The Knights of Grimm - Act 4 - Whispers of Arkhonex

Chapter 73 - Arcturus Base - Pt. 3

Ruby

The Aqueducts rushed with great speed, chunks of destroyed, charred rubble were carried in the flows. A hand erupted from the surface of the water and gripped onto the edge of the path, and Ruby hauled herself out. Dripping with cold water, she panted, pulling her body out from the water. She rolled across the floor and stared up at the sky, seeing the smoke polluting it from where Starla blew up the Fuel Tanks. The fires burned hot and bright; she could see that orange hue in the black smog.

She heard the gasping for air from Oscar, Jaune and Pyrrha – as the three of them freed themselves from the cold wet grip of the rivers. She looked back at the water as it flowed past... and she saw the burnt remains of unlucky soldiers who did not make it, but their corpses were thrown into the waters by the shockwave. Ruby looked away from their bodies, and she pushed her hands against the floor, getting back up, and reaching over to Crescent Rose that she threw out the water before she pulled herself out. Her fingers locked around the red and black weapon, pulling it to her chest.

She felt like glass, exhausted from their daring escape. "Ruby..." Jaune panted as he walked over to her, his hand outstretched to his close friend. She nodded and grabbed his hand, and he yanked her up to her feet with great effort. Ruby staggered forward but Jaune steadied her, looking at her. "You still with us?" He asked her with a slight chuckle in his voice. Ruby blew out a breath, rubbing her knees with her hands. She then just gave him a thumbs up.

"My heart's still beating, right?" She asked with a chuckle, making Jaune laugh too.

"That's my gal." He said with a chuckle, patting her on the back. He turned as Oscar threw Crocea Mors to him, and he caught it with ease. Pyrrha pulled Milo and Akoúo to her hand after giving Oscar Traveller's Atrocity as well.

"That went better than I expected." Pyrrha admitted with a smile.

"You're telling me." Oscar agreed as he wiped the water from his stinging eyes. Ruby transformed Crescent Rose back into its Scythe Form as she looked around. They were close to Arcturus Base, but the Aqueducts washed them out of the facility itself. But from here they could hear the conflict that was erupting, as they friends came to rescue them, unaware that they were actually outside of the base right now.

"What's going on in there?" Jaune wondered as he looked at the Base with Ruby stood next to him.

"Our friends – they came for us. We need to get back in there, help them. We have to, this base needs to fall if we have any hope to get the Aphax Violet. Weiss, Yang, Sun and Neptune don't have much time left. We don't have anything left to wait around for." Ruby said as she spun Crescent Rose through her fingers, but Oscar's eyes slowly widened as he turned around.

"Guys?"

"It's a Fortified Base, we've never attacked something like this before. Outposts and an Island? Sure, but they had weak spots – but this Base is pretty much the Acolytes of Lien's H.Q. Assaulting it won't be easy." Jaune pointed out as he looked at Ruby.

"Guys?"

"We can't just stand here and do nothing. Merlot and the Embered Grove are just beyond this base, we need to destroy it." Ruby replied.

"GUYS!" Oscar yelled this time, and all three of them turned to stare at him.

"WHAT?" Both Jaune and Ruby loudly replied, then all their eyes widened with dread. "Oh..."

The Grimm were coming, the whole infestation of them that were lurking inside of Old Town? They were being drawn by the attack, just as Ortega planned them to. The only problem was that Ruby, Jaune, Oscar and Pyrrha were on the wrong side of this whole ordeal. But they still had their aura and they strength, even if they were soaked. Ruby's aura returned with a red crackle as she spun Crescent Rose through her fingers, glaring at the monsters of Darkness that charged towards them.