Naruto was moving through the Emerald Forest with speed, thankful for every gift he'd been given by the System that allowed him to do so.
Sprint plus Flash Step let him move really, really fast, and whilst he didn't exactly have a concrete number, it was fast enough that the cliffs of Beacon were already coming into view beyond the undergrowth.
He was definitely not even going to bother with finding the staircase he'd made, instead Leaping up and casting Surface Walk, still Sprinting at top speed.
If anyone had been watching, it would have been impressive. However, alone as he was in the Emerald Forest, there hadn't been, so he resolved himself to instead focus on what lay ahead.
Which just so happened to be what he reached.
Yet another battlefield, this time full of robots, White Fang and Grimm in equal measure, exchanging fire with people he knew.
People he needed to help, at that moment.
He led off with a Gravity Infused Mana Blast, launching a number of hostiles into the air, where he opened fire with Spinning Mana Bullets, uncaring who he hit with what. He was beyond angry, now, gritting his teeth as he swiveled with his shield, deflecting the blast of buckshot from a very dedicated White Fang soldier that soon found himself with a large sword wound in his chest as Naruto moved onwards, a Lightning Infused Mana Pulse halting the advance of a Paladin as he darted underneath its legs, Crocea Mors glinting as it sliced through a variety of what Naruto could only assume were important conduits.
Sun nodded thanks as Naruto continued to move, lending his help wherever he could, until he finally reached Blake and Weiss, sweat-drenched as he was.
"Good to see you guys still kicking," Naruto remarked, letting out an exhausted pant as he quickly conjured a Mana Field, a Paladin's missile splashing against the outer layers and shattering one, a plume of fire and smoke wafting over them.
"Nice to see you too," Weiss replied in kind, creating a Glyph beneath a nearby cluster of Knights and tossing them into the air, where Blake effectively treated them like clay Nevermore.
"Where's Ruby?" Blake asked, stepping within Naruto's Mana Field, reloading Gambol Shroud.
Naruto grimaced. "Hopefully taking down the Daedalus with CFVY and Angel Squad."
Weiss replicated his expression. "Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but CFVY practically fell out of the sky a couple minutes ago, riding Nevermore. No Ruby."
Naruto swore, dropping the Mana Field to fire a Mana Lance at a Griffon, pinning one of its legs to the floor as Sage beheaded it, giving Naruto a nod of thanks from the silent man.
"And the Knights and Paladins are still active. Meaning that Ruby failed," Naruto began, fury written into every inch of his body.
"Or she just hasn't managed to figure out how to turn them off yet. Have faith," Blake interrupted. "Right now, we need to focus."
Naruto allowed himself to calm down somewhat, nodding to his team. "Where's Pyrrha?"
Blake and Weiss exchanged a glance. "She and Yang went to Ozpin, Pyrrha wouldn't tell us why."
"Damn it. Too many things to manage," Naruto let out, and he could tell his team were commiserating with his sentiments. "We need to just start clearing the place one step at a time. The more things we can take out, the better off we'll be. Blake, take the east, near the cafeteria. Weiss, go west, to the main courtyard. Take as many people as you think you need."
Blake and Weiss both nodded, already moving, voices carrying over the battlefield as they requisitioned people to go with them.
Naruto turned to face Beacon and the Headmaster's tower with a long-suffering sigh escaping his lips.
The sole Ursa left in the area quickly wished it had been anywhere else.
The cafeteria was on fire. This was not, in fact, fine.
Blake shoved hard against one of the doors, trying in vain to open it fully, instead having it smack against a cluster of tables and get stuck, leaving only a slight gap.
Not too significant a problem for her, she was flexible and lithe enough to fit through, but it was more of a problem when you had to somehow get back out with potentially injured people in your arms.
'Deal with it when it comes up. First, check for survivors.'
Her thoughts were right, and she followed them quickly, shoving what looked like a burning bench out of the way, Gambol Shroud still held at the ready.
"Anyone alive?!" She called out, and her answer came in the form of a muffled scream that found itself quickly silenced.
Blake swiveled in that direction, holding her weapon steady in both hands, finger on the trigger.
Nothing. Not even a whimper.
Another scream, quickly silenced, this time to her left, and she spun, squinting, trying to see through the smoke.
A hazy image, nothing concrete, a figure standing over another.
Then a flash of red.
Blake barely reacted in time to get Gambol Shroud's sheath in front of herself, the blow sending her backwards in a slide as her legs gave out underneath her.
Amber eyes widened in shock and fear as the figure stepped out of the smoke, red blade gleaming in the firelight.
"Adam…" Blake let out, her voice carrying so much emotion that it was hard to figure out which was the most prevalent.
Gambol Shroud fired off two shots that Adam blocked without much effort, still approaching silently.
Blake scrambled to her feet, swapping to her more melee-oriented form as Gambol Shroud twisted and melded in her hands, blade springing up, her arms moving it to block the sudden slash that Adam delivered, blades sparking as the red blade seared and screeched against the black blade.
Then, all of a sudden, Adam pulled away, stepping back.
"I must say, my love, I'm so disappointed in you."
Blake nearly recoiled in visible disgust, only just managing to keep her attention on the man in front of her.
"You ran, my love, not just from me, but from the White Fang. Is this what you have become? A coward?"
Blake darted forwards, Gambol Shroud cutting through air until it met Wilt, the glowing red blade barely quivering as Blake strained against it. "You're killing innocent humans and faunus, Adam! How is this equality?!"
"We were destined to light the fires of revolution, my love. That takes sacrifice, no conflict is ever without bloodshed. You should know, you should understand. The things you did, for the White Fang, for me, they were just the fuel, but this, this is the spark!"
Blake kicked her leg out, booted heel meeting Adam's shin and sending him a step back, enough that she managed to capitalize, darting underneath his retaliatory swing and slashing, only to find Wilt once again in the way.
"I will bring the White Fang to a greater glory than ever seen before, my love, but first… I have to punish you."
All Blake saw was a flicker of red.
If Weiss was being truly, completely honest with herself, she would have said that she really disliked the fact that she always seemed to be pitted against large mechanical enemies. Myrtenaster wasn't exactly designed to puncture armor plating, and there wasn't much Dust could do to stop four-and-a-half tons of metal and death if it set its central processing unit on killing you.
That didn't mean she was going to give up, though, far from it. Not only were there people that needed her to carry on and fight, but it would also be a massive wound to her pride, giving up in the face of adversity that just so happened to be powered by stolen goods, stolen from her very own company she was set to inherit.
Weiss was just glad that she wasn't the only one in the main courtyard to fight these things. The Knights didn't prove to be that much of a challenge on their own, and even in squads they weren't the greatest threats, but it was the Paladin's that really proved that Atlas could and most likely would hold their own if another Kingdom decided to declare war.
Of course, they weren't under Atlesian control right now, and that wasn't exactly a beneficial situation, but that didn't quite matter right now. What did matter was taking out anything potentially hostile in Beacon, so they could use it as a staging ground and as a secure foothold against onslaught, so they could make the push back into Vale and clear the rest of the invading Grimm and White Fang, assuming Ruby eventually succeeded in taking down the Daedalus's systems.
Weiss moved as fast as she could, the shining tip of Myrtenaster revealing itself through the back of a nearby Knight, before a glyph propelled the white-themed heiress away, the speed boost allowing her to cut through another two of the robots before she slid to a halt, others joining the fray, bolstered by her momentum, blades, blunt weapons and guns hitting their marks as they cleared the area.
Three Paladins stood at the other end of the courtyard, already spinning to face the new group of hostiles, uncaring about where their large mechanical feet planted themselves, one such Paladin accidentally staining the underside of its leg the kind of red nothing really wanted to be painted in.
Gunfire lit them up, bullets pelting the armor plating, denting and scratching at the paintwork, but none of them faltered, their approach instead garnering more speed.
And then, all of a sudden, the Paladins had arrived, and a fist hit Nora hard enough to knock her flat, another hitting Ren with an equal amount of force.
The other Hunters scattered as the approach, once unified, became anything but, evolving into what could effectively be called a brawl.
Gunfire was ineffective, Weiss couldn't form anywhere near enough ice to freeze them in place, and even Yatsuhashi, the largest and presumably strongest of the assembled group, was forced onto the ground underneath the weight of the fist that hit him, his attempted block with his sword, Fulcrum, not proving to be enough to prevent the sheer force that the impact had.
Coco wasn't doing much better, nor was Fox, but as Weiss watched carefully, looking for an opening in the Paladin's nigh-impenetrable defense, she noticed something far stranger.
Velvet, hand outstretched, stepping out into the middle of the courtyard, already being surrounded.
Weiss opened her mouth, words of warning dying on the tip of her tongue as Velvet began to glow.
No, that wasn't right, it was more apt to say that the box on Velvet's back glowed, a brilliant bright blue projecting itself out into her hand.
Weiss watched dumbfounded as the cyan outline of Crescent Rose formed in Velvet's hand, and her dumbfoundedness increased as Velvet then pulled off what could only be called a direct copy of Ruby's own combat style, replicating it without pause or issue.
And then her weapon switched, becoming a copy of Weiss's own, Myrtenaster glowing that brilliant cyan as Velvet deflected a hit with a bright blue explosion from the tip of the faux-rapier, already switching her weapon.
What followed could only really be explained at a later date to Weiss, because she was barely able to follow as Velvet switched between easily twenty more weapons, some familiar, some not.
And then Velvet ran out of weapons.
Weiss's eyes widened in shock as Velvet reached for a weapon that never came, the surprise on her face evident up until it warped into one of pain as a gigantic robot fist hit her in the chest, driving the air from her lungs and sending her slamming into the ground.
The group opened fire, trying to save their ally, but it was in vain, the Paladins, whilst damaged, still able to take the rounds that the assembled Hunters were spitting out.
Weiss felt herself moving, glyphs underneath her feet propelling her forwards at a rate she'd never reached before, Myrtenaster in hand.
Something clicked, something within her, and Weiss lifted her arms, hoping to at least save Velvet from probable death.
All Weiss saw was white.
Red moved fast. It was almost impossible to keep track of her, with how she darted around, a blur of rose petals left in her wake, that giant oversized gardening tool of hers proving to be a menace on multiple levels.
Whoever had combined a giant scythe and a sniper rifle had to be certifiably insane, and considering how many legitimately insane people Roman knew that would balk at the idea, that had to say at least a little about the state of mind of Hunters as a whole, not just Red.
"Damn it, Red, would you stay still for one second so I can get this out of the way?!" Roman shouted, launching a bright red flare out of the end of Melodic Cudgel, the hooked end swiping it out of the air and morphing it into a wide slash.
Ruby took the hit to the chest, sending her skidding backwards, the blade of Crescent Rose carving a screechingly loud rent in the surface of the Daedalus.
And yet she grit her teeth, already moving again, looking for that one opening, the one time she could capitalize on.
"You know-" Roman began, grunting as he deflected Ruby once more. "You've got spirit, Red! Most people would have gone and given up by now, or at least succumbed, but you, you keep going! It's a shame this is the real world!"
He punctuated his statement with a cruel kick, bypassing anything Ruby had expected and sending her rolling, a groan of pain escaping her lips.
Roman was on her in an instant, another kick to the stomach loosening her grip on Crescent Rose and driving the wind out of her lungs, leaving her gasping.
"The real world is cold, Red! The real world doesn't care about spirit!" Roman spat out, delivering a crushing blow with the end of Melodic Cudgel, having wound back like teeing-up at golf.
Ruby let out another groan of pain, but even still, she kicked out, her boot meeting Roman's shin with enough force to make the man stumble back a step, giving her space to crawl, even if it was much slower than she'd hoped.
Roman let out a laugh. "You're pitiful, Red! You wanna be a hero so bad? Die like every other Hunter in history!"
He aimed, the end of Melodic Cudgel popping open. "As for me, I'm gonna do what I do best! Lie, cheat, steal, and survive!"
Roman pulled the trigger.
All Ruby saw was white.
Naruto stumbled into the inside of Beacon, arm bleeding heavily behind his shield.
One Ursa had died quickly. The flock of Griffons that had swooped down from above, not so much. They'd proven to be a little more difficult to kill, and Naruto had been low on Aura even before them.
Now, he was slowly healing, but it wasn't fast enough, and his Aura regen was even slower. He was most definitely not at his best, but that didn't matter. He had to help, any and every way he could.
He staggered into the awaiting elevator shaft, Surface Walk carrying him down to the bottom, where the actual elevator sat.
It took no time at all to tear the emergency door open and drop in, eyes flicking up to survey the cavernous room.
He took in everything at once, eyes widening as he did so.
Yang, laid out in the corner, body charred and smoking, eyes closed.
Pyrrha, sealed inside a glass container, screaming in soundless agony.
Another woman, tan skin and covered in bandages to protect her modesty, eyes rolled into the back of her head, back arched, mouth open in similar agony.
Ozpin's cane laid out in a pile of smoking ashes.
And a woman clad in a red dress, glass bow drawn, arrow nocked.
There was nothing Naruto could do, the arrow loosed before he could even fully absorb the situation, the glass projectile penetrating the first chamber, puncturing the heart of the tan woman, silencing those soundless screams for good.
The glow of energy that had been passing between the encased woman and Pyrrha quickly severed, leaving his partner unconscious inside her container.
Instead, the energy redirected, flowing up the outstretched arm of the red-clad woman, the amber glow radiating heat.
Naruto moved as fast as he could, Crocea Mors arcing through the air, sending a Mana Slash towards the woman, who turned and simply blasted it away with a torrent of flame, knocking him down to the ground, Aura broken, skin bubbling and popping under the intense heat of the fire.
Naruto roared in pain, but continued to move, hands already healing as he maintained his grip.
The woman let loose another torrent of flame, but this time Naruto was ready for it, darting to the side and continuing his approach, Crocea Mors angled for attack.
His blade met hers, the bow having split into two glass swords, somehow stronger than he'd expected.
Even blade-locked as they were, neither of the fighters were without options, and if it wasn't for the horrifying truths of what was happening he would have let out a laugh as he and the red-clad woman let out a burst of power, Naruto's Mana Blast negating the blast of flame that would have turned his entire body into char-grilled pork.
Of course, Naruto wasn't as lucky the second time, as the sheer heat that the woman seemed to naturally radiate increased a hundred-fold, and he had to dart away, already feeling his weapons heat up, skin searing.
He couldn't even get close to her without starting to cook. That was a bad sign.
He needed more information, and so he Observed the woman.
And promptly paled.
[Cinder Fall]
[Scattered Embers, Maiden of Fall]
[Level 110]
He had one single idea, something that was going to be incredibly risky.
It was the only way they'd get out of here alive.
Naruto sheathed Crocea Mors and held out his hand.
Stasis flowed from his fingertips, and he watched as Cinder Fall was wreathed in a cable of glowing Mana, sealing around her and reducing the very color of her.
It was like looking at a black and white photo that had everything but the woman digitally colored. Cinder Fall was grayscale and unmoving, her eyes unfocused.
Naruto didn't know how long he had, so he moved as fast as he could, lifting Yang over his shoulder and quickly smashing the case that covered the unconscious Pyrrha, hefting her over his other shoulder.
He Flash Stepped over to the elevator and quickly hit the button for the ground floor, watching in fear as the Stasis began to wear off, the color filtering back into Cinder's form.
One eye, the only part that was free, strayed to stare at him, amber locking with blue.
The doors shut.
All Naruto could see was gray.
Blake felt her form change as she ducked sideways, already angling Gambol Shroud towards Adam, her blade carving through the air as Adam slashed through the shadowy projection she'd left behind, the bull-horned man leaning backwards to allow Blake's weapon to pass harmlessly in front of him, his fist burying itself in her stomach and breaking her into smoke as she swung at him from behind.
Adam knew it was coming, though, how could he not? His finger squeezed the trigger on Blush, the round hitting Blake before she could react, the hit hard on her Aura, sending her backwards as the terrorist leader turned, a smirk on his face.
"You never learn, my love. You can't hope to defeat me here."
Blake nearly found herself baring her teeth, catching herself. "You'll lose this, Adam. This attack will be a failure, and all it will bring is more hatred to the faunus!"
Adam dropped his smirk, sheathing Wilt within Blush. "Then perhaps more of the cowards will understand the hatred our emboldened brethren face, and push harder! The humans will never stop, Blake, surely you must understand. They will not stop until they kill every last faunus!"
Adam was on her in an instant, hand on the grip of Wilt. "We must kill them all first, Blake, or they will do the same to us!"
Blake's eyes widened as Wilt carved through the air at speeds she couldn't comprehend, and she barely managed to get Gambol Shroud in front of it, not that it mattered all that much.
Blake felt her Aura shatter, her body glowing purple for all of a split-second as she hit the ground, a cough escaping her lips.
"You have two options, my love. You can do what you do best and run, or you can rejoin me. Help me tear down the human reign, destroy them, before they destroy us."
Blake scrambled backwards. "You're insane, Adam."
Adam shook his head slowly, looking at the ground. "Then you've made your choice, my love. Run. It's all you ever do."
Blake clambered to her feet, backing up slowly. "You can still stop this, Adam."
"No. I won't. Run, my love. Hide. Know that I will find you again, once all this is over."
Blake wanted nothing more than to run. She wanted nothing more than to get out of the hellhole that was the cafeteria.
She was out of Aura, and Adam hadn't even tried. She couldn't beat him.
Blake turned.
Adam's blade protruded from her chest, searingly hot against flesh.
Blake let out a scream of pain, dropping to the ground and clutching at the opened wound, trying her best to keep her blood on the inside.
"You should have run faster, my love."
Adam stepped back into the smoke, a small smile on his lips.
One moment Ruby had been staring down the barrel of Melodic Cudgel, Roman's finger pressing down on the trigger.
The next she was opening her eyes to the flickering white Aura of General James Ironwood standing between the two, his revolver pointed directly at the thief-turned-terrorist.
Ironwood looked no worse for wear after effectively tanking the shot that would have definitely put Ruby out of commission, at the least.
"I knew I should have interrogated you myself. What are you getting out of this, Torchwick?"
Torchwick stepped back, sliding a new shell into the handle of the cane in a smooth flourish, even as he contemplated answering the Atlesian General.
His smirk dimmed somewhat. "You think I knew what they were planning? I'm not like the rest of you stubborn fools, I saw the tide coming. Either way, she was going to achieve what she wanted. I just made sure I wouldn't be on the losing side. Yours."
He gave his cane one more spin, flipping it around his wrist, grabbing it, pointing it at the General. "So, what'll it be, Ironwood? Stop me from killing little Red here, or stop all of your little puppets from killing the rest of Vale?"
Ironwood answered by pointing his revolver at the bridge of the Daedalus and pulling the trigger.
A second passed, the echo of the gunshot ringing out over the war-torn battlefield of Vale.
And then, all of a sudden, an explosion rang out from within the bridge, plumes of fire and smoke escaping the shattered glass.
Ironwood spun the revolver's chamber, leveling it at Torchwick once more. "I'm not like the Vale council, Torchwick. You'll find no mercy from me."
Ruby could do nothing but watch.
Weiss stood still, arms quivering, outstretched in front of her, Myrtenaster held in the only way she could to protect Velvet.
The blow never came. At least, it hadn't hit her. Weiss opened her eyes, looking up at the mech.
The Paladin stood straining against a giant glowing suit of armor, massive greatsword held in one hand, the other braced against the tip of the glowing blade.
Weiss stared in shock as the suit of armor pushed, shoving the mech back, and slashed down, cutting the Paladin in half, straight down the middle, leaving only sparking circuitry and torn armor in its wake.
Another Paladin swung, metal fist arcing towards the newest threat that had quite literally stepped out of a large glowing Glyph, only to meet a bright platemail-clad hand, clamping down, crushing the powerful mechanical fist underneath.
The third Paladin proved to be too much for it, and by proxy Weiss, to handle, the gunfire shredding the glowing construct, putting it down on one knee, already beginning to crack like broken glass.
Thankfully, she wasn't the only one present.
So many people assaulted the last remaining Paladin, cutting and carving through armor and circuits until all that remained was a smoking carcass covered in rent metal and sparking components.
Already there were more, though, and even as the suit of armor collapsed, Weiss found herself surrounded. Knights, armed and aiming, joined by another cluster of Paladins that obviously hadn't gotten the memo.
And then, all of a sudden, the eerie red glows the robots emitted went dark, guns hitting the ground as limbs went slack, bodies hitting the ground.
Even the Paladins, folding themselves back up into their more compact transport forms.
The group collectively looked around, relief palpable as Nora gave one of the Knights a tentative poke with the end of her hammer, shrugging to herself.
Of course, as with any piece of good news, there is always bad news to follow.
They all spun, eyes widening, as the main tower of Beacon was suddenly engulfed in a pillar of flame that threatened to touch the very sky, illuminating the evening and basking those nearby in a heat that was nigh-unbearable.
And out of the very edge of the flames came Naruto stumbling, two unconscious friends strung over his shoulders.
Weiss moved quickly, as did many of the others, Ren taking the severely wounded Yang from him as Velvet quickly took Pyrrha, the cluster of people growing in number as Sun and his team approached from the side, the tallest member of the team gently carrying Blake in his arms.
Too much to take in all at once, Weiss compartmentalized, focusing on her one conscious teammate. "What happened?"
Naruto shook his head frantically. "I don't know. Ozpin's dead, I think. Cinder, that economics professor from Haven, she's responsible. Her real name is Cinder Fall."
Weiss paled at the news. "The Headmaster..? No…"
Naruto was still talking, and she refocused. "Pyrhha was in some kind of chamber, and there was another woman in another, unconscious. It looked like Ozpin was in the middle of transferring something between them before Cinder interrupted it. Her power, it's insane. That pillar of flame, that's all her. I barely managed to get us out of there, had to reveal a pretty big card to do it."
Once again, Weiss was assailed by new information, many of which were snippets she could go over at a later date, or at least, she would if she made it out of here. It wasn't looking good. "What's our next step?"
Naruto looked frantic as he thought. "If we all teamed up on her at once, we might be able to stop her, but it's risky. We need to evacuate. Where are Goodwitch and Qrow?"
"They went down into Vale, Headmaster's orders, apparently. Not that it matters much anymore."
Naruto grimaced. "I don't really have a plan, Weiss. I've been winging it for a while now."
Morale was low, Weiss could tell. She wasn't exactly a beacon of positivity, but she'd at least try. "She's just one woman, Naruto. All of us can take her, together."
Naruto could feel his spirit lift slightly, albeit very. "It's a huge risk, and we'd have to lure her into position, and she doesn't strike me as the kind of person who can be lured anywhere, but it's our best chance at saving Beacon."
Naruto stood straight-backed, hand resting on the handle of Crocea Mors, and he opened his mouth.
CRACK!
The sound was cacophonous, echoing out far and wide, making all those nearby, Faunus or not, wince in pain and surprise.
It sounded as if a thousand tons of earth and stone had just been forcibly moved all at once.
Naruto turned slowly, as did many of the others of their group, to stare.
They watched in abject despair as a gigantic winged Grimm Wyvern rose into the sky with a deafening roar, tattered wings sending chunks of dark Grimm matter over the entirety of Vale, the majority of which landing amongst Beacon's grounds.
"I just had to open my mouth."