The Adventures of Team WA: Volume 2

by Masked Spider

Team WA is back, having survived the fall of Beacon and the land of Mistral, Wayne and Aegis have been split between two continents, with Aegis helping Blake against the White Fang and Wayne helping Weiss get to Mistral, but new and old enemies alike have their own sinister plans for the land of Mistral, and our heroes (Note: Read the Adventures of Team WA at Beacon Academy first).

52. Silent Fury

Silent Fury

Hello everyone and welcome to the season finale of Volume 8! And since it's the finale we got quite a chapter for all of you this time, and an announcement at the end. So as always I'd like to thank you, my fellow readers, for sticking with this story and since we've no guest review questions this chapter, let's get to it!

Atlas: The Vault

The sounds of gunfire, swinging blades and a powerful laser firing off echoed throughout the massive chamber that was the vault of the Staff of Creation. Currently, Wayne was firing his Crescent Fangs at Ironwood while jumping from platform to platform to avoid the powerful return fire from his laser. He usually had a couple of seconds to fire before moving to dodge each blast which left scorch marks and temporary green flames wherever it hit. 'I want to save the specialized ammo for Cinder,' thought Wayne as he slid under another blast before shooting a few more times at Ironwood, his rounds impacting and falling away against the armor he was wearing, 'but as tough as he is, I might have to reconsider.'

Though he was saved temporarily from making that decision by Winter managing to get in close and use a thrust attack which Ironwood dodged before parrying her two blades with his cannon then blocking both blades with the armor on his left hand. "Neither of you should be blaming me for this," said Ironwood as he swung the whole cannon at Winter, forcing her to jump backwards towards another platform. Or so it seemed at first until she hovered in the air while forming several small glyphs which fired ice shards at the Headmaster. Ironwoode leapt to another platform, rolling before coming up to a kneeling position and firing at Winter.

"I've sacrificed everything for this kingdom," exclaimed Ironwood before turning to block a few up close strikes from Wayne. The Elder Ursario quickly found he couldn't outmatch the General in strength upon blocking a powerful downward strike from the cannon, so instead he moved both his arms to the left, using Ironwood's momentum against him so the two would slip past each other.

"Still spouting bullshit, even now?!" Said Wayne as he slashed a few more times at Ironwood before attempting a sweep kick which the General jumped away from and landed on the next platform.

"You've sacrificed everyone else," exclaimed Winter as she landed on the platform and began exchanging blows with Ironwood, "it was your decision to close the border, your decision to squeeze Mantle until it broke!"

"RAAAAAAGH!" Howled the General as he swung his weapon even more savagely, forcing Winter on the defensive until she blocked a high overhead strike with both of her blades. "I've only ever done what's best for Remnant," he said as he slowly pushed the glowing barrel towards Winter's face, "and no one is grateful-UUUUGH!" Both his sentence and his aim were thrown off as one of Wayne's sickles came in and caught the Headmaster around the throat before the Huntsman pulled the wire attached to it taut. It wasn't enough to yank him down, but it did give Winter enough room to push the cannon away from her before forming a black gravity glyph which sent Ironwood flying off the platform and down to one of the larger platforms below.

He landed hard, but still managed to roll back up in time to block Wayne's dual downward strike. "Who'd be grateful for what you've done," said Wayne as Ironwood forced him back before the two started exchanging blows, "all you did was whatever made you feel safer without any regard for what your own people thought or felt. From where I'm standing, you never gave a damn about Remnant!" Ironwood roared in response to that as he came in with another high strike, only for Wayne to maneuver around it this time.

But Ironwood changed tactics too and slipped his right revolver out of the cannon, catching Wayne by surprise with a hit to the side of his head. The Huntsman dodged his next swing with his cannon by rolling out of reach while Winter came in from behind Ironwood, who turned to block another couple of attacks with his weapons before landing a kick on the Elder Schnee's chest that sent her on her back. He reattached his revolver then and was about to fire before getting knocked in the back of the head by one of Wayne's thrown sickles, its speed augmented by venting wind dust. The enraged headmaster turned and fired at the Elder Ursario brother who leapt to a different platform, catching and firing his weapons while circling to ensure he didn't hit Winter on accident.

This gave her the chance to use another gravity glyph to push Ironwood away by a few feet. He landed upright and turned to aim his cannon at Winter but was stopped by Wayne landing on it and pushing it down into the ground. Ironwood reacted quickly, though, and caught the Huntsman's left wrist when he attempted another strike at his head. The Headmaster grunted with effort as he threw him over to another platform where he tucked and rolled to minimize the damage of the landing.

Ironwood then turned his cannon back towards Winter, only to find Wayne's interruption had been meant to stall for time as she conjured a summoning glyph which released several white and blue beowulves who charged towards him. The Military Leader fired off a shot from the laser, destroying nearly half the summons before knocking even more of them away with a swing of his cannon and several punches with his left hand. In all the chaos, though, he didn't see Wayne in time to react as the moment he destroyed another Beowulf summon, Wayne slid in under his guard and slashed at some of the cables on the back of the armor. The sound of a panel being dislodged was heard as part of the armor fell off from the blow, which the angered General repaid with a powerful kick to Wayne's stomach which sent him rolling back.

Winter had no intention of giving the General time to breathe as she rushed in with several slashes of her two sabers, putting Ironwood on the defensive temporarily until he managed to bring them into a blade lock with his cannon. He detached his right revolver again while forcing her blades to the side and delivered a painful pistol whip to Winter's head and then another to her face in quick succession. It was enough to make her stumble back, but she was saved from a blow by the cannon as Wayne snagged it with his left weapon and yanked with both arms, putting all of his strength into pulling Ironwood to the side. Winter took this opportunity to charge forward with a thrust of her sabers, and missed when Ironwood detached his second revolver from the cannon and dove to the side.

Wayne almost stumbled off the platform he was on due to the sudden release of the cannon but managed to recover in time to swing it around and drop it back towards the stairs leading up to the vault. Winter, meanwhile, was engaging Ironwood blow for blow as barrel met blade in a shower of sparks, neither one giving an inch. Wayne used the opportunity to get closer to the melee, this time deciding to charge up his semblance a little. 'We can't keep wasting time here,' he thought, 'if we don't end this soon, Cinder will spring her trap and lose us even more time, and we already don't have long before the city crashes.'

But he needed to stay focused on the fight at hand as Ironwood again initiated a bladelock, only this time he headbutted Winter before kneeing her in the chest. He finished the combo by hitting her with his right revolver. He didn't get the chance to fire, though, as Wayne slammed into him and unleashed a blast of his semblance. It was enough to fling Ironwood to the next platform but it only managed to make a couple more panels drop from the armor. "I'm impressed," said Ironwood as he got back to his feet, "this armor was designed as a prototype for fighting against a maiden. The fact that you can damage it says a lot about your abilities, Ursario."

"Save it," said Wayne as he and Winter both resumed their stances, "the only words I want to hear out of you at the moment is you being ready to admit that you were wrong."

"Wrong," said Ironwood as he pointed his revolvers at the both of them, "the only thing I was wrong about, was thinking you two were willing to do what needed to be done."

"You've done enough," said Winter as her grip tightened on her weapons. The battle resumed then as the three leapt over the platforms and engaged each other once again.

A While Earlier: Vacuo

The people of Mantle and Atlas had been slowly making their way into the desert land that was Vacuo for a little while now. So far, Ren had been able to keep the Grimm from locating all of the negativity that was pouring through the gate, but even that could only last for so long. "Gah," groaned Ren as he collapsed to his feet, his aura breaking from the overuse of his semblance, "that's it, I'm spent."

"Where's Penny," asked Emerald as she had a hand up to cover her eyes against the sandstorm they'd literally walked into, "couldn't she deal with this storm?" They'd known that Vacuo would be a little trouble, but the storm had thrown a slight monkey wrench into their plans by not only limiting visibility, but also messing up the signal on their scrolls, making communication with Vacuo itself all but impossible.

"She should've been here by now," said Oscar before his eyes widened in realization, "Oh no, something's wrong!" He turned and ran towards the portal, bobbing and weaving through the crowd until he reached the gate, only to be knocked back from it like he'd hit a solid wall. "What, what's going on?"

"Oh dear," said Ozpin from within Oscar's mind, "it appears Ambrosius's habit of taking every minor detail, even a common phrase, into account has led to an unintended design flaw." The boy remembered then, during their planning session Weiss had mentioned the final portal being a one way ticket to Vacuo. 'A one way ticket', meaning the final portal, also only went one way.

"Oscar," said Tobias as he came to investigate what was wrong, "what's going on?"

"Penny's not here," explained Oscar, "something's wrong on the other side but we can't get back through. This door was accidentally designed to be one way."

"Outstanding," said Jen before her ears perked up at the sound of screeching. Everyone looked out into the sandstorm to see large, bat-like Grimm heading their way. "And now there are Ravagers. Well at least I've got something to take my frustrations out on." The group silently agreed as they readied their weapons.

"We'll just have to have faith that the others can handle whatever's happening in Atlas," said Tobias, "for now, protect as many people as you can and buy time!" A series of affirmatives was heard as they all rushed into the fight. Gunfire and crossbow bolts flew through the air as the Happy Huntresses and whatever Atlesian soldiers had made it through the portal also joined in the battle, downing as many of the flying Grimm as they could.

When they got close, Jen, Oscar and Tobias worked to slash through any Ravager that attempted to make off with a civilian. But due to the massive number of them, they weren't always successful in that endeavor. And as more people came through the portal, more Ravagers showed up, turning the first few minutes into a seeming marathon as the fight drug on. Before long, it seemed like the fight had already lasted for hours even though it hadn't even been one.

'Where are all of you,' thought Jen as she punched and kicked her way through another half dozen Ravagers, 'my friends, my sons. Please be safe.'

Within the Unknown Realm

One word Aegis would use to describe the scene he walked into was: chaotic. No sooner did he step through the portal before being assaulted by the sounds of crying, running, panicking civilians and the noise of a battle. The source of the final one was in the center platform of the created station where team RWBY was fighting Cinder Fall. Aegis quickly spotted Penny flying around and stopping stray projectiles from hitting any of the citizens, waiting for a moment where it was more clear for her to fight.

Aegis decided his first course of action would be continuing team RWBY's job as he drew his weapon and charged down the ramp, passing by several civilians before throwing up a few glass walls around where team RWBY was fighting. "Aegis," said Penny as she flew down to where he was at, "Cinder showed up not too long ago, I know she's after me and the staff."

"No kidding," said Aegis as he felt one of his walls break which he quickly replaced with another, "that's why you need to get out of here. I'll take over minimizing the damage from their fight, just get to Vacuo and help the people there!"

"But I can help," pleaded Penny, "I can't just leave all of you to fight her."

"I'm a huntsman and they're huntresses," said Aegis as he threw up another wall to replace yet another destroyed one, "we can at least hold our own for a bit. You need to make sure Cinder can't win and to do that you need to get yourself and the staff through that gate, do you understand?"

"I…do," said Penny with several obvious reservations, "be careful Aegis."

"Hey I might break stuff a lot, but I can be cautious when it counts," said Aegis, "now go!" Penny nodded before flying back towards the walkway leading to Vacuo. Meanwhile, the half-bear Faunus turned to head towards team RWBY's location. As it turned out, though, he didn't have to go far as a fireball came sailing towards him from above.

He jumped and rolled to avoid it before forming a stone glass sword on his weapon to swat away the next one that came at him. "There you are at last," said Cinder as she flew down towards him, propelled by the flames coming out of her hands and feet, "it looks like Watts did his job and managed to draw some of you away. Though I can't help but notice your big brother and parents aren't around to help you this time."

"Two things," said Aegis as he formed his signature glass ax, this time with ice dust added to it, "Watts be dead after getting up close and personal with a terminal keyboard, and second, what makes you think I can't smack you down as is?"

"I think it's better for me to show than simply tell," said Cinder as she conjured two of her molten swords and charged at Aegis. The Huntsman met her dead on, locking blades with her as his eyes turned red from his rage mode. He forced her back then and attacked with several quick swings of his ax, missing the first couple before jabbing forward with his weapon which Cinder blocked with both blades. Aegis followed up by quickly pulling the trigger on Ursus Cleaver, firing a shot out of the end of it which destroyed Cinder's swords before he swung what was left of his ax at her.

The maiden managed to evade his strikes before lashing out with a kick that Aegis blocked with his right forearm, forming glass armor against the flames which shot out of her foot. Cinder continued her assault with another kick which Aegis blocked with his weapon, but stumbled a bit when she shot flames out of her feet to rocket away and into the air. Cinder then formed several daggers in midair which she rained down upon the bear Faunus. Aegis countered by forming a stone glass shield just before they impacted. Despite that, the maiden smiled evily before snapping her fingers, causing the fragments of the daggers that landed around Aegis to explode as the Half Faunus yelled in pain.

Cinder then turned around and was about to create a pillar of fire where Penny was at, but was forced to stop when the Huntsman leapt out of the smoke and hit her out of the air. She righted herself just above the platform before dodging Aegis's next attack by leaping back and hovering in the empty space. "You always could take a hit," said Cinder as she formed more blades in the air, "but I wonder about everyone else around here." Aegis's eyes widened as Cinder sent the blades out in all directions, intending to hit as many civilians as she could.

"PENNY!" Exclaimed Aegis as he formed several glass walls in front of the walkways to block the flying blades. Not all of them were successful as a few managed to land on the paths and explode, knocking several people off and down towards the void. But a sudden windstorm erupted as Penny flew down, using her maiden powers to catch as many people as she could. While this was going on, though, Cinder had an opening as she sent a stream of fire at Aegis.

The Half Faunus grit his teeth, trying as quickly as he could to summon his glass armor as the flames were upon him, and were stopped by a glyph as Weiss and the rest of team RWBY arrived on the scene. Yang and Blake were opening fire with their weapons, forcing Cinder to dodge out of the way while Ruby used one of Weiss's glyphs as a platform to jump up and twirl towards Cinder with her scythe spinning in a deadly arc. Cinder knocked the attack aside with her twin blades but didn't see Ruby's foot coming in time to block the kick to her face which sent her spiraling down to the floor below.

The Maiden righted herself once again, snarling slightly as she fired a jet of flame out of her mouth to ward off Blake and Yang before Weiss leapt over the flames and formed some glyphs to fire icicles at Cinder. The Fall Maiden flew into the air to avoid the frozen shards while throwing her swords into the ground where they suddenly caught fire. The flames swirled around the maiden like a tornado as she readied even more fireballs in the air. "I knew your plan would be bold but even I never would've predicted all of this," said Cinder as she looked down on all of them, "at least not without some help from Jinn. Thanks to her, I know all of the flaws!"

She unleashed the fireballs in a frenzy then while also spouting flames from her mouth, forcing Aegis and the rest of team RWBY to dodge and dive around the scorching attacks. What was worse, several of the fireballs were also headed for the civilians on the other bridges. "No, Weiss, Aegis," said Ruby before using her semblance to dodge around more of the fireballs. The Ex-heiress and the Huntsman already knew what she had in mind as they moved to project glyphs and glass walls in front of as many places as they could.

Meanwhile, as Ruby, Yang and Blake were looking for an opening to strike, Cinder spoke again. "I suppose I also have all of you to thank, for one last lesson," she said, "sometimes, winning is something you can't accomplish alone." As if on cue, a familiar flash of pink and brown seemed to materialize from some of the flames as Neo leapt towards Ruby with her hand on her umbrella blade.

"RUBY!" Exclaimed Yang as she changed course middodge with her gauntlets. She only had time to get between the assassin and her sister before Neo drew and slashed at her with the hidden blade in her parasol. The blond gasped in pain as her aura flickered while the force of the blow and her being in midair was enough to send her careening towards the edge of the platform.

"NO," exclaimed Aegis as he rushed forward, knocking Neo out of the way before diving and grabbing Yang's hand. The blond's weight yanked on his arm a little as her whole body was now dangling over the edge with Aegis's grip on her being the only thing keeping her from falling. Cinder used this opportunity to rain more blades down on the rest of team RWBY before Neo went and engaged Ruby herself, forcing her back towards one of the golden bridges. This gave Cinder another opening to exploit as she formed a mass amount of flames above her head and blasted them at the Huntsman and Huntress dangling over the edge.

Aegis was quick to raise a glass wall to block the flames, but Cinder only increased the intensity as the Half Bear Faunus did his best to reinforce his defensive structure. But between fighting Watts's androids and throwing up so many glass walls to protect civilians, Aegis was running low on power as the glass wall continued to crack under the pressure of Cinder's attack. The Fall Maiden smirked as she formed one final fireball over her head and slammed it into the tornado she'd been hovering in, sending out a shockwave of flames as she landed on the ground in a half-kneeling position. That was the breaking point as Aegis's glass wall shattered, letting in the flames and force from the attack, charring his right arm.

The Huntsman grunted in pain but that was the least of his problems as the force of the blast was enough to send him over the edge along with Yang. 'Shit,' thought Aegis as he tried to ignore the pain in his arm, 'I can't let this be the end, I can't lose Yang and the others.' He reached out with his left hand, grasping the fingers of Yang's flesh and blood left arm. 'I won't let you go so easily, Yang, I love you too much for that.' Those were his final thoughts as the darkness of the abyss closed in all around them.

At A Similar Time: The Vault

'What was that,' thought Wayne as he felt a sudden pain, as if something had just been cut off. His hesitation was enough for Ironwood to knock him away with a pistol whip before he turned and fired at Winter who deflected the heavy bullets with a glyph before racing forward and slashing at Ironwood again. Wayne quickly got back to his feet and joined in the melee with his own slashes. Even despite being the headmaster of a huntsman academy, Ironwood was having trouble blocking all of the strikes as occasional ones got in under his guard and tore away more and more of the armor he was wearing.

This quickly enraged the General as he fired both of his revolvers at the ground, destroying parts of the stone platform to create a lull in the onslaught against him before kicking Wayne away and firing both guns at Winter. The Elder Schnee sister was able to block one but not both of the shots as she was sent falling off the stone platform. She tried to right herself by summoning a griffon to fly on but was caught off-guard by Ironwood leaping off the platform and tackling her down to the stone floor below. She managed to separate them midair by conjuring another gravity glyph which pulled Ironwood off of her as the griffon broke her fall, but only barely as it disappeared.

Ironwood landed in a kneeling position as he attempted to advance on Winter again, only for several blue orbs to rain down on him as Wayne fell down from above. He sent out his right weapon on a wire and latched onto one of the stone pillars with a torch on top, swinging around towards the smokey cloud kicked up from his attack. He didn't have to wait long to see if Ironwood was still moving as the General fired several shots at him while charging like a bull. Wayne dodged the bullets being sent his way before meeting the General in another clash of weapons.

Winter was quick to re-enter the fray as she slashed the Headmaster across the back with an electrically charged blade, damaging much of the circuitry as the armor was now practically in ruins. Ironwood attempted a few swings at her but Wayne got in some low strikes which tore the last of the armor off. It was looking good as Winter managed to disarm the man of his left weapon, but this pushed Ironwood into a complete blind rage as the moment he lost his weapon he reached out and grabbed Winter by the throat. He ignored the dual slashes from Wayne which cut into his uniform and revealed the cybernetic circuitry underneath before yanking Winter around and slamming her into Wayne with a massive amount of force.

The Huntsman was knocked off his feet from the attack and went sliding a short distance away while Ironwood slammed Winter into the ground, causing her aura to flicker from the impact. He finished it by throwing her into one of the nearby columns with all of his might, cratering it where Winter hit as her aura finally broke. "Damn you both for making me do this," said Ironwood as he picked up his fallen revolver. His thoughts were interrupted by a roar as a now Aura Shadow-cloaked Wayne shot towards him with electricity crackling around his blades.

The General was able to raise his revovlers in time but regretted it as Wayne kicked him in the chest before slashing at his side, the electrified blades adding to the damage of his cybernetics. "Damn you for thinking you have to do this!" Exclaimed Wayne as he continued slashing at the General who dodged and deflected most of the attacks, save for a couple that cut into his arms, before backing up and firing both revovlers at Wayne. But his increased speed allowed him to leap up and away from the bullets before countering with several crescent blades from midair.

Ironwood raised his arms up to cover his head as his body was assaulted by the blades until he was knocked back and sent rolling several feet away. The General still managed to right himself at the last second as he landed in a crouch, firing again with both revolvers. Wayne dodged and weaved around the shots as he switched his weapons to SMG mode and returned fire. The Headmaster and Huntsman ducked, weaved and rolled around each other's shots while closing the distance, this time with Ironwood leaping into the air.

Wayne slid forward and fired at his midair target, but Ironwood pointed his revolver left and loosed a shot which propelled him out of the line of fire before turning both revolvers on Wayne and firing while still in midair. The Huntsman slammed his right arm on the ground and used a blast of his semblance to propel him into the air before turning back and sending a pair of blue energy rings flying at Ironwood. The General again changed his direction by firing his revolvers to the side as the two landed on the ground once again and resumed charging at each other while firing their weapons. This time, the bullets hit a little closer as Wayne's right weapon was shot out of his hand while Ironwood lost the revolver in his left hand.

Neither of them paid it any mind as they continued their charge but, unexpectedly, Ironwood moved into a roll while planting his revolver into a familiar object: the laser cannon. Wayne knew he needed both revolvers to use it and he had no intention of letting that happen as he formed a blue, energy javelin in his right hand and lunged forward with it. Ironwood raised his mechanical left hand in an attempt to redirect the blow as the javelin pierced through his cybernetic palm, traveling all the way up until Wayne's own hand met it. Amazingly, the metal limb still had some life as Ironwood closed his fist around the Huntsman's hand, holding him in place as he slammed the cannon into his side before tossing him several feet away.

Wayne rolled a couple times before coming up in a half kneeling position. "You really could've been one of the best," said Ironwood as he picked up his other revolver and connected it to the laser, "I haven't had a fight like this in a long time. It's a shame you never considered Atlas Academy."

"The real shame is thinking you can still go on with an attitude like that after everything," said Wayne, "I've been disappointed by three headmasters so far when I once would've shuddered at the thought of facing any of you. If I was facing 'the' Generald Ironwood, Headmaster of Atlas Academy, that's someone I'd be afraid to fight. But the man, no, the surprisingly strong coward I see in front of me right now," he kicked his other weapon up into his hand and took a fighting stance, "is someone I'll take on any day of the week." Ironwood grit his teeth as that as he too readied for the fight to continue.

About the Same Time: Vacuo

'This is bad,' thought Tobias as he sliced through three more Ravagers with one weapon while shooting down a few more with the other, 'we can't keep this up forever. More and more people are getting picked off and there's been no sign of Penny showing up. And that feeling earlier, it couldn't have been, one of the boys?' He honestly didn't want to think about it, that horrid feeling like something heartbreaking had just occurred. And he knew Jen felt it too given the lull in her attacks at one point before she started anew with even more ferocity.

The turning point arrived, though, when Nora came running through the gate. "We need help!" Exclaimed Nora, "Ren, Tobias, Jen, Emerald, as many as we can get! Cinder and Neo are attacking in there!"

"What?!" Exclaimed Emerald as she sliced through another couple of Ravagers with her chained sickles.

"So that's what's happening," said Oscar as he batted away a few more Ravagers, "that's why Penny hasn't come through yet."

"That's why we need help now," exclaimed Nora, "and we can't waste any time-."

"It's already too late," said Jen as she punched through another Ravager and landed near Nora, "believe me when I say I want to go back with every fiber of my being, but we can't. This portal is only one way."

"What, but that can't be right," said Nora as she turned to head back towards the gate, only to encounter a solid wall of light, "no, this can't be, NO!" She began slamming her fist on the doorway, each hit harder than the last as if she expected it to give way through sheer force alone. "Our friends are on the other side, they're right there! We have to save them!" She began slamming both fists against the doorway as tears streamed down her face. This couldn't be happening, they'd come up with a plan, an actual plan that was supposed to save everyone!

So why, why was everything going wrong again? All they needed was a single step, one…single…step and they'd be able to help their friends. "Why won't you let us save them?!" Yelled Nora before Jen finally caught her hands and held her back.

"Nora," she said, "I know how it feels. They're just out of reach and yet you can't do a thing for them. You feel powerless and it's driving you crazy but you need to focus. There are still people here who need saving, friends you can help right now. Focus on that and trust your other friends. They're not helpless and they'll pull through, you have to believe that now if nothing else."

"I'll….I'll try," sniffed Nora as she wiped her eyes a bit, "we just have to wait….a little longer, right?"

"Just a little longer," said Jen as the two of them turned back towards the approaching Grimm which were now including smaller, three-tailed scorpion-like Grimm with two horns known as Sulfur-fish. The Huntsmen and Huntresses got back into the fray then as they continued to tear through Grimm after Grimm, fighting with everything they had in order to keep them away from the civilians. One problem still persisted, however. Try as they might, with each wave of Grimm a few more people were picked off and the more civilians that came through, the stronger the negativity.

With Ren helping to fight the Grimm, he didn't have much time to focus on recharging his aura for actually using his semblance given that he needed what little he could recover just to keep from suffering a potential death blow. Whatever way he looked at it, Tobias could tell they were running low on options. "Ren," said Tobias as he leapt up and sliced through a Ravager which nearly blindsided him, "you still can't use your semblance, right?"

"I'm doing good just to bring my aura up for emergencies right now," said Ren as he shot through a few of the Sulfur-Fish coming at them, "all I've got left, really, are my weapons and physical abilities. If Jaune were here, I'd be able to hide a lot more people and make us less of a mass Grimm attractor."

"There's actually another way we can solve that, at least temporarily," said Tobias, "get an even better Grimm attractor."

"But what could…..no, Tobias you can't," Ren started to protest before the Huntsman held his hand up.

"If we can take the heat off this location for even a few minutes then it'll be better than nothing," said Tobias, "you'll have time to recharge and the others will have a chance to rest. But in order for this to work, I'll need your cables and Emerald's chains. So pass that along for me." Ren wanted to protest, but Tobias had already headed off towards Jen.

"Tobias," said Jen as a number of Sulfur-Fish were starting to overwhelm her location, "a little help!"

"You got it," said Tobias as he threw some of his flames at Jen who caught them in the swirling wind dust around her fist before slamming it into the ground, sending out a wave of flame which caught the numerous Grimm on fire. Even despite their name, these Grimm still weren't ready for the likes of Cerulean Blaze as they scrambled around in pain before collapsing and dissolving away.

"That's another bunch down, but they keep coming," said Jen between breaths, "we can't move forward like this."

"Only one of us needs to move forward right now," said Tobias as he checked his weapons, "but before that, I want you to remember that I love you and the boys more than anything in this world."

"Where's this coming from," said Jen, "now's not the time to get all doom and gloom on me, that's not like you."

"I know, because I'm not," said Tobias with a smile, "I'm actually a pretty blessed guy. I became a huntsman, helped all kinds of people, made incredible friends, somehow got married to the most incredible huntress I've ever laid eyes upon even if I didn't know it at first, and had two boys who I've watched grow up and achieve their dreams of becoming huntsmen themselves. If I had any regrets to name, it'd be that I can't see the weddings or the grandkids."

"You see, that sounds exactly like doom and…no, Tobias you can't-MMMFF!" She was silenced by a passionate kiss from her husband, leaving her speechless as he pulled away.

"It's one guy's life for a kingdom and his family," said Tobias, "you know I'd make that trade in a heartbeat. Just tell the boys, that I couldn't be more proud of them. Good bye, my raging honey bear." With that, Tobias took off like a bullet as he fired and sliced his way through the newest wave of Grimm as his figure disappeared into the sandstorm.

"Tobias no," said Jen as she tried to give chase, only for her arms to suddenly be restrained by Ren's cables and Emerald's chains.

"Jen," pleaded the dark-haired martial artist, "we can't let you got too, you'll get caught up in it."

"LET ME GOOOOOO!" Roared Jen as her eyes turned red and she pulled against her captors with all her might. Even with Oscar and Nora rushing in to help hold the cables and chains, she was still threatening to pull them all off their feet as she fought against her bindings. It was then a cloud of dark mist appeared in the distance, followed shortly by bright blue flames that danced and weaved through the air, slicing and setting fire to shadows obscured by the sandstorm. But she didn't need to see clearly to know what was going on as she watched several of the approaching Grimm change course and follow after Tobias.

He was using the Aura Shadow at maximum output, even putting the protective part of his aura into generating more of it so that the Grimm would be attracted to the negativity and follow him away from the people. And as he ran, he cut and slashed and shot and burned through any Grimm that got in his way as he headed in a random direction. The odds of him reaching Vacuo were low, however, as he felt a few claws dig into his back more than a couple times and took a hit from the occasional Sulfur-Fish. The further he ran, the thicker the mass of Grimm got as he did his best to carve a path through them.

Through hit after hit, cut after cut he fought as his injuries started piling on, one of the most worrisome being a bite to his leg which slowed him down for a good bit. He still had the healing ability of his aura active and it only took a minute for him to be back up to full speed. But that was all that was needed for several of the Grimm to catch up with him while the others who were approaching him from the front started converging on his location. 'Guess this is it,' thought Tobias as he put out the flames on his body and weapon, 'never thought I'd have to use this, but that is why it's called a last resort.'

His semblance worked by spreading nearly imperctible ash which he then ignited by extending his aura either like a heatwave or an invisible hand. Obviously for the flames to be as effective as they were the ash was highly flammable and, explosive. What Tobias was doing now was drawing every last bit of ash he was capable of producing with the short time he had into the core of his body while also using the Aura Shadow to boost its destructive power. "One last show you bastards," said Tobias as the Grimm were nearly upon him, "so remember this: my name is Tobias Ursario, the Cerulean Wolf. And while this flame may go out, the fires in the hearts of true huntsman and huntresses, WILL NEVER DIE!"

He unleashed it then, his final technique known as Cerulean Detonation. A wave of blue flame lit up the desert as every Grimm within a half mile radius was either incinerated or got part of them set on fire with the sticky blue flames. Other Grimm got hit by smaller flames which were sent out even further than that. It was bright enough to be seen even by a pair of watchmen from the kingdom of Vacuo itself who called for an immediate investigation despite the ensuing storm. For many, it was a magnificent sight to behold as the final brave act of a huntsman. But for his wife, all that was heard from her was a cry of pure anguish between that of a beast and a hurt wife as she collapsed to her knees.

Her sadness would not last long, however, as she clenched her fist and looked upon any nearby Grimm before charging forth with murderous rage. And this time, no one dared to get in her way.

About the Same Time: The Home of Taiyang Xiao long

Raven had been thinking, about a lot of things. After all this time she'd finally come home to visit Tai. It had been more than a little awkward, to say the least, returning to the husband she'd left so long ago. Understandably, Tai had a lot to say to her about numerous topics, most of which were about their daughter. And she'd done something after that which she rarely ever did, apologized.

She didn't apologize for telling the truth to Yang but she did apologize for the role she played at Haven Academy. It seemed her way of helping, be it herself or others, wasn't always the best way to go. But unexpectedly, Tai had listened to her. She shouldn't have been surprised given that he forgave her after finding out about her bandit background and her intention to learn how to kill huntsmen and huntresses, but she was anyway. Now here she stood in front of a candle set that had been gifted to her and Tai as a wedding gift by Jen and Tobias years ago.

Like many gifts from them, it's simplicity didn't diminish the meaning behind it. It was a candlestand with eight little candles, all of different colors representing them and their teammates from Beacon. Over the years, they'd had to put out a few of the candles like a green one and a purple one for the other two members of Tobias and Jen's team. Though the bright white one which had represented Summer went out on its own, and they hadn't been able to relight it since. 'And once again,' mused Raven, 'I find myself wondering what you'd make of all of this, Summer?'

Any further thoughts she had were interrupted, however, as the blue flamed candle suddenly flared up almost six inches into the air, causing the red-eyed woman to nearly reach for her sword out of instinct. It lasted only for a couple of seconds, long enough for the glass container of the candle to crack before the flame went out completely. "What was," Raven thought aloud before a horrid realization dawned on her. The candle was now in the same state as Summer's was, incapable of being relit ever again.

While Raven had never been one for omens, she'd seen plenty of strange things in her life to know this meant something. "Tobias," said Raven, "that was Tobias's candle. That can't mean, no, it has to be wrong. As clumsy as you were starting out you always managed to pull through somehow, you always had some sort of trick up your sleeve. You wouldn't just, you wouldn't-."

The sound of running footsteps was heard as Tai entered the room. He'd been outside walking Zwei when a blue light alerted him that something was going on in the house. "Raven, is everything okay….." He stopped when she turned to him.

"No," said Raven as she felt tears falling down her face, "I don't think it is. That was Tobias's candle, Tai, and it just went out. I think something happened…..I think…..I think he's gone!" She broke into sobs then, collapsing into her husband's arms as the reality sank in for him too. One of their oldest and best friends, had just left this world.

The Vault

An explosion occurred as Wayne's semblance clashed with Ironwood's laser once again, forcing the two back as they readied for another charge. But before they could, a change in the air occurred, and it was centered around Winter. The Elder Schnee sister had been rendered nearly unconscious by Ironwood's earlier attack but now, she was fully awake. Not only that, power was surging out from her, a very familiar power.

"No, she isn't," said Wayne as the implication hit him on what was happening to Winter.

"So, it seems the destiny I chose for you has finally found its way here," noted Ironwood as the Atlesian specialist began floating into the air.

"You chose nothing," said Winter as spectral snow swirled around beneath her body while raising her higher and higher into the air, "this is a gift, from a dear friend." She looked up then as her swords floated into her hands and blue flames erupted from her eyes, marking her as the new Winter Maiden. Ironwood, again demonstrating his continued lack of sense, fired his laser at here at full power. But Winter responded with a wave of her sword which conjured a small, mystic shield of ice which reflected the green energy blast back at its owner.

His eyes widened as he had no time to dodge and was engulfed by an explosion which sent him rolling several feet away, his aura and cybernetic circuitry now broken for sure this time. The man groaned in pain as he tried to hold onto consciousness, but a shadow loomed over him. The next thing he knew, he felt agonizing pain as Wayne stamped on his nether regions, marking this as the second time he was rendered unconsciousness from such a blow.

"There," spat Wayne, "now they're nonexistant in real life too." Winter floated down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Even through his helmet, she knew tears were in his eyes as he turned to her. "She's gone, isn't she? Penny's gone."

"Yes," said Winter with a heavy sigh, "but she left us this gift. And she'd want us to do everything we can to save the others. So we have to go, now."

"I know," said Wayne as he took a deep breath, "let's get out of here." Winter grabbed his hand and began to fly towards the entrance to the unknown realm. As before, passing through the portal felt like getting flung forward, but Winter didn't slow down even as they exited. And it was there they found how bad the situation was.

Ruby, Yang, Blake and Aegis were nowhere to found and neither was the rest of team ORNJ save for Jaune who was on the ground next to the lifeless body of Penny, a bloody wound drying on her chest. His sword was broken and Cinder was standing over him with her own molten sword, likely demanding to know where the maiden powers had gone. She got her answer when Winter blasted her away from Jaune with electrified blue energy which also knocked the Staff of Creation off her waist. There was a tense moment when the staff rolled off the side of the platform, but it was quickly remedied by the relic luckily landing on one of the lowest and largest platforms below.

"Wayne, the relic," said Winter as she dropped him down while still hovering in the air, "Weiss, you and Jaune get out of here!" Her tone was one that didn't invite argument as she turned her eyes back on Cinder who was sneering at the arrival of the new maiden before rocketing forth. Winter followed suit as the area shook with their clash, releasing flashes of blue energy and flame as the two maidens dueled in the sky.

"You heard her," said Wayne as he looked to his friends, "get going and we'll be right behind you." Weiss nodded her head before reaching up and opening the mouth guard on Wayne's helmet where she planted a quick kiss on his lips.

"I'll see you on the other side," she said as she helped Jaune up and the two began their slow journey towards the exit to Vacuo. Wayne closed his mouth guard then and raced down the nearest platform, jumping, sliding and swinging when he could as he found himself near the bottom in about a minute. Winter and Cinder's fight showed no signs of stopping anytime soon, so Wayne kept his focus on reaching the relic. But then, the unthinkable happened.

He stopped the moment he heard the explosion which was followed by Weiss and Jaune's yells of pain. The Huntsman turned his head then, and witnessed a sight from his worst nightmares. Flaming energy was building up beneath both Weiss and Jaune who'd been thrown to the ground by Cinder's initial attack. Winter was racing to stop Cinder who currently held a flame in her hand, but it wasn't fast enough.

The Fall Maiden clenched her fist with a villainous smirk on her face, raising a pillar of flame where Weiss and Jaune were at. The blond knight's aura was enough to keep him from falling but it went out completely as he landed on the golden bridge. But Weiss, without her aura to help nullify some of the blast, was sent careening into the black oblivion of the unknown realm. "WEEEEEEIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSS!" Howled Wayne, mimicking Winter as they both reached out helplessly towards the now falling girl, acting as if they could stop her descent by sheer will alone.

But it was not to be as the girl Wayne loved most in the world disappeared into the darkness. He collapsed to his knees then as anguish gripped his throat, making him sound more like a wounded animal than a person. And he could feel it, cutting deeper than any blade as the girl who he'd given his heart too, left the world. For several moments that seemed to stretch on into eternity, Wayne Ursario considered never moving from this spot again, almost like the time he faced the Apathy Grimm.

But then, a voice called to him, a familiar voice. 'You cannot bring her back,' it said, 'but you have the power to punish the one responsible. Do not hold back, do not hesitate, kill her, kill her, kill her, KILL HER!' "Yeah," said Wayne as the Aura Shadow seeped out of his body, "I can do that."

As he got up and looked towards the approaching Fall Maiden, another sound shook the created realm. It was a wail, and a very unwelcome one at that as the voice of Salem seemed to shake the entire confines of Ambrosius's creation. "Wayne!" Called Jaune, "We need to go, NOW!"

"Then," said Wayne as he turned around and looked at the Staff of Creation, "go." He shot down the platform then, seeming almost like a moving shadow as the black mist enveloped his body more than ever before. It was little surprise given that it was fueled now by his grief, a broken heart and a rage that blazed like a small sun in his soul. He put his left weapon away as he slid and grabbed the staff before righting himself and stopping on the platform.

He'd hardly had it for five seconds before Cinder came in with her Grimm arm reaching for it. But Wayne spun his body left and brought his Cresenct Fang down, slicing off the limb before swinging back with the staff. The blow was strong thanks to his newly enhanced strength, strong enough to send Cinder flying over the edge before she righted herself. But it was all she could do to stay in the air as she yelled in pain while her limb grew back.

This gave Wayne the time to do what he needed to do as he raised the staff in the air and called upon Ambrosius. 'I want a cloud to douse all the flames of Atlas,' he thought, 'a living rain cloud, if you'd please.' He felt an affirmative response from the staff as the creation process began. Though he was informed it would take a moment.

"Do you know what you've done!" Exclaimed Cinder as she conjured a sword in both her fully healed Grimm hand and regular hand, "the portals will all be destroyed and we'll be trapped here!"

"And," replied the Silent Fury as he hung the staff on the back of his waist before drawing his other weapon. His voice sounded stranger now, as if it was much more hollow than before. Cinder caught the meaning immediately, he didn't give a damn. He wholly intended to trap them both here with the relics. This greatly angered the Fall Maiden as she charged towards the one exit on the platform, but was quickly intercepted as Wayne moved in front of it and fired electrifed rounds at her.

She reacted by deflecting the bullets with her powers before sending a blast of flame at him which he dodged and then retaliated with several, boomerang-shaped energy projectiles being thrown her way. Cinder dodged around them, deciding to fly upwards and seek out an exit there. She didn't have time to deal with this suicidal brat. Or so she thought before suddenly feeling a searing pain on her sides as Wayne's semblance-filled wire wrapped around her waist.

The Silent Fury yanked with more strength than she ever could've expected, pulling her from the air and slamming the maiden down on the platform below. She was then yanked into the air again and sent sailing towards the Huntsman but, at the last second, she produced flames from her hands and spun like a top on its side, undoing the burning wire from around her waist before turning upright and charging. Wayne was able to reel his other weapon in just in time to clash with Cinder as the two furiously exchanged blows with each other. At one point, Cinder finally landed a flaming kick with her left leg into the side of Wayne's head, sending him tumbling away as she tried to flee towards the exit.

But her attempt was short-lived as a massive buzzsaw of blue energy was sent out and would've run into her if she hadn't stopped in time. The Fall Maiden glared at him angrily while noting the disappearance of the station was getting closer and closer to them. So she conjured a flame trap right beneath the Silent Fury's feet and clenched her fist. But that too was short-lived as Wayne jammed the handle of his left weapon into the ground, unleashing a short wave of his semblance which canceled out the attempted blast beneath him.

He then counterattacked with a flurry of several, small crescent blades which went sailing towards the Fall Maiden. She met this attack by conjuring and sending out a mass multitude of molten swords which exploded on contact with the energy projections. Though some did get through as Cinder felt her aura flicker from the impact of a couple of the blades while Wayne took a couple hits from the swords. But hitting Wayne with the swords hadn't been Cinder's intention as she waved her hand, causing the swords and the shards which had fallen to explode and finally elicit a sound of pain from the Silent Fury.

She smiled to herself as she landed on the ground, but it only lasted a moment as the shadowed figure leapt out of the smoke and slammed into her with a shoulder charge before nearly hitting her with a slash that took off her eyepatch. She wasn't able to dodge the follow-up elbow strike as Wayne flipped his right weapon around and slashed at her stomach, tearing both cloth and skin as she jetted a few feet away from him and lashed out with her Grimm arm. The blow struck him in the mouth guard, destroying that part of the helmet but otherwise doing little to phase the Silent Fury as he turned back to look at her with an angered but also unreadable expression on his face. "Don't you realize that Salem will be here any minute now," said Cinder, "you won't stand a chance if she arrives!"

"Let her come," said Wayne as he glanced at his condition. The sleeves of his jacket were in tatters now and there were several holes in the main part and a few in his pants as well. Cinder realized he'd redirected the protective part of his aura into more strength so that his attacks were even more powerful, meaning the only thing which was keeping him from dying by an attack was his aura's healing properties. "I can kill her in here for eternity."

And that's when Cinder knew, he'd keep on fighting for as long as he could, something she didn't have time for. But a glint of gold caught her good eye as she conjured flames in her hands. "Too bad, that neither of us have that kind of time." Wayne's response to that was to join his weapons together and charge his own semblance.

Then, the two of them yelled as Cinder unleashed a powerful wave of flame several feet high towards the Silent Fury, who responded in kind with multiple, large, vertical crescent blades. The resulting explosion occurred at about the same time as the destruction of the created station, making it seem as if their attacks had destroyed everything in the process.

Epilogue

Cinder rolled out of the portal just as it disappeared, screaming in pain as she felt the burns on her body. She didn't know which of their attacks had been more powerful, but she did know the outcome was an enormous blast which would've killed her if not for her quick thinking. She glanced at the staff of creation before dropping it from her shaking, burnt Grimm hand. It had been knocked off Wayne's waist by her earlier exploding shard attack and she'd grabbed it with her stretching Grimm arm the moment she unleashed her attack against Wayne.

She'd had barely a second to use the relic to stop time temporarily before flying through the portal. But even then, time had resumed moving too quickly for her to escape the blast unscathed. In spite of that, she laughed while staring up at the ceiling of the vault. "What do you think of that, Ursario?! I escaped with both relics, I've won and you're gone along with that troublesome brother and those friends of yours! So many irritants finally gone!"

"I take it that means you have good news," said a black cloud as it came floating towards her. For a moment, she'd feared the Silent Fury had escaped until the smoke materialized into the form of Salem.

"I do," coughed Cinder as she got up to a kneeling position and held up both relics, "I got them, but at a heavy price." She quickly explained what happened, with a few changes such as team RWBY using up the last question and how Neo and Watts went out. And she also apologized profusely for letting the maiden and civilians get away.

"In pursuit of a new world," said Salem as she took the relics from Cinder, "no cost is too great. And you've done well to acquire these. Our work here is done." And with that, the witch took to the skies with Cinder in tow.

On that day, the landmass that was the city of Atlas crashed into the city of Mantle, crushing it with an earthshaking roar. Qrow, Robyn and the other Ace Ops weren't able to make it back to the city in time as the great barrier at the end of the crater also broke, unleashing the freezing waters of the sea onto the destroyed cities. All they could do was watch as everything was washed away, soon to be frozen under a new, massive tundra.

The only good news that came out of that day was in Vacuo. Winter's arrival quieted the sandstorm and her added presence helped quell the onslaught of Grimm as other hunstmen and huntresses arrived to aid the refugees. But somehow, Jaune hadn't made it through with her. So she, Jen and the others fought on towards their destination, unleashing their grief upon the now very unfortunate creatures who tried to threaten them.

It would go down in history as yet another day where the world was changed drastically. A mixture of despair and hope would grip everyone even despite many not knowing what had happened. Many stories ended that day, but not all.

Unknown Location

'Well, this is both uplifting and inconvenient,' thought Wayne tiredly as he viewed the location around him, 'after all that I'm still alive. Perhaps I should reconsider some of these suicidal approaches given that this keeps happening.' He pulled off his jacket then and readjusted it so that it hung off his back like a tattered cape before reaching down and pulling his bladestaff out of the ground. 'But at least I know one thing now, if I'm still alive then the others probably are too. So Weiss, Aegis, everyone who fell, wait for me. Even if I have to cross a few worlds to do it, I will find you all again, count on it.'

End of Volume 8

And that wraps up this volume, or at least most of it. As most of you know, this would ordinarily be the part where I say 'til next time', but I'm not quite finished with this volume just yet. You see, as vague as the canon ending is I've decided to post a couple more endings, just in case this one winds up not working so well. I'll be posting the first one in about two weeks, so in the meantime feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Be sure to stop in for the next couple of endings. 'Til then.