Hey guys!

This is the double upload I promised. This is when everything comes to a head.

This is the end.

This chapter is going to be the longest, and was the most difficult to write in the whole story – but I got it done (and on time, no less! Am I really Xadi or what?) and now you get to enjoy it. So without further ado…

Enjoy!

To Steal from the Cookie Jar

A Rosewick Story

Chapter 17 – Retribution

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The battlefield was filled with White Fang soldiers fighting fiercely against Atlas robots. Roman ducked and weaved between the clashing parties, following his allies into the heart of the fight.

The acrid smell of smoke fought its way into his nostrils, every cannon shot followed by a great crash as burning houses collapsed. The White Fang were losing on the whole, but that wasn't important – what was important was bringing the ringleaders down.

Suddenly, a group of faunus soldiers blocked their advance, led by a blue haired rabbit commander. He lifted a rapier menacingly, his face calm and dangerous.

"Stand down, and we will not harm you."

Roman smirked mirthlessly. "And what, your boss won't?"

"I didn't say that." He entered a guard position, shifting his weight slightly. Before Roman could respond further, Oz-boy stepped forward and matched him.

"It appears we shall be your opponents today."

The faunus fencer smirked. "Then it will be a fruitful bout."

With that, the two went into intense combat, lunges and ripostes interspersed with parries. The other members of the faunus squad tried to engage, but Qrow and Ilia took them on. Blanche, unwilling to leave Ilia fighting on her own, joined the fray. Crimson pulled Roman back and scanned the area.

After a second, he turned to the Jaune. "We can't get past like this. Jaune, take your team and clear the way. We'll follow soon." Jaune nodded with a look of surprise. Roman suddenly realised that Crimson surely had addressed the boy by a name he shouldn't know yet – a thing the young information broker was prone to do. Crimson looked around again, sighing.

"It appears that Team RWBY have disappeared." He stepped away from Roman, readying his cane. "Good luck, Roman."

"You too, kid."

The boy nodded, suddenly glancing behind him. "Thank you. Though looks like you'll need it more than I."

Roman turned, following his gaze. There, standing behind him with flaming hands, was Cinder Fall. He was aware of Crimson quietly disappearing into the fight.

Roman smirked back at her. "You know, we've really got to stop meeting like this."

Cinder snarled. She leapt forward with an enraged shriek, her glowing hot blades clashing against his cane. It was on.

She sent a succession of strikes which he parried with his cane. He lunged, but she ducked back, catching his extended arm with a blade. She followed with a blast of elemental fire, but he was ready; he jumped away just in time for the intense flame to singe his jacket sleeve.

He sent some blows back as she recovered, attempting to bludgeon his way through her blades. She blocked each one but he could see cracks forming in her weapons. The lava sword shattered, replaced instantly by a glass one. The blade was now in his guard, and he took a powerful hit to the chest. He could feel his aura throb as he landed on his feet.

Cinder raised her hand to send out more of her power, but a curved blade suddenly launched her back. Roman looked up to see Ruby settle her weapon in her hands, landing gracefully at his side.

Cinder screamed with fury, lunging towards them both. Ruby span her blade, blocking all but one of Cinder's hits. The one that landed, however took a chunk of her aura with it. She fired a rifle shot point-blank into Cinder's chest, and the Maiden flew back, aura shimmering but not cracking.

Roman gritted his teeth. It was time to end this.

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Blake followed her team as they jumped down from the roof. All around, her former allies fought her new 'friends', attacking the Atlas droids with apparent yet failing gusto. She watched Roman closely, but he and some of the others disappeared into the crowd. Soon, it was just her and her team. Eventually, even they disappeared, leaving her running blind.

She stopped for a second, catching her breath and scanning the battlefield. Behind her, she could see Team JNPR and Roman's friends taking on some White Fang soldiers. Qrow and some others were fighting a high level squad, with Ozpin fencing with a familiar rabbit faunus.

A dark chuckle came from her left. "I suppose you recognise Cobalt. Or have you betrayed us so far that you don't remember your old friends?" She turned. There, one hand on his blade, stood the one person she had hoped to avoid in the fight.

"Adam!"

Adam chuckled again at her fear, a manipulative smirk gracing his lips. "Good to see you still remember us after you so selfishly ran away."

Blake readied Gambol Shroud, her hands shaking a little. "I didn't run away – you drove me away!"

He frowned. "Whatever helps you sleep at night." He moved with frightening speed, arriving before her with his blade drawn. It had taken every ounce of her reaction speed to block the blow, leaving her unprepared for the next. It sent her sprawling, her weapon spiralling away.

Adam stood over her, victorious. "See what I mean, Blake? You're weak. You abandoned us when we needed you!"

"You became a monster!"

"No! No, Blake. Humanity is the monster. People like Ironwood, or Schnee – they just feed the system that keeps us oppressed. The system you are supporting!" He lowered his blade to her neck. "We'd take you back, you know. We all would. You just need to denounce the filthy… humans you're pretending to like and you'd be accepted back into the fold. That's all it would take."

She looked up at him, eyes glittering with tears. The blade pressed harder into her neck, her aura. She'd barely had time to activate it. He gritted his teeth, twisting his sword against her neck to drive the point home.

Suddenly, he was knocked off her. She gasped, suddenly able to breathe, as he landed a few feet away. He looked up, eyes hardening behind the mask.

There, feigning disinterest and looking at the non-existent nails on her right hand, stood Yang.

"Hey there," she said carelessly. "Adam, right? Big fan. Especially when you cut my arm off and traumatised my partner." She brought her fists down, the gauntlet and prosthetic clicking open. "Gotta give you a hand for that one."

Blake was surrounded by white glyphs as Weiss landed next to her, helping her up. She was carrying Gambol Shroud around her waist, sitting next to Myrtenaster on her body. Weiss winced as the shields took rifle-fire, wearing down slowly. She turned to Blake.

"We'll stay here until you've got your bearings."

Blake stared as Weiss pushed Gambol Shroud into her hands. "Where's Ruby?"

"Went off to help the others." She shrugged, smiling weakly. "Honestly, we could have used her here."

Blake nodded, breathing deeply. She knew that fighting Adam alone would have been impossible, but with the others there… there was a chance.

She watched as Yang took a wider stance and rushed Adam, laying into him with her fists.

He took only a few before disengaging, jumping back and blocking the remainder with his sword. Yang switched tactics, leaping into the air and kicking him. He was sent flying back but did a backflip as he flew and landed on his feet. Yang growled, hair igniting.

She launched at him again, blocking his hits with her gauntlets as she tried for pot-shots at his chest. He suddenly disappeared in a blur, speeding around her as a shadow. Yang reached out and clotheslined him, grinning victoriously.

"Oh please," she said. "I spar with my sister all the time, and in comparison? You ain't fast enough for me."

Adam got to his feet, teeth grinding audibly. "God Dammit!" He sheathed Wilt, standing still for a moment. Blake only realised what he was doing when it was too late.

For a moment, time slowed. It was like Blake could see in slow motion as Adam brought Wilt to bear, his semblance supercharged more than it ever had been before by Yang's aura-enhanced hits. The world turned red and black as a colossal wave of energy sprung from the sword, bathing the battlefield in sanguineous light. Blake was too late to save Yang, too slow.

Weiss wasn't. A strong white glyph materialised before Yang's entire body, tanking the hit as it turned to pure ice. Adam looked up in shock as the remains of the ice-wall shattered, revealing Yang unharmed… and Weiss Schnee victorious.

He looked at her in apparent surprise, as if he had only just realised that Weiss was there. Blake got up behind them, Gambol Shroud strong in her grip. He sighed, shaking his head. "When will you girls learn to do as you are told."

He reached up… and took off his mask.

Blake winced at his scarred eye, SDC emblazoned across his face. Yang blinked in surprise. Weiss stared in shock at the letters, painful to believe and yet impossible to deny.

Adam readied himself again, good eye trained on Weiss. "Now you see, girl. This is your legacy. You did this." With that, he lunged.

And Weiss didn't move fast enough.

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Roman dodged another hair-singing blast of elemental energy as he rolled across the ground, lifting his cane and firing a flare at his enemy. She caught it, redirecting the shot towards Neo.

Neo had just joined the fight, hopping over from where she had gotten caught up with the White Fang. She jumped over the shot, rushing the one-eyed madwoman and thrusting her blade into Cinder's face. Cinder leaned back, parrying with her own glass weapons. A blast of air sent her flipping back towards Ruby, who began to send rifle-fire into the shockwave. Cinder blocked them with clods of earth, the spent cartridges dropping to the ground.

Roman ran towards her, getting in a good bludgeon strike before he was forced back by the intense wind. Cinder dropped the air barrier, sending needle-like leaves hailing down upon him. Neo leapt between them, opening up the umbrella to protect them both.

When the barrage was over, Neo rushed Cinder again. She held out her blade, dodging the bursts of fire that Cinder conjured and sent her way. With a strong leap, she thrust the blade into Cinder's aura with all of her strength and weight (which, admittedly, were not all that great). Cinder tanked the hit, grunting as her aura flickered again. She had to be close! Neo was suddenly lifted higher by a rush of wind, throwing her far into the battlefield. Roman could spare her no worry; she would survive the fall. He had more pressing things to worry about.

Ruby stopped firing at Cinder and sped forward with her semblance, swinging Crescent Rose into Cinder's side. Cinder winced, flying to the side from the momentum. Ruby's scythe clashed with Cinder's blades. The lava swords cut deep gouges into the silver steel, melting through it as much as they cut. Ruby winced, retreating a distance and shooting at her with the carbine sniper rifle. Cinder blocked most of the shots with her weapons, but the rest hit soundly.

Ruby flew forwards with renewed determination, spinning with her weapon like a spinning top. It came close to Cinder, but she did a backflip and summoned an ice-spire where she had stood. The scythe hit the column of ice with a resounding crack, redirecting her momentum and shattering the spire. Ruby cried out as she was launched into the horde of White Fang soldiers.

Cinder's aura flickered but did not give out the tell-tale crackle of it breaking. She had to be in the red by now, anything else was impossible. She snarled, readying her lava blades for combat.

Roman lifted his cane, aware of his own aura running out. He let out a breath and charged.

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Weiss stared in shock and mounting horror at Adam's scarred eye. His face was a terrible sight to behold, his left eye discoloured from whatever brand had caused it. This, however, was not the hardest part to accept.

There, across his left eye, the word 'SDC' burned itself into her retinas. It was a familiar logo – not one the company used publicly, but rather as a theft prevention method. A brand was used to burn the logo into the handles of tools to stop people from stealing them.

It appeared that somebody had decided that Adam was their tool as well.

Adam shifted, his good eye trained on her. "Now you see, girl. This is your legacy. You did this."

The words cut deep. Was this what her father endorsed? She felt sick, her stomach turning in an odd mix of disgust and tired resignation. She's known that her father and his policies were bad, but… not this. Not like this.

As she stared into his destroyed eye, she realised that she couldn't move. It was like the gods themselves had grabbed her and held her down in one place. Time seemed to slow as she stared into his eye, entranced.

So entranced that she barely noticed Adam lunging towards her, blade in hand.

The first suggestion that something had changed was the feeling of cobbles on her back. Her head swam, coming back to reality as a black shape moved above her. Somebody had saved her. Who? She focused, sound coming back to her as the hypnotic power of Adam's eye abated. There, protecting her with swords raised, stood Blake.

Weiss frowned. Blake shouldn't have to fight him after what he did. She should be fighting too! But when she tried to get up, her stomach heaved again. She realised she was still delirious, her mind rebelling at the thought what she had seen. Her aura had also taken quite the hit – it was still up, but she was a little aura drunk.

Her stomach heaved again. Okay, very aura drunk.

She felt Yang drag her away from the fight and summoned glyphs around them. They sat there, breathing abating as they recovered their aura. They both used an aura-booster that Crimson had gifted them, feeling their strength returning. Yang's aura was almost broken, and she slumped against the glyphs as she wavered in and out of consciousness. Weiss gathered her strength and looked up.

Blake was fighting Adam fiercely, the two jumping across the battlefield and shooting at the other. Their weapons met again and again as they clashed, sparks flying from their blades.

Blake ducked under Adam's next thrust, kicking out with her legs. She caught Adam off guard, but he sent a few shots into her chest. Her aura flickered, crippled by the attack.

Tears in her eyes, she thrust forward with Gambol Shroud. Adam didn't dodge, grasping the blade and guiding it into Blush. He turned slightly, and Weiss heard a crack. Blake managed to pull the sword out, but it was no use – with one hit from Wilt, the blade shattered before their eyes.

Adam sighed as he kicked Blake over to the pile of bodies, breaking the glyphs on contact. Blake landed on top of Yang, the latter grunting from the force.

"I told you that you'd lose," he said, sheathing Wilt. Before he could finish, however, Ruby suddenly appeared.

She fell amongst them, rolling back up to her feet. She looked around briefly, taking in the pile of her friends and Adam standing victorious, before shifting her weapon to carbine mode. She took two shots, Adam catching both. She lunged forward and span with her scythe, pushing Adam back as he parried the heavy blade.

Weiss struggled to her feet, feeling her strength returning. Ruby continued to hack away at Adam, each his drawing his aura a little lower. Adam tried to turn into a blur like he had with Yang, but Ruby simply matched his speed. Adam managed to jump to distance, sheathe Wilt and charge up his attack. Ruby lifted her scythe to block the shockwave.

The red wave hit her scythe exactly, not breaking her aura. The force, however, carried through; Ruby went flying, disappearing into the chaotic crowd. Weiss raised her rapier and stood tall. She had to hold him off long enough for Blake and Yang to get back up.

Weiss lunged, bringing out her blade to strike him. He parried with his own, retreating a step. He attepted a riposte, but it failed as she blocked it. He growled, eyes narrowing.

"You Schnees… you've done nothing but hurt! Look what you've done to me – to them!" He motioned to the combat around them. "Aren't you ashamed? Are you not guilty?"

Weiss felt a pang of guilt strike her heart but gritted her teeth to bury it. She could feel bad about herself later – she had to help her friends. Getting distracted was what had caught her out in the first place. She quickly summoned a small swarm of lancers – she had been practicing. While Adam struggled with them, Weiss risked a glance behind her.

Yang was awake again, and slowly climbing to her feet. She was helping Blake up, who was putting away her spare aura booster. Yang had found Gambol Shroud's gun and was pressing it into Blake's hand. Blake nodded at her, looking over at Weiss and smiling. Suddenly, her expression turned fearful.

Weiss barely blocked Adam's sword blow, Blake's expression warning her just in time. His eyes were hateful as he started to push Weiss back.

Blake shot at him from behind her. Adam barely had time to react when Yang appeared behind him, fist raised. Weiss summoned a glyph beneath his feet, launching him into the punch as Blake's dust-shots peppered his aura. Weiss followed up with a slash of her weapon's dust cartridges. Yang pushed Adam into the wall of flame, firing one last shot. Finally, Adam's aura crackled as he fell. The battlefield was quiet.

Sure, the fighting had not stopped; but it seemed inconsequential as the three girls approached his body. He was dead. One of their shots had landed after his aura hit, blowing open the back his skull. Adam Taurus was no more.

Blake began to cry, leaning on Yang for support. It soon became a mutual hug, the two falling to their knees in each other's arms. Weiss knelt next to Adam and closed his eyes, a finger lingering on the still warm scar over his right.

He hadn't deserved this. None of them had. And Weiss would make sure it never happened again.

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Roman winced as his aura crackled, breaking. He ducked under a swing of one of Cinder's weapons, blocking the other with his cane. He disengaged, surveying his options.

Cinder had to be close, but Roman was done; a well-placed hit now would take him down permanently. He let out a terse breath, looking around. Everybody else was busy fighting. He was alone.

Cinder launched herself towards him, thrusting her blades forwards. Roman knocked them upwards, slamming his cane into her chest. She responded with a shockwave to the face, launching him across the field. He crashed into the ground, groaning with pain.

Cinder walked up to him, aura finally breaking – just too late for him to beat her. She lifted a lava sword up to his chin, smiling evilly.

"I see you finally get it, Roman." Her eyes hardened. "Nobody crosses me and lives to tell of it. No-one." She lifted the blade above her head, a mad grin on her face.

Suddenly, a shock of silver steel appeared behind her, swinging through her body. Time slowed, Cinder realising far too late what was happening. Her expression contorted as she tried to evade the scythe, but she was too slow.

With the supersonic speed of Ruby Rose's semblance, the blade went cleanly through Cinder's neck. The head separated from the body, flying several feet before landing on the cobble with a meaty thump. The body fell, revealing Ruby Rose behind it.

She was breathing heavily, refusing to look at her kill. Roman realised it was probably the first time she had killed somebody. Ruby collapsed her scythe and ran into his arms, sobbing quietly.

They sat there for a minute, rocking slowly as Ruby's tears subsided. Soon, she looked up at him with red, weary eyes.

He smiled weakly. "You look like you've had a rough day, Red."

Ruby sniffed. "W-well, I w-was thrown like a r-ragdoll." She sniffed again, before smiling back at him. "Twice."

Roman laughed, and Ruby joined in, enjoying each other's presence. Soon, however, Roman stood up. Ruby helped him up, looking at Cinder's body. Its grimm arm was deteriorating, turning to dust as they watched.

"Ruby," he said slowly, "Why did you save me?"

She stared at him in surprise. "What?"

"Why did you save me? You didn't have to. I mean, think about it: if I were you, I wouldn't have."
"Why?"

"Well, y'know… I'm your enemy." He shrugged. "I mean, if she killed me and then you caught her, it's two birds with one stone, right? I don't get it."

Ruby sagged a little. This strange, conflicted expression graced her face before it was replaced with something resembling resolve. She squared up to him.

"You are not my enemy, Roman."

Roman frowned. "What do you mean? I used to be on Cinder's side!"

"Things change!"

"Oh really? How so?"

Ruby stared at him. Then, she let out a growl of frustration. She grabbed him violently by the collar and kissed him on the lips.

Ooh la lah. Love is in the air!

Roman is a lucky man.

Anyway, this is going to be a pretty sparse end notes because this is a double-upload, sooo… yeah.

See you on the other page!