Star Knight Vs Fall Queen
AN: Here it is… Nothing more to say really.
Enjoy.
(Top of the Spire)
Jaune stood there for what felt like a few minutes but only lasted a few seconds. He looks at his father's sword, Joyuse. He'd only ever seen its blade whenever his father was sharpening it. You'd never truly know a sword until you saw it unsheathed, and this one was truly beautiful.
The blade started to glow, and the glow spread up Jaune's arm to his chest.
(Down below)
Everyone was blown away by Pyrrha's throw. The glow that was around Pyrrha disappeared the moment she let go of the sword to throw it. All the light that surrounded her was gone.
Weiss looked down to her scroll. She pulled it out earlier to see Jaune's aura level. A few seconds ago the level was down to 3%, but what it showed now made Weiss' eyes widen to the point where they looked like they'd pop right out. "What the hell?"
Everyone broke out of the shock by Weiss' exclaim. Ruby was the first to speak. "What is it?"
"I looked up Jaune's aura level to see if he was wounded, but after Pyrrha sent him that sword, his aura level skyrocketed… In fact, it's off the scale!" Weiss said as she showed the scroll to the others.
Pyrrha was breathing heavily, throwing that sword so hard and using up so much energy in such a short time was exhausting.
Ruby and Ren helped to keep her standing. "Are you ok?" Ruby asked.
"I'm not exactly in peak condition." Pyrrha joked.
Then suddenly, they heard a loud clash up above. Qrow knew what it was instantly, "So, the battle has begun."
"We have to help him." Ruby said as she looked up the tower.
"He wanted us to stay down here." Ren argued.
"But he can't fight her on his own." Coco said with a worried voice.
"He has to." Qrow said. Everyone looked to him with confusion. He elaborated, "Jaune was born with the purpose to protect Vale from someone like Cinder… If he can't, then no one else can."
"But we can't just sit by and do nothing." Nora said with a worried look on her face. Pyrrha looked up to the tower. She could hear the clashing above. She then noticed something familiar about all of this. Jaune is up there alone, he ordered everyone to stay down below and not help him. Pyrrha's eyes widened to the realization.
"Oh my god! Jaune's not up there to just win… He's fighting her alone to die."
Everyone looked to her with confusion. "What?" Weiss asked.
"He ordered everyone to stay down here while he faces Cinder on his own. He knows that's a suicide mission." Pyrrha said.
"And he'll do it with the C4 he took with him." Coco added. Everyone looked to her with surprise. "He ordered me to give him all the C4 we had left into that duffle bag he had with him. He's going to blow the tower form the top."
"But why? We just got him back!" Nora said with fear.
"It's because he's ready to die." Ren said out loud. Everyone looked to him, while he looked to Pyrrha, "Pyrrha, he still thinks you're dead."
Ruby then came to a realization, she ran up to Pyrrha, "Wait; if he sees you, then he'll fight to live instead to die!" Pyrrha nodded in agreement. She stood up on her own, walked over to Jaune's kite shield and picked it up. She held it over her left arm like her old one, and held Locus' sword. He dropped it when he was pushed into the wall by Pyrrha's magnetism.
Ruby looked to the others with a serious face, "Make sure no one follows us up."
Everyone nodded and wished the two red women luck. Both Pyrrha and Ruby ran into the tower and began their climb.
(Top of the tower/ A few minutes ago)
Jaune tightened his grip on the handle of the sword; he felt his strength returning to him. It's almost as if the sword was reenergizing him.
Jaune turned to face Cinder; she had a look of annoyance and frustration. Just as Jaune was about to walk towards her, a small golden glare shined in his eye. He looked to the ground and saw Akouo, Pyrrha's shield. It was dome side down.
Jaune walked over to it slowly while locking eyes with Cinder. Cinder stood from her glass chair and slowly walked in Jaune's direction. She formed her swords out of the glass in the floor.
Once Jaune was right on top of Akouo, he stopped. His eyes started looking all around, as if he was thinking on what to say. He then found it.
"You know what, Cinder... I'm going to do something I never thought I would do…"
"And what's that?" Cinder asked. She kept her composure; she still stood proud without even exposing any form of weakness on her part.
"I'm going to make you a promise." Jaune said with calm voice.
This actually caught Cinder off guard, she didn't show it, but his statement genuinely surprised her.
"A promise?" Jaune nodded.
"I promise… that no matter what happens… No matter what happens to me… You will not see the end of this day."
Cinder couldn't stop herself from laughing. The first time she ever met him he was wearing a dress at the dance, and now he's promising that he's going to kill her. Jaune didn't show any change in his confidence and his composure. Even when she was laughing at him, he stood there and took it.
Once she finished with her laugh she spoke, "You know… You really shouldn't make promises you can't keep."
"Oh, I'm going to keep it." Jaune said as his eyes intensified with anger.
"Oh, is that so? What makes you so sure?" Cinder asked with a more annoyed voice. She expected him to charge at her uncontrollably after that insult.
Jaune raised his left foot and stomped down on Akouo, kick-flipping the shield in the air. The shield went up a few feet while flipping fast. Once the shield came back down to arm's level, Jaune quickly put his hand through the straps. He stood at the ready as he answered, "Because an Arc never goes back on his word."
(If a song was to play at this part, it would be 'It has to be this way' from Metal Gear Revengence)
Jaune charged first at full speed while Cinder formed a flame below her and moved fast towards him. Jaune swung his sword while it shined bright while Cinder countered with both of her glass blades. When they clashed, a burst of energy blasted between them, loud enough for the battle down below to hear.
For every blade clash there was a loud bang like thunder. Jaune would block any of Cinder's attacks with both his sword and shield. He'd faced a fighter that had two swords before and knew what to expect in the fight. Carol made sure to teach him how to defend against a dual-blade wielder, and her training proved to be invaluable in this fight.
Cinder began to get agitated when he repeatedly blocked her attacks and came close to wounding her in his counter attacks. She then tried to break their stalemate by backing off and unleashing a barrage of glass shards.
Jaune lifted up Akouo to block the hail of glass. He energized the shield and expanded the barrier to protect his whole body. Cinder was shocked by his sudden increase in power. Jaune charged at her while keeping his barrier up. She continued her barrage up until he was within arm's reach of him. Jaune the swung his shield and hit her in the chest. She was pushed back a few feet, and his shield almost knocked the wind out of her. She was forced to use her blades to keep her from going over the side.
"That all you got?" Jaune asked as he cracked his neck. He wasn't pulling any punches, and he sure as hell wasn't planning to go easy on her.
Jaune was quickly agitating Cinder. The fact that he looked like he was getting the upper hand made her blood boil, enough to make her shoot a jet of fire at him in an attempt to incinerate him. Jaune simply raised his shield again to block the blaze of fire. Jaune ran toward her again, but this time, Cinder jumped over him. She landed behind him and swung her blades at him. Jaune raised his sword to block sideways slash from one of Cinder's blades before swinging his shield to parry the other blade, knocking it out of her hands. However, Cinder grabbed the blade of Joyuse and kicked him in the chest, forcing him to let go of the sword. Believing she had now gained an edge, Cinder threw the sword aside and smirked as she lit more fire in her hands.
Jaune held Akouo tight as he stood in different combat stance. He held his shield more outward of his body and while having his arms in a sort of boxing position; the shield didn't appear to weigh down his left arm at all. Cinder didn't hesitate and charged at him with her glowing fists. Cinder threw a right hook at Jaune, only for him to catch her arm and loop his own around it, effectively pinning it. Jaune then used his shield arm to land a series of powerful punches to Cinder's ribs.
Despite her Aura protecting her, Cinder could still feel the edge of his shield hit her with incredible force. Jaune then used his other arm to backhand Cinder in the face, causing her to stumble back. Cinder quickly recovered and threw a flaming punch at Jaune, who coated his own fist with his Aura. They threw their fists at each other, but then Jaune leaned to the right at the last second while his fist made contact with Cinder's face. The force of the hit not only dislocated her jaw, but also sent her flying back a few feet. Cinder formed a flame below her to keep her from falling over the edge while Jaune dashed back over to Joyuse and pulled it out of the ground. He then stood in his normal battle stance as he faced Cinder again.
Cinder rubbed her lower right ribs where Jaune hit her with Akouo, pushed her jaw back into place, and brought a ghost of a smile to her lips.
"Well, I admit, I actually felt that one." She wanted to kill him, sure, but now the fight was starting to become more exhilarating. She hadn't had a real fight since she fought Pyrrha on the tower. She considered her battle with RWBY a little "warm up" compared to this.
"You're about to feel more," Jaune said as he took a more defensive posture. Cinder flew towards him fast with new blades, swinging them as fast and hard as she could. She was trying not to give Jaune any openings to counter attack. Jaune reacted by energizing his sword, cutting one of hers in half and then punching her in the face with the shield.
She backed up and tried to refocus, but Jaune came at her this time. She blocked as best she could up until Jaune cut the second blade in half and then kicked Cinder as hard as he could. She was pushed into one of the pillars that held the ceiling up.
When Cinder made contact with the pillar, it cracked and shattered, causing a portion of the ceiling to fall down on her and bury her. The large chunks of black glass settled, but then an orange light shined form cracks in the glass. Then they all blasted off of her as she levitated herself upward.
Blood was dripping down the side of her head and her eyes looked like they were glazed over. "You know what?" She said with a sneer on her face, "Fuck what my mistress wants with you… I JUST WANT YOU DEAD!"
With that, she rocketed towards Jaune too fast for him to react. She grabbed him, lifted him up and then slammed him into the ground, causing him to let go both his sword and shield.
(Climbing up the tower)
Ruby and Pyrrha have been running up the stairs for what felt like hours but were really a few minutes. They were forced to move from one stairwell to another because of the hole in the side of the building and the collapsed stairs on some floors.
When they reached the 40th floor, they were forced to go to the other stairwell again. As they were making their way up, someone shot at them. They both ducked for cover from the shooter. From the rate of fire, it was a single shooter with two guns, Pyrrha guessed.
"Well, well… if it isn't little Red. And I see that you brought a friend." said the man.
Pyrrha recognized the voice instantly, "Mercury." Pyrrha mouthed to Ruby. Ruby nodded in understanding.
"Wait a minute… is that you, Nikos?" Mercury asked. "What happened to Locus, Neo and Emerald?" He sounded genuinely worried for them.
"Locus went for a swim," Pyrrha joked, "Neo and Emerald are ok. Let us go and we'll let you go."
"Not going to happen." Mercury said without hesitation.
"We're not here to fight you… We're here for Cinder." Ruby said.
"No, you don't understand… I can't let you go because she ordered me to keep anyone form spoiling her fight." Mercury said as he was reloading his boots. "See, if I let you go, she'll know I let her down… Then she'll do to me what she almost did to you Nikos."
He then fired a few more shots at their direction. Pyrrha didn't want to waste any more time so she got out of cover and held her hand up to send him flying, only nothing happened.
"What the?"
"Ha! You should see the look on your face!" Mercury said with a laugh, "You see, after I learned of your semblance I made a new attachment to my legs." He the fired a few more shots, forcing her to hide behind cover again. "I call them 'Polarity suppressors'. They make an EM field around my legs, making them resistant to any outside source of magnetism, including yours."
Mercury then ran at them and jumped over their cover, while shooting a few rounds at them. The two huntresses were forced out of their cover and faced their attacker.
"Now, then…" Mercury said with a smile as he held his left leg up, "Who's first?"
(Outside the tower)
Blake and Yang both made their way down the tower form the hole in the side of the building. They ran over to the rest of the group and found both Neo and Emerald with them, and they weren't cuffed.
"What the hell are they doing here? And why aren't they cuffed or anything?" Yang asked as she held her hands up.
Nora put her hand up to Yang, "They're on our side." Just before Nora could explain, Neptune and Sun landed not too far from them.
"Sun/Blake!" They both shouted as they held each other tightly.
Weiss even ran up to Neptune and hugged him.
"I'm so glad you're ok." Neptune smiled and returned her hug. They both liked each other back in their academy days, but for the past few weeks on this adventure showed that they were more than that.
Neptune opened his eyes and looked around, "Where's Ruby?"
Ren was about to answer, but then they all heard the tower move. It started shaking a little and then the top of it came off. Then they heard a loud horn to the north. When the horn reached Blake's ears, her heart stopped. She let go of Sun, with her eyes as showing utter fear.
"They're here."
(Back with Pyrrha and Ruby, two minutes ago)
Mercury was surprisingly formidable on his own. He would throw a few kicks towards Pyrrha to keep her form going on, while shooting at Ruby every chance he got.
Ruby was able to block a few shots with Crescent Rose, but when one hit the armor on her shoulder it shot straight through. Lucky for her, her shoulder didn't receive damage; there was no blood coming out of the hole in her shoulder's armor. She got confused for a second but was then refocus on the battle.
Pyrrha held Jaune's shield close as she swung her sword at Mercury's feet. Jaune's shield is a lot heavier than she remembered, in order to make it easier to hold, she used her semblance to make the shield lighter. This gave her the opportunity to make counter whenever Mercury was in the middle of one of his kicks.
Pyrrha swung her sword and struck Mercury's left lower leg while he was in the middle of a roundhouse. Her strike knocked Mercury off balance. Ruby saw a chance to strike; she propelled herself with a bullet and then swung her scythe as hard as she could at Mercury's right leg.
Mercury saw Ruby coming and fired his right leg's gun to get out of her way. He then back kicked Ruby in the back of her head, knocking her to the ground. "Nice try, Red." Ruby rolled over to get up but was shot three times in the chest by bullets to the chest by Mercury's leg-guns.
Ruby was pushed down form the force of the bullets, she started coughing. Pyrrha stood between Ruby and Mercury, and to say that she looked angry would be an understatement.
Pyrrha charged at Mercury as fast as she could, Mercury ran at her just as fast. Pyrrha lowered her shield and swung her sword while Mercury jumped up and threw a left kick. Their weapons collided, and the shockwave form his bullet impacting with her sword mushed them both back a few feet.
Pyrrha quickly ran up to him and swung her sword low to knock out his feet from under him, but he quickly jumped up and double kicked Pyrrha. Pyrrha was lucky enough to raise her shield up in time to take the blast. With the worn cloths she was wearing, she was practically naked in this battle while everyone else had armor on.
Just when Mercury landed he did a few back flips and then started running at Pyrrha again. Pyrrha stood ready to block whatever he had next to throw at her. But just when he jumped up to do a left strong axe kick, red rose petals blew past Pyrrha's face.
It all happened so fast, Pyrrha could barely see it: Ruby ran past Pyrrha with the same speed she had during the 'food fight'. Just as she passed Pyrrha, Ruby swung her scythe at the knee of Mercury's left leg. The stroke was fast and swift, and she cut clean through the metal leg as if it was made of butter.
Mercury didn't even react to what was happening until the leg was already gone. On his way to the ground, Pyrrha hit him in the face with her shield, breaking his nose and busting his lip. Mercury landed flat on his back and groaned to the pain.
Ruby turned around and walked over to Pyrrha, "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine. What about you? I saw you get shot!" Pyrrha exclaimed as she pointed to the three bullet holes in Ruby's chest plates. Ruby put her fingers in one of the holes and pulled out a bullet. The bullet looked like a mushroom. She and Pyrrha both looked into the hole and saw little white sparkles coming out of it when the light touched it. "Looks like that Mithril really is hard stuff." Ruby smiled.
Pyrrha smiled, smiling at the fact that her friend was okay. Their quick victory was cut short when the tower started to rubble around and the floor began to shake. Parts of the floor began to cave in. Pyrrha turned to see that the ground underneath Mercury started to crack.
She didn't like him, but that doesn't mean she would condemn him to death on that alone. Pyrrha ran over to him and put him over her shoulders. "We need to get him out of here."
Ruby didn't need any convincing to help Mercury, part of her kind nature. She took his other arm and helped to get him away from the cracks in the floor.
Once the shaking stopped, the tower settled. Then they heard a loud horn outside. Pyrrha looked to Ruby, and she looked to Pyrrha. "The White Fang are here." Ruby said with worry in her eyes.
"We need to get down form the tower." Pyrrha said.
"No, we will get down. You go up there and help Jaune." Ruby said as she pulled the unconscious Mercury form Pyrrha's grasp.
"Ruby, you can't carry him alone." Pyrrha said as she was about to grab Mercury's arm.
Ruby pulled him out of her reach, "You need to get to Jaune, that's all that counts now. He made it this far for you; now get up there for him!"
For Pyrrha, it was almost like a slap in the face. She didn't know what to say, so she didn't. She nodded in understanding and then ran for, what was left, of the stairwell.
Ruby quickly lifted Mercury over her shoulder; lowered Crescent Rose below her feet and then jumped out of a window.
As they were descending, Ruby fired a shot every two seconds to slow their decent. As they were getting closer to the ground, Crescent Rose didn't fire. Ruby's eyes widened, she ran out of bullets and couldn't reload without the risk of dropping Mercury.
The ground came up fast, but then she heard another gun shot, she looked down to see Mercury's foot shooting downward as fast as she did until they hit the ground.
When the touched down, Mercury pushed himself away from Ruby and landed face first into the snow. The landing ended up knocking him out again, he started to snore through the snow. Ruby was about to help him up but then heard the others coming toward her from behind.
"Ruby!" Yang shouted. She ran up to her little sister and hugged her. She then let go and held onto Ruby's shoulders, "Are you ok? What were you doing up there?" Yang then looked down to Mercury. "And what were you doing with him?"
Ruby looked down to Mercury and then to Yang, "It's a long story."
That long story would have to wait as they heard another horn in the distance, it sounded closer.
(At the top of the tower/ right where we left off)
Cinder was still on top of Jaune, standing over him with two glass swords in her hands. She then reverse-gripped them and shoved them down toward his chest. Jaune grabbed her wrists before the blades reached his chest plate.
Jaune quickly pushed her off of him, and then he rolled over and stood up. He ran over to where his sword landed and picked it up. Just when he was about to go for the shield, it was shot out of the room, sent flying out the window.
Jaune turned back to see Cinder looking at him intently with her swords together to make her bow. Cinder the fired several more arrows at him.
Jaune swung his sword and broke a few of the arrows that came close to him, and dodged the ones he couldn't hit. Cinder fired three arrows at his feet. Jaune looked down and saw the floor glow again. The three arrows quickly exploded before he could get out of the way this time.
When he landed, Cinder looked at him with an arrogant smile. "Let's make this a bit more interesting." Cinder then made her hands glow as she lifted them up in the air. The floor started to shake, almost as if the tower was coming apart. The shaking stopped and it became quiet. Jaune looked out one of the window and saw that they were going up.
The top three floors of the tower were ripped off the Spire. It began ascending a few meters upward every second. Cinder then shattered the ceiling and the floor at the bottom to pieces and made their debris float around them. The floating section of the tower stopped and hovered about ten meters above what was left of the Spire, it then started to slowly rotate counterclockwise.
Cinder's eyes had fire formed around them. This time the fire wasn't red or orange, it was blue.
(AN: For those of you who don't know, blue flames burn hotter than orange or red flames.)
Jaune slowly and steadily stood up from where he was pushed back. He looked to his enemy and saw that she had more tricks up her sleeve than she showed before.
Cinder was unleashing the "gift" Salem gave her not too long ago for her loyalty. Now Cinder's flames were hotter, her strength increased, and her Aura intensified.
"This is the power of one who is worthy… One who stops at nothing to take what is rightfully theirs." Her voice sounded different; a little darker, like how Smaug's voice differed from Felix's.
"Like the Fall Maiden's powers? You stole them!" Jaune said as he spat some blood.
"I gave that power true purpose… MY purpose!" Cinder shouted back. She didn't need to convince him; she didn't want to anyway.
Jaune stood up straight, ready to continue; but then he heard a horn in the distance. They both turned to the North; Jaune's right, Cinder's left. There they saw an army of foot soldiers, tanks, armored trucks and heavy mechs.
Cinder started to chuckle, "Now you see…" Cinder then turned to Jaune as he met her gaze, "You've already lost." Jaune gripped his sword tight. After all he's been through to get here, all the blood and sweat to get up this tower, and now it's already over?
"The White Fang will finish the job. Vale and Atlas' forces will be crushed, Vale becomes the kingdom to the Faunus, and now my mistress has a foothold in the kingdom of Vale." Cinder said with an arrogant grin.
Jaune gripped his sword tighter, "Not if I have anything to say about it!" Jaune shouted as he charged at Cinder at full speed.
(Down to the company on the ground)
Everyone knew that whatever was going on in that floating part of the tower they couldn't help. But the least they could do is hold off the White Fang before they reach Beacon and Vale.
"Come on," Qrow said as he motioned for everyone to follow him. They all ran outside the gate to an open field. There they found find rank upon rank of White Fang troopers. They could see the armored vehicles and heavy mechs in back.
Behind them was the tree line that led to the battle below. They knew what was at stake, they knew what would happen if this army made it down the hill and into the battlefield below.
"We hold them here." Ruby ordered everyone, and nobody disagreed with her. Everyone formed their individual battle stances and prepared for what would seem like their final battle, while another was happening a mile above them.
(On Cinder's floating platform)
Cinder formed new swords, this time the blades vaguely looked like they were on fire. Most likely Cinder is forming fire barriers around them just like Jaune does when he energizes objects.
Jaune swung his sword as hard as he could and clashed with her swords. Cinder then fired a few more shards at him at close range. Jaune tried to block the shots with his sword but some were getting through. He got hit in the right shoulder, lower left leg, right side of his belly and his left forearm.
Cinder then swung her blades upward, knocking Joyuse out of Jaune's hands. Before he could do anything, Cinder unleashed a massive blaze of blue fire at Jaune. With nothing to block the attack, Jaune simply moved his arms over his face and stood strong.
The barrage of blue completely engulfed him to the point that Cinder couldn't see him anymore. She stopped the flames and lowered her blades to see what was left of her enemy. What she found made her heart stop.
Jaune was whole. His body was undamaged and unburned. A golden flow of energy was moving around him. The flow of energy seemed to be coming from his back and then formed a bright pointed 'shape'. Jaune opened his eyes, nearly blinded by his own light. Jaune moved his arms down and then the two shapes made of light folded outward. He saw that they originated form his back and extended outward. When he got a good look at the pointed 'shapes' a lot closer, he saw that they were made of something that resembled feathers.
"I-Impossible… He can't be THAT kind of Star Knight!" Cinder didn't want to believe her eyes, but there in front of her stood a Star Knight with light-wings.
(AT this point in the story, the song "I May Fall" would be playing)
"What the hell?" Jaune said with complete surprise all over his face. He had never seen, nor heard of anything like this in his life. He held his hands outward and saw as the wings mimicked his arm movements, and then they folded themselves backward, making him look talker. There were no mentions of it in the Star Knight legends, at least, none that he found in his research. "This must be some new power…"
"He doesn't know what he is… That gives me a chance." Cinder quickly pointed her swords at him again and unleashed another wave of blue fire. Jaune moved his hands over his face again and then his 'light-wings' folded over his body and blocked the inferno. His wings were holding, but he couldn't stay where he stood; the ground began to melt from the flames.
Jaune fell down to the floor below, he turned to see his sword not too far away. Jaune ran as fast as he could and grabbed his sword, just when he heard another blaze come right at him.
Jaune ran to his sword and grabbed it right when the flame reached him. Without even thinking, Jaune was lifted into the air by his wings and raised him above the platform and over Cinder.
Jaune turned around to face Cinder; he then flew down toward her with his blade ready to swing. Cinder quickly raised her swords and blocked his attack, this time his blade not only had more power, and it had more force behind it. Cinder bent backwards, allowing the blade to move over her and past her.
Jaune's wings made him glide a yard away from her, just about reaching the edge of the platform. He turned around to look at her but was met by a large chunk of black glass. It hit him hard and pushed him off the platform. Jaune quickly pushed off of it and then flew back upward to the platform.
Cinder hovered, with her blue flame below her, and then through more chunks of glass at him. Some of the chunks looked like they were covered in blue flames, most likely from her fire barriers. She swung her arms as large chunks of glass the size of tiers flew at Jaune at high speeds; she even through whole pillars form the level below.
"Zenith or not, you will not have this day!" She shouted with pure rage in her voice and fear beneath her throat.
(Down below with the rest of the company)
The front lines of the White Fang reached the company and engaged in melee fighting. The company was holding their own against the vanguard, but they were nowhere near able to take on the whole army on their own, yet they stay and fight.
Qrow fired his gun a few times and then heard a few crashes and loud bangs happen behind him. He turned to look up at the tower above and saw Cinder on her platform fighting Jaune, who now had wings. "Well, well… He is a Zenith after all." Qrow smirked before he continued to fight the White fang with everyone else.
Jaune swung his sword, cutting any glass that got in his way. He then flew past her and ascended a few feet higher than her. Jaune looked down on Cinder, when he spoke, his voice almost sounded deeper. "Your power has been growing since the day that you stole them… While my power has been growing since the day I was born!"
Cinder's eyes widened, she flailed her arms towards him again, sending hundreds of chunks of flaming glass at him; some of the glass came from the Spire below. "DIE!" She shouted as she threw a whole watchtower form the outer wall at him like a spear.
Jaune flew down at an angle towards her, dodged a few of the flaming glass shards, and then swung his sword at the tower that was flying towards him. When he swung his sword, it formed a light 'arc' and then sent it flying towards the tower; the arc cut through the tower with ease and then disappeared. Jaune flew through the opening it made and collided with Cinder.
Jaune had already finished the swing by then, so he collided with her with his right shoulder. They both tumbled a few feet until they were about a yard apart and on opposite ends of the platform. He tumbled left while she fell right.
Jaune felt his whole body ache in pain. He may have great power, a mountain supply of aura, but that doesn't make up for physical strength. He learned the hard way that aura doesn't keep your body from getting exhausted. Stamina is stamina; aura can't do anything except hold off the inevitable.
Jaune put his arms below him and pushed himself up. He could hear Cinder groaning in the distance. She coughed and then lifted herself up like he was. Cinder's glass arm appeared to be breaking down; it was rattled with cracks all over the forearm and in the palm. She was able to get to her feet first, trying her best to stand without falling over.
Jaune was having as much trouble as her; he was forced to use Joyuse as a sort of cane to help lift him up. He lifted his head to match a gaze with his enemy. Her amber eyes were full of rage, the blue flame that was formed around them started to fade.
Jaune assessed the situation; he still had a lot of power left, but no strength in his body to use it. He was worn out from fighting his way through the battlefield, through the courtyard, up the tower, and dealing with those Lieutenants. His body was almost spent. Cinder, on the other hand, appeared to have a little strength left in her to continue. And she stood tall to prove it.
Jaune planned a last resort if he couldn't beat her one on one, but if he tried it now, she might stop him before it could happen. He only stood there, waiting for whatever she planned to do next. Throw more glass? Shoot more fire? It didn't matter.
He looked into her eyes and saw the rage, but then he saw confusion and surprise. Then he heard something loud behind him. Whatever it was, it flew right over the platform. Jaune looked up to see two squadrons of Atlas fighter/bombers in 'V' formation, flying towards the White Fang army behind Cinder. After them, a dozen Airship ferries flew past the platform as well.
The fighter/bombers flew over the company and started raining hell on the White Fang tanks and mechs. "Light 'em up!" the leading pilot shouted into her radio. The squadrons destroyed most of the tanks and a few of the mechs. Once their bombing run was complete, they turned right back around and headed to the battle below.
(City of Vale)
"Bombing run was successful. Repeat, bombing run successful." Said a man on the radio that an Atlas soldier was holding. General Ironwood, Wash and Glynda were standing there listening to the good news.
Ironwood turned to Glynda and Wash and said something that made them both smile, "Now, let's take back this city."
The Airships hovered over the company and then opened all their doors. A dozen people jumped out of each airship. They didn't look military; in fact their colors were vastly diverse.
Most of the company recognized a few faces, such as Teams CRDL, ABRN, BRNZ, NDGO, FNKI, the other two members of Team SSSN, Professor Port and Dr. Oobleck. While all the others were adult hunters, Qrow recognized most of them form the same year he graduated while others he remember meeting on tour to other countries.
They all engaged in the fight alongside the company, taking some of the pressure off of them. Ruby and Yang saw their father and Raven land close by and join the fight.
And then everything changed when everyone heard a loud roar come from above. They looked and saw a massive bear land right in the middle of the army, with a woman in red hair and a long bow riding his on his back.
Qrow was the most shocked to find Beorn joining the fight. Qrow then heard a woman land next to him, he turned to find Kida Atlantia standing there with her spear and shield in hand. "What's the matter, Qrow? Didn't expect us to come?"
"Oh, I knew you'd come… but when you said you were calling in Jonah's favors, I didn't think you meant all of them." Qrow said with a smile.
"How'd you get those teams from the Vytal Festival to come?"
"They visit Vale to help refugees, and when I put out the draft to take back Beacon and Vale, they all volunteered." Kida said with a smile. She then pointed her spear towards a group of White Fang that were charging at them while they were talking and blasted them all away. Yang and Ruby saw the blast and were amazed by the power that woman had.
"Who's that talking to Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked while she was reloading her rifle.
"That's Kida Atlantia… Jaune's mother." Raven said after cutting down a couple of troopers.
"That's Jaune's mother?" both Ruby and Yang asked in unison. Yang shook her head, put her hands on her hips, smiled and said, "Ok, its official… all of our mothers are badasses."
Cinder had her back to Jaune, she watched as her army was being decimated by the sudden arrival of Hunter reinforcements. Not to mention a large beast tearing through the White Fang like a mad Ursa.
"No… No! NO! WE WERE SO CLOSE!" Cinder shouted as blue flames blasted form her eyes.
"Not close enough." Jaune spat. Cinder turned around to find Jaune standing there with his scroll out. She could barely see what was on it at her angle, but she could kind of make out a large word on it. It said 'detonate'. Her eyes widened.
(Almost an hour ago)
Jaune was on the 49th floor. There was no one around; it was completely empty, aside from the pillars to keep the ceiling up.
Jaune then took a duffle bag off his back and set it down. He placed it in as close to the center of the room as possible. He opened the bag to reveal that it was the remaining packs of C4 that he took form Coco.
He synced the main detonator to his scroll; all he had to do was press the button on his scroll to set it off.
After it was set, he stood up and then continued on to the stares.
(Back to present)
Cinder looked at Jaune's scroll and then to him, "You're insane…"
Jaune almost felt insulted, but then he accepted it.
"If I am… I owe that to you." He finished before he pressed the button.
The bag below them beeped and then went off.
Pyrrha reached the top, or what was now the top, of the tower and saw the bomb go off before her eyes. "JAUNE!" After the initial explosion, debris fell straight down to the Spire. Pyrrha had barely enough time to run back down the stairs before the debris fell on her head. She made it to the floor below and could hear the glass crash and shatter above her.
Once the crashing stopped, she started to hear footsteps.
Before the explosion got to Jaune, his wings folded over his body, forming a sort of cocoon of light. After the explosion, the wings opened up and slowly glided him down to the 'top' of the Spire.
He started walking around the debris. He was searching for Cinder, or if he was lucky, her corpse. While he searched, he saw the battle to the north. He was honestly surprised to find so many hunters fighting together against an enemy so large. To see soldiers do it was one thing, but with hunters, it's another story.
Pyrrha ran over to the stairwell. If there was a chance that it was Jaune who was making those footsteps she would risk it.
When she got to the stairs, she found that large glass boulders blocked them off. She was impatient. She came this far, she didn't want to wait. She couldn't. She started swinging her blade to break the boulders apart, in the hopes to force a way through.
Jaune's search ended when he found the upper half of Cinder lying under a pile of glass rubble. She was buried from her upper back down. Her arms were both out, and her glass arm was in pieces. Jaune looked to the rubble and saw a massive piece of glass right above her; it was pointed downward, possibly through her body.
Jaune gave a very serious look as he looked down at the 'possibly' dead Cinder. She could be either dead, or dying. He could just stab her in the neck and finish it, but it felt wrong. If she was already dead, then he'd by mutilating a corpse. From the bottom of his heart, he knew that Pyrrha would ever want him to defile her memory by doing either. So… he turned around and walked away. Jaune walked southward. He wanted to see how the armies in Beacon and Vale were doing. With this sudden arrival of air support, they would have a chance to drive the Grimm back for good.
As he was walking, Cinder's eyes shot open. She lifted her head to see Jaune walking away. She then moved her left arm outward as if she had just thrown something.
Jaune all of a sudden felt a huge amount of pain coming from his left leg. Jaune looked down to find three glass shards imbedded in his leg; one in his calf and two in his thigh. Jaune was forced to the ground by the pain, he fell forward to his knees.
Cinder blasted the glass shards that were on top of her, revealing that they were melted underneath to allow her to be under it without any harm to her.
Pyrrha heard a scream, and then an explosion. "Oh, no!"
She swung her sword at the glass faster and harder, she was desperately swinging at the boulders. Tears started to well up in her eyes. "Please. Please. Please!"
As Cinder stood up, she reformed her glass hand and then converted it into a large glass spike with blue flames burning around it. She kicked Jaune to turn him over and then pushed the spike downward towards his chest. Jaune barely had the time to lift his sword up to catch the spike by blocking it with the side of his blade. The fact that he was able to get impaled in his leg shows that his power was low enough to not give him his personal barrier, meaning this flaming spike could kill him.
Jaune pushed as hard as he could but couldn't get her off him. His body was still exhausted; he could feel his arms shaking under the pressure of Cinder's spike. The only way he saw out of this is to take her by surprise and then finish it.
Cinder looked at Jaune with eyes filled with feral insanity. All she wanted was for him to suffer and die. She was already about to kill him, all that was left was to make it more painful.
"Do you want to know the last words your beloved ever said to me before I put an arrow through her heart?" Cinder snarled. If her broken, shaky voice wasn't a sign that she had completely lost her mind, her twitching right eye was.
"Last words?" This could be it. This could be his way of taking her by surprise. He thought long and hard, it seemed like minutes but it was only seconds before he could come up with the answer.
Jaune took a deep breath, looked Cinder right in the eye and spoke in a calm voice, "Do you believe in Destiny?" Being one of the last things they talked about, he had a distinct feeling that would be something she would say before her death.
Cinder's eyes were proof enough to him that he was right on his answer. He could feel her letting some of her weight off of her spike, and so, he removed the blade from the spike and let it go down.
The spike pierced through his chest plate and then pushes into his heart, ripping it in two. Jaune could only grunt at the pain; not only of his heart being ripped but also burned, cauterizing the wound all around as she jabbed her spike though his chest. He started feel his lungs slowly filling up with blood from the wound.
Cinder's face changed back to normal after she pushed into his chest. She smiled as she said, "Yes." Cinder's smile vanished when she felt him grab her with his left hand and push her off. She looked down to find Joyuse pointing at her chest, when she tried to move she realized that she was in his grip and unable to break it. Jaune grit his teeth, he pushes the blade into her chest towards her heart as he pulls her over and sits on top of her.
By this time, the glass spike was pulled out when they rolled over, allowing Jaune to sit over her and hold both his hands on the handle of the sword, "So do I!" And with all the strength he could muster left, he pushed the sword deeper into Cinder. The blade pushed through her heart and then through the floor, peeking through the ceiling of the floor below.
Cinder gasped by the sudden shove of his blade. She coughed blood and moaned to the pain. Her eyes were still full of shock as she looked up to the Star Knight above her. Jaune watched as he saw the life leave Cinder's eyes and the last of her gasping ended.
It wasn't a sight he ever liked seeing. It's one thing to actually kill someone, but watching the life leave their eyes was entirely different. Once it was clear that she was gone, he slowly closed her eye lids.
He then slowly stood up, stumbled more like, and pulled the sword out of Cinder's body. The last thing he wants is for this sword to be stained with the blood. As he pulled out the blade, an orange light eliminated from the wound. Then an orange sphere flew out of it, levitate up to Jaune's face and then disappear into the clouds.
"Going off to the next host, good."
Pyrrha finally carved a large enough path for her to get through.
Once she was out she saw a man standing next to a ledge. She recognized the armor, and his golden locks were proof enough for her. "Jaune."
Jaune stood there, looking to the distance, seeing the Stay Knights, Atlas and Militia push the Grimm back and achieve victory. "Least I get a good a view before the end." He could only smile as he fell to his knees and started to fall forward.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha shouted as she ran towards him, dropping both the sword and shield and then catch him before he fell on his face.
Pyrrha lifted him up and turned him. She rested his body on her lap as she cupped his face in her right hand and used the other to hold him up.
"Jaune, please!" Pyrrha moved his head around to try and wake him up. "I'm right here. I'm here. Jaune!"
Jaune could feel his strength leaving him. He tried to open his eyes. When he did, he could vaguely see Pyrrha over him. She had tears running down her eyes. She looked to be shouting, but he couldn't hear a thing. His eyes began to get heavier.
"Jaune. Please, stay awake! Come on!" Pyrrha pleaded as she saw his eyes close. Then nothing. He wasn't moving, not on his own. The tears coming from Pyrrha's eyes dripped off her face and onto Jaune's cheek. She began to bawl as she held Jaune close, resting her forehead to his. "I'm so sorry…"
Quiet.
There was no sound of gunfire. No sound of metal beating metal. No explosions. Pyrrha opened her eyes to see that Jaune was still in her arms, but when she looked to their surroundings, there was nothing.
Physically nothing. It was like a big void. The ground was the only thing illuminating, bright enough for her to see as if it was daylight.
Pyrrha then heard something; it sounded like heals taping on the floor. It started to get louder, meaning it was getting closer. The sound originated in front of her, when she looked to the source, she looked with both shock and disbelief.
"What is this?" Pyrrha asked. Before her, stood the 'Pyrrha' Jaune has been talking to the whole time. She was still wearing Pyrrha's old Spartan armor and had Milo and Akouo on her back.
"Hello, Pyrrha."
(AN: So that no one gets confused on which one is talking, the Pyrrha that Jaune talked to will be in bold.)
"Who are you? What are you?" Pyrrha asked with fear as she held Jaune's body closer.
"I'm you." Pyrrha squinted her eyes in confusion to that answer.
"Well, the part of you that you left behind in that kiss before you went off to fight Cinder on your own." Pyrrha didn't want to believe it. But when she heard that a part of Jaune's aura was within her, it almost seemed reasonable.
"Why are you here?"
"To save him." 'Pyrrha' said as she walked over to Jaune and placed her hand on his chest, over the hole. Then a light started to shine between her fingers as the aura was being transferred.
Pyrrha started to feel weak, "What's happening?"
"Jaune may have great power, but a wound like this needs two to fully heal." As Pyrrha looked down to Jaune's face, he started to move. It was working. Pyrrha then turned to the copy with a questionable look on her face.
"How did you…? You know…"
"Come to be? Well, when the part of Jaune's aura transferred into you, it saved you from Cinder's arrow, from the torture, and kept your body healthy." Thinking about it, it all made sense now why all of Cinder's torture methods couldn't work on her, even when Emerald tried to mess with her head.
"But that doesn't explain why you exist? I can hardly believe my aura would manifest itself to look like me on purpose."
"Jaune's aura saved you from physical harm. Yours made me to save him from himself."
"What do you mean?" Pyrrha asked with a little fear in her voice.
"A few months after you were declared dead, Jaune tried to run from his pain and grief by training. Then there came a day when he started thinking about taking his own life to be with you."
Pyrrha's heart almost stopped at the thought of Jaune committing suicide because of her.
"But he didn't because I helped to calm him down." 'Pyrrha' looked to her original with a sympathetic face. Seeing Jaune like that was painful for her too. Fortunately, it was now over.
Pyrrha looked to her copy and saw that she was beginning to fade. "What's happening to you?"
"I am… transferring the aura… that was used… to make me…" She started to sound tired; she hunched over, but kept her hand over Jaune's heart.
"Then what happens to you?" Pyrrha started to get worried.
"I will cease to be... and fade away into nothing." She said as she used her other hand to keep herself from falling over.
"Wait. No. This is enough. We can get him to a medic and do the rest. You don't have to give up your existence to-" Pyrrha was cut off by her clone.
"Pyrrha, don't you see? This is my purpose…" the clone said as she looked onto Jaune's face, "I love him as much as you do, and I would gladly give up my existence if it meant he would be with you again."
"But none of this was supposed to happen. This wasn't my destiny…" Pyrrha said as more tears dropped from her eyes. She lowered her head down to Jaune and closed her eyes tight.
Her clone lifted Pyrrha's chin up and smiled at her, "Jaune once said, 'Destiny is a plan that was already made for you… But it's on you whether or not to follow it.' This is mine. Yours is with him." Pyrrha slightly chuckled at the wisdom her aura clone gave her. She looked down to Jaune and smiled.
'Pyrrha' started to fade away even more. "It's time." Pyrrha looked up to her clone with sadness. "Pyrrha, do me and Jaune a favor… Don't die on him again. He won't survive it a second time." And with those last words, Pyrrha's clone vanished before her eyes. Leaving Pyrrha alone in the void, with Jaune still in her hands.
Pyrrha's eyes shot open as she looked around to see that she was right where she was before. On top of the Spire, and there was still gunfire and fighting happening in the distance. Pyrrha looked down to Jaune and saw that his eyes were moving beneath his eyelids. She moved her right hand down over the hole in his chest plate and felt skin at the bottom of the hole. Solid skin, she raised her hand and saw no blood on them at all.
The wounds on the rest of his body were still fresh; the wounds he suffered from the lieutenants were still open, including the glass spikes in his left leg. Suddenly Pyrrha started to hear the sound of glass cracking.
The Spire's main tower began to crack all over, giving into its own weight. A structure was way too big was made out of to hold. The enchantment over the glass must have been removed when Cinder died.
As the floor they were on started to go down, the floors below caved in on themselves. As they began to descend, Pyrrha tried to carry Jaune to the edge of the floor. When they reached the edge, Pyrrha saw the ground come up to them fast.
If they stayed, then they would be shredded to pieces by the chunks of glass at the bottom. Pyrrha did the only thing she could think of. She jumped off the edge, used her semblance to move Jaune's shield below them both and slowly lowered them down.
(On the ground with the company)
Victory appeared to be theirs. Most of the White Fang surrendered while others fought to the death. Ruby turned to see the Spire collapse in on itself. She started to worry for her friends, but her worry went away when she saw Pyrrha slowly descending with Jaune in her arms.
"PYRRHA!" Ruby shouted. Everyone who heard her quickly turned around to see whom she was referring to. Yang, Blake, Sun and Neptune were shocked beyond words that Pyrrha was there; mostly due to the fact that they weren't there when Pyrrha reunited with her team.
Pyrrha carried them with the shield with all her strength until they landed safely. She was panting; she hadn't had much practice with her powers since she awoke a few months ago. Pyrrha quickly lowered Jaune's body and placed his head on her lap. She looked down on him and saw that he was still moving. He was out cold, but he was alive.
The company arrived to find Jaune on Pyrrha's lap, a slash over his right eye and a hole in his chest plate. "Pyrrha… Is he…?" Ruby asked with fear in her voice.
"He's alive." Pyrrha said before Ruby could finish. She looked up to her friends, she smiled and shed tears of joy. "We're ok."
AN: Well, that was quite the battle.
The reason for the wings was quite simple really, since Jaune was based off of Joan of Arc, I thought the version of his 'Ultimate Form' would be his aura making him resemble an angle.
I would like to credit the part of the battle that resembled "Metal Gear Rising Revengence" to my new Beta-Reader Breakawayfan.
I would also like to say… This fight…. This battle on this chapter was the start of it all… The idea that help create this story… The thought of Jaune being a part of some legend, and my personal hope that someday in the original RWBY series, something remotely like this, actually happens.
Until then, I will continue my story.
This isn't over, there is still a lot of story to tell.
R&R
Oh, and also… ARKOS!
