Life was good for Sun Wukong as he led the White Fang marching down the streets. Atlas soldiers were being picked off left and right, letting out delightful screams to his ear. Of course, he wasn't a complete psychopath- The deaths of all the innocent humans were regrettable, but they were a necessary sacrifice for the cause. Not to mention, it was highly doubtful they were all innocent anyway. Realistically, the White Fang was getting rid of more bad than good.

Their brutal advance, however, came to a sudden stop when they ran into a very particular group of soldiers rallied together by the main man himself.

Ironwood.

"General Ironwood!" Sun greeted, ordering the grunts to hold steady for a moment. "Do you remember me? Or am I just another one of the Faunus faces you torture on a daily basis?"

"…I don't know what I did to you, but the people of Vale shouldn't have to suffer for it." The General said, a hint of regret in his voice for not recognizing the Faunus before him.

"Maybe…" Sun agreed. "…But they will." With that, he whipped out his weapon and fired on the military leader. Ironwood easily blocked the bullets, but Sun had merely used the time to close the gap between them, viciously attacking as the soldiers from both sides fired upon each other.

The Faunus jumped up and brought down his staff with righteous fury, but Ironwood merely dodged out of the way and punched him in the face. Before Sun could recover, Ironwood gave him another punch a shot him in the chest. The shot sent Sun flying back into a building, back to the sidelines with his White Fang brethren.

Sun might've been a strong hunter, but he was no match for the General of the Atlesian Military and Headmaster of Atlas Academy.

The rest of the Atlas soldiers, despite having a numbers disadvantage, eventually managed to repel the Faunus forces under James' leadership. They were outnumbered, but years of training made up for that. In fact, Ironwood could already feel the tide of the battle turning in his bones. They would win this day. They would win back Vale.

Before the militia advanced, however, the General needed to address some movement from the buildings. While his subordinates rounded up civilians and criminals, he was surprised to find the still moving body of the Faunus he'd just brutally defeated.

"I set my gun to one of the most powerful settings it had. Any normal person would've been killed." Ironwood's eyes narrowed. "You must have aura."

"Fuck you…" Sun responded pathetically. "I'll have my revenge for what you did to me, just you wait." He tried to pick himself up, but James put a foot on his chest, pinning him to the floor.

"We don't currently have the resources to deal with enemies with aura, so I'm afraid you won't get that chance." The General leveled his gun with Sun's head. "However, die knowing that I am sorry you cannot face the justice you deserve, whatever that may be." Sun stopped struggling as everything faded to white.


Jaune whipped around and struck downwards, only just missing Neo when she teleported away. Predicting her movement, Jaune blocked a drop kick to his head, then another to his ribs.

After a few seconds of this barrage, Neo stopped her teleporting to properly engage him. Jaune tried to reach out for her aura, but the moment he made a connection, the petite killer teleported once more, managing to land a decent kick to his shin. In those few moments, a breakdown for the fight's rules was made.

Neo wouldn't be able to keep up constantly teleporting forever, lest she run of aura in the middle of the fight. This meant that she would be engaging him in a somewhat normal manner with only occasional teleporting. However, this did not mean Jaune would be able to absorb her aura in those moments, as the move would need some amount of concentration. And once Neo got wind of it, she'd teleport- breaking the connection and landing a hit on Jaune while he was preoccupied.

Essentially, their semblances cancelled each other out.

Jaune would have never assumed the polar opposite of his semblance to be teleportation, yet here he was, fighting one of his major rivals with just that semblance, putting the both of them on equal footing. Fate was funny like that.

Taking advantage of the shin kick, Neopolitan Torchwick reared back to smash the Arc's cranium, but Jaune fell into the kick, allowing Neo's swing to pass right over him. Now with the advantage, Jaune stabbed forward in an attempt to wound his opponent's dominate shoulder. With no other option, Neo teleported behind Jaune- Only to take a back kick to the stomach. Jaune rolled out of his awkward position to face her as she recovered.

There wouldn't be a mad rush of teleportation, but that didn't mean Neo wouldn't use her power when necessary. Of course, if she did predictably, Jaune would be there to punish her every time.

This time, it was Neo who engaged the fight. She swung with Roman's cane like her life depended on it- which it kinda did. Jaune easily blocked and retaliated with his own swing to the chest. Here, the one problem with Jaune's weapon came into play. He tried to use a stabbing weapon like it could be swung, and while the metal in the umbrella could certainly cause a bruise, that was by no means what it was designed for.

Moreover, there was actually a second problem Jaune had with his weapon. That being, the weapon was actually hers.

Knowing the limitations of her parasol, Neo caught the blade as it approached with her free hand, aiming her armed had at Jaune's good eye. A wicked smirk on her face told Jaune she thought she won, but he too had an empty hand.

He turned away the end of the cane-cannon just as she pulled the trigger. The blast rocked the roof of the building they fought atop of, actually causing it cave in on certain places. Of course, a roof doesn't simply cave in half way, and soon cracks emanating from the holes spread throughout the roof in a 'spider-web' fashion.

On instinct, Jaune latched onto the one solid thing near him, Neo. And on the same instinct, Neo teleported away before she fell through a roof.

The roof of the building collapsed, but no one was there to see it.


Ruby arrived to the outskirts of Beacon in no time flat, putting Pyrrha back on the ground. Finally steady and still, the huntresses could now process what they just witnessed.

"What are we going to do?" Ruby asked aloud. "The Grimm alarm sounded, but what can we really do to a hoard like that? Even with the Atlas forces helping, the odds must still be at least three to one." The pair rushed through the main walkway as people panicked all around them. "How could so many Grimm come together right under our noses?" Atlas soldiers and robots were trying to calm the crowd down, but to little success.

BOOM!

Everyone went dead silent as an explosion shook the earth. No one could see what had happened and where, but a distinct feeling of 'wrongness' was on everyone's mind. As that feeling manifested into even more panic for the crowd, Pyrrha and Ruby only grew more determined to get to the bottom of things.

"I think there's something going on behind the scenes." Ruby offered to her friend, by noticing the robot she passed on her way into Beacon, it's glow turning red.

"Ozpin." Pyrrha suddenly announced, her eyes wide. "I need to get to Ozpin."

"What does-" The leader of Team RWBY was suddenly interrupted when gunshots were heard back from where they just came from. Screams sounded as the gunshots seemed to shift into that of a firefight. "Pyrrha, let's- Pyrrha?!" Ruby stopped talking when she looked back to see Pyrrha heading in the opposite direction of the shots. The team leader turned to the exit, pursing her lips and tightly gripping her weapon. "…Shit!" She finally decided, moving away from the doors to instead run after Pyrrha.

"What the hell are you doing, Pyrrha?! People are in trouble back there!" Ruby scolded her friend as the champion continued to run away from the conflict.

"Look, Ruby. You know the whole White Fang investigation that was going on between you in your team?" Pyrrha said, not even glancing at Ruby. "Well, there's a lot more going on than you'd think."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't really have the time to explain right now. But Professor Ozpin can give me the power to fix whatever's going on."

"Why would the professor have the ability to give you the power to kill thousands of Grimm? You're not making sense, Pyrrha." Pyrrha suddenly stopped in her tracks, catching Ruby off guard.

"Ruby." She stated, staring directly into the young huntresses eyes. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes." Ruby responded without hesitation.

"Then trust me when I say, we need to get to Ozpin."

"… Okay."

The base of the main tower was barren by the time they arrived. Any hunters that had been here had long since left to do their duty of protecting the populace. Not Ruby and Pyrrha, though. Pyrrha called the elevator, and the pair was soon on its way. The ride up was short, but every second felt like an eternity to the resident team leader.

"This is important, Ruby. You'll see." Pyrrha assured her friend as if she sensed the guilt building up inside the reaper. If only that actually did anything to assuage Ruby's consciousness.

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open to reveal Ozpin's office. It was an absolute mess, like someone had thrown everything everywhere in a fit of rage. Directly across from them stood Ozpin, staring out the window at the burning sight of Vale in the distance as he drank from a broken coffee mug.

"Professor!" Pyrrha called out, though the man didn't turn around. "I'm ready to be the maiden- So long as you haven't found any other candidates."

"No, we haven't managed to find any other candidates, much to Ironwood's displeasure." Ozpin said, any and all emotion detached from his voice.

"Then what are we waiting for?" The champion asked.

"…It would be no use. She's here. The maiden powers pale in comparison. Vale is lost." Ruby didn't know what they were talking about, but even she was taken aback by Ozpin's words.

"B- But isn't it at least worth a shot?" The leader of Team RWBY pleaded to her teacher. At this, the Professor actually turned around.

"Miss Rose? Hmm…" Placing the coffee on his broken desk, Ozpin considered the pair before him. "Maybe this will be possible after all." Without another word, they again entered the elevator and with the push of button, they descended.


They reappeared in a clearing. Red trees stood tall around them, surrounding one very important tree in the middle. Of course, Jaune couldn't understand the importance of the clearing, but Neo understood all too well.

Roman's grave sight… And she had just brought his killer to it.

While the criminal remained distracted in her moral conundrum, Jaune took the opportunity to finally shift the playing field in his favor. He reached out with his semblance and finally made a connection with the Roman impersonator. She teleported away the instant she noticed her power start to drain, but by then it was too late. The knight shifted his location in space Neo came down from up above to deliver a drop kick. Instead, she received her own kick to the back, which sent her flying.

Regaining themselves, the two combatants stood on opposite sides of the clearing. In a sense, their roles were reversed, as Jaune now wore the cocky grin while Neo held a determined stare. Neither would lose- That, they vowed to everyone they had lost before. This battle meant more than just the two of them, more than the world itself. And at the same time, they stared each other down, the only two people in existence.

The battle for everything began now.

Bearing her parasol, Jaune charged at the woman, whom Fate sent to kill him. Neo charged herself with Roman's cane, and the two clashed in the center. Jaune having the reach, he first attacked with a stab at Neo's stomach. She directed the attack away with her cane and rolled backwards along his arm, striking behind herself to bash his side. Jaune brought his right knee up into her own side, and Neo whirled around to bat him in the face.

Even disoriented by the attack, the former leader of Team JNPR still fought, striking her thigh to cause her to fall over, triggering a reset in the battle. Neo teleported back on her feet and received a front kick to the chest once she did. Neo backflipped away and lunged toward him when she landed, setting a firm shoulder in his stomach as she did. Jaune faltered but did not fall, allowing him to grab onto Neo with one hand while bashing her back with his weapon in the other. The brutal strikes landed unceasingly, even as she herself brought the cane down on the back of his shin. Crying out in a mix of pain and rage, Jaune teleported above the multicolored girl, bringing the umbrella weapon down with both hands to stab Neo through. The criminal teleported away before she could be skewered, causing Jaune to stab right into the ground.

The fight never ending, Neo's foot connected with the side of Jaune's face in their new positions. She aimed the cane-gun at him but then faltered, realizing that he was now directly in front of Roman's tree. Jaune took advantage of this as he stabbed outwards, finally drawing blood from her thigh. Unfortunately, his aim was slightly off due to his lack of depth perception, and he only managed to graze her. Reacting instantly, Neo pulled the trigger of the cane, thought at this point, her target was completely ready and able to dodge.

The tree she had found specifically to commemorate Roman's grave exploded, charred pieces of the plant falling from the sky as time passed on. Her time to mourn was brief, however, as yet another stab just barely missed her stomach, sending her back into action.

Eh, Roman wouldn't have given a damn about the tree anyway. Roman would've wanted revenge.


The ride down the elevator was long, and yet far too short for Ruby's liking. Still, Pyrrha and Ozpin had given her nothing but the bare minimum amount of information needed to know what's going on. She wasn't even sure they were providing her with even that much. Pyrrha was right. Whatever was going on behind the scenes was far more than she knew. And her questions all culminated with the machine.

"Who is that? What is that?" The reaper desperately asked for answers, though knowing they would provide next to none.

"She is the previous Fall Maiden, and that is what will give me her powers." Pyrrha summarized simply, answering Ruby's questions without her companion actually knowing anything at all.

"Miss Rose, you must provide the vanguard as the process takes place." Professor Ozpin insisted, ignoring her questions entirely. "I don't know what might happen should there be any interruptions during, but I highly doubt any of us want to find out."

Sighing and knowing she wouldn't get much more than that, Ruby unsheathed her blade as Pyrrha climbed into the machine.

"So… Maidens?" The leader of Team RWBY made conversation while maintaining watch over the one entrance into the vault.

"Once upon a time, a wizard gave four young women magical powers for being nice. Plot twist, they're real. The end." Ozpin replied tersely as he frantically did… Whatever it is he was doing. Making sure Pyrrha didn't explode, probably.

"Right, magic's real… I'm surprised and yet not surprised at all." Ozpin snorted.

"Wait until you hear about the gods." At that comment, Ruby was going to turn around to face her headmaster, but stopped when her attention was taken by the doors of the elevator opening once more.

An arrow immediately flew out, but Ruby deftly intercepted and reentered a battle stance. Out from the elevator walked the black haired beauty, Cinder Fall.

"Move aside, girl. I'm here for my promised power." The sinister woman demanded, her hands going up in flames.

"Cinder! I knew Jaune didn't like you for a reason." The reaper replied, not backing down in the slightest.

"Jaune Arc, you mean? Well then I'm certainly glad he's dead." Cinder mocked, walking closer with a menacing confidence.

"Lies!"

"No, but believe what you'd like. The only thing that matters to me is the maiden. Now step aside or die."

"Make me." Ruby snarled uncharacteristically.

"Gladly." Immediately, the fire surrounding Cinder doubled in size, but the huntress wasted no time with the dramatics. She dashed with supersonic speed through the flames to strike her sword upon the villain's chest, only to be stopped in her tracks by Cinder's own newly formed blade.

Ruby stood still no longer than a second, practically teleporting behind Cinder to strike her back, only to be met with yet another glass weapon. The huntress tried this tactic a few more times, the flames of the enemy being put out by the force of wind she created. Unfortunately, it was no use. Ruby was unable to land a hit. Eventually, Cinder stopped trying- Standing still as she formed blades around herself in response to the attacks. Jaune had always told her to use her speed to outpace the opponent, but a new tactic was needed here.

So why not take a page out of Jaune's book? Instead of single strikes, she now switched to full on combat, regaining her position each time she dodged an attack, and never giving up her full frontal assault. Cinder's many blades and spouts of fire were a problem, but they couldn't do much when Ruby dodged them all.

After only a minute or so of this, the team leader finally saw her opening. A chink in Cinder's armour. Now all she needed to do was strike.

Taking a step back, Ruby steadied herself. Channeling all she had learned from Pyrrha and Jaune, she held her sword out in front of her, more ready than ever. Reapproaching her opponent, the reaper dodged a blast of fire and blocked a sword of glass. She ducked under a glass spear, rolled away from yet another fire blast, and then finally reached the ever so cocky Cinder. So confident in her own abilities, the woman had not retreated in the slightest from Ruby's approach. So as Ruby pointed her weapon at the black haired woman, she merely raised an eyebrow mockingly. And then the weapon shifted.

One moment, it was an ever so beautiful sword, and with the push of a button, everything changed. The shift itself was particularly enchanting to watch, but Cinder found herself more concerned with a particular aspect of the weapon- how it extended. Past any and all defenses she had in place, Cinder barely had time to turn her head as the blade approached nearly as fast as its wielder.

One cut. One cut right on her perfect face.

The pompous woman took a single step back in shock. A wall of fire bursted upwards around her to intercept any possible attack incoming, and she reached up to feel her cheek. Something warm met her finger. Something warm and something red. The blood instantly burned away as the flames grew even higher.

"Ruby Rose, you will pay for-!"

DING!

All thoughts of vengeance vanished as Cinder's attention was drawn back to the reason she'd actually come down here in the first place. The fire receded enough for her to receive a good view of the machine as it hissed open. Even Ruby stated in wonder, not taking the time to press the advantage.

Pyrrha Nikos- At least, her body- stepped out of the chamber, her face more determined than ever before.

"Miss Nikos?" The professor addresses his pupil.

"I'm here, Professor." Pyrrha- certainly, Pyrrha- assured. "Now let's kick some maiden ass." The headmaster, reaper, and champion all turned to Cinder at the same time- subconsciously causing the woman to take a step back. This wasn't how things were supposed to go! If only she hadn't played around so much with that damn huntress!

DING!

Yet another ding snapped Cinder out of her thoughts and turned everyone's attention to the elevator. The doors slid open, and the Queen of the Grimm stepped out cockily.

"Hello there, Ozpin. It's been a long time." Cinder's smile widened as the rest grew smaller.


In hindsight, Jaune really should've found a sword during his time as an outcast in the slums. Yes, the poetic justice was not lost on him, and it was certainly a useful weapon, but… Not really his type. Really, the same went for Neo, who might as well have been using a club for this fight.

He'd previously thought on the duality of their combined semblances- and that remained true- but their choices in weaponry were anything but. Had they their rightful equipment, the fight would have certainly been a lot more bloody by now.

More bloody, but certainly no less brutal.

Every exchange left the combatants with more bruises than they'd had before, remaining ever so brief but certainly damaging. Their auras hasn't decreased by much, yet at this point the two were running on mainly willpower as their energy source.

Jaune's swing at Neo's head missed as she ducked just below and conked him on the elbow. Getting hit in the vitals sucked, but getting hit in the joints may have been worse for the long term. Jaune returned the favor, though, by kicked her bent knee just before she teleported away.

The former team leader readied himself for the next incoming attacks, but was met with none. Allowing himself to perceive more than his immediate surroundings, he saw Neo, aiming right for him with Roman's cane. The volley came down ceaselessly, needing for the knight to jump to safety only second after he landed from the previous one. He tried to teleport behind Neo, but she predicted this move, also teleporting to continue firing.

When the cane finally clicked- signifying its emptiness, Jaune sighed in relief, only to trip backwards on something under him. Vaguely, he noticed how the trees surrounding the clearing were in flames, most likely preventing any Grimm interference that they were bound to attract. Reaching to see what he had tripped on, Jaune was struck with confusion.

"Bones?" Those were the final words he spoke before Neo pounced on him, a fury in her eyes.

Did Jaune know he had tripped into the grave of Roman Torchwick? No. How could he? But did this fact tamper Neo's rage any less? Absolutely not. In fact, it was really her fault that he was in the situation, considering it was her fancy shooting that kicked up the dirt in the first place, but Neo didn't exactly see it that way.

The two had both dropped their weapons to get to this position, Neo straddling his body as her small fists cracked on his face like nothing ever had before. Ever hit was a mix of aura and pure rage, as Neo released ever ounce of emotion within her to try and put down the man who'd ruined her life.

Suddenly, though, the punch she landed felt like she hit into a brick wall, and she recognized her mistake. Anger boiled away to shock as she simply sat atop Jaune- Aura-less.

"Get off me." He ordered, his word all but law. She complied, and he picked up her weapon, leveling it at her throat. They stood there silently for a moment, allowing the facts of the matter to truly sink into Neo's mind.

She had failed.

Sock manifested into sorrow as the girl fell to her knees, tears welling up in her eyes.

Neopolitan Torchwick has lost.


"Salem… Your fight is with me, not them." Ozpin immediately stepped in front of his students. Whatever sullenness the man had before was lost in the face of this new adversary.

"Oh I know, my dear. They can leave at anytime… Or they can stay to watch the massacre." The Queen of the Grimm smiled politely at the two huntresses.

"Girls, get to the elevator now." The professor ordered.

"But didn't you say we had a chance?" Ruby insisted. She still had no idea what was going on, but the presence the woman before her gave off was the mark of something important. The feeling was as if thousands of Beowulves were staring her down, just waiting to strike. If ever there was a final boss to life, she was it."

"Ozpin!" Salem declared, scandalized. "Were you lying to your followers again? This just won't do. Go on, tell them what you really planned to do instead of facing me like a man." The grin on her face betrayed the seriousness of her tone.

"I don't-" Ozpin started.

"Tell them, or they won't leave." She threatened. Ozpin looked to the ground, ashamed.

"I was going to collect the Fall Maiden's power and flee Beacon with the two of you."

"Leaving Vale to perish." Salem finished. "Always the coward, aren't you?"

"Professor…?" The newly minted Fall Maiden looked to the broken man before her.

"Just… Leave this vault alive. That's all I ask of you." The man pleaded. "I'll hold her off to the best of my abilities."

"It's about time we had a rematch." The Queen agreed. "Cinder, be a dear and go with them, won't you? This is going to be… Personal." She glared at Ozpin, but then seemed to remember something. "And don't break the elevator, please. I'll be using it once I'm done here."

The three girls shuffled awkwardly into the elevator at the request of the ancient being before them, unsure how to react to what had just transpired. Just as the doors closed, they were able to catch the briefest glimpse of the two magic users powering up, ready to fight. Just as well, the elevator shook periodically from the intensity of the fight below.

As the sounds of battle faded and the shaking got fainter, the huntresses and villainess were able to speak once more.

"Okay, I need to know everything. Now." Ruby demanded of her two lift companions.

"That was Salem, Queen of the Grimm." Pyrrha began in a dark tone.

"Future ruler of all humanity." Cinder commented, a smirk upon her face. "Normally she doesn't like to leave the Grimlands, but the fall of Vale seemed like a special occasion."

"Definitely a final boss…" The reaper muttered to herself, trying to comprehend the words just spoken to her. "So if she were to die, all the Grimm would die as well?" At this both Pyrrha and Cinder blinked.

"Uhh… I have no idea." The black haired woman admitted. "But it's not like that matters. She will never be defeated, ruling over humanity for an eternal night."

"Right… And the 'Maiden' thing?"

"A magic power that jumps from host to host, inhabiting the body of young women and giving them powers over nature itself." The champion explained.

"A power that was rightfully mine." Cinder snarled.

"You ambushed and attacked the previous Fall Maiden! How is that 'rightful?'" Pyrrha pointed out.

"Exactly, I kill her, I get the powers. Unfortunately, I was interrupted in the process, but that's what the whole 'Vale Attack' was for- Though that was ruined as well." The 'rightful' Fall Maiden complained.

"You set all this up? Should you really be telling us that?" Ruby questioned, causing Cinder to grin.

"Why not? You'll be dead as soon as we reach ground level."

DING!

With that ominous timing, the three stepped out of the elevator and into the main area at the bottom of the tower and readied themselves for battle.


Neo was on her knee before him- The protege of Roman, stabber of Ruby, and taker of his eye- Defeated. Yet… As he watched the petite woman silently cry at her loss, he couldn't help but feel… Empathetic.

"…I know what it's like to lose someone." His mouth began speaking before his brain registered what was happening. "People I cared for, people who I thought I could never live without." Neo silently sobbed, not looking at him, but he continued speaking anyway.

"I'm from the future. Whether you want to believe that or not doesn't matter to me. All I'm saying is, I have a chance to save those I lost. And nothing will get in the way of that. No man, no woman, and not even Fate itself."

"The only reason I tell you this is because.. I know you feel the same way. Roman's death haunts your sleep like my friend's haunt mine." He paused, noticing that the girl had stopped sobbing, but still refused to look at him.

"I am sorry for killing Roman, truly. He meant something to you that could never be replaced. And I truly regret taking that from you. However…" Jaune used the umbrella to make Neo look him in the eyes. "I would kill him a thousands times over if it meant bringing my friends back to life. And I know that if the roles were reversed, you'd massacre everyone I held dear to bring him back."

"If the roles were reversed, I'd like to say I'd be accepting of your actions, but that'd be a lie. I would hate you with all my soul until the day I died." The umbrella lowered from Neo's face and rested at Jaune's side. "But the roles aren't reversed."

"I'm not asking for your forgiveness. Hell, I'm not even asking you to stop hating me, but- I am asking you to leave." Neo hesitantly stood as a small bit of aura flooded her system like a drug. "Just enough to teleport once." He explained.

"I've killed to protect my friends. I will kill to protect my friends. But… Not everyone needs to die. Teleport away from this mess and never return. You won't have Roman, but you'll have your life. And that's all I can give you."

Jaune turned away to teleport, but stopped when a hand suddenly grabbed his wrist. The knight whirled around with the umbrella to strike, but paused short when he saw no incoming attack. Instead, he simply saw a girl, eyes pleading, lost and alone as she attached herself to the one living thing for miles around.

As soon as eye contact was made, Neo looked down, the tears starting to fall once more as she held tightly to him. They stayed in that position for less than a minute, but they practically shared an eternity together. Hate unto hate. Understanding unto understanding. Respect unto respect.

Finally, Neo let go, and Jaune turned back around. He dropped the umbrella in his hand and disappeared to the sound of shattering glass, leaving her behind. Alone.

Idly, she picked up both her old parasol and Roman's cane. Glancing at both weapons before taking in the sight of Roman's grave one last time, she breathed in deeply.

And with the sound of breaking glass, Neopolitan Torchwick vanished.


Ruby Rose was going to kill Salem.

She had to. It's what she had been training for her whole life, to be the hero. It was what Jaune had trained her for- whether he knew of Salem or not. Ruby would kill the queen of all Grimm known as Salem.

It was destiny! It was inevitable!

And there's no reason to fear the inevitable…

So why were her hands shaking?

Clearly, they were shaking out of worry for Pyrrha. She'd left her red haired friend to deal with Cinder all on her own. And while the champion had assured Ruby that she would be fine, the reaper couldn't help but worry for her safety. That's why her hands were shaking.

She wasn't afraid of the woman who had come up the elevators to casually announce the death of Ozpin and equally as casually mentioned she would be summoning a dragon Grimm in his office. The woman rendered steel asunder with her bare hands and controlled the forces of the Grimm with nothing but her mind…

And why would she be? She was Ruby Rose, and she was the hero of this tale. The signs were too obvious. An epic backstory? Well, she was the daughter of two of the most successful huntsmen in the world, and she was accepted to Beacon two years early. Not to mention, that whole 'two years early' thing made her the underdog- Classic 'Hero' material. An awesome power? Well, despite her objectively amazing semblance, she didn't have much in terms of that- But it was fairly obvious that something was up with her silver eyes. She didn't know what, but both Ozpin and Jaune had mentioned them at some point. Ozpin when they first met, and Jaune in one of his many muttered aloud dreams after training. Finally, and most importantly, she had a weapon. A brutal, deadly, and awesome weapon. A weapon that would soon see itself through Salem's heart.

Ozpin has known. Jaune had known. Pyrrha has known. Sure, she was only fifteen, but Jaune and Pyrrha were only seventeen and that didn't stop them from being badasses. The writing was on the wall. Ruby Rose was the hero of the story, and the hero always came out on top. This wasn't over confidence or misinformed ideals, this was fate.

But what if it's not enough?

Ruby was unable to respond to her own doubting question before she was suddenly pulled back to reality when the elevator doors opened.

She had arrived.

"Hm?" Salem turned around to see Ruby enter from the elevator. The entire roof of Ozpin's office had been ripped off, exposing the two beings to the icy cold winds of the night. Ruby shivered- definitely because of the cold- but Salem didn't seem to notice. "Oh, hello there, girl. You were down with Ozpin, weren't you? I'm sorry but I didn't catch your name."

"Ruby Rose, Future Slayer of Salem." The huntress did her best to keep a stutter out of her voice as she walked closer towards the Grimm Queen with her weapon drawn.

"Ha! That's adorable. You would've done well by my side, I can tell." The evil of the world incarnate laughed. She was being… Oddly amicable. "'Rose,' 'Rose'… Was your mother named 'Summer,' by any chance?"

"She was…"

"Yes… She was another promising huntress. I was genuinely disappointed to have killed her." And… Any points Salem earned instantly disappeared in that moment.

"Then I suppose I'll be avenging her as well as saving the world." Ruby summarized. All of a sudden, the prospect of fighting this opponent became a lot less scary. Not looking to play around with the Grimm Queen, the leader of Team RWBY shifted her weapon into scythe form.

"Good luck with that." Salem replied sarcastically, causing Ruby to finally lash out.

The huntress launched herself forward and brought her modified scythe over her head. Salem held out a single finger and all the force from Ruby's attack was stopped on a dime. Instead of that force being transferred into Salem, however, the force rippled backwards at its creator, and Ruby was flung backwards to the elevators once more. Salem stared at her finger with interest as she noticed a single drop of black blood from where the connect had been made.

"Isn't that interesting. I haven't been hurt by a weapon in a very long time. Maybe this fight will be interesting after all." Salem took a new, long look at Ruby Rose and smirked. "How appropriate it is that a girl with silver eyes would put up this new threat. I was planning on killing you as quickly as I did your mother, but you have my interest. Let's see what you can do."

"Oh I'll show you exactly what I can do!" Ruby promised, rushing at Salem once more.


He appeared directly in front of Beacon's main tower. Jaune wasn't sure if this was where the things were going down, but the action had taken place here last time, so it was a safe bet. As soon as he stepped inside, fire exploded before him, assuaging any worries he possessed.

The scene at the bottom of the tower was a mess. Fire and- well, mainly just fire scattered around any and all chairs and other furniture previously set up. To Jaune's immediate left as he entered was the front desk to schedule any appointments with Ozpin. Despite the fact that there had never been a secretary working it, papers from the desk were scattered about, simply adding more fuel to the burning flames.

Focusing on the more important issues, the former team leader dodged out of the way of an incoming fireball launched by the resident Fall Maiden. He looked up to see Cinder and Pyrrha flying about, clashing with each other in midair. Wait… Pyrrha?

The red haired champion was indeed flying, not simply riding on a sheet of metal. Her movement was clunky as she attempted to battle Cinder while in the air- But as with all things, she was getting a hang of it quickly.

"She's the maiden." Jaune realized. That… Wasn't what happened before. Then again, barely any of what was going on today happened before, so he wasn't too surprised. Just then, Cinder's experience with the maiden power's shown through, and Pyrrha was batted back to the ground in a wave of fire. "Pyrrha!"

"Jaune?!" The campion recovered quickly, dodging yet another attack to make her way over to him. "You're here!" Noticing the new combatant, Cinder elegantly floated down to the ground, allowing Pyrrha to regain herself next to Jaune.

"So Tyrian failed, huh? Can't say I'm surprised." The black haired woman commented, playing around with the fire dancing in her hand. "I assume you killed him?"

"I did." The blond haired knight confirmed without emotion.

"Good. Never liked that crazy bastard. I think…" Cinder smirked wickedly, causing the fire around to rise. "A thank you is in order."

"Yeah? So you'll leave Vale?" Jaune asked sarcastically, moving into a combat stance alongside Pyrrha. It was at this moment he realized his distinct lack of a weapon as he had left the one he was previously using with Neo… Symbolic, yes. A good idea… Maybe not. Eh, he'd be better off in hand to hand combat anyway. Umbrellas weren't really his style.

"Actually, I was thinking something a little different!" The witch of a woman cried out, launching a wall of fire at the two partners. They each dodged their separate ways and began to circle Cinder. "How cute, you think you can defeat me." She taunted.

"You'll be eating those words soon enough." Pyrrha insisted as less of a taunt and more of a promise. On cue, Jaune wordlessly jumped at Cinder while she looked away, and Pyrrha followed suit seconds later.

Cocky as ever- She never learned, did she?- Cinder blocked Jaune's attacks barehanded while using a black glass sword against Pyrrha. Jaune went for a straight punch to the face that Cinder caught in her hand with little effort. The team leader expected as much, and aimed a kick for her legs which was blocked by a burst of fire. Relentless, he hammered down on her wrist with his free hand, causing her to release him while she focused on her other opponent.

On the opposite end of things, Pyrrha charged in with her spear held high. A black glass blade prevent forward momentum to Cinder, but with another windup, Pyrrha shattered through the glass with her shield. Two more glass sword manifested- only to be instantly shattered by her downwards swing. Cinder might've had more experience with the maiden powers, but challenging Pyrrha on the ground was one of the worst mistakes she would ever make. Pyrrha continued her advance towards Cinder only to be caught off guard when she let go of Jaune and turned her attention to the champion. The black haired woman landed a fire powered front kick to Pyrrha's shield, causing the champion to rocket backwards.

Obviously, turning your back to an opponent was never a good idea, Jaune took full advantage when he smashed an aura powered fist into Cinder's back, causing the woman to grunt in pain. Maybe keeping the umbrella would've been a good idea after all… The fight would've been over in that moment. Whatever. Jaune continued with another strike, but his greed for blood was punished when a dark glass sword shatter across his back. His aura kept him from bleeding, but the attack hurt like hell. A wave of fire pushed him back, and Pyrrha tagged in.

A lance cut the hairs off the top of Cinder's head as she ducked from the incoming attack. She rolled out left to avoid the next strike down to the right, and she used her maiden powers to rise above the low kick. What both Pyrrha and Cinder had temporarily forgotten was that they could literally fly, and it just so happened in that moment that one was reminded before the other. So when the champion readied herself to react to Cinder falling back down, the black haired woman roundhouse kicked her in the face. She then grabbed Pyrrha by the throat and pressed her advantage to the extreme with a dangerous smile.

As Pyrrha was dragged through the air, her weapons were pried from her hands, and fire and dust barraged her entire body, Jaune attempted to teleport up to help his partner. The act was fruitless as the barrier of force created by Cinder's flying proved untouchable. This savage beating continued on for minutes until Cinder's abrupt stop in the middle of the room. Pyrrha hung like a rag doll in her hand as the follower of Salem formed yet another glass sword in her free hand.

It was time to act. Finally, Jaune would be able to help his partner out. For a brief moment, he considered teleporting, but then he came up with an objective smarter idea. Why not use his actual semblance on her? The one that drains the opponent's of their aura so they can barely fight anymore… To be fair, he was somewhat fighting Cinder in the mindset of his previous life- that where his semblance was mostly useless against her- so him forgetting was somewhat excusable. Taking a deep breath, he reached out his aura.

"The champion of Beacon, all broken and alone. How sad." Cinder taunted. When Pyrrha refused to respond, she moved on. "Well, tragedies happen. Just be sure to think of only me from now on…" As she said this, her sword hand pulled back, preparing to strike.

In slow motion, she stabbed forward just as Jaune made his connection. With that established, the knight of Beacon drained all the aura out of Cinder he could in the quickest amount of time possible…

But he was blocked. Blocked by that force that had disabled him so much in his past life. Salem's elixir.

"No!" Jaune cried out, but it was far too late. Without so much as a stutter, Cinder's hand continued forward and pierced right though Pyrrha's stomach, just off center to the left. The champion grunted and coughed up blood, looking even more lifeless than before in that witch's grasp.

Then… She smiled.

"Got ya." The redhead choked out. In that instant, with a speed that could make even Ruby blush, Pyrrha's long forgotten spear picked itself up and made itself a home right through Cinder Fall's neck. "Just be sure to think of only me from now on…" Her grasp of Pyrrha loosened, and soon they both fell towards the ground with increasing speed.

Jaune was under his partner in an instant, catching her out of the sky safely as their opponent thumped to the ground behind them.

"Shit shit shit! No! I won't let you die again. Not again!" Instantly, the former team leader poured aura into his teammate, giving her a well needed boost to heal fairly quick. Actually, he poured in so much, that it started to be too much.

"Jaune. Jaune! Enough! I'm alright!" Pyrrha assured him to stop the aura transfer. "I just… I just need to rest." Despite having a little too much aura, The champion was both mentally and physically beaten down by today. Jaune realizing what he'd done, quickly rectified his mistake and took back some aura.

"Heh… Sorry, Pyrrha. I thought… Nevermind." The knight said bashfully, placing Pyrrha on her feet and helping her walk over to a nice and steady walk to lean on. "At least it's all over, right?" The champion's eyes went wide and that basically said it all.

"Ruby! She's went to Ozpin's office to confront Salem! We need to-" She winced from her recently healed wound. "You need to help her!" She corrected.

"Salem?! Here?!"

"There's no time! Go!"

And with that, Jaune was off. No time to celebrate a victory, no time to take a breather. Pyrrha didn't have time to register that Jaune really shouldn't have known who Salem was. This was truly the end of the end-

And the End waited for no man.


Salem was… Tough. Certainly made sense for the countless years she'd been alive and fighting, but she was really tough. Ruby assumed this would be the case going in, yet she couldn't help but be surprised at just how true it was.

The Queen of the Grimm had no weapon on her, and was thus forced to block Ruby's attacks with her bare hands. This resulted in a surprising amount of cuts landing on the woman, which produced an equally surprising amount of black blood. If anyone saw the aftermath of the scene as it was now, they would think Ruby absolutely kicked Salem's ass.

This was, unfortunately, not the case.

Salem emitted some type of aura about her that required the aspiring huntress to use exorbitant amounts of force to get close enough to make said cuts on the Queen's hands. Of course, every time Ruby used that force and made contact, Salem would deflect the power backwards, battering the team leader with waves of pressure. The first couple times were fine, but after over twenty attacks… Well, Ruby Rose was feeling a little worse for ware.

"I thought this would be more interesting," Salem announced as Ruby was yet again rocketed to the elevators. "But it seems I was mistaken. My apologies, I'll be sure to end you quickly for my mistake in judgement."

"I… Hate… You…" Ruby panted, leaning against the metal doors. Every part of her body ached. Did she really hit that hard or was Salem enhancing the blows?

"Yes, I figured as much." Salem nodded, summoning black energy into her bleeding hands. "Goodbye Ruby R-"

DING!

The doors Ruby had been leaning on parted, and her head fell back to the floor. Above her was one of the most beautiful sights she'd ever seen.

"Jaune…"

"Need a hand, Crater-Face?"

"You- Your here! Why-? How?!" Crater-Face stuttered out a question.

"The elevator." He replied cheekily. He grinned as he helped her up, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

"Yeah, just ignore me. That's fine." Salem sarcastically called from her position across from them. Jaune glared and turned back to Ruby.

"Look, Ruby. I've made so many mistakes in my life. In this life. But no more. I'm here to fix everything. You don't need to worry about a thing any more. Do you still have Crocea Mors?"

"I- I- Yes. Kinda." The huntress reached for her scythe and changed it back into a sword. Bashfully, she offered it to him. "I may have… 'Modified' it a bit. But I figure, what a hero without an awesome weapon? Heh…"

Internally Jaune frowned. 'Hero.' That's what she was- What he made her to be. But it wasn't true, was it? All this time, he'd tried to place his responsibilities on her, tried to give her his position. No longer. It was about damn time he took his responsibilities back.

"Do you like it?" Ruby asked so innocently, he wouldn't have been able to say 'no' even if he tried.

"Absolutely. About time that old blade got an upgrade. We really rocked it out of the park." Jaune told her with complete sincerity as he examined the weapon. "What's its name?"

"'Crescent Mors.' I originally planned for it to be 'Crocea Rose,' but 'crescents' are sort of like 'arcs' so I thought it fit better."

"'Crescent Mors'… Rolls off the tongue, I think." They shared a smile together until Ruby's face suddenly shifted to guilt.

"Jaune, I tried to fight her, but I-" Jaune cut her off with a kiss on the lips. It was nothing special- a peck, really- but to Ruby, it meant everything.

"I'm here to fix everything, remember? I'll take care of it." The former team leader promised. "I love you, Ruby. But please forgive me."

"Forgive you for-?" The reaper's sentence was her again cut off, but this time from a sudden feeling of dizziness. She tried to remain conscious, but it became harder and harder by the second. "Jaune… I…" And with that, it was lights out for Ruby Rose.

Jaune gently placed her back in the elevator as he returned her aura to her. At some point in his previous life, Jaune had picked up a simple trick to get any tired person to finally sleep by taking away their aura for a few seconds. He'd only ever used it on Ruby once- Blake, on the other hand, countless times. The first floor button was pushed, and a sleeping Rose descended away from the chaos for the last time.

"How sweet." Salem noted, though Jaune doubted the sincerity her words conveyed.

"You certainly let us take our time." The time traveler commented, twirling this new blade.

"All the time in the world for you." The Queen assured.

"We've never met before." Jaune pointed out.

"Of course not. I've never seen you before in my life."

"You sent Tyrian specifically to kill me."

"Well, we could've have you ruining our plans again."

"'Again?' So you've done this before?"

"I was referring to your assassination of one Roman Torchwick, actually."

"Right, right…" Jaune shook his head. "So you don't remember the future at all?" He asked blatantly.

"'Remember the future'…? What an interesting concept. But no, I do not." Lies. She was so obviously lying, but what the hell could he do about it?

"You won't be giving me any answers, will you?" He finally questioned, though it was more of a statement than a question.

"I will not tell you how you traveled back in time, no." Salem assured.

"You-!" The knight began but stopped with a huff. "Fine. Let's do this." With all the power he could, Jaune Arc pushes himself through Salem's barrier and made contact with her hand.

Then everything went white.


He found himself awake- sleeping- in a void. There was nothing, yet light of everything was blinding. He sat- floated- stood- there for only a minute- hour- eternity- before a ball of light came to him.

A ball of light in a pure white void, imperceptible yet bizarrely attracting to the eyes. He reached out to it as if it knew the answers to his every question, but it was too far away.

Back again, huh?

A voice disrupted the silence of the void. It seemed to be the voices of everyone he'd ever met combined, but one voice shines through the others, making it distinctly feminine.

I didn't think you'd be back so soon. You were so close this time as well. A shame, really.

"W- What…?" He attempted to speak, but struggled immensely to do so. "Is…?"

Though I suppose that time was also very messy. You were the hero, she was the hero. It was all so confusing.

The voice completely ignored his question.

"Who…?"

Who was the Hero? Ugh. Does it really even matter?

"Hero…?"

What even is a 'Hero' Anyway? Is it someone who does the 'right' thing or is it someone who beats the boss? Are they even mutually exclusive to each other?

"Ruby…"

Ah yes, you and Ruby. Personally, I thought you'd go for Pyrrha this time around- Though I suppose marriage does that to a person.

"Okay…?"

Is she okay? Is anyone okay in today's society, truly? There's so much behind the scenes. The people living in ignorance certainly think they're okay, but are they really? You're here now, but are you okay?

"Fate…?"

Fate. Destiny. Those words we so many things to so many people. Some hate the idea of thinking that they are on some type of railroad. They reject the possibility completely and decide that there is no fate. Some, on the other hand, are comforted by it. Where will they end up? Fateknows. It'll always be that way, so why worry? Or, they'll make their own destiny. Carve themselves a path in history. Tell me, Jaune Arc. After all you've been through, after everything you've done… Do you believe in destiny?

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Yes."

Well then… Let's give it another go.

And everything was gone once more.


Longest Chapter to date, over 9k words. Fitting for the final chapter, after all.

Some notes, I don't like that the timing is off for this chapter compared to the previous one, but it doesn't matter. Also, I much preferred writing the dialogue of this chapter than the fights, but due to the nature of the chapter- being a final one- fights were kinda necessary.

I changed Salem's immortality with invulnerability. I had all this planned out before Volume Six literally changed everything, so it's whatever.

Also, a minor thing. Realistically, Roman's body shouldn't be bones by now, but I thought it would be just too weird to have Jaune stumble over the literal corpse of Roman Torchwick, so let's just say that there are Grimm worms in Remnant that decompose bodies within a month or something.

That's all for my end, thank you as always for your reviews. The epilogue will come out soon to have a proper goodbye to this story, but if you're craving my writing after this, try (Shameless Plug) New Game Plus, my other active RWBY story.

Until next time,

-RMV