Another day, another chapter my friends. First, review response time. OutlastTheDark; sort of. He's on the evil side, but not necessarily evil himself if you get my meaning. Yes, Mercury did kill his father. Oh, and a quick question for you all: who do you think the next Overwatch Hero will be? Blizzard have been teasing a new Hero, and I'm interested to see what you all think. Now, on with the show!

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Chapter 10- Culmination

Ruby was becoming confused. Yang said that Mercury had tried to attack her, hence why she broke his leg, but everyone saw that she did so unprovoked. And yet Yang was so sure of herself, so confident that she wasn't lying. And as far as Ruby could tell, she wasn't. She had known her sister a long time, and knew when she was lying about something, be it serious or not. And Yang was telling the truth. That combined with what Velvet had told her earlier about Coco and Yatsuhashi's fight against Mercury and Emerald…

No, she was just making assumptions, that's all. It's not like they're evil, right? No, she would just sit back, and enjoy the rest of the Festival. There was absolutely nothing that could go-

A brief flicker of movement caught her eye. She turned, just in time to a grey blur leave the stadium and enter the corridor. She shook it off as nothing, probably someone going for a quick toilet break or going to get some snacks. That was when she caught the familiar shade of green on the far side of the Arena, and saw someone who shouldn't be here.

"Emerald?" Ruby whispered to herself. What was she doing here? She was supposed to be going back to Haven, along with the rest of her team.

Emerald quickly turned her gaze towards Ruby, or at the very least her general direction, and she immediately turned away. Something definitely wasn't right here. Why was Emerald still here? Shouldn't she be with Mercury and the rest of her team? Maybe Mercury was gong back to Haven, and she was staying here to see the tournament through. Yeah, that must be it. Still, maybe she should speak with one of the Haven minders, just to double check. Maybe even Athena could tell her if she got to a terminal.

Slowly she stood up, walking towards the exit of the stadium to find one of the nearest terminals. She turned her gaze slowly, spotting Emerald gazing at the stadium floor. She was probably over thinking things here, and there was absolutely nothing sinister going on here.

She entered the corridor, quickly sprinting towards one of the terminals. She quickly tapped in the personal code given to all students at the start of the year, and Athena's symbol quickly appeared on the screen.

"Greetings Miss Rose." Athena's soothing voice began. "How may I be of service?"

"Athena, I'm probably overreacting about this, but I need you to check something for me." Ruby began, looking over her shoulder momentarily. She didn't know why, but she felt like she was being watched. "Can you tell me whether Mercury Black left Vale today with his team or on his own."

"Of course, Miss Rose. Scanning data files." Athena said, quickly going silent as she began to search through the records of all students.

She heard cheering outside as the next round for the tournament was officially beginning. She would hopefully just have to miss the first few minutes of the round if she was lucky.

"How curious." Athena suddenly spoke up, causing Ruby to turn her attention back to the matter at hand. "It appears that I have come across an anomaly."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked, her face wrought in a worried frown.

"It appears that Mercury Black never-"

A shot rang out as the terminal suddenly exploded in a cloud of shrapnel, causing Ruby to yell out as she fell on her back. She groaned as she slowly began to stand, looking first at the shattered terminal, which sputtered frantically with blue energy, before turning in the direction of the shot. And when she saw the shooter, her jaw dropped as her eyes went wide. In front of her, with his leg outstretched, was Mercury Black, both legs completely fine.

"Mercury?" Ruby whimpered as she slowly stepped back, the assassin grinning as he lowered his leg and turned to face her. "Wh-...what are you doing here?"

Mercury didn't answer, instead opting to crack his knuckles as he twisted his neck to do likewise. Ruby didn't know what was going on. Mercury was meant to be on his way back to Beacon, he shouldn't be here, let alone standing on two perfectly good legs. She began to step back, hoping instead to get back into the stadium where Mercury couldn't follow her.

"Oh, I wouldn't bother with that." Mercury chuckled, as if reading her mind. "You see, I have a friend who wants to say hi to you."

Ruby narrowed her eyes in confusion. Who was he talking about? Then she heard it, and her heart froze. Cold whispers echoed throughout her mind, and chill ran down her spine as she slowly turned to look behind her. Before was a black pillar of smoke that was slowly taking the shape of a man. Then it solidified, taking on an all to familiar form. There were differences obviously, the main ones being the twin weapons and the design of his attire, but she would recognise that build anywhere, and the dark laughter that followed afterwards.

"No..." Ruby whimpered, tears slowly building up in her eyes. "You're supposed to be dead."

The figure said nothing, opting instead to chuckle again as he holstered his twin weapons and began to clench his hands into fists.

"Didn't take." was all Reaper said as he began to slowly walk forward, moving like a wolf moving in for the kill.

Ruby reacted fast, quickly darting backwards with her Semblance as Reaper swung out with a fist. But almost immediately she felt a pain in her back as she was flown forward by a kick from Mercury. She was sent immediately towards Reaper, who grabbed her by the throat and flung her to the floor. Before she could even recover, Reaper punched her in the stomach, forcing the wind out of her lungs as he then picked her up by the back of her head and flung her to the wall, where she collided head first.

Ruby groaned pathetically as she attempted to stand. Her head was spinning and her vision blurred. She could only just make out the forms of Reaper and Mercury approaching, the latter staying further back as the former was in front of her again.

"Come on, is that all you've got?" Reaper taunted, proceeding to kick Ruby in the gut, forcing even more wind out of her lungs with a dry hacking cough. "Come on, you're better then this. Get up...NOW!"

Reaper kicked Ruby again, this time in the head, knocking her head against the wall again. Her Aura couldn't take much more punishment, one more hit like that could do some real damage. Reaper then crouched low onto the floor, lifting Ruby's head up by her hair so she could look him in the eye.

"After that little stunt at Beacon, I had to lay low for a while." Reaper explained, drawing his face closer to Ruby's. "And remember what I said to all of you at Beacon? If you try to kill me, make sure you do the job right. And now, you're going to find out what happens if you fail."

He then let her head drop, standing up again as he drew out one of his Shotguns, taking aim at Ruby's brow.

"This, is how it should have been." was all he said, as he applied pressure to the trigger.

The stadium suddenly shook violently, as if rocked by a sudden explosion, and cries of fear suddenly rang out. Both Reaper and Mercury were knocked off balance, the former looking around as if he didn't know what was going on. Ruby took this as her chance, quickly kicking Reaper in the shin, causing him to growl in pain as the sudden kick combined with his loss of balance caused him to topple to the ground. She then activated her Semblance, rushing away from the pair as Reaper growled in anger, quickly moving after her. As she neared the corridor entrance, throngs of people suddenly spilled out, all with looks of terror on their faces. All of them screaming.

Ruby managed to slip through the oncoming, almost immediately hearing the sound of Reaper cursing behind her. She managed to make her way towards the main arena, where everyone was running from. Almost immediately she saw the reason for the sudden panic, a large Nevermore situated in the centre of the arena, which was currently in battle with some of the Students who had their weapons with them. Her immediate thought was to call in her own weapon, Crescent Rose, but she froze upon seeing something on the arena floor.

Their, lying behind the avian Grimm, were the scattered parts of her friend, Penny. She felt her legs give way as she crumpled onto her knees. First Qrow, and now Penny. Her eyes began to sting as she slowly began to cry, ignoring the cries of panic around her, and the sounds of combat in front of her.

Reaper growled audibly as he mercilessly pushed and shoved his way through the crowd, some being wise enough to stay out of his way. It didn't take long for some to recognise him, as people began to scream his name.

"The Reaper! The Reaper is here!" they shouted, new panic immediately spreading through them like wild fire.

The crowd parted more easily, with a few poor souls who thought they could take on him finding themselves impaled on the end of his blades. Eventually, the throngs of people lessened, and he came in sight of Ruby Rose once more, who looked completely pathetic as she knelt on the floor, tears streaming down her face. One shot and it would be over. One shot and vengeance would be his.

"Hey, we need to leave, now!" Mercury suddenly shouted, pulling Reaper back, causing the terrorist to growl irritably as he turned to face Mercury.

"You promised me that I could kill the little brat, here and now!" Reaper hissed, pulling himself free only for Mercury to pull him back.

"Yeah, but the plans changed!" Mercury stated. "Besides, if she survives this place crashing down, you have all night to kill her!"

Reaper growled as he turned back to face Ruby. He had the perfect shot, one that would have killed her instantly. But when Mercury pulled him back the crowd had thickened again, and now the chances of a sure shot had diminished. With a distasteful growl, he lowered his weapon, shrugging his shoulder to rid himself of Mercury's grip.

"Fine." he seethed, turning to follow Mercury out of the arena. He'd better be right about his promise, for his sake.

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Genji sat at the Ramen bar, using the chopstick's to stir the delicacy in front of him slowly. He was the only customer here tonight. Everyone else was either at home after their Team hadn't made it through to the finals, or were at the stadium proper to see their Team's through to the final round. The bar owner stood at the counter, cleaning a glass with a soapy rag before turning to face Genji.

"You know, I appreciate the coin you paid for that, but I would appreciate it more if you actually ate it." the barman chuckled innocently, placing the now clean cup on the counter. "Tell you what, you take even a little bite, and I'll give you a drink on the house. What do you say?"

Genji raised his head slowly, turning towards the barman as he perked an eyebrow up at him.

"You have any saké?" Genji asked, the barman smiling slightly at the interaction.

"I'll go check round the back." he replied, slinging the rag into the empty sink as he left the bar, quickly disappearing around the stacks of other alcoholic drinks.

Genji sat in silence a moment more, before he slowly raised his hands, moving them behind the back of his head in order to remove the mask covering his face. Almost immediately, he heard the sound of glass smashing, followed by the barman screaming in panic. Genji froze immediately, before vaulting over the bar and moving into the kitchen area. Upon setting foot inside he froze again, this time at the sight before him.

The barman was on his back, tears streaming down his face as he wrestled with a Creep that had pounced on him, his left arm already mauled by the claws on its feet. The barman cried futilely as he tried in vain to hold the snapping jaws at bay with his right arm. Genji reacted quickly, kicking the Creep in the chin, sending it tumbling off of the barman and into one of the many cupboards.

"Get up!" Genji ordered, gripping the barman's right hand and helping him up. As the barman rose up, so did the Creep, the Grimm shaking its reptilian head as it growled in obvious anger. Genji immediately placed himself between the Grimm and the barman, drawing his Wakizashi as he did so.

"Go! I'll cover you!" Genji said, flourishing his blade as the barman stumbled out of the kitchen, clutching his left arm.

The Creep, at first turned to face the barman, but upon seeing it needed to deal with Genji first, it turned to face him, snarling as it did so. Genji then lowered himself into a crouch, one hand gripping the hilt of his short blade. Both charged each other at once, the Creep leaping forward with its powerful legs. Genji swerved out of the way, moving to the Grimm's left flank and slashing out with his Wakizashi. The Grimm stumbled forward, blood seeping out of its wound as it roared in pain, rearing its head up. Genji then leapt forward, the tip of his blade piercing the back of its neck and emerging through its maw. With a tug he pulled the blade free, the Grimm quickly disintegrating as it fell.

"They're trying to break in!" the barman suddenly screamed, causing Genji to turn his attention back to the bar area.

As he entered, he saw the barman, his left arm bound in a makeshift tourniquet, backed against the wall, his right arm pointing at the window. When Genji turned, he couldn't believe his eyes. Grimm of all breads were running rampant in the streets. Huntsmen and Atlesian Soldiers were trying to stem the flow, but it was as futile as using a wooden fence to stop a tsunami. A pair of Beowolves, no doubt attracted to the fear of the barman, were banging against the glass windows, snarling in delight at the prospect of flesh. One of them managed to break the glass, quickly roaring in triumph as it clawed at the shards, hoping to make the gap bigger.

"Get behind me!" Genji said, his grip tightening as the barman moved behind him.

Suddenly though, the Beowolf howled in pain as the tip of a Bastard Sword burst through its chest, the Grimm quickly dispersing in a cloud of smoke. Behind where the Grimm had been, was the Huntsman Silver, one of the regular customers at Rikimaru's. The second Beowolf snarled at the death of its comrade, turning to face the Faunus with a savage snarl. As the Beowolf lunged forward, Silver gripped his sword by the blade, and swung it downwards at the Grimm, the guard of the Sword piercing through the skull of the Beowolf like it was paper, before tugging it free.

"Silver!" the barman shouted, breathing out a sigh of relief as the Faunus quickly entered the shop. "Thank god you're here!"

"What's going on out there?" Genji asked, turning his attention to the Faunus.

"Fuck if I know." the Faunus replied, going over to the barman and helping him towards the exit. "One minute everything's fine, the next Grimm are falling from the sky! Seriously, it's raining Creeps and Ursa out there!"

"Are evacuations under way?" Genji asked, kicking the door down as he covered both the Huntsman and the civilian casualty.

"Yeah, all over the City." Silver said.

Genji then turned towards Beacon, already the skies around it filled with both Bullhead's and Grimm.

"I have to get to the school, do you think you can get him to safety?" Genji asked.

"Yeah, evac points not that far. But good luck if you're headed there, it's not just Grimm attacking the school. White Fang and Talon have been spotted there."

"All the more reason to go there." Genji replied. He turned towards the Huntsman and barman, nodding in their direction. "Good luck out there."

"You too." Silver replied, nodding in return.

"If we all survive this..." the barman began, pausing only to take a deep breath. "...I won't ever complain about you never eating your Ramen again..."

"We all survive this, I'll eat up the whole damn bar." Genji replied with a chuckle, quickly sprinting off.

There was carnage all around him, Grimm running everywhere and in all directions. Every so often he would fire a Shuriken volley at a Grimm that was about to kill a civilian or downed Huntsman. Not all the time was he fast enough. As he turned the corner, the body of an Atlesian Knight suddenly crashed into him, knocking him to the ground with a grunt. He quickly heaved the body off of him and stood up, turning to face where the Knight had been flung from.

In front of him was a Griffon, its beak already coated in blood, flapping its wings erratically as it let out a hideous shriek, swiping at the squad of Knight's in front of it. And leading those Knight's was Winter, her clothing already stained with dirt and blood, some of it hers. With another shriek the Griffon swung out at the Atlesian Specialist, who fell back as she dodged the swipe, the claws instead felling the Atlesian Knight's beside her. Genji immediately readied his Shuriken arm, only to find that he was out of ammo.

"Kuso!" he cursed, opting instead to keep out his Wakizashi.

Without so much as a yell, he sprang forward, leaping onto the Griffon's back at the base of its wings. The Griffon panicked immediately, flapping its wings as it tried to swipe and snap at Genji with beak and claw. Genji steadied himself, quickly grabbing hold of the right wing and piercing it with his blade, the Grimm screeching in pain. As it continued to flap its wings, attempting to dislodge both the cyborg ninja and his blade, Genji grabbed hold of the left wing, forcing it into the blade as well.

The Grimm hissed frantically, now kicking out with its back legs to throw him off. Grabbing hold of both wings, Genji heaved with all his strength. Almost immediately the sound of tendons ripping and bones popping was heard across the road, nearly drowned out by the panicked squawks of the Griffon. Then with one final grunt of effort, Genji finally ripped the wings off, blood spurting everywhere as the wings disintegrated, Genji's Wakizashi sliding off onto the ground.

The Griffon screeched and reared back, staggering slightly as it did so. With nothing to grip onto, Genji fell off with a grunt, landing hard on his back. As the Grimm descended on all fours again, it thrashed around slightly afterwards, before turning to face Genji, its eyes filled with hate. With an almighty screech, the Grimm lunged forward, but stumbled to the side as its flank was suddenly eviscerated by the curved edge of a duelling blade. The Griffon let out one final screech before a Wakizashi was thrust into its skull, forcing it to the ground with a thud. Genji turned to face his saviour, and was surprised to see it was Winter, her duelling sabre in one hand and his Wakizashi in the other.

"I suppose I should thank you." Winter panted, sheathing her sabre as she offered a hand to Genji, who took it without question.

"And I you." Genji responded, standing up with a grunt of effort.

"We need to get moving." Winter said, handing the Wakizashi back to Genji. "I take it you were also headed for the School?"

"Indeed." Genji responded, sheathing the blade quickly as the Grimm carcass disintegrated. "I've heard troubling reports of both White Fang and Talon forces attacking."

"Dammit." Winter hissed, clenching her fist tightly. "Well let's get moving, before more lives are-"

She was cut off by the sound of a bow twanging, turning quickly to see an Atlesian Knight topple to the ground, an arrow in its visor. More twangs were heard, and more Atlesian Knight's fell, impaled by arrows from all directions. Both Winter and Genji quickly drew their blades, standing back to back with one another. Their attackers then began to appear on the rooftops, bows in hand and quivers filled with arrows. More began to leave the shadows, holding in their hands a mix of Katana's and Nodachi's. All of them wore Mistral style armour, their faces covered by masks of numerous styles, ranging from simple visors to ones shaped to look like snarling Grimm.

"This is not good..." Genji muttered, as both he and Winter circled back and forth, always scanning the multiple armed warriors before them.

"Who are they?" Winter asked, though deep down, a part of her knew the answer even before Genji said it.

"Shimada."

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Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Liked it? Feel free to leave a review and constructive criticism is welcomed. Any questions? Either leave in your comments or PM me. Next update will be March 11th.

Raging Archon out.