Eclipse - Act 1 - The Healing

Chapter 26 - The Praetorian's Promise

Ruby

Sparks fly, metal scrapes and clangs, and vicious yells from both sides of good and evil erupt from the crater from which they reside.

The Praetorian Knight battles against the four girls with its huge Sceptre, spiralling it through its digits and dodging some of their attacks. Yang swings her fists at the face of the Praetorian, both metal and skin colliding against rubble and steel pulled together from the ghostly Geist within this artificial monstrosity created. It darts across the muddy ground where sewage has been spilling in from the damaged pipes buried underneath the roads. It presses it legs up against the wall to thrust off, spinning through the air before stabbing downwards with the Sceptre at where Yang was standing. Ruby shrieks with rage, blasting towards the creature, slashing Crescent Rose across its kneecaps to try and topple the entity over, but as soon as the blade cuts through the metal and rubble – and it shatters – the black smoke just pulls it all back together.

Geists are not like normal Grimm when it comes to combat, it does not feel pain from hits on the things it has possessed, it only feels pain on the only physical portion of its being – the face. However, the face is surrounded by the surroundings it has collected from the destruction to create the helm, guarding its only real weakness. Blake casts a shadow just as the Praetorian Knight grabs Ruby by the throat, lifting her off the floor and crushing her throat slowly as she writhes around in its heavy grasp. She kicks and punches the arm to try and break free, but nothing is working. Blake yells with rage, taking both the blade and scabbard of Gambol Shroud and slashing both of them through the arm of the entity. The metal and rubble shatters, the hand crumbling away from Ruby's throat, releasing her from its grasp. She falls down into the mud and gasps for air, rolling out of the way to avoid the staggering footsteps of the Praetorian Knight.

Blake swings round and kicks the Knight in the head with her heels and it snarls with anger as it staggers, swinging round on its own heel to slash at Blake, knocking her out of the air. All while in the background, Sun is suffering. Covered in his own blood from the deep wound that has been inflicted upon his body by this Creature of Grimm. Blake crashes against the wall of stone and mud, falling down into the puddle of brown water, coughing as it covers her face and sticks into her black hair.

Lightning crackles above their heads, and the heavens begin to open up, rainfall beginning with great force. The amount of rain starts to build and build, and Blake realises he is in serious trouble. Sun is incapacitated from his wound, it is a surprise he is still conscious from the hit, and from the fall he suffered. If he remains inside of this hole, if they all remain inside of this hole, they will all drown in muddy sewage water. The water level is already beginning to increase around them. Blake stares at the glowing red eyes of the Praetorian Knight and then at Sun, who cannot move from where he is. She knows they need to get him out, but there is no real way out of here that could be possible with him in her arms. They need to make a way out.

The Praetorian Knight walks towards Blake, dragging the sharp end of the Sceptre through the water, rainwater pattering off the body of the entity as it approaches slowly. Blake runs to Sun and she draws her pistol, firing it repeatedly at the entity but the bullets either just fracture the concrete and rubble collected in tiny areas, or it just bounces off the steel inside of it. The Praetorian Knight lifts the Sceptre above its head and goes to stab her straight through the heart, but it is stopped suddenly as a Black Glyph forms right in front of the Sceptre, blasting the Praetorian Knight back, and straight into the cybernetic fist of the Praetorian Knight. It crashes down to the ground with a heavy boom, and Yang looks around, then she finds multiple cracks in the walls of stone.

She looks to Blake by Sun. "Blake!" Yang yells, as she loads some of her missiles into the belt chambers of Ember Celica, and she fires the single Gauntlet towards the surrounds. The missile screeches through the air and explodes, spreading more cracks and fissures throughout the structure and causing it all to collapse. Blake wraps her arms around Sun, protecting him from the falling debris that collapses down into the ground. "Go! Get Sun out of here!" Yang yells, then the Praetorian Knight rises back up behind her, and clenches its hands into fists as it runs towards her and swings.