Jaune
Some time has passed since everyone else left to get aboard a ship to Vacuo, Jaune and his team have been following the trail and have arrived at the market town. Jaune walks around the street and he looks around, looking for her. He knows her features off by heart, look for the red hair, green eyes, athletic body...beanie hat and Pumpkin Pete's hoodie.
His sword is sheathed into his collapsed shield on his belt, and he looks around the area to figure out where she could have gone. He scratches the back of his neck when he tries to figure it out.
Someone could have seen her...but there are so many people around here. Who would remember her face?
He hears his earpiece activating when one of his team members speaks to him. "I'm in position." Ren assures, watching from the crowd with his hands near Stormflower.
"Good. Nora, Kas?" Jaune asks them.
"Oh yeah." Nora responds, sat on a bench with her Grenade Launcher sat on her lap. A man with his wife walks past her but then stops and looks at Magnhild on her lap, like it means nothing at all. She looks at him with an adorable smile and he keeps on walking on.
"I've got eyes on the street." Kassius assures, stood upon the rooftops, Vulcan Nox loaded to the max as he looks around the area to figure out where she could be hiding. He crouches down as he looks at the different people, still able to see Jaune amongst the crowd. Jaune walks over to one of the Merchants who are calling out to the people, selling bread. The old man has been seen many times before in their lives and he seems to recognise Jaune pretty quickly.
"Hello! Would you like to purchase some bread?" The old man asks him and Jaune chuckles when he sees the old man.
"Do you just own every single shop in Vale or something?" Jaune asks him.
"I own many." He answers with a smile.
"Okay, onto subject." Jaune begins, leaning over to the old man. "Have you seen a girl with red hair around here recently? Green eyes, tall, pretty?" Jaune asks him, identifying Pyrrha by her signature traits. Seeming to focus on her looks at one point due to his love for the girl.
"I think I did. She bought some apples from the little girl over there and took off." The old man tells him, pointing at the little girl.
"Where did you see her go?" Jaune asks him. The old man points towards the alleyway that she ran into a faced the Acolytes of Lien that tracked her down.
"Into that alley, some men followed her though." The old man says, concern builds up in Jaune's body and he turns round, looking at the alleyway. But he knows Pyrrha Nikos, and he knows that a couple of Mercenaries won't be able to take her down; she is the invincible girl after all. "You think they could have hurt her?" He asks and Jaune smiles.
"Not likely." He says.
Jaune reaches into his pocket and pulls a couple of lien cards out from it and he sets them down on his table and walks away. "Thanks." Jaune says to the merchant and he smiles, waving him goodbye as he heads off. Jaune jogs over to the alleyway, his hand held close to the hilt of his sword as he turns the corner.
Before he does get over there, however. Something catches his attention, something rather intimidating when he hears it. A circle of children, around five overall, are singing a creepy song in unison.
"A grin as candid as children, as sweet as bee honey,"
"His voice kind and sharp, as the blade of a razor,"
"Brings you from elder to youth, within the blink of an eye."
"Wishes be granted, be it: love, riches or luck,"
"His face like a mirror, fear shall consume you,"
"Anger through truth, loss through acceptance."
"For the end of your journey, Death will come for you,"
"Charcoal Cities, come waiting for you,"
"The Soothsayer shall wait, for his voice will control you,"
"Torment and Control, till the moon will shatter..."
Jaune looks at the children; concern fills his mind as he looks at them...
For that is no song for children to be singing.
Jaune shrugs the song off and he walks away from the children to continue on his mission.
He looks over and he chuckles as he sees the three Mercenaries on the ground, just as he suspected. "Called it." He says when he looks at them. Jaune turns on his microphone as he approaches the Mercs. "We've got Acolytes of Lien." Jaune advises as he looks at them.
"Guess their back, huh?" Kassius replies.
"Looks that way." Jaune agrees.
"Alright, we'll keep our eyes peeled for any reinforcements." Ren assures him.
He crouches down to the alleyway where she ran, half an hour after the attack took place. The blood from the leg of the mercenary she stabbed the knife into still glistens on the floor. Jaune touches the blood and then looks onward, hearing the groans of the men who lay there. He narrows his eyes when he sees them and he stands up, walking towards the groaning man, his hand pressed to his head as he lays there. The other two Acolytes of Lien are still unconscious right now, their heads smashed into the walls and the dumpsters that surround them. He walks over to the Mercenary and he crouches down, grabbing him by the collar and lifting him up. He glares at the Mercenary with anger in his blue eyes. "Where is she?" Jaune questions and the Mercenary scoffs.
"How should I know? Looking for your lady?" He chuckles when he stares back at Jaune Arc. Jaune's patience is really beginning to wear thin now, after five years of never finding her; this is the closest he has ever come. He draws Crocea Mors and presses it against his throat, pinning him down against the floor and the man gasps for air as he squeezes his windpipe.
"Let's try this again, huh?" He asks him, his teeth gritted and face frowning threateningly. The man kicks and throws his arms and legs around in distress from his predicament, all Jaune would have to do is move the blade of his sword quickly to the left or right and he would slit the man's throat. Jaune leans closer to the man's face, staring straight into his brown eyes with anger. "Where. Is. Pyrrha?" He slowly asks him with rage in his eyes and the man's voice is strained from the blade pushed to his throat.
"Okay! Okay!" The man screeches in a scratchy voice as he flails. Jaune relaxes a bit and pulls the blade from his neck and then stands up, looking down at him with the sword pointed to the Mercenary's face.
"Where did she go?" He demands. The soldier holds his hand up with fear as he regains his breath, looking up at Jaune Arc who has had enough of games for a lifetime.
"We followed her this way and tried to take her. But she kicked our asses." He tells Jaune.
"Yeah, I can see that. Where did she go?" He repeats, louder this time as he presses the tip of Crocea Mors against his cheek, nearly breaking the skin from how hard he pushes it against his face. The man shakes with fear as he does that, closing one eye with distress, before answering his inquiry.
"She ran that way." He tells her, pointing in the direction she ran and Jaune follows his fingertip. He sees where she ran and then looks back at the Mercenary at the floor, at his mercy. Jaune, however, is not a murderer; he only kills those that he must kill if there is no other way. But that says nothing about knocking them unconscious. Jaune swings his foot into the side of the man's head and knocks him out, walking away from where he lies.
"Thanks for the cooperation." Jaune says to his sleeping body and leaves them where they sleep, snoring away.
Jaune turns the corner and he peers round as he checks for any other Acolytes of Lien. "Kassius? Can you see anything in front of me?" Jaune asks, before emerging from the wall that he conceals himself behind. He readies himself, holding onto the hilt of his sword with his right hand. Kassius walks across the rooftops and he looks at where Jaune is, he can see all the different paths that the alley crosses into, but he cannot see any people in there at all.
"Nope, you're clear." Kassius promises.
Jaune emerges from cover and he follows the trail further, he can see the footprints in the muddy floor and he is using that to find her. He keeps on following the prints, and he turns a corner, seeing where she stopped for a couple seconds before setting off again. "Someone was chasing her..." He mumbles to himself.
"I wouldn't say chase was the right word." Vir Nominis Umbra abruptly reveals and nearly makes Jaune scream with shock from hearing another man's voice behind him. Especially after Kassius had just told him that there was nobody there in the first place. He turns and draws Crocea Mors, pointing the blade straight at him as he stands there, emerging from the shadows with his hands held together and that cunning smirk on his face as he approaches him.
"Kassius...I thought you said there was nobody here..." Jaune claims as he glares at Umbra who stands in the open.
"There isn't." Kassius assures.
"I'm looking at somebody right now." Jaune states.
"And I'm looking at you, there's nothing there." Kassius tells him and Jaune looks up at the rooftop where he stands. Jaune looks at him with disbelief, but then a theory comes to mind. They have all been informed on what both Oscar and Qrow spoke of, of the mysterious Merchant that emerges from the shadows and speaks with them, vanishing just as mysteriously. Jaune narrows his blue eyes when he looks at Vir Nominis Umbra as he stands there, unaware of his true nature and the torment he must have put his beloved through.
"Who are you?" Jaune asks him, Kassius looking completely confused from Jaune seemingly speaking to nobody.
"Vir Nominis Umbra, at your service." He says, bowing before Jaune with a smirk as he stands there. He then walks towards him with his hands clasped together, looking Jaune up and down as he observes him. Perhaps more than just his physical form, and more his spiritual one, and then he stops by his side. "Impressive, I can see why Pyrrha Nikos fell for you as quickly as she did." He says as he walks by him, his eyes widen with disbelief when he hears the mysterious Soothsayer mention her.
"What did you say?" He questions, keeping his sword pointed at Vir Nominis Umbra.
"Well she clearly had a crush on you for more than just you being nice to her." He compliments, and yet it still sounds intimidating when coming from his mouth. But this is what he does; he gets into people's heads for some reason.
"What do you know of her?" Jaune questions.
"Oh details, details. That shall all come in time." Vir Nominis Umbra assures as he smiles at him and Jaune glares at the man as he stands there.
"Why are you hear? You're the same guy that spoke to Oscar and Qrow, right?" Jaune asks him with curiosity. He can already tell that he must not be human, or at least has one hell of a unique and powerful semblance to appear there and not age by the looks of things. He still looks identically the same as when Oscar met him thousands of years ago in Arkhonex.
"The very same." He agrees.
Jaune cannot help but chuckle at how he has actually given him the answers that he seeks. "Smug dude, aren't you?" He scoffs.
"Of course I am." Vir Nominis Umbra says, holding his hands out as he looks at Jaune, essentially flaunting his form to him as he stands there.
"Tell me how you know Pyrrha." Jaune demands.
"As I said, that is for another time." Vir Nominis Umbra repeats, and then he walks around the area that they stand in, his hands kept together in the same position. "But to answer your previous question, I am here because of you and your romantic interest." He explains as he walks around and Jaune stares at him with more concern than before.
"What do you know of us?" He questions.
"Who hasn't? The charming Arc Prince that was saved by his princess? A fairy tale in the making if you ask me. Her love for you is what attracted me to this place, she faces so much confusion after the loss of her memory, and yet she still loves you." He explains and Jaune's eyes widen when he mentions the shattered memory that she suffers from.
"How bad is it?" He asks Vir Nominis Umbra.
"Find out for yourself." Vir Nominis Umbra tells him and Jaune raises his left brow. Vir Nominis Umbra turns round and points towards an apartment building behind him, one that Jaune can access through a catwalk. He then notices that the muddy footprint trail leads there as well. "The prize you seek waits in there, on the top floor. Set your eyes on her undying beauty once more, hold her in your arms...do whatever you feel is necessary. But if I were you..." He says as he walks by his shoulder. "I would be fast about it...for time is short." He states, and Jaune turns round to look at where he went, but he is gone.
Vanished like a ghost.
He stands there and then looks up at Kassius and he contacts the team. "I just spoke to Vir Nominis Umbra." Jaune tells him and their eyes widen, since they have heard the name before from the tales told by Oscar and Qrow about their conversations with the being.
"That creepy merchant guy?" Nora asks him.
"What did he want?" Ren asks him from where he stands in the crowd.
"That's the weird part, he didn't want anything. He just told me where to find Pyrrha." Jaune says to them and they all listen carefully in order to understand.
"Where?" Kassius asks him, and Jaune looks back at the Apartment building.
"That Apartment Building...I'm going in. Be careful as well, he warned me that we don't have much time. He might be talking about the Acolytes." Jaune explains.
"You got it." Nora assures, holding Magnhild and keeping her cyan eyes peeled. Kassius holds Lash Equinox in his hands as he prepares for a fight, since the Acolytes are not known to give up easy.
Jaune sheathes Crocea Mors and he backs up before running towards the ladder that Pyrrha must have pulled down with her polarity. He jumps up and catches onto the ladder, hauling his body up and climbing up there. It is much easier now than it was five years ago, now that he has built his body up thanks to Sun's Workout Lessons that he offered for everyone to take part in. He climbs up there and starts to run up the catwalk, one at a time to get higher and higher up the building to find her room. He follows the muddy footprints for a couple of floors until he finds one room.
The window is open and the curtain is blowing in the wind. He climbs inside and he lands on the floor silently, looking around.
The Apartment is dead silent, and empty.
He cannot see her and he keeps on moving around inside. He looks and he sees a bandage on the floor with blood on it, must have been the one she had on her shoulder after suffering that bullet wound. There is a first aid kit on the kitchen counter and it is open, she cannot be far away since it is still sat there. She must have left the room to get something...perhaps...
He crouches down and his eyes widen when he picks up something very familiar, and he has not seen it since Mistral fell.
His sash that he lost when he lured the Grimm away from Ruby after she lost her eye. The mud has stained it and it is very damaged, but it is definitely his one. He holds it close to his chest; she must have found it when they were searching for her. Seems like the whole time that they were searching for her, she was searching for him as well. He sets it down on the table and he continues to look around, his attention is caught by a journal that sits on the side of the counter. He walks towards it and picks it up, looking at the journal.
Shattered Memory
He opens it and he reads the first entry.
Entry #1
My mind is a mess...
Who am I? Why did I drag him from the water? Who is he? Why am I getting these feelings? I don't understand...there is so much that is wrong right now.
None of this was supposed to happen.
Jaune looks at the page and he notices that there are tear stains on the page as well. She really could not remember anything at the time, whatever it was that Salem did to her to turn her into the Onyx Phantom...it has truly ravaged her memory. He turns the page and he looks at the second Entry, this one must have been after she landed her aircraft away from the Volcanic Chain Isles.
Entry #2
Mistral...I was drawn to this place. Everywhere I walk I get these weird flashing images, seeing people and children playing around me...what does it mean? Is this where Pyrrha Nikos came from? Where I came from?
The city is completely destroyed, abandoned. I found burned pictures of myself on the ground all over the place, I don't understand. Why am I on these pictures? Why am I seen as some kind of idol? I'm an assassin, always have been...haven't I? All these memories are just shards of a past that I cannot remember...that boy...I felt something...I don't know why...I never felt that way before.
Could he help me?
I did try to kill him, he might be scared of me...I need to do this on my own. Need to find out where I came from...
Who am I?
Jaune sighs and looks at the page, seeing the prints of her hand as she must have gripped the book hard when thinking back. Seeing her write this way, speaking this way...it hurts Jaune. All her memories have been destroyed but she could still recover them again....she remembers them in some form. "Heads up, Jaune. Acolytes of Lien militants approaching from the east." Kassius advises and Jaune snaps back into action.
"Got it." Jaune answers.
The sound of the floor creaking behind him makes him gasp and he turns, his front foot forward and hand on his sword, ready to draw it.
His blue eyes meet her green ones.
Pyrrha looks directly at him with disbelief when she looks at him. He looks at her and she looks so much weaker than when he last saw her. Her body is much thinner than it ever has been; she has been on the run for so long she has been suffering from hunger for a long time. Her skin covered with dirt in places and burnt from the sun at times as well. Her eyes glisten when she looks at him, clearly she remembers him, and he looks at her. "Pyrrha...do you remember me?" Jaune asks her. She stammers before she speaks, her voice so much more fragile than when she used to be alive before the Phantom took her.
"Jaune...I remember you...we trained together on a rooftop back at Beacon, and I think I had feelings for you..." She explains, her hand against the side of her head as she tries to remember, but struggles. She knows that she loves him, but her memory is so damaged that she is struggling to piece together the shards of what is real and what is fake.
"The Acolytes have set up a perimeter; they've got a couple of Seekers with them." Kassius reports. Jaune cautiously approaches her, he cares for her deeply but the last time they met she tried to kill him. He sets her journal down on the table and she looks at it.
"I know you're...confused..." Jaune says as he walks over to her, and she looks up at him. He has now grown taller than she is, not by much by he is still taller than her now. "But I know that you know that we had something...I was thick, sure." He admits...finally. She looks at him with a more serious tone now.
"I'm not the Onyx Phantom, I don't do that anymore." She assures him.
"The Acolytes are making their way up the Apartment." Kassius informs.
Jaune listens and looks around, hearing the distant chatter of the Mercenaries converging on their position. "Well the Acolytes of Lien are coming for you, and I doubt they are gonna be as friendly as me." Jaune warns her.
"That sounds familiar." She scoffs, remembering the Mercenaries from her time trying to find her memories.
"Crap, they've got a couple of Bullheads coming as well." Kassius warns, and Jaune looks at Pyrrha, noticing she is getting ready for combat. She activates her semblance, the black energy surrounds her hands and the sofa seats burst open as Milo and Akuou come flying out and into her hand. They are still her Onyx Phantom coloured weapons, black and gold. Jaune then notices under the tears she has put her armour on as well, seeing the plates underneath. She pulls her hoodie off and drops it on the floor and takes the jeans off. She stands there in her Onyx Phantom armour, black and gold version of her original armour but more armour covering her body.
"This doesn't need to end in a fight, Pyrrha...we can sneak out of here." Jaune says to her, hoping they could do it. But even he knows that the option is impossible. Pyrrha sighs and shakes her head as she spins Milo through her fingers.
"It always ends in a fight." She says to him, sadly as well. This must also hint towards her fighting the mercenaries beforehand as well, or people in general.
"They're preparing to breach." Kassius warns.
Jaune's running out of time.
"You pulled me from the lake." Jaune remembers and she looks at him. "Why?"
"I felt something...I don't know what it was." She states. Jaune smiles kindly.
"Yes you do." Jaune says and she looks very timid when he says it as well.
"Breaching!" Kassius warns.
"Breach! Breach! Breach!" The Acolyte Captain behind the wooden door orders, Pyrrha turns and she uses her polarity to throw the table towards the door in order to block it from being opened. A soldier stands on the other side with a breaching Gauntlet, slamming it into the door over and over again. The wooden door cracks and splits in places as the soldier continues to try and get inside. There are many soldiers in the inner stairwell, armed to the teeth to take her down.
A pair of soldiers fly up the side of the Apartment with jetpacks on, the thrusters roar aggressively as they rise up, holding rifles in one hand as they shoot the windows open. Shards of glass spray everywhere and slide across the floor, Jaune holds his shield upwards to deflect the bullets from hitting either of them, and Pyrrha stands low to the ground with her round shield extended forward, deflecting the bullets. She throws her shield with hawkeyed precision, Akuou smashes straight into the chest of the soldier with a metallic bang, causing him to fall as the shield severs the cable. The man screams as he plummets down the side of the building. The other Mercenary swings through the open window and kicks at Jaune, but the Arc boy holds up his shield to stop him from damaging his aura. Jaune spins round and slashes Crocea Mors across the arm of the Mercenary, cutting the arm clean off with a spray of blood staining the wall. He then kicks the soldier in the chest, making him stagger backwards and plummet to his death.
Pyrrha looks at Jaune with shock at how he killed a man, clearly she remembers the old Jaune faintly and that he would have never done that. "You killed him...you never did that." She says with fearfulness for his mindset.
"Things change." Jaune says to her.
The Breacher slams his fist into the door and it splits in half and he goes to enter, but Pyrrha launches the table straight at the soldier with her polarity, knocking him off his feet. She rushes forward with Milo and Akuou, despite her concern for him, she is no better. They are both able to kill when necessary, just do not enjoy doing it in the slightest. She raises her shield and deflects the bullets from one of the soldiers and she swings Milo across his chest, then spins round as she extends the spear and slices across their chest plates to knock them onto the ground. Jaune chases after her to keep up with Pyrrha; she has always naturally been faster than he is. She jumps and slams both feet down onto the head of one of the soldiers and then swipes round and knocks one of them over as he goes to attack her with a sword. She smashes her shield down into his chest and the man screams with agony as he feels the round shield nearly breaking him in two.
Jaune emerges from the apartment and he looks at the Captain. "Target is on the run! Contain!" The Captain orders double taking when he sees Jaune. Jaune looks at his arm and he has a cybernetic prosthetic and he stands up, a long blade extends from his forearm and he yells as he swings at Jaune, since he lacks his rifle which was thrown from his grip by the table that came flying out at them. Jaune guards with his sword, clangs echo down the stairs as he backs up from the Captain, he then rushes forward with his shield to stagger the Captain, then spins round and slices Crocea Mors across his chest, making the man scream with pain. Jaune charges forward with his shield, knocking him over the railing.
The Captain howls as he plummets down the flights of stairs, clattering against the railings over and over again as he falls, dead at the bottom. Jaune looks at Pyrrha sees her surrounded by the soldiers, he jumps over the hole in the middle and he smashes against one of the Acolytes, his head hits the wall hard and knocks him unconscious. He turns and bashes his shield against the face of one of the soldiers behind him who was about to fire his gun at him. Pyrrha looks back at him and then transforms Milo into its Rifle Form, firing a round into the chest of another soldier, sending him tumbling down the stairs. She spins round and nearly attacks Jaune, eyes widen and she gasps. "I'm sorry!" She yelps, just like she used to all the time, and that actually makes Jaune smile.
"That's the Pyrrha I remember!" He laughs, standing back-to-back with her as he swings Crocea across the chest of a soldier that attacks. His eyes widen when he hears the activation of a dust pack rushing up the stairs, the orange blur that darts towards him. "Seeker!" He yells to her, meeting the fist of the Advanced Acolyte of Lien whom punches him square in the face with all his might. The Seeker continues to rush past him and moves up the stairs, stopping higher up before attacking once more. The Seeker draws his Katana sheathed into his Backpack and he darts towards him again but Jaune raises his shield up at the perfect time, the Seeker smashes into him and they both recoil back from the impact.
Pyrrha yelps, bumped from Jaune and she tumbles down the stairs slightly, rolling down and hitting the wall. She turns and gasps, when she sees a Tremor Soldier stood there with the powerful Gauntlets attached to his arms. She is too late to react when the Tremor slams his weapon into her chest, sending her flying through the wall and into the apartment of a couple. They scream with shock, both in their bed and the sheets covering them. Pyrrha slides across the floor with dust and brick covering her body and red hair. She looks at the couple and she smiles awkwardly. "Hi." She says with a smile, the Tremor enters and she raises her shield upwards and points Milo at the Tremor.
The Tremor roars as he swings the Bracer at her and she ducks underneath him and slashes across his leg, making the Tremor fall to that knee. He swings at her once more and she focuses her senses, using her semblance to her advantage just like she learned to. She pushes the Tremor's Gauntlet away from her face as he swings and then she jumps in the air and performs a graceful back flip and kicks him up the chin. The Tremor staggers back and slams his bracers together over and over again, creating shockwaves that make the apartment room shake like there is an Earthquake happening. "Ever so sorry about this." She apologises yet again.
Jaune swings at the blade of the Seeker but just misses when the Seeker darts past him down the stairs and lands beneath him. The soldier aims his Sub Machine Gun at him and fires repeatedly at him, firing the dust bullets towards him. Jaune lifts his shield and deflects the bullets, bringing down Crocea Mors towards him with all of his might, slamming the blade against the sharp stairs, sparks burst from the impact. Like flint against steel, the Seeker's backpack glows gold again and the dust engages his super speed, sprinting towards him once more, that Katana held outwards to slice across his aura and eventually his flesh. Jaune pushes forward with his shield and the Seeker has nowhere left to go but into the shield, since they cannot jump at this speed. The impact creates a blast of air that pushes them both back; a blast so powerful it has caused the Seeker's Backpack to malfunction. He swings the Katana at Jaune, but the Arc Boy has become a skilled fighter and he slams Crocea Mors so hard onto the blade that he managed to fracture the cheap blade, since they are not real Katanas, not folded steel like they should be. The blade fragments and falls down the stairwell, narrowly missing another Mercenary who runs up the stairs to get to them.
Jaune takes Crocea Mors and drives the blade through his chest, puncturing through the chest plate and the clothes underneath, cutting clean through his chest and blood erupts from his back along with the damaged dust canisters that explode. He pushes the Seeker from his blade with his boot and he slumps to the floor, dead.
Pyrrha rolls out of the way of the Tremor's blow as he slams the ground, cracks rippling across the ground, the couple in their bed scream and panic with terror as the soldier tries to kill the Fallen Huntress. Pyrrha slashes towards him, the red light trailing from her weapons as she strikes the Tremor, spinning round and slicing across his chest with her shield, making the soldier stagger back with damage done to the gauntlets. She extends Milo into its Spear Form and throws it straight at the Tremor, the spear lodges through his chest, taking him off his feet and through the window with a smash. She uses her polarity to yank her spear from his chest and back into her hand, blood dripping from the spearhead. She hears him roar as he plummets, crashing down onto the roof of a car beneath, the horn going off and his voice ceased. She looks at the couple and smiles. "Sorry about the mess." She apologises, running back into the stairwell with Jaune as they join back together.
They look at each other, directly in their eyes with deep caring in their hearts. But this is not the time for a touching reunion; they have to wait to get out of the eyes of the Acolytes of Lien. Jaune contacts the others through his earpiece. "Guys? We could seriously use some help." Jaune says and she looks at him.
"Is Pyrrha with you?" Nora asks.
"Yeah she's right next to me." Jaune answers, not anticipating her reaction to his answer.
"Pyrrha!" Nora screams, so loud that it nearly deafens Jaune. He flinches and presses his hand to his ear which is now ringing from the overly excited Nora Valkyrie. Pyrrha giggles, since somebody could hear that from a couple stories down.
"Was that Nora?" She asks him as they both run down the stairs, seeming to be clear right now.
"Yep." He nods, touching his ringing ear still. Pyrrha smiles.
"I see she hasn't changed." She laughs when she remembers some of her memories she managed to piece together.
"Ain't that the truth?" He laughs.
Kassius sprints across the rooftops to get their position, jumping over the gaps and he raises his finger to his earpiece to speak to Jaune. "I'm on my way!" Kassius promises, he jumps over a gap and sees three Acolytes of Lien preparing to breach the windows to attack them. He points one of Vulcan Nox at them and fires three round towards them as he sails over them. The bullets hit each of the soldiers and kills them, and he lands on the next rooftop, rolling across and continuing to sprint to find her.
Jaune keeps on moving with Pyrrha beside him. "See you soon." Jaune replies.
"Who was that?" She asks him.
"Kassius Locke, we met him after Beacon. He's been helping us ever since, nice guy." He tells her and she gasps sarcastically. Clearly her sense of humour has returned from her joke.
"You replaced me?" She gasps, and Jaune blushes nervously.
"No-No! He just volunteered to help us find you. He made it pretty clear that he prefers to be his own army instead of a being part of a team of four." Jaune explains, the rest of his history can be explained to her later. She nods and continues to run with him, the Acolytes of Lien have retreated from the Apartment Building for some reason; they have not bumped into any of them since the Seeker and the Tremor.
Strange...Seekers always travel in pairs.
They both get down to one of the levels but they both stop upon hearing something loud approaching. Jaune looks at a vase on the wooden table and it is shuddering where it stands, and they both turn around at the other side of the room, where there is a window. Their eyes widen with disbelief.
A Bullhead that carries the Acolytes of Lien colour scheme descends from above the window and the side door opens up, holding onto the side of the Bullhead is somebody they never expected to see getting stuck in the fight.
Darren Ortega.
His eyes meet Pyrrha's and he looks furious with rage, holding a missile launcher on his shoulder and he points it at her. "Murderer!" Ortega howls with pure rage in his voice, aiming the missile launcher at her and firing it straight at her, not Jaune. Jaune grabs Pyrrha and holds his shield in front of the missile. It shatters the windows and keeps travelling, exploding magnificently in a ball of fire, causing the concrete to fragment and send the duo falling from the building. Jaune turns round so then the shield absorbs the impact, he holds her close so then she is safe. Pyrrha holds Akuou above him to protect him from the rubble that falls with them. They both land onto the rooftop of another building and they roll aside from his shield. Jaune groans with pain from the fall, but Pyrrha helps him get back up, they look around and they see the Bullhead flying round the building to attack.
"Come on!" Jaune says to her, holding her hand as they both sprint away from the Bullhead that chases them down. But when they run, they realise that the Bullhead is simply circling them, keeping an eye on them. Pyrrha notices a shadow leaping towards them, meaning somebody is behind them and she gasps. She pushes Jaune away and the individual tackles her into the ground.
He rolls off her and lands on his feet, she and Jaune looks at him with fear. He stands tall, wearing a new suit of combat armour that is made of hundreds of intricate pieces of metal that move perfectly for maximum efficiency. He has a pair of cybernetic arms and he looks at her, lifting his right arm upwards as he looks at her. "Hello, my dear." The Spectre greets as his cybernetic hand folds away and the sharp metal scythe-like hook hand folds out, sunlight gleams across the hook as he stares at her.
Pyrrha's eyes flit over to Milo and Akuou that are beside her and she uses her Polarity to pull them back into her hands and she raises her shield against the hook blade that slashes straight at her, she staggers backwards as the golden sparks erupt from the impact. Jaune runs at the Spectre but he fires his cannon in his left cybernetic arm at him, the powerful dust charge explodes the ground underneath Jaune and sends him flying into the air. He connects the hook to his heel and throws him straight into an Air Conditioning Unit, denting it badly as well. Pyrrha yells with rage, slashing Milo at him over and over again with anger and hatred for hurting Jaune.
He goes to slash her but she pushes his hook away with her Polarity and strikes him up the jaw with Akuou, making him stagger back. He spits some blood from his mouth and smirks as he looks at her. "Not bad." He chuckles, sprinting at her again and he has had more upgrades than just his arms. He now has implanted cybernetic enhancements in his muscles that makes him sprint faster as he slams the hook to her neck and lifts her off the floor and slams her into the rooftop with all his might. The ground shatters and he goes to stomp down on her skull with his metal boot, but she blocks it with her shield, Jaune grabs the Spectre and yells as he throws him over his shoulder, stamping down on his arm. The Spectre has more enhancements; he engages something in his armour that creates a powerful pulse that throws Jaune from his back. He flies into the air and then the Spectre turns, kicking Jaune in the chest as he falls and he rolls across the rooftop. Jaune grabs onto the edge before he falls, hanging there by one hand as he looks down at the ground. Pyrrha's eyes widen with fear for his life when she sees him hanging perilously.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha yells, seeing the Spectre walking towards him, scraping the hook across the metal skin of the Air Conditioning Unit, trailing sparks. Jaune grabs onto the edge with his other hand and he tries to get back up.
"How about I make things even? You did take my arm, remember?" The Spectre scoffs, remembering their first meeting when he threatened to have the Seeker execute Nora in front of them for information.
Pyrrha transforms Milo into its Rifle Form and she aims at the Spectre, noticing there is a chink in his armour. A line of dust that charges the whole thing, it could hurt him pretty badly. She aims down the sights and pulls the trigger; a loud bang erupts with the flash of the muzzle. The bullet travels towards the Spectre as he walks towards Jaune, about to kill him. The Spectre suddenly spins round and slices his hook across the bullet that was headed for his back, cutting it clean in half and the two halves of the bullet travel straight past him.
He smirks at her, lowering his hook down as he stares at her. He turns back to Jaune and goes to cut his wrists off.
Suddenly the roar of a man appears from a building to his left and he looks up, seeing Kassius jumping down towards him, he tackles him straight through the roof.
Kassius
The ground collapses beneath his feet and they both fall into an office below. Kassius smashes his face into the ground with his cybernetic fist; he grabs the Spectre by the neck and throws him across the room, the workers inside scream with shock. The Spectre slams into a Printer and he looks up at Kassius with a stern look in his eyes.
Kassius looks up at Jaune. "I'll hold him off! Get Pyrrha to safety!" He orders. Jaune nods and he turns to Pyrrha, running over to her and they both jump from the building and land down at the bottom.
Kassius turns and looks back at the Spectre as he stands back up, the hook still folded outwards and Kassius glares at him. He did not forget about what the Spectre did to Yang when they last met. "Remember me?" Kassius asks him with rage in his eyes, on the edge of letting Hyde take over and eviscerate him, but there are too many innocents in the area to be risked like that. The Spectre cracks his neck, seeming to be excited by this challenge, swivelling his shoulder round.
"How couldn't I forget the face of such a pretty boy?" The Spectre snidely challenges and Kassius grabs Lash Equinox and he flicks them upwards, the blades fold out from the hilt and he points them forward at the Assassin.
"You're gonna pay for hurting Yang." Kassius growls with anger. The Spectre smirks and raises his Hook upwards.
"Come then, bring me the bill." He challenges with a pun, but he is in no joking mood. Kassius rushes towards him and the Spectre swings his Hook straight at him with all his might, the wind rushing behind his attack. Kassius slams both blades of Lash Equinox into the Hook and the Spectre's blade folds down onto the blades and he holds onto them. He rips them from Kassius' hand and then he fires a round into his chest.
Kassius is thrown back from the blast and he rolls across the floor.
He looks up at the Spectre and he sees him sprinting at him, the Spectre jumps and goes to stab Kassius in the chest with the hook. He rolls out of the way and spins round; his cybernetic fist collides with the Spectre's cheek, making him grunt with pain. He staggers back and fires his cannon built into his arm at Kassius over and over again. Kassius rolls out of the way, then fires Vulcan Nox over and over again at him, the gunfire makes the people inside scream, covering their heads with their hands.
The Spectre snarls with rage, stabbing one of the tables with his hook and throwing it straight at Kassius. Kassius rolls aside and picks up his swords, slashing straight at the Spectre with force and aggression. The Spectre deflects the blades with his hook and goes to grab them with it again. But Kassius knows that he can disarm him very easily with that weapon, so he fights smart, attacking the back of the hook and not the inside. Kassius jumps in the air and spins round as he slashes down across the Spectre's chest plate, cutting across it and he staggers back as the sparks erupt from the impact. The Spectre rolls back and fires at Kassius over and over, the rounds explode against Kassius' chest and he is thrown through the wall, plummeting out the building.
He slams Lash Equinox against the wall to slow his descent and he jumps off.
The Spectre jumps out and he scrapes his hook down the building and he sprints after the duo that Kassius held him back from. Kassius can see the Bullhead pursuing the two of them. He contacts Ren and Nora through his earpiece. "Nora! Ren! The Spectre is coming for them!" He warns.
"Don't worry! We've got a car, we're gonna pick them up!" Ren assures.
"What about you?" Nora asks.
"Don't worry about me, I've got my bike." Kassius assures, taking his scroll out and pressing a green button on the screen. He turns and smiles when he hears his bike roaring round the corner and drifting towards him, he has bought an auto-drive system so then it arrives to his location. He jumps over the bike and lands in the seat, riding after the Spectre and Pyrrha and Jaune.
He just has to follow the gunfire.
Jaune
Jaune and Pyrrha run as fast as they can and they look up as the Bullhead with Ortega inside of it banks round one of the buildings. He has also got access to a mounted machine gun on the side of the Bullhead as well, and he is firing it at them both. The bullets dart past them and burst against the ground. Pyrrha looks ahead as they see a tunnel that moves across the hills over the farmland. They are in the outskirts of Vale right now, closer to the farms of the land.
A horn blares behind them and they both turn to see Ren in the driver seat of a car, Nora next to him with Magnhild in her hand in Grenade Launcher form. "Guys!" Nora calls and they open the doors, jumping inside of the vehicle as they begin to drive away from the Bullhead.
"Hello again!" Pyrrha joyously greets.
"I would hug the hell out of you right now, but Ortega is still on us. Same for that other Bullhead." Nora points out, and Jaune looks back, seeing the second Bullhead pursing them, a man firing the machine gun at them. Ren slams his foot to the pedal and the car accelerates forward through the traffic and they head into the tunnels, Nora looks around and they notice that there are some Acolytes of Lien trucks pursuing them. Soldiers hang onto the side of the doors with rifles in their hands, firing at their car. The bullets dent the metal skin of the car as they keep on driving through the tunnel. The horns of many cars blare as they race past them; the armoured Mercenary Trucks keep up with them as well.
"Well this is a..." Pyrrha begins.
"Fantastic reunion!" She giggles.
"Yeah, exactly." Pyrrha agrees.
A group of Mercenary Bikers begin to chase them as well, submachine guns held in their hands as they shoot at them. Ren holds the steering wheel with one hand and he reaches back with Stormflower, using the reflection of the mirror to choose his target that he fires at. The green bullets scatter across the ground, until one of them nails the Mercenary in the chest and he yells with pain, falling from his motorcycle. The bike flips and tumbles into a frenzy of spins and crashes. The bike shatters like glass, chunks of metal thrown everywhere, glass shattered and the remains scrape across the ground by the car they are inside of.
The two Bullheads follow the tunnels, there are some openings ahead on the side that they could attack them with.
Nora looks in the mirror and she sees Kassius catching up with them on his motorcycle, firing Vulcan Nox at one of the soldiers and he falls from the car, tumbling across the road. One of the cars hits him and crushes his head under the wheel. Kassius rides up to the wheel of one of the cars and he slashes the tyre with Lash Equinox. The tyre bursts and the truck flips over and rolls into a frenzy, smashing into another truck, sending the man on the side airborne with a terrific scream.
Kassius smiles victoriously as he keeps up with them. But they've no idea that the Spectre is chasing them as well, but not in the tunnel right now. There is an opening in the tunnel for a few yards, and suddenly the Spectre jumps down from above and he lands on the bonnet of a civilian vehicle, crushing it down and causing it to flip. He leaps off the car he crushed the bonnet of and stabs his hook into the roof of their car. The car he landed on flips and scrapes across the tarmac, leaving a trail of sparks behind. Ren looks back and sees the Spectre glaring at him as he hangs on, aiming his cannon at them, firing it over and over to try and flip their car.
"Can't shake him!" Ren yells as he turns his car round over and over to shake him off, but he has a pretty good grip with the hook he has. Pyrrha looks at him and she opens the car door, Jaune's eyes widen when she does it.
"This guy is really pissing me off!" Nora exclaims.
"What are you doing, Pyrrha?" Jaune questions, she climbs onto the roof of the car and she stands atop the metal as the Spectre climbs on top. He glares at her and smirks as he stands there.
"We once made a good team." The Spectre points out, referencing their work when she was the Onyx Phantom.
"Yeah, when my mind was a plaything for your boss." Pyrrha states with anger.
"You know, I preferred the Phantom." He scoffs.
"I really don't like you." She says to him and he scoffs back at her.
"Too polite to curse? Let's see how you fare against me!" He yells, lunging at her and slashing straight at her. They keep on driving and Kassius fires Vulcan Nox at the face of a Mercenary who drives one of the cars. The car spins out of control and drives towards the wall, until there is an opening and it plummets off the edge of the cliff. The car plummets and explodes when it hits the rocks beneath; the hills have now become the edge of a mountain face.
Pyrrha slashes Milo and Akuou constantly at the Spectre and he deflects the attacks with his cannon-arm, sparks erupt from the attacks and he kicks at her. She rolls back and nearly falls off the car, holding onto the side. She throws herself into the air and flips over him, landing behind him and she kicks him in the face. Ren's eyes widen when three trucks come charging towards him and he pulls a hell of a turn that nearly throws them both off the roof. The Spectre stabs his hook into the roof to hang on and his other cybernetic hand scrapes across the tarmac. He stands back up and slashes towards Pyrrha to hurt her, but she deflects the attack with her shield and kicks him in the crotch.
"Argh! You really know how to hurt a guy!" He yells.
Kassius drives up to one of the bikers and the Mercenary gasps when the blade of Lash Equinox is swung directly towards his throat, cutting his head from his shoulders. His head bounces like a ball across the road and his body slumps off the bike and into the traffic. His body is hit by many cars, probably a squished mess by that point, his bike spins out of control, flipping and smashing straight into another car.
Kassius turns his head and his eyes widen when the walls of the tunnel open, multiple pillars being the only cover between them and the Bullhead that attacks them. The Bullhead is not the same one that carries Ortega; this has a Mercenary on the gun that opens fire at him, killing many civilians in the process. Ortega's has retreated due to being low on fuel. Pyrrha uses her Polarity and lifts the Spectre up by his arm and she throws him from the car, the man grunts as he plummets off the car and crashes onto the windscreen of a car.
He rolls off and glares at their car, his implants activate and he charges after them, running at Superhuman speeds, managing to outrun the cars on the freeway. He sprints after their car with determination in his eyes, seeing Pyrrha climbing back into the car.
The Bullhead continues to fire at them, the bullets killing innocent after innocent. Ren drives as fast as he can, but all it takes is for one of those bullets to either hit them or their tyre and they are all done for. She sighs, kicking her door open and she holds Magnhild in one hand in its Grenade Launcher Form. She holds on and aims at the Bullhead's cockpit as it chases them.
Nora winks, smirking.
"Bang!" She cheers, pulling the trigger and firing a Grenade that flies straight into the cockpit of the Bullhead. Fire erupts from the Bullhead and chunks of metal explode all over the place, smoke trails from its wings, it begins to spin out of control as well. The soldier is thrown from where he was shooting and falls to his death. The Bullhead roars with pain as it spins out of control, disappearing underneath the cliff and exploding.
They continue to drive away and the Spectre slows down, staring at them as they get away.
He raises his scroll up to his mouth. "They got away..." The Spectre tells him with anger.
"I wish you could see my face right now." Ortega snarls with anger, sat inside of his Bullhead and he punches the wall of the vehicle with all his might, denting the metal.
"They are headed back to Beacon." The Spectre informs.
"We don't have the numbers to organise a strike on Beacon Academy." Ortega tells him.
"We don't, no..." The Spectre begins. "But Whitley Schnee might."
Qrow
The Ancient Arkhoni Arena stands before them, the three of them look at it with awe in their eyes as they see the size of the place. Qrow looks at Raven and she looks at him. "This the place?" Qrow asks her. She pulls the photograph out and she looks at the structure and then at the structure that stands before them.
"Looks like it." She says to him.
"Well let's go have a look." Taiyang tells them, walking ahead of them with his fists clenched. The two twins look at each other, and then they follow Taiyang inside. There are tall, ancient Knight Statues inside. Very similar to the Silver Eyed Guardian Knights that protected the Relic of Choice on the Volcanic Chain Isles, they all look down at the centre of the structure. Qrow looks around, listening carefully for the sounds of any Creatures of Grimm, but there is nothing...
Not a tweet of anything at all.
"Keep your eyes open...it's too quiet." Qrow points out.
"I know." He says, and then he notices something across the way from them.
The symbol...
The same one on the photograph. A wreath of flowers engraved on the stone wall, it has been placed there recently, and in front of Taiyang is some kind of lever, ancient and made of stone. He looks at them and they shrug, so he pulls it to see what happens. The lever creates a loud crack in the mechanism and the three of them step back when they hear it. More cracks emerge and the ground begins to shift, the lever has begun some sort of sequence.
"What's happening?" Taiyang asks.
"I don't know." Raven responds, looking around as the stone pillars move in unison around them.
Then the ground opens up, something rises from the ground and their eyes widen with disbelief...
It is a person...
But not any person.
"Ozpin?" Qrow says with shock.