Near the Beacon Academy, some of his students were fighting Grimm. Those who had been on the Colosseum before had already flown down and decided to fight for the kingdom and their academy.
Things only got more complicated when the Atlasian military androids abruptly switched sides and attacked them.
«Those metal buckets are in the way enough! - shouted the guy with the monkey tail, who was holding the staff he used to fight off Beowulf.
«My weapons aren't very effective. - Koko said somewhat frustratedly as she continued to fire at the huge metal Paladins.
«That's okay, my hammer will take them! - Nora exclaimed, deftly jumping on top of the Paladin, who was firing at the other hunters, and then she delivered a powerful enough blow to his face and jumped off him... only to be hit in the side by a metal arm.
«Nora! - Ren exclaimed as he saw his friend get hit by a large metal arm that sent her back a few metres to the ground. Her aura protected her.
«Those metal things are funny. - said the girl with the big scythe and spun round on her axis and was able to cut off the head of the Grimm jumping on her and cut the robot in half in a flash with her extended scythe.
«Manifestation? - Pyrrha said, throwing her spear at the Grimm and then using her manifestation to rip chunks off the androids and pelt Ursa to death with them.
«Whoa! Listen, where have you been before? - A guy with blue hair who was fighting using a long-range rifle firing electric bolts asked her. However, he could change the mode and turn it into a melee weapon.
«Helping people. - Shinoa said briefly as she looked around the academy grounds. - Well, it's still not that bad....
«It's not that bad! - The white-haired girl with the rapier exclaimed. She moved very nimbly from one glyph to another that increased her speed. - What's happening is... horrible! - she exclaimed as she noticed two more Paladins running towards them.
«W-what?! Are you seeing this?! - Neptune exclaimed, pointing towards the Atlas flying ship and the huge earth pillars supporting it. Two of those ships were clearly visible from their position, and the third was still hovering in the sky.
«It happened already a few minutes ago, you don't seem to be paying much attention. - Shinoa said, unwinding her scythe in one hand, fending off any bullets the Paladins fired at her.
«I didn't have time to turn my head. - He tried to explain himself.
«Nevermores! - shouted the white-haired girl, noticing several Grimm flying towards them. The girl exhaled heavily and raised her rapier to her face, she covered her eyes as she expected to be hit by a strong Grimm, but then a snow-white sword appeared from behind her back and it deflected the Grimm's blow. She was able to summon the arm and sword armour!
«There are many of them! - Another hunter student's voice was heard.
Just then, in the sky, besides the flying Nevermores, they noticed two humanoid figures that started firing something at those. Each of their shots tore chunks off the Grimm and they fell to the ground, where they were already being killed by other students. The two figures were wearing iron armour.
«Is this a new development of Atlas? - San, a faun with a monkey tail, asked.- I wouldn't want to..." Jon said with obvious panic, holding a Shield in one hand and a sword in the other.
«I've never seen one of those before. - Weiss said, a little bit relieved from the excessive use of glyphs.
«Girls, you took your time. - said Shinoa jumping on the defeated Paladin.
«... not funny. - A girl's voice was heard, and the armour on her head opened up on both of the armoured girls at once, revealing their faces... which looked quite pale.
«It's horrible! - Hermione exclaimed. - I... didn't know...
«That it would be this bad? - Shinoa nodded understandingly, glancing at another approaching Paladin. - That's life, girls. Especially here. - she emphasised the word 'here'.
«Who are these two beauties? - Neptune asked and Weiss gave him an annoyed look. - What? Just... sorry, sorry.
«Fuck off. - she waved at him. - Are they with you? - the white-haired woman asked the girl with the scythe. - And why the scythe again? - The girl said quietly as if she was bemoaning her fate.
«Mm-hmm, along with the administrator-kun. - She nodded. - And then there's Rias.
«Who's that? - Weiss made a confused look on her face. The paladin had stopped a dozen metres away from the students ready to fight and fell down as if he had lost all his energy.
«Well, a fiery beauty with huge... - the girl with a scythe visually felt the "imaginary" large breasts.
«Shinoa. - came a voice from above and...
«Oh, goddess. - exclaimed Neptune.
«Hmm, no, more like a demon. - smiled at Rias as she landed next to him.
«Succubus. - added the girl with the scythe.
«Is this your manifestation? - Nora asked, looking at the black wings behind her back. - How do you fly? They're small, aren't they?!
«Questions later, we have things to do... - Weiss wanted to stop Nora, but....
«Weiss! - There was a shout and a golden-haired beauty came running to the white-haired girl. - Are you all right? Have you heard from Ruby?
«No." Schnee waved her head elegantly, glancing at the girl again.
«And Blake?
«She ran after White Fang. - replied the platinum blonde.
«Are those the terrorists? - Rias, who had already landed on the ground and retracted her wings, asked.
«Mm-hmm. - Weiss nodded.
«All those robots have stopped attacking us. - remarked Shinoa.
«Master Tony has sorted it out and there will be air support soon. - said a female voice from the side of Hermione's suit and after these words the ground shook from the bombardment of massive clusters of Grimm that had not yet managed to get close to Beacon and the city. The ship itself hovered above the academy.
«So it's not bad here. - Yang had something to say. - I'll go after Blake, and you go after Ruby! - said the girl and rushed towards the academy, glancing at Rias's beautiful hair.
«Whatever you say..." the grey-haired girl pointed a finger upwards.
«Hermione, Erina, are you alright? - Rias asked them with obvious concern as she approached them. Both were still in their armour, but their faces were visible.
«...I like cooking better. - Nakiri said quietly.
«I thought it was like a roller coaster for you. - Shinoa muttered, twirling her braid in her hands.
«Are you from Atlas? - Pyrrha asked as she approached them, then looked at Shinoa and bowed. - Thank you... for helping me at the Coliseum.
«It was nothing. - Shinoa waved her hand. - How beautiful everyone is here, Administrator-kun would definitely love it. Maybe that was his plan? Gathering so many innocent girls in one place.....
«What are you talking about? - Even if Weiss had a little bit of strength left, it was enough to resent such... such... such... just such!
«She's always like that, don't mind her. - with a slight twitch of her eyebrow, Gremory told me. - No, we're not from Atlas... we're just from far away.
«That guy who was with you, did he stay at the Coliseum? - Pyrrha asked, and from the looks of it, it was important for her to know.
«Tony is there now. - Shinoa pointed upwards with her finger.
«Oh. - An awkward chuckle came from Nora.
«She means on the ship. - Weiss rolled her eyes.
«Oh! - Nora exclaimed understandingly.
«This Tony, is he the one who was able to fix the androids and the Paladins? - Weiss asked a little interested. - Is he the general's aide?
«He was also able to restore Penny. - Added Nora, who was able to break free from Ren's 'grip' and after saying that, she showed him her tongue. Her words caught the attention of almost everyone, but Pyrrha saw Ozpin's silhouette outside the academy.
«Where are you going? - Jaune asked, noticing that his partner had taken a few steps to the side.
«I have to go. I promised the headmaster I'd help with a case... apparently it's time. - Nikos said confidently.
«Don't you think we have other problems besides some business with the principal? - Koko asked, slightly lowering her glasses to see the figure of the man outside the academy.
«It's important. Especially since there seem to be fewer Grimm here. - The redhead's words were true, as there weren't many Grimm left in this part of the academy. Those who were heading towards the city and the academy through the forest were now under fire from the air. Even the flying Nevermores were out of sight, as Cortana's control of Erina and Hermione's suit had shot them down, plus Rias had destroyed many of them as well.
«Your weapon is a skateboard? How does that even work - Hermione's question rang out as she looked at the green-haired girl... on a flying skateboard. After the question, she... fell off it.
«Hey! Do you have something against my Hoverbird! - the green-haired girl asked.
«Just wondering. - Hermione shrugged, blaming it on a world where even a musical instrument could be considered a weapon.
«Rias, you continue to stand in a heroic pose. You've been watching those anime shows, haven't you? - Shinoa grinned at the quick reaction of Gremory, who "deflated" a little and tsk-tsk-tsked her tongue and said, "Moo-oo."
***
«'Ahhhhhh!" shouted Ruby, holding onto me as we free-fell from the ship down towards the ground.
«Are you sure you're okay? - I decided to ask, hovering slightly in the air and moving the girl's body into my arms so I could look her in the eye.
«Yes." she began to nod sharply. - W-all good! - she continued to shout as we began to land quickly again. I knew where the Group girls were, as all of them had either a communicator or a suit. It wasn't hard for Cortana to take control of the ship, although as she put it, it took her about four seconds longer as she was deciphering the new codes and just a little different working principle than she was used to.
Roman Torchwick and Neopoletan, that was the name of the men who had taken over the ship, were known criminals. I already knew that, but it was nice to have access to their case files, but there wasn't much to write about, just speculation and unverified information. The question is, how did essentially one Neo manage to neutralise all the personnel and military on a huge flying ship? The answer is simple enough - her manifestation. With her manifestation she can literally become invisible and sneak almost anywhere and knock out people without aura, and even with aura, in the same way.
But as I recall there was someone else involved besides them. A lady in red who loves bows and fire, a green-haired girl who loves the lady in red, and a white-haired guy with no legs, or rather with implants instead of his legs.
And while we were flying down, there was a very like loud explosion... turning our heads to the side, we could see that the top of the mountain was destroyed and something big started to come out of it.
«W-what's that? - screamed the girl in my arms, whose eyes got even bigger from this sight. But soon enough, we began to land next to a crowd of student hunters, including the rest of my group.
«Ruby! - shouted the snowflake, immediately rushing over to the cookie-loving girl and immediately doing a 'snatch' with her hand.
«Weiss! You have no idea! I was fighting Torchwick and that little girl with the umbrella on the ship! I started to lose and then Tony flew in and he tackled them in a couple of punches! - Ruby exclaimed and did a few punches in the air. - Then he quickly took control of the ship's controls, can you believe it! Oh, we also saw a huge Grimm coming from the direction of Mt. Glen. - mumbled the little girl.
«Torchwick? A Grimm? I'm glad you're all right, you little bugger. - Weiss hugged her.
«How are you two doing? - I looked at Hermione and Nakiri.
«I'm fine now... Cortana was a great help, though I'm glad I was able to help even so. - Hermione said in her armour.
«Shouldn't we go on to clean up the Grimm? - Rias asked.
«Cortana's handling it for now. - I told her the Atlas flying ship wouldn't stop firing, it was clearly visible.
«Administrator-kun, you held this girl in your hands, did you like it? - The tone in Shinoa's voice didn't change, and she said it all while looking at Ruby.
«Well... yes, actually. - I admitted.
«Administrator? That's not the first time I've heard her say that, why does she call you that? And who are you five anyway? - I almost demanded an answer from that--
«She's so cute when she's angry. - I said with a small smile looking at Weiss. It was a good tactic to keep her quiet.
«W-what? - She took a step back.
«Never mind. - I waved my hand, pushing such thoughts away from me and trying not to look at Shinoa's 'evil' smile. - We're the support that came from... and I won't tell you where. - I smiled wider, watching as the platinum blonde stomped her foot and turned away proudly.
«Hmm. - sounded from her.
«Weiss, where's Yang? - Ruby asked
«She ran after Blake... and she ran after White Fang! - She remembered abruptly. - We need to run to their rescue!
***
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