It's a Job Chapter 19: A Time For War

"Wait! Wait! I surrender!"

"I. Don't. Care." Ruby stalked towards the cowering faunus, Cresent Rose raised. They had ambushed a patrol near the elevator, and she had not held back. Four White Fang had died before they barely had time to register what was happening. A fifth had lasted a few seconds longer thanks to his quick reflexes, but Ruby had remorselessly overwhelmed him. The last man was pressing himself into a corner, unable to get past the huntress and trying to appear as small as possible.

It wasn't going to save him. Ruby understood now what Yang had felt at Beacon after Bolt had been killed. It wasn't anger, because that was too small of a word. It wasn't grief, because that was too passive. No, this was wrath. Judgement. This was the deliberate destruction of those that deserved it, an avenging of an unforgivable wrong. A small part of Ruby regretted that she had never understood this before, that she had forced Yang to carry this weight alone. Well, it was her burden now. Crescent Rose whistled downward.

The faunus screamed, but the blade never made it to him. A black glyph flickered into existence, only to shatter as the scythe glanced off. Ruby looked over her shoulder at Weiss, who was stepping over the bodies of the patrol. "Really?"

"We need him. Think, Ruby. He can tell us things."

For a second, Ruby flashed back to the scene in the forest two days before when Yang had killed Ilia. Now, in a strange twist of fate, the roles were reversed.

"Fine. Ask away." Ruby stepped back.

Weiss flourished her rapier, settling the razor sharp tip against the man's wishbone. "Hello. I'm Weiss Schnee, owner, manager, and repossessor this mine. If you were being sent to investigate my apparent death, consider your mission complete. Now, you look like a reasonable sort, for a faunus. I'm looking for my brother. Late teens, white hair, annoying voice, would have showed up here no more than two days ago. Does that jog your memory?"

"Uhh... maybe? There was some kind of high security prisoner transfer a couple of days ago. Could have been him."

"You're on a roll," Weiss replied with fake encouragement. "Can you tell me where he would be?"

"All the high value detainees are kept in the lockup by the Doctor's lab, but believe me, you don't want to up down there."

"You might be surprised what I want to do. How do I get there?"

"This is just an old passage miners used to get to the caves. Follow it, takes you to the main staircase. Take that up, you'll get there, but it'll be your last mistake. The things that go on up there..." and the faunus trailed off with a shudder, seemingly more afraid of Watts than of the sword at his chest.

"Thank you, you've been so helpful." Weiss stepped forward, and drove the heel of her hand into the man's forehead. His head bounced off the rock, and he slumped to the floor. She nodded down the stone corridor.

"I told Watts I'd kill him before noon. Let's go, time's wasting."

"Well, I screwed up somewhere."

Blake was dead, of that she was fairly certain. They had been falling through fire and destruction. Yang had grabbed her, there had been a horrible jolt, and then... oblivion. It hadn't been a bad death, she reflected. Quick, clean, and relatively painless. What bothered her more was where she was now. Faunus children were taught from a young age that the Matriarch controlled three realms. Beside Remnant, there was Paradise, the final resting place of those who deserved a pleasant afterlife, and Tophet, the realm where evil-doers were sent to atone for their sins. If she was dead, she certainly wasn't in Paradise. No, the hot, smoky, dark, prickly surface she was laying on was definitely more Tophet-like. The howls and screaming around her lent credence to this theory.

A brilliant flash accompanied by a sharp explosion illuminated her surroundings. Monstrous figures danced around her, locked in a ferocious battle. They looked... almost like grimm. Well, that made sense. Grimm probably were the demons sent to punish the wicked. Blake lay very still, hoping to blend into the stone, terror and remorse choking out logical thought. Maybe if she didn't move, they wouldn't notice her, wouldn't come to torment...

Three more flashes lit the room, and through the smoky darkness Blake almost could discern the figure that fought the demons. Tall, with a mop of blonde- Yang? Yang!

Fear was forgotten. Blake scrambled for her feet, fighting through the throbbing in her head and the pain in her legs. She groped desperately for her weapons. Her fingers found the hilt of her chainsword, still securely fastened to her belt. She yanked it free, and charged into the fray with a war cry. She could figure out where she was and how she got there after she had helped her friend.

A shape loomed ahead of her, and Blake struck out at it with all the strength she could muster. The chainsword bit into the monster, and Blake ripped the blade out with a shower of hot blood. Another flash gave her a split-second of clearer vision, and now she was certain Yang was there too, surrounded by grimm.

"Yang! Yang! I'm here!"

"Blake! Get back! Get against the wall! I can do this!"

Get back? Not likely. Blake waded in, striking down her enemies on all sides. Her faunus vision helped, but it was still chaotic guess-work. A juvenile deathstalker lept towards her. Blake chopped down into its dripping mandibles, but not hard enough or fast enough. The stinger hit her in the leg, and bit deep.

Blake screamed in agony as she fell back. Yang shouted for her, but she couldn't respond. The pain in her leg was taking her breath away. She tried to crawl, but something seized her ankle with irresistible force.

"Well," she thought grimly as she was drug across the floor, "If I wasn't dead before, I probably am now."

And then, the room was bathed in golden fire, and through the haze, Blake saw an angel with flaming hair coming to save her from the dark.

Mortality was a funny thing, Pyrrha Nikos reflected. Hunters lived surrounded by death, until the concept of dying became so commonplace that it was easy to get hardened to it. Pyrrha had seen death in all its forms. Families slaughtered by grimm. Hunters who sacrificed themselves so others could escape. Criminals and outlaws who left the law no choice but the use of lethal force. She knew, as did every hunter, that they took their life in their hands every day. But for the first time in her career, as she stood in the deserted street outside of Mallet Island Medical, Pyrrha was reasonably convinced that this was the end. And to her surprise, with that realization came a certain level of calm. She was going to do her job for as long as she was able, and that was it. Nothing more could be asked.

"They're coming," Ren warned over the team radio.

Pyrrha reflexively adjusted her earpiece and took a deep breath. "Here we go."

A beowolf alpha slunk into the street, and shambled forward with a mournful howl. Pyrrha tightened her grip on Milo, and started forward to meet it. A griffon wheeled overhead, and she realized the two grimm were working together, preparing to attack simultaneously.

"Clever, but two can play." She wound up, and sent her javelin knifing through the cool morning air. She could probably have hit the griffon without her semblance, but why leave anything to chance? Milo destroyed the left pinion of the flying monster with surgical precision, then changed course and fell on the advancing alpha like a lightning bolt. Pyrrha recalled her weapon with a twitch of her fingers, catching the javelin as the two grimm fell.

Somebody cheered from an open window of the hospital, and Pyrrha smiled. Nothing like a good show of force to start a fight. Two down, and about a thousand to go. From the sound of it, Nora and Jaune were already engaged. A taijitu slithered out from between two houses, and hissed threateningly. More grimm pressed forward behind it. The warm-up round was over. The Battle of Mallet Island was on.

"Where are they?"

"Check the ventilation system!"

"I did!"

"Check it again!"

Weiss smirked as she listened to Watts's goon frantically searching the mine. By now they had figured out that somebody had survived the elevator, and whoever it was had begun systematically eliminating everything between themselves and Watts's lab. The inner sanctum was in danger. Panic was running high.

"You might be able to buy loyalty, but you can't buy competence," she mused.

By now, heiress and huntress had made their way up to Watts's level. Security was tighter here, and Weiss had prevailed on her companion to take a stealthy approach. The last thing she wanted to do was to scare Watts into running. Ruby chafed at going around guards instead of through them, but couldn't deny the success of Weiss stratagem. They were positioned behind a large armored dust container, not 15 feet from the sealed door that led to Watts lair, and his guards had no idea.

"Ok, you clear on what to do next?" Weiss whispered.

"Yeah, yeah. The door opens, I mug whoever's coming out, you freeze the door, we're in. We already went over this."

"Good. Now we wait."

Weiss pressed against the cold steel of the container, the embodiment of patient predatory vengeance. Her father was dead. Her brother was kidnapped. The family business that had taken decades to build up hung in the balance, and all this because of the man on the other side the that door. She practically quivered with the desire to drive Myrtenaster through his heart. But for now, she could wait, like a cat allowing a rat to get far enough from its hole that it had no chance of escape when the trap was...

The door slid open.

Ruby was gone before Weiss fully realized what was happening. She raced after the huntress, expecting to see Ruby cutting down whoever was emerging from the lab. Instead, she saw Ruby standing in the door, looking this way and that, obviously confused at the lack of things to kill.

"What are you waiting for? Move!" Weiss shoved her forward into the lab. She punched a large button beside the door, and it slid shut with a soft whine. A blast of ice dust sealed it behind them.

Weiss quickly assessed the situation. They stood at one end of a large room, maybe fifty feet deep by thirty wide. Large specimen tanks lined the left and far walls. Lab equipment filled the right wall. Another heavy door exited on the right. The dominant feature was a very large operating table in the center of the room, surrounded by various medical machines and surgical lights.

"What is this place?" Ruby whispered, almost afraid to break the tomb-like silence of the lab.

"I don't know," Weiss replied as she cautiously advanced into the room. "It certainly isn't for dust research."

"No, it certainly is not." A tall, thin man with a dark mustache emerged from behind a shelf loaded with books and scientific instruments. "Although I wouldn't expect you to understand. A door opens, you run mindlessly through it, and seal it behind you. I've seen animals with better self-preservation instincts. You really think I didn't know you were coming?"

"Watts." Weiss spat as both girls levelled their weapons at the man. "You're just as repulsive as I remember you. Where's my brother?"

"Oh, Whitley Schnee? He's just through there." Watts jerked his thumb at the other door. "I had my people move him to the far end of the cell block because I couldn't stand his incessant whining. He's low priority, anyway. Weak of both mind and body, he makes a poor subject for enhancement."

"That all you need out of this scum?" Ruby asked over her shoulder as she started purposefully advancing on Watts.

"Hold on, you'll get your chance." Much as she wanted to avenge herself on this man, Weiss's curiosity was piqued. "What are you doing all the way up here? Why set up an expensive research facility in some dirty little mine 500 miles from anywhere?"

"Hah! So it has been eating at you! You can't help yourself, you want to know what we're doing here, and you're willing to sacrifice the tactical advantage to learn. A beginner's mistake, but we all have things to learn."

"This has gone on long enough. Let me cut him off at the knees!" Ruby growled.

"You really should agree with her," Watts warned. "After all, she's caused me more trouble than your entire SDC put together."

"Huh?" Ruby paused.

"A week ago I didn't even know who you were. Then, you show up on Jacques Schnee's little hunting trip. Cinder was out there for two reasons. First, eliminate the Schnees, because their usefulness was over. Second, conduct a live-fire field test against an unsuspecting armed force. We sent an augmented, battle trained nevermore to destroy your camp, but somehow, you killed it. That got my attention. Then, you and your sister crash the experiment and completely screw things up. Fortunately for us, we still managed to take Jacques Schnee out of the picture. And then, after all that, you just refused to leave well enough alone. You accompanied Miss Schnee on her ill-conceived rescue mission, and have caused me nothing but trouble ever since."

"Must be galling to have your perfect scheme screwed up by a couple of random huntresses," Ruby sniped.

Weiss stepped forward and raised her weapon. "Well, this is been a fascinating conversation, but I'm on a schedule here. For somebody as smart as you think you are, it sure was stupid to let us in here."

"You are a slow learner, Miss Schnee," Watts scoffed. "Slow, and unimaginative. Remember what I told you yesterday? I wanted you all alive. I need strong, skilled fighters. I was only forced to try to kill you when you continued to violently interfere with our plans. Believe me, your actions have incurred a significant waste of resources. But the game ends now, you have lost, and I will bend you to my control."

"I'll bend? To the likes of you?" Weiss twirled Myrtenaster as she circled Watts. "You will die more delusional than most."

Watts laughed. "Telling a man to go to hell and making it stick are two entirely different propositions." As if on que, the second sliding door cracked open, and beedy red eyes glimmered in the darkness beyond.

The last taijitu splattered under Yang's boot, and a tomb-like silence descended on the cave. She let her semblance drop, and as the golden glow subsided, oppressive darkness cloaked the wreckage of the battle.

"Blake!" Fear jolted through the brawler as she realized she hadn't seen her companion in almost a minute, and she could hear nothing from the faunus now. "Blake! Where are you?"

"Here.." the voice was strained and weak, but at least she was alive. Yang produced her Scroll for light, only to discover the device had been crushed.

"Wonderful. Blake, keep talking. I'm going to have to find you in the dark."

Yang picked her way across the cave toward Blake's voice, stepping over the evaporating bodies of the grimm. The black vapor drifting from the corpses further obscured her vision. She found Blake sitting against a rock. "Do you have a light?"

"Maybe. Check my pouch." Blake spoke through gritted teeth, and Yang was afraid what light might reveal. She carefully opened the small equipment bag on Blake's belt, and found a miraculously intact flashlight.

"Ohh..." The sight that greeted her was not promising. Blood was running freely from a deep gash in Blake's leg, forming a thick, dark pool on the rock. A unnatural gray hue discolored her already pale skin, the telltale sign Yang knew to be deathstalker poison.

"Dust, Blake, we've got to stop that bleeding. Here. Hold still, I'll wrap you up." Yang was already opening the small first aid kit she kept with her at all times.

"Don't bother, Yang. It's too late."

"The frag it is. You haven't lost that much blood." Yang held the light in her teeth as she started wrapping the wound.

"Not the point," Blake sighed. "Poisoned. We both know that even if you stop the bleeding, and you could drag me out of here, it will be hours before you could get me back to town, and by then the venom will have done its work. It's not a pleasant way to die."

Yang sat back on her heels, the truth of Blake's words settling in her mind. Deathstalker poison was a bad way to go. You died in agony, gasping for breath, burning from the inside out as your tissues swelled until your airways and arteries were choked off. She looked Blake in the eye.

"So, what? You want me to just leave you here to bleed out?"

"It was a suicide mission anyway, and I knew it. I don't regret it, and I would do it again if I could."

"Blake, I..."

"It's ok, Yang. Listen, I'm sorry about what we did to you all those years ago. I'm sorry about Bolt, about Beacon, about it all. Please forgive me. Maybe this is how the Matriarch decided to punish me. Let me come so close, and then fail. Tell Ruby thank you, she saved me, made me see there was still some good in the world. Will you do a favor for me, please?"

Yang nodded, suddenly unable to speak.

"If you find my boy, tell him I tried. Tell him I never forgot about him. Tell him I loved him."

"Ok," Yang choked out.

"Good. I'll know that he will know, and that will have to be enough. Now end it, Yang. I don't want to die alone in the dark."

"You want me to... kill you?" Yang's mind recoiled at the thought. She had no compunction about killing her enemies, but to put down a friend like a sick dog? "I can't. Please don't ask me to do that. I'll sit with you."

Blake laughed bitterly. "Two days ago you were chomping at the bit to snap my neck. You'd be doing me a favor, Yang. It's the best way now."

Something hardened in the back of Yang's mind. Something she'd wanted to do for a while now, but hadn't, for fear of the repercussions. Now, it was time. She had never done anything like this before, although she had watched a couple of times.

"Close your eyes, Blake."

Yang put her hands on either side of Blake's head, and firmly held her skull.

Blake closed her eyes, her lips moving silently.

"For it is by our actions that we redeem our past, and by our honor that we earn our future. We rise above our hate, our fear, and join hands for a better tomorrow. I release your soul, and by my hand... forgive thee."

Yang stepped back as silver light washed over the fanus. Blake convulsed, screaming and clawing at her wounded leg as aura blazed from the sting. She rolled onto her hands and knees, gagging on black vomit. Finally, she flopped full-length on the cave floor, exhausted.

"Well, that was a thing. You ok down there?" Yang knelt beside her companion, concerned by the violent reaction.

"Never better," Blake whispered. "Never better. Poison's gone. I can feel it. Don't worry, it's always like that if you've been forcibly locked. I've seen it before."

"Can you stand?" Yang held out a hand, and Blake shakily regained her feet.

"Thank you, Yang. You're taking a huge risk, you know. I would never have asked you to do it. Un-locking the aura of an ex-terrorist faunus slave could send you to prison."

"Frag if I care. They'll have to catch me first, and I wasn't going to watch you die in front of me. You've earned my trust, and anyway, Ruby would have never forgiven me."

"Ruby!" Blake's ears perked up, the energy coming back into her voice. "Where's she at, anyway? And where are we, and how did we get here?"

"Ruby and the Schnee are about four stories above us, I reckon. The elevator imploded, and we would have gone with it, but I grabbed you and punched through another door as we fell. You took a pretty hard hit and blacked out. The grimm set on us immediately, and that's where you rejoined us."

"How long ago was the elevator?"

"Ten minutes, give or take. We need to move. My Scroll is broke, and Ruby probably thinks we are dead. I need to catch up to her before she does something stupid." Yang marched deeper into the cave, showing the small flashlight ahead of her.

Blake followed, reveling in the new energy that coursed through her body. She hadn't felt her aura in five years, and to experience it again was like walking for the first time after a cast came off. Nothing could stop her now. They had seen the absolute worst that could be thrown at them, and survived it. Victory was inevitable.

"Hold. Door." Yang cautiously laid her hand on a heavy steel door that blocked their way. "Hmm. One door to the elevator, one door to the mine. We know these guys weaponize grimm. I'd wager we broke into a holding pen. Lucky us."

"Can we get through?" Blake asked.

Yang tested the knob. "Surprisingly, yes. I guess they didn't plan on grimm trying to open the door, or maybe, given what we have seen so far, they just trained them not to. Either way, this makes our lives easier. Follow me, and stay low."

The two women slipped through the door and closed it behind them. They had entered a wide tunnel, illuminated by a string of lanterns and lined with scattered mining tools.

"Looks like they dropped everything right where it was at and evacuated," Yang observed. "Wonder where all the workers went?"

"That way," Blake pointed up the tunnel. "I can hear many voices. It's faint, even to me, probably out of your range."

Yang nodded appreciatively. "That's not a bad talent. Let's go find somebody that can tell us where they're holding Whitley Schnee. It's a safe bet that's where Ruby and Weiss are heading."

The tunnel climbed and turned, then opened into a large room. Hiding just beyond the room behind a dust trolley, Yang took in the scene. Dozens of faunus in dirty work clothes stood in ranks. A few armed men roamed the room, keeping order.

"Ok! If you've got them all rounded up, start sending them upstairs!" A powerful voice boomed from somewhere beyond the crowd.

"Dust! That's him! That's Reinhardt! He's here! Yang! Yang, he's right there!" Blake practically shook, gripping Yang's hand and pointing.

"Shh! Focus! You give us away here, it'll screw the whole thing up."

Blake fidgeted in frantic frustration as a freight elevator rumbled open.

"March! Move, you animals!" The guards began herding a portion of the faunus into the elevator.

Blake's mind raced. This was it. This was the monster that had beaten her, broken her, stolen her future and child, and he was finally within striking distance. There was no time for caution.

"I'm going in!" Blake announced.

"Wait, you don't know what's in there. The guards will go up the elevator, and then..."

Blake didn't hear the rest. She vaulted the dust cart and charged into the room, chainsword in hand.

"Reinhardt! Show yourself! Come out here and face me you pig! I'll gut you like a fish! Come on!"

Yang watched as the faunus scattered up to the edges of the room and the guards circled Blake. They were going to have to fight their way out, that much was clear, but she still had the element of surprise, and she intended to use it.

A mocking laugh echoed off the rock, and an absolute mountain of a man shoved two faunus aside and stepped into the open. "Kitten! In the flesh! So the boys were right, you really did run off with that huntress. Should have taken the gallows, and saved yourself the pain."

"Don't call me that!" With a scream of fury, Blake hurled herself at the man.

Reinhardt ducked the chainsword and backhanded Blake hard enough to send her sliding across the floor on her back. "Ha! You've got aura now. Well guess what, kitten, so do I. I didn't forget how you cut me, and I won't let it happen again. Take her alive, men. The pet is in need of retraining." Blake regained her feet and dropped into a defensive stance. Rage and humiliation turned her blood to fire, but she knew better than to try to take Reinhardt and his henchmen at the same time. Clear the minions first, then deal with the main threat. The goons drew shock batons and closed in.

CRUNCH! The first man never saw what killed him. Reinhardt stepped back in surprise as his soldier fell full-length, a crowbar sticking out of his head. Yang vaulted the trolley and entered the fight on the run. She blocked a shock-baton with one gauntlet, and blasted the man in the face with the other. Another guard caught a boot in the stomach, and bounced off the rock wall with a resounding crack. Blake ran another through with her sword, and Yang finished the fight by cracking a pair of heads together.

Yang tossed her last two victims aside as she squared off on the giant. "A real man would catch his escaped slavegirl himself. You're a real tough guy when there's seven of you to one faunus girl. Now I think you've got someone up there that belongs to her. Bring out the kid, or I'll show you some retraining of my own."

Reinhardt roared with laughter. "So she told you all about it, did she? I'll admit it, I've missed having her around. By my boy? Belongs to it? Not hardly. I was going to take her alive, but I've changed my mind." He pointed at Blake. "I'm going to put you down like the rabid animal you are." He looked back to Yang. "You, on the other hand, you are coming with me. I'll break you just like I broke her. I was getting tired of her anyway."

Yang's eyes glowed crimson. "We'll see who does the breaking. Come on!"

Reinhardt balled up his massive fists and dropped into a boxing stance. "The pleasure, as usual, will be all mine."

Stab.

Block.

Dodge right.

Low slash through the knees.

The mechanics of close combat were automatic to Jaune Arc. The awkward, unskilled boy that faked his way into Beacon Academy had been left far behind, replaced by a methodical, unflinching paladin with brute strength that rivaled Yang Xiao-Long and swordsmanship on par with his legendary partner. Today, he needed every ounce of strength and skill in his body. Grimm poured into the street outside the hospital like ants swarming out of a hole, and for every monster he cut down, there seemed to be two more behind it.

"Jaune, you have a giant creep approaching your side. It's going to show up at the far end of the street." Ren delivered the news in his characteristic matter-of-fact style.

"Right. How long till it gets here?" Jaune deflected a giant feather from a circling nevermore and buried Crocea Mors in a leaping beowolf.

"Seconds. It's big enough to attack the building directly. I'm sending shooters, but I don't know if they're going to be able to stop it."

"Ok, I'm moving to intercept it. Tell your men to watch their fire." Jaune started for the end of the street on a run, breaking open a canister attached to the back of his shield as he went. Working for the Schnees had more advantages than fat paychecks. A metal disc clattered to the street behind him, and twin antenna popped out. The grimm tried to pursue him, only to encounter a whirlwind of dust fueled lightning. Jaune smirked as he heard howls of pain and smelled burning flesh.

The smirk died on his face as the creep lurched into view and stomped toward the hospital. Creeps varied in size, ranging from the size of a horse to the size of an ursa. This one was more comprable to a three-bedroom home. Spikes the size of a man's arm bristled from its tail, and five feet of shiny horn protruded from its snout. Ren's shooters opened up from the hospital windows, but the rifles did little more than scratch the bony armor on the grimm's shoulders.

"Ren! Have your men focus the little ones, keep 'em off my back while I cut this monster down to size."

"Understood."

Jaune opened his assault with a ice dust grenade. The bomb burst against the creep, encasing its right leg in spikes of ice. As it roared in suprise and pain, Jaune sprinted behind it. The mighty tail swung at him, but the hunter had prepared for this. He locked his sword against the front of his shield, and took the full weight of the blow. Sandwiched between the tail and the shield, Crocea Mors bit into the dark flesh with more force than Jaune ever could have mustered. The blow knocked him back twenty feet, but as he caught his footing, he could see thick blood pouring from a long gash in the bony tail.

"Good. Time to stay on the offensive." The creep tried to turn and face him, but the ice on its leg slowed it just enough for Jaune to dash past the razor sharp horn. He warded off a weakened blow from the tail with his shield, and ducked under the beast. He had to cripple it before the ice broke. With a grunt of effort, he buried his sword in the free leg. Twisting with all his might, he tore through a rope-like tendon.

Cheers sounded above the chaos as the creep toppled forward on its face. Jaune set his teeth, and moved in to finish it. He raised his sword, only to stagger back as a stinging blow caught him in the armpit. His aura took the hit, but it still hurt.

"Ahh! Freaking nevermore!" With a snarl of pain, Jaune spun to face his new assailant. But instead of a feather, Jaune saw an obsidian arrow laying at his feet. He realized the truth a second before woman they had hunted for a year sauntered into view.

"Cinder Fall." He eyed her warily, circling away from the thrashing creep.

"Jaune Arc. I was hoping to draw out Nikos, but you'll do for a warm-up. I'd have got to you eventually anyway."

She came like the wind, closing so fast Jaune barely had time to catch her twin swords on his shield. The blades rang off his gaurd, throwing sparks to either side. Her strength caught Jaune by suprise, and he gave ground to her furious assault. Strikes and kicks rained down faster than he could parry. A jab slipped through his defense, and tore another chunk from his arua.

"Ha! Too easy! You're an embarrassment," Cinder taunted.

Jaune's blood boiled. This woman was making him look like a fool. Time to level the playing field. Tucking his shoulder against his shield, he plowed forward with all his strength. He broke through Cinder's guard, and forced her onto the defense with a powerful stike. Jumping back to create some space, Jaune ripped a second canister off his shield. Cinder tried to renew her assault, only to run into a blast of flaming dust.

"Take that!" Jaune shouted triumphantly.

"I will," Cinder responded cooly.

With a scream, she twirled into the air, fire arcing from her fingers. Jaune's fire dust was sucked into a flaming whirlwind, then the entire blazing cloud descended over him.

Jaune clamped his mouth shut, closed his eyes, and tried to stagger out of the inferno. His aura bled rapidly, and he could feel his skin blistering. He burst out of the fire, and the cool air on his ravaged skin felt like a hundred knives stuck in his body. He fell on one knee, blinking as tried to get his balance. Something struck him in the back hard enough to knock him down on all fours.

"Get up, Jaune, get up!" He ordered himself. This was no place to die.

He looked up, just in time to see a bronze armored boot pass his face at a run.

"Nikos! Good of you to join us!"

Pyrrha didn't reply, and she didn't slow down, and a split second later the two women locked blades in mortal combat.

Author's Note:

Shout out to all of you that thought I spent a hundred thousand words building up Blake's character and then just killed her off in an accident. She's not getting out of this that easily.

Coming soon to a chapter near you, a three-round round, No Holds Barred, no forfeit allowed, winner-take-all cagematch. Tickets will get you the entire seat, but you will only need the edge!