Beta/Creative Assistant: Jefardi

Cover Art: Natzo


Spectrum

Inspiration


"Take this!" Yang swung hard from the left.

Arslan swung from the right.

Their two fists met in the middle, the purple orb that housed Ace's soul between them.

Boom

The orb never stood a chance, the combined forces of the two powerhouse girls shattering it into hundreds of tiny pieces and dispelling the flame pirate for good. A small shockwave radiated out from the shattering, knocking both girls off their feet and sending them sprawling.

Ordinarily, Yang could have shrugged it off no problem. It shouldn't have even knocked her down, but that was just how exhausting that battle had been. It had taken her, Blake, Arslan, and Reese together just to create that split second chance to finally hit him before he just blasted them with flames again.

She couldn't just continue to lay here, however. Jaune needed her help. With a small grunt of exertion she propped herself up by the elbows. Just that caused her vision to swim and the world to look like it tilted.

She checked her scroll and only saw the blurry outline of a red sliver. If she had to guess, she would say that red line was what was left of her Aura. Maybe only about a couple percent? As her vision came back into focus she saw Arslan wasn't in much better shape, visibly struggling to her knees.

That bastard had seriously been way too strong.

They weren't going to be of much help in their current state, but Yang wasn't about to let that stop her.

"I got you." Blake stumbled up next to Yang, wrapping an arm around her back and helping her back to her feet.

"Thanks, partner." Yang grinned sideways and draped an arm heavily over her shoulder. With Ace finally gone and no longer creating walls of fire in their path, they set forward.

Whack

The two of them only made it about two steps before something hard struck them in the middle of the back and sent them collapsing forward.

"You kids just don't know when to give up." Roman sneered, taking long exaggerated steps around to the front. "Always a thorn in Torchwick's side while alive, I suppose it only makes sense you would continue be now that he's a part of me." He lifted Melodic Cudgel and pointed the base of it atop Blake's head. "That ends now."

Bang

The arm holding the cane blew off, disintegrating into wisps.

"You're damn right it does." Reese was holding a pistol with one hand, hefting Arslan up with the other. With a flick of the wrist, Arslan tossed her dagger at Roman and the tip buried itself in his calf. She then gave a yank at the string attached to the end and caused Roman to tumble.

Brandishing her katana, Blake pushed off the ground and dove forward, slicing into Roman's neck and lopping his head clean off. The smug bastard's head rolled to the side and the orb inside was exposed.

Bracing herself for what was about to happen, Yang cocked back Ember Celica and discharged a Dust shell right into it. With another shockwave that sent her and Blake tumbling backwards, Roman finally passed on.

"Damn… I think I've had enough." Yang was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to get back up again. She could feel darkness creeping into the edges of her vision.

Crash

Of course, there would be no rest for the weary as the giant form of Annie collapsed in the distance, hitting the earth with such force the four Huntresses-in-training were tossed into the air before slamming back down on the still tremoring ground.

"Taking a cat nap?" Lily grinned cockily down at her and Blake, having landed with a small thud after the ground finally quit shaking.

"Normally I would give you a high five for the pun… but we kind of need to get to Jaune still. In case you haven't noticed, there's a giant naked chick still in our way." Despite saying this, Yang made no move to stand back up, still trying to reclaim even a little bit of energy.

"The fairies inform me that his life is no longer in danger." Wanda strolled up to them, bare feet not creating any noise as she did.

"So there you have it. We just have to finish this and it looks like everything will be done." Lily bounced Fetch around by her knees and elbows, not at all bothered by the returning tremors as Annie began crawling back to her feet. She didn't seem concerned either by the sudden change in Jaune's condition. The way she'd made it sound before he was on the verge of getting killed, at the very least, that he was seriously injured.

"Easier said than done." Rue appeared next to them in a blink, snapping open her shotgun and loading it with another couple shells. "No matter how we hit her, we can't get that orb to appear. Have you figured out what's going on yet, Wanda?"

"I believe the fairies have discovered a solution, yes." Wanda indicated towards the top of Annie's back. "According to them, the real Annie is located in the nape of the neck. We have to get her out of there if we are to then expose the orb."

"Tch, of course it would be something like that." Rue clicked her shotgun shut and scanned the younger Huntresses over before shaking her head. "Looks like it'll just be the three of us."

"What's the play then?" Lily didn't seem distressed about their odds. In fact, all three of them seemed overly calm to Yang despite the fact that Annie was crouching down, taking a running stance as she prepared to charge them.

"Time to put those team attacks Violet spent all that time making us practice into some good use. You better not be rusty, Lily."

Annie took off, the ground beneath her ripping apart as she pushed off.

"Haha, me? I'm more worried about the two of you, taking it easy and exploring the continent. I'm running a militia, you know?"

Yet not a single one of them seemed to take notice, lightly bantering among each other.

"The life of nomads can at times be very demanding. The threat of Grimm is constant."

"I don't mean to interrupt-" Arslan cut Wanda off there, pointing towards Annie who was going to be right on top of them in about another second. "But that threat seems a bit more pressing than the Grimm right now."

"..." Lily, Wanda, and Rue turned just as Annie swung down with a fist big enough to splatter them all. With a tired sigh, Rue nodded to her teammates.

"Witch Hunt."

"Got it!" Wanda and Lily stepped forward.

The latter winding up and whipping her weapon at Annie's incoming fist. With a powerful explosion, Fetch destroyed Annie's hand and stopped her attack. The white orb bounced out of the explosion and arched way over their heads.

Lily made no move for her weapon like she usually did, instead allowing one of the thousands of glowing green creatures that appeared around them to catch it. The fairies then bounced Fetch back at Annie.

This time the titan was prepared, hardening a part of her skin. That was the ability making her most difficult to deal with and Fetch reflected off the crystal-like skin without even so much as scratching her. The fairies had already moved in close, catching Fetch again and bouncing it back at her.

She wasn't able to harden again that quickly and this time Fetch struck her in the back of the knee. Only to have the fairies once again rebound the ball. This continued several more times, the fairies bouncing Fetch at an increasing velocity from multiple directions.

"On my signal, we switch from Witch Hunt to Titania." Rue once again opened her shotgun. Two fairies flew inside the barrel, turning red and fusing with her Dust shells. "Now!"

A majority of the fairies vanished and without them to bounce Fetch around it flew back, heading right for Lily. The faunus caught her weapon with practiced ease while Annie was still recoiling from the barrage of their combined attack.

Rue didn't give her a chance to recover, blinking up into the air and directly in front of her chest. She pointed the barrel at the titan and pulled the trigger. The two red fairies flew out and collided with Annie's chest, creating a controlled explosion that flashed so brightly, Yang had to avert her eyes.

It also blew a hole right through the titan, shooting the true Annie out from the protection of the giant flesh and exposing her.

"Silver and Gold!" Rue yelled from still high in the air. Yang barely heard it over the shockwave of her and Wanda's combined attack but Lily had no such difficulty, already sprinting forward at breakneck speeds.

Lily went under the legs of the crumbling titan and Rue blinked over it. Annie was between them, spinning out of control as she fell. Lily kicked off the ground and launched at Annie's falling form while Rue dived towards her. They intersected at the same time, Rue's swords and Lily's legs tearing Annie apart and exposing the orb.

With a final toss of Fetch, the orb broke apart and they defeated the last spirit Gluttony had left behind.

"Just what the Hell…" Yang couldn't believe it. These girls were beyond incredible… it didn't even look like they broke a sweat to take that thing down. When the rest of them had tried they hadn't even been capable of so much as scratching her.

Compared to them, Yang suddenly just felt insignificant…

"Being on a team led by Violet had its share of difficulties." Wanda's bare feet stepped in front of her and an open palm was offered to help her up. Yang accepted it and as she stumbled to her feet she noticed the pink-haired girl looking over at her teammates.

Lily and Rue had both landed and appeared now to be arguing about their final combo's execution. Well, maybe arguing wasn't the right word to use as they both wore smiles the whole time.

"I was born and raised outside of the Kingdoms. My people were a group of nomads that traveled the continent of Vytal, dictated by the seasons." That certainly explained her sense of fashion. "It is a dangerous life because the threat of Grimm is constant… and there is a proverb my people have passed down for generations."

"And what's that?"

"The caravan is only as fast as its slowest person." Wanda stated this simply and with a deep frown. "It was meant as encouragement, trying to push all the young ones to be their best and not hold the caravan back. Looking at it optimistically, you could even interpret it to mean that no one gets left behind, because we all move to the pace of the person last in line."

"Sounds more to me like you're calling the slowest person a burden." Yang didn't like that saying and she had a feeling Wanda didn't either.

"I agree." Wanda gave a small, mirthful giggle and an exaggerated nod. "Violet did not like the proverb either and had no problems telling me as such. She was adamant that the strength of the team was not determined by one person alone but by the whole."

"It must have been easy for her to say that…" Blake mumbled this under her breath before continuing in a more accusatory voice. "She's strong, right? From what I've heard she's always been strong. Does she even know what it's like to be the weak one? The one that's holding everyone back?"

"Blake…"

"You are right too, of course." Wanda gave Blake an empathetic pat on the head, fingers tracing her bow. "Perhaps early on, I too found Violet's words condescending? There was certainly friction created from the gap in strength between her and us. I think in some ways we all felt like we were holding her back…"

"But Violet never saw it that way?" Yang knew a little what Violet must have felt like in that regard. Ruby went through a phase too where she felt like she was holding her back because of her age and inexperience.

"No, she did not. Violet pushed us all to become stronger… to her, we all together were more powerful than she ever could be by herself. So she took our strength and skill as a point of personal pride. What made her strong wasn't her Semblance or weapon, but her confidence and the drive to constantly improve herself. It's that drive to ensure those around her do the same that made her a great leader and I imagine a great sister as well."

Wanda glanced them all over and gave a small smile.

"When I graduated from Beacon, I returned to my people, along with Rue, and have been putting everything I learned while away into creating a place I can be proud of. No one do I owe more to for that then Violet." She paused, only for a brief moment. "I apologize, I have held us up long enough. I just felt like sharing that with you is all."

"It's cool." While it was true they really needed to find Jaune, Yang would by lying if she didn't admit that Wanda's words made her feel a little better about her performance compared to theirs. These girls were incredible because they pushed themselves to the limits to be that way, all to keep pace with the one who inspired them.

If Yang and her team continued to do the same, they could be there one day too.


"Jaune!" Olivia bolted upright, indigo eyes wide and darting around in a panic.

Before she could locate him, two gentle hands rested on either shoulder. To her left, she saw Coco smiling down at her. And to her right… was Jaune doing the same, both arms still perfectly attached to his body.

"Hey… you alright?" Jaune greeted her casually, but with deep concern lacing his voice, despite the fact that it should be her who was concerned about him.

"Your… your arm." She thought for sure she had seen herself chopping it off. Part of her wanted to pretend it was just a bad dream. Whisk it away and pretend none of it ever happened. That was made impossible though by the simple reality that he and Coco were here together in front of her right now.

The only way that could have happened was if everything she remembered doing in those… nightmares… was actually true. Which also meant Fox…

Olivia's body shook, both hands coming up to her mouth and tears creeping into the corners of her eyes. "I'm sorry… Jaune, Coco. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Knock it off." Coco's words were a whisper, voice not strong enough to sound harsh like she probably intended them. "We already know none of that was you."

"B-but I… Jaune…." She looked back at her younger brother, noticing the black mark on his elbow where she had been positive she lopped the appendage off.

"Here…" Jaune noticed her gaze and took ahold of her hand, bringing it up to touch the mark. "See? I'm good." She could feel a small ridge, almost like a scar where that line was, but it was without a doubt flesh she was touching right then. His flesh.

"But Fox-"

"You can come pay your respects with me when we get back." Coco cut her off, bringing Olivia's attention back to her. She couldn't see her eyes behind the shades, but lips were tucked in a determined scowl, one with the smallest bit of tremor to it.

"...Back?" She finally asked, not sure what she meant by those words.

"To Beacon." Jaune clarified, his own expression soft in contrast to Coco's. "Rouge, Autumn, and Joan are there. And they're all safe. The others… well, they're a work in progress but I'll save them too."

"Jaune…" He seemed… different then she remembered him. More confident now. Lacking doubt of himself and no longer unsure of his purpose. This change was so drastic she found herself wondering how long she had truly been suppressed by that sword. It was strange, but it was like she blinked and Jaune had all the sudden grown up.

"It's alright, Olivia." His hand began to trace small circles on her upper arm, just gentle enough for her to know he was. "I know things are probably confusing and don't make sense right now… but you're safe, and I'm never going to let anything else happen to you."

She opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to find the words to say. Nothing quite felt right to her, not at all knowing how to talk to this more confident and self-assured version of her younger brother.

"I'm supposed to be the one to say that to you, dork." She tried to inject a small inkling of humor to her breathless voice, but she was sure it came out more like disbelief instead. It felt like her position of big sister was being taken away and there wasn't anything she could do to get it back.

Jaune gave a small chuckle at her words and leaned forward, wrapping his arms around and pulling her into a tight hug.

"You've looked out for me my whole life." His hot breath tickled her ears and caused an involuntary shiver to run down her spine. "It's my turn now."

Despite herself, Olivia relaxed into his hold. While growing up, Olivia always did her best to emulate Violet. She hated the fact that she was the fourth eldest sibling, because it meant Ciel and Amethyst would never listen to her. So she took great pride in the half of the siblings she was older than… but letting one of them take care of her for once didn't sound so bad either, especially right now.

"Jaune!" The moment between them ended as several other girls began to approach from the distance, appearing around one of the walls of raging flames. Leading the charge, albeit with a noticeable hobble, was a girl with wild blonde hair that Olivia didn't recognize.

"Yang." Jaune pulled back from Olivia, only enough so he could shift around and position himself under her armpits as support. With what felt like an agonizing amount of effort, he helped her up to their feet and they stood there, waiting for the rest of Jaune's team to get up to them.

"Are you okay? What happened?" The girl called Yang stopped just short of running into them, far too close if you asked Olivia as it felt like her personal bubble was being invaded. She would allow it with Jaune because he was the only thing keeping her up and he was her brother, but having this other girl so close made her uncomfortable.

"I'm fine, no worries." Jaune shrugged off the girl's worry just like that and pat Oliva on the shoulder as if for emphasis. "As for what happened, I saved my big sister, Olivia." He nodded towards her and then grinned brightly. "Olivia, this is Yang, my girlfriend."

"..."

"..."

"...I'm going to be honest. That's the strangest thing you've said since I've come to."

Jaune laughed at her words, but Olivia did not mean that to be funny in the slightest. Just what the heck had she missed out on? Had it been years since she gotten possessed? Or maybe she still was and this whole thing was a dream?

"...You sure seem fine." Yang didn't look convinced, checking him over again as if scanning for some injury she missed. "The way Blake made it sound, you were in real danger."

"It wasn't anything I couldn't figure out." Jaune deftly avoided bringing up that his arm had been lopped clean off at one point. An observation Olivia nor Coco put words to. If this girl really was Jaune's girlfriend, it was probably better to just leave such details out, especially since his arm did seem fine enough to be able to hold her up right now.

Although, Yang didn't appear to be the type of girl who was going to fawn over him. In fact, she looked more the type to kick his ass for having gotten injured, so Jaune may have been keeping his lips sealed on the matter out of fear rather than any desire to not make her worry. At the very least, that sounded more like the Jaune that Olivia was familiar with.

"Anyways, further introductions." Jaune pushed the conversation along, perhaps a little too quickly as Yang quirked an eyebrow suspiciously but didn't press the issue. "The black-haired girl is Blake, Yang's partner. They're part of team RWBY, in Joan's grade." Olivia nodded to the still silent girl that stood a ways behind her partner.

"You already know Reese." Olivia might have been surprised that Jaune's ex was also here, but she had been shocked so many times in the short period since she'd woken up, she just didn't have the energy for that anymore. "Next to her is Arslan, her partner and leader." Again, Olivia shared a silent nod of greeting.

"Which just leaves…"

"Yo ho! Olivia!" The familiar voice of Lily called from a little down the ways, the chipper dog faunus skipping around the shattered remains of their home as she jogged over to them, waving wildly. In her memories, Olivia could vaguely recall Wanda and Rue having been here too. No sooner did she think that then did she see those two walking up behind their teammate.

"Looks like you managed to make it work out, after all." Rue said that like she seriously had her doubts, resting a hand on her hip and giving Jaune a once-over. Olivia noticed how she also didn't bother bringing up his restored arm, possibly just shelving that conversation for a later time.

"Somehow, yeah." Jaune gave a nonchalant shrug, eyes drifting down to a book in Rue's hand. "So… it survived, after all."

"This? Yeah." Rue held it up and eyed it with distaste for a couple seconds. "Do you want to destroy it? There's not much to be gained from a book that's going to kill our only shot at destroying the rest of the swords."

"Actually, I want to keep it." Jaune held his free hand out, but Rue didn't immediately hand it to him, instead of cocking an eyebrow suspiciously.

"You have a bad habit of not sharing information until you absolutely have to, Jaune. I'm not sure what changed during this battle, but until you're able to give me a concrete reason as to why you're having this change of heart, maybe I should hold onto it?" The free hand Jaune had extended balled into an unthreatening fist and that arm fell to his side.

"I'll tell you all about it when we get back to Beacon. Ozpin needs to hear it too." If there was a reason he didn't want to say whatever it was here, Olivia had no idea. However, that answer seemed to satisfy Rue.

"That's fine. Until then, I'll just keep it with me if that's no problem." She slipped the book into a small pouch on her waist. Jaune made no move for it, but didn't argue further for the book either.

"I think perhaps we should start to move." Blake's yellow eyes shifted around uneasily and Olivia saw the bow atop her head twitch slightly. "Grimm are being drawn to us." With all the battles they had been fighting here, it was amazing they weren't already surrounded by them. Olivia couldn't see them yet, but they also didn't have much visibility where they were.

"Mind if I ride with y'all?" Lily looked at her last two teammates. "I got dropped off a village over and walked my way from there."

"We most certainly have room." Wanda nodded with a happy smile, turning her eyes to Olivia. "You would be most welcome to join us. I know your family ailment can make traveling difficult but the fairies did tend to have a soothing effect on Violet whenever we went on missions together."

A trip without her motion sickness? That sounded like heaven.

"Please." Why Violet ever traveled anywhere without this girl, Olivia would never know.

"Actually… we may need a ride too." Jaune mumbled sheepishly, eyes downcast and foot drawing circles in the dirt.

"What, why?" He refused to look up at Rue's question and when Olivia glanced around, the rest of the group Jaune had come with looked equally hesitant to provide an answer.

"Just maybe…" Jaune started, slowly. "And I mean, only maybe, but it could've happened. We stole a bullhead from Beacon to come out here and kinda sorta… well, crashed it."

"What!?"

"It was Coco!"

"Oh Hell no, you did not just put that all on me!"

And somehow, Olivia felt a little more her age again.


Chapter End


AN: Nope, you didn't miss anything. I purposely skipped the resolution to the scene with Noir after she asked Jaune for that favor. It'll come up again later.

The team attack names for Violet's team. Don't know if you even care, but I came up with them so I figured I would use them. As for the names: "Witch Hunt" was because the inspiration for Wanda's character came from the Witches and wind sylphs of Berserk (manga) and Lily, is part hunting dog. "Silver and Gold" because Rue's color theme is silver and again, Lily is part Golden Retriever. "Titania" was the queen of the fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream and it sounds kind of like Titanium, a metal with a silver-like color, again tying to Rue's color scheme. So that's where they came from.

The omake is kind of long. It used to be two parts, but I updated the last chapter and reworked a lot of Noir's story. While doing that I took the first half of the omake and combined it here.


Omake 45

Rouge vs Cinder


"I now have the power of the Fall Maiden! Do you not understand what that means!?"

"Nope."

Rouge didn't understand anything about what this crazy lady in red was spouting. The only thing that mattered was that this woman was behind everything. All of their battles, the raids against the White Fang, the death and destruction that hung in the air around them; This was her doing.

She and the woman stood on the tallest building in the White Fang's last remaining stronghold. The entire outpost below them was burning. It was nothing more than a warzone now as her sisters fought off what was left of the White Fang forces. Violet continued to battle their leader, some bull-faunus with a katana like her.

Autumn had been injured… and Joan was protecting her. The rest of her sisters were otherwise preoccupied with trying to mitigate the other forces. Which meant Rouge was on her own for this battle.

She couldn't let her sisters down. Violet was trusting her with this mission, having said defeating this woman was something only she could do.

The beautiful woman called Cinder Fall chuckled ironically, running a hand through her long, silky black hair.

"Oh how I pity you… Rouge Arc." She said her name easily, as if she had memorized it. "The youngest and weakest of your sisters. Brought into events that you couldn't possibly hope to understand. I know a little of what you must feel. To live in the shadow of other's greatness. Unlike you, however, I sought to break free from those shackles and now I have achieved a power so immense no one can hope to stop me. I'm finally about to realize my destiny."

"You must be mistaken."

Cinder's arrogant smirk slipped into a terrifying scowl.

"What?"

"I do not feel like I live in the shadow of my sisters. I love them all very much and they are all very kind to me. I would not be as strong as I am now if not for them. I apologize if this offends you but I do not believe you understand me at all. You are simply a bad person that does horrible things, claiming it is your destiny. I think that is a very dishonest way to live."

"You ignorant little-" Rouge hadn't meant her words to be a provocation, but Cinder clearly took them as such. The woman in red waved her hands around like a performer, leaving a trail of flames and fire. She then thrust outward, creating a barrage of fireballs that careened at Rouge with devastating intent.

"Oh my." Rouge was impressed. This woman was clearly quite powerful. It was too bad her opponent was such a bad match. With a small flick of the wrist, Fia Vesta took complete control of her enemy's flames.

The fireballs which had once been flying directly towards her curved out of the way at the last second, looping around her body before sailing back at their former master. Cinder did not appear at all surprised by this event.

Instead, she smirked confidently as if having expected this to happen. Two jets of fire appeared beneath the palm of either hand and lifted the woman into the air. She took off into the sky faster than any ordinary person could hope to move.

Rouge twirled Fia Vesta, the fireballs giving pursuit under her command. Cinder could not hope to lose the manipulated flame so easily as she banked hard, flying past Rouge and behind her. The younger girl slowly turned, yellow eyes not losing track of her target as she bobbed and weaved through the night sky, easily distinguishable by the flames she used to propel herself.

The streaks of fire were slowly gaining, maneuvering far more nimbly than a person possibly could. Not to mention there were several more of them than there were of her. Two of the fireballs cut her off, trapping the woman between them and the ones trailing her.

There was no way for Cinder to dodge and she stopped dead in the air, looking for an escape. That split moment's hesitation cost her and she was enveloped in a powerful explosion that rippled the air and shook the building Rouge stood on.

"..." Yellow eyes darted around, looking for any sign of her opponent. Cinder hadn't emerged from the explosion, at least not that she could tell as there hadn't been a disturbance in the residual smoke.

Tap

Rouge heard her long before she saw her. The only indication that she had appeared at all was the subtle scrape of a heeled shoe clicking down behind her. She spun around, coming face to face with Cinder who had created a black bow, already nocked with three equally dark arrows.

With a snap, the arrows flew.

If Rouge had waited until she understood what was happening, it would have been far too late to defend. However, the moment she heard Cinder touch down, Fia Vesta had already activated.

A spinning wall of fire wrapped around Rouge, completely shielding her from the outside world. This was a defense only Rouge could use, her Semblance protecting her from the blistering heat of the flames.

Those flames dissipated quickly, having already fulfilled their goal in protecting her from the arrows. Before they were even completely gone. Cinder surprised her yet again, breaking right through the front of them, waving away the smoldering fire utilizing her own Semblance.

Rouge tried to backpedal but she wasn't nearly quick enough. Cinder's heeled foot lashing out in a kick that caught her wrist. Fia Vesta tumbled from her grip, hitting the ground with a loud clatter before skidding out of reach.

The victorious grin Cinder wore was cut short the second Rouge's foot came up and roundhouse kicked her in the face.

"Gah-" The beautiful woman fell backward, collapsing to the floor without being able to catch herself due to holding her now broken nose. "You bitch!" She hefted the bow up but failed to knock it with an arrow while still obscuring her face.

Rouge never gave her the chance to recover, twisting in and wrapping her legs around Cinder's arm. With an audible snap and another terrible holler of pain, she disarmed her opponent, the black bow collapsing next to Fia Vesta. Unlike her sword, the bow disintegrated, the ashes blowing away in the wind.

"You know martial arts…?" Cinder was forced to place her free hand on the floor just to maintain an upright sitting position. The whole bottom half of her face was covered in blood, masking any of its former beauty.

"My big brother taught me." Rouge took a step back, freeing the arm she had dislocated. It fell limply to the side, of no use to Cinder anymore.

"Brother?" Cinder looked genuinely surprised by this information. Apparently, the research she conducted hadn't been as thorough as she thought.

"Please give up, Miss Fall. I do not wish to hurt you any further." Rouge hated all this violence and bloodshed. She just wanted it to end.

"You think I've lost…?" Cinder let out a derisive snort. "Did you forget that I have the very power of Autumn on my side?"

"I only know one person named Autumn and she is my big sister."

A powerful wind blasted forth, pushing Rouge back and nearly sending her sprawling to the floor.

Cinder's whole body was aglow with an orange energy Rouge had never witness before, her eyes covered by a veil of fire. She rose from the ground, arms spread eagle as if hovering, no sign of her previous flames present. It was as if nature itself was lifting her, dark storm clouds forming in a swirl and generating bolts of lightning directly over them.

It was as if the very power of the season itself was aiding her.

And with it, Cinder looked to have no doubts about her victory.

Rouge supposed she should have been fascinated by these unexplainable events and unfathomable power that her opponent was now putting on display. Maybe she was even supposed to feel afraid, if the terribly smug expression Cinder was giving was any indication.

"Do you understand now?" Cinder's voice boomed as if speaking through the sky itself. "This is my power... the very power of Autumn herself. That which controls the weather. You are but an insignificant speck in front of this overwhelming force."

Instead, Rouge felt none of that.

Maybe if she had, she would've made a last ditch dive for Fia Vesta. There would be no need for that, however, as she finally understood why Violet had been so confident it should be her to battle this woman.

"You should really give up now, Miss Fall. If this is that ability that made you so confident, I am sorry to say it will have no effect on me." She really did feel kind of bad. Cinder had worked for this power her whole life, yet in the end it was all meaningless because of the simple fact that Rouge was born to defeat it.

This wasn't destiny at work or any other kind of divine force at play. It was simply the people they were. Cinder could never defeat Rouge. It was because Violet knew this that they had been pitted against one another.

In other words, this was strategy and nothing more.

Cinder threw her head back, letting out a meticulous laughter that went on for so long even Rouge found herself both bored and annoyed.

"I get it... this power is so great that you truly cannot comprehend what it is they're looking at. You understand nothing of the inner-machinations of this world and yet you are pitted against it, doomed to fail and die. Such a poor soul. However, do not fret. After I dispose of you I will send all six of your sisters and even that pitiable brother to join you shortly after."

For the first time since their confrontation began, Rouge felt herself bristle at Cinder's words.

"Try it." Her voice conveyed with it the unwavering threat promised if Cinder so much as even continued thinking about trying to hurt her precious family.

"You asked for it!" Cinder's outstretched arms swung forward, coming to a stop as they pointed directly at Rouge. The weather itself reacted to her command, the stormclouds rolling and roaring angrily as lightning surged within them.

There was a flash so bright it obscured everything else from existence and blinded Rouge.

Crack

Rumble

Thunder followed behind the lightning strike, rolling deep and low like the storm's that used to scare her awake at night. Rouge could still remember clambering into the twin's bedroom where she would curl up with Jaune and Autumn with Joan. Or more often than not they would all share the same bed together.

"Hahahahahaha-" Cinder's head was once again thrown back, amber eyes looking up at the night sky as her cackling echoed over the entire outpost.

At least, it did until Rouge interrupted.

"I am sorry, but if that attack was meant to kill me, I do not believe it worked."

Cinder's head whipped back down, laugh cutting short so fast Rouge was honestly surprised she didn't choke. Wide eyes looked down at her in disbelief, as if trying to deny the reality in front of them.

"How-"

"Allow me to explain." Rouge had tried to tell her before but she wouldn't listen. "You appear to be under the misconception that my Semblance is the nullification of extreme temperatures; namely heat and cold." She knew this was what Cinder thought because this was what everyone in the world believed her Semblance to be. Everyone in the world except herself and Violet. Not even Jaune knew what it really was.

"However, what my Semblance actually allows me to do is take any weather condition, including temperature, and instead change its attribute to that of one which benefits myself." And what usually benefitted her was sunlight. Rouge never felt better than when basking in the warm glow of the summer's rays.

"But that means-" Cinder stopped, already beginning to realize the implication of her words.

"And since you claimed that this Maiden power allows you to manipulate the weather… well, I am also sorry to tell you, but that makes it useless since any attack you use against me will only make me stronger."

To prove her point, Rouge generated all the power from that last lightning attack, converting it to pure energy which then flashed outwards like a radiant pulse. All of Cinder's storm clouds and other magical effects were reduced to nothing, consumed like nutrition for Rouge's wave which grew so powerful it lit up the whole night sky, briefly giving the illusion of daylight.

The once self-proclaimed omnipotent woman collapsed to the ground, no longer having the power to support her floatation. Her hands and knees hit the concrete surface of the roof with disturbing cracks. And when she looked up at Rouge, still kneeling on the ground, there was nothing left but overwhelming fear.

Rouge normally hated fighting, especially when the battle was already over, but… just this once she would make an exception.

"So Miss Fall…" She stepped forward and Cinder flinch back in fear. "What was it you said you were going to do to my family again?"

She wasn't even going to need Fia Vesta for this.


"Rouge!" Joan burst out the door to the roof of the building where she knew her youngest sister had gone.

Amethyst had shown up and agreed to take Autumn to safety, giving Joan the freedom to finally move around again. No sooner did that happen and she saw a great big wave of light wash over this very building.

Fearing the worst, she rushed up here as fast as she could…

"Ah, Joan! I am over here!"

...only to feel like an idiot for having worried.

Rouge waved her over excitedly… while sitting on top of the unconscious form of the enemy leader. The normally beautiful woman that had once impersonated a Haven student was beaten black and blue, barely even recognizable anymore.

"Oh my gosh… Rouge, what happened?" Joan walked forward cautiously, feeling slightly terrified herself. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Fia Vesta laying on the ground and out of Rouge's reach. Had her sister actually defeated this opponent using only her fists? That surely wasn't possible.

Rouge looked to bounce the question back and forth for several seconds before giving a nonchalant shrug and a wide smile.

"I won!"