Here we are.

Cover Art: Kegi Springfield

Chapter 37

Ruby grumbled and answered her scroll, ignoring Weiss' sleepy call to throw it out the window. "Mnf," she said, yawning. "Hello?"

"Ruby! I need – you – bzz – help."

"Jaune?" He sounded worried and angry, and from his voice he was shouting to be heard past some mechanical noise she couldn't quite make out. There was static in the call too, cutting his words off at odd moments. Even so, she'd caught one word – help – and instantly woken up. "Jaune, what is it? What's wrong?"

"Glenn – coming through the – Vale. Need you – respond. Everyone."

"Jaune, I can't hear what you're saying," Ruby shouted, raising her own voice so he could hear her better. Yang and Nora were startled awake, though both remained silent at the tense look on Ruby's face. "What's wrong? Where are you? Why do you need help?"

On the blurred and flickering screen she caught Jaune's scowl once he realised the messages weren't getting through properly. She could only make out a grey background, some flashing lights, and what looked to be Jaune's shoulders encased in a strange black outfit.

"No – can't – time."

"I can't hear you properly!"

"Grimm!" Jaune shouted. "Vale. Grimm. Va - imm. Va – Grimm. Vale. Gri-"

The scroll cut off suddenly. In the end, Jaune had chosen to say only two words, repeating them over and over in the hopes she'd understand. Ruby didn't, not fully, but she had enough of an idea to make her feel sick. The other members of her team looked worried, too.

"Grimm and Vale," Yang whispered. "I don't like the sound of that."

Neither did Ruby. She rose from her bed.

"I think we need to talk to Ozpin."

/-/

Jaune scowled when the call ended but saw there was no signal and nothing he could do. He stashed it away and hoped Ruby had gotten enough of the message to understand. Now bereft of support from the VSS, who for the meanwhile thought him dead, he had to think outside the box. Ruby was the best he could come up with.

A quick look at the screens showed Roman and Oobleck further through the cars, along with a small retinue of White Fang that would prove a challenge even to him. If only he could cut their cars and leave them behind, but he couldn't do that to Oobleck and his own team was behind them, further down the train and dealing with the bombs.

He couldn't even tell them to stop or prevent those cars de-coupling, since ignition or not, several tonnes of dust slamming into Vale was bound to be set off. Team ABRN had to defuse each bomb in turn and then decouple the cars so that the dust harmlessly came to rest in the tunnels. The VSS would probably come and clear it out later, assuming they weren't busy trying to kill him once they realised he was still alive.

The VSS won't even matter if I die here. My only chance is to save Oobleck and hope he can pull out a miracle. And that, sadly enough, was going to require him to slow down Torchwick. If the thief got to the controls he'd cut the back cars and leave Team ABRN stranded with the Grimm. Jaune needed to slow them down and quickly, since there was a chance they might try to push past and take control if he fought them here.

Torchwick against him was bad odds even before the White Fang were brought into it, not to mention the enclosed space and the possibility of Neo being around. He couldn't fight them alone, at least in a fair fight.

Well, it was a good job he wasn't interested in a fair fight.

/-/

Oobleck's eyes took in the interior of the train as he was led through it, White Fang behind with weapons drawn to keep him moving forward, and Roman ahead, leading the small group. They were in the tunnels connecting Mountain Glenn to Vale, the place where it had all begun.

"It's just like old times," Roman quipped. "I can feel the nostalgia even now. It makes me remember them, our teammates, when I'm like this. Can you remember them, Bart? Do you remember them?"

Bartholomew Oobleck didn't respond.

"Neither have I. There wasn't a night that went by where I didn't remember them," Roman said. "Ah, those were simpler times. Just the four of us terrorising Beacon, despised and respected in equal measure. Everyone there knew not to mess with us." He shook his head. "Whatever happened to that, Bart?"

He didn't answer.

"Oh right, now I remember. You killed them. You collapsed the tunnels on their heads while they were protecting civilians. They were crushing in front of our eyes, reaching out as if asking us to help them." Roman's cane clicked down on the metal floor and he took a deep, audible breath. He faced away but it was impossible not to imagine how angry he looked. "Good times, Bart. Good times."

The teacher turned his head away, looking down toward the metal plates under their feet. The guilt he wore was obvious, though not enough for Roman, who chose to prod just a little further.

"Once the train hits and tears a chasm through Vale, the tunnels will be opened once more and the Grimm will run rampant. Of course I'm sure everyone will be able to stop them in time and seal this place back up, but not before you're discovered. Do you think your pals will try and keep you safe, even after people ask just why you were found at the epicentre of the disaster? I don't. I think they'll throw you to the wolves the first chance they get."

"Ha, and look at me – telling you my plan in advance like some kind of two-bit villain. I always laughed at idiots like that, but you know what, when it's personal, sometimes you've just got to do it." Roman turned back and glared at him. "This just wouldn't be worth the effort if you didn't know what was going to happen to you. It's the suspense that makes it better."

The White Fang behind roughly pushed him along, ignorant of his tightly bound wrists or the pained look on his face.

"Well, there's not much now to do but wait until it hits and-" Roman glanced ahead, to the door to the next compartment which a White Fang grunt was already reaching towards. His eyes widened. "Wait, don't touch it!"

Too late. The faunus placed a single hand on the door, before he went rigid and gasped, vibrating for a moment before he was blasted away with a loud crack. His back impacted the wall of the train and he slumped to the base. If the lack of movement wasn't any indication he wasn't getting up, the blood pouring from the eyeholes of his mask was.

"What the hell was that?" the faunus who had been beside the unfortunate other gasped, backing away from the door.

"Well, unless the door bit him, I'd say it was booby-trapped," Roman said, voice thick with sarcasm. He strode forward and used his cane to push the grunt aside. "Up there," he said, nodding. "You see those wires pulled from the ceiling and touching the door? I'd wager there's something attached to the other end. Heh, lucky I wasn't the poor bastard to try and open it."

"He's dead!" one of the others gasped, touching his friend's throat. "That door killed Frank!"

"Yes, and I'm sure the door will rue the day it challenged the White Fang," Roman said, rolling his eyes. "Spread out, idiots. The door is trapped from this side, which means out little friend is in here with us. Or above." He looked to a wiry and thin wolf faunus. "You, climb out the window and check the roof."

"M-Me? What do I do if someone is up there?"

"Scream out before you're inevitably killed. It'll at least give us a warning."

The unfortunate volunteer looked to his friends for help, hoping one of them would stand up with him against the very dangerous criminal. His friends, who had worked with him for months, all avoided eye contact. With a fretful whimper he made his way over to the window, teasing it open and letting the sound outside in, the rushing of the tracks and the wind.

There was decent clearance between the train and the tunnel wall, several feet in fact. The faunus placed one foot on the window sill and poked his body out, prepared to clamber up the side of the vehicle.

A pneumatic `pop` and a whistle sounded from outside. Blood splashed onto the windows and the faunus slumped out, falling onto the tracks and being swept away. He never made a sound. Roman casually drew out his cigar case, placed one in his mouth and lit it. He took a deep breath and then let it go, blowing out some smoke.

"So," he said. "I don't know about you lot, but I'm going to take that as a `yes, someone is out here` kind of thing. No scream though, so hey-" Roman grinned, "-maybe I'm overthinking it."

No one dared speak lest they be chosen.

"No? Fine, then I guess you're all on board with us not being picked off one by one. That's good. Now stick with me and do exactly what I say. Perry-"

"My name is Banesaw," the large faunus growled.

Yeah, sure, because someone had a kid and called him that. "Alright, Banesaw, I need you to stick here and not let anyone get by. These lot-" He shook Oobleck for emphasis, "-like to attack from behind where they can. If those brats catch up, slow them down."

"Hmph, I'll kill them myself."

Roman wasn't so sure, nor so confident in the brute's skills. "That would be nice. Anyway, back up from that door please. I'm about to give you a lesson how to deal with sensitive electrical equipment."

His cane came up.

The metal door exploded away, propelled down the car ahead until it crashed into a container and came to rest with an ear-splitting clanging sound. The wires that had once run a current through it hung from the ceiling.

"Mind your head," Roman said, hauling Oobleck in front of him and pushing him through the door first. "Looks like your little protégé is making daddy proud," he hissed. "Talk about an annoying brat. VSS sure knows how to pick them."

Oobleck chuckled silently.

"Then again, maybe crushing dreams and spirits is a hobby of theirs. How many kids have been turned into emotionless machines, eh? Wonder if any of them bit the dust for it recently."

The laughter stopped immediately.

The next car along looked untouched on first inspection, though he was hardly about to trust that after what just happened. As the White Fang nervously crowded in behind him, he let his eyes wander over the floor, noticing the tell-tale patches where someone had walked, disturbing the dust that had fallen from numerous crates.

"M-Maybe there's nothing here," one of the faunus behind him whispered.

Roman rolled his eyes. "Yeah sure, and maybe it was all just a freak accident or a particularly inquisitive rat. Don't be idiots. If you think it's safe, you can feel free to walk through it."

The faunus didn't move.

"That's what I thought." Roman frowned. The element of surprise was gone after the door, so it wasn't likely there would be any more traps designed to spring at the first sight of someone. After all, the kid knew he could just push his hostage forward and be done with it.

So, remote or user-operated ones, then. Dangerous enough, but it meant the kid would need to be close enough to see them. The control room was out of the question – too distant – but that didn't mean there weren't other means. His eyes scanned the corner above him and quickly found the tiny lens. His cane spun a pirouette for a moment before he jabbed it up, crushing the tiny camera.

"Nice try kid, but you'll have to do better than that."

As if in answer, a metal ball tinkled down from the ceiling and rolled towards them.

The White Fang ducked and dove, but Roman simply held an arm over his face and clenched his eyes shut, knowing it couldn't be anything too explosive for the sake of not harming the hostage. True to form, the object exploded into bright white light, echoing a terrific bang that seemed to shake the car itself. Blinded and disoriented, Roman still had the sense to aim Melodic Cudgel upwards, towards the ceiling, and pull the trigger.

The brat had to be up there or it wouldn't have made sense to booby-trap the windows. An explosion of dust carved a hole in the thin sheet-metal ceiling, exposing rushing wind and wires above. Roman fired three more shots for good measure, each impacting in a different spot and tearing through the roof.

"Come out, come out Jaune. I know you're there – and you know we had a deal." He ignored the way Oobleck's eyes widened. "You're on my side, remember? There's no reason to hide away. I still need you to deal with Cinder, after all. I'm hardly going to kill you here."

The roof above and behind him cracked inwards with a muffled explosion – and Roman only had the time to gasp as a black shape swung down through the hole, impacting both feet on his chest. He was thrown back down the car.

"Forgive me if I don't take the chance," Jaune yelled, unmasked for once. With all the White Fang down to avoid the explosion, he flicked out a knife and crouched low, cutting Oobleck's bonds and freeing the huntsman. "I'll explain what he said later," he hissed to Oobleck. "I promise."

"Tch." Roman gritted his teeth and stood slowly, cracking his neck with one hand. "Cute, kid. Real cute."

"Give it up, Roman. The White Fang can't hold up against huntsman. It's as good as two against one."

Roman cocked an eyebrow. "Is it?"

A sharp blade tickled the underside of Jaune's chin from behind.

`Oobleck` stuck his tongue out and winked.

/-/

Another explosion ripped through the tunnel behind them, scattering Grimm in every direction. The tell-tale ka-chunk and shake of the car told them they were still ahead of schedule, even as they sprinted and leapt onto the next one. That made four now, and they'd prevented each one from tearing holes in the tunnel walls.

"These White Fang just keep on coming," Pyrrha gasped as they were challenged yet again. "Don't you realise if you fight us here, you'll be caught if the car explodes?" Her question was posed to the deer faunus she was fighting, who showed no regards for her safety and snarled back.

"They're fanatics," Blake called, the word sour in her mouth. They were the worst of what joined the White Fang; those who for which equality and justice meant little. It was anger and hatred that fuelled them on a never-ending campaign to make humans suffer for the sake of it.

Adam had despised them once, but it appeared he now saw their value. It was just another sign of how far her mentor and old lover had fallen.

"The fanatics don't care about who or how many die, even themselves. There's no reasoning with them." She backhanded another, knocking them off the train and to their inevitable death. "Keep fighting and keep moving. They're crazy, but they're not strong."

Ren and Pyrrha proved that much as they nodded and tore through the combatants, disarming and disabling them with every blow. Pyrrha's Semblance made short work of four, tossing them aside as the three students made their way to the next carriage.

"We're approaching the front of the train," Ren said. "They can't keep having explosives here or there won't be any left for Vale." He looked about the tunnel and frowned. "If we're not already in Vale as it is. It's impossible to tell."

"There will be a final payload," Blake guessed. She wished Jaune would respond to her messages but didn't dare try and bother him. "Those miniature Paladins we faced earlier were probably meant to be used by the White Fang to survive an impact, so there must be some final explosive car – one bigger than all the others. It might even be the front and the engine itself."

"We'll need to find Jaune, then."

Blake nodded. Having reached the cars that had opened to disgorge Paladins onto the rooftop earlier, they slipped down and through the hatches, into now empty cars. It was nice to be inside where the wind wasn't constantly whipping their hair around but there was no time to waste and they hurried on.

It didn't take long for them to start to see evidence that something had passed through before them. Some faunus were slumped at the side, unconscious, while others were clearly dead.

"What do you think happened here?" Pyrrha asked, not pausing in their sprint.

"Jaune," Blake replied.

"What? Could Jaune really do all this? It's not that I doubt his skill," Pyrrha added, though she had every right to. "It's just… could he really kill people?"

You'd be surprised, Blake thought. Knowing she couldn't say that however, she made up a quick excuse. "He probably didn't. Some of them are knocked out and I imagine that was his handiwork. The others look to have been killed by guns, which Jaune doesn't have."

Pyrrha made a sound of understanding. Friendly fire, while rare with trained people, was a very real possibility in the close confines of the train, and with terrorists who felt they had nothing to lose. Either way, it told them they were catching up. Jaune had to be further ahead, and hopefully Oobleck would be with him. Blake was the first to the door ahead, yanking it open and charging through.

Straight into the whirling teeth of a chainsaw.

There was no time to dodge or process it – just a gasp as she saw death approach and a desperate attempt to throw all her aura in the way. She needn't have worried, however. Pyrrha cried out and the chainsaw's mechanism split in two, torn asunder by the force of her Semblance.

The blades still struck home, knocking Blake back, but it was a weak and clumsy strike and she rolled with the impact, wincing several feet away and nodding her thanks to her teammate.

Before them stood a giant of a man, easily seven feet tall and rippling with muscle. Blake didn't recognise him, at least not from her time in the White Fang, but it was easy to see the flicker of aura about his body.

"Be careful," Ren said. "This one is dangerous." His eyes flickered ahead, and he frowned. "The two of you go on. I'll deal with him."

"Ren!" Pyrrha gasped.

Blake frowned, too. Ren didn't strike her as the type for machismo last stands or foolish nonsense, however, so she asked him, "Can you take him?"

"He's lost his primary weapon. I can deal with him, but it'll take time. Time Jaune might not have."

"Alright." She skirted around, tapping Pyrrha's arm and nodding for her to follow. "Catch up with us when you can - and be careful."

"When am I anything but?"

Good point. She'd trust him; he'd never done anything to make them doubt him, and the faunus before them was down his dangerous weapon thanks to Pyrrha. Blake rushed by, ducking under a meaty arm that tried to stop her. Ren charged in behind, engaging the faunus and keeping him distracted.

There was no time to lose.

/-/

"Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in. I bet you really thought you had me, didn't you?" Roman laughed. "Talk about arrogant."

Jaune's fury smouldered but there was nothing he could do, not with Neo holding a blade against his throat and the White Fang collecting themselves after their shock. He'd had such limited options that causing a distraction and rescuing Oobleck had been the only option.

Looked like Roman realised that.

"Where is Oobleck?" Jaune asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Roman turned to the faunus about them. "You lot go back and support Banesaw; see that this one's friends don't make it to us." He watched them go, hurrying out of the room. Once they were gone, he sighed. "Well, that ought to keep your friends busy for a minute or two. Can't expect much more from this lot, but it'll do."

"You won't get away with this, Roman."

"Won't I? Cut the dramatics, kid, this isn't a movie. Bad people get away with stuff all the time and the good suffer for it. Far as I can see, I'm already on top here." His smile fell. "Still, you had a chance to stop the train and end all of this. I'm surprised you didn't take the chance… or that those bastards didn't order you to."

"They did," he answered. "I refused."

"You-?" Roman laughed, hands clutched to his stomach. "Oh kid, I don't know whether to thank you or cry." His mirth faded quickly, replaced by a grimace. "But you made the choice he couldn't. At least for that I'll give you my respect."

"I don't need it."

"Maybe not but take it anyway. If you were him, your team would be dead already." Roman cocked his head as the sound of combat echoed through the train. "Neo, go back and hold them up, won't you? I can handle `John` on my own."

The blade on his jugular flicked away and the girl nodded, back in her normal visage. She slipped away, turning invisible, and the door behind opened and closed on its own. He prayed Blake would remember what her Semblance was and act accordingly. There was little else he could do. His hands were free now, but Roman was before him and ready for any movement.

"Was this your trick all along?" he asked. "You made it sound like we'd be working together against Cinder, when all you wanted was to betray me."

"I warned you I would, didn't I? But no, this isn't a trick – at least not as you see it. I still do want to move against that bitch and I still need you for that. Thing is, I've got unsettled business with Oobleck. Dirty stuff," he admitted, "but something I can't leave be."

"I'm not letting you kill him."

"Let me? Kid, you can't stop me." Roman didn't smile. If he had, Jaune would have lost it then and there. "Do you think he's your friend, that he cares about you? Don't be an idiot, kid. That man turned on his own teammates of three years, best friends and people he spent all his time with. There's a very strict order when it comes to Bart. Vale, the VSS, and then everyone else. You might be fortunate enough to fall into the middle one rather than the latter, but you'll still be thrown aside when the city is in danger. If it was him at the front of the train, we'd all be dead already."

There was little denying that and Jaune knew it. The VSS had ordered him to do it, and almost any other Agent would have. It was cruel, disgustingly so, but he knew that he was the anomaly here, not Oobleck.

Roman's face fell. "There's no convincing you, is there? Even now that you've gone against them – and they'll never forgive you for that, you know – even now, you're going to stand against me. We could work together. I've brought them low once and I intend to do it again."

"Is this the part where you ask me to join you and that together we can take down Vale?" he asked sarcastically. "Because if so, the answer is no."

"Kid, be reasonable."

"I can't be," he admitted. "Everything you say makes sense and I know I'll be in a lot of danger back in Beacon." Magician was still there after all, and probably loyal to the VSS, not to mention however many other agents they had. "But I became a huntsman because I wanted to do good…"

His face fell.

"No, that's not right. That's what I told myself, but it's not the truth." He sighed. "I became a huntsman because I wanted to feel proud. I wanted respect and maybe in a way, without ever realising it, I wanted to be able to respect myself."

Because no matter how much his family loved him, he'd never felt like he deserved any of it, like he had anything worth liking. Shy, awkward, weak… and none of that really mattered, but back then, as stupid as he'd been, it felt like it did.

What an idiot he'd been.

"I was selfish, and maybe I still am, but I don't think I could look myself in the mirror if I joined you here, Roman. I'm sorry."

"And you'd be willing to die for that?" Roman asked.

"I… I don't know." Death seemed so final, so frightening. And he was a coward inside, he knew. "But I'm doing it right now, so maybe I am."

Actions spoke louder than words. Even if he doubted himself, he couldn't doubt what he was doing right now, could he?

"Sorry, Roman. I've made my choice."

/-/

Blake rolled under the silvery blade, avoiding it by a few millimetres. It followed her, seeking flesh, but Pyrrha caught it on her own and drove the diminutive girl back. "Go on without me," Pyrrha yelled. "Find Jaune and help him against Torchwick. I'll hold her off."

"She's dangerous," Blake warned.

Pyrrha flashed a smile. "So am I."

"Her Semblance is illusions," she called, earning a disgusted look from Neo. "She can turn invisible, make you believe you're seeing things that aren't there and slip away instantly. Watch out for that."

Pyrrha nodded and filed the information away, taking a more cautious approach. Even so, she cut Neo off from the door she'd attacked from, giving Blake a chance to push on for Torchwick and Jaune. She took it with only a moment's hesitation. Pyrrha would be fine; she had to be. Jaune would not.

Several White Fang awaited her in the next car. Blake growled and dove into them, lashing out left and right with reckless abandon. They were so unprepared for her blistering assault that two fell almost immediately. Panic set in and they opened fire. Blake summoned two clones and used those to distract, slipping by and under a rifle, cutting the man's wrists so that he dropped it, and then hurling him into the back of one of his friends.

"Traitor!" one howled, no doubt recognising her. "You're a Belladonna. You were supposed to be loyal!"

"I am loyal," she replied. "It's you who changed." She cracked his skull against a wall and left him to slump to its base. The last dared to face her still, though he shook violently.

"Stay back! S-Stay back!"

He opened fire when she moved forward. Blake slipped around the clumsy shots and slapped his weapon from his hands. Gambol Shroud's ribbon wrapped about the man's neck, threatening to choke him, and she kicked the back of his knees to bring him to his. One hand gripped his hair as she leaned down.

"Where is Torchwick?"

"A-Ahead," he panted. "He's ahead."

"And Jaune?" When that brought no recognition, she frowned. "A blonde human, where is he?"

"W-With Torchwick."

Damn it, not good. She was about to knock him out when another thought occurred to her. "Where is the prisoner you took before, the huntsman from Beacon?"

"H-He's in the main cargo car," the terrorist whimpered. It meant nothing to her, a fact which he quickly realised. "It's back the way you came from – four or five cars back, the one filled with containers and crates."

Blake recognised it. They'd been through there earlier but seen nothing, certainly not Oobleck. "You lie."

"No, no, no, I swear. He was choked out and stuffed into a locker. H-He has a bomb on him!"

The final bomb – the payload. Blake slammed a fist into the back of his neck and pushed him down, looking back once to the path she'd come and where Oobleck lay. He'd be back past both Pyrrha and Ren, not to mention their fights. Did she push back through them all to try and save Oobleck? That would mean leaving Jaune ahead with Roman Torchwick.

She bit her lip until it almost bled.

In the end, she realised it wasn't her decision to make. With a heavy heart, she pushed on, crashing through the door and into the next. Before her stood Jaune and Torchwick, the latter in a position of power, stood before Jaune. She saw Jaune's lack of a mask and didn't know what to make of it. When she saw Torchwick with weapon in hand, however, such thoughts fled entirely. He saw her come in and cursed.

"Tch, I guess there's only so much Neo can do on her own." He ducked back when Blake squeezed off a shot, and that miniscule opening allowed Jaune to leap back as well to stand beside her.

"Thanks," he whispered, and then raised his voice to Torchwick. "You're outnumbered, Roman. Surrender and we can still end this."

"Oh, and you'll promise me a fair trial, is that it? Face it, kid, you'll be killed by the VSS the moment this train hits. We both will."

Blake's eyes widened. "Jaune, what does he mean?"

"I'll explain later," he promised. "Just… things are complicated."

"Ha, is that so?" Roman laughed, having overheard. "No, no, I think this should be out on the open. Secrets can break a team, after all. What the kid means, little lady, is that the VSS ordered him to collapse the tunnel and bury you all – just like they did so long ago."

"W-What?" Blake glanced to Jaune, hoping he would disagree.

He didn't.

"Of course, Oobleck took that order and ran with it – killing my team, but your boy here? Oh, he chose you over them." Torchwick's teeth clenched together. "If only that bastard could have made the same call."

Blake had no idea what to think. The realisation that they'd come so close to death without even realising it shook her, and while Jaune's refusal to do it – and she'd known he would – calmed her a little, it didn't do much compared to the knowledge that the VSS would do it in the first place. She'd become a huntress to avoid this kind of stuff, not to dive back in.

"Question is, will you make the same decision twice? The two of you have me dead to rights. Give it your best shot and you might take me down. Of course, that'll not do much for dear old Barty-boy, now, will it?"

Blake gasped. "Oobleck is being kept back in one of the earlier cars," she hissed. "He's become the bomb that'll set off the whole train."

Jaune tensed.

Roman laughed.

"Well, there you have it, kiddo. Fight me, kill me, or try to save your superior." He swung his cane down to lean on it, for all intents and purposes content to leave the decision in their hands. "It's your call here. If you leave me be, I'll personally make sure this train hits Vale, and then I'll escape and bring down the VSS myself. Of course, I'll also take down Cinder, so you have that going for you. On the other hand, kill me here and avoid that, but take your own chances with the VSS. Oh, and Bart dies, of course."

The decision, if one could call it that, was impossible. Blake kept her mouth shut, knowing it wasn't hers to make. She did nudge her elbow against Jaune's however, hoping it would let him know she was with him no matter what.

"You're a monster, Roman," Jaune spat.

"I don't deny it, kid. But I wasn't born this way. Your kind made me what I am. It's decision time, though. Tick-tock, tick-tock."

Jaune snarled and turned, running away. Blake spared one final glare for Torchwick, which was answered with a wide smirk, before she too turned and left. They'd have their vengeance another day, but right now it was important to make sure the amount of vengeance required didn't grow any bigger.

/-/

Glynda shuffled awkwardly as she stood outside in the early morning air, alongside Team RYWN, several others from older years, and also the headmaster and her other colleagues. Even James was there, determined to offer his assistance alongside his men. They stood before the plaza the headmaster seemed certain would be the point of disaster – if the message Miss Rose received was as bad as it sounded.

To be fair, the girl been frightened enough to convince him, and there wasn't much of a way to misconstrue the Arc boy's communications.

"Are you sure this will happen, Ozpin?"

"I'm neither sure nor confident, but I am willing to take the risk," he replied. "Team ABRN were sent to Mountain Glenn for the express purpose of discovering why the White Fang had an interest in it. The possibility of Grimm being led to Vale is a very real one, and one we cannot ignore. This was once the terminal to Mountain Glenn." He indicated the plaza, which had now been cemented over, with not a sign of what had once laid here.

There was not even a memorial for those lost; the city preferred to forget its mistakes.

"If they are to come from anywhere, it will be here. Unless, of course, the White Fang have dug entirely new tunnels – which I highly doubt."

Indeed, they had the element of surprise, or should have had, so the effort required to construct an entirely new route would have been wasted. Glynda saw Team RYWN adjusting their weapons, Ruby Rose looking everywhere she could to catch sight of any threat. Glynda knew from the dance that the girl had some connection to Mr Arc, and prayed for her sake that the team were safe and well.

In the distance, Glynda caught the sound of rumbling – like thunder, and yet beneath the ground.

"It's coming," Ozpin said. He raised his voice. "Everyone, prepare for impact – and remember, our goal is to seal the breach, not to exterminate all the Grimm. Hold your ground and look after your teammates."

"Sir, there are people on the rooftops…"

"I see them, Glynda," the headmaster replied. "And I know them."

"Friends?" she asked.

"I would not go so far as to call them that. Keep your wits about you. I've a feeling we'll need them."

The thundering wheels beneath the ground grew ever closer.

The impact, the culmination, the finale – of this story arc, anyway. And where is Cinder in all of this? We'll see, I suppose. We shall see. Sorry for the short chapters on this fic, but I've been hellishly busy on my weekends of late. I'm still looking after my sister's animals while her leg heals, and now my parents have gone on holiday, meaning I've had to move into their house to look after all their horses and such while they are gone.

It's all added work and eats into what time I have available. Oh well, such is life. It's meant that this fic's chapters have become a little smaller, making this arc take twice as long as it should (at least in terms of weeks, if not words). Not much I can do about it, sadly.

Next Chapter: 29th April

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur