Alex and the rest of her group watched as every patron inside the coliseum scurried their way down a nearby exit like frightened mice. She couldn't believe what was happening in front of her eyes. A night of uncertainty and suspicion transitioned to a night of terror and everyone was a witness. She couldn't stand by and watch everyone get hurt by the invasion one by one. They had to find Nox and Harumi fast, but how?
She was deep in thought, thinking about the aftermath of the chaos if their suspected enemy would succeed in vanquishing Delta forever. There could be a rising rate of death and destruction around the world. The humans would be nothing but slaves to the Dark Ones. Worst of all, Stranges Ones would begin a civil war, the good ones fighting for humanity's freedom and independence while the shadows of evil fighting to take over the world. They couldn't let that happen. The heroes of Delta couldn't let their downfall happen and they wouldn't.
Behind her, the others were discussing a plan in a panicky state, and Alex was the only one who wasn't paying attention. Their words were inaudible, for the loud sounds of the dreadful screams of the innocent were suppressing it. However, she could hear their raised voices. Then, her thoughts turned to Nox. Later, they turned to her peers at Delta. Finally, they turned to someone who she didn't consider for a long time. Yang.
How could I forget about her?! She thought before she began to sprint away from the others, who later noticed her move.
"Alex! Where are you going?!" Clarissa shouted, but the blue-haired girl didn't hear her and she already disappeared into the sea of terrified humans and Strange Ones.
"Alex!" Jonas attempted to follow her until Blake stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder.
"We can't follow her!" Blake said. "We still need to get everyone out of this building!"
"But what about that Nox guy?" Ren interjected. "We still need to find him!"
"We can think about him another time!" Winter replied. "Right now, we need to call our forces and get everyone out of here!"
Four of the five humans nodded without question. For Jonas, he was still focused on the direction Alex went. He began to wonder what was on his stepsister's mind and why did she run into the crowd of panicking humans and Strange Ones. He was tempted to follow her, but their top priority was now making sure of the safety of the citizens of Camena. After all, the inevitable was about to happen one way or another.
"Jonas, are you okay?" Nona asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"No," He admitted. "But I can't talk about it now. I'll just be dragging you guys down with me if I did. Let's call Atlas and Delta over here. They will know what to do."
~~~~~
With the silver wristband on her left wrist, Alex was trying to track down Yang. She just survived almost getting run over by panic-stricken patrons. Now, she was running down an empty hallway of Strange Coliseum, following the trail on the hologram displayed from her wristband. According to its hologram, it said that her blonde friend was on the third floor of Strange Coliseum.
As she ran, she mentally scolded herself for neglecting the thought of Yang for a long time. How could she forget about one of her closest friends? She guessed it was because of Yang wanting to process the message alone and Alex and her friends trying to decipher Nox. She knocked herself in the forehead five times until she finally reached the flight of stairs.
She stomped on the stairs, climbing them with haste. She didn't care if she was getting exhausted from running. The girl only wanted to find her friend before something bad happens to her. After climbing three flights of stairs, she reached the third floor and stopped to catch her breath. Then, she turned back to her wristband. Alex sighed with relief, for she was getting closer, but in the corner of the hologram was the classic red and white hazard symbol. Yet, she ignored it and continued running once she decided that she rested long enough.
As soon as she got closer, she skidded her feet when she heard the clanging of weapons and the deep grunts of the voice of...Qrow? She listened carefully, curious about what was going on in the other hallway that she was going to enter. With pursed lips and a deep breath, she looked beside the wall she was hiding behind. Her findings gave her wide eyes as a result.
It was Qrow clashing swords with a short figure donning black with the silver mask as an exception. An unconscious Yang was lying on the floor, appearing to have lost a battle with someone, for the bruises and patches of dirt and ash were evident. Alex was beyond petrified, but she couldn't bring herself to stand by and let Qrow fight that masked man on his own. She had to help him.
Grabbing her portable weapon from her belt, she activated its sickle form before jumping out of her hiding spot and throwing it at the man's face. Immediately, Nox looked up and he was struck in the forehead before he could move. It sent him plummeting to the floor back first. Meanwhile, Qrow stood with wide eyes as he was looking at the holographic blade of the weapon's sickle form. Upon seeing the Delta Rune on the handle, he knew who that weapon belonged to.
Behind the man's back, Alex dashed from the shadows and. Qrow noticed her after hearing her footsteps.
"You know," Qrow began, giving her a stoic expression. "I could've done it myself."
"Well, you needed help. Also, a simple thank you would've been nice." Alex retorted.
Alex and Qrow looked back at Nox, who was pushing himself back on his feet. The sickle's blade was still lodged in the small slice inflicted on the forehead of his silver mask. Despite the damage he obtained, he chuckled. His right hand grabbed the handle of the sickle and he slowly pulled it out of his mask. With that, the holographic blades disappeared.
"Impressive move, girl," Nox said, smirking beneath his mask. "Yet, you lack strategy."
He dropped the handle-like weapon to his feet before the sole of his boot hovered over it. Then, his foot stepped on it, increasing the force on the weapon until it snapped in half. It slightly sparked as a result before he pulled his foot away. With that, the weapon exploded in front of him.
"That was my only weapon," Alex growled at the shadowy figure.
"So, that makes you newly unarmed." Nox said, chuckling again.
The blue-haired human looked down at Yang again before she looked up at him and said, "What did you do to Yang?"
"You know that girl, I see..."
"She is my friend!" She said, sneering at him.
"This has been an interesting day!" Nox laughed. "And to answer your question, girl, I taught her a lesson. She has been eavesdropping on a conversation between me and two others. But as I fought her, I realized that she was a perfect candidate."
"A perfect candidate for what?!" Alex demanded to know.
"He's after the power inside Yang's soul," Qrow answered for her. "He and the Dark Ones are planning to harvest power from seven strong souls and pass it onto an almost forgotten figure."
"What?"
"It's true," Nox admitted before pointing to Yang's body behind him. "That burning beauty over there is strong with power. She is perfect for the harvest, so taking her energy is what I must do. One does not upset the leader."
"Chrysalis," Alex growled under her breath.
"I think we've had enough talk now, don't you?" The dark figure cracked his neck before swinging his sword.
"You know," Qrow said, giving the hilt of his weapon a tight grip. "You took the words right out of my mouth!"
Suddenly, Nox dashed to Alex, who became tense as he approached her. But as he got closer, he attempted to slash her with his sword until Qrow jumped in the way, blocking the attack with his sword. A wave of wind and dust filled the hallway and shattered almost half of the windows. Alex shielded her closed eyes with her arms as the breeze moved her hair.
Turning his head around to face Alex, Qrow shouted, "Alex, take Yang and get out of here! I can hold him off!"
Hearing his words, she ran past the two combating figures until she reached the limp blonde. Once she did, Alex went on one knee and slipped one arm under Yang's back. She struggled with lifting her off the floor due to how heavy she was. Yet, that didn't stop her was trying to carry her. With all of her strength, she placed her on her back and began to run down the hallway without stopping.
Meanwhile, Nox evaded every swipe from Qrow's sword before he turned around to find the blue-haired human sprinting with Yang on her back. With a snarl, his sword dematerialized and shifted into a spear. He aimed his arm at the girls, pointing the sharp rod at his targets. However, he couldn't throw it in time. The back of his shoulder got struck by a bullet of energy and he felt a sharp pain. Nox slowly turned back to Qrow, whose weapon was in its gun form.
"Focus on me, you freak!" The crow Morpher yelled, flicking his gun once until it was back in its sword form.
Behind the dark figure, Alex and Yang were already gone. But he didn't turn around. He repositioned his body so he was facing the man again. All of a sudden, he held the spear with two hands and snapped the weapon with his knee. Then, the two halves of the spear turned into a black liquid that shifted and hardened into a pair of twin blades. Qrow was taken aback by what he has witnessed, but he shook the surprise in his expression away and glowered at Nox again.
"I get it now. You're a creature of hate." Qrow said.
"Yes, I am." Nox replied before resuming his brawl against his opponent.
~~~~~
Alex couldn't believe she was running again. This time, she was carrying Yang and bringing her out of the coliseum for good. That was all she was doing from the beginning the chaos happened. With no weapon and only her useless prosthetic arm, she was completely defenseless. However, she couldn't think about herself. She needs to consider all of the innocent lives who are evacuating the entire building. She also has to regroup with her fellow heroes from Delta and take care of the evil whois causing this disaster.
Once she turned right into another hallway, she suddenly fell over after another figure bumped into her. Alex's body fell to the ground and so did Yang. Groaning, the blue-follicle teenager sat up and shook her head, looking for the person she bumped into. Turns out that it was only Ruby, who was being helped up by Boris. Jessica and Bob stood behind the caped girl and wolf, both of them surprised.
Soon, Ruby's eyes open and she noticed her unconscious sister. "Yang!" She exclaimed, running out of Boris' arms to examine the blonde. Looking at Alex, who knelt adjacent to her, she asked, "What happened to her?"
"She got attacked by the dangerous man in this building. Qrow is fighting him."
"We have to help him, then!" Ruby said.
"No, Ruby. It's too dangerous." Alex placed a hand on the other girl's shoulder. "We need to get everyone out of here. Hopefully, our friends from Delta are coming over."
Despite her personal protests, the silver-eyed girl nodded. Suddenly, the group heard and groan and they turned to Yang, who was pushing herself up onto her knees. Once the blonde Lifter was sitting up, Ruby sighed with relief, knowing that her sister was okay. She and Alex stood back on their feet before helping Yang up. After that, the blonde placed a hand on her head, wincing.
"Are you alright, Yang?" Boris asked, concerned.
"My head's hurting, but I'll be fine," Yang answered.
"Do you recall anything?" Alex asked.
"I was running from a shadowy figure with a mask. Then, I was fighting him until I was punched through a wall."
"He was going to kill you after that." She said and her friend's purple eyes widen.
"Wait, what?!" Yang blinked in surprise. "Why?! What did I ever do to him besides eavesdropping on a conversation with him, some girl named Harumi and a sworn enemy of ours?!"
"Something about a harvest, I dunno," Alex said with a shrug. "But we can't think about that now. We need to get out of here and find our friends."
Suddenly, the ground began to rumble, surprising the group. As the ground shook, some of the hallway's windows shattered. Somehow, the shaking only lasted for a few seconds.
"What was that?" Yang asked.
"Uh, long story short," Boris said, somewhat hesitant. "There's a Nevermore on the roof of the coliseum..."
With that, the entire hallway was silent until Yang uttered a shrill, "WHAT?!?!"