The Bird and the Garden 3: The Final Adventure

Chapter 45: The Cost of Freedom

The adventurers followed Yin out of the city walls as the healer smoked like a chimney, stomping through the sand. "Yin, wait! Where are you going!?" Sasha yelled after him.

"Leave me alone!" Yin screamed back at her.

"Calm down!" Vao snapped angrily. Yin rounded on him in an instant.

"Calm down!? Calm the fuck down!? You just saw your niece's suspended fucking corpse, and you want me to calm the FUCK down!?"

"You think I'm not affected!?" Vao snarled. "I watched that kid grow up! How do you think Chuck feels, helping the Secret City get her down!? He's not yelling at us, or amythi-"

"And that's the problem, you stupid asshole!" Yin interrupted. Salem flinched. Yin had lost his temper. His posture, his expression, the tone of his voice, it was exactly like it was in the First Timeline. "'Oh, let's relax, Yin! We can take it easy, Yin'! If we hadn't fucked around with our dicks in our hands, she'd have been with us this morning! So how about the rest of you wake the fuck up, and help me keep everyone a-fucking-live!"

"I'll tell you one more time to calm do-"

Salem and Sasha screamed, diving forward. But it was too late. Yin had already driven his knuckles square into Vao's jaw, punching him in the heat of his anger. Vao stumbled back, touching his lip. His fingertips were dyed in scarlet. The dullahan looked back up at him, flicking the blood on the sand. "Oh, I've been waiting for this. Let's go, slag."

Vao dove for Yin tackling him to the ground. The healer's arms were pinned under his brother's knees, the femboy punching him straight in the nose. Sasha grabbed hold of him, trying to pull him off Yin. But Vao reared his head back and slammed it into Sasha's chin, the tomboy finally losing her cool. Like a ragdoll she lifted him off the ground and slammed him around.

Yin rolled to his feet, blocking a hook from Pyrrha before kicking her straight in the chest, knocking her back into Ozpin. The one-armed knight lifted the goblin off the ground and threw her back at him, Yin dropping to the ground. Pyrrha wailed as she soared over his head and bowled Tai over, the older man caught off guard. In an instant they were hitting each other, Salem trying desperately to put Yin in a sleeper hold. The healer stepped back into her, tossing the princess over his shoulder before leaping into the air, dropping his weight back down on top of her.

Jasper stayed well away from the fight, sweat rolling down her small body. Everyone was fighting everyone. Vao and Sasha were going at it, with the tomboy winning by a longshot. Yin and Ozpin were taking their swings, with Ozpin at a crippling disadvantage. Tai and Pyrrha were blocking each other's blows, getting in a punch wherever they saw an opening, and Salem was still trying to recover from being flattened.

They had all finally snapped and turned on each other, just like the First Vao intended.

"S-stop! This is what they want!" She tried to scream. Vao rolled to his feet and ducked under a haymaker from Sasha, roundhouse kicking Jasper away.

"Piss off, you insect!" The dullahan screamed.

"Rot in hell!" Sasha snarled. She punched him in the side of the head, knocking his head clean off his shoulders. His body spun around and started swinging, easily overpowered by the muscular behemoth.

Pyrrha's shadow looked over Jasper when Tai tossed her in the air, the fairy diving out of the way. The brawler followed not long after. The pair rolled through the sand, Jasper sprinting for safety.

Yin and Ozpin's feet stomped near her, scarlet raining down in droplets the size of her. Yin's nose was broken, each swing casually redirected by Ozpin. It was no surprise he was doing so well. He had much more experience than the Third Timeline Yin, even with one arm. Jasper felt a pair of hands wrap around her body, Salem lifting her out of the way. The princess stumbled and fell to the ground, the two looking at the ground. The loose grains of sand were vibrating.