AN: Well, it's been a long time. I'm not good at writing fight scenes, so I was always hesitant on this chapter.

Here's hoping the wait was worth it.

Small warning: I'mma be sort of brutal this chapter. Very violent scenes, blood, and very traumatic shit this chapter so be warned.

Also, I know nothing about how a scythe is even supposed to fight so let's try it out.

Chapter 33: Let's Break People

Vale was in uproar.

Even with the added armada Atlas brought with them, the brawling on the streets between Grimm and humans was nothing short of chaotic. Mere months after the Breach as well, the citizens of Vale were already haunted by their nightmares come to life- how monsters of Grimm were able to break straight into the heart of the city while their Hunters and Huntresses- a minute away- were too late to stop it.

That paled in comparison to the invasion seen now.

Yang pulled her fist from another Grimm head, one that was quickly dissipating into dust. A quick spin on her heel, and she was elbowing another Beowolf into the ground before blasting it to pieces. Weiss was beside her, fending off dozens more Grimm with nimble footwork and many well-placed ice conjurations. Blake was cut off, helping Ruby on the other side of the city. The streets were littered with mounds of black ash and rubble, the smell of gunpowder and Dust mixed in the air with the sounds of gunshots and screams.

After a minute of nothing attacking her, Yang started to relax, only stirring slightly as Weiss shattered two Boartusks in an ice glyph. "Think we thinned out the crowd?" Yang asked, mostly to herself. The blonde rolled her shoulders around, ignoring her screaming muscles and the calming tiredness in the back of her mind.

Weiss slumped to the ground, holding herself steady against a building with one hand and her rapier pointed at the ground with the other. "Not enough of them," she replied in between breaths.

Just to prove her point, a pack of Grimm came shambling around the block, eyeing the streets for more people to hunt. The red, wide eyes of the leader landed on Yang and Weiss as the Beowolf snarled in delight. A quick yip and the rest of the pack followed their leader's advance.

Groaning at their luck, Weiss got to her feet and aimed her weapon at the beasts. "Great," she groaned.

"Another group," Yang finished, kneeling in her boxer's stance.

This pack must have been smarter than the last – or at least the leader – as they Grimm were slower to approach than the last batch. And twice as big, judging by not only the size of the wolves but also the size of their pack, around thirty of them prowling down the street. Yang and Weiss didn't hesitate to meet the challenge head-on and rushed the still-calculating pack. Yang fired a few preemptive shots just as she was nearing the pack, and when they were steps away from each other-

A snarl rose from behind the two girls, one that made them stumble to a halt and turn their heads, stances still trained on the pack. Yang's eyes widened. "Ruby?" With her attention on her sister, the blonde missed how the pack backed away, almost fearful of the little girl in red.

No, that couldn't be her sister. She didn't have the lungs to make that sort of a snarl nor the aura of unease surrounding her. Ruby never smirked or crossed her arms in a fashion that said, "I know something that you don't". She wouldn't hang back and watch her teammates fight in a time like this.

And Ruby certainly didn't have eyes as red as a Grimm's.

"Hiya, Yang," Ash greeted in Ruby's high-pitched voice. The smirk was still on her face. "How're you doing?"

Ash twisted away from the shot that flew right by her head, watching it go for a few seconds before turning back to Yang with a roll of her eyes. "Really, if I wanted to fight you, I wouldn't have stopped the others." She nodded towards the pack.

Weiss pointed her rapier at Ash, still keeping half a mind on the pack behind themselves. "I highly doubt that," she shot back with a humph.

Ash looked at her with narrowed eyes, setting the heiress on edge. Then, the smirk came back twice as strong as before. "I guess you're not wrong," she laughed. "Still, I'm here for information." Ash looked past the girls and whistled to the Beowolves, sending a low growl at the leader who stared back almost fearfully at the small girl. Another bark and the leader backed away, taking its pack with it for other people to hunt. "I'm betting you can tell me where she is," Ash said.

Yang braced her stance again. "You mean Ruby," she asked without a question. The fake Ruby nodded. Her gauntlets clacked as the next shots loaded in. "You aren't getting anywhere near her," Yang stated with a slight growl. "Not anymore."

Ash rolled her eyes and turned towards Weiss who was as deadest as Yang. "Absolutely not," she agreed.

The fake girl sighed, then a wide smile donned her face. From under her sleeves, Ash whipped out two daggers that looked suspiciously like black feathers. "In that case," she chirped as though she wasn't threatening two teens, "I'll just have to convince you." A small laugh escaped Ash, the same bubbly laugh Ruby had but with a hint of malice. "You were right, Weiss. I did want to fight."

"He's about to get into another fight."

"I can see that."

"And?"

"And what?"

"You said we can stop him, but when are we?"

"…"

"You're not going to stop Ash from killing them either."

"He won't kill them."

"And you won't help them?"

"No."

"And you wouldn't help Cinder either."

"You know why."

"… You're waiting for her."

"Isn't it obvious?"

A black glyph materialized under Ash's feet who danced sluggishly away from it, only to have Yang already on her with a flurry of punches. The imposter pushed away the half-dozen jabs at her head while backing away from the blasts and small explosions that came from Yang's weapons. With the initial onslaught done, Ash took her own turn and swiped at Yang's stomach, slicing the air as Yang hopped back. Ash ran forward only to run headfirst into another glyph trap, bouncing off and hissing at the stinging sensation in her head.

The lone girl turned towards Weiss, a good-ways away and far behind Yang. Weiss stared back stoically, but a small glimmer of humor twinkled in her eyes. Ash scoffed, weaving underneath another one of Yang's haymakers. "You're real annoying, you know that?" Ash said under her breath.

Weiss aimed a few glyphs to box the girl in, another to give Yang speed under her feet. As Yang ran in, though, Ash ran straight at the white glyphs, kicking off the corner and walls to gain enough height to bound over Yang. As she touched the ground, the Ruby-look-alike dashed back, using her small frame to slam Yang into the white glyph and letting her crumple to the ground. Yang tried to get up but was pulled back to the ground by Ash's blade pinning her jacket to the pavement.

Ash pulled another feathery dagger from her sleeve, and then she sprinted forward, weaving between traps and cutting down the walls that Weiss hastily put up. One more wall, and Weiss readied her rapier as Ash crashed through and kept running.

"If you wanted to fight, you should've asked," Ash yelled while Weiss swiped at the air, making a line where the girl used to be. She parried a stab with her right dagger, then lunged at Weiss with her left. The heiress skittered away, but not without her dress torn below her chest as she hissed at the shallow mark in her skin. This game continued, Ash slashing away at Weiss's defenses as the poor girl blocked as many as she could, her Aura fading alarmingly fast. Her energy already sapped from the afternoon of fighting, Weiss unexpectedly ran forward, planting her foot on Ash and unceremoniously kicking her away as far as she could.

Ash skidded to a halt, only for Yang to slam both her fists into Ash's back. The imposter yelped in pain as she was thrown into a building, the cement behind her cracking and caving as Ash slumped to the ground. "Weiss, you alright?" Yang asked between breaths, glancing back at her teammate. Her eyes shot wide when she looked at her sorry state.

Weiss was covered in cuts and scrapes, some shallow and barely nicking skin while others were worryingly deep. Her legs had dozens of cuts, her white dress in tatters, numerous slashes on her forearms.

And the two feathers embedded in her figure.

The first was in her shoulder, just a bit under her collarbone and digging deep into bone. The second was in her leg, the same one she used to kick Ash with. This one dug into the top of her thigh and came out the other side. Weiss held the one in her chest, using a trembling hand to either stem the blood flow or pull it out, Yang couldn't tell, but at least she wasn't spitting out blood. Just shakingly breathing as she laid back, trying not to pass out.

Those few seconds Yang had looking in horror made her miss the punch to the jaw that knocked her off her feet. Yang let out a small gasp of pain as she hit the ground, up in an instant and ready for another attack. To her surprise and dread, Ash was hovering over Weiss, looking down with an unreadable expression. "You're not dead yet, right?" Ash asked. "You're no fun when you're dead."

Even in her downed state, Weiss glared hatefully at the Ruby copy. She went to speak, but all that came out was a weak whisper. "Y-you. You won't get to Ruby."

Weiss let out a whimper of pain when Ash's heel ground painfully close to the knife in her leg. "I'd be worried more about yourself than her." She whipped out another dagger and held it a hair away from Weiss's chest, stopping a charging Yang in her tracks. "No, no, no," Ash sang with a twisted smile. "First, Ruby. Where is she?"

Yang's heart beat out of her chest, eyes flickering from Weiss's dulling eyes to Ash's manic ones. She couldn't let her teammate die, but how was it right for her to give Ruby to-

"Do it," Weiss gasped out.

Yang whipped her head to Weiss, shocked at how determined Weiss met her gaze. "You want her to-?" she began with some heat.

"She can handle herself," Weiss yelled softly. Her Aura flickered like a weak sheen across her body, desperate to heal her wounds. "Trust her."

"Trust her, Yang," Ash teased, withdrawing her blade. "Ruby will be fine."

She didn't like it. Yang hated it. But right now, it looked like there was no choice. There was a problem though. "I don't know where she is," Yang admitted in a defeated voice.

Ash shrugged. "You've got a Scroll. Call her and give it to me."

For a moment, Yang hesitated. But against her will, Yang reached into her pocket and pulled out her Scroll, tapping the screen a few times before the small device started ringing.

Seconds later, a voice rang out from the other end. "Yang?" Ruby asked.

"Hey, Ruby," she greeted with shaky happiness. "Someone wants to talk to you." Yang threw the device over to Ash who caught it with a deft hand.

Nodding in thanks, Ash raised the Scroll to her ear. A smile could be heard through the call. "Hi, Ruby. Did you miss me?"

Ruby's head was almost cleaved off by a Beowolf as she froze at the voice. Fortunately, Blake was next to her and was able to react quickly enough to kick the Grimm away, offing it with a slash through the neck. "Ruby!" Blake yelled at her friend, snapping her out of her shock. "On your left!"

Ruby cleared her head with a shake, firing Crescent Rose in the general direction of the Grimm while propelling herself in the opposite direction. A squeal of pain came from the Creep that was shot only to be silenced by Ruby's scythe a moment later.

Now, with the Grimm thinned out, Blake walked over to Ruby with a frown. "What was that all about?" the faunus questioned, but her annoyance died at the sight of Ruby's eyes. The girl was horrified, blood drained from her face and taking shaky breaths that weren't from the fight. She clutched her Scroll so tightly, Blake was afraid Ruby was about to shatter the thing. "Ruby?" Blake asked again, gently this time.

"Blake," Ruby said quietly, lost in her own world. "Find Yang."

"What?"

"Find Yang!" Ruby snapped as she turned around, barely caring for the startled look that engulfed Blake. She raised her Scroll up to her ear and stormed down the street. "What did you do to my sister?" Ruby demanded.

"Nothing," Ash said from the other side of the call. Ruby's grip only intensified when she realized her 'friend' was using her own voice. "I just wanted to see you. It's hard to find people in this town."

Ruby's eyes narrowed. "What do you want from her?"

A laugh erupted from the Scroll. "It's not Yang I want," Ash explained it as she would to a child. "It's always been you. Remember where we first met after I came back? Nice ballroom."

A creeping sensation filled Ruby's stomach. "What of it?" She asked.

"I'll see you soon." Then the call went silent.

Ruby stood for a good minute composing herself, mind going at blazing speeds with what to worry about first. With a deep breath, Ruby started walking again, this time towards Beacon. She drummed her pockets with her fingers nervously.

Hopefully, the bit of research she and Weiss did would pay off.

"It's time, isn't it?"

"Once she gets here."

The dance hall was barren, in its own little pocket of reality away from the violence. The sounds of battle were muted and far away, and even as Beacon took its own beating however minimal, the hall remained relatively untouched by Grimm and man alike. Not even dust or smoke seemed to mar the building, well out of the way for anyone to be at this time.

A perfect place for them to meet, Ruby thought.

Ruby paced circles in front of the entrance, scythe out in her left hand with a crumpled piece of paper in her other hand. The wait was killing her, and the eerie silence was not helping matters. A set of boots clicking behind her alerted Ruby to someone's presence. She whirled around, Crescent Rose unfolded as a sniper and aimed at the approaching figure. As quickly as she got into her stance, Ruby pulled away from the scope with wide eyes. "Yang?" she asked with a horrified gasp.

Her sister was hurting as she stumbled forward. The blonde's right arm was in shambles, blood running down from her shoulder as she clutched it with her other arm. Yang's jacket was ripped in multiple areas, her hair singed and covered in ash, and a nasty gash that dripped specks of dark red over her red eyes.

Ruby hesitated, taking in the sight, before aiming once again and firing at Yang's feet. The ground splattered with pavement as Yang hopped back, getting back into her boxer's stance as she glared at Ruby. "What the hell, sis?" she shouted.

Ruby prepped another bullet while her eye never left the scope. "Drop the act," she demanded. "Your eyes shouldn't be red right now, and you're missing her gauntlets."

She blinked a few times, blood continuing to drip from the few wounds on her person. Then without warning, Yang laughed. A light, giggling laugh that made Ruby just a hint more terrified. "See, Ruby?" Yang's impersonator announced, "You are getting smarter!" This time, as "Yang" changed back to her old form, her clothes went along with the change as black fur rippled across her body. In another moment, Farayan – no, Ash – stood in front of her, arms out to showcase his original form decked in black clothes. "How are you doing?" Ash asked with a grin.

"What do you want?" Ruby demanded.

Ash cocked his head to the side, smiling all the while. "I want to know how you're doing," he responded, feigning innocence. "Can't a guy ask how his best friend is doing?"

Ruby responded with a shot at the ground in front of Ash, not even receiving a blink of surprise from the boy. "We both know that's not true."

"But it is." Ash pulled two daggers from his sleeves. He flipped them a few times in his hands, walking over to Ruby without a care in the world. "I want to know how you're doing, hopefully better than how Weiss was doing."

The blood chilled in Ruby's veins, her hands seizing before the trembled violently. "What did you do?" she asked in a whisper. Then, in a shout, "What did you do!" Her hands began shaking again, this time from the tightness of her grip.

"She'll live." Ash paused, eyes distant as a thoughtful look crossed his face. "Probably." Another shot rang out, this time at his head. The fake man grinned as he leaned away, letting the bullet pass harmlessly into the night behind him. "Come on, Ruby." He flipped his blades one last time before holding them out in an icepick grip. "If you wanted to hurt me, you'll have to do better than that."

Ruby whipped Crescent Rose to her side, unfolding it into its full scythe form. "Give me back my friend," she said.

"Beat him out of me, and I might."

One last preemptive shot and Ruby raced after, right on her bullet's heels as Ash's grin widened with anticipation.

"Now?"

"Now."

Ash continued dancing just out of Crescent Rose's blade, pushing it ever so slightly away every time it got close. But Ruby was relentless, hacking away at the air as Ash backstepped yet again. She pulled the trigger, and her scythe suddenly switched direction as a shot breezed by Ash's ribs. Scoffing at her failed attempts, Ruby put on speed, running into Ash's blind spot as she sliced upwards. Ash simply spun backward, barely grazed by the shaft of her weapon instead of getting cleaved in two.

Her offensive didn't last long, even with her speed. Soon after, she was put on the back foot as Ash stepped into Ruby's personal space. Her wide swings wouldn't work with her opponent this close to her, and so all she could do was put up her guard as Ash battered away at her arms. Her sleeves were nothing but ribbons, but Ash kept pressing on, stabbing at Ruby's stomach.

The speed semblance was the thing that saved Ruby there as she flew in a flurry of petals, running around Ash to blind him with the aftereffects of her power. The fake man put an arm to his face on instinct, but he had to block another stab from the other end of the scythe. He pulled on the weapon, sending Ruby off-balance as she stumbled to avoid the next strike at her chest. She half-succeeded, walking away with a scratch to her side instead of a hole in her chest.

"I'm surprised," Ash intoned, stepping back as he spun a blade around his knuckles. "You got better."

"And you're definitely slower," Ruby huffed, hefting her weapon up onto her shoulders. If Ash was really trying, he wouldn't have let Ruby run circles around him. Now that she had the time to breathe, Ruby could have sworn Ash's eyes were strained with effort, breathing a bit too heavily for someone taking it easy.

Ash's grin widened as he shook off his hand. "I'm just having fun." It was then Ruby realized the piece of paper he held, and her face blanched. Ruby patted her body, hoping it wasn't the one she feared as Ash unfolded the crumpled notes.

Search done, Ruby glared at her "friend". "Give it back!" she shouted.

Her words fell on deaf ears as Ash's eyes scanned the page. A wind blew through the street, chilling Ruby's bare arms. But the glare that suddenly appeared on Ash's face was what gave her goosebumps. "No," he muttered to himself. "You were really going to try this?"

Ruby stared defiantly at him. "If it's what it takes."

Instead of the cold fury Ruby was expecting, Ash simply shook his head in disappointment. "This," He shook the paper at her, "won't work in the slightest."

"We-"

"It's an exorcism!" Ash yelled. There was the cold fury that Ruby was expecting. "I'm not a demon, this doesn't even work in the first place, and even if it did I own the body, not Dear Ole' Farayan." He let the paper drop from his hand, palming his face as he considered his options. Ruby could see him mutter under his breath, and his other hand stopped whirling the dagger.

"I'm going to kill you."

Ruby took a step back, any ounce of tiredness fleeing her body in fear. "What?"

"I'm going to kill you." Not a promise, not a threat. Just a statement Ash was making as easily as he would say "people like to breathe". "I kept you alive because you were entertaining, but I can't have my entertainment be this stupid. So, I'm going to kill you."

This wasn't what she was expecting. Toying, yes. Hurting her friends, that went without saying even if it made her blood boil. Death threats and her madman of a friend killing her?

Ruby now understood the term "having one foot in your grave". "But, what about Farayan?" she stammered. "Didn't he make you promise not to hurt me?"

Ash shrugged. "He can't do anything to me anymore. Personally, he's still in my mind for the same reasons you're alive." He readied his blades again, but there was no glimmer of madness in his eyes. Nothing that Ruby saw that said Ash was playing, like Torchwick's care-free nature. They were the same eyes as a Grimm- cold, dead-set, and calculative. "Pity, I was hoping you were more fun than this."

Ruby almost missed the blade coming at her at blazing speeds, but she managed to bend backward in time for the thing to whiz right by her head. She couldn't dodge the kick that sent her sprawling, though. Or the slash that came down on her back. The girl stifled her cry of pain, instead rolling as a third dagger came down where she used to be, cracking concrete and spewing fragments everywhere.

If she was barely faster than Ash before, now Ruby could barely hold her own to the blistering speed of the Grimm-hybrid. Ruby got to her feet just as Ash was upon her again. She let out a whirlwind of cuts, keeping Ash away for a moment less he want to be cut in two. But even as Ruby twirled her scythe, Ash snuck in, a snarl on his face as he pushed away the oncoming blade and shoved a knife at Ruby.

She was already a flurry of roses, using her Semblance to make some distance. Again, Ash traced her movements and slashed at Ruby. Ruby parried with the flat of her scythe, using the butt end to interrupt Ash's next advance before backing away. This time, when Ash came, Ruby used a Semblance-boosted jump to hop to the wall of the dance hall behind her, springing off as Ash crashed shortly behind her in the most dangerous game of Cat-and Mouse.

"Stop it!" Ash snarled.

Ruby turned around, slicing at whatever ended up behind her. She guessed right as Ash yelped, twisting from his predicted path and was rewarded with a nasty gash in his side, deep enough for blood to continuously ooze out. But to Ruby's dismay, the wound was already closing up; even his clothes repaired themselves moments later. "You're-," Ash gasped out between breaths.

For someone with such bravado, Ash looked clammy and dripped with sweat, like he came down with a disease in the few moments he and Ruby fought. "You're not supposed to be this strong!" he continued. "What happened? Tell me!"

Now, Ruby was thoroughly confused. After what Ash said no more than a few minutes ago, he couldn't have been talking about herself, could he? She didn't think much more of it, not when a knife flew at Ruby, embedding into Ruby's right arm. She cried out in pain, quickly silenced by Ash striking her jaw and sending her tumbling back.

The two were slower because of their injuries and headaches, but the ferocity didn't let up. A shot rang out as Ash had to sidestep, giving Ruby enough time to get on her feet. Ash threw another blade which Ruby swatted away, only to be met by a seething Grimm an instant later. Ruby did the only thing she could: she ran. Around the hall, Ruby gritted her teeth until it felt like they were going to break from the pressure as she pulled the blade out, feeling her Aura slowly repair the damage. The girl fired another few explosive rounds behind her, blindly hoping a few were at least making Ash slow down.

It seemed like not enough as Ruby saw a dagger fly into the ground next to her foot, another three following shortly after as Ruby had to bound onto the wall of the building to dodge. She was hit not by a feather-blade, but by Ash himself as the Grimm slammed into Ruby, crushing her against the wall.

Ruby felt her ribs crack, spitting up blood as her back was used to demolish the stone behind her. Through the haze of pain, however, she could hear Ash scream out like he was the one that was beaten into a wall. Moments later, Ruby hit the ground, the wind and blood knocked out of her as she moaned into the sky. Coincidentally, Ash was also on the ground, on his knees as he spat up pools of blood. "You," Ash growled. "And you god damn boyfriend."

Ruby's eyes would have widened if she had the energy to. "F-Farayan?" She sounded afraid to ask for something so hopeful. The pins and knives in her chest wanted her to stay down, but Ruby hissed as she pushed herself up, using her scythe like a cane. "What's happening?"

Ash's eyes snapped to Ruby, fire and hate burning inside them. But the red eyes suddenly turned blue as his expression softened. "Ruby?"

The second wind came to Ruby as her eyes flew open, the pain ignored for the moment. "Farayan!"

"Ruby!" Farayan made to speak but was met by a spasm, crying out and holding his head tightly between his arms. "Help me," he gasped out weakly.

Ruby knelt by her friend's side, one hand propping herself up and the other on Farayan's back. "What do you need?" she asked.

Farayan looked up, desperation clear on her face. "You have to kill him," he rushed out.

That shocked Ruby to her core. "No," she eeked out.

"Kill him," Farayan whimpered, "Please, you have to. Emerald and I are doing all we can, but you-." Another spasm wracked his body, making him hold his head again. Silence reigned for a few moments, curled up in a ball as Farayan whispered to himself.

"Kill them. Kill them all." Ruby scurried away, away from the boy Ash was taking control of again. "I'll kill you all!" Ash yelled.

He leaped up, tackling Ruby to the ground and they went tumbling into the grass, Ash pinning her by her stomach with his knees and her neck with his left hand. Ruby gasped out in pain as his legs dug into her broken ribs and bruised organs. He flicked a feather-blade out with his other hand, holding it in a reverse grip as Ruby stared back panickingly.

Without a second thought, Ruby grasped her weapon, her Crescent Rose, and slashed. Ash screamed as his arm was removed, the one gripping Ruby's neck. She went to slice the other, but Ash stabbed down onto Ruby's arm that wasn't holding the weapon. Ruby let out her own scream, half delirious from pain and unable to recognize Ash getting off her to hold the stump of his arm to his chest.

It would've been so peaceful, so nice to just lay there and rest, but Ruby couldn't do that just yet. She rolled over onto her injured arm, pushing herself up with the other one so she could sit up. Ruby broke off the feather on both ends, pulling out the excess while the part keeping Ruby's blood in stayed. A click of a button and Crescent Rose folded into its sniper mode. At this point, Ruby was too injured to hold her dear scythe straight, and she hoped Ash was too distracted to move fast.

Her Aura was at its limit, slowly nursing the bruised organs like a bandage for a punctured heart. She sat back, gun positioned on her leg in a way so she could shoot Ash at a moment's notice. Both of them were fighting their own internal damage: Ruby's wounds and Ash's warring mind. Both were at their limit.

Both were going to keep fighting.

Ash looked up from his wound, eyes blue this time. In between labored breaths, the now Farayan looked at Ruby with pleading, dull blue eyes. "End it, please," he begged.

Another moment and Farayan's head snapped to the side. This time, it was neither Ash's Grimm eyes or Farayan's blue eyes that looked at Ruby, but an almost familiar set of reddish-brown. "Ruby," A girl's voice came out of Farayan's figure. "If you don't kill him now I will personally-."

The familiar girl yelled as Ash took control again, shaking the head-splitting migraines off. Red Grimm eyes set back on Ruby. "You heard them." Ash sounded defeated, waiting for his arm to grow back which was much slower than Ruby saw earlier. "Kill me." Ash closed his eyes, looking up at the sky to accept his fate.

A minute passed, and Ash still wasn't dead. Despite the situation, he laughed. A slow, hysterical laugh that heaved his chest. "You can't do it," he realized. Ruby shifted the grip on her gun, hand trembling on the trigger. "Even with your little boyfriend asking, you can't do it."

"Farayan," Ruby whispered at the boy. "Fight him. You can-."

"YOU DON'T GET IT," Ash shouted. "This is my body! My powers! None of it is Farayan's! Your friend is as good as dead!" He stared hatefully at Ruby for a moment. Another moment of not being shot, and he laughed again. "You still can't do it. I thought you were stronger than this."

Tears were falling down Ruby's face, pleading for some hope. "Please," she whispered. "Give him ba-."

Ash lunged at Ruby, another blade in his remaining hand.

Ruby fired.

"Ruby! Ruuuuby!"

Yang raced through Beacon, running as fast as her screaming legs would carry her. She so desperately wanted to run after Ruby as soon as Ash started to leave, but Weiss needed help sooner than her sister. There was no way she could leave the heiress to die, so she didn't. It helped when Blake found them, pawning off Weiss to her partner who seemed to have more first-aid knowledge than Yang did.

So Yang ran. Through the streets, ignoring the Grimm and bursting through whatever was in her path to get on the first airship back to Beacon. And on Beacon's soil, she kept running as her lungs were aching and begging for rest. Across campus, for blocks and blocks until she came onto the dance hall.

There were scorch marks and feathers all around the ground, bullet shells and broken pavement indicating a brutal skirmish. Yang's heart hit her stomach as she couldn't hear a single thing in the air. "Ruby!" she yelled again, spinning in circles, eyes darting all over.

A gunshot rang from the other side of the hall, making the fiery blonde whip around and run after the sound. She continued to yell her sister's name, using her gauntlets to propel herself faster than she had ever run. When she turned the corner, her breath caught in her throat. "Oh god," Yang gasped, fist covering her mouth from crying anything else.

Ruby sat there, slumped over, shards of stone piercing through her back. A deep, wide hole in her right arm and dozens of cuts over her body. Her arms looked like they had fended off a pack of feral wolves, and her face was caked in sweat and ash. But she was alive.

Although from the looks of it, Ruby didn't want to be.

She was cradling a disintegrating body, one decomposing like a Grimm, only slower. Tears streamed down Ruby's face as she sobbed at the black specks floating away. Ruby was whispering to herself, rocking back and forth as Ash laid in her arms. A peaceful expression rested on Ash's face, eyes clear and a smile on his lips as he stared back sightlessly at Ruby.

Yang walked over to her sister with a heavy heart and knelt beside her. "Ruby," she said softly, gently laying a hand on Ruby's shoulder. Ruby started, whirling around with a wild look in her sorrowful eyes. Yang simply met her gaze softly, pulling her sister in just a bit closer. "It's okay, Ruby," she continued, trying not to make her voice waver. "It's okay."

It took another three seconds before Ruby realized who it was. "Yang?" Her voice was thick and full of pain. Yang nodded, trying to put a smile on her face. "I did it," she cried. "I- he- I couldn't- Farayan tried to-."

Yang quietly shushed her sister, pulling Ruby in for a desperately needed hug. "You did what you had to do."

Evidently, that was the wrong thing to say as Ruby's sobs intensified. "I didn't want to, though."

Yang stroked her sister's hair back, calming her down like she did when they were kids. "It's okay," she cooed. "Farayan would've wanted you to. Ruby, none of this is your fault." When the spark didn't come back into Ruby's eyes, Yang just held Ruby closer to her chest, chin resting on the top of her head as the world went on around the two sisters.

"It's not your fault."

AN: Grand Finale, am I right?

No, not just yet. We've still got one last thing I have to wrap up.

Hi, my readers. It's been a while since the last chapter, huh? Sorry for all the delays all the excuses. I'm currently writing this on my soon-to-be-replaced computer with two upcoming essays that I really should be working on right now. It's been too long, and I've had this scene noodling up in my head for far too long, taking up valuable creative space and emotional baggage.

I'll say I'm sorry again. I absolutely, positively hate writing fight scenes. Choreography of this stuff is a lot harder than I remembered, did, and imagined. I can't just leave this thing off on something sub-par, especially with how long the wait has been.

Also, I was still also toiling with how I wanted to end it. Not this chapter, but the one coming up. Farayan was dead ever since… I think he needed to die since chapter 15 or so. Something for Ruby to woe over.

But I just didn't know how I wanted to handle Ruby. Recovery, despair, a mix, who to make her rely on, how this thing is supposed to end.

And I've gotta thank you all for sticking with this story. New people and followers from Day One alike, thank you for giving me support. Especially from the chapter update I gave half a year ago.

I wanted to give up on this story. To rewrite it, but it would've taken way too much time and effort I didn't want to give a gravely flawed storyline. To pawn it off, but I can't do that to myself. To give it up, but I just didn't want to.

So I'll just truck through it. And give you guys the best I can give.

To the people that sent me PMs, to Mister GreenDoored himself, to my other writer friends that gave me just enough motivation to send this off:

Thanks. I'll see you guys at the finish line.