Dimension Holders Book 2: Rebooted

Rebooted Part 2 Chapter 17: Stronger Together

We all stood at the ready, waiting for the IS Crew to break down Tabane's workshop door.  However, Tabane was still working away, trying to finish the weapon upgrades as quickly as possible. The IS unit steps were getting louder as they got closer and closer to the workshop door until suddenly, silence fell. Teams RWBY and JNPR stepped in front of me. Misako and Nya rushed to the tubes holding the teams' weapons. "Almost......there." Tabane typed fast.

A bright ball of orange flame followed by black-as-night smoke engulfed the door. Out of that smoke walked Ichika into his IS unit, and when the smoke cleared, the rest of the girls were revealed. All except for Chifuyu and Ms. Yamada. "Protect Hunter!" Ruby ordered the others; they may not have had their weapons, but they had their semblances. Pyrrha used her semblance and forced Ichika to slam back into the rest of the IS crew.

This did little to slow them down. Ichika pulled out his Byakushiki's sword and took a swing at them. I quickly jumped in front of the teams and blocked it with my sword, the weight of Ichika's blade causing me to slide back a few feet. "I...can take care of myself!" I grunted. I put every ounce of force I had and gave a good push to Ichika's sword, then, with one hand, created an orange energy orb and shot a beam into him, sending him flying past the girls. "Ruby now!"

Ruby flew past me like an arrow in a flash, using her semblance. She began to crash into each girl, trying to knock each one down. When Ruby was about to hit Houki, her IS unit grabbed her. Ruby tried to struggle out of Houki's grip, but without Crescent Rose, Ruby had no chance. Houki tossed her back into me, and I fell back and slid across the floor with her on top of me.

Tabane's chair turned around, and she ran across the room to a large lever on the wall next to the weapons containers. "All ready!" She said, pulling the switch and opening them.

Ruby and I stood up, and I gestured for her and the others to get their weapons while I held them off. I created two orange orbs in both hands and shot beams from them at all the IS girls, trying to keep them back while still not trying to hurt them.  The teams grabbed their weapons, and Tabane led them to a container with an orange and bright blue powder. "Now we're talking," Yang grinned, putting on her gauntlets.

I could feel my energy weakening, trying to hold them back. I fell to my knees out of power, and Charlotte walked up and pointed her machine gun at me. Closing my eyes, I waited for the inevitable. "I heard the machine gun go off but didn't feel anything. I slowly opened my eyes to see Jaune and Pyrrha standing before me. They had blocked every bullet with their shield. "You may be able to protect yourself," Pyrrha started.

"But we'll still be there to help our friend out!" Jaune finished. They rushed forward with the others and began attacking the IS units. Misako rushed over and helped lift me to my feet. I watched in awe as these teams fought to defend me.

"You're so worried about being the one to protect others no matter what it does to you," Misako told me. "You must realize at some point that you don't have to be the only one to protect everyone. There are others out there that can help you and make you stronger." I began to ponder Misako's advice, but the workshop alarm started blaring again before I could fully get my thoughts together. Ichika and the girls began to laugh maniacally, for they knew what was coming.

"Chi-chan." I heard Tabane whisper to herself.

A portion of the ceiling caved in, with a large plume of dirt and dust following it. Before the dust cleared, a large sniper barrel appeared in front of my face, and Misako and I dived out of the way. Then, an advanced regular word came out and tried to slash me on the ground, but with a quick reaction, I used my elemental techno blade to block it. The dust cleared to reveal Ms. Yamada holding her sniper up and Chifuyu in a black mechanized, human-sized suit, trying to push her sword into my chest. "Not you guys, too," I whispered despairingly, seeing my two former teachers under the Destroyer's control.