that are still connected to the rest of his body. She pushes her foot against his back and jumps away from him, landing on both feet. Kassius rips Lash Equinox from his chest and he jumps into the air and slashes both of his arms off and then lands beside Yang. Fear stands there, supposedly he should be death.
Until they notice that is arms are still active, and as if it is from some sort of horror movie, the hands crawl across the floor and return to his body. They climb up his body and then the shoulders return to where they should be on the body. The bones fuse back together and the muscles interlink with one another as well. The arms crunch as he moves them, and then he reaches back to his head and grabs his own skull, pulling it back up and reattaching it to his head. He cracks his neck and he stares at them with a smirk. "Not bad..." He admits, twisting his neck as he looks at her, he then holds his hand out and his fingers stretch and they wrap around his Scythe and he pulls it back to his hand and his body. He slams it down and draws his Crossbow in one hand and points it at them. He winks as he smirks. "But not good enough." Fear states with that cruel smile on his face.
"You talk too much, Fear!" Ruby yells, jumping at him and stabbing Crescent Rose into his back and pulling him back, and Oscar sprints back and jumps straight at Fear and punches him in the head. He staggers away and he growls with anger, holding Formido Falcem behind his back when he focuses on them. His eyes glow bright gold and his body begins to move in an unnatural way. He creates a horrific howl as his jaw hangs far lower than it naturally should do, and he suddenly bolts towards them, zigzagging as he slashes at them and knocks them all onto the floor. He decelerates and stands where they fell, smiling as always as he stands above them.
He aims his Crossbow at Blake and he launches an arrow.
The arrow lodges right into her eye socket and she gasps with pain, her body becomes ridged, blood leaks from her punctured eye. Fear smirks as her body falls forward.
Until her body vanishes.
His eyes widen and Blake yells as she jumps at him from behind, managing to trick the trickster and she slashes him across the face with Gambol Shroud. He staggers back and straight into the fist of Yang and Kassius who both hit him with their cybernetic fists.
Yatsuhashi roars as he swings towards her with his sword, Loss ducks down and she punches him in the gut, making the huge man grunt. But he grabs her by the neck with his other hand and swings round with all his might and throws her into the wall. Hazel punches her as she flies towards him and knocks her onto the ground. She looks up at him and grits her teeth behind the veil she wears, she swipes her leg across Hazel's and when he falls she punches him down into the floor, creating one loud crack from the impact. She draws her bow and aims it straight at Yatsuhashi and she releases the arrow. He lifts his sword up and the arrow snaps when bouncing off his bronze sword. Loss' attention is caught though, when she spots Velvet in the corner of her eye as she climbs up the side of the rocks to get to the Spotlight that she aims to use against Death. Her eyes widen and she forms a second arrow and aims it right at her. Fox's eyes widen and he sprints at Loss and tackles her into the floor just as she fires, the arrow shoots just through Velvet's long brown hair, making her gasp with shock from how close that was.
Loss slams her elbow into Fox's face to make him release her and then she stands back up, picking her Bow up and snapping it in two so then they are in their Tonfa Form. She spins round and slashes at Fox, but he deflects her Tonfa with his red one. He has to keep blocking with his blades to stop her from getting him with her own ones. Sparks erupt from every single impact as she advances on him. She kicks him across the head and he grunts with pain, she then slashes across his aura. Coco yells at her, aiming her Chaingun at Loss. "Hey!" Coco yells, but Loss turns and she senses something in Coco that she knows she can use against the headstrong girl. She stares at her and then pulls the veil back, Hazel's eyes widen and he fails to warn her in time.
"Don't look into her eyes!" He warns, but Coco gasps and feels the tears leak from her eyes as she sees the large blue eyes meeting her coffee coloured ones. She whimpers with sorry when Loss transforms into something else as she stands there. A younger but just as beautiful girl, looks very similar to Coco appears with gentle coffee coloured eyes. She looks at Coco and she falls to her knees with anguish.
"Jasmine..." She gasps with sadness when she sees her.
Jasmine Adel, Coco's baby sister. She lost her sister when she was trying to help her from some Grimm, but a pack of Beowulves attacked her sister and killed her right in front of her eyes. It still breaks her heart to see her little sister's face, because she could not save her life. It is also why she is so determined to save the lives of other people, to hope she can fill that hole in her life she never had. Yatsuhashi looks at her with confused eyes. "Coco?" He asks her with concern.
"It's Loss!" Hazel yells, drawing his blade. "She can create hallucinations when she makes someone look into her eyes! Make you see the things that make you crumple with sadness!" Hazel explains to Yatsuhashi, and something makes him even angrier than before. He cares deeply for Coco, that much is clear. He stares at Loss with anger, knowing she is torturing her this way for no other reason. He clutches onto his sword tight and he sprints at Loss.
"Leave her alone!" Yatsuhashi roars as he slashes across Loss' chest, knocking her back, Hazel thrusts forward and stabs her through the back and lifts her into the air. He roars as he slams her down to the floor. Loss presses her hand against the floor as she gets back up, her wounds slowly healing back up, but Yatsuhashi attacks again, swinging his sword straight at her and knocking her back again when he impacts his sword against her. Fox charges at Loss as well, leaping towards her and punching her in the back as Yatsuhashi slices her with his bronze blade.
Coco remains on her knees in a frozen state, tears drip from her eyes and she still sees her little sister walking towards her. Jasmine smiles, caressing Coco's cheek with her hand as she stands there. "It's okay, Coco..." Jasmine whispers to her, and Coco sniffles as she looks at her sister.
"I'm so – so sorry." Coco weeps. "I...I failed you." Coco sniffs. Jasmine caresses her cheek with a smile as she looks at her with that smile of hers. Very similar to the one that Coco has in fact. Jasmine looks at her glasses, and it seems like she picks them up for her and puts them in her hands, but that is not in fact Jasmine.
It is Jaune who is putting the Glasses in her hands. "You can do this." She says, her voice transforming into Jaune's and then the hallucination fades and then she gasps when she sees Jaune crouched down before her. She then looks at the glasses and then at him, he smiles and he nods, because he has been on the receiving end of Loss' powers before as well. She sniffs and brings her courage back, wiping the tear from her eye, and standing back up. She puts her Sunglasses back on and she holds her Chaingun tight.
Loss kicks Yatsuhashi in the head and she aims her Bow at Velvet again and fires, launching an arrow straight towards her. Velvet reaches up and the arrow pierces through her aura and into her calf. She wails with agony from the feeling of that arrowhead breaking the skin and puncturing through the muscles in her leg. Tears weep from her eyes and she cries out, holding onto the rocks as best as she can. She keeps on climbing however, and the action makes Yatsuhashi and Fox go berserk, fighting harder and harder as she lowers the bow.
Fox jumps at her and he punches down the back of her head and then uppercuts her with his other fist.
Coco's eyes widen with concern when she heard Velvet's cry of pain.
Her eyes narrow with anger.
"Alright – I don't like her." Coco snarls as she activates the barrels. "Hey bitch!" Coco shouts, enraged with the cruel hallucination that Loss placed on her. And for hurting precious little Velvet. Loss has yet again gained the upper hand against Yatsuhashi, Hazel and Fox, jumping in the air and kicking Yatsuhashi up the jaw. She spins round and slashes Fox and Hazel across the chest to knock them over. She turns and her eyes widen behind the veil. "Kiss this." She snarls, firing all the barrels at once.
The bullets impact her and they pin her against the wall as she shoots her over and over again, gritted teeth constantly.
Death swings his sword at Qrow and their blades impact harder and harder, the louder bangs echo further across the cavern, sparks flashing between them as they fight one another. Death is the one advancing against Qrow right now, Ren and Kragen are still getting back, but it seems that Qrow wants this fight all to himself. Qrow steps back and watches Death's every move, and he immediately swings towards Qrow and he blocks with his sword, every single one he keeps on parrying but his counter attacks mean nothing against him.
Death and Qrow slam their swords against each other and they forcefully push against each other, staring at one another, locked in this moment. Qrow grits his teeth with anger as he pushes against Death's strength, and just like Mistral, Death is pushing him down towards the ground. Death glares at him as he starts to win, but Qrow breathes deep and then he pushes against the blade and something happens.
He stands back up slowly, pushing harder against Ferrum Arctus and it seems to actually surprise Death, he looks at how Qrow is managing this with confusion. Death glares at Qrow and then he speaks from behind the helmet. "Why do you keep fighting for a world already lost?" Death snarls with anger. "This world is over! Nothing will stop that from changing!" He roars. "I killed your beloved Summer Rose; I took the eye of your dear Daughter." He says coldly, and Ruby's eye widens, she slowly turns her head when she hears Death say that with shock.
She looks at Death and Qrow, unable to unheard what was just said. "You have nothing left!" Death snarls. Qrow's eyes widen with anger.
"I have nothing left?" He shouts, twisting his sword round Ferrum Arctus and slashing up the side of Death's head. A deep gash is given to his head, but the shadows immediately repair the damage. "I know who you are Death! What you've done!" He yells. Death swings at Qrow and he keeps on backing up from the Knight.
Death swings harder and Qrow keeps on taunting him as he fights. "Your name is Krekras Blackridge!" Qrow begins as he fights him. "You were a Vanguard! A hero!" Qrow shouts, harder and more aggressive this time.
Velvet clambers up there and she just manages to get up there, grabbing onto the Spotlight and she moves it. Her keeps her hand on her calf where the arrow is still lodged, pulling herself up there. She holds onto the Spotlight.
Qrow keeps on striking Ferrum Arctus with his sword, and Death keeps on advancing. "Look at yourself! And you claim I have nothing left? You are nothing like the man you used to be!" He roars.
Velvet turns the Spotlight onto Death, and Death has a painful reaction to it. He swung at Qrow, but then the light impacts him and Death roars with pain from the light that shines upon his shadows. He staggers back, shielding his head with his hand and then he looks at his hand with fear as he sees the darkness receding on his armoured hand, revealing the weakened Isomacium underneath. The strength has been sacrificed by the darkness that would regenerate the damage.
Meaning they can now do some damage to Death.
Death creates a pained groan as he looks at his hand.
Qrow shouts, swinging across Death's chest and the metal slices open and no shadows repair the damage. He goes for a second attack but Death grabs him and throws him onto the floor. Qrow slides across the ground, but swiftly gets back up, watching as Death staggers around, trying to avoid the light that weakens him, and Velvet keeps on aiming the Spotlight on the Knight of Death. Qrow goes to attack and Death still swings at him and hits the blade, keeping his other hand up to shield the light that shines on him. Qrow however has now got the advantage.
He jumps at him and slashes across his arm and then across his chest, over and over again to do as much damage as he can. Death's grunts become more and more enflamed with rage as he staggers back, becoming feral growls. The metal plates slide back across his head and the burning Skull roars at Qrow as Death starts to move at impossibly fast speeds. He slashes over and over again at Qrow, and he deflects the sword attacks from Death with his own sword as Death pins him into the statue that holds the Relics. Qrow transforms into his Crow form to escape Death and returns behind him. Death slashes through the leg of the Statue and he immediately goes to attack Qrow.
He is making mistakes, just striking at the air now, no longer trying to shield himself from the light, his eyes have become accustomed to it, but he is still susceptible to damage. And yet he is still extremely dangerous, perhaps more dangerous than he was before. Qrow keeps on guarding himself with the sword he carries, waiting for the opportunity to jab him with the blade of his sword, sparks erupt from the weakened Isomacium and he slashes across the Knight's closed helmet and he snarls with anger.
Death staggers back and stares at Qrow.
"You're the one with nothing left!" Qrow roars. Qrow's sword folds down and the barrel of his cannon inside points straight at Death's chest. He yells as he fires it and Death is flown backwards from the impact, roaring as he falls back.
Ruby watches and she smiles as she realises that they are gaining the upper hand against the Knights. Fear yells as he jumps at Ruby and brings the Scythe down towards her, she darts aside and narrowly avoids it. Ren sprints over to them and he jumps onto Fear's back, stabbing the blades of Stormflower into his shoulder blades, pulling back with all his strength. Kragen rushes in as well and slams his Staff across the head of Fear, but Fear howls as he spins his Scythe through his fingers, building up the Fear Toxin and slamming the Scythe down with force.
The cloud of gas erupts and Blake jumps into the air, same as Sun does. Sun clasps his hands together and sends his Via Sun forms rushing over to Fear, they throw themselves into his much taller body and they hold him in place. Sun nods at Blake and she nods back, landing on a rock and Yang stands there, nodding to her. She throws her grappling hook to Yang and she sprints, just like they did when they were in the Vytal Tournament and when they fought Roman Torchwick in the highway. Blake strains as she throws Yang towards Fear. Fear struggles to free himself from the restraint of the two Via Sun that hold him there, growling with anger. He looks ahead, and his golden eyes widen with disbelief when Blake throws her towards him. Yang yells, swinging her Cybernetic Fist straight into his face, so hard it throws him backwards and he tumbles.
Some of them were affected by the Gas, however, since they did not jump away from it. Ruby is amongst them, and she looks around with confusion as the area transforms before her very eyes. The ground shatters into fragments that form into titanic Charred Trees that dwarf her. Her eye widens with disbelief when she sees the huge trees, the screeches of pain and the Nuckelavee's roars that echo. She then sees her foe there, but it is not Fear.
In the form of Roman Torchwick. "Hey there, Little Red Riding Hood! Wanna play?" He asks her with a smirk, letting Melodic Cudgel swing round his finger, tilting his hat to her. Ruby holds Crescent Rose in her hands as she stands there, staring at Torchwick as he glares at her.
Weiss on the other hand stands up, and her Fear Environment is different, she sees her father standing up after being knocked over. He glares at but she does not yet realise that it is just Fear, appearing as her fear.
Neptune stands on the rocks that are above where the gas is, it will not last forever, they know this. Yang gasps, and she sees that Kassius is down there as well.
Kassius stumbles around, seeing that he is in his old house. He holds Lash Equinox in his hands, and his eyes widen when he sees the coat hanger and the coats transform. "There was once a Crooked Man!" The demonic voice of Mr Hyde speaks, it seems that the Fear Gas turns Hyde into his pure evil form, unlike the Flawed Being that he truly is. The monster he would see in his nightmares when he was a child. He holds his cane in one hand and walks towards him, bones cracking as he moves, head twitching constantly. He suddenly rushes towards Kassius, and he crosses his swords when Hyde attacks, smashing him in the chest with the Cane. Kassius is thrown back from the impact.
Ruby flies back, from a similar impact that Torchwick hit her with. Little do the three of them realise that Fear actually struck them all in one hit, but they are all seeing something different entirely. She was shot in the chest by Melodic Cudgel, and Roman chuckles menacingly as he stands there. Ruby groans with pain, her hand pressed to her head, and she stares at Roman. Even in the afterlife, she still needs to fight him.
Weiss saw something else, she saw her father striking her and she hit the floor, she whimpers with pain, her hand touching the red handprint on her cheek. "What a disappointment you are, you are no Schnee." Jacques snarls as he glares at her. Weiss narrows her eyes and she picks up her dust Crystal that fell from her belt and she covers Myrtenaster with the red dust. She yells as she swings it and the fire blasts into him.
He bursts into crows, and she frees herself from her Nightmare Environment, the Schnee Manor collapses around her and she stands back up, seeing Fear stood where he was stood, fire burning on his shoulders.
When Kassius sees Mr Hyde stood there, the clothes that he wears have fire burning on it in places as he walks around, keeping his glowing red eyes on him. "Come on! Let me take control for a bit, dear old Kassius?" Hyde asks Kassius as he walks around Kassius, using his Walking Cane as he walks around him. Kassius glares at the Demonic Being with anger in his eyes.
"Never thought I'd say it – but this is not you, Hyde! It's his gas, bringing out the worst in you!" Kassius shouts to his Alternate Personality and Hyde laughs.
"I know! Isn't it fantastic?" He laughs maniacally and Kassius sighs.
"So what now?" Kassius asks.
"Hmm? Why don't we start with you letting me take over your body?" Hyde asks him.
"So you can kill my friends?" Kassius questions.
"Of course not!" He lies as he walks, still being manipulated by the Fear Gas. Kassius clenches his hands into fists as he stands there.
"Come on Red!" Torchwick laughs, aiming Melodic Cudgel at Ruby as he paces around her. Ruby scowls as she holds Crescent Rose tight, walking amongst the Charred Trees in the mysterious forest that haunts her mind.
"Get out of my head, Torchwick!" She demands.
"Don't make me beg! Let me have a go at using that Scythe of yours! It's awesome!" Roman giggles as he looks at it.
"What's so bad about that Cane of yours?" Ruby scoffs.
"Oh this?" Roman chuckles, looking at Melodic Cudgel. "Oh I absolutely adore Melodic Cudgel! But didn't you say it is so much fun seeing other weapons than just your own?" Roman states, remembering Ruby's personal memories with that menacing smirk of his. Ruby grits her teeth and she leaps at Roman, and Kassius jumps at Hyde.
Fear smirks and he swings round with Formido Falcem and knocks them both out of the air before they can get to him. They look around as their fear environments crumble away and they return back to the real world. Hands pressed against their heads after the ordeal is over and the gas has faded away from them. Fear spins Formido Falcem round and slams it down with a smirk.
Oscar looks at Fear with confusion, and he is waiting for them to make their next move, pacing back and forth as he stares at them all. "Nothing's working!" Blake claims.
Neptune looks across the way and his eyes widen when a mad idea appears on him. He sees Nora helping Cinder fight Salem, Salem is still blasting red lightning bolts at them where she floats. Cinder channels the power of lightning itself across her body, just like how Amber used to when they fought her. She also ignites the flames in her hand and then blasts them into Salem's shoulder. Salem pushes her shoulder into it as she throws herself into Cinder. Salem grabs Cinder by the neck and slams her into the ground with force. She slams her fist down into the ground where she was laying, frost left behind where she punched and then she charges more of that cursed lightning at her again.
The red lightning bolt explodes against the ground, only just missing her and Cinder dives forward, rolling out of its way. She then blasts flames straight towards Salem but Salem floats up and uses her telekinesis to rip the rocks from the ground, throwing them at her. Her eyes are constantly glowing red as she does these things. Salem even forms many of the fiery eyes under where Cinder is. Cinder flies into the air as the eyes screech and explode beneath her, only just avoiding them. She flies straight towards Salem with her blades forming in her hands. Cinder slashes straight at Salem and her aura is so strong that it seems to have no effect whatsoever. Cinder lands behind her and Salem stares at her, and she does something that is very chilling.
She touches the stone in her forehead and black energy begins to form around it. Her eyes glow bright red and Salem yells with rage, blasting a thick black beam of darkness towards Cinder. Her eyes widen with shock and she dodges the beam just before it hit her, seeing it completely destroy the ground they were stood on. The ground ignites with black flames; the darkness consumes the ground before it all decays to nothing. Cinder then looks at Salem again and she flies straight at Salem and grabs her, they both fly towards the ceiling and she pins her against the top with a loud bang.
Cracks spread like the plague, chunks of stone plummet down from the Cavern's ceiling and Cinder goes to punch her but Salem catches her fist before she could strike her.
Nora watches the two powerful people fighting it out up there, and she hears Neptune calling out to her. She notices that they are on those rocks and Fear is stood right there. All she sees Neptune do is click his fingers; electrical sparks go off in his fingers. Nora instantly catches on and she smirks, nodding.
Yang and Blake jump at Fear, whilst Oscar uses his Time Abilities to attack the Knight as best as he can. They need to keep him occupied until Neptune's plan is completed. Yang jumps high above Fear and she winks at him, as if her hair is glowing, she falls towards him and punches him in the head extremely hard. The impact creates one powerful shockwave and he nearly collapses. Blake throws her Grappling Hook into the brick and swings round towards Fear, wedging Gambol Shroud into the side of his head.
Fear snarls with annoyance and rips the blade from his head and kicks her in the chest. He laughs cruelly as he watches her fall to the ground in pain. Sun leaps at Fear and slams Ruyi Jingu Bang against his head, hitting him over and over again in the head. Fear grabs him by the throat and lifts him off the floor as he stares at him. He then throws him across the room once more.
Nora lands next to Neptune and she looks at him. "Didn't know that was your semblance!" Nora squeaks.
"Yeah, never got round to showing it off in the Vytal Tournament." He explains with a chuckle. Sun looks at Neptune as he is about to charge Nora's Semblance up to the maximum.
"Wait! We're on a Volcanic Network, remember? If Fury exploding didn't destabilize it, she will!" Sun warns.
"Then let's get those Relics fast!" Neptune says, blasting the lightning from his body and into Nora. She grunts at first, but she seems to like the more power she feels channelling into her muscles.
"Oh...Yeah!" Nora shrieks with excitement as Neptune keeps on blasting lightning into her. Her eyes glow brighter and brighter along with her pink aura that surrounds her. She grabs Magnhild tight as the pink dust glows bright as well. Neptune lets her go; nearly collapsing from how long he used his full Semblance for.
She leaps high in the air and Fear slowly turns round as he sees the glowing ball of pink aura flying towards him. A strange supersonic cheering sound accompanies it. "Yee-Haw!" Nora cheers as she holds her hammer above her head with a crazed look in her eyes. Fear looks at her and he swallows deeply.
"Ooh...this is gonna hurt." He says, looking straight at her as she slams her hammer down onto his head.
What follows is an almighty pink explosion that reduces Fear's form to dust. The explosion sends cracks across the entire cavern, shattering entire buildings that are inside. The shockwave gets all of their attention as they all turn with shock at the powerful blast that just completely and utterly obliterated Fear's body.
That's the Knight of Fear out of the equation.
Glynda
Glynda blasts a Beowulf and kills it instantly. But then they feel the quake of Nora destroying Fear's form and she holds out her arms to steady her balance. "Whoa..." Taiyang exclaims as he looks around. More rumbles are going off, but the others inside do not take notice, they are too busy with getting the Relics.
Glynda looks at one of the distant islands and she gasps.
One of the Volcanoes has just erupted because of their efforts, meaning the others are about to as well. Her eyes widen. "Oh no..." She gasps, watching fearfully as the orange lave and ash clouds rise from the cone.
"Whatever they're doing in there, they better do it fast." The Architect says, aiming his rifle and firing it. Winter nods and she summons her Glyph Beowulves to help hold the entrance.
They are running out of time.
Ruby
Salem blasts red lightning into Cinder's chest and she plummets back down to the ground with a bang. She groans with pain, her aura fades after Salem beat her in that battle. She reaches out and tries to crawl away, until Salem and Loss arrive to the Statue with Death as well, Velvet is still keeping the Spotlight on Death so then they can take him down. Salem grits her teeth and she looks at the Relic. "Protect me long enough to activate the Relics." She orders as she floats back up to them.
Death spins Ferrum Arctus through his fingers and Loss draws her Bow. She aims at Cinder, but the wounded girl blasts flames into her and she staggers back. Cinder rolls off the platform and falls to the others. Yatsuhashi rolls across the ground and pulls her back from them. "Nice work, Cinder!" He congratulates, holding his sword in one hand. The others return and they all rush to the centre to stop Salem.
Kragen looks at Ruby as he holds his staff. "Ruby! You're the strongest Silver Eyed Warrior we have here! You need to get those Relics!" He orders, and they all sprint towards the two Knights. Coco fires at them with her Chaingun, yelling as she does it. Oscar runs with Ruby to get to the centre. Ruby turns and sees Yatsuhashi running past her with his sword in one hand as he runs towards the Knights of Death and Loss, Coco runs with him. The Spotlight shines on them all.
"Come on Ruby! Follow me!" Yatsuhashi calls. Ruby keeps her head down and Oscar helps by protecting her. Ruby sees Salem above with the Relics charging up in her hands.
"There! We need to get Salem away from the Relics and grab them!" Oscar tells her as he points at where Salem is. Ruby looks at Yatsuhashi and Coco as they sprint towards the Knight of Death.
"Grab the Relics, Ruby!" Yatsuhashi roars, jumping at Death and tackling him over as Coco jumps and wraps her legs around Death's neck as they fall. She rolls off and aims her Chaingun at him as Death throws the muscular man off. Loss runs and jumps onto a destroyed statue and aims her bow at Ruby as she runs. She launches an arrow and it misses her by an inch.
"Leave her alone!" Nora yells as she jumps at Loss and whacks her with Magnhild. Ruby keeps on running as fast as she can, ignoring the two Knights as they fight their friends.
Adam
Adam realises with the others that the Volcanic Core is destabilising, all of the Volcanoes across the island are erupting. Taiyang patches through to Qrow as they are fighting the Knights. "Qrow! We have to evacuate! The Volcanoes are erupting!" Taiyang calls, but all he hears is conflict on the other side of his Scroll.
He looks at Raven with a concerned look. Adam stands tall and then he turns to all the soldiers, patching through to their fleet. "This may be our only window! All units! Full retreat!" He orders to them all. The soldiers all begin their retreat, even the Huntsmen realise that soon the Volcano that this Island is built on top of is about to go off as well.
Only a matter of time.
All the trucks begin to pull out, Bullheads fly over to their position and they pick up the Huntsmen and Huntresses that were defending the Entrance. "When we can find a way in, we go for the rest of them!" Taiyang orders as he holds onto the side.
Glynda looks back and then gets aboard the Bullhead that has come to pick them up. Zwei whimpers as he sits with Taiyang and Raven.
Ruby
Death swings Ferrum Arctus at Coco as she stands her and he takes her hat off her head with the blade as he swings it. He then holds the sword above his head and he roars, bringing it down towards her bare head to split her skull in two. Oscar sees and his eyes widen, he jumps in the air and throws a Time Bubble onto Death to stop him in his tracks. "Stop the time!" Oscar calls out, creating his own catchphrase as he catches Death in the moment. Death freezes in that point of time, the sword stopped right above her head.
Coco turns around and backs up from the blade and aims her Chaingun at him. The barrels spin round and she starts to fire into the bubble, hundreds of bullets caught in one moment. "Gonna blow your head off, Death!" Coco yells, firing constantly into the bubble. "Chew on this, knucklehead!" Coco taunts.
The bubble bursts and all of the bullets impact his chest in one attack. Death grunts with pain, chunks of weakened Isomacium snap and shatter from his armour and he is thrown backwards, his back crashes into the statue and he slams against the floor. He stabs Ferrum Arctus into the ground whilst Coco keeps on shooting her Chaingun at him, making him shed tonnes of armour over and over again.
Black Lightning charges across the blade of Ferrum Arctus and Death roars, aiming the sword at her and firing the Lightning at her. Coco jumps and rolls out of the way, only narrowly escaping the attack as it burns a hole straight through the stone wall. Loss swings her blades at Fox as he tackles her into the ground again, Ruby keeps on running to get to Salem and the Relics while she still can. Blake sprints towards Death from behind and she jumps at him, he looks over his shoulder, and she stabs Gambol Shroud into his shoulder, puncturing the metal. Death roars with anger as he staggers from the impact.
Salem is so close.
The lightning sparks more aggressively and more frequently, and despite the earthquakes, none of them seem to have even noticed the fact that the Volcanoes are erupting. Salem's desperation may get her killed.
She then clocks onto the fact that Ruby is coming for the Relics. "Death! Kill her!" Salem demands, and the Knight of Death snarls with anger as he grabs Blake by her long black hair and throws her from his back and onto the ground with force. He aims Ferrum Arctus at her and goes to kill her with the black lightning that channels through the blade. A crow flies towards Death and transforms into Qrow, as he yells and cuts Death's arm from his elbow that held Ferrum Arctus. Death grunts in pain as Qrow lands between him and Blake, and Qrow spins round to behead him with his sword, but Death catches his sword by the blade where he swung.
Ruby dashes up onto the statue and starts to make the climb after Salem as she reaches for the Relics. Loss battles against Jaune as she slashes her blades across his shield and he smashes her in the head to make her stagger.
Death keeps on holding Qrow's sword there by the blade. Death yells and slams his head into Qrow's to make him fall down, forcing him down onto his back with his superior strength. Death pushes the blade and down presses his armoured boot against Qrow's chest. He then slams the blade against his neck, pinning him against the floor. Death slowly glares at him and the helmet peels back. "I will claim their souls...every last one." Death promises coldly, the fire burning around the skull as it speaks.
"Maybe..." Qrow replies.
"But not today." Qrow continues, kicking Death in the back and the Knight releases his sword as he falls over him. Qrow picks up Ferrum Arctus and glares at the Knight. "Hey! You dropped this!" He yells, throwing the sword straight at Death and the blade sinks directly into his chest. The impact takes Death off the ground and sends him flying through the wall.
The wall shatters like glass, and he falls into something.
The Volcanic Core is directly beneath them and he falls into it.
As the Volcano erupts.
Death's body is completely obliterated in the eruption, leaving nothing left. The explosion of the core throws them all onto their backs, even into the air as the shockwave shatters the Cavern, knocking every building down. Ruby screams as she holds onto the statue for her life, whilst Salem is still desperately trying to activate the Relics. The eruption pours lava into the room and they continue to fight inside.
Whilst in the air, Jaune is fighting Loss. He swings at her whilst they fall and he manages to slice her head from her shoulders, destroying her form as well. Her body falls into the lava to be consumed whilst the others begin to fall as well. The Mountain with the cavern inside has been blown into the sky, and they have all become weightless as the chunks move across the air, pyroclastic ash consuming the island. The Bullheads fly around them, and the one that holds Penny inside moves towards the cavern that is in the air right now.
Ruby is still holding on as best as she can, trying to climb up whilst Salem is powering up the Relics. "Going weightless!" Coco yells as she floats around in the freefalling chunk of the island. Yang floats and she gasps when she looks up and sees a bunch of Bullheads flying through the holes in the cavern to help them. They start to pick them all up. Velvet floats over to one of them and gets inside, along with the rest of Team C.F.V.Y. Cinder looks and sees Salem still trying and she grits her teeth, flying towards her where Ruby is.
Team J.N.R get picked up as Glynda grabs Jaune's hand and pulls him inside, and Nora and Ren float inside. Qrow transforms into his Crow form and stays near to Ruby as she climbs up there. Sun and Neptune seem to be enjoying themselves as they float around inside the cavern. "It's like a Vomit Comet!" Neptune laughs. The Bullhead with Winter inside flies over to the two idiots and she grabs Neptune's hand.
"Get inside, you moron!" Winter orders, pulling him inside and Sun gets in as well. The rest of Team R.W.B.Y apart from Ruby herself get into the Bullhead with Raven and Taiyang, Zwei has been put in the cockpit with the pilot. Oscar is pulled in as well, whereas Hazel ends up in the Bullhead with Adam, landing in there with Kragen as well who is reunited with the Architect.
Kassius clambers across chunks of Debris to help Ruby, floating towards her and his sister, and where Salem is. Cinder flies straight for Salem where she is stationed. "Salem! Enough is enough!" Cinder yells as she launches a fireball at Salem which knocks her from the Relics. Salem yells with anger and she sees Cinder flying straight for her. Salem stops her with her telekinesis and glares at her with anger.
"You traitor!" Salem yells with anger, forming the red lightning in her palm.
"Yeah...I'm a traitor..." She admits. "But I left it for a better cause!" She shouts.
Ruby appears behind Salem and she aims Crescent Rose at Salem and she realises too late, as Ruby takes the shot. The bullet punctures her back and Salem is knocked away from the Relics. Salem shrieks demonically as she floats away, vanishing in a cloud of smoke and red lightning that flashes. "Gotcha." Ruby says with a smirk.
She then looks at the Relics which still float there. She jumps for them and then catches them all. She grabs the Relics and then she begins to fall. She holds onto them as she falls towards the ground. "Ruby!" Cinder yells, but Ruby notices Kassius falling as well.
"Save your brother!" She orders. Cinder looks at her with confused eyes.
"Please..." Ruby begs her. Cinder, against her own wishes to save Ruby, nods and pursues her twin brother and catches him, carrying him away from the danger. Qrow chases after her but even he cannot save her from this.
Until the Bullhead with her team and Oscar begins to dive after her. "Hold on, Ruby! We've got you!" He calls as the Bullhead nose dives after her. He charges up a time bubble to protect her as she falls and he aims for her.
He throws the bubble and it activates upon touching her body. Ruby closes her eyes in acceptance when she thought she was gonna hit the ground, holding the three relics close to her chest. She remains in the bubble, thinking her end is near. The Bullhead descends towards Ruby and Yang reaches out with her hand. She holds her smaller body and pulls her into the Bullhead.
"We have her!" Blake calls to the pilot.
The Pilot pulls some incredible manoeuvres as he pulls up and the Crow chases after them. He transforms back to his human form and lands inside, holding onto the handles inside. He looks at Ruby with happiness, to see her safe and she looks at him with a smile. The Bullhead flies straight up towards the collapsing entrance that was in the Cavern the whole time.
The Bullhead makes it just as the Cavern crashes into the sea, and the Volcano continues to erupt. Ruby watches with amazement as the Volcanic Chain Isles disappears from the map as all of the Volcanoes erupt at once, polluting the sky with ash clouds and lava consumes the once green land and all the Grimm that were on it.
"What now?" Ruby asks sweetly.
Yang smiles, caressing her cheek.
"We go home." Yang assures, a tear drops from her eye.