Tell me what you think of the new cover (above).
"We have to get out of here!" Matthew was the first to break the silence between the three of them. Delilah paused for a brief moment.
"What about (Y/N)?" She asked.
"He'll be fine. I'm sure Ozpin will pull him right out of whatever hole she puts him in. But we can't take her! If we stay, this whole thing was for nothing." Matthew whisper yelled.
"Yeah, but didn't you hear her?" Delilah nodded her head in Augustine's direction. "It doesn't sound like she plans on taking prisoners!"
"Oh, both of you shut the hell up!" Carolina snapped. Their heads quickly turned in her direction. "If we can get far enough away, we can distract her. If you would just please get me to a sign or something, I'll do it myself!"Matthew and Delilah exchanged glances.
"It's the safest option . . ." Matthew started. Delilah, after a moment, finally gave in.
"Ugh! Fine, but we need to be careful!" The purple-eyed girl pulled out her scroll and shifted through her contacts to the other two members of their five-man team, the names Callum and George appearing on the screen. She hit the call button and quickly spoke to the group. "We're leaving, you two! But we have to give (Y/N) an opening. When we run, look for a sign Carolina can use!"
"Yeah!" and "Got it!" Were her responses, prompting her to end the chat and refocus her attention on the super-powerful conduit standing away from them. Delilah swiped through her scroll once more to find (Y/N) and notify him when the sudden "Move!" from Matthew snapped her away from it. Trusting his judgment, she dashed away from the cover she sat in just before it exploded in a shower of concrete.
"You know, I expected (Y/N) to be here!" Augustine yelled to the fleeing conduits. "But getting the 'Pathfinders of Light' too? I really don't know how you expect to win anything if you're so easy to catch!" The concrete conduit shot her arm forward, a large spike shooting from the ground toward Delilah who was currently running around her at a distance. The neon conduit stopped not an inch short of where the spike impaled. With a gasp and quickly stifled shock, she dive rolled over the spike as another stabbed where she had been a moment before.
Augustine's attention was quickly ripped from the girl before her by several well-placed neon bolts to her back. The ginger gathered the concreted around her, forming a constantly rotating cylinder that she used to raise from the ground. Augustine then spun to face her new opponent, her intense blue eyes locking onto that of Matthew as he dashed away from her. A spiral of rocks formed as Augustine raised her right hand before she cast if forward with a flick of her wrist. Matthew barely managed to dodge the attack. He started to retreat but thought better of it when he saw a flash of purple in his peripheral vision. Taking his ally's hint, he activated his power, ingulfing himself in purple light before sprinting straight at his adversary, meeting Delilah at the base of Augustine's spinning cylinder. The two began to run up it in a spiral. Because they did so in the same direction the pillar was spinning, they moved too fast for the concrete conduit to track in time.
Delilah, when she reached her target, used the speed she had in her neon-infused state to launch a quick punch across Augustine's cheek. The older woman grit her teeth in frustration, raising her arm to retaliate when Matthew delivered a swift kick to the back of her head. She spun to swipe at him only for him to boost away, firing the fast-flying bolts of neon from his hands at her head. But again, from behind her, the DUP dictator was struck by a concentrated beam of purple light. Augustine growled under her breath, the situation quickly angering her. She turned only enough to shoot another spike of stone from the ground at the purple-haired girl before moving to attack Matthew once more, only, he wasn't there anymore. A flash of light to her right drew her attention to see the boy in question running along the wall of the prison ship's stern. He lept off, kicking his feet out and shooting himself straight into Augustine's stomach. The air was forced from the older woman's lungs as she fell back slightly, the concrete pillar beneath her beginning to fall apart. The ginger caught herself, however, and, before Matthew could dash away again, grabbed hold of his legs.
Shards of rock and concrete spread from her hands and across her grip to Matthew where she held him, the result being her infamous concrete prison that many conduits knew all too well. Augustine tightened her grip before swinging the captive neon conduit around and into her other opponent as she ran up behind them, sending both him and Delilah to the ground.
"The two of you have been a thorn in my side long enough." Augustine started, raising her right arm. Shards of concrete raised into the air, forming a giant spear. "I look forward to removing you." She cocked her arm back, ready to kill them when a ball of fire slammed into her and exploded. The spear fell apart and Augustine's concentration followed suit. She angrily snapped her head to the left to look at the back of the ship where her attacker stood, his arm outstretched. The ginger's scowl was replaced by a devious smile as she approached him, gliding on her pillar of rotating concrete, seemingly ignoring the small army of escaped conduits flooding out of the ship from either side of him. "Ah - just the man I wanted to see." (Y/N)'s silence gave her no satisfaction. He simply glared at her. Augustine's gaze faltered for just a moment before the smile returned.
"You know, I warned Ozpin about this . . . about you." The older woman started. "But he didn't believe me. And now that I have proof, there's nothing you can do to stop me from turning you in. So I'm giving you a choice." Her smile became an arrogant smirk as she reached for him. "You can come quietly, or you can make this more difficult than it has to be. For both of us."
(Y/N) wanted to speak. To retort. To throw her attitude right back at her and wipe that smirk off her face. But he knew the detector of the DUP did not earn such a title for being stupid. Augustine was a smart woman and was clearly goading him for a reason.
The smoke conduit unfurled his weapon, swinging the chain around him as he lept off the deck of the ship. She was ready for this outcome as well, however, evident when a giant concrete hand came up from below and snagged (Y/N) by the legs. He didn't have time to react and was violently thrown to the ground. Luckily, his distraction had given Delilah the chance to break Matthew out of Augustine's concrete prison and get away.
(Y/N) shakily stood up, dusting himself off and continued glaring at his opponent as his arms began to superheat. Augustine simply continued smirking as she raised her hands, broken concrete shards from all over the dock began forming around her into what would've become an instantly fatal attack. Would've. Just before the ginger woman was about to send the attack, a huge neon laser, easily six feet in diameter, shot through the air. The energized beam struck Augustine in the side, the brilliant purple lighting up the night around them.
"Agh!" The concrete conduit yelped as she formed a barrier to shield herself before taking the giant hand she had used against (Y/N), balled it into a fist, and used her power to throw it at the roof of the building from which the beam had originated. It impacted the roof, the sounds of rock-like shattering echoing from what remained. Confident she was safe, she snapped her gaze back to the smoke conduit. But it seemed she would lose a target for the second time that night.
Intense blue eyes swept the area as Augustine whirled around, searching, not willing to let (Y/N) get away again. It was then her instincts kicked in and she looked up, and, of course, there he was. The lower halves of (Y/N)'s limbs were engulfed in fire as he came down on her head first, a wicked smirk played across his face. Her eyes only widened for a moment before she brought her arms up, a protective layer of concrete coming together above her in a near futile effort to protect herself when the human missile came down, a massive fiery explosion rocking the area. Augustine's spinning pillar collapsed almost instantly, as did any other piece of the man-made solidified rock that had been suspended in the air.
Embers and ashes that had scattered across the ground began to steadily lift into the air before coming together in a mini-tornado of fire and smoke. From within, (Y/N) emerged, panting and exhausted. He spared the rubble around him only a glance before sprinting away from the docks.
"(Y/N)!" A voice from above called. The boy in question looked up to a rooftop to see Delilah standing over the edge. "Up here!" He quickly found a vent and flew up it, coming out next to the group of five. "Are you alright?" Delilah asked. Through pants, the smoke conduit spoke.
"Who . . . was that?" It took them a moment to realize what he was asking.
"That was me. You're welcome, by the way." Carolina stepped forward, the corner of her mouth etched up in a slightly overconfident smirk.
"The hell kinda power was that?" (Y/N) finally managed to catch his breath. Carolina only smiled wider.
"Now you know why I'm the team sniper!" Before anyone else could speak, several DUP bullheads flew in from above, hovering around the docks where the fighting had been. Soldiers, as well as several of Augustine's personal agents, dropped and began picking up the pieces. They too were interrupted, however, when Augustine herself burst from the rubble.
"Ma'am!" One of the agents jogged up to her. "The situation-"
"I need a ride to Beacon!" She barked, cutting her subordinate off.
"But Ma'am-"
"Now, lieutenant!" She walked passed him with a scowl. The agent did as he was told and ushered a bullhead down for her. Back on the rooftop, one of the conduits there was starting to lose it.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" (Y/N) started, his hands burying themselves in his hair as he panicked. "I have to beat her back to Beacon! But how . . ." Trailing off, he turned around to the companions he had made, looking over them. The smoke conduit grit his teeth and sighed in annoyance before speaking. "Hey!" The five turned to look at him, pausing the conversation they were having. "Augustine's on her way back to Beacon. I have to get there before she does. I hate to ask but . . ."
"Waitwaitwait, hang on." Delilah stepped forward, and incredulous expression notwithstanding. "The only way you could possibly get there in time using us would be to . . . would be to . . . you are not asking for this!"
"I don't have a choice! So just throw me a bone here." (Y/N) pleaded. Had the universe been any different, one would have seen a vein on the edge of Delilah's forehead. The bullhead on the dock Augustine had stepped into lifted off and began its flight. The (e/c) eyed boy muttered a 'dammit' under his breath as he watched the small airship fly away.
"Oh for shit's sake!" (Y/N) looked over to the group of neon conduits to see the most unlikely of people stepping forward.
"Matthew?" He asked.
"Listen, smokey, I don't like you, but you saved her" he gestured to Carolina "so just this once I'll do you a favor." He turned away from (Y/N) and kneeled down. "Climb on." (Y/N) stared blankly for a moment, not entirely sure if this was really happening.
"Uh . . . thank you" he started.
"Silence. We do not speak of this." Matthew deadpanned.
"Okay, okay. But I appreciate-" (Y/N) was interrupted when a hand grabbed his lips and held them shut.
"We do not speak of this. Ever."
IMPORTANT
Hey, readers, just FYI. I said there would be a romance in this story. The only issue is that I brought that up when I had plans to make this story full length. But now that I'm ending it in volume three, that might change. It may just end up being an easter egg at the end of the story or something. I apologize if you all are disappointed, however, it would feel quite wrong to simply force a romance in volume three, so I feel that this is the best way to handle the situation. Thank you for your patience.