It’s kinda odd, when something happens then it takes a second for your mind to recognize it has happened. Like being tackled at high speeds by a sixteen year old huntress. I only realized this once I hit the ground and begin to bounce away from them cave. I bounce a few times before stopping by hitting a dead tree. Looking around, only my back is sore from the attack. Thank you aura!
“Get up! I know you are stronger than that!” Ruby demands, walking up to me. I look to her and see her silver eyes narrowed and full of anger. I place my hand beneath myself and lift, getting to a knee. My mask is still on my face luckily so I have the element of surprise when it comes to my eyes at least.
‘This is going to be tough. Considering that Oscar/Ozpin is here, these two are from episode two of volume five at the least. Meaning Yang still is hurt and Blake would be in Menagerie. Also meaning Adam is still an unknown in terms of power to them, but Ruby would have more than enough reason to be pissed.’ I get to my feet and look past her to the cave and cast an all seeing spell and see the others about to attack. I lock eyes with Penny and subtly shake my head. She nods and waves the others off.
“Well?! Are you going to fight or what!?!” Ruby yells in annoyance. I do a double take. That isn’t something she would say, even angered. Something is up. I place a hand on the end of my sword, but don’t unsheathed it.
“You need to calm down Ruby.” I tell her, seeing Ozpin looks surprised by my response. Ruby just grinds her teeth and looks even more annoyed.
“Shut up! You hurt my friends, took my sisters arm, and almost destroyed Haven!” my eyes widen beneath my mask. So these two are from the end of volume five. Not good, that means Oscar has at least some of Ozpins muscle memory for fights and that Ruby has been training in hand-to-hand.
I don’t get a chance to respond before Ruby shoots behind her and launches herself at me. I quickly dodge to the side, away from her slash and kick forward, putting some distance between us. Distance she closes in the next second. I raise my arms and focus my aura to act like a shield and protect myself as Ruby slashes at me again, her weapons being stopped by my forearm.
We are in a deadlock for a few seconds and as I look to her eyes I see something. Her shining silver eyes have an almost unnoticeable red ring around them. Thinking about our short interactions and the way she was talking to Oscar earlier and something clicks. Something is controlling her through her rage!
I push her off and rush, landing a punch to her chest, pushing her back more. I follow up my unsheathing my sword and slashing at her, Ruby dodging and blocking with Cresent Rose. I look to her face, and see something wrong. Her eyes are still full of rage, yet she is smiling. Yup, something is controlling her.
I jump back again, Ruby following, only for me to stop on a dime and shoulder check her, causing her to go flying over me. She laughs.
“That’s more I like it!” She shouts out. I look and see Penny and Oscar both looking worried for their friend.
“Ruby, what is wrong with you?!? You are never happy to fight someone, even your opponents like Cinder or Emerald!” Oscar shouts out. Ruby looks to him over her shoulder and she looks annoyed.
“Shut up before I come for you next, kid.” She says, and I can tell, whatever was convincing her to fight has taken control.
“Oscar, take cover! That isn’t Ruby, something is controlling her through her rage!” I call to him. He goes to respond before stopping, Ozpin obviously talking to him. I look back to Ruby and get ready as she pulls her weapon back and fires. I block her with my sword as she tries to slash me again, only for her to fire again and push me back. I recover and duck from another attack, and sweep my leg beneath her, tripping her up.
As she is on the ground, I rush over to the reincarnated wizard and get ready.
“Oscar, whatever is controlling her is feeding on her rage and making her act out. We need to think of a way to snap her out of it.” I tell her, the others listening as well.
“I don’t know, we need some way to get her to calm down. Maybe something to make her happy?” He suggests. I think for a second before noticing Penny walking up. She looks to Ruby as she gets up with a smile and then to me and nods. I look to Shining and nod to him.
“The three of us will have to fight her to make her stop then calm her down.” I say, and Oscar looks to me in confusion.
“Three?” He asks, as Shining releases his spell. Penny suddenly become visible right next to me, Oscar jumping and does a double take. A second later his eyes glow and Ozpin takes control. “Miss Polendina?” He asks and Penny nods, taking her jacket and mask off and throwing them to Shining.
“Well what do ya know! The foolish program back from the dead.” Ruby says with a smile before it turns sadistic. “Looks like I’ll have to fix that.” She gets her weapon ready and Penny flinches and looks down. I put a hand on her shoulder.
“Remember, that isn’t Ruby right now. Whatever is controlling her is clearly sadistic and intent on getting a fight. We need to knock some sense into her.” I tell Penny and she looks to me again and nods.
“Are you two ready?” Ozpin asks and Penny steps forward and looks back at him.
“Don’t worry Oscar.” She looks back to Ruby and I know what’s coming. I walk next to her and we smile to each other.
“We’re combat ready!” We call out before she extends her swords and we rush towards Ruby, the girl doing the same. We clash in the middle, Ruby blocking my katana and a few of Penny’s blades. As we are locked, Penny launches a few more swords at her, Ruby firing her weapon and launching into the air to dodge. While she is in the air Penny fires a few blasts, Ruby using her Semblance and bursting to rose petals to get away.
Ruby lands and is immediately attacked by Oscar, the girl blocking the boys strikes, until I show up behind her and land a solid punch to her side with my shotgun gauntlets, firing and sending her flying into another tree. Oscar looks to my versions of the Ember Celica in shock, before shaking his head as Ruby yells out in anger.
“This isn’t fair! You’re supposed to be easy to fight!” She shouts before bursting out of her spot and straight to me. I block with my sword and send her back, Ruby stabbing her scythe in the ground to slow herself and firing a few pot shots at us that I block. She looks to me and Oscar in rage and notices a certain Huntress is missing. She barely has time to turn and block before Penny hits her with several swords, causing her to go to a knee in an effort to stop them.
“Ruby! You need to snap out of it! This isn’t you! This isn’t the girl who became my first and best friend!” Penny tells her, tears in her eyes. Ruby flinches and looks to Penny again, her face softening.
“Penny?” She asks weakly before grinding her teeth and firing to get away. “NO! NO, I am NOT going to lose here!” She says, another woman’s voice overlapping hers and grabbing her head with a hand.
‘That’s it!’ I quickly launch myself with my gauntlets and tackle her, Ruby losing grip on Cresent Rose. As she is falling down, I kick her up into the air and jump up above her. She looks to me in shock, my arm cocked back, before I land a hard punch followed by a shot, sending her crashing into the ground with the sound of her aura shattering. I land and the dust from the collision obscuring my vision.
The dust settles and Ruby tries to get up she finds she can’t move and feels...cold? Looking over herself, she finds her body is actually frozen to the ground from my frost-shot. She struggles for a bit, before feeling a weight on her chest. She looks up and sees me with Cresent Rose in gun mode, pointed at her face.
“You lose. Now let Ruby go.” I say, leaving no room for excuses or discussion. She looks between me and the weapon a few times, before seeing the others around her. She closes her eyes and begins laugh. But not a maniacal or mad laugh, one of surprise.
“Looks like my little brother was right. You Displaced are a lot stronger than you look. No wonder he lost to that pink haired girl as Discord.” She says with a genuine smile at me. “Nice teamwork you lot.”
After she says that, the rings in Ruby’s eyes look like they are evaporating away, before her eyes roll up and Ruby passes out. I quickly take out a flame-shot and take the ruby dust out of it, the dust making the ice around her melt fast. I pick her up and rest her against one of the nearby trees.
“Is she ok?” Shining Armor asks, Oscar doing a double take as he just now notices Shining and Strongheart. I place a hand on Ruby’s head and then her neck, feeling she is fine in terms of temperature and pulse.
“I think so. She may end up getting a cold from the frost-shot but otherwise, she’ll be fine.” I say to him before turning to a group of trees near where they fight was taking place. “How long are you going to hide there? I know you have been watching the whole time.” I call out, the others looking around confused.
“Ha, and here I thought I was being subtle.” A slightly slurred voice comes from the tree line. We hear steps and a certain heavy drinking Huntsman walks out, his black hair both slicked back and a mess, and his short red cape being ripped in a few spots.
“Qrowe.” Me and Oscar say together, the natives being confused and Penny being shocked.
“Ruby’s uncle was watching this whole time? Why didn’t you help?” Penny asks him. Qrowe laughs a little and takes out his flask.
“What, and ruin the chance to see what this Adam is capable of? Besides Ruby needed to get some of her pent up frustrations out before something like that happens when they are surrounded by Grimm.” He goes to take a drink before I wrap my magic around it and take it away from him. He and Oscar look to me in shock and confusion.
“You should really cut yourself off Qrowe. Your liver might as well be a lump of coal with how much alcohol goes into you system.” I say, clasping his flask and putting it into one of my internal jacket pockets. He just slumps in disappointment like a kid. “Though, I am confused, why is it that none of you have shown up in any of the towns before now?” I ask the huntsmen.
“What do you mean? Me and Ruby just arrived here last night.” Oscar says, and I look to him in shock, removing my mask to rub my eyes. Qrowe and Oscar/Ozpin are shocked by my silver eyes.
“Last night? But Qrowe appeared here over two weeks ago.” I say and Oscar looks to Ruby’s uncle in shock before Ozpin takes over.
“You showed up in this place weeks ago Qrowe?” He asks, placing his cane on his belt. He nods, but before he can actually explain, Ruby begins to groan and wake up.
“Urrg...what happened?” She asks, rubbing her head.
“Something made you go nuts with rage and try to kill us.” I say without missing a beat. Ruby looks to me and tries to move, only to wince and grab her chest. I go down and place a hand on her shoulder. “Try not to move to much. It takes a lot of force for someone to shatter another’s aura like I just did.” She sighs and frowns, but listens and lays back against the tree. Before she or the others can talk, Penny walks forward and the duo look to each other in silence. Before long tears begin to fall from Penny’s eyes and she pulls the other girl into a hug.
“I was worried I’d never get to see you again.” She whispers and Ruby hugs her back, crying.
“Same here.” The two girls cry against each other’s shoulders, so I take the boys and walk away to get some answers while those two reunite.
“Ok, just tell me, what exactly were you all doing before being sent here?” I ask them. Ozpin walks forward and I could tell that type of look on his face. Pyrrha puts the same one on when she was teaching Penny about how to unlock her Semblance.
“Well, after our success in defending Haven academy and get hold of the relic, our group was trying to come up with a way for us to get to Atlas so we could keep it safe. The problem was the General Ironwood had closed the borders to the kingdom so we couldn’t just take a train or something. We needed another way.” I nod and motion for him to continue, handing Qrowe his flask back after seeing his bored face.
“We spent maybe two or three days just trying to get in contact with Atlas officials though the CCT in Mistral, but with no such luck. After that we returned to our temporary residents and found a letter. It said that whoever had written it had a way to get us all to Atlas. A experimental teleporter. At this point all the rogue members of the White Fang had been captured and the only ones left were those still loyal to you and-“ I cut him off with a raised hand.
“Let’s get one thing straight Ozpin. I. AM NOT. THAT. ADAM. I am someone entirely diffrent and if I ever see that bastard Faunus, I am going to make him wish he died during the Fall of Beacon.” I tell him with barely restrained anger and conviction. Qrowe whistled, impressed at my declaration and offers his flask. I sigh and take a quick swig, the drink burning on its way down. Ozpin coughs and recovers from my interruption.
“Yes, well, like I was saying. There were barely any members of the White Fang around the city anymore and the only ones not accounted for were Hazel, Emerald, Mercury, and the other Adam. At this point we were near desperate to get to Atlas as soon as possible. We went to where the letter said the teleporter was located. An old warehouse near the lower part of the city. We entered and met a man in a jet black cloak that hid his face and he said his name was Doctor Rojo Syan. He apparently developed the teleporter a few years prior and was getting funded by the Mistral government before being cut off my Leo Lionheart. Regardless, he finished the device and said he would gladly help get us to Atlas with it.”
“We were of course skeptical, but he showed us a video of him successfully teleporting himself from the lab in the warehouse to the entrance to the academy. After we say that, we decided to take him up on his off. His only condition is that we talk to some of the scientists in Atlas about collaborating to make the teleporters more advanced and accessible for the future. We were all set to go and Dr. Syan said he would be teleporting us to an old warehouse just on the edge of the city for discretion. But once he activated the machine, I remember hearing a gunshot and seeing blue and purple sparks coming out of the machine. The next thing we know, Ruby and us are here in this quarry.” He finishes and I look to Qrowe, silently asking for his side of things.
“After the teleporter went off, I found myself in an old castle, the one in the Everfree. I didn’t recognize the structure or the forest so I thought it best to get some information on the area and see if I could find the others. I ended flying around for a bit before I found you and that wired lizard kid and horse lady.” He says.
“Spike the dragon and Rarity Belle the unicorn. Try not to call anyone a horse. It is the equivalent for whore here.” I warn him and his eyes widen a bit and he gains a sheepish smile.
“Oh, um, that would explain some things.” Me and Ozpin look to him with unamused looks on our faces. He coughs and recomposes himself. “Well, after I saw you and those two I knew I wasn’t in Remnant anymore. I spent the next couple weeks sneaking into libraries and the like to research on what this place is. You can image my surprise when I learned what Equestria is like. I have also been keeping an eye on you and your friends just in case.” He says, taking another swig of his drink.
“So, to recap. Some unknown professor made a teleportation device, offered to let you guys use it to get to Atlas, was likely attacked when using it, and now it is bringing those in the machine here to Equestria as seemingly diffrent times. Is that all right, or did I miss something.” I ask the duo/trio (Oz).
“Well, there is the part about Miss Polendina being alive and well here too.” Ozpin says, looking as the two girls are talking to one another after their tear-fest.
“Honestly I am not a hundred percent on that. Right now, I think the gods of Light and Darkness brought her here and made her human after her demise in Remnant as a second chance to live.” I say and the two of them look to me.
“How did you come to this conclusion Mr. Taurus?” Ozpin asks.
“While I have been here, I gained the ability to enter the astral plain, the place where dreams reside. Me and one of the princesses of this kingdom, Luna, who also has this power found Penny’s dream and afterwards, we met two beings. One was seemingly made of light, the other darkness. They asked me to watch over her.” I think for a moment before talking again. “Though, Penny wasn’t the only one they brought here.” Oz looks to me with a raised brow.
“Who else was brought to...’Equestria’ was it?” He asks and I nod for the second part before taking out my scroll and finding a photo I took a while ago of me and my housemates in front of our house. I sigh before showing the other two.
“The other one that was brought here was Pyrrha.” I say and Ozpin take my scroll from my hand and stares at the photo in shock.
“She-she’s alive?” He asks in shock, and I nod, taking my scroll back.
“The three of us have been living together in a town called Ponyville that houses a group of national heroines. We have making a living there by protecting the town from Grimm as well as being hired guns for the Princesses in case there is a Grimm problem. Like with what is happening in the quarry. Nearly a week ago a large horde of Grimm has been converging in the quarry, seemingly getting ready for an assult on the local settlement. Me, Penny and the other two were out her to scout and come up with a plan when Qrowe showed up as a crow and led us to your campsite. You know the rest after that.” I explain. The others nod and we go back to rejoin the group.
Penny and Ruby have gotten to their feet and were just talking about things, while Shining and Strongheart were giving them space. They notice us and they all get together.
“So, you two ok?” I ask the girls, Penny nodding with a smile and Ruby wiping her eyes from all the crying. “Well now that all that is done, we could use your guys help with our mission.” I say to the three newcomers.
“You want us to aid you and your team with dealing with the Grimm before they have a chance to attack the local settlements, right?” Qrowe says, to which I nod.
“If there are as many Grimm as I think there are, me and Penny will need all the help we can get to deal with them.
The newcomers all look to one another then each nod in agreement. After that Strongheart leads the way out so we can get a good look at what we are dealing with.
‘Those Grimm are screwed.’