"I'm sorry."
Pyrrha's lips were still tingling from her brief kiss with Jaune as she forced the broken elevator upwards with Polarity. She kept her eyes closed as she focused, with Milo and Akouo firmly held in her hands. With the element of surprise, Pyrrha would have only one shot at-
The elevator arrived, and she forced them open with her semblance, throwing Milo as she did so, followed by Akouo which Pyrrha used to block any attacks sent in her direction.
Cinder, if Pyrrha remembered her name correctly, raised her arms to block Akouo as the Invincible Girl jumped in the opposite direction using her shield. She returned Milo and Akouo to her possession using polarity as she faced the Fall Maiden's murderer. Pyrrha narrowed her eyes as the False Maiden used her stolen powers to hover a few feet off of the ground. There wasn't any need for words, just action.
Cinder's eyes lit up with the power of the maidens, and threw several blasts of energy towards her. Pyrrha charged forward, dodging each blast with practiced ease. She got too cocky, and was forced to raise Akouo to block the last stream of flames. The redhead used her aura enhanced strength to push toward, using Akouo to block the flames. Jumping in the air, Pyrrha swang Milo, only for the dark haired terrorist to grab her blade with her bare hand.
Her green eyes widened as Cinder then struck her abdomen with a blast of energy, sending her flying in the air. Pyrrha barely had enough time to get back on her feet when the False maidened charged at her, an attack that the Invincible Girl dodged by flipping over the villain.
Milo and Akouo were in Pyrrha's hands in just a second, which was just enough time to slam her shield into Cinder's body, and use Milo to attempt slicing through her aura. Cinder used her long legs to send a wheel of flames which sent Pyrrha back into the air.
Using polarity to adjust her body, thanks to the metal in her armor, she threw Milo back at Cinder, her weapon transforming into a javelin midair. Cinder blocked Milo casually, but Akouo slamming into her right hand distracted Professor Ozpin's killer just long enough for Pyrrha to tackle her.
Gritting her teeth as Cinder caused another explosion, Pyrrha recalled Milo and held the terrorist in a chokehold. It took all of Pyrrha's strength to hold her, even as Cinder took hold of Milo's blade.
Suddenly, Pyrrha felt a wave of evil washing over her, forming goosebumps all over her skin. She looked out the window that was in front of her.
The Dragon! It was headed straight towards her!
Cinder snapped Milo in three using her heat and elbowed Pyrrha in the bosom, just as the Dragon shattered the windows and knocked the head of Beacon tower off. The former Mistralian champion was slammed into the remains of a pillar, her aura blocking any pain she may have felt.
M-Milo had served her well, and Pyrrha could mourn the loss of her weapon once this was over. Crawlings towards Akouo as Cinder stared at her with a mocking smirk, Pyrrha glanced around her. The remains of the clock! They're made out of metal!
"Yah!' Using polarity, Pyrrha slammed a piece of ruined metal into Cinder's aura protected body, and slid Akouo back into her hands. Cinder recovered quickly and started shooting rivers of fire again.
Pyrrha dodged one, but reacted too slow against the second one which took out a chunk of her aura, slowly chipping away at it. She threw Akouo while using polarity to control the tons of metal around them.
Cinder deflected Akouo with ease, until she noticed the floating remains of the clock around the duo. Slamming Akouo into the back of Cinder's knees, it returned to Pyrrha's hands as the heavy pieces of the clock slammed into the False Maiden, the one who had caused so much ruin and death.
The metal flowed like water as it encased the evil woman, when suddenly, a burst of bright energy erupted from within. Pyrrha barely raises Akouo in time to block a chunk of molten metal, which roughly knocked her against ruined concrete. This time, she felt pain course through her body, her aura shattering.
Pushing past the pain, Pyrrha jumped back onto her feet as Cinder formed a bow out of thin air.
"Hyah!" Pyrrha threw Akouo with the rest of her strength.
Time seemed to slow as it shattered the glass arrow, only for it to reform not even a second later.
It struck her ankle, and with a cry of pain, the Invincible Girl fell to her knees. Wincing as she tried to stand, she fell onto her back when the arrow snapped while still being inside of her. The pain was unbearable, it felt as if someone lit her nerves on fire.
"It's unfortunate that you were promised a power that was never truly yours." Cinder gloated, her glass heels clacking against the floor. Pyrrha didn't want the power, she was only doing her duty-
Cinder touched her chin and forced her to look up. "Take comfort in knowing that I will use it in ways that you can't even dream of."
Pyrrha snapped her head away from the terrorist's hands, and glared at her.
"Do you believe in destiny?" The words escaped Pyrrha's lips easily. She hoped that the rest of Team JNPR and even RWBY were doing better than she was. Destiny wasn't a predetermined fate that awaited all of them, it was a goal, a journey that would continue all their life. Their destinies would continue, even if Pyrrha's ended here.
Jaune…I'm sorry….
"I do." Cinder spat, standing back to her full height, and formed another bow. Pyrrha refused to close her eyes and look away, meeting death head on.
Cinder releases the arrow, piercing in between Pyrrha's bosom. Pain like Pyrrha had never felt before filled her nervous system.
"Ah." Pyrrha struggled to breath, an uncomfortable warmth spreading throughout her body's insides. She started to choke, her once bright green eyes frozen in terror. "Ah…ah…"
The last thing she felt, was someone touching her forehead, and Pyrrha knew no more.
The first thing Pyrrha saw was nothing, pure bright nothing. She quickly closed her eyes, an excruciating pain coming from her ankle, and the skin of her upper back rubbing against the soft bed? What? W-Was she alive? Did she survive?
Groaning softly, Pyrrha could do nothing but lay there helplessly wherever she was. Her strength zapped, Pyrrha tried forcing herself into a sitting position, but failed, falling with her face aimed upwards. Her green eyes shot open.
Cinder! Jaune! What happened?!
"Jaune?" Pyrrha said, scanning the empty white room. Her leg was in a cast, and her chest felt itchy, as if something was wrapped around it. She was alone in the room, her only company being the machine that she was hooked up to which beeped every few seconds. She leaned back against her pillow, defeated.
H-How was she still alive? What happened?
A sob escaped Pyrrha's throat, she grabbed her face with her hands. She felt guilty, Pyrrha had failed all those who had died, all those who suffered in their final moments because of the selfishness of one woman. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand.
Hopefully Jaune was ok, and the rest of her friends too. Were they here? Waiting for her to wake up? Suddenly, the door creaked open, and an extremely tall woman walked in. She wore a plain back tank top that revealed her well muscled arms, and her hair was long and blonde.
"Haha! Glad to see that you're finally awake." The Tall Lady said, holding a small bag that was attached to a balloon that said, 'Get well soon'.
"Hello there!" Pyrrha said, forcing as much cheer as she could into her voice. Her Mother always instilled being kind to others into Pyrrha's very soul. The strange woman didn't introduce herself as she approached the hospital bed. Pyrrha scratched the back of her head. "Um, who are you? And where am I?"
Judging by the furniture, she must've been in some hospital in Vale, or maybe even one of those Atlesian Warships Jaune always spoke about when he played that one board game with Team RWBY.
The Blonde only gave Pyrrha a grin that extended from cheek to cheek as she placed the small bag on the lone desk in the corner before finally taking a seat beside the bed.
"It's great seeing you awake instead of bleeding to death in that dirty alleyway." The Blonde's grin never left her face. "And you're in the San Diego Medical center." She tilted her head. "Those villains must've put quite a number on you if you can't remember the city you're in."
Pyrrha only offered her a sheepish smile. San Diego? Dirty alleyway? Bleeding to death? What was she talking about?
The Woman stood up while giving Pyrrha a thumbs up, her grin still etched onto her face. "As for my name, it's Cathleen Bates, but you might better know me as Star and Stripe, the number one hero in the United States of America!"
…….what?
A/N
Happy one anniversary to
Schnee: Hero or Huntress! The idea for this NON-CANON spinoff came after I wrote the Pyrrha omake. It will branch off from the main storyline right before Weiss attends UA, so while knowledge of Schnee: Hero or Huntress isn't needed, it would be helpful to read the first few arcs of it.
The plot will be similar in the beginning, but diverge greatly once it starts running.
Updates for this will be infrequent when compared to the main story, but I will work on both stories.
Welcome to Remnant's Finest!
