Red With Rage Part 2
Ember stood her ground as the White Fang soldier homed in on her. Around her the rest of her friends and teammates withstood the worst of the White Fang's charge. The clashing of steel and crack of firearms soon lit up the night in a cacophony of chaos. Holding a fireman's ax, a fox tailed White Fang soldier lunged forward at her, forcing Ember to stagger back. Brandishing her tetsubō, she looked into the amber colored eyes behind the mask.
"You don't have to do this." Ember warned the man opposite to her.
"Spare me, human. Your kind have kept the Faunus down for too long. Now it's our turn to be on top." The Fox Faunus shot back, brandishing his ax.
"Then I'm sorry this had to end this way." Ember answered him, gripping her blunt weapon tightly, and readied it for his assault.
The White Fang lieutenant rushed in, his ax at the ready. Swinging it in a one-handed, overhead chop, he tried to cleave Ember's head in two. However, the diminutive platinum blonde raised her tetsubō and blocked the strike. Pushing off, she swung at him only for the Faunus to duck under the blow and attempt to kick her in the chin with a bicycle kick as he went for a one-handed backflip. Pushing off the ground with his free hand, he flipped back up onto his feet while going for a sideways chop with his ax.
However, Ember blocked the strike and pushed off, sending the Faunus flying back mid-flip. Twisting his body with the force of the push, he landed in a crouch with his ax held back behind him. Rushing forward, he slashed at her head with another sideways chop that Ember ducked under. However, it turned out to be a feint as he twisted with the force of his swing into a back kick that hit the platinum blonde in the stomach, knocking her back.
Recovering quickly, Ember raised her tetsubō and brought it down with both hands with all her strength. Blocking with his ax, the White Fang soldier was surprised by the force of the strike as the force traveled through his body and lightly cracked the ground beneath them. Pushing off, he swung at Ember with his ax only for the diminutive wallflower to swing her tetsubō to twist her body in midair to dodge. This allowed her to twist with the momentum much like he had and hit him with a vicious upwards blow to the chin that sent him skyward.
As the Faunus tried to recover, he looked down and saw that Ember had turned her tetsubō into its bazooka form. Taking aim, the girl fired a shot at the White Fang soldier as he was falling. In his desperation, the lieutenant made the mistake of trying to cut the shot in half. This proved to be a grave error as, due to his slower speed, the cleave from his ax caused the round to smash into his weapon and explode. The heat, concussive force, and shrapnel from the explosion tore into his Aura as the pain nearly knocked him out, sending him crashing into the ground.
"Not bad, Ember! Form could be better though!" The voice of Rena called out.
Turning to look at her partner, Ember saw Rena wrangling with a bulky ox Faunus with a long, thick bike chain in one arm, and a large knife in the other. Despite Rena's skill, the chain was locked around the haft of her great spear. However, the White Fang soldier did not get long to feel proud of himself as the butt of her spear was sent straight into the side of his knee, forcing his grip on his chain to slacken.
Locking an Electricity round into her weapon's chamber just below the blade, it soon crackled with fierce electrical energy. With a downward series of slashes, Rena cut the chain into small pieces, leaving a half molten and smoldering chain about the feet of the hulking bruiser. From the corners of his full mask, the militant Atlesian could see his cheeks widen from likely gritted teeth. This brought a smile to her face. She was not proud of herself; it was a simple maneuver. However, the reaction she got made it worth it.
"You think you're so damn smug, Atlesian? I'll tear you to pieces!" He roared as he lunged to punch and stab her in unison.
"You're welcome to try and fail miserably. I'd like to see the attempt." Rena told him confidently, purposely taunting him to rile him up.
With a deep sidestep to the right, Rena glided past the charging officer and, using the opening, slammed the butt of her spear into his middle spine. Wincing in pain through his Aura, he turned as a stab from Rena's spear forced him back. Rapidly, Rena pressed the attack, using the length of her great spear to force blow after blow into the bulk of the ox Faunus, and kept him off balance. As she forced him away from his comrades, little did the brute know she was forcing him into a trap.
Without warning, Rena threw her spear into the air. Thinking this was his chance, he lunged forward again, his cheeks poking through his mask to reveal an evil grin. In his haste, he did not hear a chain snap and held aloft over him was a car to be loaded the next day. Without the industrial chain holding it up, it plummeted to the ground at a rate even a trained fighter could not keep up with. With an almighty crash and explosion of glass and metal, the Faunus was left stunned, Aura broken, and trapped under the vehicle.
"Told you that you could try." Rena mocked, kicking his mask off to reveal a face contorted in pain.
Looking in Rena's direction, Ren could not help but flinch as he saw how she took down her hulking foe. That had looked extremely painful for her opponent. 'But, on the other hand… you can't say it wasn't efficient…' He noted, blocking a blow from his opponent with one of his bladed machine pistols.
Opposite him stood a female member of the White Fang with large white crane wings. Normally such a fowl foe would not vex him so. The number of chickens he cooked in the oven for Nora to wolf down made it so birds did not faze him. However, she chose the peculiar weapon of blade-heeled metal shoes. Aside from questioning her fashion sense, he had to weave hard to avoid a powerful sidekick. And with her Aura up, he could not effectively attack her legs.
"What's wrong, human? Not used to fighting a lady?" The Crane Faunus girl asked with a vicious smirk peeking out from beneath her mask.
"Merely ones with zero taste in footwear." Ren coldly answered.
The avian Faunus girl glared at him through the holes in her mask with enraged blue eyes glinting in the darkness. "We'll see how bad my taste in footwear is when my heels slit your throat open!" She shot back angrily.
"Really sounds like you need a hobby." Ren dryly replied.
With that, Ren used StormFlower to block a kick from her bladed heel on her left leg. To his surprise, she unleashed a rapid barrage of kicks that he had to block. For all his mocking of her fashion, the girl was fast. Not to mention her kicks had force behind them. She clearly would not be easy to deal with.
She then, to his surprise, rushed in and got within his guard. Mentally cursing at leaving himself open, Ren found himself hit with a palm smash to his chest that knocked the wind out of him. Recovering, he blocked a horizontal chop aimed at his temple before blocking the follow up elbow to his face. However, this left him open to a kick to his side that, while failing to penetrate his Aura, cut into his clothes, leaving a gash in the side of his outfit. Staggering back to get some distance, Ren briefly glanced down at his side where he had been cut before looking back into the eyes of his smug faced foe.
"I'd rate them a two." Ren said simply.
"We'll see how you rate them once they mess up that pretty face of yours!" She told him as she rushed in.
Dodging three different kicks from the girl, he bent backwards to dodge a mawashi giri kick from her that threatened to slit his throat open. Planting his hands on the ground, Ren pushed himself off in a kip up and used the momentum to headbutt her in the face. The blow slammed into her mouth, making her cry out and curse in pain as she staggered back. Seeing his opening, Ren struck out at different points on her body, striking at pressure points with his blades and fingers. With his opponent staggered, he kicked her in the chin, sending her flying back into a shipping container to knock her out.
"Sorry. This pretty face is for only one girl." Ren quietly said to the crane woman's unconscious face, letting the din of battle drown it out.
"Get back here, Schnee!!" A short, badger-like Faunus yelled, wailing like a madman and wielding a crappy rope tipped with a grappling hook that he spun like a rope dart.
"Who the hell uses a grappling hook?!" Weiss yelled, blocking it with a glyph.
"I'll have you know it is a traditional weapon of the Scottson Family going back for many generations! My granddad skewered someone in the family jewels with one during the war!" The incredibly short, even compared to Weiss, Faunus yelled back.
With greater rapidity, the rabid lunatic swung at Weiss. Using Glyph after Glyph she blocked it, but knew that if it caught her, then bare minimum her dress would be torn. The idea of this filthy little man seeing her in such a compromised state filled her with anger. Loading Dust into her hilt, she created a massive Glyph above her. To everyone's shock, ice energy began to form into the shape of a large sword.
"Okay, now that isn't fair!" The short Faunus yelled, annoyed it was somehow larger than him.
"BEGONE, YOU FOUL PERVERT!!!!" Weiss screamed, and the great ice sword slammed into the head of the short Faunus, crushing him into the pavement.
As the dust cleared from the impact, for a moment the fights stopped to see this. This especially surprised her friends, as Weiss's lack of talent with her family's summoning ability was a constant frustration. To less shock than one would expect, Weiss grew even more frustrated.
"HOW THE FUCK DID I JUST DO THAT!?" Weiss screamed in frustration.
"Temper, temper!" Yang yelled off in the distance.
"Lose your head if it wasn't screwed on!" Blake chipped in.
"Focus on your own damn fight Blake, for Father Winter's sake!" Weiss exclaimed.
Blake giggled a bit before adopting a serious face as she faced her opponent. Before her was a Faunus with hedgehog quills for dreadlocks. In his hands were a pair of machetes that he wielded as makeshift short swords. With a vicious smirk on his face and a glare in his eyes, he circled Blake like a shark.
"I've been waiting for over a year for this! Adam's orders can't protect you now, traitor!" The hedgehog Faunus sneered.
"You should have listened to his orders. It would have saved your honor from defeat." Blake answered coldly.
"Today you die, Blake Belladonna!" The Faunus roared before rushing in at her.
Drawing Gambol Shroud, Blake blocked a blow from each machete, trying to hold him back. To her surprise, the Faunus was freakishly strong. With a smirk, the Faunus headbutted Blake in the face. Staggering back, she had to block a machete slash aimed at her face and another one aimed at her midsection. Pushing back against him, she found she could not overpower him. Kneeing him in the stomach, she managed to create an opening for her to push him back.
Growling in anger, the Faunus became a blur of motion as he dashed at her as a red and white blur. Shocked, Blake found her side slashed from his movement. Looking down, she saw a cut in her clothes as the hedgehog Faunus smirked a bloodthirsty grin.
"Like my Semblance, kitty cat? Since you've been gone, I've become the fastest White Fang member in Vale! You have no chance of beating me!" He snarled out, flicking one of his machetes a bit.
"Do you tell all the girls that?" Blake asked with a smirk.
"We'll see you be so smug once I've slashed that face of yours in, Belladonna!" The man roared as he rushed in again.
In a blur of motion, he began slashing at Blake each time he passed by her. Using his speed, he bounced off the metal shipping containers around them to build momentum and speed. Blade did her best to follow his movements and block his slashes every time he passed her, but it was not easy. He was fast.
"Why don't you just roll over and die, kitten!? Or better yet why not try to run away like you always have!? Like the coward you really are!" The Faunus told her as he zipped around her, slashing at her at each pass as Blake kept trying to follow his movements.
"Those days are behind me!" Blake yelled, before her Aura began to flicker and shift.
To his shock, the hedgehog Faunus saw the shadow of something appear behind Blake. An image in her silhouette. The image of a black colored jaguar with dark purple eyes. Confused by the sight before him, he was a bit too slow on his slash, which allowed Blake to use her Semblance to leave a shadow in her place. As his blade passed through the shadow, the Faunus found his momentum stopped dead by a roundhouse kick to his stomach as a sickening crack was heard. Time seemed to slow to a stop for a brief moment around them as the hedgehog Faunus coughed up spit from the force of the kick. Time then seemed to restart as he was sent crashing into a shipping container from the force of the kick, knocking him out as Blake looked down at her own leg in disbelief while the purple-eyed black panther disappeared behind her.
"What was that…?" Blake muttered to herself, however, soon brought out of that thought by a loud crack from the slowly quieting battlefield.
"OW!" Came the muffled, pain filled moan of Jaune.
"Jaune, remember your shield!" Pyrrha yelled out.
"Not for a lack of trying!" Jaune groaned out.
"Careful little dude, but you're in the big leagues now!" A voice came from a small bit of smoke.
"You hit me with a pipe!" Jaune yelled out.
"To be fair, it was actually two. But you're not counting." The Faunus, with scaly skin akin to a turtle, said as he walked out carrying two large lead pipes that he wielded like eskrima sticks.
"Why do I feel like I should be insulted by that?" Jaune asked.
"JAUNE! FOCUS!" Pyrrha yelled at him annoyed.
"Right! Got it!" Jaune said, jumping to a defensive stance.
"You block him, Jaune!" Pyrrha ordered.
"To be fair, milady, his face is doing a damn good job at that." The turtle Faunus sarcastically answered.
As Jaune and Pyrrha stood their ground, the villainous reptilian rushed forward. Jaune attempted to raise his shield, only being just short and getting hit directly in the face. Staggering back, he turned to face him, just in time for his face to catch another blow sent towards Pyrrha. Pyrrha, forcing herself to hold fast and ignore Jaune's howls of pain, pressed her attack with multiple slashes and kicks. After a brutal kick to his knee, the turtle madman roared in pain and raised both of his pipes over his head to bring them down onto Pyrrha.
Before Pyrrha could react, Jaune leapt in front of her, and his head took the full force of the blow. Being forced down onto his knees, the turtle Faunus then grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up.
"Any last words, pretty boy?" The Turtle Faunus asked.
"You're so screwed…" Jaune groaned out in pain.
Confused, he turned to look to see Pyrrha, having empowered her weapon's javelin with a gravity dust round and vengeance in her eyes, threw it as hard as she could. The reptilian bruiser did not have the time to even consider dodging as the sudden force of the purple coated spear slammed into him. Soon he was sent flying into the trainyard, smashing face first into one of the many shipping containers, before sliding off its side and landing on the ground. Pyrrha then rushed over to her team leader and began to shake him.
"Jaune! Can you hear me!?" Pyrrha yelled at him.
"I can… I just don't know which one of you is yelling at me…" Jaune groaned in pain.
"How many fingers am I holding up?" Pyrrha asked, holding up two for him.
"27." Jaune groaned in response.
As Pyrrha picked up her deceptively tough leader, all the fighting soon was concentrated in the battle of the heavyweights. In the swirling maelstrom of sheer carnage, one no one of either faction dared get near, each blow created small tremors in the earth. Closest to them, however, was Nora, and her own reptilian fiend. Hammer and war club clashed with thunderous booms emanating from each collision of steel. Strangely, however, and indeed worryingly for those that knew her, Nora had a determined, profoundly serious grimace on her face.
"I may not get to kill a Zodiac today, but you'll do nicely as a substitute short stack! This is great!" The reptilian menace roared happily.
"I'm going to break your legs." Were the only words that Nora uttered.
Roaring with laughter, the Monitor Lizard Faunus raised his war club and slammed it down towards Nora with great force. To Nora's surprise, small booster rockets popped out of the back of the club's head and drove it forward, pushing her back. Pushing off Nora as the boosters shut off, he reactivated them as he swung with his momentum. The added force of his swing hit Nora as she blocked with the haft of her hammer, pushing her back.
With a glare on her face, she charged pink electricity into her hammer head as the two swung at each other with full force. Everyone present felt the shockwave as the two explosive forces collided, forcing the two heavyweights back. The Lizard Faunus laughed madly as Nora glared at him, hefting Magnhild.
"You know, I think I'll keep that hammer of yours as a trophy. Be a good conversation piece." The lizard Faunus officer said with a smirk.
"Try it, Scaly. I dare you." Nora replied surprisingly coldly, having not been her usual upbeat self since they made it to their destination.
"Dare? Such a crude word. Will is the proper term." He sneered before rushing at her again.
Nora rushed in back at him as the two continued to clash. Every collision of their blows shook the ground beneath them. However, soon the Faunus made a mistake by charging Electricity Dust into the blows of his war club as he began hammering away at Nora's defenses. Eventually, it seemed like Nora could not keep blocking as he just smashed his every blow into her.
"What's wrong, short stack!? Giving up already!? It's like you're not even trying to fight back!" He roared as he kept hammering electrified blow after electrified blow into the ginger Valkyrie.
"With me, lightning always strikes twice." Nora answered and stopped the next blow with her hand as the last of the electricity flowed into her.
"WHAT!?" The Monitor Lizard Faunus roared in disbelief as he could not budge Nora's hand, not even with the rocket boosters on his club.
"I told you earlier. I WILL BREAK YOUR LEGS!!!" Nora roared and ripped his club from his hands before snapping it in half over her knee.
Before he could mount a defense, Nora swung Magnhild with full force. The blow crashed into his pelvis and legs before sending him crashing through several shipping containers. The Faunus roared in pain as he was sent flying. Finally, when he crashed into the last shipping container, he screamed in agony.
"MY LEGS!" He howled in pain.
"Told you." Nora said with a satisfied smile.
Further into the swirling mass of violence was Zhan. With his ax lit ablaze by copious amounts of Fire Dust, he held his ground against the tornado of sword slashes before him. For every one blow Zhan could bring against him, he brought four. However, each of Zhan's was strong enough to force them to block with both blades and get out of their stance to dodge. It was a match of power versus speed. And Zhan knew all he needed was one good hit to wallop this avian terror.
"You fight well. It's a pity you're not a Faunus. We could use power like yours." The avian menace told the tall blacksmith.
"What, so I can cover for your sorry slashes? I've taken worse cuts from my cat. You're not even holding those things right." Zhan said, pointing to the falcon's terrible grip on his swords.
"You dare!? Short of our glorious commanders Kong and Adam, I'm the best swordsman in the entire Vale Chapter if not Vale itself!" The falcon Faunus roared in fury.
"Where'd you dig up those kitchen knives anyways, your mum's basement? Or did you steal them from a museum from some Vacuan tomb? Those things are so blunt you might as well be wielding a hunk of raw metal." Zhan said, further drawing attention to the blades, at least in his eyes, shoddy appearance.
"No one disrespects my precious blades, human scum!" He roared in fury before picking up speed on his attacks.
"You're not a blacksmith, are you? You have no idea the power it takes to create or even maintain something. It's why I've always hated you bastards. All you want to do is destroy." Zhan said as he readied his blade.
The falcon rushed in with shocking speed, almost too fast to track. Almost. With surety only a blacksmith could have with a massive flaming weapon and swung hard over his shoulders with both hands. With an arc more akin to a twin tailed comet, the falcon was forced to redirect his energy from attack to defense, lifting his blades up to block. However, it was not enough.
The force of Zhan's fiery blow was hardly halted, and shattered the blades on impact, sending hot shards of ruined metal everywhere. To everyone else, all that they saw and felt was a monstrous explosion of fire, black smoke, and torn concrete, all engulfed in a sickeningly black cloud. As the night breeze blew away the dust and smoke, inside a crater of scorched concrete was the unconscious falcon officer. Zhan soon slung his ax over his shoulder.
"Besides, your skills are nothing compared to the boss's." Zhan muttered.
Yang smirked as she saw Nora and Zhan win their battles out of the corner of her eye. However, she quickly refocused and glared at her opponent as the bison Faunus got into a kickboxing stance. Getting into her own stance, Yang coated her gauntlets in Fire Dust to ramp up her hits.
"Hmph, the fact that they lost shows how weak they are. Either way, I still plan to avenge them after I'm done with you." He told the blonde pugilist before rushing in.
"So much for honor among thieves." Yang shot back, propelling herself forward with her gauntlets.
Rushing forward, the two brawlers clashed in a meeting of fists that shook the ground around them. Lashing forward with a right cross, Yang was surprised when her opponent deflected her hit and countered with a hard left hook. Shaking it off, she went for a left jab only for him to deflect her hit upwards and nail her with a hard right cross. Glaring, she tried for a straight right to the jaw only to have her blow caught and be caught with a kick to the right cheek that knocked her aside.
Smirking, the Bison Faunus bounced on his heels a bit and did a couple of jabs. "Is that all, Blondie? I'm disappointed." He told her tauntingly.
"I'm just getting warmed up." Yang said as she punched her fists together, her hair beginning to glow golden like fire.
The Bison Faunus whistled a bit, seemingly impressed. "Not bad. I wonder if Adam and Kong will let me keep you after we've forced humanity into their rightful place beneath us." He told her with a smirk.
"Anyone ever told you your head would look good mounted on a wall?" Yang growled out.
"Oooh, you're feisty. I like that." He purred before rushing in at her.
The bison Faunus unleashed a barrage of hits at Yang as he forced her back, leaving her with no choice but to block his hits. Soon, he began hitting Yang with thunderous shot after thunderous shot past her guard. Unbeknownst to him, all he was doing was amping Yang up as he continued to hammer away at her.
"Come on, sweetheart! Show me what you've got! Where's that fire you had earlier that lit one in me!?" He roared as he kept hammering away at her with punches and kicks.
However, as soon as he said that Yang caught his fist as a shockwave was felt. Staring in shock, he looked at her to see her glaring at him with her eyes red. Yang then began clenching down on his fist as a popping sound could be heard, making him flinch in pain.
"This enough, or would you like more?" Yang asked him simply.
Before he could answer, Yang pulled him forward and delivered a thunderous shot to his midsection with her Semblance. That one single hit made him cough up spit and a little bit of blood as he stumbled back in pain. He stumbled forward a little before collapsing to the ground in an unconscious heap.
"Sorry, 'sweetheart.' You're not man enough to be my type." Yang said with a flick of her hair before walking away.
Meanwhile, Kong looked at the defeat of his subordinates in disbelief. It was not possible. How could they be losing to these human scum and the traitor? This could not be happening!
So caught up in his anger and disbelief, Kong barely dodged a slash from Azura as the others formed up with him. Finding himself surrounded, Kong growled in anger.
"It is over, Kong! You have lost!" Azura told him.
"Lost? I've hardly broken a sweat. Besides, your defeat will draw out my real prey." Kong shot back with a dark grin.
"Our defeat? All your troops are down! It's over!" Weiss told him.
"Have you all ever wondered why Adam has me as his second-in-command?" Kong asked almost smugly, which further confused the huntsmen-in-training.
However, Azura seemed to get it right away. "Oh no…" The blue prince uttered.
Before most of them could react, Kong was upon them and made it in front of Jaune. Before the others could react to help him, he kicked Jaune through several shipping containers as the blonde knight cried out in pain.
"Jaune!!" Pyrrha called out, before the behemoth commander silenced her with a sickening punch to the gut.
"Because, in the entire Vale Chapter of our organization, no one other than Adam is stronger than me." Kong told them before grabbing Pyrrha by the head, lifting her up, and squeezing.
As Pyrrha tried to break free, her grip on her weapons began to loosen. Before she could drop them, Kong released his grip and hit Pyrrha with an uppercut to the chest. Gasping in pain as she coughed up spit and a bit of blood, Pyrrha was sent flying upwards before being grabbed by the leg and slammed back into the ground. The blow of Pyrrha's body hitting the ground cratered and cracked it beneath her. Chuckling sinisterly, Kong lifted Pyrrha up by her leg and shook her a bit to see if she was still conscious. Getting no response, the gorilla Faunus tossed the redheaded champion aside like a piece of garbage, sending her crashing into a shipping container.
"Okay boss… any ideas?" Zhan asked, nervously turning to look at Azura.
Before Azura could say anything, Kong was upon Zhan bringing his blade down. Raising his ax, Zhan barely blocked in time as the force of the blow brought him to his knee. Staring up in shock, the tall blacksmith could not believe the raw speed and power of this behemoth. Then Kong unleashed a powerful kick, one that sent the tallest member of the group flying into the air above even the cranes. For an impressively long time, he was held aloft in the air before finally he began to fall. However, before he could hit the ground, Kong grabbed Zhan by his leg and slammed him into the ground with great force back first, cracking the ground beneath them.
"Gah, son of a…!" Was the only words Zhan could get out of his mouth before Kong acted.
Lifting Zhan up by his leg, Kong slammed him back down into the ground with tremendous first, loosing another cry of agony from the tall blacksmith as the spot on the ground where he hit was once again cracked. Repeatedly, Kong lifted Zhan up and slammed him back into the ground, wrenching pained yell after pained yell from the Huntsman-in-Training as the blows devastated the earth beneath them. Finally releasing Zhan's leg as the young man was in midair, Kong grabbed him by the face and rushed him towards the nearest shipping container before smashing him into it and through it. Zhan was sent flying through three more shipping containers before he found himself embedded into another one. The force of him hitting it tipping it back before the bottom of it hit the ground with a thunderous clang as Zhan's body dropped to the dirt.
"Zhan!" Rena and Ember called out in concern for their teammate.
"AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!" Was the last they heard out of Zhan as he screamed in agony into the ground beneath him.
"Well, he's alive at least." Blake sighed in relief.
Before Blake could say anything else, Kong was in front of her as he delivered a powerful knee to her stomach with the force of a levin bolt from the heavens. Blake gasped out in pain, coughing up spit and blood as she was nearly sent flying by the force of the blow. The only thing that stopped her was Kong grabbing her by the back of her head and delivering a vicious headbutt to Blake's face.
"GAAAAAGHHHH!!" Blake cried in pain before Kong grabbed her by the face, soon muffling the cry to near silence.
Reaching his fist back, still clenched around the hilt of his blade, Kong delivered a thunderous shot to Blake's stomach that cut off what could be heard of her scream as she gasped in shocked agony. Smirking, Kong then slammed Blake down onto the ground, the back of her head hitting it and cratering it beneath her.
"Kong! Cease this! If you want a fight, fight me!" Azura roared, fury tapering in his howling shouts.
Kong turned to the azure samurai with a feral grin on his face. "Merely taking out the trash first, dear prince. We wouldn't want them getting in the way now, would we?" He sneered.
"Oh, I see. You are taking them out because you are afraid they could take you out? Honestly, it disappoints me that Adam appointed a man with the heart of a coward in such a lofty position as yours." Azura simply said, keeping his hands on his blade, knowing what would likely come from his remark.
Growling in Fury, Kong's muscles bulked up even more as his fury took the better of him. Now muscled up to the level of a bodybuilder, Kong snarled. "I will make you eat those words, human!" The behemoth roared as he charged in at the blue prince.
Charging up his Semblance so that its lightning-like aura roared and shined a brilliant sapphire color, the force of its activation kicked up a wind pressure that forced his nearby friends to cover their eyes from the wind and the brightness. Ducking under Kong's slash, he evaded a punch by ducking under it before coating his fist in hardened Aura and delivering a thunderous shot to Kong's stomach. Gasping a bit, Kong chuckled as he swung his blade down at Azura only for the samurai to dodge to the side to evade. The force of his swing carving a scar into the earth.
"The guy's way stronger than I thought. He could crush a car with that…" Ember nervously said.
"He wouldn't have gotten as high as he did if he wasn't. From what I can tell, despite their ideals, they organize themselves by might makes right." Weiss said, crossing her arms in a disappointed fashion.
"With how much muscle mass he put on and his increase in power, he's not going to be as fast. Power has to come from somewhere. Now he's fighting with rage and instinct instead of tactics and skill." Rena said in an equally disappointed fashion.
As soon as his team strategist said this, Azura delivered a thunderous shot to Kong's liver that shook the behemoth gorilla Faunus and made him gasp in pain. Unleashing punch after punch, kick after kick, Azura continued targeting where Kong's organs would be, especially his liver. As the juggernaut of a Faunus grit his teeth and tried to attack the azure shōgun, he found all his blows evaded.
"Why! Can't! I! HIT! YOU!?" Kong roared out, emphasizing each word with a punch or a sword swing that Azura easily evaded.
"With power comes a cost. You cannot activate extreme strength without some sort of sacrifice, Kong." Azura explained coldly. "And sacrificing speed for power is no way to defeat me."
"DAMN YOU!" Kong roared as he brought his fist down with earth shaking force towards the samurai.
Acting quickly, as well as with great skill and precision, Azura turned away the blow with the lightest of movements as Kong was left above him. Twisting, Azura slammed his elbow hard into Kong's chest right over his heart. With the wind knocked out of him for a brief moment, Kong moved to retaliate only for Azura to deliver a vicious rolling kick to his carotid artery on the side of his neck, making Kong choke as he backed up.
Seeing that his blows were not doing enough damage, Azura took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Soon, the lightning-like Aura surrounding his body changed, shining brighter as it turned navy blue. Dropping into a stance, Azura readied his blade to continue fighting as Kong caught his breath. Roaring in frustration, Kong charged at Azura with his sword raised in an attempted swing long for Azura to easily evade the slash, leap up, and flip kick Kong hard in the chin. As the force knocked his head back, Kong looked to see Azura swing his easter great sword at his throat.
Unable to evade, Kong gagged as the cutting edge of the blade hit his throat, knocking him back. Panting, Kong felt his neck and pulled his hand back to see a little blood. He… he had cut him. Even if it was not much, this human scum had cut him through his Aura!
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Kong roared in fury as he tried to reach out to grab Azura.
However, before Azura could move to counter, something crashed into the ground with a thunderous impact. The landing kicked up a massive dust cloud as everyone looked at the source. In the cloud of dust, our heroes saw glowing pewter eyes as the shining image of a crimson red wolf with glowing golden eyes appeared in the silhouette of the newly arrived combatant through the makeshift smokescreen.
"KONG!!!!" Came a howl of rage that broke even Azura's stoic visage. A voice Yang picked out… as Ruby's.
Kong smirked as he looked at the slowly clearing dust cloud. "So, the coward finally shows her face. Good. I was wondering when you would get here, Ruby Rose."
"Ruby, what are you doing-" Yang began to demand only for Ruby to cut her off.
"Stay out of my way…!" Came a deep, primeval growl from Ruby's lips.
This shocked everyone, and horrified Yang and Azura. The Ruby they knew was not home now. One far more dangerous than even an angry Ruby ever could be. This change in her demeanor, however, either went unnoticed by Kong or he simply did not care. He finally got what he really wanted.
Using a backhand punch, Kong knocked Azura back into a shipping container while his guard was down, making Azura gasp in pain as he impacted into and dented the container, dropping to his hands and knees.
"Azura!" Yang called out, rushing to her friend.
"Stay out of my way, prince. My real prize has finally made her way out of hiding." Kong sneered.
"This isn't good…" Yang said worriedly.
"How bad are we talking?" Weiss asked, shocked and horrified at what had begun to unfold.
"You're about to find out." Yang answered simply.
Rushing at the young Rose, Kong pulled his hand back and threw a thunderous blow that he was sure would take off the little human girl's head. However, to the shock of everyone present, Ruby merely raised her hand and easily stopped Kong's right straight with no effort. The wind pressure from the blow whipped her hair as it came to a stop, Kong's arm straining to push his fist past her hand and towards her face.
"WHAT!?!?!?" Kong yelled in disbelief.
"Last time we fought, I didn't want to hurt you. This time… I won't hold back." Ruby said with a distant coldness that cut deeper than any insult had into Kong's black heart.
Clenching her fist, Ruby landed a punch to Kong's cheek with a sickening crack, his aura sparking off the blow. Letting go of his entrapped fist, Kong was sent rocketing away from Ruby at a speed that shocked even Azura. Metal tore and gave way as Kong tore through a shipping container and landed inside the railyard. In the blink of everyone's trained eyes, Ruby disappeared. Only the sound of Kong's sudden scream of pain from inside the railyard made them realize where she was. They still consciously rushed down to something they never thought was possible.
Ruby was on top of Kong, swinging wildly at him. Blow after blow bent and cracked his aura, some of the blows even pierced his aura to cause hideous wounds upon him. Finally, with a monstrous punch to his head, Ruby shattered the giant's aura. As if on instinct she knew the time was now, wicked meat hook claws materialized from her thin pale fingers. She soon raked her claws across his muscular chest, scything through his clothes, skin, and muscle like a butcher's knife. Kong howled in pain and writhed against her, yet unable to escape her own superior strength.
Her other hand slashed down with equal vigor, coating her pale fingers in crimson. Roaring with a bestial tone, she lay slash upon slash onto him. Blood splattered everywhere, torn soaked tatters were contemptuously thrown aside, bones broken violently and maliciously. Everyone that watched was horrified to their cores, unable to comprehend what they were seeing. What really made things finally sink in was Kong began to howl fearfully, pleading for her to stop. Begging for his very soul.
"Stop! Please! I surrender!" Kong screamed in terror.
However, as he looked up, his blood turned ice cold. A black void with the faint definitions of a human face. The only thing in the pale light of the moon was the eerie glowing pewter eyes staring right back at him. Yet there was no mercy, compassion, or any form of truly human emotion to be found in those pewter pools. Only something far more inhumane than he could comprehend. Kong shut his eyes in terror, not able to bear their sight anymore and tensed up, preparing for the end.
Ruby raised her right clawed hand, thoroughly coated in the blood of Kong, one final time, aimed right at his throat. Her muscles tense, ready to strike. Before she hears Azura and Yang call out to her.
"Ruby! Stop!" Azura called out to her.
"Stop it, Ruby! Stop it! You're not a monster! Don't do it!" Yang yelled, rushing towards her sister.
As Ruby looked at friends and sister, they saw the same eyes Kong had seen looking at them. However, as the red reaper stared into their souls, humanity began to trickle back into them as the pewter glow faded back to angry silver. A look of recognition in them.
Soon Ruby's raised hand began to tremble, then her arm. Her whole body trembled as her mind was flooded with the scenes of sheer brutality, terror, and violence. She looked down at the slowly breathing and bloodied Faunus, his body torn and cut as if a maddened beast had mauled him. It was then Ruby saw her gore-soaked hands and, at that… It was too much for her.
Staggering clumsily off, she hunched over and hurled her stomach out onto the cold concrete. Dry heaving and shaking, tears began to form in her eyes. At that, she dropped to her knees, she brought her head low and began to cry. Softly at first, before tears flowed like rivers and deep, aching sobs swiftly followed. What was once an unstoppable force had broken into a crying, scared girl.
As this happened, a bullhead came soaring in, swooping down as some White Fang members on cords came to pick up their leader. Seeing their commander in the state he was in, the White Fang members were horrified; some even threw up. Looking at the crying girl, there was unrelenting terror in their eyes. No human could have done this.
Turning their attention away from the sobbing girl, they loaded Kong and his lieutenants on stolen gurneys as our heroes did not move to stop them and raised them up into the airship. Making their way up as well, the White Fang members cast one last terrified look at the red reaper as the door was shut. Roman, looking down at the crying girl and her friends from the cockpit, sighed grimly as he and Neo made their way off with their recovered "subordinates."
To Ruby, the world went dark. She heard, saw, or felt nothing except what her mind assaulted her with. What she had just done. Locked in this, she shuddered and gasped in shock as she felt a firm, yet kind hand on her shoulder. She spun around to see Azura standing over her, shaken up, but not afraid.
"Ruby… it's okay…" He gently told her, kneeling and pulling her into a hug.
"I'm a monster…" Was all Ruby could barely sob out, trying desperately to push herself out of his grasp.
"No, you are not. You are not a monster." Azura sternly but gently told her.
"Ruby. It'll be okay." Yang said as she hugged her sister from the other direction.
"No… No…" Was all Ruby could meekly say as she sank into the two's arms, crying and sobbing horribly as her friends stood in shock at what they had all witnessed.