Episode 3: Chapter 3: Reset

Chapter 3 of Episode 3

Taiyang Xiao Long was standing on the roof of his house trying to get a better view of what was going on in Vale. He couldn’t make out any of the symbols on the airships, but he recognized that they were indeed attacking the city. He was about to head off to fight the invaders, but stopped when he saw something causing some of the nearby trees to fall over. He jumped down from his roof and got his weapon ready, only to find his daughter dragging a guy in a black coat.

            “Ruby! What’s going on?”

            “Explain later! Help now!” As she continued to try and move the stranger forward, Taiyang ran over and hoisted the man no problem. Running inside the house, Taiyang headed for the guest bedroom.

            “Ruby, get my medical kit from the linen closet and bring me a washcloth!”

            “On it!” While Ruby got the needed items, Taiyang placed the stranger on a bed, got him propped up with pillows, and started taking off pieces of clothing to try and find what the damage was. Ruby returned and handed Taiyang the washcloth, which he used to clean off most of the blood.

            “Ruby, I need some more information about this guys condition and a name would be helpful in case he wakes up!”

            “His name is Miles and he’s got this weird thing where if he uses his gravity Semblance on anything but himself he starts bleeding internally. The damage depends on what exactly he was trying to hold up.”

            “This looks bad. What the heck was he holding up?”

            “Amity Coliseum. Now can you help him or not?”

            “I’ll do everything I can, but I can’t guarantee a full recovery depending on what kind of injuries he has.”

            “Just do what you need to do dad. I’ll keep guard outside in case if anything attacks.”

            “Be careful Ruby.”

            “I will.” Ruby closed the door to the room leaving her father to his own devices, and headed outside. As she stepped outside, she looked up to the sky and saw a strange wave of dark energy fly across the sky. And then a few minutes later, a wave of light energy followed in suit.

            “Please be safe everybody.”

 

 

 

 

As Lord Mortem took the aura of Ozpin and placed it in the containment module, he looked up to see the rest of his high council standing before him.

            “Do you plan on betraying us Lord Mortem?”

            “Allow me to explain why this is before you attempt to randomly accuse your supreme leader Lord Fulgur.”

            “Why do you keep the entirety of the power of Salem within you? I thought we agreed that you would only keep the dragon.”

            “I needed to absorb the entirety of Salem so that I could make sure that I gained all the power that was available to me. Now that I have the entirety of her power, I can send a small portion of the power into a containment module so that once we conquer Atlas and bring in the technology we need in order to grant you all the power that I have promised you.”

            “At least you still have your priorities straight Lord Mortem.” Adam said surveying the damage. “I would probably have a big head if I just fought against two demi-gods and lived.”

            “They still died Lord Taurus. Just because they have great power doesn’t mean they can stop what we have already begun. Now then, you should get moving. Atlas is proving to be stubborn and refuses to give in. You all shall lead the assault, while I will wait here and guard the modules from anyone who may attempt to take them.”

            “To hear is to obey.” Lord Hibernis said bowing before Mortem and then left to board the nearby airship. Lord Aeris was spinning one of her chakrams on her finger, looked down to the ground and picked up Ozpin’s cane. As she held it in her hand, she laughed and tossed it over the side.

            “Out with the old, in with the new. Long live the king.”

 

 

 

 

2 Days Later

 

 

 

 

Miles was fighting back the flames of his nightmares. He kept seeing the chaos, the debris, the fire. He then saw a piece of debris falling towards Blake, who didn’t see it coming herself.

 

 

 

 

            “BLAKE!” Miles shot up suddenly grasping at thin air, sweating and breathing heavily. As he gathered himself, he realized he was lying in somebody’s bed. He had a terrible headache, was bandaged up, and had an IV tube running through his right arm. He tried to move his arm to take the IV out, but it hurt far too much for him to attempt it. As he looked outside, he noticed Weiss talking with Evan. His heart picked up a little bit realizing that his friends were all right. Wanting to go and talk to them, he attempted to get out of bed. But before he could, in walked a tall blond man that Miles felt looked a lot like Yang.

            “Ah. You’re up. That’s good.” As soon as he said this he walked over with a glass of water in his hand. “Honestly, I was even wondering why I was told to give this to you if you weren’t up yet. Well, I guess it pays to be prepared.”

            “What….”

            “Try not to move so much. You’ve been recovering for the last two days. My name is Taiyang Xiao Long. I’m Yang and Ruby’s dad.”

            “Well that explains a lot.”

            “I managed to stop most of the internal bleeding and help your organs as best I could, but even with my vast knowledge of medical history, I’m not sure if you can make a full recovery from this.”

            “I’m….fine….going outside now….”

            “You will do no such thing. You’re still recovering. I’d say another day of sleep will be enough for you before you can head outside.”

            “Yeah, I’m out of patience.” Miles said grabbing one of his sword hilts from the side looking to use it as a cane. Before he could go any further, Taiyang grabbed the hilt from him.”

            “Look son, you will do as I say and rest.”

            “I move at my own pace, not yours. I can sense my aura returning. It will sustain me while I go outside.”

            “I am currently the only doctor available to look after your health, and as your doctor….”

            “Listen Doc, I don’t know anything about you, and you clearly don’t know anything about me. I will do what I feel is best, and I think it’s best to see what has happened to my friends.”

            “Please, just let me help you for one more day.”

            “Nope.” With a flick of his wrist, Miles sent Taiyang into the wall. He felt a sharp pain course through his body as he did so, but he pushed it aside as he transferred all the gravitational power he could to make himself lighter so he could head outside. As he got to the front door, he attempted to open the door, but he wasn’t strong enough to do it. He looked over his shoulder and saw Taiyang walking towards him, with an annoyed look on his face.

            “Clearly I can’t stop you, so please at least use a proper cane to get around my house.” Miles smiled as Taiyang handed him the cane.

            “Thanks. Not just for this, but also for keeping me from dying.”

            “Of course.” Taiyang opened the door for Miles to let him out, and Miles started moving forward slowly. As his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he saw Weiss on her Scroll pacing back and forth while Ren, Jaune and Evan were going over a map. Yang and Nathan were over with Sun and Nora chopping firewood, while Pyrrha, Neptune, Velvet and Fox were preparing food on the grill. Miles was about to walk over to the people looking over the map when he noticed something moving in the foliage of the forest. As he looked closer, he recognized Ruby, Natalie, Coco, Yatsuhashi, and Blake with nets filled with fish. He waved his hand weakly towards the small group, and as soon as they recognized him, Blake dropped her net and started running towards him.

            “Whoa! Careful!” Ruby yelled, as she had to pull out her scythe in order to catch the fish Blake dropped and keep them from hitting the ground. “I guess somebody’s happy that he’s awake.”

            “To be fair, the last time Blake saw him awake he almost died.” Natalie said poking Ruby in the head.

            “Well you’re not wrong. Let’s go see how he’s doing.” As they started heading towards the house once again, Blake had finally reached Miles.

            “How are you feeling?”  She asked looking over his injuries.

            “Honestly, this still doesn’t compare to the time that Ruby pulled a Zwei lick attack on me.” Miles tried to chuckle, but ended up coughing a little bit.

            “Please don’t push yourself too hard. You really should get some rest. I mean, who knows what your body could be going through?”

            “Everybody else is okay. You included. That’s good enough for me.”

            “You matter too.”

            “I don’t need to give a big speech to explain how you and the others matter more to me than myself.” Suddenly, Miles was surprised to see a few tears running down Blake’s face as she hugged him strongly.

            “You idiot……” Blake continued to let the tears flow down her face while Miles smiled and returned the hug.

            “I’m not going anywhere. I promise you that.”

 

 

 

 

            “So this thing is worldwide?” Miles asked as he was helped to a seat on the patio.

            “Yeah. All four kingdoms fell under attack from this Order of the Four Seasons.” Jaune said as he placed the map on the table. “As far as we know, the only kingdom that is still fighting back is Atlas.”

            “As to be expected from the worlds largest military power. So what does that mean for us?”

            “Well the first thing we decided to do was to wait and make sure that you would actually wake up.” Evan said as he handed Miles a glass of water. “Blake wanted to wait, so we have been trying to formulate a plan for when you actually did wake up.”

            “As of right now, most of the troops for the Order have diverted almost all their attention to Atlas.” Ren said sitting down. “We are too far away and too few in number to actually be of help to Atlas. So we have been trying to figure out a plan to take back Vale.”

            “Not everybody managed to make it out of Beacon like we did, so it’s safe to assume that some people are still either trapped or hiding.” Ruby placed some of the fish on the grill as she said this. “If we can raise up a small army, we could take back Vale or at the very least Beacon and try to start a comeback.”

            “That’s all fine and good, but what if the Order manages to take down Atlas?” Miles asked. “Then they could just turn around and instead of dealing with the worlds most powerful army, they would instead be dealing with a rag-tag team of students and teachers.”

            “I actually have an idea of how to work around that!” Yang said putting a plate of food in front of Miles. “I know this guy who has hundreds of fighters under his employ! They may not be great, but they would give us a much needed numbers boost.”

            “All right that’s good. Anything else?”

            “I’ve been in touch with my father back in Atlas for the past day.” Weiss said looking over her Scroll.  “It looks like while it is pure chaos up there, he might be able to get a few Atlas and Schnee Dust Company soldiers to help us out with this attack.”

            “Impressive. Anything else?”

            “I’m Nora!” Everybody chuckled at Nora’s non sequitur, even Miles managed to crack a smile.

            “Hey, by the way, has anybody heard from team JCTB?” Everybody started looking around confused.

            “Come to think of it, I haven’t seen or heard from them since they let for their mission with Ty’s father.” Pyrrha said starting to grow concerned.

            “I haven’t been in touch with any of them either.” Nathan remarked.

            “Well, we aren’t really that hard to find.” Everybody suddenly turned to see all of Team JCTB walking out of the forest, completely tired and seemingly defeated. Evan was the first to react running over to Christy and giving her a big hug. Next Pyrrha and Janue followed suit heading towards Jacob. Nora and Natalie helped attend to Brooklyn while Ty simply walked over to Miles.

            “You look terrible.” Ty said as he looked at Miles’ condition.

            “Just a flesh wound.”  Miles said with a smirk.  “Where’s your old man?” Ty fell silent for a second.

            “You know him. Always being the one guy wanting to take one for the team. I guess it…finally caught up to him…” Ty started choking up as he said this, prompting Miles to get up and give him a hug. Nothing else was said after that. Nothing else was necessary.

 

 

 

 

            “So that’s how it all went down. I’m sorry to hear that.” Miles said after JCTB finished up explaining everything.

            “I’m impressed that we didn’t see them coming in any way shape or form.” Evan said as he handed out drinks to the newest arrivals. “They kept things running air tight in that organization.”

            “They had to.” Ty said as he gulped down his water. “Can’t really attempt to take over the world if everybody knows about you.”

            “Fair enough. But world domination? Is that really it?” Yang asked. “I mean, technically that’s what Cinder wanted as well, she just didn’t bring a giant army to get it done for her.”

            “There’s a bit more to it then that.” Jacob said. “Their leader, Zenoma Mortem, is trying to gain control of the aura of each of the four maidens, Ozpin, and apparently the person or creature that created all the Grimm.” As soon as Jacob said this, everybody let out a collective,

            “What?”

            “I couldn’t make this up if I wanted to.”

            “How could only one person create all the Grimm in the world?” Natalie said confused. “I mean, that doesn’t make any sense.”

            “All I know is what he told me. Besides, how the Grimm came into being should be the least of our worries now. We should focus on how to fight back against this threat.”

            “Well then, has he already handed off the power of the maidens to his subordinates yet?” Blake asked.

            “Not just yet. First he needs a device from Atlas that will allow him to transfer the aura and have it override the laws of aura.”

            “Laws?” Pyrrha asked. “What do you mean? I almost wielded the Fall Maiden’s aura myself. Or at least half of it.”

            “Because the machine broke the laws. An aura can’t be naturally transferred from one soul to the other unless it is either an inherent power of a person like Mortem, or if the aura is forced on a person like with the machine. That’s why he can’t just absorb the aura and give it to somebody else. The aura wouldn’t accept the host.”

            “So that buys us some time. The machine they need is in Atlas correct?” Miles asked.

            “Right. That’s why they have diverted all their attention to Atlas. So long as it still stands, we could begin to slowly but surely take them down.”

            “All right then. We have our army, and we have our goal. Take back Vale and figure out where the Maidens are hidden so that we can throw a huge monkey wrench into their plans. Weiss, tell your father to start preparing the spare troops down here and to meet us at these coordinates at this specific time.” Miles wrote down all the information on a piece of paper and handed it to Weiss.

            “This is two days away! Why wait this long for them to get here?”

            “First off, in case if things go wrong back in Atlas, the troops will still be there to lend a hand. Second, if we have them show up now, I’m sure that the Order has some form of radar or something to detect incoming ships and vehicles. So until we get our small army together, I think it would be best if they remained a secret while we prepare for the invasion.”

            “So what do we do in the meantime?” Jaune asked.

            “For the remainder of today, we should rest up. I still need to recover, and Christy can’t heal me up until she is fully rested.”

            “I told you Miles, I can heal you right now!”

            “No. You guys have been hiking for days. You need some sleep. Besides, another day of rest for me might mean fewer problems for you when you patch me up.”

            “Fine. So what do we do for the time being?”

            “For now, we rest. We have a plan in place, and we have a time frame. Tomorrow night, we sneak into Vale and start getting our small army together. The next day at sunset, we begin our attack. Everybody got it?” They all nodded “Great. Now then, I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. Let’s eat!” Everybody smiled and started moving around to get food and start eating. For a few short minutes, they were able to forget about the fact that the world was falling to pieces. That they were about to go fight in a war where victory was uncertain. But such a simple moment helped put everyone at ease, and let them feel like they were still the same students that were dreaming of a brighter future.

 

 

 

 

Natalie handed Yang the last of the dishes before heading to the living room to turn in for the night. However, as she looked down the hall, she saw Taiyang placing a new IV in Miles’ arm. She then turned and walked into the room, but didn’t say anything as she walked in.

            “Ah. Hello Natalie. “ Taiyang said finishing up with Miles. “Something I can help you with?”

            “Can I talk to him alone please?”

            “Sure thing. I’m pretty much done here anyways.” Taiyang simply nodded in response to the young girls request. Picking up his equipment, he walked out of the room, leaving the two of them in silence.

            “Don’t tell me that the almighty fearless leader is getting cold feet the night before the battle?” Miles joked trying to lighten the mood.

            “Far from it. It’s just that, I think that somebody else should lead this mission.”

            “Are you still having doubts about your ability as leader?”

            “How did you even know about that?”

            “Firstly, Evan mentioned that you were having doubts right before the tournament, and secondly, I’ve noticed a bit of hesitation on the battlefield and you would wait for somebody else to try and figure out a solution to a battle situation.”

            “Okay, but am I wrong? Aren’t you better for leading this mission than I am? I mean you practically came up with this plan all by yourself today after having just come out of a coma caused by holding up an entire arena which might I add, almost killed you!”

            “Yeah? So?”

            “So, clearly you are the person who should lead! You don’t ever stop moving forward and you always know what to do!  You always know how to handle combat situations!  All I do is just stand around like a cheerleader!”

            “I guess Evan’s words of advice fell on deaf ears.”

            “What he said back then doesn’t apply today! It doesn’t matter if I worry and care about people a whole lot, it won’t get the job done!”

            “Natalie, I worry and care about people all the time. But not the way you do. I think the reason you keep feeling like you aren’t good enough to be leader is because you are afraid of the response people would have if you messed something up. A legitimate fear. But the thing is, I still think you are the most suited to be the leader of this team. Both NEMN and the invasion.”

            “Why does everybody think I should do this? Why does everybody think I have the strength to stand up to these kinds of challenges? I can’t! I’m not good enough for this!”

            “Will you stop rolling around in self-doubt for a few seconds? You can stand up to challenges! Heck, you even stood up to me.”

            “What?”

            “Back on the day we first met, I attacked you without reason. I was trying to be a jerk. I was so absorbed in the idea that I was going to prove Blake wrong and the fact that nobody could ever understand what it meant to be alone. I was absorbed in my own agenda that I completely started forgetting other people existed. But when you fought against me, it reminded me of when I was a kid. When I had dreams.  When I had hope.  And ever since we’ve been teammates, I’ve been learning from you every step of the way. Honestly, I don’t think me and Blake would have become what we are today if you hadn’t knocked some sense into my head.”

            “Again, that’s great for character building or whatever, but that won’t help us win this fight!”

            “In a way it will. If what has happened over the last few days happened back before we got partnered up in the Emerald Forest, then I might have agreed with you and taken the reins myself. But I think after all this time, I’ve learned to trust in more than just tactics and strength.”

            “If there’s a point to this Miles, I’m dying to hear it.” Miles simply smiled, and messed up Natalie’s hair with his hand.

            “In short, I’d follow your leadership even if it took us to the darkest abyss.” Natalie looked up at Miles and gave him a confused look.

            “You mean that?”

            “With every fiber of my being. I’m honored that I get to call you team leader.” Natalie choked up a little bit and turned completely invisible.

            “Thanks Miles.”

            “Don’t mention it.”

 

 

 

 

            “What is the status of the science center Lord Hibernis?” Lord Mortem asked through the communicator.

            “As of right now, we have managed to set up a perimeter, and are currently pushing back the defenses of the enemy and will have the device within our possession in about one day’s time. I apologize for the delay Lord Mortem.”

            “No need to apologize. I am a patient man. Just get what we require and bring it to me.”

            “Of course Lord Mortem. Over and out.” After cutting out the call, Mortem stood up and walked over to greet an incoming airship. As the doors opened, Peter Strohl was shoved out and onto the ground at Lord Mortem’s feet.

            “My my, how the proud have fallen.” Peter continued to just lie there on the ground, ignoring Lord Mortem’s insult. “I guess the re-education program works as promised. Tell me Mr. Strohl, who is it that you serve?”

            “I serve only the commands of Zenoma Mortem. I am ready to comply.”

            “Good. Your son managed to escape from my facility a few days ago. If he ever shows up around here and attempts to take my life or any life that is sworn to the Order , what will you do?”

            “What would you have me do?”

            “Kill him.”

            “Then I will kill him my lord.”

            “Very good.”

Author's Note

Please read/review/enjoy!

Reviews

[Shep]

Yea right like that's going to happen. Another great chapter with a plan in place as they try to gain what they lost. Lots of sweet moments in this chapter. Now I am ready for the next one. Please be kind and return the love.