The next morning, finally breaking free from the 12th Primarch's grasp. Dallas began work on their new clothing, based on his recollection of their old uniforms. This time they were more casual at the very least, with much more breathable clothing.
It was 7:48am when he began work and around 11:50am when he finished. He leaned back in his chair and let out a sigh of exhaustion, and turned to J who stood ever vigilant nearby.
"Hey J, do me the favor and wake up the Primarchs, and let them know that I wish to speak with them."
"Very well sir." Said J.
With J leaving he began examining the armor of the Primarchs, the complicated technologies he hadn't even thought of before, and the armor plating was on par, if not better than his own netherite plate.
Meanwhile with J, she walked towards the Master bedroom where the Primarchs had slept last night. Opening the titanium door to see a rather humorous sight. The bed frame was completely ruined and the mattress was forced to the floor. The Primarchs meanwhile were spread out on the bed, either folded in a fetal position or were forced to half hang off the bed.
J rolled her L.E.D eyes and marched right up to the edge of the bed, and activated a built-in alarm Dallas had installed, with the loud beeping awaking most of the Primarchs who stared hazily at the tiny maid.
"Wake up you bums! my lord requires your presence." Barked J.
Blake was first to get up, let out a groan as she slapped J aside when entering the master bathroom. Said maid gave the first Legion Primarch a glare as an angry tick mark appeared on her visor. Yang let out a loud yawn as she stretched, she looked to Ruby who was poking Weiss in order to wake her up, but found it difficult to do so.
"Come on Weiss-Cream, boss-man wants to see us..." Said Yang as she gave Weiss a hard shake. "Weiss?"
Weiss meanwhile had a terrible memory replay in her dream...
Two primarchs faced one, and Weiss was cunning enough to back away and take whatever ground she could.
"You two." She looked at them with eyes heavy with judgment. "My sister's, my sister's what a sorry sight you've become. Traitors. Heretics. No better than the treasonous cultures we've quashed for the last two hundred years. Did you both learn nothing? Either of you?"
"Always the teacher." rasped Ruby, yet there was admiration in the smile from beneath her mask. "It grieves me that this was necessary, Weiss."
Weiss ignored her, aiming her gauntlet at Yang. "I've heard Ruby's ridiculous heresies already. What brought you so low, hmm? Did those machines in your skull finally refashion your loyalty into madness?"
"Hnnngh. They let me dream... They give me peace...What would you know of struggle, Perfect Daughter? Hnh? When have you fought against the mutilation of your mind? When have you had to do anything more than tally compliances and polish your armor?'
"Childish," Weiss sighed, pointing down to the burning, dying city. "Did it really have to come down to this? So pitiably childish."
"Childish?!" Roared Yang. "The people of Atlas named you Great One. The people of Vacuo called me Slave." Yang stepped closer, Ember Celica cocked back, chambering a shell. "Which one of us was born into a paradise of civilization to be raised by a foster figure, Weiss? Which one was given armies to lead after training in the halls of the most prestigious schools in all of remnant? Which one of us was given a strong, cultured kingdom?"
Yang sprayed bloody spit as she frothed the words. "And which one of us had to rise up against a kingdom with nothing but a horde of starving slaves? Which one of us was a child sold into slavery, in a world full of monsters, with their brain cut up by carving knives?"
The two primarchs met again. Weiss's rapier should have easily parried Yang's punches, but the Sun Dragon's strength drove her former teammate back step by step. Sparks sprayed from the weapons as eagerly as the saliva from Yang's lip-less slit of a mouth.
"Listen to your white-clad wretches yelling of courage and honor... courage and honor... Courage... and... Honor... Do you even know the meaning of those words? Courage is fighting the kingdom that enslaves you, no matter that their armies overshadow yours by ten thousand to one. You know nothing of courage. Honor is resisting a tyrant when all others suckle and grow fat on the hypocrisy he feeds them. You know nothing of honor."
Weiss parried, forced back further by the storm of Yang's blows. She finally landed a glancing blow, her fist pounding across Yang's breastplate. The chains of the various skulls adorning Yang's breastplate shattered, bone shards scattering across the dirt.
"You're still a slave, Yang... Enslaved by your past, blind to the future. Too hateful to learn... Too spiteful to prosper..."
With a resounding gasp Weiss awoke, and raised up her fists in defense at the sight of Rose, Xiao-Long sisters. Yang raised her hands in a surrender, while Ruby stuck a combat pose. Weiss took a few deep breaths as she took in her surroundings. A cozy Victorian bedroom, a tiny robot maid, two ex-traitor Primarchs. Then the memories of yesterday flooded in, his majesty, the Lioness. Team Rwby reformed.
Yang brought a slow hand to Weiss's shoulder, as said Primarch brought her hands to her face and began massaging her forehead and rubbing her eyes.
"You good Weiss?" Asked Yang with full seriousness, not even using the 13th's nickname, she had so gracefully given. Weiss let out an exhausted sigh and gave a depressed look at Yang. "I'm fine Xiao-Long, just had a nightmare is all."
"You sure it was just a nightmare? Sounds like you were about to fight some inner daemons." Said a concerned Ruby as she sat next to the slouched Weiss.
"Seriously guys, I'm fine. Now what's going on?"
"Apparently Supremo wants to see us. What he wants I'm not sure, but whatever his lord commands amirite?" Snarked Yang. Weiss took a deep breath and stood and uttered a quiet 'let's go' to the half sisters, Ruby looked at Yang who shrugged and followed Weiss. Each one walked past an agitated J through the door. As Yang walked past, she reached to give J a hard head pat. "Thanks for the wake up call, tiny" said Tiny let out a loud 'HEY' as Yang let go. J let out an exasperated sigh as she adjusted her now crooked silver wig sitting on her head.
Back with Dallas, he had managed to take apart the armors and put them back together, while noting down and sketching down rough drawings of the components and functions of the various technologies inside. He was now taking apart their weapons and doing some maintenance work while he's at it. All the sudden the door burst open causing him to jump and a nearby N to drop all the scrape metal pieces he was organizing on top of him.
"What in the Sam hell- V go help N." Cursed and ordered Dallas once he lost his shock factor and saw the struggling butler. "A-Already on it sir." Was V's courtly reply as she jogged over to get the metal pieces off of N.
"Yang... you gotta stop slamming my damn doors..." warned Dallas as he marched right up to the 12th. Who shrugged her shoulders, and gave a half serious stare. Dallas let out a very pissed off sigh, as he saw the other Primarchs enter the room.
"Alright girls! Listen up I was working a good four hours on y'alls gear now I gotta say the tech in stuff is down right-" Dallas stopped talking, and smelled the air. "Auugh! What the-Hot Damn y'all reek!" He said as he brought his shirt up to cover his nose, he'd rather smell his cologne than the horrid stench the girls were radiating. With that remark the Primarchs all individually smelled themselves, some more subtlely than the others.
"Well... we have picked up a bit of a stench." Said a slightly disgusted Weiss.
"Eh, we don't smell that bad Weiss." Said a nonchalant Ruby.
"ALRIGHT YA STINKERS!(Stinkers??) GET YOUR SMELLY ASSES OUT IN THE COURTYARD SO I CAN BATHE Y'ALL!" Barked the Star-Child, he's a bit of a clean freak... and he wont have his wives being all nasty and dirty, his stronger sense of smell making it unbearable.
"N!" He shouted. Said drone had gotten himself off the floor and was dusting himself off with the help of V. He immediately stood up straight, heels clicked together and brought his arm up in salute.
"Yes my lord!" He cried.
"N, go get me the-actually never mind, go change into a fresh suit." Said Dallas cutting off his order upon seeing N's ruined clothes, N gave a court nod and began jogging to the door
"V!"
"Y-Yes my lord." Came the meek voice.
"Get me a big bucket, a big bottle of that Dawn soap and a very big cup, then head down to the courtyard to give me those things. Oh! N! While you're at it, get me the clothes I had made for the Primarch's this morning, and bring it to the courtyard alongside with some towels." He ordered V, and gave N a last minute request, who poked his head in the workshop and gave his master a nod and a thumbs up, gesturing that he was on it.
"Jeez, a bit bossy much Dallas?" Said a disgruntled Weiss.
"You cannot be talking Weiss... and didn't I say to get down to the courtyard! Go! Go! Go!" He ordered as he used his psyker powers to shove them out the workshop. He slammed the door shut and sat back down in his chair and took off the goggles he was wearing, and began to massage his eyes with just one hand, he did this for a good while. They were coming, the messages they kept sending were clear. 'The anathema will fall'
He could hear their sicking laughs, the deep rumble like chuckle from the paraplegic psychopath, the gurgling like wheezes from the supernatural garbage bag, the obnoxious cackling from the indecisive mollusk, and the enticing giggles from the goddess that should've gone to rehabilitation. He sat there simply doing nothing for what felt like hours.
"My lord?" A voice came from a walkie-talkie sitting on his desk, it was V. With a sigh he grabbed the walkie-talkie and spoke into it.
"Yes, V, I'm here."
"The things you asked for are ready, and the Primarchs are here too."
"Copy that, I'll be over in just a second."
"Understood, V over and out."
With another sigh he set down the walkie-talkie on the table and stood and walked over to grab his ladder, he's gonna need it. In the courtyard the Primarchs stood waiting for Dallas to show up, while V stood nearby.
"You guys... I think something's wrong with Dallas." Said a worried Yang.
"How so? He seemed fine to me." Said Blake.
"I dunno, he just seems... stressed out to me."
"Maybe he's hiding something from us again, you know he's like that." Snarked Weiss.
"Relax guys, like Blake said he's probably fine, I mean if something bad was gonna happen he would tell us... right?" In Ruby's opinion, trying to keep both sides civil, she would rather not have another civil war like last time. Even though they have reconciled a bit, tensions are still there.
The screeching of the doors caught their attention as Dallas stepped through holding a ladder under his arm. "Alright, who's going first?" Was his question in a mellowed out tone. Now the Primarchs were all kinda worried, Dallas looked really stressed out, and... scared?
"Dallas? You good buddy? You lookin' kinda pale... paler than usual at least." Said Yang as she approached slowly.
"Im, fine Yang... just a little tired, I've been working kinda hard this morning. A bit of rest and relaxation will fix me up, let's just get y'all clean so I can take a shower myself." Muttered Dallas as he set up his ladder.
"Anyways, as I was saying who's going first?"
The Primarchs looked amongst themselves before Ruby raised her hand. "Guess I'll go first." Ruby stepped up near his ladder as Dallas rose up with a bucket full of water from the well, and a cup with some soap, and began his work. One after the other the Primarchs were getting cleaned, first he'd rinsed their hair, then a bit of rubbing to get the water deep into their scalp, because their hair was kinda thick. Second he put the soap on and massaged it deep and gave a really good scrubbing. Finally he'd rinse off the soap and give them a wet loofah with soap to wash their bodies, it was a menial task but had to be done nonetheless. Ruby, Yang, Blake, and finally Weiss, all of them washed head to toe.
Just as planned N had walked through the door holding the clothes and towels Dallas had asked for, while he had a very nice light blue three-piece suit.
"N! Perfect, you're finally here. What took you so long?" He asked the approaching butler.
"Sorry sir, I struggled with the clothes, they're kinda heavy and I may have dropped everything once or twice" said a flustered and exhausted N.
"No worries, here girls catch!" He then threw them some white towels. "Dry yourselves off with these." He then stood with N waiting for the Primarchs to finish, as a sign of respect he averted his eyes alongside with N.
As they both watched the soapy water flow in between the cracks of the cobblestone and down into storm drains. The Mansion had its own water processing plant on the roof and the water will be redirected there to be purified and redistributed throughout the Mansion for sinks, toilets, showers, and the irrigation system in the courtyard. The mansion was a marvel of engineering with every conceivable resource put into its construction, he made this place to be indestructible and last the trails of time if everything goes right, and no natural disasters happen then the Supremo Mansion will last for a good 5 thousand years unattended.(wink wink nudge nudge)
"All done!" Cheered Ruby. The girls had on their clothes which greatly resembled their original outfits from the first year at Beacon, when they weren't wearing the mandatory school uniform that is.
"Looking good everyone. Hope y'all like the Uniforms. I tried to recreate them the best I could from memory " said a proud Dallas.
"Yea man, they fit great!" Said an excited Yang, with the other Primarchs having similar opinions.
"Very well, I'm gonna go shower, so y'all are free to roam the mansion, just don't blow up anything. I don't need a repeat of that cat orphanage... or that nightclub..."
"Oh-that, come on! That only happened once!" Cried an embarrassed Ruby.
"Poor kitties..." mourned a semi-traumatized Blake.
"Anyways! I'm gonna go shower now... you girls enjoy yourselves." Shouted Dallas at the terrible memory that he brought up.
Leaving the girls to their own devices felt like a bad idea, but he's their husband, not their babysitter. Finally making it to his room he began to shed his clothing and just as he was about to step in the shower he called out.
"J! you there?!" He shouted past the bathroom door.
"Yes my lord?" Call a voice beyond the door.
"Do me the favor, tell everyone to not bother me while I shower, and tell V and N to watch over the girls. Oh and go check on Cyn, make sure she's okay!"
"Understood boss."
"Thank you!"
With his worries some-what relieved he finally got to showering. He stood there for a while not really moving or doing anything really. Just letting the water run down his body. With an exhausted sigh he reached up and got pumps of soap and began to scrub his head and his body.
'What am I going to do... they are coming and I have no means of defeating them... should I accept him? No... that will just make me one of them... what about the girls? Are they ready? I hope so... they have all suffered so much... if anyone needed a happy ending, it's them. Heh, what a shit Emperor am I... surrounded by vultures that are just waiting to pick at my carcass... NO! I'm not gonna just flop over and accept death. If I go down, I go down swinging and on my terms!'
Embedded with vigor he shuts the water after getting all the soap off. Drying off then getting a quick shave he dawns some gym clothes and begins to walk towards his home gymnasium. Inside he found Yang working on some benchpresses.
He walked over to her and asked "working hard? Or hardly working?"
"Tch. Working hard naturally." was Yang's response. Setting the bar back on its stand she rose up to greet Dallas. "So what's up? Here to get some work done?"
"Yea...1,800 lbs is no joke Xiao-long, but can you lift heavier?"
"Pfff, of course I can! Don't you know who you're talking to?" Scoffed Yang as she flexed her muscles. "Aint my fault you ran out of plates."
"Well then... how bout a challenge..."
"What kind?"
"Follow me..."
Yang stood, and followed Dallas where he approached a mirror that was on the wall in the corner of the gym and pushed a specific panel to reveal a set of hidden stairs.
"You gonna join me?" He said with an outstretched hand.
"Ara~Ara~ Does my little baby Supremo need big mama Yang to hold his hand?" Said Yang as she reached out gingerly to hold his hand, her hand completely surrounded his.
Dallas smiled and decided to play along. "Oh yes Mommy Yang there's big scary monsters down there..." both giggled as they descended into a darkened room. When they reached the bottom Dallas let go of her hand and walked toward a terminal computer and began to type some codes and passwords. Yang couldn't help but feel a bit of pain internally when he let go of her hand.
After typing for a bit the lights turned on revealing a large spiral like pillar in the center of the room made of cylinder like discs of dull metal.
"Sooooo what's this?" Asked Yang as she approached.
"Its basically a hydraulic press, think you can lift it?" Asked a smug Dallas.
"I dunno... how heavy can it get?"
"Awww scared you can't?"
"No, I just need to know if it's worth my time."
"Uh huh... well for the record its max output is 400 Tonnes, 410 if I really push it."
"Well then set me up."
"If you say so..."
Typing into another terminal the spiral lifted with a whining screech and slowing began to rise off the floor, after it got roughly a few inches away from Yang's head did he let go off the button that made it rise.
"Alright Yang, this is it, the ultimate show of strength, think you can do it for real."
Yang jumped in place getting hyped up and letting her twin hearts to start pumping. "Hell yea! Lets go! I got this!"
"Okay... ready?"
Yang adjusted herself positioning her hand to cusp the bottom part of the spire with her palms under and her fingers around. "Ready as I'll ever be Supremo!"
"Here we go! Three! Two! One!"
*BEEP!*
With a loud beep the machine began to descend and Yang felt the weight increase dramatically. "Whats the weight?"
"1/4th strength, so 100 Tonnes!"
Yang let the machine dip then rise while doing a squat.
"More!"
With that Dallas raised the machine to half strength.
"1/2 strength, 200 tonnes!"
"More!"
"3/4 strength, 300 tonnes!"
"MORE!"
Dallas let out a sigh, "Okay... here we go... Maximum strength, 400 tonnes!"
Yang gasped for air as the machine put all its strength on her, she could do it! She just-
"Yang? you sure you can do it? You look like you can't." Asked Dallas.
"No-I-" she stuttered. "No, I can't, you can turn it off now."
"You're gonna give up that easily?"
"What-"
"Tch, and here I thought you were Yang Xiao-Long. you're nothing but a poser, the real Yang would've gotten that press up by now."
"What-I can it's just-"
"Then do it! PROVE IT TOO ME! That you are Yang Xiao-Long, Loyal Primarch to the Emperor of Mankind! Set yourself free!"
"Set myself free?"
"Yes! You are free right!? Then prove it, imagine this machine is your enslavers! And rip them a new one!"
Yang got flashbacks to her days in the gladiatorial pits of Vacou. How she was forced to kill her best friend, and when she refused they implanted those damnable cranial cables called the butcher's nails. The rage, the fury of her lost comrade fueled her.
"Yes... I can, I see now! I am Yang Xiao-Long!" With a roar of rage Yang tried harder than ever before, her muscles strained, her back ached, and her hearts boomed in her ears, and she did it! She stood tall, arms fully extended, holding up the press. The machine groaned and creaked as she lifted.
Dallas gave her a smile that burst with pride. He turned and turned off the machine, and jogged over to Yang, who had collapsed to the ground breathing hard as the sweat ran into her eyes and started stinging, she was about to wipe them before Dallas appeared holding a small towel. She reached and wiped her face and gave a small thanks before collapsing to the floor.
"Thanks... I'm just gonna lay here for a bit before continuing."
"Okay, take it easy Yang, push yourself but not too much okay? Im gonna go check on the others."
Yang only gave Dallas a thumbs up. Dallas smiled before heading back upstairs. Looking at the various workout equipment he considered getting in some last minute training but decided it was frankly not worth using the energy. Heading back to his room he saw J scrambling out of his bed and stood up straight giving him a salute. Dallas gave a raised eyebrow stare to her blush filled visor as he stepped into his closet and began to change into more formal clothes. A simple white collared shirt with a black vest, with a tie, along side some black trousers, then finally some nice black dress shoes. Stepping out he saw J doing his bed back to how it was undisturbed. Walking towards his wall mirror he began to inspect himself as he did his hair with a bit of gel to keep it in place.
"What do you think J?" He asked his caretaker.
J stopped what she was doing and approached her master and began to look him over, occasionally making minor adjustments to certain areas such as his tie. "Handsome per usual sir." Was her compliment.
"Welp, I'm off to check on my residents, keep an eye on my room 'kay?"
"Of course sir."
Leaving his room he began to search for the Primarchs. Holding his hand out, he kept his pinky, ring, and middle finger to his palm and his index and thumb out to form a right angle. With this gesture he was able to activate his 'scouting mode' able to see through walls and see the Primarchs and the drones. Weiss and Blake were both in the library. While Ruby was in the kitchen with Cyn.
Seeing that the kitchen was closer he decided to check on Ruby first. Waltzing into the kitchen he saw Ruby trying to balance cookies on her nose with Cyn helping her by putting on the cookies, both stopped what they were doing to stare at Dallas. Cyn turning her head fully and Ruby looking at him through the corner of her eye. Dallas sighed and uttered 'nevermind' before exiting.
Walking to the library, he began wandering the vast bookshelves that loomed over him. As he walked he would occasionally stumble upon the deactivated shells of the other worker drones. Drones that for some reason or another mysteriously stopped working, no matter what he did all these drones stopped responding and refused to turn on. His once 26 strong caretaker force was now only a pathetic 4. He continued walking until he heard whispering, and he could've sworn that one of the deactivated drones moved into a different pose. All around, the drones were stuck in the poses they were last in, their synthetic muscles locking in place preventing them from being adjusted, some held trays filled with drinks, some were frozen mid action such as dusting furniture or pouring a drink.
With Blake she was browsing the shelves, hoping to find a good read, when she stumbled upon a book that caught her interest, 'The Arks of Omen.'. A large book that was mostly black with some gold embroidery, she did not know why, but she could almost feel it calling out to her. She reached to pull it from the shelf, but the books had all been jammed in there so tightly it was a struggle to release it, but slowly but surely she was able to wiggle the book free, but just before she got it out the book mysteriously got stuck again. She pulled and pulled, it wasn't until she put two hands on the book and put her leg up on the shelf to boost herself did it come loose. The consequence of this action was her stumbling into the bookshelf behind her. This alerted Weiss, who came over to check on Blake. Seeing the mess Weiss helped her pick up the fallen books and rearrange them back on the selves, but Weiss caught something from the corner of her eye.
A red book with seemingly no label or anything to differentiate it from other books, it simply had nothing on it. Just a hard back book colored all red. Weiss could see a small piece of metal behind the book, so she grabbed it and pulled to see the piece better when she saw that the book had a string attached and that the book was actually a locking mechanism.
"Blake, come take a look at what I found." She called her team mate.
Blake set down the books she was going to organize and took a few steps towards Weiss.
"What is it?" She asked.
"Its a book attached to a string, think it means something?"
"Well it has too, no one would have this sorta thing if it didn't mean something."
"Hmph, true."
With that conformation, Weiss pulled the book until the sting reached its max length and a loud click was heard. This was followed by the sound of multiple mechanisms clanking and clacking until a loud creak was heard behind them. True to the noise, the blue carpet floor of the library dropped down to reveal a ramp that led to a section of stairs.
Both Primarchs stared at each other dumbfounded, then Blake stepped forward and peered into the darkened abyss, and you know what they say about staring into the abyss, for eventually it will stare back, and it did. An echoing roar of some kinda monster rang from the stairs. Blake looked back at Weiss who had a look of terror on her face.
"We should go investigate..." she said quietly, slowly descending the ramp.
"What! No! Have you not watched movies?!" Weiss half yelled in a hushed whisper.
"Think about it, we can finally see what Dallas has hidden from us, maybe we can get some answers."
Weiss paused, she really wanted answers to her thousands of questions, so perhaps there may be some truth at the bottom of the staircase.
"Okay... just a quick peek, if we find nothing in the first five minutes, we return back up, deal?"
"Deal." Said Blake firmly as she shook hands with Weiss. Both Primarchs mentally prepared themselves before descending down to the depths. What they didn't see was a figure watching them in between the bookshelves. As Blake and Weiss went deeper and deeper, step after step the air began to change. They had thoughts of going back up, but they had come so far already, might as well finish the task.
After minutes of never ending stairs they finally made it to the bottom, what they saw spiked fear into their hearts, a never ending corridor of massive adamite stone and runic seals, humongous hulking doors barricaded by runic locks and warding sigils. It was so incredibly unnerving to exist in, for no sound or light shall escape its haunting halls. The air was so saturated with such inescapable dread, that it caused the very shadows themselves to squirm and crawl. Even the Primarchs who had centuries of mental training and fortitude, couldn't help but to feel the horror deep within, so terrible it was, that Blake was sure that this place would drive normal humans insane. Weiss rolled up her sleeve to feel all of her hairs were up and practically jumping from her skin. She turned to Blake whose cat ears were flattened to her head and her pupils shrank to very cat-like fine lines.
"Blake... I think we should go..." even with the quietest whisper Weiss could muster, it sounded as if she was screaming, as her voice bounced off the pitch black walls of the hallway.
"She's right ya know." A voice came behind them, as both Primarchs jumped out of their skins. They turned to see who it was, it was Dallas and he was not pleased. His eyes burned with golden psychic light which caused the dread to somewhat subside, like a nightlight warding a child's fear of the dark, but even then it was still ever present. He reached up and psychically choked both Primarchs and forced them down to his level, where he harshly whispered in their ears.
"You all are not supposed to be here... get back upstairs... Now..." the sheer silent rage in his voice caused the Primarchs to squirm as they clawed at their throats. He let go of them allowing them to finally breathe, looking forward he glared as he took his sword and shield from both of their respective waist belts. Then the same echoing roar from before bounced off the walls only this time louder than before, igniting his sword he stepped forward and past the Primarchs. The light from his sword finally allowed the beast—or rather beasts—behind the roars to finally be seen, and Blake and Weiss realized who they were. It was J, N and V, but they were different, taller, slimmer and instead of bright white eyes they now had what appeared to be yellow horizontal X's on their visors.
"Get out! Now! Now! Now!" At the Star-Child's pressure, Blake and Weiss gunned it back up the stairs with super human speed, while Dallas began his fight with the prototype Dissembly Drones.
V, being the most blood thirsty charged first, was bashed away from Dallas using his sword, leaving a glowing gash on the drone's chest. She was promptly followed by N who was bashed away by the Star-Child's shield. J who took advantage of the opening lunged forward and knocked Dallas to the ground with a devastating drop kick to the chest. Dallas let out a pained groan as his weapons flew from his hands, the drones seeing the opportunity, all leaped on top of him and began to ruthlessly beat him. Dallas tried fighting back but the sheer volume and strength of the incoming punches kept him down.
Eventually being forced to use his psychic powers, he began to levitate to garner some distance, but even then the Disabled Drones refused to let go, as J and V, at the same time bit in the flesh on his face cheeks and proceeded to brutally rip them off, Dallas cried at the pain and was able to break out of their hold but he didn't get a moment of rest as N leaped up towards him and grabbed his ankle bringing him down slightly and N began climbing up until he reached to bite his nose off completely.
Dallas, now in even more pain, struggled to get N off of him, as he had made N to be physically the strongest. With a mighty punch N finally let go of him, but once again he was granted no rest as both J and V leaped towards the Airborne target and while he was able to hit V away before she could get on him. J got lucky once more and began to piggyback ride him all the while she clawed at his eyes. Dallas, who could no longer take the agonizing pain of having most of the flesh torn off his face followed by his eyes being gouged out, lost concentration and began to fall back to ground. And once more the Drones leapt on top of him and began to ruthlessly beat him once more.
'ALRIGHT! Enough is enough!' He cried mentally. And with a psychic shockwave he disoriented the drones and seized his opportunity. He reached up and clasped his hand around V's visor, said drone reached up to grab Dallas's arm, who promptly squeezed hard. Letting out a binaric cry V's glass visor shattered and Dallas threw her against N sending both far away from him. J lunged and grabbed Dallas's neck in an attempt to break it, but the Star-Child reached behind him and flipped her in front of him, while holding onto her arms and forcing them behind her back and he raised his leg and gave a forward kick to the base of J's spine, the combined force and pressure sent J's body flying while severing her arms, ripping them straight out their sockets.
N seeing his leader dismembered, roared in binary and ran towards Dallas, but he was ready. Dallas dropped the arms of the ruined Dissembly Drone and reared his arm back to give N a back handed punch so powerful that his visor shattered much like V's but along with it the chunks of his face plate also got broken off, clattering to the floor. N was thrown to said floor from such a powerful punch and found his head being grabbed by his creator. Who dug his fingers into the drone's armored head and manhandled him to the point where he planted a foot at the base of N's spine and he began to pull N's head right out his body, killing him, for now.
V tried fighting back but her punch was caught easily by him, and with a simple twist of the wrist V's arm broke from the elbow joint, bending in the opposite direction, using the opening he gave V such a powerful uppercut that the drone's head flew from her body and landed a couple yards away. Dallas turned towards the last Dissembly Drone and basically moved so fast towards J that it looked like he teleported, he gave J a punch that went right through her head, so hard that his hand went right through with little resistance. Dallas withdrew his hand from the ruined head from the drone and let her drop to the floor, he breathed heavily as he let his perpetual abilities to regenerate his wounds. He looked at the bodies of the drones before walking over and began to carry each one to their respective prison cell, while also repairing the destroyed wrecks of the Shadowkeepers, who were tasked to keep everything down in the Dark Cells locked up.
"Do not fail me again." He told them.
The shadowkeepers said nothing, but bow their heads in shame.
Blake and Weiss had made it back into the library as they heard Dallas's pained screams along with the binaric cries of the drones, Blake had tried to go back down there to help Dallas but Weiss stopped her saying that the Star-Child would be fine.
Eventually Dallas emerged, his suit was torn with various gashes and cuts and was covered in both blood and oil, Blake and Weiss both sucked air through their teeth at the sight of his injuries
He unsummoned his tools and sent them to a pocket dimension to be stored and repaired later. He focused his gaze on the Primarchs as he used his psychic powers to fix all the remaining fallen books back to their places on the shelves, he also reset the red book in order to bring the ramp back up, perfectly sealing the entry way.
"You all should've never gone down there." He warned in a dark tone.
"Why what's down there? What secrets are you keeping from us?" Spoke Blake firmly, with Weiss nodding in agreement.
Dallas said nothing, but began to walk away.
"Hey! Don't ignore us!" Hollered Blake, as she grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him to face towards them.
"You said it yourself, no more secrets!" Joined Weiss
Dallas contemplated... Did he say that? Regardless he realized that he needed the Primarchs to stay loyal, if that means answering questions so be it.
"Fine... let's sit down and I'll tell you what you want to know." He said with a sigh, gesturing for them to follow. He led them to a small open area with a few comfortable couches and a table with an old film reel projector and ahead was a backdrop for the films to be projected on.
"Where you guys went, is what I call the 'Dark Cells'." He began.
"And what's down there?" Asked Weiss.
"I was getting to that, don't interrupt me." He sneered, he didn't like being interrupted much less when it was important classified information.
"The Dark Cells are meant to house some of the most powerful, horrifying, and reality bending things... imaginable. I buried it deep beneath the Mansion to keep it away from everyone else and to make sure if something does escape from its cell it will struggle to make it back up and out. No one knows about this place except a very select few, including y'all now." He continued with slight fear in his voice.
Blake and Weiss stared dumbfounded, what was so terrible and power that required such tightly made security and made the Master of Mankind fearful.
"What were those...things you fought?"
"Those were prototypes... Dissembly Drones are what they're officially called, I created them to be a sorta last line of defense against any runaway or malicious AI. Unfortunately they're programming made them too aggressive and unstable, alongside some other issues including overheating problems. So you can see why I had to keep them locked up."
"And you couldn't destroy them?" Asked Weiss,
"I couldn't, no matter what I did, they just kept regenerating. I have yet to find a reason why they're like this but hopefully with some more careful study I can find out." He said sadly.
The Primarchs stood dumbfounded at the information, just imagining what kind of other things are locked down there. Maybe a perfect clone of the Star-Child, a Master STC full of technology from mankind's future, an Intact C'tan, who were so powerful that even the laws of reality bent to their will, the list could go on and on.
"Welp feel free to scour the library further, and please, don't go back down there please... it's for your own safety...anyways, I gonna go and take a nap to rest okay?" Said a tired Dallas.
"Have a good rest then lord Star-Child" bowed Weiss, while Blake just stared as he left.
As Dallas approached his bedroom he saw J standing guard near his door, he shuddered at the memory of that thing in the Dark Cells. And admired the differences between the two. He gave her an exhausted smile, with her happily smiling back. He entered his room and began to take off his ruined clothing, he'll just have to sew it later. If he even gets the chance.
Collapsing into his soft bed in nothing but his boxers, he closed his eyes and slowly slept.
When he opened his eyes again he found himself not in his room, but an ornate command bridge. The clashing of metal and the cackling of electricity, garnered his attention.
"It can't be..." he whispered.
He knew where he was, this was the command bridge of the Vengeful Spirit, the capital ship of the sixteenth legion, the Sons of Gremory. There stood the ship's master.
Rias Gremory.
A woman with light skin, of which veins bulged and glowed with a multicolored light. Her hair, once a beautiful deep shade of crimson, now glowed even brighter than ever. She stood clad in a customized suit of Catapharctii terminator armor, painted all black with symbols of the eight-pointed star of Chaos proudly imprinted onto her breastplate. Resting atop her shoulders was the pelt of none other than Battle Beast himself. In her right hand was World-Breaker, a power maul which had arcs of dark red energy, and in her left was her talons, similar to the Emperor's own clawed left hand. She was not alone, standing across from her was Irina Shidou, the Great Angel. A woman in a suit of beautiful golden armor, similar to his own, behind her a majestic set of angel wings, a golden hung behind her head, and wrapped around her shoulders was a pelt of a snow white cheetah.
It wasn't supposed to end like this. Rias, on her knees, eviscerated, gasping for breath. Irina, standing over her, so noble and just, her sword raised in both hands, ready to strike Rias down.
Irina looks down at her, over her raised shoulder. A fractional pause, space enough for a last chance. Dallas could see the pity in her gaze, the sorrow, the longing. She's still hoping for a different answer. She won't get one.
Irina looks on with disbelief. Dallas could see the gears churn in her head, thinking, It wasn't supposed to end like this.
Time's up. The pause ends. She brings the sword down. She's so fast, Rias didn't even see it coming. The perfect execution stroke. The most precise, most merciful, most important sword-stroke she will ever deliver. But it will not land.
World-Breaker's haft stops Excalibur-Mimic dead. The jarring shock travels back through the blade, through her arms, and through her. It jolts her backwards even as the sparks of contact are still dancing. Astonishment blinks in her eyes.
She swings again, a hastier blow, her arms like lead from the trauma of the blocking impact. Ria's Talon fends the blade away.
Now she tries a lancing thrust fuelled by mounting desperation. Rias catches her sword against the head of her maul, and flips the stroke aside.
That look on her face. It was so gratifying to Rias. Irina can't believe that Rias was back on her feet. She couldn't understand why Rias's wounds weren't slowing her down. She can't comprehend where her fluid speed is suddenly coming from. It was always there. Rias was simply just not holding back any more.
Rias let her come to herself. Blow after blow, each one a death stroke, each one an exemplar of the swordsman's art. Even in despair, her talent doesn't abandon her. None of them work. Rias bats them away as they come, with World-Breaker, then Talon, then World-Breaker again. She wanted to give her a moment to let the despair really sink in.
It wasn't supposed to end like this. That's what she thought. Well, it was never going to. Rias relished the challenge, but the contest was over.
Rias can see she understands this. Besides, she has demonstrated that she isn't going to change her mind either. She won't bend to Rias's will. Rias thought she just might, but she won't. Such a pity. Such a waste.
And so ungrateful. Rias offered her everything. Everything. Irina spurned Rias. She declined her gift. Graceless, thankless whore. No one does that to The Rias Gremory. No one.
Neither of them was playing any more. Dallas didn't think Irina ever was, not really, not the way Rias was, but there was still a sense of restraint, as though her abiding belief in Rias was pulling her blows in the hope that Rias might repent.
Whatever may have been the case, she's not playing now. She's hell-bent on killing her. For real. She wants to kill Rias more than she wants to save himself. She is attacking, not defending. It appears she still believes she's invincible.
She is not. She is nothing like 'invincible' and nowhere near 'invulnerable', as Irina is about to discover. The prophecy stands. The dreams were real. Her favorite sister should have heeded them. Fate is ordained, and it demands payment. Everyone pays, Irina Shidou, some in a moment, some for the rest of their lives. There are no loopholes, no exceptions.
She thought she'd found a sub-clause in the logic of fate's contract that would allow her to live. The dreams told her, plainly, that she would die the day she would face Rias, but she convinced herself that this did not count as a day. It couldn't be a day, for time had ground to a halt, and thus the prophecy could not be fulfilled. This casuistry has worked for her before. She has used it to deny fate several times, perhaps more times than any other person. She thinks she can do it again.
Well, fate has grown tired of her prevarications. It is no longer charmed by her constant, clever escapes and dialectic evasions.
And so is Rias. There is no intellectual technicality to exploit here. Irina is naive if she thinks that fate works that way, especially at this macrocosmic level.
This is the day. The final day. Days, like siblings, come in different types, with different qualities. They do not all have to work together and run in seriatim. A day can be alone, and singular.
This is her day. Rias has decreed its dimensions and its duration. It is a single day of days, endless and eternal, and nothing can outlast it. No matter how hard it tries.
Here she comes, Excalibur-Mimic gleaming. She still thinks that she's going to win.
Rias dodges the blade. She in turn swings World-Breaker. Irina evades, but Rias hadn't intended for the maul to hit her anyway. The swing was just to scare her into the air. She takes flight, white wings wide, a flash of gold to encircle Rias and strike her down from above. She trusts in her one advantage: the ability to fly, whereas Rias has lost hers and turned a two-dimensional fight into a three-dimensional assault.
But what are her three dimensions compared to the multitude that Rias commands?
She soars above her, a vertical ascent. Rias reaches along the eighth angle of space and grabs. Her Talon closes around Irina's trailing ankle. Her climb is arrested with a brutal jolt. For a second, she is anchored in the air.
Rias brings her down hard, swinging her by the leg, like a hammer, into the deck. Rias lets time slow so she could relish every detail of this moment.
Dallas cries...
Rias gaze down at her. She lies on her back, full length in a crater of mashed deck plates, one wing spread wide, the other pinned and folded under her, her arms draped open, her hair a golden halo behind her head, one leg bent like a dancer's.
Rias is still holding her other leg, like a haft to wield her by. She let go of her ankle. The leg falls, heavy and straight. No more flying.
Rias steps back. Her heart was racing. The satisfaction was so exhilarating. She weighed World-Breaker in her hand, ready and waiting. How long will it take her? A minute? Maybe two?
No, less. Her eyes blink open. She doesn't realize where she is for a moment. She doesn't know what's going on. The impact has knocked all sense from her, and she'll register the pain before anything else. That wing's broken. Ribs too. The ankle she was swung by. Pain will be flooding her as she wakes. Rias sees her wince, a convulsion of her chest, her face screwing up in a grimace. She chokes, coughs blood. It dribbled off her cracked lips.
Is she finally done? Surely, she's done. Nobody-
Dallas perks up in fear and slight glee, Irina was still alive, barely. Rias had to give her some credit, grudgingly. She's not giving up. She tries to roll onto her side, but the grinding pain of the broken wing stops her. She flops back. She rolls the other way.
She tries to rise. She makes it onto her hands and knees. She reached for her fallen sword. It's just out of reach, along with most of her broken hopes and the memories that were smashed out of her.
'Go on. Get up. Let's see if she can.' Thought Rias. Hunched over, broken wing dragging like a limp ermine cloak behind him, she crawls. She makes no sound. Not one whimper or groan of pain. That's impressive. Rias balances herself World-Breaker, ready.
She's found her sword. She clutches it tightly by the grip, breathing hard, and uses it, tip down, as a support as she drags herself upright.
And she's up. She's standing, though awkwardly, making sure to keep her weight off that shattered ankle. She's panting like a dog, chest heaving. As she wipes the blood from her mouth.
For a second, Rias wanted to offer her one final chance to submit. She had extended the same courtesy to her, so it only seemed fair. But this was her Court, and she decided what was fair. This is her house. And she is a woman of her word, and she told her that there would be no mercy. So there will be no mercy. Irina turns to look at Rias. She is already descending upon her, bringing the maul down.
Somehow, Irina avoids it. World-Breaker kills another section of the deck. She's swinging Excalibur-Mimic at Rias's head. Her Talons parry it. Sparks fly. Rias sweeps World-Breaker at her, but she deflects it with a cross-body slash. Rias lunges to seize her by the throat. She evades the snapping Talon, and thrusts her blade around Rias's guard. But she knocks it away before it bites.
She's got a little left. A little strength. A little speed. More than Rias expected. She certainly deserves her fame. Rias exchanges blows, trading four in rapid succession, each one parried or hooked aside.
Oh, she's good. Even now. Still trying. Death has brought out the best in her. Maybe, despite everything, she still thinks she's invincible.
Rias will disabuse her of that notion. She slams her lethal claws around her, to crush her-
She isn't there. She's slipped aside, a flash of gold, as fast as a sunbeam, evading Rias at the speed of light. But Rias moves at the speed of darkness. She catches her on the backswing, her Talon shearing locks of her golden hair, and snapping her head sideways. World-Breaker does the rest. It hits her just above the hip, folds her double, and hurls her across the Court like a doll. He flies one last time.
Her spinning body strikes the ornate prayer screen of Rias's private chapel. The fretwork, carved from solid diorite without any trace of toolmarks, smashes as she goes through it. Small splinters of stone clatter to the deck.
Rias follows her. She walked over to the side chapel slowly. For this is no reason to hurry. The bladed head of her maul is matted with blood and golden hair.
Rias walks past the shattered screen to the entrance, and looks in. She has landed, face down, on the cool stones of the floor, Irina's feet towards Rias, her head towards her altar. There were pieces of broken fretwork all over the floor around her, and her body had knocked over three metal stands of votive candles. Smoke trickles up from the fallen candles that have gone out.
There are a hundred thousand other candles in here, on other stands, on the floor, in niches, and on ledges. Their flames gutter and flicker as Rias enters the shrine, her mass stirring the air. She can see her move. The injury she had done to her is catastrophic, and it has also torn open the old wound, the one Yang Xiao-Long inflicted. Blood is pooling under the Angel in a wide scarlet mirror. Rias sees her shudder as she tries to lift her head, and her arms spasm as she tries to raise her shoulders and her chest.
She won't be getting up this time.
When Irina raises her head, shaking and weak, the altar is the first thing she sees, right in front of her. Rias sees her recoil at the sight of it. She couldn't help but to stare, her chest lifted on bent arms, her body trailing flat, like a supplicant prostrate. The altar is wrought of predynastic dacite and Gremorian haemaquartz. She had it intricately inscribed with syncretic sigils: entwined figures of concordia and discordia, of chronos and kairos, the form of the ouroboros, and the abstract convolutions of the eternal labyrinth, which has no way in and no way out. Rias also had it etched with certain phrases and texts that the whispers of the Court had told are sacred they are sacred. It has eight wide steps, like a ziggurat, with a pyramidion of alchemically tempered azoth at the apex. Rias had placed many candles and tapers on the shelves of the steps, crowded around the relics you display there. They are skulls, each one ritually arranged face out, so that their empty orbits stare at anyone who enters the chapel. There are thousands of them, some old, some fresh, some brown with time, some white as snow. Most of them are human.
But one is set centrally, in pride of place. It is the one Irina sees first when she first lifts her trembling head. Its gaping sockets gaze back at her. The shiny smooth titanium of its brow is carved with the numeral X.
This is where it will end, this cross here.
Dallas hears the Angel murmur, a single, wretched gasp. "Penelope." It's the only sound she has uttered since Rias began to fighther. Dallas was horrified that the silver skull was the skull of Penny Poledina; he remembers now, she had been killed at Issvan V, during the opening stages of the Dropsite massacre. Akeno has decapitated her after Penny refused to join the traitors, and this is the gift because of her loyalty.
Rias stood behind her. She gives Irina a moment to appreciate the reunion. And to realize what it signifies. Until we meet again. That's long enough.
'Who lacks now, sister?' Rias asks. Irina tries to turn over and face her.
Rias grasps her by that broken ankle and drags her out from behind her. She slides backwards on her belly, hands raking and pawing at the bloody flagstones to resist, but there is nothing to grip. She leaves a long smear of blood on the floor behind her.
It wasn't supposed to end like this.
Nevertheless, it does.
It takes just a moment, though she has all the time in the world.
Rias Gremory holds all of time, still, in one hand, and Irina Shidou in the other.
Irina, broken beyond measure, gazes up at the soaring arches of the Gremorian Court. Even broken, she will not go quietly. Even broken, she will not make this easy.
Rias growls. Does she relish this? Hate it? Consider it an annoying waste of time when she has better things to do? There is no way to fathom her, for she is no longer remotely human.
And Irina doesn't really care. She can feel the gaze of the Old Four on her, staring from the shadows with eyes as bleak and wicked as the one adorning her sister's breastplate. They have come to witness this, this and everything that will follow. They mutter to each other excitedly and, around them, the numberless legions of their spawn gibber and whisper in delight. Irina can feel the sheer size of them, the mass of the Dark Gods. She will show them the defiance of mankind till her last breath.
Rias lifts her off the ground, pincered in her Talon. Every fractured bone and tear in Irina's body shrieks as she hangs there. Blood blurts from between her torn lips, squeezed out of her body. World-Breaker rises on the monster's other hand.
Irina lashes out with her left hand, gouging desperate fingers at her sister's cheek and eyes. Rias barks in rage, and drops her prey. Irina falls onto her knees, jarring every wound, then topples onto her side. She tries to rise, trembling, weak. She wants to be on her feet when it happens. She wants to be standing when-
World-Breaker catches her before she is even back on her knees. The clubbing blow breaks her left shoulder, ribs and left femur. She collapses, trying not to scream from the pain, and failing. Rias starts to bludgeon her, like how an abusive parent beats their child. Dallas cries harder, no longer being able to take it he charges to the Arch-Traitor. But much like in the 41st millennium, he is almighty and yet he is still powerless to do anything. He can only sit back and watch. His punches, kicks, anything, simply phase through Rias, she is untouchable.
There is no art in this anymore. No martial skill. No patience. World-Breaker shreds armor and flesh alike. It pulverizes both collarbones. It ruptures one of her lungs. A fine drizzle of blood fumes the air around the two figures, the brutal, beating giant and her prey. The sixth hammering impact twists Irina's head around, shattering her jaw, and transmitting such force that the skin on the left half of her face, from brow to chin, is flayed loose. It flutters, then drapes back like a slack mask.
As she falls forward, the Talon vices to her again. It lifts the ruined, tattered Angel into the air, until she is face to face with the first-found instrument of Chaos.
Rias squeezes slowly. She is expecting some last word, some immortal and heroic declaration to mark the end of a majestic, noble life. It ought to be something good, something appropriate. But Irina is no longer capable of speech. For she is drowning in her own blood. The claws close. There is a double crack of spine and neck.
Rias waits. Blood drips. It's done.
The Talon opens with a mechanical clack. Her sister's corpse, so loose and mangled it seems almost boneless, drops to the deck. An ugly sound of impact to mark an ugly ending.
Rias sighs and walks away. As Daemons scurry forward from the shadows to nail the body up.