How do you stop a gigantic Grimm Wyvern from wreaking havoc and destruction through one of the most densely populated kingdoms on Remnant?
The answer was, unsurprisingly, quite simple. Kill it.
The problems stemmed from the solution being somewhat difficult to implement at best, and downright impossible at worst.
Adding to this the fact that the best chance Naruto had of getting close to it meant he had to first fight off the woman who had killed Ozpin before she'd gained whatever power it was that she now had, it wasn't looking all that good.
"We need to get out of here."
His voice tumbled out from his lips without his doing, and he was surprised to find himself agreeing with himself, which, if anything, was a sign that he might be right.
A number of eyes shot to him, but he doubled down on changing his mind. "We might've stood the slightest chance of going up against Cinder when it was all of us on her, but now there's that giant Wyvern to contend with. We can't hope to defeat both her and the Grimm."
The eyes, or rather the people attached to them, began to murmur and discuss what he'd presented, but he figured that tripling down couldn't hurt. "We need to help the evacuees, get them to Patch. And us. We need to get our wounded out of here, and we need to survive. Vale will recover, Beacon will recover, but not if we all die here. Live to fight another day and all that."
Weiss, who was effectively the only awake member of his team left, closed her eyes in thought, before those ice-blue orbs locked with his own. "If we even try to run, that Wyvern will pick us off one by one until there's none of us left. That, or it'll just follow us and take down the evacuation craft. We still have to fight it."
That. That was the part of the plan that Naruto knew at least one person would wonder about, and he knew he didn't have a very convincing answer.
"I'll take care of that. Leave it to me."
Weiss glared. "You changed your mind, said we need to leave, but you want to stay? Is it stupidity or just vanity?"
Naruto returned the glare in equal force, the first time he'd ever done that before, and it seemed to catch Weiss off-guard. "Neither. I have a plan, and I'm the only one that can pull it off. We both know that. So go, Weiss, you're in charge. Take Blake and Pyrrha, take everyone, get them out of here. I'll handle our big, scaly friend."
He dropped the glare and gave his teammate a small smile. "You're our smartest member, Weiss. Always have been, Pyrrha and Blake would agree. But I'm our most difficult to pin down. Even if Cinder and the Wyvern can figure out some of my tricks, I've always got more up my sleeves. Go, please. Get clear."
Weiss paused at his final sentence. "What are you planning, Naruto?"
Naruto couldn't help the rueful smile that crossed his face. "Oh, you know me. Nothing smart."
General James Ironwood, the Tin Soldier, was irrevocably, undeniably, completely and utterly enraged.
This man, this criminal, this scum, thought he could just waltz upon his ship and do with it what he wished?
Then, the nerve he had to present him with what the fool obviously believed to be the ultimatum. He had no clue how he operated, no idea what lengths he was willing to go to in order to protect humanity.
He truly believed him to be an idiot, that the General of the Atlesian Military was foolish enough to fall for such a ploy.
Roman Torchwick was about to understand exactly how Ironwood had made it this far in his career.
He wasn't a political person, that had just come with the rest of his responsibilities.
No, General James Ironwood had become General of the Atlesian Army through action.
He squeezed the trigger as Roman lifted his cane, and the round that ejected from the barrel found itself being knocked to the side as Roman swayed, Melodic Cudgel meeting metallic arm as Ironwood simply blocked the attack.
There was a single moment as Roman's eyes widened ever-so-slightly, coming face to face with the barrel of the revolver, and he made the tactical decision to try and pull Melodic Cudgel free.
It was like trying to pull a bone out of the mouth of an Elder Beowolf, and Roman quickly abandoned his weapon, darting backwards.
Ironwood spared the weapon a single glance before he crushed it in his grip, tossing the remains off the edge of the Daedalus, much to Torchwick's dismay.
"Look, General, surely we can figure this out somehow," He began, words coming fast and without meaning behind them.
The General ignored his words. "This is for all those who lost their lives at your hand."
The first shot shattered his Aura underneath the impact, knocking the thief onto his back as Ironwood approached, stepping one boot atop the criminal's wrist.
"What was it you said, Roman? 'Lie, cheat, steal and survive'?" Ironwood asked, pulling back the hammer.
"Survive this."
The gunshot rang out into the evening.
A single, peaceful moment in a night of death, destruction, madness and mayhem. It came at the cost of so many. It came at the cost of soldiers, civilians, terrorists and thieves.
Ironwood turned to his companion, the young girl in the red cloak looking as shell-shocked as he'd expect anyone in her situation to feel, though there were lines of determination written into her face, belying a maturity he hadn't honestly expected. When he'd read the brief Ozpin had provided him with, he'd seen that she was younger, more naive, easier to manipulate.
Now, though, he saw anything but.
Ruby Rose was the spitting image of her mother, that much he was sure of, and their personalities, whilst different, still shared many similarities, such as the desire to help.
At least Ruby had what Summer didn't, and that was what appeared to be self-control.
"We need to leave, Ms Rose," He began, and it snapped her attention away from the body that lay bleeding on the metal plating.
"We need to get to Beacon!" Ruby let out, determination at war with her own introversion, unsure of what she could reasonably demand of a General.
Ironwood stepped to the edge of the floundering Daedalus and peered into the distance. "No, we don't. Beacon's been evacuated."
"What?!" Ruby exclaimed, rushing to stand next to the man, her own silver eyes staring at the carnage below.
"The evacuation will take them to Patch, it is where we should head. My ship is still mostly working, unless something happened to the hangar on the way up here. Our destination is Patch."
"But what about Beacon?" Ruby asked.
The two stared as the Wyvern rounded the cliffs and settled upon the ruined tower of Beacon.
"Beacon has fallen, Ms Rose. There is nothing left for us there. We've lost."
How do you even begin to kill a Wyvern?
Surprisingly, that wasn't even the biggest problem Naruto was wrestling with.
He had an idea for that. Sure, it might not work, in fact, it was probably suicide, but then again, those were his favorite odds.
No, the biggest problem was going to be Cinder Fall.
How do you deal with someone like her?
Someone so above him in terms of raw power, so above him in her willpower that they would commit what had to amount to genocide to gain whatever it was that she had acquired?
What did it say about the people who hid that power in one of the most heavily populated areas on Remnant?
No, now wasn't the time to get lost in the thoughts that the night had brought with it. This was the time for thinking about his next move, not others' past mistakes.
Which brought him right back to the question; how best to deal with Cinder Fall?
Naruto realised his solution as he reached the base of the tower, and swore under his breath. This was not a solution he, or anyone else, would like. This was a solution that would have him vilified, if not downright ostracized.
And it was his only option, realistically speaking.
It was either this or let the Wyvern roam free amongst Vale, and he was most certainly not considering giving up and leaving.
Both hands free he wedged his fingers in the somewhat-ajar elevator doors and wrenched hard, sliding them mostly open on warped rails, squeezing himself between the gap and into the shaft, where there was barely anything to stand on aside from a single beam of warped steel that jutted out from the concrete wall.
Not that it really mattered all that much as Naruto cast Surface Walk, placing one foot against the cracked concrete and following it with the other foot, wincing as rubble fell underneath his boots, splintering and echoing in the depths of Beacon.
He allowed himself to stand as if upright, and began to walk, step by step climbing his way up the elevator shaft and closer towards what very much might be his impending doom.
Which, if he was being perfectly honest, was a terrifying thought.
He had less than ten percent of his Aura, sitting uncomfortably in the red, and whilst he had plenty of MP and HP, that wouldn't mean all that much in a two-on-one fight against wasn't exactly what he was capable of dealing with.
Gods, he wasn't even cut out for a one-on-one fight, but he really only had the one option.
The closer he got to the top of the tower, the warmer it got, and it was swelteringly hot when he stepped out of the ruined top of the shaft, pushing aside a broken gear.
The heat doubled in intensity the moment he surfaced, once the woman had noticed him.
Her hand raised, flames licking her fingertips, and she appeared unaffected by the heat of both her ambient Aura and the fireball she slowly spun in her hand.
"What a pleasant surprise. Come to throw yourself at me in one final attempt at heroism?" She asked, a sly smile on her face. "It will end surely how you expect it must."
Naruto swallowed deeply, his nerves disappearing down his throat alongside his pride.
"You won."
Those words seemed to catch the woman completely off-guard. "Oh? An admission of defeat? Seems kind of pointless to me, don't you think? Unless you think myself so foolish that I cannot recognize my own victory."
Naruto shook his head. "You got what you came for, what you destroyed Beacon for. Everything after this doesn't matter."
Cinder cocked her head, gesturing for him to continue.
"That Wyvern, unchecked, it'll destroy whatever remains of Beacon, and then move onto Vale. I can't let that happen."
"You can't? Why ever not? You lost, as you said. If you've lost, than there is to be no more fighting. Unless you haven't lost yet, and you still scrabble about in the dirt, resisting fate."
"I don't want to fight you-" He continued, only for a small laugh to interrupt him.
She said nothing else, and he corrected himself. "I don't want to go up against you right now. I'll lose, and die. But at the same time, I can't stand around and do nothing. You already won, you already got what you came for. Let me fight the Wyvern without interruption, and win or lose, it costs you nothing."
Cinder shook her head ever-so-slowly. "It isn't what it costs me, Naruto Uzumaki, but what it stands to gain me. If you have something to offer, you had best offer it now. Otherwise, I will turn you into ashes upon the top of this tower, simply because it would serve as an excellent test of my newfound power."
"I can give you a favor."
The words were not easy for Naruto to say, and yet it appeared as if Cinder thought them to be a joke.
"A favor? What could I possibly want from you that you might possess, Naruto Uzumaki? Anything you wish, I could have in my hand in moments. What could your favor possibly get me that I could get no other way?"
Naruto allowed himself to shrug. "I don't know what you want, so I can't tell you. But I have access to things that not even you do, no matter how much flame you command. I offer you a single favor that would have no expiration, no limits. All you have to do is stand aside."
Cinder put a single finger to her the bottom of her lips in thought, eyes never leaving Naruto. "Interesting. You seem so confident that you will survive this encounter. If you do not, I stand aside and gain nothing."
"And lose the favor. The Wyvern will have killed me, so you would have lost the gamble. But if you kill me, you never take the gamble at all. You have something to gain, and nothing to lose if you allow me to fight. If you do not, you lose nothing, but gain nothing. It would be a waste."
"Well, Naruto Uzumaki, you surprise me. From what I had been told, you were not someone to try this sort of thing. I was under the impression that you were a foolish hero-type who would throw their life away to try and live up to the idealism that had plagued their mind from childhood."
"I still have plenty of time to kill you the next time we meet," Naruto replied, trying not to let his anger show.
"I suppose that I couldn't expect you to stop pursuing me. Though I imagine some of your friends may be less inclined to follow you into certain death. I accept you offer, Naruto Uzumaki. I can only hope you are not as much of a disappointment as I expected when I first saw you."
Naruto stepped away from Cinder with a single nod, turning to face the Wyvern that orbited the tower, watching as it pulled away, taking a turn around the distant mountains, heading straight for the tower.
"I suppose this will be good luck, Naruto Uzumaki. Win or lose, I win. What a wonderful deal."
Naruto supposed that the favor hadn't contained the clause that she must shut up whilst he killed the Wyvern, or tried, at least, but that might be a bit too much for the woman to accept. She liked to gloat, so it seemed.
The Wyvern almost seemed smaller up close, which Naruto was somewhat thankful for, as it latched large claws into the midsection of the tower, it's beady eyes staring right at him.
Naruto drew Crocea Mors and bashed the blade against the shield, letting out a shout. "Come on then you big lizard! You want some dinner? Come eat me!"
Naruto knew he was making a big mistake as he began his Sprint, feet pounding the ruined floor of what had been Ozpin's office, the gaping maw of the Wyvern in front of him.
He was going to kill this thing or die trying.
He just wished his grand idea wasn't Taijitu-related.
He jumped, and with every passing moment he remained in mid-air his regret for his plan only doubled.
He hit saliva-covered tongue and quickly fought for purchase, barely rolling out of the way of a particularly sharp tooth as he found himself swallowed down the Wyvern's cavernous throat, darkness encasing him.
Oh, and the stench. How could he forget the stench? It was oppressive and thick enough that he could cut it with Crocea Mors, and even then it would probably require a lot of leverage.
Naruto didn't want to remain here any longer than he had, especially when he stumbled and accidentally put his hand through a corpse's partially-dissolved midsection, that wasn't pleasant.
Observe didn't seem to work any differently from inside what he was observing, which was interesting, but the information it presented him was terrifying, and he realised, in a bout of sudden irony, that he'd possibly bitten off more than he could chew.
[Elder Wyvern]
[Level 60, Legendary Grimm]
[HP: 150,000/150,000]
That really wasn't good.
Naruto could feel his Aura dropping, the acidic contents of the Wyvern melting through what little protection he had at his disposal, and he quickly maxed his buffs, going for a complete cast, not willing to take the time to decide what he might need.
He let loose.
Spinning Mana Bullets, Mana Grenades, a Mana Calamity for good measure, it wasn't doing enough damage to outpace the damage he was taking, but it was a good start.
He needed to do as much damage as he possibly could before he left.
But now was time for his final attack.
He'd dealt 34,483 damage in his consistent barrage of attacks, if only thanks to the fact that he was currently inside it, and it had no internal armor, but now he was nearly out of Mana, which didn't bode well, and his Aura wasn't far off.
Naruto opened his inventory and dropped the three bombs, watching as the timer's resumed their countdown.
And he brought his last remaining Mana within himself, focusing on casting one final skill.
Phase Shift activated and he felt his connection with the world slip and shift as he fell through matter and mass, the sudden rush of air coming just as he ran out of Mana, only to find a blinding pain in his left leg as he felt it simply cease to exist, a soundless scream being sucked away by the wind that rushed past his head.
He was falling, he realized, though he hadn't understood quite what it would mean for him, even as the agony began to dull.
He righted himself in the air, a trail of blood from the stump of his already healing leg streaming behind him.
Below him was Beacon's campus, but he was a way off from the tower, and much higher than he'd expected.
It occurred to him that there was nothing he could do about this fall. He was out of Mana completely, and it wouldn't regenerate in time to allow him the one thing he knew how to use, Mana Impact, effectively nullifying his one of his two options.
His other option was to summon Alcmena and have her carry him back to safety, but she was still unavailable, her injury in the arena having kept her in what Naruto could only assume was stasis.
Naruto flipped on his back as he fell through the sky. If he was going to die from the fall, he might as well at least watch the results. He wanted to at least witness the death of the Elder Wyvern before he succumbed to his own mistakes.
His mental clock ticked down, three seconds, two, one.
The explosion shook the very air, which was impressive, the shockwave reaching him even as he fell.
The Wyvern roared in agony, chunks of dark matter flying in every direction.
Naruto smiled as he fell, wind rushing past his head. He'd done it.
He'd killed an Elder Wyvern.
A claw gripped him around the midsection, completely encompassing him in its grasp.
The Wyvern hadn't died. He'd just pissed it off.
He didn't have the AP or the MP to deal with this, so why wasn't it dead yet?
He glared at the giant dragon-like Grimm, and was promptly presented with information that explained why.
[Elder Wyvern]
[Level 60, Legendary Grimm]
[HP:70,517/150,000]
So the three bombs had done 15,000 damage each. Great. That had been a waste.
Well, not a waste as such, but perhaps it hadn't been the best use of his Mana.
"Damn it!" Naruto swore as he tried to wrench himself from the Wyvern's grip, one hand coming loose.
Crocea Mors was still in his grip, which he was pleased to see, and he stabbed downwards, sword cutting against armored scales and barely making a dent.
It still released him, much to his surprise, and his next words died on his lips as his back hit a piece of broken clockwork, a grunt escaping in their stead.
"Well, I must say, it was an impressive display."
Naruto groaned.
"A shame that you didn't kill it, but at the very least you are alive. Which means you can still uphold your end of the deal. What a pleasant surprise."
Naruto sat upright, wincing as his broken arm cracked back into place. "You planned that."
Cinder shook her head. "I didn't. I simply took advantage of a series of coincidences. I manipulated them to my favor, that is all. Speaking of favors."
Naruto stood up shakily. "I'm not done fighting."
At that, Cinder rose a single eyebrow. "Well that does surprise me, but then again, it does fall back in line with my original opinion of you."
Naruto decided to ignore the genocidal maniac, instead opening his player menu and swapping a title.
Armsmaster was swapped to Soul Tamer, and Naruto felt the change ripple through his mostly unbroken spine as he closed his eyes for a single moment.
He had one final move he could make, and he brought forth Electrus.
The crystalline structure crackled and stung the very air as it came together, clinking and chiming as it stood upright.
Naruto was internally pleased to hear Cinder shut her mouth in surprise, as Electrus rounded, turning to face the Elder Wyvern.
In return the Wyvern looked at Electrus, malice dripping from its fangs. The only thing that was holding it back was whatever Cinder was doing that held it under her control.
He had one shot. "Make it count, Electrus."
The Stormbolt that left the crystalline arms of Electrus fried the very air, the condensed bolt of lightning striking the Wyvern in the skull.
The roar of pain it let out blew Naruto's eardrums, blood pouring from his ears as he hit the ground on both knees.
He felt his ears heal, only to hear Cinder once more.
"All that effort, for naught. Such a shame. You almost won, though."
The Wyvern was still there, scorch marks down the side of the exposed skull. It looked in pain, but even still he was running on empty. He had nothing left. Electrus was already disappearing, crystals clinking together as they simply became shadows on the rubble.
"I suppose even you would run out of tricks eventually. I'm almost disappointed."
This damned woman. It wasn't enough to commit a massacre, she had to tease and prod him all the while, knowing damn well he wanted her to die, and was unable to do so.
Naruto began scrambling backwards, hands brushing past powdered glass and wrecked clockwork.
"Tsk. Running away already? But we haven't had time to chat."
Cinder brought her hand up, glass and flame swirling around until she was holding a spear, her smirk only increasing in satisfaction as she buried it in Naruto's stomach, sticking him in place.
Naruto let out a pained groan, a cough bringing more blood than was pleasant from his mouth.
"I'm a little worried I might not be able to redeem that favor, hero," Cinder began, the title she'd given him laden heavily with pure disdain. "You don't seem like you have much left to give."
Fire crept up her arm and dispersed off the shoulder as she leveled her palm, placing it just above the wound he was currently still afflicted by, the healing put off by the weapon that was still wedged in him. "I should kill you. I want to kill you."
Naruto spat blood in her face, watching with satisfaction as she recoiled visibly. "Then do it. Stop jerking me around."
Cinder engulfed her face in a layer of flame for a single moment, singing off the remnants of his lifeblood, before shaking her head softly. "It isn't willed, I'm afraid. My mistress wishes to see you grow, expand, delve deeper into what awaits you."
Naruto's eyes widened. That was new information. The mass-murderer was working for someone?
He let out another strained grunt. "Who's your mistress?"
His luck hadn't exactly been working wonders, even buffed as it was, and nothing changed. "No, no spoilers. Can't have you finding out too soon. It would spoil my fun."
Cinder gave the spear a quick half-twist, causing Naruto to spasm in pain. "I don't claim to grasp every one of her machinations, but I do believe myself capable of understanding the majority of them. Keeping you alive, it's one I don't quite get. Something about you is extraordinary, that much is blatantly clear, but what it is seems to evade my knowledge. Whatever I find, you seem to counter and support in one move. It's a worthwhile challenge to keep my mind busy."
"Well-" Naruto coughed out. "That doesn't seem too difficult."
Cinder gave the spear another twist, but she paid no more mind to his jab. "All the same, calling in that favor now, to find out, seems… a waste. A perfectly good opportunity thrown aside for curiosity's sake is not what I would call a smart move."
Something triggered in the back of Naruto's mind, and despite the fact that he was unable to place it, he still settled into his role as Cinder's current distraction.
"So, what? You don't exactly strike me as a smart-move-kind-of-murderer, you know?"
Cinder didn't fall for his obvious bait. "To you it must seem like magic. Well, more like a different kind of magic, I suppose. I can see why this was so overwhelming for you."
Naruto grinned through blood-stained teeth. "I dunno. You seem pretty underwhelming to me. I was expecting all maniacal evil laughter and 'my plan has come together flawlessly' speeches."
Cinder cocked her head, the barest hint of a smile on her lips. "Oh, you poor fool. You thought I would give it all up once I had you trapped? No, it's only because I'm trying to work out the best way to use that favor you gave that you remain alive. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't have hesitated to incinerate you on the spot, and then roast your friends one by one after each other for the sheer sake of testing this new power."
That had Naruto lose his grin quickly. He'd almost forgotten how he'd ended up in this situation, he'd gotten too caught up with thinking of quick-witted insults. Not very good ones, either.
"I can believe that you're foolish enough to believe that your attempts at insults were distracting enough to prevent me from hearing the approaching Bullhead, weren't you?" Cinder asked, and Naruto could feel all the color drain from his face in an instant.
Cinder turned to watch its approach, a single trail of smoke pouring out of one engine as it struggled not to list against the air currents.
"I take it one of your friends is aboard, trying their best to valiantly rescue you. I should send the Wyvern after it, but I think I might take a few moments to enjoy what they've got planned first."
Naruto placed both hands against the spear that held him in place and heaved, slowly but surely feeling it lift out of the concrete beneath him.
Cinder was still watching the Bullhead, keeping a close eye on it as the side door opened, red petals blowing in the wind, getting sucked into the smoke.
Naruto pushed harder and harder, lifting the spear further and further from his body. He only had a few moments to take advantage of the small chance, and he wasn't going to squander it.
"If it isn't Ruby Rose herself, come to save the day. What a pleasant surprise," Cinder began, flame licking up the side of her arm as both her eyes ignited with whatever power it was she'd stolen.
Ruby landed hard on the top of the tower, absorbing the situation in all but a moment.
Even as fast as she was, there was no dodging the blast of heat that hit her and threatened to completely blow her off the edge of the ruined tower.
Cinder lowered her arm. "Are you going to make a deal, too? I'm not sure if a favor from you would carry as much use, but I can be certain to use it regardless."
Ruby locked eyes with Naruto, silver widening as she watched him pull the spear completely free and lunge for the woman in red, her own weapon in his hand.
Ruby lunged as well, Crescent Rose glinting in the evening moonlight.
Another blast of heat radiated from the woman, knocking them both back to the ground and completely shattering the spear Naruto had been planning on using, sending shards of black glass amongst the rest of the rubble.
"What a try. Remarkable that you can even still move after everything you've been through, Uzumaki. And Rose, what a naive attempt at a rescue."
She turned to Naruto, glass forming another weapon. A bow, a single arrow notched in the glassen bowstring.
"I changed my mind. You hold no worth to me. You are nothing but a hindrance to remove."
She drew, arrowtip meeting index finger.
"Naruto!" Ruby shouted, as Cinder released the arrow.
The tip hit him in the chest, and everything went black.