"Do you wish to feel the teachings born of the Mandalorian Wars? Of all wars, of all tragedies that scream across the galaxy?" -Kreia, shortly before executing the remains of the Jedi Council.
Chapter 19: Chaos
30 minutes ago...
Standing atop the roof of one of the academic buildings overlooking Beacon's docks, Cinder Fall watched the battle between Jaune Arc and the soldiers of Atlas with rapt attention, her eyes never leaving the shadowy form of what used to be Jaune. Meanwhile her allies Emerald, Mercury, and Neo watched the scene in silent horror. They knew Jaune Arc was a threat, but they didn't know how to even start processing what they were looking at.
"Mercury." Cinder began, drawing the silver-haired boys eyes away from the fight. "Are you ready to help spread my message?"
"Uhh…" Mercury gaped at Cinder, having been so distracted by the fight he didn't even have his scroll out. When he saw Cinder's eyes narrow at his lack of response, he immediately fumbled out his scroll and aimed it at the battle. "Uh yeah, totally boss."
Cinder then grew a sadistic smile as she said, "Good. Then begin the broadcast."
At her words, Mercury pressed a button on his scroll and began to live stream directly to the CCT. With their control over the tower, it was simple for them to hijack the broadcast and change it from whatever tournament fight was going on, to the battle in front of them for everyone across Remnant to see. Cinder smirked as she was about to go off script, but she was confident that her improvisation was going to inspire just as much fear as the execution of the Atlas android.
"People of Remnant… You have been lied to. " Cinder began her voiceover. "Beacon Academy. Atlas Academy. All of the huntsmen and huntresses continue to lie and lie, all to cover up a single truth as to not cause a panic."
Mercury continued to film Jaune as Cinder spoke, making sure to capture the moment he flung the student Arslan off of Beacon's cliff.
After pausing for dramatic effect as the student's death was shown to everyone on live television, Cinder continued. "The Grimm are not some faraway problem that only the poorest of villages deal with. They are not some rabble of mindless beasts, but an army, led by an intelligent force."
At her words, Mercury zoomed in on Jaune's shadow form, this time throwing his sword at Weiss while slamming Ruby into the ground with his telekinesis. In truth, Cinder had no idea what Jaune was. She didn't believe he was one of her Mistresses' followers, as there was no way Salem would've kept a power like him hidden away from her. Absolutely no way. But at the very least, Jaune would prove an effective patsy and fall guy for her, taking all the attention while allowing her and Salem to move undetected.
"Those in charge would hide the truth from you. The truth about how close the apocalypse truly is. Neither Atlas and General Ironwood, nor Vale and Professor Ozpin are truly prepared to protect their people." As Cinder spoke, she watched as Jaune removed some student's head using the remains of Ruby's weapon. After a pause to let what just happened sink in, she continued. "They have been so focused on defeating each other, preparing for war between Atlas and Vale, that they didn't even realize one of their own students was a monster."
Cinder then nodded to Emerald, who quickly used her own scroll and began typing. Luckily for Cinder, she had the foresight to know something was happening when Jaune began his breakdown, and had the mint-haired thief record the whole altercation. With a press of a button, Emerald broadcasted the recording, showing the whole world Jaune Arc putting on the strange mask of his, then transforming into his pseudo-Grimm form.
Once the video was finished, Cinder let the video cut to a red screen with a black queen chess piece in the center. "These so-called 'leaders,' are selfish, foolish men who have led their people to ruin. And now… because of their failure, all any of us can do is pray that we will come out of the following storm alive."
As Cinder finished her speech, she nodded, and Mercury cut the transmission, broadcasting only static. Cinder smiled. She could feel the fear in the air. The terror. Grimm from all over were now converging on Vale as she spread her message. Not only that, but Adam and his pack of animals were on the way to Beacon as well, along with some of the Grimm they had captured. Now, Beacon would fall, and with it, she would gain control of the power that was rightfully hers.
"Uh, Cinder?" Mercury stammered out, drawing the half-Maiden from her fantasy.
"What!?" She snapped back as she glared at the crippled assassin.
To her annoyance, Mercury didn't respond immediately, only pointing to the sky. Following his finger, she felt her jaw drop and eyes widen as she watched Jaune pull an Atlesian Airship out of the sky and throw it at Beacon.
"Isn't that the airship that Roman is on?" Mercury said as he was finally able to find his voice.
At his words, Neo looked up and in mute horror, came to the same realization. Once Cinder regained her wits after seeing the sheer absurdity of the action, she turned to the others, yelling, "We are leaving, now!"
This command snapped them out of their own dazes and they immediately turned around and moved. Luckily for the team of teenage villains, they were far enough away and fast enough that they were able to escape the massive explosion of Dust behind them. Once the apex of the explosion finished, they turned and paused to look at destruction that was wrought, Cinder almost looking on in admiration, while Neo looked on in despair.
"Come." Cinder then spoke, drawing eyes to her. "We're pulling back to Amity Arena. The civilians will be clearing out of there, and the huntsmen and soldiers will be leaving to deal with invasion. We will let them fight it out and exhaust themselves, before moving in for our final objective."
Cinder turned around and began leaping between rooftops as she scanned for a bullhead they could hijack. Quickly, Emerald followed, with Mercury sparing a tentative glance at Neo before moving on as well. Neo, tears falling down her face as she looked at the burning wreckage of the airship, eventually turned to follow, as she now had nowhere else to go.
Darth Nihilus stood over the destroyed ruins of Beacon's Airdocks. Fires spread out across the trees and merchant stalls that once spread out across the fairgrounds. The Remnantians he was fighting, the huntsmen and huntresses his host knew, were now spread out across the devastation, either having escaped the explosion or were dead and unconscious amongst the rubble.
As the Dark Lord stepped forward to continue his hunt, something drew his attention. Looking up, he saw the circling forms of nevermores, the crow-like Grimm swooping down and landing beside him. The Grimm looked at him, heads tilting in confusion as they tried to ascertain what Nihilus was. Meanwhile, Nihilus looked at the Grimm with curiosity in turn. While he had been on Remnant for some time, he had very few opportunities to actually look at a Grimm in person. He felt them when he was but a soul trapped within his mask, but to now look up on them with his own eyes, they truly were beautiful.
These Grimm, were pure Dark Side. Unlike Sithspawn like the terentateks or tuk'ata, these were not animals mutated by the Dark Side, but physical manifestations of the Dark Side of the Force itself in the form of monstrous animals. Nihilus could only imagine how envious Sith alchemists like Naga Sadow and Exar Kun would have been towards the Grimm's creator. An infinite army of darkness was the dream of any Dark Lord.
Regardless, as these creatures were made of the Force itself, that meant two things for Nihilus. One, he could feed upon them, much like his host had discovered weeks prior during the Breach. And two, he could twist them to serve him.
Reaching out with the Dark Side, Nihilus tore his way into the bestial minds of the avian Grimm. Much in the same way one would use the Force to Beast Trick an animal, Nihlus used the Dark Side to dominate the mind of the Grimm, forcing it into servitude. The nevermores struggled and spasmed as Nihilus gained control over them, until their minds were completely and wholly dedicated to him.
Satisfied with his work, he let the Grimm go, allowing them to return to the air and begin hunting for survivors. Before Nihilus could move on, the sound of jet engines then drew his attention. Turning, he watched as several bullhead dropships flew above Beacon, seemingly avoiding the ruined airdocks and Nihilus himself. Nihilus considered ripping the airships out of the sky, but he felt something within. Darkness, anger, and hate oozed from the occupants, and it wasn't directed towards him.
Nihilus watched as the bullheads hovered over the far side of the campus, and opened their doors. From within, he saw ground-based Grimm such as ursa and beowolves being dropped, unleashed upon the unsuspecting students, as well as members of the terrorist organization the White Fang.
Now that was curious. Someone was using his return to enact their own attack against Beacon. Nihilus would say it was an interesting coincidence, but he knew there was no such thing. Regardless, the machinations of others was not something he was concerned with.
Reaching out, he searched if there were any other founts of the Force he could drain. While he could drain the Grimm, his ability to control them made them more useful to him alive. And as he reached out, Nihilus felt three sources which he could feed upon. The first was at the top of Beacon Tower, and the second far below it. The third was currently moving towards Amity Arena with great haste. This third source was the strongest Force signature he could feel, and therefore his first target. And so, with a Force empowered leap, Nihilus began hunting.
Present time...
Ruby and Pyrrha crouched low behind the rubble as they stalked their prey. Two White Fang grunts currently standing in front of the closest entrance into Beacon Academy. One was currently casually looting some dead students of their Lien and other valuables while the other kept watch. Almost growling, Ruby could only look at the terrorist with anger at his actions. These people were her friends, her classmates, many of them were Faunus, and he was fucking looting them.
The huntress felt her grip tighten around her weapon. With Crescent Rose destroyed, Ruby was forced to resort to taking a Dust Rifle from a deceased Atlas Soldier, along with whatever ammunition he had on him. While even she could see the slight hypocrisy in judging the White Fang soldier for doing something similar, at least she did it for survival rather than greed.
"Ruby…" Pyrrha whispered beside the younger team leader. "How do you want to do this?"
Ruby quickly glanced at her older friend, before coming to a decision. "We'll take them out, but we have to do it fast and quiet. We can't give away our position." Pointing at the grunt who was looting, she said. "My semblance can get me close enough to him that I can probably knock him out before he calls for help. Can you get the other one?"
Glancing at the grunt on watch, Pyrrha nodded. "Yes. I can take him out with my javelin." As she said this, she shifted Miló into its spear form.
"Ok, on three." Ruby grit out as she clutched her rifle. "One. Two. Three!"
At her count Ruby burst into a cloud of flower petals and made right for the White Fang grunts. The terrorist on guard saw her approach, pointed, and was about to shout, when Miló slammed into his chest, spearing him away. The looting grunt turned at the noise, confused as to what was happening, when Ruby reappeared in front of him, Dust rifle raised.
With an angry cry, Ruby brought the butt of the rifle down on the grunt's face, instantly knocking him to the ground. The grunt groaned, and Ruby instantly smashed him in the face again, knocking him out. Standing over the unconscious body, Ruby called over Pyrrha, who recalled her weapon as she quickly caught up. Before they had a chance to speak, the sound of a nevermore squawking above them caught their attention.
Looking up, Ruby quickly turned to Pyrrha. "Hurry, let's go inside!"
Without hesitation, the two huntresses rushed indoors and hopefully out of sight of any Grimm. Now in relative safety, Pyrrha and Ruby took the chance to catch their breaths. Ruby was finally able to take the time to really take stock of what her rifle could do and how much ammo she had, while Pyrrha moved to dig out her scroll.
Dialing Nora first, Pyrrha listened to the call ring several times before the line went dead. Sighing, she then pressed the holographic buttons and called Ren instead. After a few rings, Pyrrha gasped as Ren answered the call.
"Ren!" Pyrrha practically shouted, drawing Ruby's attention too.
"Pyrrha! Ruby!" Ren whispered, but obviously happy to see them. "Is it just you two?" he asked, moving his scroll as he tried to see behind them.
Pyrrha nodded her head. "Yes. We woke up near each other. Where are you? Where's Nora?"
"When we fled, the explosion knocked us far back, around the Great War Memorial." Ren then sighed as he turned his camera, "And Nora's right here." moving his camera, they saw the unconscious form the Nora Valkyrie, heavily burned and obviously worse for wear. "When the airship hit, Nora… tried to cover me with her body, shield me from the blast." Ren said through grit teeth, obviously angry at the whole situation.
Pyrrha gasped at the state her friend was in, before collecting herself to reassure Ren. "Don't worry Ren, we'll get her out of this."
Ren returned a tired smile, when Ruby moved in front of the scroll.
"What about Blake and Weiss? Have you seen them?"
Ren shook his head. "No sorry. A lot was going on back at the docks."
Biting her lip, Ruby took a calming breath before responding. "It's fine, at least we know where you two are. But we need a plan."
Pyrrha and Ren nodded in agreement, both looking to Ruby to take the lead.
Ruby was slightly surprised by this, but quickly realized it made sense that she was in command, being the only team leader there. Steeling herself, she quickly came up with a shell of a strategy.
"We need to fall back, head to a rally point where we can meet up with the others." She began. "Any ideas where the others might head to?"
Thinking on this, Ren then added in his two-cents. "Beacon Tower. With the airdocks destroyed, any other survivors would be heading out to Beacon Tower."
Pyrrha nodded her head at his assessment. "It is both the largest and most defensible structure in the school. If there's anywhere survivors are meeting up, it's there."
"Good thinking." Ruby agreed. "OK we'll make our way to Beacon tower. Do you think you can get there with Nora, Ren?"
"Yes. My semblance should be enough to hide the two of us from the Grimm, and the White Fang aren't exactly being subtle with their actions, so I can easily avoid them."
"Alright. Good luck Ren, we'll see you there." Ruby said.
With a silent nod, Ren hung up.
"Do you want to give Weiss and Blake a call?" Pyrrha asked as she turned to the younger huntress.
Ruby then, dug into her pocket, and disappointedly found her scroll broken. "Just my luck." she muttered.
"Here, let me-" Pyrrha's offer was cut off as the two huntress heard a growl. Immediately spinning, they saw that a few beowolves had found them, most likely attracted by the noise of the previous call.
"Later." Ruby hissed out as she raised her rifle. "We can try calling them once we get to the tower."
Nodding her head, Pyrrha stood and took her own combat stance. They then charged forward, not planning on letting any Grimm stand between them and their friends.
Ruby and Pyrrha cut their way through Grimm after Grimm as they made their way for Beacon's tower. There were far too many Grimm in the area than what the White Fang could've possibly dropped off on their own. Ruby was reasonably sure that Jaune's attack was stirring up a massive amount of fear and other negative emotions within Beacon and Vale, drawing in more Grimm from the surrounding areas.
With a pull of the trigger, Ruby popped the head of another Beowolf. The two had long abandoned stealth and were making a mad dash for Beacon Tower. Bursting through a double door, the two huntresses exited out of the building they were sheltering in and found themselves in the middle of Beacon's inner courtyard. Unfortunately for them, there was a horde of lesser Grimm between them and the Tower.
Swiftly, Pyrrha and Ruby took their combat stances as various creeps and beowolves turned to face them. Before they had a chance to attack however, the gathering in front of them was shredded by a hail of bullets, as fire Dust rounds shredded through them. Ruby and Pyrrha had to actually dodge to the side, hiding behind a pillar to avoid being hit. It seemed that whomever was shooting didn't notice them and was focused on solely killing Grimm.
Once the horde was thoroughly dealt with, Ruby decided to stick her arm out from behind the pillar and yell, "Friendly! Friendly!"
As she did so, the unmistakable voice of Glynda Goodwitch cut through the air. "Miss Adel! Cease fire!"
Almost immediately the gunfire slowed to a halt, allowing Ruby and Pyrrha to exit their cover. With the Grimm now gone, and the threat of friendly fire mitigated, they could actually assess their surroundings. At the base of Beacon Tower, defending the doors, she saw several teams of students, most recognizably teams SSSN, CFVY, and CRDL, along with both Professor Goodwitch and Ozpin. Behind the frontline, they could see Ren and the unconscious Nora as well, apparently having reached the tower before them. All of the students looked tired, sporting various minor injuries, but were still able to fight.
"Ruby! Pyrrha! Hurry, over here!" Sun called out, waving them over.
The two teens complied and quickly crossed the no man's land in front of the tower. Once they reached a point of relative safety they were quickly met by their friends and professors.
"Girls, are you alright?" Glynda quickly asked while visually checking them over.
"We're fine, professor." Ruby tried to wave off her concern. "Low aura, and I lost my weapon… but we're still alive."
"That's very good." Ozpin nodded. "Now, are either of you able to tell me what is going on? We've lost communication with the outside, and the White Fang and Grimm have been assaulting the Tower non-stop."
Ruby and Pyrrha looked at each other, only now realizing they finally had time to rationalize what they just went through. Pyrrha moved to say something, but found that words had failed her, resulting in nothing coming out of her mouth. However Ruby was able to answer their headmaster's question.
"It was… Jaune. He put on some kind of, Grimm mask. And it turned him into a monster, some kind of humanoid Grimm!" Ruby almost started yelling. "Gods, he was killing so many…"
"He's… become Nihilus now." Pyrrha quietly added on, causing her fellow teens to look at her in confusion while Ozpin grimaced, and Glynda's face fell in horror. "I don't know if there's anything left of Jaune in him."
"Meanwhile whoever orchestrated that message across the CCT is also most likely the one coordinating the White Fang." Ozpin shook his head, morose at how long everything had fallen apart so quickly, before turning to Glynda. "Glynda, take command of the defenses here." He then looked at Pyrrha and said, "I'm sorry this has to happen like this, Miss Nikos, but I need an answer. Now."
Pyrrah's own face fell at what Ozpin was asking of her. Too much was happening too fast, and she didn't know if she could handle taking on the burden of being a Maiden on top of everything. She looked to Ruby at her side, who stared at her in confusion and worry, then to Ren who had a countenance of the same. She looked at Glynda, who even behind her stern expression, Pyrrha could see sadness and pity.
Then she looked at the devastation around her. Her school was all but destroyed. Dozens, if not hundreds of her fellow students and civilians killed. This was chaos in its purest form. And if she had the capability to put this right, to get the power to protect and save everyone she could, didn't she have the responsibility to do so?
Steeling herself, Pyrrha looked back up, meeting the Headmaster's gaze as she said, "I'll do it."