5,024-Moments prior.
/-/
Kill your heroes.
Screams echoed out across Vale even as a man in a white dove-tail dress coat and a bowler's hat skirted through the city's back alleys with a frown on his face. The rancid smell of destitution of the backstreets and the vacant eyes of those that fell in hard times paled in comparison to the overarching sense of doom in the air.
Roman Torchwick pressed his hat further over his face.
'Want to be a hero? Then play the part and die like every other huntsman in history.'
Running faster, Roman had flashbacks of his childhood. He hadn't always been a thief, and like many young boys, he'd also dreamed of being something bigger. A master thief had not been what he'd had in mind, rather, like other boys he'd also wanted to be a hero.
There was a particular Huntsman Roman had looked up, not that it mattered anyway. That man died in the same way all others in his profession had, without a body to bury.
Grunting as he felt the muscles in his legs ache, Roman pushed on into Vale's main street on the way to its Bullhead platforms where he intended to hitch a ride out of town.
He was doing what he did best.
'Lie, steal, cheat, and survive!'
People only had a single life, and Roman was no exception. That was why he cherished it more than most and would not ordinarily risk it out of his own personal volition. Instead, he would do what he could if able on the premise that his life was not in danger.
His work in the Rose Mercenaries, primarily in logistics and supply, had been something of a positive influence on Vale. He'd helped people solve problems rather than steal from them, and in the occasional mission outing, he'd even saved lives.
The feeling of gratitude towards him was admittedly nice, but it never did quite rival the thrill of a successful theft.
Bang!
The hairs on the back of Roman's neck rose as goosebumps traveled down his skin. Stiffly, he turned to look behind him. He watched as numerous Grimm fell down from the sky and landed on the streets, causing further panic and mayhem as people trapped in vehicles fled their cars and ran on their feet.
It was mayhem, a doomsday scenario where Grimm were running people down over the streets, and people were trampling other people in their haste.
The irony of it all was that more people were being injured from the panic of others rather than the Grimm who were oddly subdued in their attacks. It was like they were playing some sort of game, but Roman would not sit still to dwell over the psychology of Grimm.
"Neo!" Roman gestured before his trusty partner appeared by his side with the sound of cracking mirrors.
Beyond going to Beacon Academy, Neo knew where her true allegiances lay beyond the money of a contract.
Placing his hand on the handle of his cane, Melodic Cudgel, Roman gestured for Neo to get close before he wrapped an arm around her and fired off a grappling hook from his cane. The wire quickly ascended to the top of a building before securing itself on a jutting segment of the building.
Pulling the trigger of his cane, the wire of the hook retracted and pulled Roman and Neo up into the roof where they now had an aerial view of the chaos.
'Roman,' Neo nudged Roman with an elbow while signaling her scroll to him.
"What?" Roman replied impatiently before Neo placed her hands on either side of Roman's head and focused his gaze in a certain direction.
Roman's pupils dilated as he watched the Bullhead platforms crumble, as the main building was beset by a towering Goliath.
'What now?' Neo posed a question, but Roman's thoughts were running blank ever since the Vytal festival's main floating stage exploded into pieces in the sky.
What now, indeed?
Roman was well aware that Vale wasn't being overrun from the inside, but being thoroughly besieged by an army of Grimm pressing on from Vale's walls. Escaping on foot was practically suicide.
'Are we going to die here?' Neo asked with a tilted expression. Beads of sweat were forming over her head at Roman's continued silence.
The feeling of despair in Vale was growing by the minute.
From their vantage point, Roman and Neo could see the struggles of various Huntsmen and Huntresses fighting on behalf of Vale's people.
Neo could even recognize the very teams she attended Beacon with cutting a path towards the light of Jaune's banner where a vast majority of citizens and injured Huntsmen alike were sheltering.
As it stood now, that barrier of light was looking more and more appealing to Neo who knew its effects first hand.
She turned towards Roman with pensive eyes, unsure if she should voice her thoughts here.
Roman wasn't stupid. He could tell what Neo wanted to suggest even without her saying anything, but abandoning all routes of escape to take shelter in the Arc-boy's light barrier guaranteed that they would be stuck in Vale.
Roman also wasn't willing to bet that the Arc-boy had enough Aura to power that barrier indefinitely.
In the end, they could still die.
Roman grit his teeth, his palms feeling clammy from a growing sense of desperation.
What was a Hero?
For the longest time, Roman was and still did believe that being a Hero was for fools. You live and die for others, and are the first to fall prey to the blade of an enemy.
Heroes did not live long.
They were righteous, unbending, and principled idealists who were more than willing to throw their lives away. Roman was not the only one who considered the pursuit of heroics as benign and self-serving…and yet people still looked for a Hero in times of need.
A noise was echoing over the horizon, something that grew louder and louder with each passing second.
People like Roman and Neo who lived in a certain profession weren't unfamiliar with the sound, but neither of them could understand the source.
It was the clanging of steel.
Following the direction of the noise, Roman and Neo had to crane their chins up towards the sky where the sight of a massive Grimm Dragon was drawing near. Behind it, pursued what appeared to be a number of dots that blotted out the light of the horizon.
No- not dots.
Roman and Neo's eyes widened.
Swords.
Whistling wind echoed out as the Grimm Dragon roared as hundreds of swords pierced through its flesh. The roar sent reverberations throughout Vale even as a tornado of fire and an enraged shout echoed through the sky.
Roman and Neo raised their arms to cover their faces as various fast-flying objects sailed over their heads and into the streets.
Dust and debris kicked up, before Roman and Neo glanced down to see numerous Grimm fading away after being skewered by twisted steel blades.
Holes mottled the ground, creating cracks that branched out deep into the paved streets. The sheer heat generated from the friction of the speed of the swords, created a molten area at their point of impact. The acrid scent of bubbling tar and asphalt permeated from the streets. Street lights fell and cars exploded in a meshwork of warped steel that showered the area in fragments of broken glass and scrap metal.
Swallowing nervously, Roman brushed the dirt off of his white coat and stared in silence as the Grimm were cleared off of the streets in the blink of an eye.
Neo was mirroring Roman's reaction for obvious reasons.
'What now?' Neo nudged Roman from the side again, her hands opening and closing around the hilt of her weapon.
Both Roman and Neo had seen a figure pass by through the clouds. The distinct flicker of red and the heroic air permeating the area made it obvious.
Roman and Neo stared at each other, their Auras flaring from the sensation of the magic being released into the surrounding battlescape.
That figure up high, it was the Huntsman of Red.
Where the depths of his magic reached, shades of Aura began to burst forth from within Vale, either from those that were induced into awakening, or by those who already had their Aura's awakened and had them strengthened.
Spirits were visibly lifting as realization was dawning through.
The primary Hero of Mt. Glenn had arrived to provide aid and salvation.
Clang!
Where Roman looked, all he could see was a world of swords manifesting endlessly throughout the city and providing cover support for the huntsmen teams. Civilians were saved from the brink of death, and the unrelenting march of the Grimm was gradually halting.
Even the Grimm pouring in through Vale's compromised walls were giving pause as magic energy swelled.
Absently, Roman could feel Neo nudging him again, urging him to come to a decision in this crisis.
The longer Roman stared at the Arc-Boy's barrier of light, the more appealing it became to take shelter there. However, Roman could feel the tides of the war shifting towards Vale's survival.
Sheltering now could indeed give him peace of mind, but with the Huntsman of Red's support, other options became viable. Options that could net him both profit and reputation should he decide to take a gamble.
Grudgingly, Roman fiddled for something hidden in the confines of the inner pockets of his coat. It was a mask. Placing the mask over his face, he donned the guise of a Rose Mercenary.
Roman was a survivor, and his intuition to stand on the winning side had never wronged him before.
With clenched teeth, Roman nodded at Neo who placed on her own mask.
"Let's go…save people."
Roman felt something bitter at the back of his throat as he spoke the words.
If the direction of saving people had him and Neo inching closer and closer to the Arc-Boy's barrier until they were just close enough to enter in the case of an emergency, then it was a coincidence.
.
.
.
The world suddenly changing moments later in a vast display of magic beyond Roman's understanding only solidified his conviction to remain on the winning side.
Gliding across a hill of swords with Ruby on his shoulders, Shirou deftly raised a hand and had a shower of swords pelt down over another area of his Reality Marble where Grimm congregated. Meanwhile, Ruby religiously continued firing off round after round of high-caliber bullets, the casings falling to the ground.
"Urgh!" Ruby's eyes widened as she felt her shoulder start to go numb from the recoil. Gritting her teeth, she stubbornly fired on and on, her focus directed solely towards the enemy in front of her.
"Easy. Try to fire in shorter intervals." Shirou steadied Ruby on his shoulder, but the determination in Ruby's expression wasn't fading in the least.
It reminded Shirou of Yang, but that also meant that Ruby wouldn't be taking his words to heart.
Their primary pursuit target was still the Grimm Dragon and a panicked Cinder Fall atop of it, but the chase practically ended when Shirou finally managed to cut the Dragon out of the sky.
"There are too many Grimm," Shirou said as if reading a script.
This was Shirou's inner world. Could the number of Grimm truly outnumber the unlimited amount of swords he maintained in this space?
The answer was a definite no, but there was no one else privy to that knowledge.
"What can I do?" Ruby asked quickly, not suspecting a thing.
Shirou raised a hand, and a massive blade fell down and put an end to the Grimm Dragon that landed over the ground. With its wing shorn, it no longer possessed the luxury of flight, and fell victim to Shirou's attack. Squirming, it wasn't long before the Grimm began dissolving into motes of black light.
But what of the Dragon's former Rider?
Cinder nervously descended to the ground, unwilling to waste too much magic energy for levitation. Her features were tense, her breathing shallow as she stared up at Shirou and Ruby.
"Can you keep her distracted while I focus on the other Grimm?" Shirou asked Ruby who listened in silence. "We can both focus our attacks on her, but it may take longer than necessary. People are dying as we speak."
"I'll do it," Ruby said. There wasn't even any hesitation. She turned to face Shirou directly and never appeared so serious in her life. "Do what you need to do."
The little girl Shirou had watched grow into a fine young woman had grown up, and was now pining to show her own strength.
Vanishing in a swirl of red rose petals, Ruby reappeared with Cinder Fall ten feet across from her. Crescent Rose had long since shifted away from its Sniper form and into its Scythe form.
Nodding his head, Shirou vanished into the horizon where sounds of steel and fire reverberated with each move of his hand.
For each Grimm Shirou slew, more people were saved, and that was why Ruby would not lose here.
Ruby could see where Ozpin was fighting off against Salem in the air, the two in a classic battle between magic users. Ozpin was shrouded in an emerald green Aura, while Salem's magic energy was shining a vibrant blue. Their clashes produced sparks of lightning that arced into the surroundings, singing the ground.
"Just you?"
Ruby watched as Cinder leered at her, the tension from Cinder's shoulders fading in correlation to the distance Shirou traveled away from her. Her closed demeanor had gradually began to open back up as confidence swelled.
Cinder may not have an answer against the Huntsman of Red, but she whole-heartedly believed in Salem's capabilities. The fact that Salem remained unphased as the world changed while fighting Ozpin spoke that everything was still under her control.
All that mattered to Cinder now was surviving long enough for Salem to kill Ozpin and then break out of this magic world with her.
With Ruby as her opponent, Cinder couldn't help inwardly cackling.
The relief was visibly evident as a smile returned to Cinder's lips, the fire flaring over her palms illuminating the cherry red lipstick.
Ruby felt sick just looking at her.
"Yes, just me." Ruby said with more venom than she thought possible.
Ruby recognized Cinder from the entries of her future diary. There was no way she wouldn't as the woman was responsible for many deaths and mistakes future Ruby had grieved over.
Yang would lose an arm to her.
Ruby swallowed down the pit of fury growing within her because Shirou had taught her that losing oneself in emotion was detrimental in battle.
She raised her scythe and glared at Cinder.
"You," Ruby mustered her resolve, summarizing everything she'd learned about Cinder. "You don't deserve to live."
The words were uncharacteristic of Ruby, closer to something uncle Qrow would say.
Ruby understood this well, but there were many times Future Ruby had used non-lethal force, only for it to backfire when Cinder would escape and harm someone else future Ruby held precious.
For Cinder, mercy would cause later pain and anguish.
'Red like roses.'
Cinder opened and closed her eyes, and in that single blink, a flutter of petals appeared in front of her, a scythe inches away from her neck.
Pupils dilating, Cinder formed a glass sword and parried the attack, but the hook-like nature of Ruby's scythe had her spinning around Cinder's sword until she maneuvered around to Cinder's exposed back.
Ruby kicked Cinder in the back head.
Cinder, reacting quickly, took a step forward and shifted Ruby's attack from the back of her head to her back instead.
"Brat!" Cinder hissed as she stumbled forward, but she wasn't the sole recipient to be damaged.
Ruby muffled a scream as her leg twitches from electricity snaking around her ankle.
Just as Ruby had landed her attack, Cinder had wrapped herself in a film of lightning.
Clenching her jaw, Ruby's Aura managed to mitigate most of the damage.
Gasping for breath, Ruby struck again, not giving time for Cinder to adjust to her speed.
Rose petals rose and fell under Ruby's assault, the clang of sparks and fire echoing as the two women clashed weapons.
Glaring at each other, Cinder had long since lost her complacency. It was like Ruby had an idea of her every move before she even committed to the action. Did someone leak her intel? It had to have been an insider job because no one who knew of Cinder's true capabilities lived to tell the tale.
That damn, Watt's. Could it be him?
Cinder's eyes narrowed sharply as she formed a glass bow and arrow and aimed them at Ruby.
As if expecting it, Ruby shot Cinder's arrows down before Cinder could even pull the bow string fully taut.
Using her glass weapons as a shield, the impact of Ruby's high-caliber rounds shattered her glass constructs. Fragments scattered around her, a shard tearing a small cut over Cinder's cheek, causing her shoulders to tremble in rage.
"That's enough!" Cinder flared the magic energy within her, bathing the immediate area in a wall of flames that rebuffed Ruby's assault.
A gasp escaped Ruby's mouth as she hurriedly backpedaled away from the flames, but Cinder wasn't about to give her breathing room.
Flame arrows pelted towards Ruby, and when she attempted to dodge, more fire rose to hinder her movements until they blocked all directions.
In the end, there was no escape even with Ruby's speed because there was nowhere to escape to. There was no choice but to tank the blow with her Aura.
Different from ordinary fire, Cinder's was explosive.
Fully caught in the inferno, the heat caused the sweat to sizzle off of Ruby's skin, her Aura depleting rapidly until it caused an explosion and sent her rocketing backward into a death roll.
A sickening snap and a sharp shooting pain signaled a broken bone. Ruby whimpered as she lost feeling in her left arm, the joint bent at an odd angle, but the momentum kept pushing her into a tumble.
Suddenly, her momentum was halted as someone caught her and braced their feet into the ground.
At first, Ruby thought it was Shirou as he was always looking out for her, but this time was different. It was not Shirou, Jaune, Pyrrha, or anyone she considered reliable, but someone she'd never even thought she'd receive aid from.
"C-Cardin?" The name spilled out from her mouth as she stared in muted shock.
Cardin was bleeding from a cut by his temples, his armor torn and covered in scars. The fact that he was bleeding and likely injured revealed how low his Aura must have been. His legs were shaking, and his arms felt weak, but he'd still managed to catch Ruby.
Where was the rest of Cardin's team?
The answer was obvious.
CRDL had also been on the Vytal Festival Arena when it exploded. They were likely separated, and Cardin had been fighting on his own.
Cardin's broken mace and ragged appearance revealed it all, but there was a saying that men were made on a battlefield.
Cardin was noticeably different after the experiences he'd gone through.
In Forever Fall, Cardin witnessed the futility of his weakness when Glynda and the professors died.
Then now, here in Vale, he'd watched as the same shadow engulfed thousands of innocent people.
Death.
Everyone was dead and dying, arms reaching out for aid.
Weak Cardin had walked past them.
The silence that came after the Grimm passed, haunted his mind with regret and guilt.
What did it mean to be a Hero, to be a Huntsman?
It wasn't merely about gaining fame and recognition, but it came with subsequent duty and obligations.
"I saw her riding on that dragon." Cardin didn't react to Ruby's surprise and spoke up instead with a weary tone. "She's an enemy, right?"
"Y-Yeah," Ruby tentatively got back onto her feet as Cinder rapidly approached from the distance.
"Let's cooperate." Cardin proposed mutedly, mixed feelings harbored within his haunted eyes. "I won't be useless."
In Cardin's hand was the same magic tool he and his team had earned off of Archer.
Ruby knew its function as well as Cardin, but she kept looking from the magic artifact, then back to Cardin's bloodied state.
Her mouth opened and closed as she gulped nervously. How was she supposed to say this?
"Cardin-"
"Can you even fight like that?" Cardin said, staring at Ruby's broken limb and her short stature.
'She was two years younger. Just a child.'
The image of Ruby's present state overlapped with the figure of a girl Cardin had left to die by the Grimm.
Low on Aura and weak in combat, he'd walked on.
"I'll manage," Ruby said, but the worry was bleeding through. Cardin just looked so tired, haunted.
"Wait for my signal," Cardin shook his head.
Cinder had arrived.
"How precious." Cinder sneered as she appeared on scene, chin pointed up in scorn. There was a gloating in her eyes that wasn't lost to Ruby or Cardin. "What does one more body add to your odds of victory? Nothing."
"I'll take the lead." Cardin said to Ruby. "Don't waste the opportunity."
Cardin began advancing, his expression resigned and stoic. He'd seen too much death and suffering today to still harbor old pettines or prejudice.
The weight on his shoulders had never felt so heavy.
Cinder queried a brow at Cardin's approach. Her time in captivity had prevented her from gathering any relevant information on Beacan's students, but she felt no pressure from someone like Cardin.
"...You're within range." Cardin suddenly mumbled.
"You think someone like you can do anything to me?" Cinder laughed, conjuring her glass bow and an arrow on the other hand. "Someone like you won't even be able to touch me."
"I won't have to." Cardin raised his broken mace with both hands, goading an attack.
Cinder didn't waste her breath and fired her shot.
If she'd expected Cardin to at least try to dodge, then Cinder was in for a surprise because Cardin made no moves. No matter, it was more likely that her attack was too swift for Cardin to even react.
Blood splattered with a sickening squelching noise.
"Now Ruby!"
A cream echoed through the air.
Cinder furrowed her brows, not understanding the nonsense spewing from Cardin's mouth when she showed no opening to be exploited- !
She keeled over, dropping to her knees from a sudden agonizing pain of her insides burning to ashes, and then-
BANG!
"..."
Cinder stumbled back, a bullet shot through her chest in the same spot she'd once shot the Huntsman of Red. Disbelief coloured her expression before her body crumbled.
Cardin collapsed to the ground, vision going black.
This couldn't be happening.
Qrow opened and closed his hands, his squinted eyes trying to make out any semblance of recognition in Summer's eyes but finding only malice and bloodlust.
There was once a time in Mt. Glenn when Qrow had met Summer again for the first time in years after pronouncing her dead. Worse, it had been with Ruby.
The Summer he'd seen then was not the Summer he knew, but a woman who'd turned into a beast that relied on instinct.
Qrow didn't know how it felt like for Summer to lose control, but he damn well knew how she was like in the aftermath. Just getting her to open up again was already difficult, and Qrow could imagine that by the end of this, it was going to be hard to ever see her again.
Rescued or not, this was going to eat at Summer, and that was why Qrow flinched all the more when he took into account who they were with.
Last time was an off-hand incident. Only he and Ruby were present, but right here, right now…
There was barely a moment to celebrate victory before it all went to shit again.
"S-Summer?"
"M-Mom?"
'Dammit, Tai and Yang.'
Qrow clenched his jaw while making eye contact with Raven across from two were always the more rational in team STRQ, likely due to their upbringing as bandits. Call it a sixth sense, but they knew when things were going downhill before everyone fell off an edge.
Tai stepped forward, shoulders shaking as the big man's composure began to melt.
Yang was no better at the revelation.
The Branwen siblings moved at the same time, leaving only James standing in a stupor when Qrow barred Tai, and Raven grabbed Yang by the arms.
"Don't get any closer," Qrow hissed at Tai, expression twisting into a saddened grimace. "You'll make it worse if she finds out she attacked anyone."
"What are you talking about?!" Tai felt his emotions surging, unable to understand how Qrow could keep so composed until he abruptly understood. "You knew."
Tai stared at both Qrow and Raven, while Yang gaped in shock. "You both did!"
"She asked not be spoken about," Qrow said softly.
"It was her own choice," Raven scoffed.
"What do you even-"
"MOM!" Yang's shout alerted everyone to the fact that Summer was not staying still.
Moments after defeating Cursed Arm, Summer became the new adversary and dashed towards James with clawed hands.
Not one to be taken by surprise, James quickly maneuvered out of reach, letting Summer miss and watching as her attack buried itself deep into the ground before Summer pulled her hand out of the pit.
Aura or not, getting with that kind of penetrating power was not an option for anyone that had already exhausted themselves with Cursed Arm.
"Summer, come to your senses!" Qrow stressed, letting go of Tai and nodding at him to help restrain her.
James was not as reserved as the others.
Kicking the back of Summer's knee with a foot, James destabilized Summer and forced her to ground. Grabbing one of her arms, he put her in an arm bar, but quickly found that his strength was inadequate for the ordeal when he was nearly thrown off.
"Help Jimmy!" Qrow did not waste time and dashed forward to restrain one of Summer's limbs. He grabbed one of Summer's legs to prevent her from getting leverage over the ground while Raven snatched Summer's other arm.
Tai moved in and added his weight, leaving Summer practically dogpiled as she thrashed and growled underneath.
Yang tentatively approached, trying to talk reason. "Mom, this isn't you. You have to fight it!"
Summer's eyes focused on Yang, the intense crimson of her irises gleaming before she let out a roar that caused her Aura to surge and throw everyone off her. She kicked first, sending Qrow tumbling away followed by Raven who grunted at the exertion.
Tai and James were the last to maintain their grip on Summer, but Summer head butted Tai, disorienting him and freeing one of her hands.
With claws now bared, Summer tried to stab James in the neck, forcing the man to release her and back away.
"Dammit," James subconsciously raised his gun and pointed it at Summer, but Tai tackled him down.
"Don't shoot!" Tai yelled, infuriated.
"You idiot, you're daughter!" James lost his temper as Tai prevented him from acting.
With Qrow and Raven tossed away and Tai tackling James to the ground, Summer's instinct was to attack the nearest person to her left standing.
Yang's pupils dilated as she literally froze, unable to move from the shock and grief flooding through her.
Summer's mouth appeared to unhinge its jaw, snapping back to reveal sharpened teeth intent on sinking into tender flesh.
"Yang, move!" Qrow screamed.
"B-But it's mom," Yang let out a whimper, unable to get it into her head that the woman she looked up to as a real mother would try to hurt her.
Time seemed to slow down, Tai's complexion paling as Qrow grudgingly leveled a bullet Summer's way. More than rescuing Summer, Qrow knew Summer would never be able to forgive herself if she harmed her daughters.
Yet, Qrow could not muster the will to pull the trigger.
He could have aimed for a leg or an arm, or anything nonlethal, but all he could picture in his mind was Summer's smiling face; the team leader that had been instrumental in reforming Qrow's past mindset.
By the time he gathered the resolve, it was too late.
Summer was already in front of Yang, poised to bite into her neck.
"I'll take it from here."
Yang had a feeling of vertigo as someone abruptly grabbed her from the back and shoved her away, taking her place.
A flash of black trench coat and a mask revealed the unlikely interloper.
"Archer!" Yang yelled.
"If you as a hero in life saved others time after time, who is the one who saves the hero?" Archer mumbled to himself moments before Summer's jaws clamped over his neck.
A sickening crunch echoed as Archer felt his clavicle snap. He neither used Reinforcement, or had anything like Aura to naturally shield himself.
A scream echoed, but Archer wasn't hearing any of it. His attention was fully on Summer. For all the pain she'd endured, and the trails he was going to put her through, she didn't deserve to still be away from her family.
This was an act of penance.
Blood spurted out in an arc, marring Summer's face and splattering over the ground.
The red of Summer's eyes grew turbulent as Archer began to release his magic energy.
"I'll take your pain, your worries." He whispered to her, forcibly placing Summer into a bearhug even as she thrashed and hissed. "You've worked hard enough."
From the place Summer was biting Archer, Archer let the darkness corrupting Summer's physical body enter into his.
The paleness of Summer's complexion began to grow flush, the red veins and cracks fading away starting from her toes and up her body. In contrast, those same features began to bleed into Archer.
"Y-You," Qrow raised his voice in the background, not blind to what was happening. "Why would you do this?"
Archer let out a small smile as the mask over his face gradually slid off, having been damaged when Summer had initially attacked him.
The mask fell off of Archer's face, revealing the unmistakable visage beneath.
"Because I am an Ally of Justice," Archer grunted as he answered, silencing all who saw him.
"That face..."
It was the face of the Huntsman of Red.
"He was a twin?" Raven said.
Everyone stood frozen, but even as Summer's condition grew better, someone else grew more frantic as Archer's condition deteriorated.
"N-No what's happening! Do something!" Yang yelled at the adults. There had to be a way to save them both.
The fuck were they doing just standing there watching?!
Archer gave Yang a weak shake of his head. This was something that he planned to do for Summer from the start. There were many ways that he could do it, but he also needed a way to extricate himself from the others without drawing suspicion.
This was that way.
With a final breath, Archer fully absorbed the darkness tainting Summer's physical body, leaving her unconscious and breathing.
Tai quickly ran up and cupped Summer in his arms, the gaze he was giving Archer mixed with inexplicable gratitude and guilt.
Archer coughed, blood leaking from the wound he'd sustained from Summer.
Now was the time to hammer in the act. A capable companion breeds reliance, and for Remnant to be whole again, what was required was for the world to unite. Not under a single hero, but a banner that represents all.
"Gh!" Archer fell to his knees, swaths of Grimm taint running up and down his arms. Just like in Mt. Glenn, there was a build up of dark energy from the sheer of number of Grimm Shirou was slaying.
It had to be going somewhere, and Archer was that recipient.
Staring at Archer's face, and then correlating it to the Huntsman of Red, a known champion of light, Yang fell into desperation.
She'd seen this scene enough times before. It happened with the Champion of Light Atalanta, and even Jaune's distant ancestor Jeanne.
"From Light to Dark- he's being corrupted!" Yang didn't know what to do.
A-Archer was, h-he was going to turn into another Cursed Arm!
The mood grew heavy as the implications set in.
Yang hated the silence, and the morbid looks crossing the faces of the adults as if Archer had already sacrificed himself.
"I-Its not fair. There has to be a way!"
Archer shook his head, offering a weak attempt at reassurance.
No one was buying that shit, especially Yang who ran towards him.
"Yang get away from him!" Tai yelled, unable to take it if his daughter got affected.
Tai grabbed Yang by the shoulder, but his hand was singed as fire erupted around her. A blaze of colour manifested over her eyes as her emotions grew turbulent.
"He saved mom! We can't abandon him!" Yang brushed past Tai. "I-I won't. I can't. H-He was the only one who-!"
Yang's eyes grew bloodshot as she reached Archer.
"You fucking Grimm sludge filth." She tried to pull at the black substance crawling over Archer's skin, but to no avail. It was like she was grabbing air. "Get off him. GET OFF OF HIM!"
Archer shook his head, and amid Yang desperate attempts at helping him, Archer stared at the adults with a deep meaning in his eyes.
'End it.'
The message was clear, and yet Qrow and Tai grew stiff, Raven pensive as she stared at Yang. The fall out of Raven acting here would mean forever being loathed and hated by her own daughter.
No one would do it, but there was someone Archer knew that had an ability to forego emotional sentiment.
"…Ironwood. Hu…rry." Archer forced out, staring not at James, but at Atlas's General in a bid to compel him to act.
As Yang continued to desperately fling the darkness coating Archer off, a click of metal echoed behind her.
Before Yang could even process what was happening, a bullet reverberated, penetrating through Archer.
Archer's body slumped, crumpling over the hard ground where he forcibly lay still and slowed the beating of his heart. His Spirit Origin was still in tact, so damage to his body mattered little if at all.
He just needed to present the act.
And Yang snapped, the area cratering around her in her anguish and hate.
"Ah, NOOOOO! Y-You I'll kill YOU!"
Raven swiftly knocked Yang out with a grunt before anything else could happen.
In the chaos, no one realized that James's shot wasn't enough.
James had seemingly killed Archer, but the Grimm shadow suddenly swallowed Archer's body, absorbing it before shooting off into the distance.
"W-Where's it going?" Tai mustered the words.
"Its last host was Archer, and if he's truly twins with who we think he is, then they must share some sort of connection…" Raven theorized before everyone's eyes widened.
"Then-"
The Huntsman of Red.
It's targeting him.
Qrow stilled, staring at the world around him deployed by the Huntsman of Red and imagining it going hostile.
"If he gets corrupted- no we can't let it happen!"
"Ozpin!"
"He's busy."
"D-Dammit!"
"Its too fast."
"Shit!"
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