Chương 90: Chapter 83: The Tundra, The Crone, and The Blizzard

The rhythmic, heavy sound of iron wheels on frosted steel echoed through the insulated walls of the Argus Limited. Outside the double-paned windows, the sweeping, mountainous wilderness of northern Anima blurred past in a endless curtain of white, the howling blizzard coating the pine trees in thick layers of ice. Inside the passenger car, however, the temperature was comfortably warm, though the social climate was bordering on absolute zero. Saitama sat in a plush, velvet-upholstered seat near the aisle.

Clad in his sharp black suit, charcoal vest, and heavy white trench coat, he looked every bit the part of a high-class Atlesian executive. Roman Torchwick's pristine bowler hat sat tilted slightly forward on his bald head, entirely concealing his iconic shine. His face, however, was a perfectly flat, unblinking oval of intense, petty concentration. In his left hand, Saitama held a crinkly, colorful bag of Mistralian barbecue potato chips.

Hooked firmly onto the top corner of that same bag was the curved, silver handle of Neopolitan's parasol. Neo sat right beside him, her small legs crossed, her heterochromic eyes narrowed into sharp, lethal slits. She pulled subtly to the left. Saitama pulled subtly to the right. Neither of them said a word. It was a silent, high-stakes war of attrition over the last remaining snack in the cabin.

"I bought these," Saitama muttered flatly, not looking at her.

"You ate the chocolate crisps. These are mine." Neo didn't blink. She simply tapped the parasol handle against the bag, pulling a fraction harder, a smug, unwavering smirk playing on her lips. Across the aisle, Qrow Branwen leaned his head back against the headrest, letting out a long, exhausted sigh before pulling his silver flask from his coat. He popped the cap, taking a long, slow gulp of liquor to drown out the freezing chill settling in his bones.

Beside Qrow, Oscar Pine sat rigidly, his small hands clutching his travel satchel tightly against his lap. Beneath the canvas flap, the faint, ethereal blue glow of the Relic of Knowledge hummed softly, a constant, silent reminder of the apocalyptic target strapped to his chest. Sitting in the row directly facing Qrow was an elderly woman. She was tiny, barely coming up to Ruby's waist, wrapped in a thick, heavy woolen shawl over a travel dress.

A pair of oversized, brass-rimmed cybernetic goggles obscured her eyes, glowing with a soft, mechanical amber light. She watched Qrow take another swig from his flask, her wrinkled face twisting into a grimace of profound, unadulterated disgust. THWACK.

"Ow! Hey!" Qrow yelped, nearly dropping his flask as a polished wooden walking cane slammed squarely into his shin.

"You miserable, unwashed hooligan!" the old woman barked, her voice carrying a sharp, raspy authority that cut cleanly through the mechanical hum of the train.

"Drinking liquor straight from the bottle in broad daylight! In front of children! Have you no shame?!" Qrow rubbed his stinging leg, glaring at the crone in sheer disbelief.

"Excuse me, lady, but I'm an adult, and it's freezing outside--" POKE.

"And you!" The old woman swung her cane around, driving the brass tip directly into Saitama's ribs.

"A grown man dressed like a high-end funeral director, engaged in a tug-of-war over fried potatoes with a sweet little girl! Show some dignity, bald head!" Saitama froze. He slowly turned his head, his simple, dotted eyes staring down at the tiny old woman poking him with a stick.

"Sweet little girl?" Saitama repeated flatly, glancing sideways at Neo, who was currently hiding a razor-sharp, lethal smirk behind her parasol.

"Lady, she literally stabs people with umbrella. And she has her own snacks."

"I don't care if she's the Queen of Vacuo!" the crone snapped back, adjusting her cybernetic goggles with a snort.

"You're bigger than her! Act like it!" Neo's smirk instantly vanished. Her pink and brown eyes narrowed at the old woman, her gloved fingers subtly drifting toward the hidden blade in Hush's handle.

"Oh! I am so, so, so sorry, ma'am!" Ruby Rose practically threw herself between the seats, bowing frantically toward the old woman with a nervous, hyperactive smile.

"Please don't mind them! They're... well, they're a lot to handle, but they don't mean any harm! I'm Ruby! Ruby Rose!" The old woman paused. Her cybernetic goggles whirred softly as the lenses zoomed in on Ruby's eager, polite face. The scowl on the crone's face melted just a fraction, replaced by a huff of reluctant approval.

"Hmph. At least one person in this traveling circus possesses basic manners," the old woman grumbled, leaning back against her seat and resting both hands on her cane.

"Call me Maria, child. Maria Calavera." Before Ruby could reply, the heavy sliding doors at the front of the passenger car banged open with a loud, obnoxious metallic crash. Swaggering down the center aisle, puffing their chests out like strutting roosters, were two heavily armored Huntsmen. The first was a tall, broad-shouldered man wielding a massive, Dust-infused mace. The second was slightly shorter, sporting a pair of high-caliber wrist-cannons and an arrogant, punchable grin.

"Alright, clear the aisle, folks! Official business!" the taller one, Dee, announced loudly, resting his mace over his shoulder.

"Dee and Dudley are on the clock! You can all rest easy knowing the top-tier security of the Mistral-Argus transit line is on the job!" Dudley paused, leaning over the back of Saitama's seat, eyeing his tailored trench coat and bowler hat with a scoff.

"What's with the mob-boss getup, pal? Planning a heist, or are you just heading to a very fancy funeral?" Saitama blinked, looking up at Dudley with absolute, deadpan indifference.

"I'm trying to eat my chips." Qrow rolled his eyes so hard it looked physically painful, taking another slow drink from his flask.

"Great. Rent-a-cops."

"Hey! That's Professional Huntsmen to you, old man!" Dudley snapped, puffing his chest out further.

"When the Grimm come knocking, you'll be begging for--" SKREEEEE! The sharp, deafening shriek of iron wheels violently locking against the freezing tracks ripped through the cabin. The entire train violently lurched forward. Passengers shrieked as luggage tumbled from the overhead racks. Dee and Dudley instantly lost their balance, flailing wildly before crashing face-first onto the carpeted aisle in a pathetic heap of armor and bruised egos.

In the chaos, the bag of barbecue potato chips flew entirely out of Saitama's grip. A shower of golden, greasy chips rained directly over his pristine white trench coat, leaving several dark, highly visible oil stains across his lapels. Saitama sat completely frozen. A single greasy chip slid down his black tie, landing pathetically on his lap. The color drained from his face, leaving him in a stark, heavily shaded monochrome of pure, existential tragedy. Enjoying this book?

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"My... my new coat..." Saitama whispered, his voice cracking with profound grief.

"The dry-cleaning bill is going to be astronomical..." Above them, the structural integrity of the passenger car groaned. A massive, heavy steel trunk tore free from its mounting brackets directly above Maria Calavera. Simultaneously, a violent impact against the exterior roof shattered the double-paned window beside her, sending a hail of razor-sharp glass and frozen metal hurtling directly toward the old woman's head. Maria didn't even have time to raise her cane.

A blinding flash of crimson light and swirling rose petals erupted in the aisle. Ruby blurred across the cabin at supersonic speed. Moving with a fluid grace forged through months of dodging a bored god, she caught the heavy steel trunk mid-air with her bare left hand, completely absorbing its downward momentum. In the exact same motion, she spun Crescent Rose's heavy scabbard through the air, knocking the shower of shattered glass harmlessly away from Maria's face. The rose petals dissipated.

Ruby stood tall, holding the massive trunk easily over her head before setting it gently on the floor.

"Are you okay, Miss Calavera?!" Ruby asked frantically, turning to inspect the old woman. Maria Calavera sat frozen. Her hands gripped her cane, her mouth slightly open. Her cybernetic goggles whirred aggressively. The internal optical sensors auto-focused, zooming in through the settling dust to lock onto Ruby's face. The dim, red emergency lighting of the train car reflected off Ruby's eyes. Maria saw them clearly. The flawless, brilliant silver rings surrounding her pupils.

The legendary, unmistakable mark of a warrior blessed by the light. Maria's breath caught in her throat. Her heart hammered against her ribs, a ghost from her distant, blood-soaked past rising in her mind. Silver Eyes... Maria thought. Her mind racing in breathless shock. She has the Silver Eyes... Before Maria could say a word, a terrifying, ear-splitting shriek echoed from the sky above, shaking the entire train. SKREEEEEE! The dark shadows of massive, winged monsters swept over the train windows.

Outside, the blizzard was alive with nightmares. Swarming through the clouds was a massive flock of winged, lion-like Manticores, their scorpion tails dripping with volatile venom. Leading the swarm was a colossal Alpha Sphinx, its bone-plated human face contorted in a feral, roaring sneer as it swept low, its massive talons gouging deep trenches into the train's iron roof. To make matters worse, the snowy slopes surrounding the tracks erupted.

Massive Geist Grimm possessed the surrounding boulders, uprooted pine trees, and torn sheets of metal plating, pulling the earth together to forge towering, lumbering rock Golems that began marching toward the tracks to derail the train.

"Grimm attack!" Dudley shrieked from the floor, his cocky persona completely evaporating as he scrambled backward in terror.

"It's a horde!" Qrow instantly stood up, drawing Harbinger with a sharp metallic clack.

"Oscar! Stay inside! Keep the civilians safe!"

"Got it!" Oscar answered, grabbing The Long Memory.

"Y-Yeah!" Dee stammered, scrambling to his feet and pulling Dudley behind him.

"We'll stay right here in the cabin and... and secure the interior! Hold the rear guard! Don't let anything breach the doors!" Qrow scoffed at the terrified braggarts, turning his gaze toward the students.

"Team RWBY! Team JNPR! With me! To the roof!" Yang and Ruby turned toward the window where Saitama was still staring at the grease stains on his lapel with profound, soul-crushing despair.

"Saitama!" Ruby yelled over the blaring alarms.

"Stay put! Stay hidden! General Ironwood explicitly said you have to keep a low profile!"

"Yeah, don't let anyone see you!" Yang added, readying her gauntlets.

"We'll handle this!" Saitama let out a long, pathetic sigh. He pulled Roman's bowler hat down over his eyes, leaning his head back against the plush headrest.

"Yeah, yeah," Saitama grumbled, completely unbothered by the apocalyptic roars outside.

"I'm not going out there anyway. It's freezing, and I need to figure out how to get potato chip grease out of dry-clean-only fabric." Neo offered a dismissive, elegant wave of her hand, slumping back into her seat to guard the remaining snacks, completely unconcerned.

The emergency hatch on the roof of the train burst open. Qrow, Team RWBY, and Team JNPR vaulted onto the icy, iron roof of the speeding train car. The freezing, sub-zero gale howled around them, whipping their cloaks and hair wildly as the train hurtled through the mountain pass at eighty miles an hour. Above them, the sky was a swirling vortex of black wings and fiery breath. On the slopes below, three massive Geist Golems were lumbering toward the tracks.

"Form up!" Qrow commanded, stepping to the front of the train car.

"Weiss, Pyrrha, deal with those rock monsters on the slopes! Don't let them touch the tracks! RWBY, JNPR, clear the sky!"

"On it!" Jaune Arc yelled. There was no hesitation. No panic. The fear that usually gripped young Huntsmen during an ambush was entirely absent from their eyes. Months of enduring Saitama's brutal, god-like physical conditioning had altered their perception of danger entirely. To them, these terrifying, high-speed monsters moved as if they were trapped in slow motion.

A massive, fifteen-foot Geist Golem reached out from the snowy bank, bringing a massive stone fist down directly toward the train track to crush the engine. Jaune Arc didn't draw his sword. He lunged forward, jumping off the edge of the train car and landing heavily on the snowy embankment. He planted his boots into the frozen earth, raising his heavy shield high. BOOM! The Geist's massive stone fist slammed squarely into Jaune's shield. A normal Huntsman would have been crushed into the dirt.

Jaune Arc didn't yield an inch. His Saitama-trained muscle density absorbed the tremendous kinetic shockwave easily, his boots digging mere inches into the snow. His Aura flared a blinding, brilliant white.

"Get off our tracks!" Jaune roared. With a explosive heave of his broad shoulders, Jaune shoves the massive stone fist upward, breaking the Golem's posture and throwing the colossal rock monster entirely off balance.

"Pyrrha! Now!" Jaune commanded.

"Right behind you, Jaune!" Pyrrha Nikos vaulted off the train roof. She channeled her Polarity, catching the loose metal plating embedded in the Geist's rocky body. With a flick of her wrist, she ripped the metal plates free, shattering the Golem's structural core before spinning Miló into its javelin form and driving it cleanly through the glowing red core of the Geist. The rock monster collapsed into useless, unmoving gravel.

On the roof of the middle train car, three Manticores dove from the clouds, their scorpion tails whipping forward to fire a barrage of superheated venom spikes. Weiss Schnee stepped forward, her pale blue eyes cool and calculated. She didn't just cast defensive glyphs.

She executed a fluid, bare-handed parry, a technique drilled into her by Yang and Ozpin, redirecting the first Manticore's lunging claw with an open palm before stashing Myrtenaster into the roof and flash-freezing the second Manticore's wings with a wave of Ice Dust. Ren darted between the frozen monsters like a magenta ghost, StormFlower popping high-caliber rounds directly into their structural joints, while Nora Valkyrie absorbed the static electricity howling through the blizzard.

Magnhild crackled with brilliant teal energy. Nora spun the hammer in a 360-degree arc, letting out a booming battle cry as she smashed a leaping Manticore so violently it exploded into black ash upon impact.

"Behind you, Yang!" Blake Belladonna yelled, slinging Gambol Shroud's ribbon around Yang's waist. Yang Xiao Long ducked beneath a sweeping Manticore strike, a razor-thin evasion ingrained into her nervous system from trying to tag an untouchable bald hero, and used Blake's ribbon momentum to slingshot herself through the air. Ember Celica detonated.

Yang delivered a devastating double-punch directly into the throat of a lunging Manticore, the explosive kinetic transfer launching the beast miles back into the canyon walls. High above the front engine, Qrow Branwen and Ruby Rose engaged the primary threat. The Alpha Sphinx reared its massive, bone-plated human face back, its throat glowing with superheated, molten fire. It prepared to unleash a wide-range firestorm that would melt the tracks and incinerate the train whole.

"Ruby! Cut its line of sight!" Qrow yelled, clashing Harbinger against the Sphinx's razor-sharp talons. Ruby didn't use her Semblance to flee. She loaded a heavy, Gravity Dust cartridge into Crescent Rose. She aimed the barrel down at the iron roof, using the massive kinetic recoil to launch herself straight up into the howling blizzard. She spun Crescent Rose, her movements a blur of red steel. She moved with speeds so refined that the massive Sphinx looked sluggish by comparison.

"Leave!" Ruby shouted, bringing the massive scythe blade down in a sweeping arc aimed directly at the Sphinx's wing joint. The Sphinx shrieked, barely managing to twist its massive body to parry with its armored tail. The impact of Crescent Rose against the bone-plating echoed like a cannon shot over the roaring wind. The Sphinx was forced back, but it opened its massive jaws, the molten fire in its throat reaching critical mass, preparing to blast Ruby point-blank mid-air.

Suddenly, a high-pitched, mechanical whine cut through the gale. Rushing out from the thick blizzard mist, flying perfectly parallel to the speeding train at over a hundred miles an hour, was a sleek, silver hover-bike. A tall, elegant figure clad in white-and-lavender combat gear vaulted off the hover-bike into the freezing sky. In the figure's hand, a specialized Dust-pendulum flashed with brilliant, emerald light. SHRAAAACK! The pendulum swept through the air like a crescent moon.

A beam of razor-sharp, concentrated Wind Dust cleaved through the blizzard, striking the Alpha Sphinx directly across its throat. The superheated fire inside the monster's mouth detonated prematurely, swallowing the Sphinx's head in its own explosive flame. The massive beast shrieked in agony, plummeting uselessly from the sky and crashing into the snowy ravine below. The silver-haired figure flipped mid-air, landing flawlessly in a three-point pose on the icy roof of the front train car.

The gale whipped their silver hair, their specialized Hunter gear gleaming under the pale winter light. Ruby landed lightly beside Qrow, her scythe held ready, her silver eyes wide in absolute, jaw-dropping shock as she recognized the newcomer.

"No way..." Ruby gasped, a massive smile breaking across her face.

"Shion?!"