Eden vs. Ruby Rose is a What-If? episode of Death Battle. It features Eden of AgentHoxton's Arlian Angel series and Ruby Rose of Rooster Teeth's RWBY web series.
Description[]
Arlian Angel VS RWBY! Two red-haired protectors of their worlds go head-to-head in a high speed clash! Will the Prince of Love defeat the red Huntress of Beacon Academy?
Interlude[]
Boomstick: What's the sign that your kid will grow up to be someone tasked with saving the world? Well, there's plenty, but one of them is that they have red hair. Like, red red. And today we've picked out two young faces of the sort! Heh heh heh...
Beat.
Boomstick: ...guys?
Wiz: ...All in favour of getting rid of Boomstick for this match?
Hoxton, Wesker and Magneto: Aye.
Boomstick: Wait, what?! Come on guys, I'm the life of the party here!
Hoxton: We're doin' our sanity a favour for this stipulation, wanker. Especially after your little run of form last time we had this kid on the show. Outcha go!
Boomstick: Woah, woah, daaaaagh--fuck yooooooouu!
Boomstick is thrown out of the room, followed by the sound of a locking of a door.
Wiz: Alright. That's that taken care of for the day. So, kid heroes. They come in all shapes and sizes, and one of the more popular means of seeing if they are destined for greatness is to see if their hair is red.
Hoxton: Almost a bloody guarantee to see if you'll become the next hero of whatever. Like Eden, the Arlian Angel.
Magneto: And Ruby Rose, the Red Huntress.
Wesker: We are Wizard, Hoxton, Magneto and, of course, me, Albert Wesker.
Wiz: And it's our job to analyse their weapons, armour and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle.
Boomstick (muffled from outside): Fuck you all!
Eden[]
Wiz: The story of young Eden Arlia begins 200 years ago, born to the Arlian Goddess of Love and Main Arlian Goddess, Lady Arlia.
Hoxton: Already sounds like a high pedestal, eh. Well, either way, 200 years sounds like a long time to live your life. But he's really a ten-year-old. They live their lives out 20 times slower than us, it seems. Arlian God-blood age gracefully, I suppose.
Magneto: Life would be peaceful for this young boy. But like all peaceful lives, it would soon be interrupted by a disturbance - an alien overlord by the name of Emperor Harlis was soon to arrive on the home planet of Arlion, of which Eden was going to be sent to protect. Threats really do come from anywhere, it seems.
Wesker: Pressed for time, Eden was to be trained by the Arlian Goddesses in the art of combat to help protect the planet from threats. Despite Eden not wanting to bring harm to any living being, Eden took this up, rising through their ranks as much as their strict time limits would allow them.
Wiz: Eden was taught in the art of Djan-Oa, an Arlian martial-art focusing on solid defences and following on the counterattack. There are five levels in all, each escalating the amount of skill required as well as the focus of the Djan-Oa. Level 1 consists of hand-to-hand combat, Level 2 consists of blunt objects such as poles, Level 3 consists of sharp objects like swords, and Level 4 consists of more ranged weaponry, like crossbows and throwing knives. Level 5 is a more lesser-traversed level of the martial art, and from what is known, is a mixture of all four previous levels mixed into one, provided for a jack-of-all-trades fighting style.
Wesker: Clever. Eden has currently reached Level 3 within the timespan he has given, but even he doesn't know all of the tricks of the art, again due to being short on time.
Hoxton: But, hey, those people have seen Arlian Angels save their asses before, surely they'd want to see Eden saving them, right?
Beat.
Hoxton: ...Guess not, apparently. They really fuckin' hate his guts. Bummer for him.
Magneto: Humans are terrible. Call me a broken record, but it's the truth.
Wiz: Well, uh... Eden may not be the strongest looking of the bunch, but he makes up for it with his array of skills. He can use his wings to fly long distances, and while his top flight speed is unknown, he has clocked in average speeds of 275 miles per hour.
Hoxton: Shit, that's fast for a rookie.
Wiz: Indeed. He can also bring himself to the Valley of the Goddesses via sacrificing some of his energy. He can also take anything he is holding onto, be it objects or even people. He has also been blessed by the Goddesses themselves, bearing a small fraction of their power.
Magneto: Quite. From this he gained the ability to heal his wounds, as well as the wounds of others, increased power beyond an ordinary human, rapid flight speed - adding on to what he has already accomplished from earlier - increased learning and combat capabilities and even control over the environment in close-range, as well as the ability to detect Life Force. Consider it Eden's sixth sense of sorts, given as it is present within all living organisms, Arlian Angels included.
Wesker: But fending for oneself requires a lot of effort, so naturally Eden was assigned various tools to help him. He carries the Blade of Solaria, a sword capable of firing energy blasts and electric fields, as well as a giant beam of energy known as the Gaia Cannon. But this is hardly the only thing he relies on.
Wiz: That's right. Eden also carries the Setzer Staff, a pole that he used in his Level 2 Djan-Oa training, and can be used as a spear at the press of a button. It is bound to his own energy so, while delicate, should it be broken, Eden can simply create a replica by himself. He also carries the Goddess Gauntlets, a pair of metallic gloves - specifically, reinforced steel laced with diamond. A strange combination, but better than some fictional metal stronger and lighter than titanium, I suppose. Like the staff, Eden can summon his gauntlets at any time.
Hoxton: And finally, he has protection! Heh heh. But for real, though, he's got a giant shield that is capable of protecting him from most of anything that would kill him. And if he wants to make the best defence a good offence, he can use energy to make it reflect most of the things it hits!
Magneto: But that's not all that Eden has managed to amount up to. After infiltrating one of the Emperor's military bases, Eden managed to get his hands on some armour pieces of an unknown suit - the Warbreaker Suit. Originally a giant mech suit, the individual armour pieces cover most of Eden's vital points and is commonly used for intense situations, allowing him to survive heavy blows as well as intense heat and pressure.
Wesker: With it, he can also pull off a myriad of new abilities, namely the Shield Dome, a defensive manoeuvre. For attacking options, it gives him Ground Force, utilising his manipulation of the environment, Double Blast, and Quad Break, sending out four homing projectiles. The problem is that this armour weighs him down, hence why he flies using jet power.
Wiz: Eden may be able to summon it at will, no matter where he is, but it also feeds on his positive energy to function. Otherwise, the suit will force Eden to turn on himself. As a result, he never uses it extensively out of fear.
Hoxton: Yikes.
Magneto: He'd best not face me for his own sake.
Wiz: Yeesh... well... Eden has proven himself to be quite a difficult force to deal with when it comes to the enemy facing him. He has been capable of flying at speeds exceeding Mach 2, though it did leave him drained afterwards, and has consistently took on the likes of the power Emperor Harlis, Black Baron and the mercenary Conquest, and each time walks away seemingly no worse for wear.
Hoxton: And when that mysterious Watchman twat tried taking Eden's soul and noticed it failed, Eden won the subsequent fight. But the biggest thing about Eden? He's fuckin' tough to keep down. Seriously. He stepped up to Lazkatan, the Arlian Power Goddess to prove how far he had come in his training, and she managed to punch a hole straight through his chest! He was up and moving in a few minutes!
Wesker: This procedure, however, prompted the Arlian Goddesses to hook Eden up to his Life Force supply prematurely to avoid him dying. He has, however, been run over several times by vehicles of varying speeds and weights, mostly cars and even trains, and continuously walks it off.
Wiz: Despite this tough survival, however, Eden is not perfect by any means. His body is protected by his Life Force, meaning cutting off his hand, for instance, wouldn't take it off, but rather take a number out of Eden's Life Force. However, because Eden's head actually has internal organs, his head is vulnerable. Specifically, the Gaia Crystal in his Life Band stores the majority of Eden's Life Force. If it shatters, or if Eden's head is cut from his body, he will die.
Hoxton: Even though it takes a lot of attacks to actually break it, a strong enough hit will be enough to make him reel in severe pain. Plus, that Life Force thing doesn't protect him forever, for he can lose his healing and Life Force protection if he's too roughed up. Also, that Warbreaker thing is weak to electrics, and Eden had a device planted in his chest when he first lost to Emperor Harlis. Something that pains him if he's lonely, I think.
Wiz: But above all, Eden is a pacifist, preferring not to fight where it isn't necessary. However, he has broken this rule when a great threat is involved and would save more lives in the long run.
Magneto: He also has no idea of most of the power manifested within him. While he may be a being that could reach the level of his own parents, he hasn't proved strong enough to unlock them yet, nor has he had the time to discover the purposes of most of his skills and equipment.
Wiz: Still, his determination and desire to protect the world when practically no-one wants to stand with him is something to be admired. It definitely proves that he has a lot of courage.
The Watchman: What is your purpose?
Eden: To help the weak, to protect the unprotected, and to care for the friendless.
Ruby[]
Wiz: Born to Summer Rose and Taiyang Xiao Long and raised on the island of Patch, Ruby Rose is a young girl who would soon be destined with a task of leadership and fighting.
Hoxton: Though this destiny came at a price - Summer disappeared from her life at a young age, and was presumed dead. With the grief of her supposed death, Ruby decided to honour her somewhat by following in her parents' footsteps, aiming to become a Huntress, someone dedicated to keeping the peace and fighting monstrous Grimm.
Wesker: She began her studies at Signal, but as rookies tend to do, she didn't do well at all and faltered in her aspiring duties. This is when her Uncle Qrow decided to take matters into his own hands, taking her in and teaching her instead. Before long, fighting Grimm was almost second nature for her. What would become of her next?
Wiz: For the most part, just slaughtering Grimm by the handful. But then, her life would change again, this time to shape her into who she is today. One day, she intercepted legendary criminal Roman Torchwick during one of his Dust heists--
Hoxton: Someone riding my shtick?
Wiz: I... don't think so Hox, no. Anyway, her intervention was considered so impressive it caught the attention of the headmaster of Beacon Academy, offering her an early pass into the school that she readily accepted. She was ready to join her half-sister, Yang Xiao Long, as well as her other to-be teammates, Blake Belladonna and Weiss Schnee.
Magneto: But another problem arose during her time starting at Beacon. Not all of them were able to get along at first, and the problem they had didn't ease when it was made apparent that they had to team up with Ruby as their leader, forming Team RWBY. But, regardless of their differences, they had to put the differences each member had behind them as greater threats began to arise, beginning Ruby's official stint of fighting within a team, as the leader to boot.
Hoxton: Ruby leading RWBY. Try 'n wrap your head 'round that one, mates.
Wiz: In order to survive against the likes of Grimm and other monsters and even having a slimmer of hope of attending Beacon so early, it's no surprise Ruby is capable of many things even before taking other parts of her into account. She has fought against tough opposition such as giant monsters and walked away very little worse for wear, boasts superhuman speed, durability, and even a ridiculously huge amount of stamina, given that she often shows little sign of tiredness in battle. Well, one would have to be in order to be able to run as fast as her consistently.
Wesker: Quite. But, of course, these things are insignificant. At least, they are compared to her other aspects of her. She has quite the fascination for weaponry and even took it upon herself to build her own weapon, Crescent Rose. Trained by Qrow in its usage, this weapon can switch between being a scythe and a sniper rifle, and is much taller and larger than Ruby is.
Hoxton: If she built it, how come her uncle taught her to use it?
Wiz: Well, you never know with weapons.
Wesker: Hm. Likewise, the weapon in scythe form is powerful enough to rip through concrete. The sniper rifle variant also doesn't pull its punches, with Unmarked and Cross Clip ammunition types. Unmarked being somewhat normal shots for a sniper rifle like this, whereas the Cross Clips are more used for more power and speed. Yes, speed. The sniper form suffers from extreme recoil, but Ruby works around this by using it for mobility purposes, if the situation calls for it.
Hoxton: Oh, and bear in mind this isn't the only thing in the series can do this. Literally anything can be a concealed gun. ANYTHING. You name it, chances are there's something there that has guns in it. I think I ought to look into this scheme. Could do us some good, heh heh.
Magneto: Regardless, this is hardly the last card that young Rose has in her deck. She, among the others in her world, make use of a thing known as Aura, a manifestation of one's soul, allowing her to boost both her attacking and defensive capabilities. Then, by physically applying this in what is known as Semblance, she can boost an attribute of hers. In Ruby's case, it's speed. So much so, in fact, that it makes it seem like teleportation to the untrained eye.
Wiz: During a food fight, Ruby used her Semblance to speed across the dining hall. In doing so, she trapped her friends as well as herself in a vacuum suction. In order to pull this off, Ruby had to have been travelling at speeds approaching Mach 20 - over 15,000 miles per hour!
Hoxton: We got the next Roadrunner for sure.
Wesker: In the time allocated to her, Ruby Rose definitely has performed a wide array of feats that do deserve the title of Team RWBY's leader. She has been shown taking huge falls, explosions and lasers with little trouble, is capable of jumping several feet into the air at once, and once survived a freefall culminating of hundreds of feet. And that's before looking into her combat performance.
Wiz: Indeed, Ruby was shown in the Red trailer taking on a pack of giant Beowulves - said to be about 100 - by herself. She has also decapitated a giant Nevermore, and has managed to take out 12 men in a single bullet jump. She even once manage to bisect a Beowulf using nothing more than the recoil of Crescent Rose's sniper form.
Hoxton: And that's not all, she's still bloody fast and tough - fast enough to cover 100 feet in practically an instant, and tough enough to not die after getting shot by a Dust-infused bullet strong enough to shatter concrete. For most, that would be considered a career and life-ending shot.
Magneto: Absolutely, at least for any ordinary person. And, of course, Ruby is not ordinary, neither are her opposition. But, of course, there's always a catch to having all of these beneficial side-effects. The Aura is helpful, but is also finite. If it takes too much damage, it will decay. On top of that, Ruby is not proficient in hand-to-hand combat, relying solely on Crescent Rose for combat.
Wesker: And while she is smart enough to know her way in and out of combat and weaponry, she is also incredibly reckless and, at times, naive. This kind of behaviour has often gotten her into scrapes as often as it gets her out of them. And, like her opponent today, she likely has more potential within her, but such potential is yet to be discovered.
Wiz: It may not show up today, but there will be a day that she will eventually reach her true potential. But even at where she is at right now, she has proven more than capable of getting a job done.
Hoxton: The story of a little red riding hood has never been so insanely hardcore.
Ruby Rose: Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful! It will be DELICIOUS!
DEATH BATTLE![]
AgentHoxton[]
A seemingly abandoned train yard, on the outskirts of a city
Midday began to tick closer as the sun began to be covered by the clouds, making the sky moderately overcast for a Summer's day like this. It was an ideal balance in the air - warm enough for Summer wear, but not too hot. Sitting here this far out from the city was a grim-looking train yard. In fact, it seemed to practically contrast the world on the outside - dark and ominous, the train yard was composed of several steel containers, and dark black vintage steam locomotives, all lined up next to each other on their respective set of tracks. Behind them were ordinary looking train cars. One would assume that this was just an industry job. The trains were soon to head out to an unknown destination, delivering their contents. The few people who do pass by this train yard seem to think that it's something mundane, like basic building materials, bottled water, and the like.
They don't know the bigger picture, however.
Patrolling the train yard were a group of strangely dressed soldiers. Their uniforms and glass domes were the only things constant about each soldier that was on duty that day, but each one had different-coloured faces - some were as grey as the stone beneath them. Others were blood red. Others were... well, practically unrecognisable, what with seemingly being black mist in a glass dome. Their mech suits that made up their uniform were dark grey with the occasional red piece here and there. But on their belts were the same insignia - a red hexagonal shape with a diamond in the middle, only the top and bottom corners were omitted and the left and right sides were stretched out to the sides of the shape it was within. All bearing one letter - "H". This being for their leader, Emperor Harlis, and signifying that they were his foot soldiers. They all continued to walk around the trains as well as near a storage depot building nearby, occasionally chattering to one another in a language only they understood. After all, no one was around to eavesdrop, right?
...Well, it would be great for them if that was the case. But they weren't alone. Hiding behind one of the sets of containers was a young feminine-looking boy. A child, no less. Poking out from his red hair were two small but distinguishable white wings.
Weird, right?
Anyway, his blue eyes darted between where he thought there would be patrolling soldiers, his red long-necked shirt obstructed by his brown jacket, and his blue pants and small brown boots somewhat dirtied, implying he had already done some hard work by this point. He had a shield attached by a strap to one of his arms, its cover darkened by the shadows, as was his shirt. If one were to see clearly, they would see an insignia of his own - a circular one, with a cross containing a diamond. In the middle of the insignia was a red heart. Adorable? Well, either way, this was the emblem of Lady Arlia, the Arlian Goddess of Love and Time, as well as the Main Arlian Goddess.
And to bear that emblem on his chest with pride and honour, this young boy would have to be the current Arlian Angel and social reject, Eden Arlia.
He had come here after a scouting of the city for any threats, and the information he had been able to gather had led him to this train yard on suspicion of a strange "package". What this was, Eden had yet to know. But he had a feeling he would find the answer within the train cars a couple hundred meters away from his position.
"The coast seems clear..." Eden mused to himself as he adjusted his jacket, before making a dash for the trains. No guard was able to catch sight of him as he ran up to the closer locomotive, and leaned against it for cover. Making sure to watch his six in case someone sneaked up behind him, Eden rounded the corner to see two guards - one nearby, and one at the edge of the platform. Eden ran up behind the closer guard and punched him in the back of the head, knocking the Xenopod out cold. The soldier on the other end turned around and, noticing Eden and the unconscious body of his comrade, drew his rifle. However, Eden drew his sword in response, the Blade of Solaria. The blade turned white for a moment before a blast of energy suddenly shot out, hitting the soldier before he could let off a shot and knocking him into the water.
SPLASH!
Eden grimaced - he felt that these set of actions had blown his cover. But, remarkably, after a handful of seconds, he realised that the alarm wasn't being raised. Breathing a sigh of relief, he now wandered down the area, a set of train cars either side of him. He jumped up on the side of the one on his left, and tried to pull open the doors, but they were locked and wouldn't budge. The Arlian Angel scowled.
"There's something on board these trains... but what could it be?" he asked himself. He'd need to figure out the answer soon if he was to make a course of action.
Meanwhile, it seemed someone else had caught wind of the suspicion with the train yard somehow, as a group of four girls was approaching the entrance. Red, White, Black and Yellow, this was Team RWBY, composed of Blake Belladonna, Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao Long, with their leader, Ruby Rose, leading the pack. They all had their weapons on hand, but none of them seemed to be properly drawn, implying that they were currently incognito, to a T. Ruby then turned to address the others.
"This looks like the place." Ruby spoke firmly. "I'll scout ahead. I'll call for you guys if I get into a scrape, alright?"
"Sounds good." Weiss agreed.
"Go for it!" Yang encouraged.
Blake merely nodded in approval.
"Alright. Hopefully I can find the answers." Ruby told them, before turning to the wall of the train yard and crouching, then leaping over it. Landing in the train yard on the opposite side of the train that Eden had jumped up against, Ruby eyed the soldiers way far out on the other end of the area and drew Crescent Rose, its form taking shape of its scythe variant. Within an instant, she made a run across the yard as the soldiers turned towards her. As they realised what was happening, it was far too late, with a horizontal swing of Crescent Rose, three soldiers bit the dust as they were cut in half, disappearing in green smoke, ready for the long journey back to base's containment chamber. They'll be fine, don't worry. Smiling, she looked around before deciding to walk over to the train cars.
Meanwhile, Eden was feeling a little puzzled. The train cars wouldn't open no matter what he did. Maybe he had to open them another way? From the other side, perhaps? He jumped off of the steps on the side of the train car and ran up near the edge of the platform, ready to round the corner that Ruby happened to be incidentally walking towards. And before either of them could catch themselves, Eden had ran straight into Ruby, knocking both of them to the ground and knocking their respective fighting weapons out of their hands. Both of them were dazed from suddenly running into each other, but Ruby was the first to properly come to, observing the child that had just ran into her and knocked her over, picking him up.
"Why the rush, kid?" Ruby asked him as he began to get his bearings back. "What'cha even doing here, anyway?" Eden stared right into Ruby's eyes, before getting up and dusting himself down, picking his sword up.
"I was sent here to investigate this place. Why?" Eden answered as Ruby picked up Crescent Rose. However, Eden noticed a glint in Ruby's eye. She had been paying attention to his sword and his shield particularly. He was confused. Why would someone take notice of those?
"You look to be well-stocked, like a warrior, almost." Ruby told him, putting Crescent Rose into a fighting position. "I bet fighting you would be super-fun!" Eden could feel sweat dripping down the side of his head, but he knew he couldn't run away. He felt he would just be pursued. He just had to stand his ground and hope he could non-lethally neutralise her.
"O-okay..." Eden stammered out a response at last. He was so not ready for what was to come.
FIGHT!
Eden was barely able to get his shield up in time before Ruby ran forward and swung Crescent Rose horizontally towards him. The blade hitting the shield emitting a sharp scraping sound as sparks flew from the shield and blade's impact, with Eden taking steps back and Ruby continuing forward with her attacks. Eden and Ruby continued, with Ruby constantly slashing at Eden with Crescent Rose and Eden defending himself with his Absolute Shield. Eventually, the two reached the edge of the platform, with the water several feet below them. Eden's heel hit the curb and caused him to stumble backwards, falling towards the water. However, he caught himself in time and flew up and away from the water's surface, eventually stopping high in the air above the train yard, with Ruby watching him in fascination.
"Woaaaaah... you can fly?!" She exclaimed. "Awesome!" Eden was puzzled. No-one on Arlion had ever praised or commended him quite like that. Regardless, she instigated a fight, he might as well try and deliver. He pointed his Blade of Solaria at her, firing several Angel Bullets at her. Ruby swiftly dodged the incoming shots as she tried to work out what to do. She couldn't fly up to get him, and she knew that if she missed a jump up to get him, she would land in the water. And at this point, she wasn't particularly fond of getting soaked so early into this fight. She'd just have to be patient and tried to think of another strategy, leaping up onto the top of one of the sets of train cars as Eden watched.
"What is she doing...?" Eden asked himself. Suddenly, Ruby smiled as Crescent Rose started to take a different shape. It was differing hugely from its scythe form, taking its form as a sniper rifle. With it now suited for long-range combat, she pulled it up and took aim at Eden, before firing an Unmarked round at Eden. Eden's jaw dropped in horror as the round struck him in the midsection, causing his flight path to waver. If he stayed in the sky, he'd eventually be shot down. He had to close the gap now, while he still had the composure. He quickly flew back down towards Ruby, with the other continuing to fire rounds at him. Eden kept his shield up to block the shots coming his way as he landed on the opposite end of the train car Ruby was stood atop as she transformed Crescent Rose back into its scythe form. By now, the Xenopod soldiers below had run up to the scene, calling back to base for back-up, as they had the train surrounded.
"Come on, why stop now?" Ruby suggested, as she swung Crescent Rose at him again. This time, Eden used the Blade of Solaria to hold her back, before mustering up a surge of strength and pushing it back, knocking Ruby off balance and, with another swing of his sword, knocking Crescent Rose out of her hands, sending it towards the soldiers below. They all stepped back before they could be decapitated by the dropped scythe. Ruby looked down, a little concerned.
"Uh oh." she mumbled. Eden saw this as an opportunity to get the upper hand, summoning his Goddess Gauntlets and landing a punch into Ruby's stomach, causing her to hunch over. She couldn't really retaliate properly, not without Crescent Rose. She then had to take another punch to the head, knocking her away and almost causing her to fall off the train car.
Well, who wouldn't if they took a metal-cased punch to the head?
"Well, uh, not bad, kid. I bet Yang would get a kick out of seeing you." Ruby smiled as she dusted herself down. "Now, if you'll excuse me..."
"Yang? Who's Yang?" Eden asked her. Before he could get an answer from the red riding hood, she quickly jumped down from the train car, grabbing the attention of the soldiers. They were all hollering the same noises at one another, seemingly as if to say "Get her!" at their comrades. But before Eden could get a grasp on what was happening or trying to launch another attack, Ruby had gotten herself to the other end of the group of the soldiers, with Crescent Rose in hand, and all of the soldiers in the group blown over and knocked off of their feet.
Ruby had briefly tapped into her inner speed, in part to her Semblance, to blast the soldiers away and grab her weapon again. The untrained eye would never hope to track that kind of speed. Hell, even Eden couldn't track it, and his eyes weren't untrained.
"W-what!?" Eden stammered. With Ruby now off the back foot, she turned back towards the train and leaped up into the air, preparing Crescent Rose once more. Eden looked on in fear and stepped backwards, taking back into the air briefly. Bad, bad decision, as all this did was set Ruby up for a backhanded swing of her scythe, sending Eden crashing through the doors of the other train's train car - the exact same one Eden failed to enter prior to the battle. The rail car almost tipped over due to the speed of impact of the Arlian Angel, but eventually righted itself on its rails.
Inside, Eden was laid down on the floor of the train car, rubbing the back of his head and gritting his teeth as dust hung in the air. However, upon opening his eyes, he found himself inside the train, and realised he could take what little time he could spend inside this metal box to investigate the contents, at least before Ruby caught him and tugged him back into their brawl. Eden wandered over to the two long silver boxes securely fastened down to the floor and, with a bit of effort, was able to prise them open.
Now, these trains belonged to the Harlis Legion. Anything with this brand on it and anything within their property is what they had created or distributed. What Eden found in those boxes belonging to said legion of the "good" Emperor was nothing short of alarming - four cone-shaped devices, two of them in each box, with intricate controls, wires and a display panel on them. There was a low droning sound emitting from them, indicating that they were live, but not armed. A chill went down Eden's spine when he saw them, and rightfully so.
What he was staring at was, essentially, four Harlis-Brand warheads. To say Eden was staring complete annihilation in the face would be an understatement.
"N-no... this can't be..." Eden murmured as he took a step back, his head suddenly sweating. He knew Harlis had power and weapons to spare, but this? He had only heard rumours that they were high-grade weapons, but Eden never actually believed it would be anything of this nature - not compared to the dozens of packs of standard-issue weaponry he saw stocked behind and around the warheads. He was stepping away, but in doing so he revealed himself to Ruby, who was waiting patiently this whole time to see if Eden was still moving. She smiled.
The fight could continue, not that Eden would want to keep going after this.
"There you are! Time to strike!" Ruby called to him as she back-flipped onto the side of the opposite rail car and launched herself at Eden at quite a hefty velocity. Eden couldn't raise his shield in time, so he meekly pushed his arms out to try and stop her, with no success. Ruby's mid-air tackle sent them smashing through the other doors of the train car and onto the other side towards the storage depot, tumbling across the ground until they both landed in a heap, Eden downed with Ruby on top of him.
The two stared at each other briefly, bringing the fight to a halt for the moment, before Ruby attempts to punch him, having sheathed Crescent Rose, but Eden mustered more of his strength and was able to kick Ruby off of him with both feet, back flipping back onto his feet and getting back into a defensive position. Ruby managed to get herself to her feet as well as dust herself down.
"Whew... so far, things have been fun." Ruby smiled, walking around Eden as he watched cautiously. What was she planning now? "You must be pretty skilled."
"Look... we can't keep fighting here, understand?" Eden said, completely oblivious to the compliment Ruby just handed to him. "Do you even know what's on board those trains? They're holding weapons! Really dangerous weapons!" However, all this seemed to do is excite her even further.
"Oh... well why didn't you just tell me? I can handle it!" Ruby smiled. However, as she turned back towards the train car, Eden immediately flew in front of her, blocking the path to the train car.
"No! I... I forbid you! It's too dangerous!" Eden demanded. A 10 year old trying to tell a teen like Ruby what to do. Classic.
"Oh yeah?" Ruby smirked. "You'll have to make me give up, then." And with that, she grabbed Crescent Rose once again and twirled it a little, before swinging it at rapid speed towards the Arlian Angel. However, Eden was able to leap out of the way of the swing before summoning his Setzer Staff, pressing its button to turn it into a spear. With a swift downward dive, Eden lunged at Ruby, who was able to dive forward and roll out of the way in time. With every move Eden made, every new tool he brought into play, she became more and more fascinated. What else could she see from him?
"I see a lot of my team in you, kid." Ruby told him. "Who are you, anyway?"
"I am Eden Arlia, the Arlian Angel." Eden told her, firing more Angel Bullets which Ruby zipped around. "And you are...?"
"Who am I?" Ruby asked rhetorically, before suddenly zooming past Eden several times, each time slashing him with Crescent Rose before whacking him far into the air. She knew that the angel would fly and not come back down. She had ways around that, as she transformed Crescent Rose back into its sniper rifle form and loaded some Cross Clips into it, before aiming... straight at the ground. Unorthodox for any sniper, especially in a fight with an airborne opponent, but there was a method to this madness as the ensuing shot's recoil launched her incredibly high into the air, quickly closing the gap between them. With her ascension slowing down, she took aim at the scared, shocked and surprised Eden only a foot or two away from her, who had his shield up, preparing for the worst.
"I'm Ruby Rose!" she finally finished, launching a Cross Clip straight into Eden's shield.
Newton said that for every action, there's always an equal and opposite reaction. The action here being Ruby's shot into his shield. The opposite reaction knocked Ruby over the two trains and back onto the platform, stopping just short of the edge. Any further, and she would have been launched straight into the water. The equal reaction, on the other hand, meant that the shot knocked the staff out of Eden's hand, and sent him flying through the air like a cannonball, straight out of the train yard and towards the city, with Eden yelling out in fright as he was launched across the sky.
Outside, Blake, Weiss and Yang were waiting patiently. Despite hearing all the commotion on the inside, Ruby had not once called for help - they assumed she could handle it herself. They were continuing to wait until they suddenly saw something red, brown and blue getting launched across the sky, out of the train yard and into the distance. All of them looked surprised - it sure didn't look like Ruby, so who was it?
"What was that?" Weiss asked.
"It looked like whoever Ruby's facing in there. Probably some kind of spy of sorts." Yang commented.
"Those wings..." Blake mumbled, having an observant enough eye to have made out the little wings on the child's head. Was he a Faunus of some kind? Before she could think further, Ruby had leaped over the train yard wall once again and landed way in front of her friends, before taking off at rapid speed in the distance where Eden had been launched. They all looked at each other as Ruby took off in a red and black blur.
"We should probably follow her." Weiss told the others. They quickly nodded in agreement and ran in pursuit of the two, leaving the train yard behind them. Was this connected to the train yard and their owners? And better yet, who was this kid Ruby was fighting with?
The city
By the time Eden was starting to come down from the power of the sniper shot straight into the Absolute Shield, he had been sent through the air for a long while, his flight only stopping when he collided with the side of a building, leaving a small crater and causing him to fall to the street. Were it not for him regaining his bearings and pulling up to slow himself for a gentle descent to land, he probably would have crashed straight into the ground, too. He dusted himself off again as he tried to walk around the immediate area. Where in this city had he ended up? More to the point, where had his opponent gone?
"Gosh... that was..." Eden mumbled. He didn't know what to make of everything he had just witnessed. But before he could conclude his thoughts, he felt he saw something in the distance. He squinted, making out something black and red, and really fast. Eden's eyes widened again when he realised it was his opponent moving in for a high speed clash, and quickly raised his shield in preparation. In almost no time at all afterwards, Ruby had arrived once again and launched several high-speed slashes of Crescent Rose at Eden, who did well to keep a steady grip on his scratched shield all the while. As Ruby attempted another set of attacks, Eden jumped back and flew back into the air, contemplating his next move. Ruby looked up at Eden in the angel above her before looking up at a nearby building, running up to it and using her speed to blast up it, shattering several windows as she ran up the side, looking to meet the Arlian Angel in the air once again. Eden looked to her as she prepared to jump, drawing his blade once again and charging another attack. Ruby launched herself at Eden again - one well-connected slash, aiming for the chest or neck, and she would win...
BZZZZT!
Before Ruby could hit her attack, an electrical field covered Eden as he let out an Electric Pulse, shocking the Huntress and causing her to drop to the ground limply, crashing into the street and leaving a small crater. Eventually, though, as Eden descended, Ruby was able to get control of her body back, getting herself back to her feet. She smiled.
"You've been doing really well." Ruby smiled. "But surely you're tired now, Eden. You can't possibly get through or away from me!" And she was right, in a way. Eden's clothes were tattered and burnt slightly, and Eden was trying to catch his breath, his Life Force on 57% and still going down. Ruby, however, only had slightly ruined clothes to speak for the fight. She was hardly out of breath herself and she still felt peppy and up to speed. Eden grimaced as Ruby's friends finally arrived on the scene themselves.
"He's still standing?" Weiss mused.
"The fight must not be over yet. We should stay back unless we're needed." Blake said.
"Come on, Ruby!" Yang cheered for Ruby. "You can do it!"
Eden heard the chatter from behind him, but took no notice. It had been the norm for him to be subject to this kind of mentioning from others. To be the underdog. To be the dark horse. But it didn't matter. All the more reason to surprise. Eden took to the skies once again, Ruby and the others watching him as he gained a high vantage point.
"Ah, he's just gonna fire more of those fast projectiles at me. No biggie." Ruby mused, crouching down and ready to leap at Eden. Despite her prediction, however, Eden didn't do anything. Instead, he charged up his blade and his energy. With a few seconds of charging, he then pointed his blade at the Huntress, and from it a moderately sized beam, one just larger than Eden himself, was fired at Ruby. A medium-charged Gaia Cannon was sent her way. Ruby, realising she had guessed wrong, saw the beam approaching her, and felt that she had one option to negate most of the damage, crossing her arms together defensively as the beam engulfed her.
A lot of dust was kicked up from the Gaia Cannon, obstructing Eden's vision as well as the vision of the other members of RWBY. Eden slowly lowered himself back down to the ground as he stared into the area where he fired the beam. Was the fight over? Was Ruby gone, or at least defeated? He couldn't tell, and neither could the others.
"R-Ruby?" Yang stammered.
"Ruby couldn't have gone down... surely...?" Weiss gasped.
Blake said nothing, instead just watching. Eden was doing the same, staring into the cloud of dust. No sign. He then decided to try something else with the 40% of Life Force remaining - Life Force Detection. He closed his eyes, pressing two of his fingers to his temple, and waited as everything began to come into focus in a cloud of black and cyan. And, sure enough, he saw something forming in front of him.
A dominant sign of Life Force.
"She's... she's alive!" Eden suddenly exclaimed in realisation, gathering the attention of Weiss, Blake and Yang. And before he knew it, something - or someone - dashed past him. At the same time, his Life Force balance was disrupted, and a wound appeared on the side of his waist. Eden tried to fight back tears of pain as he put his hand over the cut that had formed from Ruby dashing past and slashing him with Crescent Rose, with Ruby looking on as the dust settled. How did she get out of that mess? How did she have such a strong Life Force signal?
Simple solution - her Aura. Activating it just before the Gaia Cannon hit her allowed her to walk away from the situation not too worse for wear, despite the slight burn marks on her clothes where the beam had hit.
"Ooourgh..." Eden groaned in pain.
"That didn't beat ya, huh?" Ruby turned to Eden. "No matter. I've been fighting you this long, what's another swing or two?" She decided to turn Crescent Rose back into it's sniper variant and jumped up into the air, before loading a Cross Clip and aiming at Eden, before pulling the trigger and firing, blasting her back. Eden looked up at the shot. He knew he couldn't take the shot. If he got hit, he would lose the rest of his remaining Life Force.
But he could do something else instead.
Using a sum of his energy before the shot got to him, his shield changed - instead of bearing the Arlian insignia, it turned light blue with dark blue trim. Eden's shield had transformed into Reflection Mode. He raised it meekly, covering himself from the shot. The sniper shot reflected from his shield, and his angle on it reflected it towards where Ruby was about to land. Ruby landed as the shot came towards her, and when she looked up, her expression turned to one of surprise as the shot hit her head-on, staggering her and causing her to fall over.
"Ooh... oh, wow... now that was a good one..." Ruby spluttered. She had to give him credit - that was pretty impressive. However, Eden was not done despite his low energy reserves. He still had enough to try one last effort, channelling his inner energy. He needed to keep Ruby out. And sure enough, with light enveloping him, his final efforts came down - before long, Eden was encased in a dark armour, with blue coming out of the helmet. Most areas except for his joints were now coated in armour plating.
The Warbreaker Suit was now in play. And Eden knew it was either this or facing the prospect of death. Ruby's eyes twinkled yet again upon getting up and noticing that her opponent was now armoured.
"No way!" Ruby exclaimed. "You have on-demand armour, too!? Wow! This is gonna be so fun!" Eden paused to consider his move. His opponent showed definite fascination about his weapons and tools. She seemed almost friendly in a way, but...
CHINKCHINKCHINKCHINK!
Eden was suddenly brought to attention as Ruby was slashing at Eden's chestplate several times, quickly firing up the jets on the back and flying out of reach. He retaliated by firing a Double Blast, firing two energy projectiles at Ruby which she easily evaded.
Eden looked down, carefully watching the Huntress' movements. She was fast and eccentric - he knew that if he took his eyes off her, she could easily flank him and take the advantage. But at the same time, he couldn't use the Warbreaker's abilities too extensively, due to a lack of power. So he decided to to try and tip the ground in his favour. He firmly landed on the ground, leaving cracks where he impacted the ground, before focusing his energy, placing his hand on the ground below. Ruby seemed a little confused at this, until she started to feel the earth shaking beneath her.
"Woaaaah!" Ruby wailed as she struggled to keep her balance, before the ground beneath her suddenly shot up, launching her towards the Arlian Angel. With the set-up in place, Eden took his sword in one hand and his shield in the other, flying towards her after a running start and slashing his sword at her.
CLANK!
Just in time, Ruby had drawn Crescent Rose yet again and had blocked the blade, before another swing forced the two to separate. Ruby landed back on the ground, as did her counterpart, before she rushed back to Eden for more rapid swings of her scythe. However, Eden formed a Shield Dome around himself, blocking off most of her attacks. Ruby was fascinated. She decided to jump back to consider her next move, whereas Eden was placing both hands on the ground, causing the earth to shake yet again. This time, he pulled a chunk of the ground beneath him, front-flipping and throwing the chunk at her. Ruby, with almost a casual attitude, swung her scythe at the rock, cutting it into pieces. She was getting more and more interested at his tactics and weaponry now that this armour was in play. He seemed hell-bent on not allowing her to get through his defences.
No matter.
"Alright, then..." Ruby mused. "So your defences are tough. Let's see what I can do about that." And with that, she began tapping into her Semblance, yet again. She found more energy within herself, and Eden could feel it in the air. He seemed nervous. Things weren't becoming clear to him, especially with his low energy.
"I... don't know what's happening..." Eden was able to splutter out as he tried to keep a steady gaze on Ruby. Something seemed... different about her. However, Ruby suddenly disappeared from his sight.
CHINK! CHINK! CHINK! CHINK! CHINK! CHINK! CHINK! CHINK! CHINK! CHINK! CHINK! CHINK!
In what seemed like an instant, Ruby had used her Semblance to dash past Eden nearly instantly a total of twelve times, each time slashing him with Crescent Rose. Eden was feeling extremely pained as he was knocked around. He couldn't see Ruby at all throughout all of this, yet he could feel each individual slice at him damaging the structure of his armour, and he felt he couldn't take much more of this. His arm plating, shoulder plates, leg plates and his helmet was beginning to fall apart and crumble, dropping off of his person. The only part of the Warbreaker that was still functional was his chestplate, and as Ruby came to a stop to set up the finisher, she realised that.
Time to do something about that, huh?
"Time to wrap this up!" Ruby grinned, rushing at the Arlian Angel and swinging Crescent Rose once again to knock Eden away from her, before transforming it into the sniper form. She figured that two more Cross Clip rounds would do the trick. She took the first shot facing away from Eden, the recoil blasting her towards him at incredible speed. As Eden landed and was coughing and spluttering, he looked up to see that Ruby was now pointing her sniper rifle at him, pointing directly into his chestplate. Eden was frightened - he wanted to defend himself, but he couldn't; he didn't have enough time to raise his shield.
"Bullseye." Ruby told herself as she pulled the trigger, shooting straight through Eden's chest and knocking her away. The chestplate fell apart from the shot, destroying what was left of the Warbreaker Suit, and leaving Eden with a hole in his chest. Eden stumbled backwards as he dropped his sword, coughing and spluttering, before dropping to his knees and collapsing on the street. He wasn't dead, but by the Goddesses he was severely injured. Only 2% of his Life Force remained, and he couldn't move or fight back. The fight was essentially Ruby's to take.
And take it she would, as she walked up to the downed kid and sheathed her scythe.
"Well, I think that's that." Ruby said firmly, before turning to her team-mates, who all ran up to her.
"Good job, Ruby!" Yang told her, enveloping her in a hug that Ruby returned. Similarly, Blake and Weiss gathered round to see how Ruby had held up at this point. She smiled. She felt happy. She felt good. The fight was won by her and she had proven herself. Things seemed to look up to her and to Team RWBY.
But alas, not all would be cheery that day. Not least from Eden's perspective.
"Indeed. Bravo." came a sinister and almost condescending voice, one of that of a woman. Everyone's smiles suddenly evaporated as they all separated from one another to turn to the source of the voice. A few feet away from them were a fair number of those in Team RWBY's Rogues Gallery. Roman Torchwick and Mercury Black on the left, Neopolitan and Emerald Sustrai on the right. Stood in the middle of them, the one leading the pack, and the one who spoke to the opposite team? Well, none other than Cinder Fall, of course.
"You." Yang growled, pointing at Cinder. "What do you want?"
"Now, now." Torchwick spoke up. "Is that any way to treat guests?" he smirked. Team RWBY hated these five, and they knew it. They even cherished that fact right now. "We're just here for a little... visit." Ruby merely rolled her eyes.
"A likely story." she said. "Why don'tcha tell us why you're actually here?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Roman asked, before gesturing to Cinder. She smiled, her eyes thinning. She knew everything that was about to come about, and she would love to see them squirm.
"We're here to eliminate the competition, of course." Cinder finished slyly, placing a hand on her hip and smiling at their counterparts, occasionally drifting her eyes down to the little boy crumpled up on the floor in front of the four. Blake shook her head.
"Don't you ever learn?" she said. "We can take you down together. There is no means by which you will triumph."
"Friends..." Cinder mused darkly.
"Excuse me?" Weiss intervened.
"Well, haven't you made a friend right there?" Emerald asked sarcastically, gesturing to Eden. "A good look for him, if I say so myself. I guess "Beaten Up And Thrown To The Street" is in fashion right now." Ruby briefly glanced away from the five in front of her and her team to look down at Eden. He still didn't look good. But why had they given him notice? Were they taking interest, too?
"And why are you bringing up the subject of friends?" Weiss continued, folding her arms and raising an eyebrow.
"We've made new friends of our own, too!" Neopolitan's scroll she was holding up read as she grinned from ear to ear. Weiss shook her head, too, and Ruby seemed to dismiss the idea with a wave of her hand.
1%...
"Please. Who would ever be your friends at this kinda time?" she asked them. Cinder's smile reformed into a sly grin, with everyone else smiling similarly as they looked to Cinder Fall. The time for action was now.
"Oh, boys... how about you come out and say hello~?" she called out, clicking her fingers. The other members of Cinder's posse took a few steps to their respective sides as, suddenly, more figures emerged from the shadows. As it turned out, they weren't alone.
First up, a shady, muscular biker rode up between Roman and Mercury, his face obscured by a mouth mask and sunglasses, and a dark-brimmed hat covering his head. His bike was as ominous as he and the other figures were - dark, intimidating and emitting a very low rumbling sound as he set the bike steady, the folds of his black leather jacket flowing in the gentle breeze. This biker was known as Conquest.
Second, a bulky, chrome robot trudged his way in between Emerald and Neopolitan. He was large, but height-wise he was short. His small, beady eyes staring between each individual member of Team RWBY, as well as occasionally the downed Eden, as he idly flexed his metallic jaw. He looked strong, and he looked deadly. And rightfully so. Being a walking weapon stash himself, he was known as Armos.
After him, a full-suited figure flew in, slowly descending until he eventually landed at Cinder Fall's right, his arms folded as he looked across at the opposition. Suited head-to-toe in a grey armour, and sporting an identical grey cape as well as a grey general's hat, he looked ominous, closed-off and very powerful as far as leadership goes. And in order to be the right-hand man and long time friend of a powerful dictator, the being known as the Black Baron had to be.
And finally, speaking of dictators, an even larger armoured figure began to step up to them, his footsteps being met with a distinctive THUMP! sound. Eventually, he stopped at Cinder's left. Towering above the rest of the group and being even larger than Armos, this was the head honcho of his own legion of soldiers, as well as the boss of the aforementioned three, save for Black Baron. This armoured individual was strong in physical power, tough courtesy of the crimson and green shell of an armoured suit surrounding him, and very firm in his decisions and mindset.. and above all else, frighteningly efficient. He was a face Arlion feared. He was Emperor Harlis.
Team RWBY looked at each other not with a look of confusion, but with a look of concern. They had known of Cinder Fall and her goons for a good while and were thus familiar with how they rolled, but none of these four that had suddenly emerged were recognisable to them. Therefore, they had absolutely no idea what they were up against as far as these four were concerned.
"Hello, Ruby." Emperor Harlis finally spoke, addressing the team's leader in particular, his yellow eyes scanning her and her team-mates. "You must be the one I've been told of so many times during my little visit here." While his voice was not the kind of thing Ruby expected to hear from someone so huge and threatening looking, the fact that it sounded as quiet, calculating and sly as Cinder Fall didn't help matters. The Emperor folded his arms.
"Who are you all supposed to be?" Ruby asked. Someone had to ask, after all.
"Oh, do forgive us for interrupting this little meeting." Harlis responded, a condescending nature in his voice as he bowed slightly, though this movement seemed deliberately done as if to mock them. "Allow us all to introduce ourselves. Gentlemen?"
"Conquest." the biker grunted, not seeming very interested in talking much.
"I am Armos, the Weapon-Grade Juggernaut." Armos stated. Always gave him a sense of pride and honour to be able to introduce himself like that.
"I run by many names. But you can address me as the Black Baron." the Baron spoke coldly.
"And I am Emperor Harlis. Conqueror, leader of the Harlis Legion..." spoke Harlis, before looking down towards Cinder Fall. "...and soon, with the kind assistance of Cinder Fall here and her team, a ruler for this planet."
"Wait, wait, wait..." Yang suddenly spoke up as she put the pieces together. "You mean to tell me that you're in league with her?"
"About time you got the hint." Conquest caustically retorted, granting him a glare from the blonde Huntress.
"What's your business with her, anyway?" Ruby asked. "What do you even want?"
"Funny you decide to ask." Harlis responded. "See, we are associated against that little angel there." He gestured to Eden with this, to which Ruby looked down at him again. Seeing him in discomfort was starting to unnerve her. "Not to mention we didn't take too kindly to the call from my troops saying you and him were having a play-date snooping around the contents of our trains." Ruby took time to remember. Now that she thought about it, it would explain Eden's presence there, as well as the need for her and her team to go there.
"Let me guess." Weiss spoke sternly. "Ordnance. You were supplying weapons, weren't you?"
"More than just that." Black Baron intervened. "Weapons, ammunition, supplies, as well as a few... "special" packages." Weiss seemed rattled by that statement in particular.
"..."Special" packages?" Weiss repeated. Armos smirked as he prepared to drop the news to them.
"High-power explosives." Armos then spoke. "Harlis-Brand products. Super Bombs. To you people, you could call them warheads." he explained to them. "A group of them could level several cities. Reduce them to utter rubble. And that is our intention unless the people of this world submit." He clenched his fist, holding it in front of himself.
"Warheads!?" all four of them exclaimed in sheer horror. Cinder Fall had took part in quite some heinous activity in her time, but now she was making deals with other dictators and approving of a high-scale bombing run? Things had really shot up to eleven, and the team didn't know how to deal with it, especially given that nine super-powerful villains now had them cornered with an injured child on their lap.
"So that's what he was trying to warn me about..." Ruby mumbled, looking down at the boy at her feet. He was still writhing in pain, his clothes in ruin. But was it too late?
"But first things first," Cinder Fall finally spoke back up. "We want to see you squirm. We're here to annihilate you all. Tonight, you will die." she stared them down evilly, the sinister smile forming across her mouth. If one were able to see Black Baron's mouth, or Emperor Harlis' mouth, similar smiles would be made. Team RWBY took up a group fighting position behind the body of Eden, each drawing their signature weapons, but instead of the confidence they usually would hold, they looked uncertain.
And Harlis knew it.
"Face the facts, all of you." he warned them, folding his arms. "You cannot hope to defeat us all. It is four against nine. You are outnumbered, out-muscled and doomed. And not even the angel before you, or the Goddesses he serves, will save you now." His eyes narrowed at the group. The other members of Cinder's team and the Harlis Legion looked between each other, each one having a sly smirk or whispering things to one another that the other team couldn't hear. This sure was fun.
"Well... do any of you have any ideas?" Yang whispered to the others, hoping that one of them would have a plan.
"I wish I could say yes..." Weiss sadly responded.
"...what can we do...?" Blake asked herself.
"Is there...?" Ruby began to trail off, before suddenly noticing something on the ground nearby. A small, but still noticeable capsule had appeared, stacked by some boxes nearby. Ruby was puzzled, it certainly wasn't there before. The capsule's contents were cyan, and marked crudely on the side of the capsule read "EDEN".
Ruby knew it wasn't much, but it had to have been a sign. Maybe from the Arlian Goddesses themselves?
Cinder and Harlis both spotted this action, but before either of them could take action themselves or even speak a word against it, Ruby had dashed over to the capsule, breaking open the top and pouring the strange substance into the Arlian Angel's wounds in blind hope that it would get him back onto his feet.
...1%...
...30%...
...70%...
...100%...
"Eden!" Ruby called to him, shaking him desperately with Weiss and Blake gathered around him as well.
"Come on, kid, wake up!" Yang called to him as well, kneeling in front of him. Eden's lips and eyes were trembling. Slowly, he felt control coming back to his body. In turn, the wounds on his body were starting to go down and vanish. Before long, all the damage he had to show for himself was the distinct amount of clothing damage. Eventually, Eden rubbed his head as he sat up, now revitalised but confused.
"He's waking..." Blake spoke.
"Nngh... huh? W-what's happening?" Eden asked. He had absolutely no focus and no idea that Cinder Fall's team or the Harlis Legion had suddenly arrived.
"We've got a situation." Weiss told him, gesturing to the group ahead. Eden looked to them, and realised that nine distinctly different figures were stood in a group. Eden only recognised four of them, and that was more than enough to strike fear into him. What were they doing here?
"W-what!?" Eden stammered. "W-what is Emperor Harlis and his goons doing here?? Who are these other people!?" However, Eden gained no answers to his questions as Ruby quickly swiped her arm under his leg and getting him to stand.
"No time to question things." Ruby told him. "We need to act." Eden picked up his sword sheepishly and put his shield in front of him as Team RWBY regrouped, this time around Eden. The angel felt strange. This group were now on his side. They were with him. He felt... important. Cinder Fall and Emperor Harlis looked at each other before looking back to their opposition.
"So you increased your numbers by one." Harlis said. "But it is still five against nine. The most that will do is prolong the inevitable. Prepare for your defeat, Eden. You and your little friends." With this, all nine of the villains took a combat stance, preparing themselves to go all-out against their heroic counterparts. Likewise, Eden took up a defensive combat stance, with Team RWBY all around him in their combat positions. It was here that Ruby, who was right next to him, turned to him with a smile, taking one hand off her scythe to place on Eden's shoulder.
"I think we've both seen what we can do against each other." she told him. "It's time we put that to use together." Eden smiled back, nodding.
"Absolutely." Eden replied firmly. And with this, he turned to the Harlis Legion and Cinder's team. With a synchronised movement that kept them close together, they all began a charge towards the villains ahead of them, with Cinder and Harlis leading the pack of villains.
The battle was over. That much was clear. But the war had just begun.
K.O?
Results[]
Wesker: The power of friendship prevails. Sappy.
Hoxton: But hey, Eden was spared despite that ominous ending. The gun-toting beer-chugging brute'd hate it, heheh.
Wiz: Wow, you guys... *ahem* Eden may be more defence-oriented, possessed flight as well as a larger and more diverse arsenal and was a better bare-handed fighter compared to his opponent, but when pit against someone like Ruby, he was not able to get very far and was easily put on the back foot.
Hoxton: Let's face it, people, there is absolutely no way that Eden could contest Ruby with speed in any way whatsoever. Even if he pushed himself, even if he opened the taps all the way, he'd still be ten times slower than Ruby!
Magneto: His defensively-oriented equipment and stats allowed Eden to keep in the game, and things like the Warbreaker Suit bolstered his defences further, which gave him a great durability edge. Unfortunately for him, however, Ruby Rose's Aura and Semblance were able to give her enough power to hit him harder than he could push back.
Wesker: Eden's flight and close-range environmental control did give him better control of the battlefield, but again, Ruby Rose can either choose to shoot him out of the sky or use Crescent Rose's sniper recoil to reach him, giving him nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.
Wiz: Eden may be an up-and-coming fighter like Ruby and may have held a bit more of formal training in his line of work, but when it comes to defeating an opponent who can move, think and fight faster than he can... well, there's only so much he can do. If Ruby were to face a stronger opponent, she can take matters into her hands and has the potential to win. If Eden were to be in the same situation? Not so much.
Hoxton: Mercifully for Eden, Ruby did spare him, otherwise he'd be Dead Like Roses.
Wiz: ...Your puns aren't any better than Boomstick's.
Hoxton: You loved it deep inside, wanker.
Wiz: ...The winner is Ruby Rose.