Chapter Forty-Two

Bleeding Gold, Burning Green

"How's your aura level, Penny?" Scarlet questioned breathlessly.

"Operating at sixty-three percent!"

"Good God."

Ruby pushed down her growing panic as their efforts to disable Penny dragged on longer and longer. Penny could predict Ruby's movements with her enhanced sensors, and Scarlet and Sage's semblances would do no good since they weren't battle oriented. Mercury, who was assigned to guard duty, grumbled under his breath as he smashed the hacked Knights that converged on Penny's position with vicious efficiency.

"Ruby, I really think you should let me handle this," The silver-haired teen called over his shoulder as he dispatched another set of Knights.

"No! You're not putting any more strain on that wound than necessary!" Ruby shot back breathlessly as she zoomed in close and tried to club Penny over the head with the collapsed form of Crescent Rose. "Penny, this - uh, this isn't working!"

Penny leapt back, swords circling around her in a protective formation, and her eyes flickered green once more. "I-It's difficult to - to stop. If - If you destroy the source, then I should gain full functionality again."

Ruby dodged to the side as a beam of energy shot toward her. "What's the source?"

"General Ironwood's flagship!"

With a sudden, winding punch to the gut, Ruby's eyes widened and her entire body froze at the answer. Roman was on that ship. Did Cinder try to…?

"Ruby!"

A dark arm shot in front of her and pushed her back. Ruby fell to the ground as Sage stepped in front of her, broadsword bared as a shield, and braced himself against a large burst of energy from Penny. He dug his heels in and grunted as he skid back a few feet. One survey of the battlefield showed Scarlet, running frantically in a zig-zag pattern as smaller beams of energy shot at him with ruthless accuracy.

"That's enough."

A shudder went down her spine at the sudden, loud, and dark tone of Mercury's voice, and suddenly he was charging toward the android. His aura, which was normally a pure white, vibrated off his body with black tremors. He slammed into Penny and executed a series of kicks, alternating from standing, crouching, and bracing himself on his hands. Penny's swords drew back to protect her yet again and counter Mercury's assault, but he didn't look like he was going to let up anytime soon.

But what could they do? Ruby wasn't even sure if Penny could be knocked unconscious. But - But if she cut off the virus, contained it, maybe it would work. And maybe Mercury could hold her off long enough… but how would she get to the ship?

Ruby's eyes floated over to Pyrrha's open locker.

She ran over to the locker as she switched out ice dust for gravity. She ignored the questioning call from Sage as she hooked her scythe over the top of the locker. Ruby bit her lip, drew out her scroll, and checked for coordinates as Sage edged into view and his arm leaned against the locker.

"Ruby, what are you doing?"

Her hand hovered over the keypad. She looked Sage in his golden eyes as her own started to water. "I'll stop the hack. Somehow."

"So you're just going to go flying through the Grimm filled skies?!"

"What other choice do we have?!" Ruby shot back with increasing panic. Over Sage's shoulder, she saw Mercury bend his torso under a swipe of Penny's swords and his hand shot up to seize one of the strings on the swords. "I-I'll be back. I promise."

Sage gripped his sword tight, then leaned in and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Come back to us in one piece, alright?"

Ruby nodded while she tried to keep a brave face. "I will."

She keyed in the coordinates as Sage stepped away and brandished his weapon in the direction of the fight, ready to shield Ruby if necessary. She braced herself for a harrowing flight, but she couldn't help but keep her gaze on Mercury before the locker carried her away. He ducked and weaved around Penny's swords with a deadly grace, and for the first time, she saw the assassin in him. His expression blank, his moves cold and calculated, he sneaked a hit in any chance he took and danced away without a scratch. The observation should have disturbed her. It should have chilled her blood. But in the few moments she observed him, she could only see the Mercury she knew, the Mercury who admitted his past to her and used it as a weapon to lash back for good rather than evil.

Ruby wanted to call out to him. She had a weirdly intense longing to say goodbye, but her plan was to return as quickly as possible. She would see him again, soon. She would.

And they would survive this together.

"See you soon, love," Ruby murmured, and seconds later, she shot into the sky.

As the dust cleared from the crash, a pained cough bubbled out of Blake's throat.

She felt her aura buckle, but shockingly, not break. She crawled out from underneath the chunk of wall that by pure luck didn't crush her with wobbly arms as her legs kicked at broken glass. From a ways away, she heard the roar of the Alpha that backhanded her turn into a wail, and felt some relief. At least the thing was hurting, the bastard.

A growl from a creep caught her attention. She thumbed her weapon to shift into pistol form, and squinted as she scanned the area before her. Her vision was blurry, likely from all the soot and grime before her eyes, and there was so much debris she could hardly identify the building she was in. A flipped over bench told her it must be the lunchroom, but where on Remnant did that sound come from?

A snarl came from her right, and she gasped and looked in the direction of the snarl only to flinch back as the creep was shot from behind her mid-lunge. With a deep sigh, Blake braced her hands on the floor and slowly pushed herself to stand.

"Thanks for the save," She wheezed out.

"Of course, my love."

Adam's reply electrified her entire system. She stumbled forward and nearly lost grasp of her weapon as she whirled around to see the man himself, standing with Wilt and Blush in hand, with Blush raised in the direction of the creep he just shot dead. She felt her ears twitch and her lips pull back into a sneer.

"Were you just waiting for a chance to get me alone?" Blake spit.

She was certain through the mask, he was rolling his eyes. "Did you refuse to run from that battle because you thought I was nearby?"

Blake, stubbornly, kept her lips firmly shut. She had no doubt her glare became downright smoldering at the question, and as loathe as she was to admit, Adam knew her mannerisms too well to not be able to decipher the looks she sent his way.

"Then you know the answer to your question." He lunged and his sword impaled the stomach of an ice clone. With an amused huff, he looked to his left at her. "Incorporating dust with your clones is smart. What made you think of that?"

Blake clutched Gambol Shroud tight. "Weiss did."

Adam's amicable expression darkened, and with a violent tug, her clone's torso shattered, leaving ice-sculpted legs. "Gonna run back to her?"

"Killed any more friends of mine?" Blake questioned with venom, though she feared the answer.

A slight smirk edged across his face. "Not personally, but I found it amusing how this one girl with a sniper hurled herself off Beacon grounds in an attempt to grab the nevermore that had another boy in its claws."

Blake's brain fuzzed over with an icy wash of fear. A… girl with a sniper? He wasn't talking about Ruby, right? No, no he couldn't be, he couldn't! But Ruby was with Mercury last she knew, and the girl was trying to save a boy in the grasp of a nevermore…

With a long, droning groan from Adam as he surveyed the panicked look on Blake's face, he spread his arms just a bit and, for some reason, said something that he must have assumed would soothe her. "Relax, it wasn't your darling caped leader and the assassin she tamed. I wouldn't let her die in such an underwhelming fashion."

Blake heard herself snarl at the mere notion of Adam pursuing Ruby, and she slashed her blade at him. He effortlessly met her attack, and they locked blades. "You're horrible. You won't touch her!"

"I am what the world made me, and I'm not someone you can stop, Blake." The way he said it with such finality and resignation both boiled her blood and reignited her pity for him. Adam used to be a good man, a man who fought for their people and freed them from the horrors humans could inflict. When she looked at this Adam now… he was nearly unrecognizable.

"Well," Blake said with determination. "I'm not running."

He snorted. "I thought you would have the decency to not lie to my face."

Adam pulled Blush from his hip in a flash and fired it right into her stomach. The shot knocked the wind right out of her and caused her aura to show signs of breaking as it flickered across her body. She hurried to make distance between them, and moved around a near destroyed table to keep something between her and Adam.

His playful tone made her skin crawl. "Too weak to fight now."

Blake, a sudden fire flowing through her, growled, "You never told me about one of our own going to Beacon."

He sighed, sheathed Wilt, and stepped forward. "Believe it or not, Blake, I don't tell you everything. And it's our now? You're sending mixed signals, my love."

"It would have been ours, if you hadn't strayed from the cause! We - we were making progress! Faunus were starting to be viewed as equal, aside from the radicals, and—"

Within seconds, Wilt was back in his hand and he brought it down on the table between them. It shattered into splinters as Blake hurried back multiple steps. "How can you be naïve?! You want me to break it down? Fine. Sure, Faunus who are classified with specific traits receive more tolerance, like dogs, rabbits, cats—" He kicked away pieces of wood as he stalked toward her. "But what about the scorpion Faunus with venomous stingers? The winged avian Faunus? The bulls with the sharp horns? Humans are all for Faunus that have ears for a damn trait, but the moment you put in something else, they pick it apart!" He lurched toward her and slashed at her already weak aura. She parried his slashes with a fearful whimper as she cursed how her eyes began to burn, but the more she backed up the further he stepped forward to the point she worried how much room she had left. "'But that Faunus can inject me with venom!' That doesn't mean they'll do it! 'But that Faunus can make quick escapes with their wings!' That doesn't mean they'll exploit it! 'Hey, that Faunus has horns, aren't bulls aggressive? What if he charges me?'"

With the last screamed statement, Adam surged forward, and she couldn't find the aura to spawn another clone. Blake hissed as his hands latched onto her upper arms with a bruising grip and she fell back until she hit the wall with a shuddering slam. Suddenly he was too close, and she felt like she was suffocating, and she was boxed in and couldn't get out and all she could see were the red paint on his mask.

As her frenzied breath hit his face, Adam said in a soft voice that was so sincere and full of genuine confusion it reminded her of who he once was. "I thought I wouldn't have to explain this to you. What did you even want when we were fighting together?"

"I–" Blake cursed herself as the tears flowed down her face. "I just wanted peace."

She felt her stomach hollow out and twist in her gut as a silence blanketed them. In the distance, she could hear the chaos around them, and never did she wish to throw herself into the fight as badly as she did now. She didn't want to feel helpless, or like the same girl who looked up to Adam and eventually came to love him before the love fell away, but that old part of her chastised and ridiculed her to the point she felt like a fool.

Blake flinched away as Adam leaned into her further, mouth right by her ear. He sighed again, longer and more worn out, and said with deep regret and pity, "What you want is impossible, Blake."

She refused to argue with him on this, but a part of her, the part that was subject to the shift from speeches about striving for better rights to violent propaganda, believed him. She knew it wasn't true, that she was manipulated just like so many others to believe what he preached, and the more diluted messages Sienna Khan preached, but a part of her wanted to. But then, she reminded herself. The moments before Roman Torchwick, Cinder Fall, and the White Fang, she had peace. Peace with her team, her friends, and while it wasn't perfect it was progress. What she wanted was possible.

Her refusal to reply must have been the response Adam wanted, because he released her and stepped back. Blake tried to lock her knees and stand tall, but she was just so tired. She fell to the ground in a heap, still beyond terrified but confident that Adam wouldn't kill her. If there was any of him left that she knew, he wouldn't.

"If you try to stop me. If you try to stop our cause." He kneeled down and pointed a finger in the air. "I will destroy everything you love."

Blake grit her teeth and bared them to Adam. "I don't take orders from you anymore."

It was the worst thing she could have said. He opened his mouth to reply, and a familiar voice stopped him from speaking. A familiar voice calling for her name as her shotgun gauntlet fired at a lunging beowulf.

Yang Xiao Long's fiery mane rounded the corner and could be seen through the shattered windows. Blake's eyes went wide and her aura weakly flared in protest as she tried to summon it again. Adam stood and began to walk toward her partner.

"Then you will see the consequences of your betrayal first-hand," Adam proclaimed as his hair and sword began to glow in its sheath. He stalked toward the unsuspecting blonde with a chilling smirk.

"No! Yang!" Blake pooled the last of her strength and leapt from the ground towards Adam. She extended her arm to grab for the weapon he inched from Blush, and could hardly hear Yang's confused Blake? over the blood pounding in her ears. She didn't even think to raise her aura, as weak and useless as it was, so Adam's blade met no resistance when he quickly turned, dodged Blake's grab, and plunged his blade into her abdomen.

"Ah!" Blake cried out as her hands flew to the wound and pain pulsed through her body. She stared into Adam's emotionless mask as he yanked the sword from her belly and as her body tipped toward him from a lack of balance, his free hand thumped her left shoulder and sent her skidding along the ground.

"Get away from her!"

"No, don't! Yang, run!"

She didn't listen. Blake watched as Yang's eyes turned red, and her hair blazed with golden fire as she rocketed toward Adam. With a swift swing, Yang's right arm separated from her body. She wailed as Yang went limp and the fire went out, and scrambled to reach her as Yang hit the ground behind Adam with a heavy thud.

Blake's hands hovered over Yang's stump of an arm. Her golden aura rushed to the wound, but it leaked off the wound in a poor attempt of healing it. She heard Adam's slow walk behind her as she raised the wound to try and stop gravity from working against her, but - but she didn't have anything to bind the wound. She hissed as Adam stopped right behind her, so close his foot bumped hers.

"Are you going to move, or do I have to move you?"

A sudden fury roiled through her. Coldly, she said, "Move me."

Adam Taurus sighed, raised his blade, and watched as Blake's head disconnected from her body. Her clone phased away as she hefted Yang up and ran.

After so much time encased in darkness, Roman thought the next time his cell door slid open, he would be ecstatic. There was only so much he could do to entertain himself with the restricted scroll Ironwood begrudgingly handed over, and Red was so wound up her responses, while sometimes amusing, didn't sustain him for long. He wasn't prideful enough to admit he benefited from social interaction from time to time.

But it depended on the person. Lynae Erin and Tyrian Slate were not on his list.

"What's with the grouch face, Torchwick?" Slate said with that cocky smirk of his that, considering his combat ability compared to the rest of their little criminal group, wasn't meritted. "Not having fun playing with Irondick's toys?"

Roman, with his cane by his side and his torso hunched over the controls of the battleship, replied snappily, "Oh, no, I'm ecstatic. I get to deal with the kids that were duped by some fifteen year old with a hero complex. Always fun to spend time with the failures of the team."

An aggravated growl rumbled from Lynae's throat. Roman, while noting how shocked he was the Faunus actually reacted to an insult, didn't turn to face her. She would spew whatever she wished to say regardless.

"The only reason the Rosebud got one over on us was because of Mercury's devotion to the girl. I only hope my bullet killed him."

His hands paused over the controls. Time to put the acting cap on. "I believe I have to catch up with the series of events."

"The pathetic assassin stopped the sister of that little thorn in our side from 'breaking' his leg after the match. Luckily, Cinder put in place a countermeasure if this occurred." He could hear the scowl on her face. "I tried to kill them both, the sister and that scumbag, but Rosebud's friends are fiercely protective."

Roman forced himself to unfreeze. His gloved hands danced over the controls and pressed a few buttons at random. "And Neo? Emerald?"

"Emerald has common sense. Neo does not."

Slate sighed. "Shame. That ice cream fanatic is a cutie."

"That crush of yours would have gone nowhere, Slate, and you know this." Lynae leant against the controls beside Roman. "Besides, she's obsessed with that pirate boy."

With furrowed brows, Roman mouthed pirate boy? before he refocused and tried to not show any emotion. They let him out, so they thought he was on their side. But if Neo wasn't on their side, he sure as hell wasn't. And right now, controlling this battleship and taking pot shots at the city of Vale was the opposite of help.

He could feel Lynae's electric blue eyes burn into the side of his head. He needed to stall. While he could confidently say Lynae didn't know how close he was with Neo (he was fairly certain that, aside from Slate, Lynae didn't know the purpose behind close relationships), showing no reaction would make her suspicious. "But… Neo? Neo wouldn't just switch sides for some random kid."

Her tone of voice was the closest to sympathetic he'd ever heard. "I thought the same with Mercury, even though I never liked the guy. But no. Infatuation makes people make bad decisions, and they are no exception."

His green eyes narrowed. "So Mercury's dead."

"Well. I don't know." Lynae tapped her chin. "They're keeping his status hush hush. Neo's still kickin' though."

Slate snorted. "We'll get her back on our side."

"Not through the means of persuasion. Rosebud's like a damn poison." Lynae's blank tone sounded ominous. "We'll have to bring her back to us by force."

"And we have a plan to do that?" Roman almost didn't want to know the answer.

Lynae only smirked.

What to do, what to do. Well, he supposed the chuckleheads still in the dark about Mercury's condition was a good thing. But he couldn't take on Lynae and Slate. He wasn't sure he wanted to. "You realize if they're both alive, they're telling the good general all about Cinder's operation."

Lynae scoffed. "You've been out of the loop, Roman. Cinder hasn't trusted either of them with any new info for a long time. The operation is completely intact, and they don't even know about Salem."

Roman blinked.

"I don't know about any Salem either." Oh, that's nice. Slate was, for once, wiped of any arrogance. And he, too, was out of the loop.

At her silence, Roman finally decided to straighten his posture and look her in the face. A satisfied smile edged across her mouth with a look in her eye that gave her an unstable, predatory appearance. "Salem… she'll grant us whatever we wish. She's going to recreate the world." Her electric eyes met Roman's green ones with excitement. "I cannot wait to meet her."

"...Right."

Okay, so Lynae has officially gone insane. Good to know. And while this Salem person was news to him, he wasn't quite ready to take a shot of the crazy juice. Slate, no doubt, was already thinking about money, so Roman figured he was the only one who felt some trepidation when the thought of Cinder having a boss was set on the table. Never had he wished Red would drop in like in this moment.

THUD.

The trio looked up at the ceiling. It was a distant thud, but prominent enough to be worrisome. After all, the battleship only had them on board, so it's not like they were generating negative emotions at an intensity that would cause Grimm to hurl themselves at the ship. He frowned with a thoughtful look.

"It might be wise to see what just landed on the top of the ship," He suggested to the room as he made himself look busy. He tried to force the dryness of the remark out of his voice, but didn't quite manage. Lynae sighed and slipped on a white glove that Roman didn't recognize. On the back of her hand was a red insignia shaped like an eye.

"I'll go. Slate, stay here."

Damn. "Got it, Lyn."

"Try not to get eaten!" Roman threw over his shoulder with a sarcastic tone. Lynae didn't respond, and her footsteps faded quickly. He chanced a glance over his shoulder to see Slate picking at his nails, bored out of his mind. With a cautious hand, he slipped his scroll from his pocket and checked it for messages.

And one just came in.

Red: {Are you on the ship still}

His eyebrows winged up. That thud couldn't have been her. Right?

Red: {If you're in your cell tell me and I'll come in}

Oh dear God, that thud was her. He literally just thought of her before she landed on top of the ship, what kind of odds was that?!

Red: {Roman?}

Red: {Lynae is here if you're alive come up!}

Roman pursed his lips. So Red came for him. That was… oddly touching. Red wouldn't stand a chance against Lynae though. That pesky semblance gave her the edge she needed. But… Roman could just knock Slate out and leave. He didn't have to go help Red. But texts from an unknown number solidified his decision.

Unknown: {It's Neo. Ruby is on the top of the ship, if you can get out of your cell get to her}

Unknown: {I'll make my way down as soon as I can. Make sure she's safe, okay?}

With a long sigh, Roman settled himself to his fate as temporary do-gooder. He glanced at the controls, the scroll that uploaded the virus still perched in the computer, and his cane. He smirked.

"Hey, where'd ya get that scroll-"

Without warning, Roman swung his cane around and cracked Slate hard over the head. He staggered back with a hand to his temple and his slicked back hair knocked out of place. Roman followed after with quick steps and two-handed his cane to bring it down upon his head with a mighty swing. Slate bent with the blow, and Roman twirled his cane and swung underhand. Slate flew back with a bloodied nose that his aura rushed to repair, and his mossy green eyes lolled around in a daze.

"What… the… fu…"

"Stay here," Roman muttered as he tucked his scroll into his pocket, unplugged the other scroll Lynae handed to him from the computer, and smashed it under his heel. He tipped his hat mockingly to the man and strode up the steps with an amused smirk. "Alright, Red… I guess I'll play the hero for you, for now."

From her eyes streamed a weak green fire, straining to stay alight.

Pyrrha watched with a crushing horror as an arrow flew to find its place in Amber's chest. Through the link of their souls, she could feel the pain of pierced flesh, the scream of shock through Amber's aura. Did Amethyst feel this too? Did she feel the labored breaths of Amber as she struggled to stay alive, as she tried to push her soul out and into Pyrrha? Pyrrha could feel it all, feel it as Amber soul was abruptly ripped into two pieces yet again and the remaining part of it rocketed from her body into that of Cinder Fall.

The transfer was slow and cruel. The moment the process began, Pyrrha heard herself screaming, heard Jaune frantically looking for a way to release her from the pod. But she muscled through it, forced her soul to make room for Amber, and despite the pain, Ozpin encouraged her that they were making progress. One percent, five, ten. She screamed until her throat went raw and she let herself coast into delirium. Her mind had two voices, one her own and one weak but prodding, and never did she feel so her and not her.

Pyrrha, run.

She burst from her pod and summoned her weapons to her. With a growl Pyrrha dashed towards Cinder, the woman who ruined it all, the woman who began to ascend into the air with a stronger fire streaming from her eyes and a deadly cold glare locked onto her green streams of magic.

You cannot beat her! You don't have enough of the power!

Ozpin held out his arm, and her shield caught it. "Miss Nikos, take Mister Arc and get out of here!"

"I want to help!"

He stared into her green eyes. "You'll only get in the way."

You have to run far away, Pyrrha. What was left of Amber wished this within her own mind. She won't stop until she has it all. Pyrrha, please, run.

"Don't you try to run, girl!" Cinder yelled. "I'll carve through all your pitiful friends to get to you, starting with your little boyfriend!"

If she were indecisive then, that little aside sprung her into action. With tearful eyes, Pyrrha rushed to Jaune, picked him up, and used her shield to stop a stream of fire from Cinder. Ozpin quickly encompassed her in an orb of green light. Cinder growled as Pyrrha dragged Jaune past her.

"That power is mine!" Cinder screamed. "You think you can keep me from her, old man?! All you have done is sentence another student under your leadership to death!"

"Get out of here, Pyrrha!"

"She was right about you." Cinder roared. From her hands she summoned pillars of fire. Pyrrha and Jaune squeezed into the elevator as the space around Cinder exploded in a bomb of fire. "SUCH ARROGANCE."

The doors slid shut and they began their ascent. Pyrrha huffed large breaths and tried not to flinch at the tremors that the power of Cinder and Ozpin caused with their magic. Jaune was shaking beside her, a genuine fear in his eyes that she hadn't seen since their first encounter with a Deathstalker.

"What- I- what was that?! What transfer? Pyrrha, whatever that thing was doing to you-"

"It didn't work," Pyrrha whispered, a horrified shake in her voice. "I don't have all the power. There's so much that's missing."

You barely have enough to conjure your passive ability. Amber informed solemnly.

"What power?"

"The fairytale about the Four Maidens is true," Pyrrha rushed out with a shaky breath. "I- that was the Fall Maiden. She's, she's going to kill me-"

She won't if you hide.

"She'll find me." Pyrrha shuddered. "You heard her. She'll use those I love to make sure I don't hide."

"No, no she's not getting anywhere near you," Jaune said with a tight grip on his weapons. He sheathed his sword, put his shield on his hip, and reached forward to grab Pyrrha's shoulders. "We'll find Ruby and Mercury, like we said, and we'll get you someplace safe. We'll get everyone out, and everything will work out-"

Pyrrha shook her head. She brought her right hand up, thought hard, and in her palm she summoned a weak vortex of water. It swirled like a whirlpool. Jaune stared in wonder.

"How did you…?"

"I have part of the Fall Maiden's power." She let the water fall and splatter on the ground. She looked Jaune in the eye. "And I'm going to die for it."

"Stop talking like that."

A metallic ring sounded from below them. Pyrrha glanced at the floor number. It ticked to the ground floor, and the elevator shuddered to a stop. Jaune immediately turned and frantically pushed the open door button over and over. Pyrrha bit her lip, spread her feet apart, and flexed her hands.

She's coming!

Pyrrha gripped the elevator with her semblance just as Cinder hit the floor underneath them. She heard Cinder utter a guttural scream as the metal underneath them began to heat and collapse. Pyrrha's eyes went alight with fire again as she managed to cool the metal with dashes of ice.

If you do this, you will lose.

Pyrrha ripped the door open with her semblance. "I know."

If you do this, you will die, and she will be a fully ascended Maiden.

She felt tears stream down her face. "I know."

"Pyrrha?!" Jaune's hands were on her shoulders again. He pulled at her, but she stood firm. "Come on, the door's open, let's-"

She cupped Jaune's cheek and kissed him. As she struggled to keep hold on the elevator, struggled to stop the metal beneath them melting away, she kissed him and she felt his arm wind around her waist. Amber was blissfully silent, and after a moment that felt like an eternity, Pyrrha drew away, stared fondly into Jaune's eyes, and smiled.

"Live for me."

Jaune's eyes widened in horror as he realized what she intended to do. He opened his mouth, clutched her waist tightly, but her semblance gripped his chest plate and pushed him away. "Pyrrha, don't do this! I- Let me boost your aura, that way your semblance can-"

Pyrrha shook her head with a somber look. "I can't guarantee your safety that way."

"This isn't about my safety! I can help you, we can help you, Ruby can help you like she promised!"

It's a long shot. But it's possible. Ruby could help.

Pyrrha ignored Amber's offer. Risking Ruby wasn't an option. She pushed him fully from the elevator. She smiled a watery, bittersweet smile, and replied, "Goodbye, Jaune."

She deactivated her semblance. She braced herself as she was suddenly ascending at a breakneck pace, away from Jaune, away from Ruby and Nora and Ren and all her friends. She ascended, and just before she reached the top, she gripped and pushed the elevator down as she flipped back and into Ozpin's office. She ignored the part of her that screamed to retreat, that screamed to live, because if she lived today, many more would die in her place. And if it cost her her life to stall this monster long enough for Ruby and Jaune to regroup, rebuild their friend group into a force insistent on defeating Cinder Fall, then it would be worth it.

"Do you believe in destiny, Amber?" Pyrrha spoke softly.

...I do.

"Then trust in our destiny. And if you can't, then trust in my friends."

Amber was silent. As Cinder emerged from the elevator shaft, her eyes burning with a smug satisfaction, she sighed and said, Judging by what Amethyst has told me about your friends, and from what I can see from your memories… that I can definitely do.

Will Ruby stop the hack in time? Also, I'm taking a stab at fleshing out forms of Faunus discrimination. Let's see how it turns out!

Astray-Tech: Nope. I know some very minor things but that's about it! And I LOVE the new Grimm! They're so interesting, especially the Teryx! And jeez, they added some big ones. The Leviathan looks really cool, though Monstra is... kinda meh?

Dragon Lord Draco: Oh I just realized how "Burning Green" might make you think that. Not sure how a Maiden Penny would work since she's not a prominent character right now, but I admit Maiden Emerald always intrigued me.

The Night Whisperer: One thing Roman's got going for him is Cinder doesn't know he's against her, and if there's one thing I believe Roman is good at, it's lying his ass off XD

Benji the Monocat: I... am not sure what this means. Thank you?

The Baz: Oh God. Glad I jumped ship when I did then!

eyelashh: If you're still around, is there something in particular that turned you off to the story in the early chapters?

Servos New Head: ...oh jeez. I didn't even make that connection with Neo. That's hilarious XD. And I'm tellin' ya, blame Yang! She's the one with all the puns (and Mercury)

Next chapter: Heroes and Turncoats

Lonessa out.