Pov: Ruby
The dragon Grimm flew past me as I fought a Griffon and managed to kill it. But suddenly, I heard a snap, turning to see Roman's bodyguard changing into her standard attire. She winked after she took a picture of me.
Pov change: Ryuki
I ran at the beowolf as he leapt at me. I pulled out a rope arrow and fired at the ceiling and swinging up, dodging the attack and firing at the beast with fire arrows. I watched as it hit the bone armor plating and roared as the fire dispersed and left a small mark. I fell down and fired a frost arrow at it which slowed it down as I ran up, transforming the bow into a staff and hit him with it. It broke free and swiped at me. Luckily, I jumped out of teh way and was in a perfect striking position. I jumped up and aimed my bow, but when he stared at me, all I could remember was…
Satoshi.
When he would give me a jacket when we were cold. When we were starving and he stole me an apple. When he would fight guys who would try and hurt me.
I came back to it when the beowolf swiped again, hitting me this time. I flew back and hit the wall.
I stood up and grabbed an arrow and readied my shot before releasing.
Pov change: Blake
I backed up after seeing my old partner.
"Running away again? Is that what you've become, my love? A coward?" Adam asked.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked.
"You and I were going to change the world, remember? We were destined to light the fires of revolution!" He drew his blade over the Atlesian student. "Consider this... a spark."
I charged at Adam and clashes swords with him.
"I'm... not... running." I grunted.
"You... will." He said as he gained ground in the fight.
He kicked me back, knocking me onto the floor. A nearby Grimm ran towards me, only to be shot by Adam.
"But not before you suffer for your betrayal, my love." He smirked before walking towards me.
Pov change: Sydney
Velvet groaned as she struggled to get up, only to get knocked back down when Coco slammed into her after getting knocked back by a Paladin. Neon and Reese dodged and weaved between groups of us as we fought off against the infected Atlesian Knights and Paladins. Yatsuhashi was fighting a Griffon while Flynt used his trumpet to hold back a Paladin. I looked at Tatsumi as he was wounded but kept fighting. That's when I saw Weiss arrive on the battlefield, but got knocked back another Paladin.
"Weiss!" Neptune yelled.
Yatsuhashi tried to hold back a Paladin's fist with his sword, but he got knocked back. Tatsumi killed a beowolf but was slashed on his back. The Paladin then turned to and started approaching a distracted Ren.
"Look out!" Nora yelled as she took the hit for Ren.
"Nora! No!" Neptune yelled.
I ran over to where Neptune and Coco were as we fired at the paladin. It wasn't even phased by it.
"Uh, this is bad."
"Well, I guess now's a better time than any. Velvet!" Coco yelled.
"Really?" Velvet asked.
"Just make them count." Coco said.
Velvet nodded and walked towards the paladin.
"What are you doing!? She's going to get hurt!" Weiss yelled.
"Just watch." Coco said.
Velvet suddenly replicated Crescent Rose and jumped into the air before landing on top of the Paladin as she dodged its cannon fire. She then replicated Myrtenaster to deflect the Paladin's punch and land a few blows before pushing it back with the Ember Celica replica. After she lands a few shots, she slid under the Paladin's fist, similar to Blake as she uses the Gambol Shroud copy and used its string to trip over the mech, before she moved to the second Paladin by cutting off its hand, and jabbed it in the head with a cleaver.
Before it could react, it is immediately hit with bullets, thanks to Coco's minigun replica. As it moved forward, Velvet switches to using Sun's gun replicas, as she landed another few hits while landing a downward blow from above with a copy of Magnhild, severing a limb.
As the first Paladin attempts to recover, Velvet immediately copied Penny's swords, as she leapt off the second Paladin and slices apart its legs before blasting it at full power. However, the first Paladin sucker punches Velvet.
"Aah!" Velvet flew back.
"Velvet!" Coco yelled.
At this, Coco, Neptune, Nadir, Reese, and I landed suppressing fire.
Before we knew it, Weiss was in front of us and blocked a hit at us using some weird summon of a giant white arm. She swung and the giant sword cut the mech in half. She took a brief look at her summoning before being surprised by a camera flash, which was taken by a smiling Velvet.
But before any of us can take a breath, another advanced Paladin rushed in from the corner and stared at us.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Sun yelled.
Pov change: Ryuki
I slid under a claw as it was inches away from my face. I stood up and fired a fire arrow at the same spot I hit beast. This time, it managed to break the armor a bit and I saw an opening. I pulled out an arrow and pulled back. When the beast looked at me, I remembered another moment.
When Satoshi told me that he had fun with Yang. The first time I ever saw him smile in a very long time.
I came back to it when a piece of debris was thrown at me. I wasn't able to make it out of the way and flew backwards as I hit the wall. I looked up to see the beast roar.
I grabbed my bow and charged once more.
Pov change: Ruby
I threw a low swing with my scythe, Roman's bodyguard somersaulting over it, and dodged the next swing, before performing another backflip to dodge the third swing. I then twirled Crescent Rose before attempting another low sweep, only for her to backflip away from my consecutive twirls. Once I finished my attack, I lodged Crescent Rose on the hull and fired a shot, only for the girl to shatter in an illusion, revealing Roman as he fires a shot back with his cane, sending me flying a few feet, before I lodged Crescent Rose to safely grip myself from the surrounding gales, while Roman walked up to me.
"Little Red, little Red, you are just determined to be the hero of Vale, aren'tcha?" He asked.
"What are you doing!? Without these ships, the Grimm will destroy everything!" I yelled.
"That's the plan!" He said.
I swatted his cane just as he attempted to fire it at me, causing him to move a few feet off-balance, before his bodyguard returns and leaps over her, kicking my left cheek, and using the momentum to flip me over and send me tumbling on my back. She then followed up with a roundhouse to my face, and a rear horse kick to nearly send me careening off the hull of the airship.
"But why!? What do you get out of it!?" I asked.
"You're asking the wrong questions, Red! It's not what I have to gain, it's that I can't afford to lose!" Roman yelled.
As I charged, the bodyguard vaulted over Roman for a powerful kick. She then leapt up, grabbed Crescent Rose, and slid under me, flipping me once more with the hook of her parasol. As I spins midair, the pint-sized powerhouse finished with a roundhouse to the abdomen, as Roman slams the barrel of his cane to the ground and fired, causing the cane to ricochet and hit me, before catching it and firing the weapon once more over his shoulder. The blast is enough to send me holding on to the ship for dear life, with the embedded blade of Crescent Rose the only thing preventing me from falling.
"I may be a gambling man, but even I know that there are some bets you just don't take." He said.
His bodyguard then extended her blade and dragged it on the surface, as she held me at swordpoint.
"Like it or not, the people that hired me are going to change the world! You can't stop 'em, I can't stop 'em!" Roman said.
As I kicked away a Nevermore, I notices the button on his bodyguard's parasol.
"You know the old saying, 'If you can't beat 'em-'"
Suddenly, I reached for the parasol, causing it to open and send his bodyguard flying off the airship, leaving her at the mercy of the Grimm roaming the skies and the raging winds.
"NEO!" He yelled.
"I don't care what you say! We will stop them and I will stop you! BET ON THAT!" I yelled.
As I charged at top speed with the use of my Semblance, Roman gripped his cane with both hands, the left hand holding the shaft, as he quickly caught the projectile with the hook end and hurled it at me, knocking me away, before smacking me with the end of the cane, ramming the weapon in my stomach, and firing another shot, sending me on my back once more.
"You got spirit, Red. But this is the real world!" He whacked me with the cane, sending me back a few feet.
"The real world is cold! It doesn't care for things like your little girlfriend's eye." He said as he landed another coshing, this time on Ruby's legs.
"The real world doesn't care about spirit! It doesn't care about kindness!" He hit me again, but I kicked him in the knee, causing him to lose balance as he prepares a downward strike.
"You wanna be a hero!? Then play the part and die like every other Huntsman in history!" Roman said.
"As for me, I'll do what I do best: lie, steal, cheat, and SURVIV-"
Just as Roman prepared a final, overhead swing, an Alpha Griffon suddenly appeared from the sky and swallowed him whole. The roar sent me back a few feet, before the I charged at the Grimm. I prevailed when I kicked the beast in the head, sending it through the hull and causing the ship to fall and to crash. When I realized this, I grabbed Crescent Rose, leapt off the falling airship, and propelled myself in the air, shooting at the ground as if my weapon was a pogo-stick, before landing safely on the rooftops of Vale.
Pov change: Ryuki
I kicked the beast back as I fired a rope arrow behind me, allowing myself to fly back and land at a safe distance. The beast charged after me and swiped at me. I jumped up and grabbed a handhold and jumped onto the roof. I fell to my knees as I felt the wounds bleed. I injected myself with aura and felt the wounds scar over quickly. I jumped off the rooftop and fired a frost arrow at the beast, slowing it down as I had a shot on the beast. However, when I suddenly heard a loud explosion, I looked to see the last frigate was set ablaze and crashing.
Ruby…
I heard the ice break and saw the beast break out and glare at me.
Pov change: Sydney
In the Beacon courtyard, we stood together, prepared to fight the Atlesian Paladin as it charging toward them.
"If I'm gonna did, I might as well say it. Love ya Sydney." Tatsumi said.
I looked at him and saw his arm was bleeding and he was bleeding heavily.
"I-"
Suudenly, electricity arcs across the mech and suddenly powered down, collapsing and sliding to a stop in front of us.
"Hm. That went better than expected." Sun said.
Weiss doubled over, exhausted, leaning on her rapier to keep herself standing.
"Weiss!" We heard Yang as she ran over to us. "You're all okay! Have you heard from Ruby?"
Weiss shook her head.
"What about Blake?" Yang asked.
"She went after an Alpha... and some members of the White Fang." Weiss pointed.
"What about… Satoshi?" Yang asked.
I looked at Tatsumi who nodded.
"Ryuki went to go after him. But before that, he attacked Tatsumi…"
"I-I need to find him." Yang said.
"Yang, if Ryuki can't get him back. We won't be able to get him back." I said.
"…You guys look for Ruby. I'll meet up with Blake." Yang said as she rushed off.
Pov change: Ozpin
In the Beacon vault, an elevator opens up to see the machine. The three of us immediately sprinted out of the elevator and down the corridor.
"What is this place?" Jaune asked.
"It's... a type of vault." Pyrrha said.
"You've... been here before?" Jaune asked,
After a moment of silence, Jaune spoke again.
"What would this school need to... hide?" Jaune asked as we reached our destination.
"What? Who?" Jaune asked.
"Jaune..."
"Pyrrha! Get to the pods!" I yelled.
Pyrrha looked at Jaune, then ran to the second pod.
"Mister Arc, if you'd like to help, you can stand guard here." I said.
"Did you know? About Satoshi? About Ryuki?" He asked.
"Jaune, this is not the time or place for that." I said.
Jaune looked down before standing guard.
"What do we do now?" Pyrrha asked.
"WE, do nothing." I said as I opened the second pod.
I turned to Pyrrha.
"YOU, Miss Nikos... have a choice to make." I said.
Pyrrha looked at the pod, then at Jaune, hesitating. Her expression changed from uncertainty to sadness, as she wiped a tear from her eye, still looking at Jaune. She then climbed into the pod, which I closed.
Pov change: Blake
"This could've been our day! Can't you see that!?" Adam yelled.
"I never wanted this! I wanted equality! I wanted peace!" I yelled.
I raised my sword, folding it into its sickle mode, and shot at Adam, who blocked both bullets with his sword.
"What you want is impossible!"
He sheathed his sword and backhanded me across the face, knocking me over.
"But I understand because all I want is you, Blake.
I began to raise my sickle again, only for him to kick it out of my hand, knocking me over once again.
"And as I set out upon this world and deliver the justice mankind and those Grimm twins so greatly deserve, I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love." He said.
"Blake!" We heard.
We looked and saw Yang shoot a white fang memeber before yelling, "Blake! Where are you!?"
Adam looked at me to see my terrified expression, then returned his gaze to Yang.
"Starting with her." He said.
Pov change: Ryuki
I flew back and felt my arm was near broken. I looked and saw I had one last arrow in my quiver and my bow in my other hand. I heard the beast when it turned the corner to see me.
Satoshi…
I reached over and grabbed my bow and with my sprained arm, grabbed the last arrow and nocked. I grabbed the bow and I pulled back as hard as I could, aiming at the spot that I opened.
The beast growled as it charged at me and leapt into the air.
Pov change: Ozpin
"Are you ready?" I asked.
Pyrrha looks at me and gave a slow nod.
"I... I need to hear you say it." I said.
"Yes." She said.
"Thank you, Miss Nikos." I said.
I pressed the button and the aura transfer began. The process was… affecting Pyrrha as she screamed in agony.
"Pyrrha!" Jaune said.
Jaune ran over to Pyrrha's pod, moving his gaze back and forth between Pyrrha and Amber's pod. While the boy watched, I couldn't.
"I'm... so sorry."
Suddenly, an arrow pierced the glass of Amber's pod, striking her in the chest. Amber gasps, and her eyes open, then begin to close again, while the machine begins beeping an alarm. Jaune and I turned around to see Salem's apprentice standing halfway down the corridor from them, an obsidian bow in her hand.
Pov change: Blake
Adam drew his sword and stabbed it into my abdomen near my left hip, causing me to shriek in pain.
"Huh?" I heard Yang ask.
Adam stands upright, pulling his sword from my flesh and turning to face Yang.
"Get away from her!" Yang yelled.
"No... please..." I begged.
Adam sheathed his sword, smiling. Yang screamed, her eyes turning red and a burst of flame erupting from her. She leapt at Adam, drawing her fist back with tears in her eyes. Adam swiftly drew his sword, swinging it through the air at Yang, as his Semblance activates. As Yang flew through the air, the lower half of her right arm separated from her body.
Pov change: Ryuki
I screamed loudly as I let the arrow loose and watched as it pierced through the beast until I could only see the feathers.
Pov change: ozpin
Amber struggled to breathe, her eyes wide, the machine's alarm still going. Finally, all breath left her. Her eyes drifted shut, and her head leaned to the side, her whole body going limp. The green flames that lit the torches throughout the vault suddenly snuff out.
Pov change: Blake
I watched as Yang flew through the air, beginning to lose consciousness, with glowing yellow Aura splattering out from her wound. She landed on the floor and laid there on her side, completely still.
Pov change: Ryuki
The Grimm coughed up black ooze as it collapsed onto the side of the wall and slowly began to shrink until I saw the paling skin of Satoshi.
Pov change: ozpin
Pyrrha frantically beat her fists against the glass of her pod. The orange glow left Pyrrha and traveled back through the pipes into Amber. The glow then bursts out of Amber, shattering the glass in its way, and entered Cinder. The murderer glows, begins floating, and gains long trails of flame around her eyes, with orange energy swirling around her. Pyrrha beat even harder on the glass, her stress increasing. Jaune raised his sword and charged toward Cinder.
"Stay back!" I yelled.
Cinder cast a large fireball toward Jaune, who blocked it with his shield and was blasted backwards, landing on his back.
"JAUNE!" Pyrrha yelled.
Finally, Pyrrha used her Semblance to rip the pod's door off its hinges, threw it at Cinder, who knocked it away like it was nothing. As Cinder began to descend to the floor, Pyrrha leapt out of the pod and charged, calling her weapon and shield to her with her Semblance. However, I put my arm out, stopping her.
"Take Jaune and get out of here! Find Glynda! Ironwood! Qrow! Bring them here right away! The tower cannot fall!" I said.
"But I can help." Pyrrha said.
"You'll only get in the way." I said as I looked at her.
Pyrrha hesitated for a moment but obeyed me, scooping up Jaune and running away. While she does so, Cinder descended to the floor and watched them leave, with the glow, the swirling energy, and the flames around her eyes all disappearing. Cinder turned her attention back to me, her eyes still glowing for a moment.
Pov change: Ryuki
I slid up to Satoshi and held him closely.
"Ryuki…" He said.
I looked at him and saw him bleeding heavily from the arrow's wound.
"You have to go… find Ruby and get out of here…"
I shook my head.
"You have to… do it for me… I may die here… but I'll be damned if I let the same… fate happen to you…" He said.
I began to cry as I realized he was right.
"Hey… look at me…"
I stared at him and saw him smirk.
"I'm proud…" he said.
His eyes slowly began to shut as he lowered his head.
I was bawling at this point as I hugged Satoshi's body.
Pov change: Blake
Adam slowly walked toward Yang's unconscious body and swung his sword out to the side, casting blood from the blade. Before he could reach her, I threw herself between them, giving him a determined stare.
"Why must you hurt me, Blake?" Adam asked.
I used my semblance to make a fake Yang and I. As he decapitated the fake Blake, I managed to get away with Yang.
Pov change: ozpin
"This whole time... right beneath our feet. She was right about you."
I flipped my cane upside down.
"Such arrogance." She said.