47

Chapter 47Notes:

This chapter has less of a violence warning than the last chapter. Also, it has three images.

Chapter Text

At first, there was silence.

The kind of dead, ugly silence that spoke of terror and panic, of muscles locked still in pure shock that could not, would not move. It was the kind of silence that punctuated the hellish retort of a fatal gunshot, the kind of silence that deafened those caught in it, the kind of silence that made Team RWBY and Penny stare in sheer horror as they watched their friend, their teammate, their family collapse backwards and tumble to the ground like so much meat .

Ruby was gone. Her head was gone . Not even the slightest bit remained- an oozing stump bleeding crimson fluid too thick to be blood and wafting with coal-like smoke. She laid there, limp and quiet as the crimson rose petals that marked Moonslice's usage faded away as the terrorist who had so thoroughly decapitated the rose Huntress retrieved his sword, rolled his neck, and sheathed the blood red blade before turning his gaze upon the remaining for girls.

"I suggest your human friends run along, Blake. Come with me and leave them behind before I do to you what I did to the race traitor," Adam spat out, one hand held firmly upon the hilt of his sword as he strode forward- somewhat worse for wear, but somehow still standing despite how low his Aura had to be.

Blake trembled as she tried and failed to put on a brave face, unable to do anything as her breathing came in shallow pants, her eyes dilated, and her eyes traced over every line of Adam's body with pure and utter fear . This wasn't a battle she could win- this wasn't a fight she could handle! Her Aura was already low from the combination attack and fighting the goons earlier, and it only took one lucky hit for Moonslice to decimate someone's Aura instantly- and with the full force of his blade behind any one hit, dismemberment would be the best case scenario.

"You… you killed her…" Yang murmured after a moment, her body shaking as her arms hung limp, hunched over and head hanging slightly as she stared at the place where her sister laid- Roman Torchwick slowly backing away from the body as the corpse seemed to melt into a pool of black tar- and Yang could feel herself burn. "You KILLED HER!"

Flames lit up the night as Burn activated harder and hotter than it ever had before- golden flames erupting into blue as she pushed her Aura as high as she could with her pure rage and pain. It hurt. It hurt . It HURT!

"YOU KILLED MY SISTER!" Yang screamed, her voice full of broken rage as she rushed forward without thinking, feet pounding against the asphalt and leaving molten footprints in her wake, dashing forward like a streak of blue and gold and black and red as she swung her fist forward and-

[Yellow Dragon Burns... Blue]

CLANG

Fist met steel, and she struggled to push against the iron grip of Adam as he held his sword flat- unable to push her back, yet she was unable to push forward either. With such a direct attack, there was no way for her to catch him off guard, no way for her to hit him without him catching it first.

Ember Celica barked as her punch connected, letting loose into an unearthly ball of flame as the Dust within each massive shell full of napalm ignited around the two- throwing Yang back and leaving Adam growling as he spun through the air and let the burning fuel wick off of the shield of his Aura with a grunt of effort. His sword glowed with unearthly red, Moonslice charged again already even as Yang flipped in midair and slid to a halt before throwing herself forward again- her path clear and defined by the oozing, bubbling, liquid pits of tar that she left in her wake just from the sheer heat roiling off of her body.

Again and again they clashed- Yang swinging almost wildly as she ran through her combat forms on instinct. She punched and kicked and spun and raged and raged and raged, unable to let go of that burning hatred that had formed as every hit slammed into guards and blocks and parries and her own dodges and counters knocked that glowing blade aside- only to lose sight of Adam at the worst possible moment, lose sight of him just long enough for him to get behind her and let loose with an utterly devastating lash of Moonslice that shrieked against Ember Celica with such force that it almost tore through the yellow metal, ripping deep rents into the surface even as the impact behind the slash knocked Yang back with a desperate yelp of pain and surprise- mostly uninjured, but with her Aura knocked critically low until she slammed into the side of a shipping container and flashed .

Golden Aura fizzled into a sprinkling of Dust. Adam stood victorious- and he turned his attention on the rest of the group, not even bothering to look at his defeated opponent as he leveled his rifle at Yang's panting, shuddering form.

"Last chance, Blake. Come with me, back where you belong, and I won't kill more of your pathetic human friends. Or leave, abandon this one just like you abandoned me," he stated, as cool and calm as ever despite the fact that his own Aura was patchy and flickering, standing with utter confidence despite the fact that there were three still standing Huntresses and he was on his last legs and gasping for air.

Penny stepped up, eyes narrowing as she raised Floating Array into the air and set the blades spinning around her.

"You will not hurt any more of my friends!" she stated, eyes glowing poisonous green as she immediately rushed forward- barely waiting for Adam's words to finish before launching herself at thunderous speed- only to halt halfway there and block a shrieking, whistling, explosive shot before it could slam into her side.

"Not so fast there, Little Green! You've got me and my partner here to deal with- and don't think I'm gonna make it easy for you," Roman called out, having retrieved his cane and hat as he sauntered forward. Both of them stood there, resolute and cocky respectively, Roman grinning maliciously while Adam simply stood there, content to keep his rifle trained on Yang while she was still recovering from burning through the last of her aura on a last ditch attempt that didn't even work.

And then Penny fired a fucking laser out of her sword.

"What the- Where did that come from!?" Roman immediately yelped, leaping away in shock as a thin beam of bright green suddenly blasted Adam's rifle from his hand- knocking it far and away and into the air before it seemingly vanished behind a crate. "Little Green's got some surprises, it seems- no matter, it's not like she can-"

"I am not the one who will take care of you," Penny stated, cutting off Roman as she took a step back- no longer focusing on Adam or Roman, but entirely retrieving her swords as she turned her head to look at something beyond the two. Behind the two.

Something that had been laying on the ground. Something that had risen halfway, bent over backwards with limp arms and unsteady legs.

Something that began to crackle and creak like breaking bones and brittle wood as Penny smiled .

Yang grinned despite herself, coughing out a quick burst of laughter as she pushed herself to her feet. "Hey Pennster, what's the scanner say on today's grimm incursion level?"

"Grimm incursion level nine. All civilian personnel evacuate the city. Warning. Warning. This is not a test," Penny answered calmly, the rest of Team RWBY completely taking their eyes off of the two criminals as something much, much worse began to erupt from the dead girl's chest.

"Grimm incursion what?" Roman muttered, sparing a glance behind as though trying to figure out what the fuck was going on, only to immediately pale and start shaking like a leaf in the wind.

The sky seemed to turn red all of a sudden, the sheer hate and bloodlust washing over the area bringing to mind only the worst, most lethal, most horrific of grimm incursions. The kind that scoured cities to the bone, that turned homes into charnel houses, that turned humans into so much meat .

Adam turned and beheld a nightmare made manifest.

Shrieking heads ripped themselves from a dead girl's chest, screaming and roaring and baying for blood as countless clawed hands grasped at the air- pulling and pulling themselves out on impossibly long arms and lifting Ruby Rose's corpse into the air by her chest, the humanoid body hanging limp as the nightmares within clawed their way out.

[Uh oh]

"I'm… not getting paid enough to fight that," Roman admitted, laying down his cane and sitting down with his hands in the air, eyes transfixed on the eldritch thing that was dyeing the sky red and the moon black, petals erupting from its body like a swarm of bats as it rose up and up and up…

And collapsed back down into a single, snarling monster. Almost a Beowolf, but not. More bestial, more monstrous, more horrific and composed of features from multiple grimm types, oozing malice as every single one of its dozens of eyes focused upon Adam's suddenly frozen form.

Its stinger-tipped tail lashed behind it, and it growled as the last of the nightmares collapsed down into black fur, white bones, and blood red markings. Eyes like burning coals lit up and cast a pale yellow light against the crimson sky. 

[Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?]

A thunderous voice like death itself emanated from the thing's maw, wrong in so many ways as it dripped with malice and hate.

"Adam Taurus…. I WANT YOUR BLOOD!"