Italics = flashback
Hadrian Goodwitch's POV:
I am much more exhausted than I've been before, but knowing I can't stop now, muster what strength I have to finish this fight.
Luckily, our superior numbers are giving us an advantage. Team RWBY are fighting Mercury (in which Yang looked almost ready to kill), Team JNPR are clashing with Emerald, who is barely keeping them at bay even with her semblance, and everyone else is attacking the much greater threat, Cinder Fall.
I, however, am fighting Roman Torchwick alone. I have to admit, Torchwick is actually more skilled in combat than I thought. We clash our weapons together, my lance against his cane. Neither of us could get a real advantage over the other. Then he disengages from our deadlock and jumps back. While in midair, he then holds his cane up and begins firing at me. I spin my lance, blocking the bullets and charge at Torchwick. In one sweeping motion, I lower my lance and in one quick motion, flip the orange-haired criminal's feet out from under him.
He fell onto his back and rolled down the cliff about 30 feet to another flat surface. I slide down the slick cliff surface, readying my lance so I can disarm Roman. Credit to Torchwick again, he has enough instinct to roll away from my attempt to disarm him. He stood back up and faced me. He winced from the nasty-looking burns all over his body.
"You're pretty impressive, Hadrian, to be able to make a reputation like the Golden Dragon. Too bad you won't live for much longer." Roman said cockily. I charge at Roman again, with more effort than before.
Once again, we got into a deadlock. 'We are equally matched at this point. I have to attack him from another angle.' I realize.
I have only one way to get an advantage left. I swing my lance to my left, sending Roman's body weight in that direction. He stumbled for a second and I jump back. I begin channeling what's left of my semblance and aura into my lance and body so I can move faster. My lance silently crackled like thunder during a thunderstorm and lightning flickered around it, lighting me up. Torchwick got back up, loaded a special bullet into his cane and pointed it at me. The scope is out and the gun point is right at my heart.
"Well, it's been nice knowing you. Goodbye, Hadrian Goodwitch!" he said and fired. I lunge towards Roman, lance out front with the intention of splitting the bullet in half. I successfully do so, as the 2 bullet halves fly past me, but the momentum kept me running and running.
However, I can't stop myself as I kept flying forward, unable to stop before the most life-changing moment happens. THUNK! I stare, horrified, at the scene before me. I stood 2 feet in front of Torchwick, my lance right going through his stomach and going out his lower back. Torchwick looked down, shock making its way onto his face.
He stares at me with all his remaining effort. "Wow. Didn't…think you had it in…you…kid." Torchwick said, his voice slurring. The light goes out in his cold eyes and he slides off my lance and fell onto the ground. I stare at the body, completely horrified at my actions.
My mind drifted back to what Cinder had said before our fight began, "You cost me a powerful assassin and Adam." A cold feeling settled in my stomach as I truly understood what she meant. I killed Neo, Adam Taurus and now Roman Torchwick.
Depression began settling in me heavily as I look down at my hands. What would my friends, or even Yang, think about me when they find out about this?!
Suddenly, a loud crashing noise filled my ears. I look up and notice a rock slide coming right at me. I barely jump out of the way of the large boulders, but Roman's body went flying down the cliff towards the roaring bonfire that was once a fortress. Using magic, I banish my lance to my Beacon locker, where I will clean up the blood on it later.
I climb up the cliff, past the smoking crater, to see the end of the other fight. My friends made a ring around the 3 combatants, Raven and Perseus against Cinder. Behind Yang, Mercury and Emerald lay on the ground, unconscious. Their hands and legs are tied, their hands bound behind their backs in case they try escaping.
Slowly but surely, Cinder began losing ground to the powerhouse duo that mercilessly attacked her. Perseus then gave a feint to Cinder's right, which gave Raven a clear opening to punch Cinder on her left. She took the attack and stumbled a little. Perseus took advantage of the brief pause and severed Cinder's legs from the rest of her body. The girl fell to the ground on her back, battered, bruised and burned.
"It can't be. I'm a Deathless. I can't be killed by you." She growled. Then she glared at Perseus. "Why would you do this to us? Without the humans or Faunus, my Deathless brothers could have ushered in a new age." (AN: Anyone can guess who she's somewhat quoting there? :D)
Raven and Perseus glanced at each other. Perseus nods and gave Raven his sword, in which she smiles in gratitude for. A cold feeling hits my stomach, knowing what they're up to. She walked forward until she stood over the defeated Cinder, a murderous look in her red eyes. "This is for taking me away from my family for so long and turning me into a monster." She says bitterly and stabs the sword through Cinder's chest.
I stand there, stunned. Perseus's sword began emitting a blue fire that engulfed Cinder. She tries desperately to pull the sword out from her heart, but the weapon is quickly sapping her strength. Her amber eyes glint and she opens her mouth to say something else, but nothing comes out. Slowly, Cinder's arms go limp.
It's now obvious that Cinder Fall is now dead.
We all just stare at the scene. "Well, that's something." Yang said, who looked pretty disturbed. Not that I blame her.
Qrow got out a Scroll and began quickly typing on it. "Alright, I have secured us a trip back to Beacon Academy. It will take a while to get here." He said.
All at once, we let out a sigh of relief. Then James turns his attention to our 2 prisoners. "What do we do with these two?" James asked.
Yang lifts Mercury up by the neck. He looked very battered and scraped up from his brawl with Team RWBY. "It's simple. We croak the truth out of them in front of the entire world." She said, her eyes flashing red for a second.
Then she turns around and notices me. "Hey." She said. She dropped Mercury and came over to me. Her eyes flashs with concern. "Are you alright?" she asked, looking me over.
I don't want to talk about what I did tonight, so I lie to her, as much as it gives me a heartache. "I'm fine." I answer and give her a reassuring smile.
She stared at me suspiciously, like she knew something's wrong, but doesn't press the matter. "Hey, where's Torchwick?" Sirius asked, looking around. The others seem to have realized that the infamous orange-haired criminal isn't anywhere.
"He fell off the cliff, thanks to that rockslide you guys caused. He won't be back for a while." I answer. 'Or ever.' I think bitterly.
The others look a little surprised by my answer, wondering that such a criminal wouldn't go down that easily. Thankfully, no one asks any more sensitive questions. We waited for another hour, when we heard the familiar engines of the Bullhead. It flew in and touched down on the ground, just as the sun began rising.
The ramp opens up and we walk on board. The second we're all inside, the ramp closes up and the ship takes off. We all settle on the ground and begin recovering from our action-packed day. I sit down near the edge of the ship, my head leaning against the wall. Now that the last of my adrenaline has left me, I let the exhaustion wash over me. Not to mention my depression only increased as I lay there, thinking back on everything.
Yang came over and sits down right next to me. "Are you really OK? You sure aren't acting like it." She asked, placing a hand around my back and placing it on my other shoulder, before staring at me with more worry than before.
I stare into her concerned purple eyes, agony filling every corner of my body. Oh, how badly I want to tell her, but I just can't bring myself to confess to my girlfriend that I'm now a murderer. "I had a long and stressing previous day. It just caught up to me." I answer. It is truthful, from a certain point of view. The entire day was pretty stressful, after all.
She shoots me a skeptical look, but relents. "Alright. If there's anything you want to talk with me about, don't hesitate to say anything. I really do love you." She whispers the last part in my ear and pulls me into a hug.
I hug her back, only to feel even more hollow about having to keep something big from her.
Maybe I will tell her in the distant future, but not now. For now, I need to celebrate this day.
The day Remnant finally became free from the White Fang's terrorism.
AN: Don't worry, this depression will be short-lived.
Next time, several familiar faces appear again.
Anyway, thanks for all the support you have given me. Soon, I will begin work on another interesting idea I had.
See you all next time!
