(Should be slotted in the middle of Chapter 42, just after the word girlfriend)
Null didn't hesitate, he ran towards Qrow. He drew his weapon, Cinder drew hers. He then stopped, just before he was in range, and motioned for Cinder to keep going. He knew who this was, he knew why he was here. And he didn't give a shit anymore. He wondered, idly, if Qrow did either. This was past the point where he should, but then, he seemed to be buying time.
Cinder, looking between the two men, seemed to consider for a moment, but Null nodded, telling her to keep going. This wasn't going to take too long, and if it did, well, she could always start the party without him. So long as his Amber was fine, he didn't give any kind of crap what happened to anyone else. Not anymore. She nodded back, and then rushed past him to the elevator, vanishing from sight, and leaving both men, Qrow weapon drawn, Null still standing there, and then, he smiled.
"So, how's the blonde bitch? Still chatty as ever? Did the red haired one learn to walk again, or did you have to put the bullet in her and put her out of her misery," he said, actually sounding jovial, and for a moment, Qrow's hand started to tremble. He'd been about to say something, but that had died, hearing his nieces insulted like that. This was...not going the way he'd thought it would.
"Oh, touch a nerve did I? Have you told them yet about how you abandoned them? About how, thanks to you being a cowardly piece of shit, Ruby's eyes almost got plucked? About how, thanks to you, they're on the White Fang's shit list, and that is not a good list to be on, let me tell you," he told the older man, even backing away a step, just one, to lean against the wall, laughing at him.
"I didn't abandon anyone. I was trying to protect them," protested Qrow, whatever he'd been about to say was lost. Something about the hunters he'd tried to delay back before all this. It wouldn't have worked, he knew it.
"Oh really? So you didn't leave Ruby Rose, in a compromising position, in the middle of Chivalric Arms loving embrace? An embrace that was, I reiterate, within minutes of cutting out her eyes? Oh, and don't forget, you left her to the tender mercies of me. What would you be doing now, had I not gotten to kill Fields and Penny? You know I would have killed them too. Still planning on it actually, after they betrayed me, taking all the credit for that whole affair, and not even giving away all the juicy bits to the news," he told the man, and the gun, which had been lowering, came up again.
"They didn't betray you! That was…" he began, but Jaune...Null simply shook his head, and laughed again.
"That was who? The man you're protecting, and then ordered you to leave your family for dead? The Council who sold them up the river and wouldn't lift a finger? If that's the case, then why'd they just leave? Oh, I know they left. White Fang's got ears to the ground for me. I know where they're at. That nice little house in Patch. All four of them," he said, and held up four fingers, counting them down.
"Blake, who tried to kill me when I came to Vale. Did you know that, by the way? She left me for dead. Stole my scroll, with no money, or anything else. Forced me to steal to survive, and that got my face plastered everywhere in this kingdom. Oh, she says it's because I wouldn't have 'understood' but she tried to kill me to cover her tracks really. Gonna enjoy letting her linger before I end it," he was smiling all the way to his eyes now, and they sparkled with some heavy malice, as he lowered one finger.
"Then there's the blonde bitch," he said, and Qrow, through gritted teeth, informed him her name was 'Yang'.
"That's what I said, Blonde Bitch. She murdered...six people at the docks, and then those two CA goons I forced her to kill. She looked so broken up about it. Guess she's a racist bitch to top off the rest. Easy to kill the faceless goons when they're animals, harder when they're humans I guess," he responded, and then began to lower the second finger.
"She held me down while my mother died, after I'd given her every single chance not to die. I'm not sure how I'm going to kill her yet, but if you've got some pleas for mercy on her behalf, I'm willing to listen," he mocked, and Qrow, his teeth actually grinding now, seemed to chip some of them, as Null kept going.
"The red one, oh how many people she killed. What? Don't believe me. Innocent and guilty alike with her blood thirtiness. Forty-eight is the number, if you're curious. Those dock workers, the White Fang members on the Bullheads. Oh, and my Mother, let's not forget about her," he said the word mother easily, but you could hear it in his tone, see it as the word left his lips, that he was hurting from it.
"She didn't kill those people, that was Penny, and she's dead. Forever. Thanks to you," Qrow told him, and Null just clicked his tongue, wagging the finger on his other hand.
"Oh now, that's such a good lie. But it is a lie. She gave the order, and that makes her ultimately responsible, isn't that how it goes for you military and hunter types? Oh, and I guess we can add those guys who died to help free her. That actually brings her up to...I think that's over a hundred all total. I'm sorry, it must pain you to see your niece kill so many people, and before she even becomes an adult. You must be so ashamed of her. Is that why you abandoned her?" he chided, grinning as he lowered that finger finally.
"And finally that leaves the ice queen...I don't remember her name. And truth to tell, I'm going to kill her as a favor to the White Fang. She's a Schnee. They have so many crimes that I don't even know where to start with them," he said, finally lowering the pinky, and then chuckling, like it was all some joke, as he put his hands behind his head.
"Of course, those are just the named targets. I'm thinking, maybe go after them once I've had a few practice runs around here. See how many Councilors I can slaughter before the whole kingdom rots. I'm thinking it'll take three, but Adam is convinced I'll have to do five. What about you?" he asked, almost jovially, and Qrow's body shook with rage. This was the sweet, innocent kid he'd helped all those months ago? This was the result of him trying to play nice?!
"Oh, there it is, you finally get it, don't you? That look in your eyes, you've finally realized that this world isn't fair. That you can't protect them, any more than a man named Nicholas Arc could protect his family. You can't kill me. Let's not even joke about that. I'm Null. Hunters die around me. And fast. And you won't hide them well enough. Not unless you take them far, far away, and trust me, I'm willing to walk barefoot through hell to find the bitches that killed my mother," he said, the last finally dropping the jovial tone, going almost too far into the grimdark to be taken seriously, but Qrow was not taking chances.
"So, you have two options. You can run, you can go to them, and you can hide. That's gonna work. I can't be everywhere, and I still have to help the White Fang kill a whole lot of people. You can probably even live out the rest of your life with them. After all, the way you drink your livers got what, two, three years tops?" he offered, the last sounding, oddly genuine, but it was obvious Qrow wasn't having it.
"Or you can just curl up and die right now," he said, but the voice came from right next to Qrow, the bullet from his gun firing on instinct, striking the Null in front of him, just as one appeared beside him, eyes swirling with colors. He tried to leap away, but Null was already on him, and with a single motion, he stabbed Qrow in the side, the hunter crying out in pain and surprise, still trying to move away.
He then felt a bullet plow through his left leg, right at the kneecap, blowing it out. He was in agony now, and instantly, he latched onto the power Ozpin had given him, trying to twist his body into the shape of a bird, but he didn't make it, didn't even get halfway to the power before another bullet tore into his back, right above the hip, severing his spine cleanly, and leaving him on the floor, his legs limp and unable to move.
Null, with Neo beside him, looked down at Qrow for a moment, and then smiled at him, moving to him, and then giving him a hand up, pushing him back against the wall. It was rough going, the young man was in no way gentle, and left a smear of blood along the floor, enough that he was almost dozing off by the time he was in a sitting position, his hand only once able to grab his weapon, and being knocked away by the little girl looking bitch.
"Just so you know, your daughters or nieces or whatever are going to die. Ironwood helped with this. He gave me the info, even fed it to me through them, to save the Red Head. He even helped get me here, in Beacon. He's damned those girls. Not even sure he knows it yet. But he will. He thinks he can use me to clean house in Atlas. He's wrong. The whole world needs to be cleaned up, and you can call Neo and me, the Cleaning Crew," he said, laughing, now not even bothering to hide the madness.
Of course, the girl smacked him on the shoulder, and puffed out her cheeks, making Qrow think for one moment, one hope filled instant, that she was telling him not to. The two had a few harsh whispers between themselves, before Null rose to his feet, and finally gave into her demands with a sigh and a shake of his head.
"Okay, Neo and *I* are the Cleaning Crew, are you happy now? Gods you're such a grammar nerd. Were you like this when you could talk?" he asked, the two walking away, and leaving Qrow to just look after them, feeling his body growing colder by the moment, feeling his world grow darker, until, finally, he slipped off, unable to stop himself from crying, wishing allowed he could beg the girls' forgiveness, and pleading with Taiyang to take them and run.
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The elevator opened to a dead body on the floor. Cinder's. Her arms had been ripped off, and one of her legs too. She was messed up in all honesty, but Ozpin stood there, wiping his hands with a towel, as he faced what appeared to be an empty elevator, sighing and rubbing his forehead, as he took a step back, and then, with a wave of his hand, sent a wave of force into the space, expecting it to crush two very stupid people.
Instead, it sailed into the back of the elevator, tearing into the construction, and making him swear as he rushed forward, pressing against the wall with his hands, channeling some of his power into the metal, strengthening it. It wouldn't do to have the only way out collapse. Not when he was so close to taking out Salem, with the death of her little minion, and soon, the defeat of her entire plan.
He felt the walls finally settle, and let out a sigh of relief, before he felt a wind behind him, and spun around, just in time to find a body, hanging upside down from the hatch in the elevator's roof. A gun pointed in his face. Ozpin hadn't even the time to cry out, or use his powers to do anything, instead, a bullet to his brain ended this life, and he slumped backwards to the floor.
The trash taken out, Null and Neo dropped down from the ceiling, Null quick to whistle in appreciation at the handiwork of the old man. It was an art form. Looked like Cinder had died crying and screaming. He should have asked him for tips before he'd killed him perhaps?...nah, he was a hands-on learning type of guy. He'd figure out how to draw it out like that himself by trial and error. Like all great artists.
He saw two bodies in the room besides Cinder's and Ozpin's. One was in some strange machine made of tubes, with an empty glass case next to her. He walked up, and Neo tapped on the glass before he could chid her for it, but he did stop her when she pulled out her weapon, prepared to stab the woman to death. She hadn't hurt him, so he'd leave her. Perhaps it would have been a mercy to do so, but he wasn't very merciful either.
Instead he went to the second, and his prize. Amber. He looked at all the medical equipment, various bags of fluids, and all sorts of other machines. He had no idea what any of it was, but it hummed. Electrical rather than dust powered, he realized. Weird. Not weird enough to question though, as he tore tubes and smashed machines with his fist, hurting himself a little, but getting a slight stir from Amber.
She opened her eyes, struggling to do so, and he hugged her, while Neo hugged them both, his voice helping her to wake up as he begged her to come back to him. When she was hugging him back, tears streaming from her eyes, he felt some on his own face. He hadn't thought that he'd have any tears left. It took far too long for him to pull away from her, an effort that almost broke his heart, as he laid out the plan he had, and then boggled as she had something to add to it.
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The elevator came to the top, and as he exited back into the same hall he'd left, Null found himself faced with a man who looked very, very angry at him. Null was happy though, and smiled at him, as he noticed several other figures with him. Some faceless goons in what looked like heavy power armor. Others, older, obviously teachers and staff. Not all of them, but the woman who'd hunted him was amongst them. Oh it was a good day to be alive.
"Jaune, this isn't what we agreed to," said Ironwood simply, and Null shook his head, stepping out of the elevator, and then leaning back against the wall. The people before him had closed ranks. They knew about Neo, after all, Ironwood knew about Neo, so they didn't buy that he was alone. Not that it mattered. They still couldn't see her, and Jaune, well, he let his eyes open, colors swirling, just to let them know who he was.
"I'm, not, Jaune. My name is Null. And as for agreements, you're one to talk. Promise me all the help you can to get my family in the clear, but then, when I do one thing, the ONE thing, that should do it, kill the guy behind it all, you let some bitches take all the credit," he says, still smiling, laughing even when he says the last part, and it was obvious as he held up four fingers on his hand, who he meant, and what he planned, as he lowered them one, by one, all without saying anything.
"The news reported what they were told. I had no control over it. Those girls didn't either. Leave them be, Null. They're innocent of betraying you," responded Ironwood...no, his eyes were different too. Not as different as Null's, to be fair, but this was someone else behind them. Null smiled at that too.
"Oh, but they're not. After all, they knew I was coming. They knew they're headmaster had my sister. Did they try to warn anyone? Did they scream it from the rooftops? Or did they take the pat on the head from the big wigs, and then just float away, leaving all their classmates to die, when the psycho they'd betrayed by their silence came for his," he said, still laughing between some of the words, obviously mad.
"You will not harm any of the students in this school, not while I have anything to say about it!" said the woman, and the other staff members with her all started to glow, flaring their auras. That...like were these people stupid or something? They knew who he was. He'd beaten this bitch too, back when she'd been chasing him, and all he wanted to do was get away. Now? Now he doesn't run anymore.
"Then you have one option. You let me leave. I have no problem doing that. I have what I came for, and my revenge is already done. Amber's too. Did you know she was aware of what you were saying in that 'medically induced coma' you fuckers had her in?" he said, and they looked shocked, but he just waved them off.
"Didn't think so. But that's over and done with now. She's not as bloodthirsty as I am. Not yet. I'll get her there. I think showing her pictures of mom will get her and the others to that level. But for now, I just want to leave. No one here is on my list, so I'm going to offer you that out. Go away, and we'll leave. I have more important people to kill," he said this, the tone lowering down in his voice, before he pushed away from the wall, and stared directly at Glynda.
"Get in my way, stop me for even an instant, and I'll take that as you choosing to let every man, woman, and child in Beacon die. I'll make it quick for them, but you'll get to hear them scream, before I'll let you die," he said, his tone no longer even having the slightest bit of joviality to it. And the teachers, every one of them, seemed to hesitate, looking to each other, but they gave no answer, as Ironwood stepped forward, trying to position himself between them and Null.
"And then you'll do what? Hunt down team RWBY? You said it yourself, they're on your list. Who else is on it? Who else has to die to slack that bloodlust of yours?" he asked, and Null, dropping back into the jovial tone, tapped his chin, as if having to think about that.
"Well, there's the four bitches. I owe Red, Blonde, and Cat for their personal crimes against me. The ice queen's getting it because of family stuff, and because of the White Fang's grudge. Sorry to say, she's a casualty more than anything else," as he said this, he held up one finger.
"Then there's the Vale Council. They know the truth, right Ironwood?" he asked, and the other man said nothing, so Null nodded.
"Yeah, they know. They're going to die for that. Knowing the truth and not giving it out. They have no excuse other than saving their own asses. That's just mean," he held up the other finger.
"Oh then there's Chivalric Arms. Fields was top, but I have a whole list of people from them that need to die. Scattered in secret bunkers and labs all over the world. Gods that's going to be such a crap show, tracking them down. But I suppose I'm going to need a hobby when all this is over," he held up the third finger.
"Of course, the Atlas Council too. They knew, they supported all this. Covered it up, pressured others to do the same. Didn't you say your hands were tied, General? They're the only ones who could have done that," he held up the fourth finger, but rather than raise his thumb, he looked to the crowd.
"But I'm feeling generous. Go, Ironwood. Take your troops here and now, and let me go, and I'll let your forces live. I'll even throw in you and the other bitch at your command. Call it a favor for a favor. Heck, you'd be the last authority left in Atlas once I'm done. You could really get the good work going then," he explained.
"By the by, these are separate offers. Teach, you try to stop me, I kill the students, then I kill you. Ironwood, same goes for your whole army. If you leave now, you save your people. You'll be abandoning the other side, of course, but hey, saving your own. So it's up to all of you. Do you really want to throw the lives of those who trust you away?" Null almost sounded concerned in that last statement, and when no one moved, save a few of the armored people steadying their weapons, he held up a hand.
"Five seconds," he said, finally extending his thumb, and counting down. He got to two, before suddenly all the armored Ace-Ops fell to the ground, silently, but with legs looking twisted. Worse, Ironwood's arm went limp at the same moment, and everyone's aura vanished. Before they could do anything to counter this Jaune started shooting them. There were only half a dozen unarmored people, and they made such fun targets.
They tried to jump away, tried to do something, but their powers, their aura, was gone. The fat guy literally landed on his head, so Null nailed him there. The skinny one with the glasses, smarter than the rest, rushed him, right into Neo's blades. She made it quick, stabbing him through the heart, and making him jerk to a halt, as she and Amber appeared in the space between them.
Glynda tried to run back the other way, to get out of Amber's range, but Null blew out her knee, so she landed with an exquisite squeal of pain, sliding to a halt almost right beside the blood stain on the wall that had been where Qrow had died. She was still trying to drag herself away though, even as Null finished off the last two teachers with perfect headshots, and faced Ironwood, who looked utterly horrified.
"So, you really didn't give a shit about any of them. Just let them all die because you were too stubborn," he said, as Ironwood lifted his still human hand, only to be shot in the shoulder, Null easily making that before he could do anything else. He then surged, obviously going to just slam his whole weight into the monster, to try and do something, but Null fired, finding out he was wearing armor on his legs.
He wasn't fast enough though. The arm was heavy, and without his aura, it weighed him down. He'd never bothered to train without his aura AND arm, even though, now, as he missed Null, and fell to the ground, he was cursing that. He'd never thought he'd lose the arm's strength, always thought, even without his aura, he'd be able to win, but this monster was no longer one for fighting. No longer one for deals. He was a killer.
"So that's it, you're going to turn Amber into a killer too then?" he asked, and Null nodded, quite enthusiastically.
"Yeah, I know. Isn't it great? Turns out, being held by both the bad guys, and the good guys, both treating her as a weapon really loosened her up for this. I think a few of those students dying at her hands will really push her over the top. See if we can get her like Neo and m-*I* before we go bust out Saphron and Terra from wherever you've got them stashed. Sibling bonding, what a fun time," he said, almost sounding nostalgic.
Ironwood tried to get up, but Null was already over him, and literally slammed his boot into the generals' shoulder, smashing the bullet wound, and nearly making Ironwood black out from the pain. He was forced to stay awake though, as Null used his foot to turn him over, so he could watch as Amber and Neo worked on his soldiers. Their armor, too heavy to move in without Dust, was holding them down, as the girls went around, and slit their throats.
He didn't even get to hear them scream, the suits were sound proof, to prevent sonic based semblances from affecting them. All he could do was watch as each of them died, and their weapons, the assault rifles, were collected, and piled up, Neo looking almost comical as she hefted a pair up, and acted like they were firing, an action that had Amber giggling at her, even as she selected one for herself.
"Enough fun with the metal man, Jaune. We promised the teacher lady we were going to murder her students in front of her, right? Well, she's bleeding out, and I'd hate to break a promise," said Amber, and Jaune nodded, smiling as he pulled his knife out, and with a single stroke, severed Ironwood's spine at the top vertebrate. He'd learned, from his first failure, and as Ironwood slumped over, he was forced to watch as Null grabbed Glynda by her hair, and dragged her down the hallway, with the two girls and their guns vanishing from sight a moment later.
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The news in the morning was grimmer than it had ever been. Beacon was slaughtered. Everyone was dead. Students, Faculty, and visiting Atlas forces. All of them had been killed. The images of the students, packed into the cafeteria, riddled with bullets and blown apart in some cases by dust rounds or their own weapons. It was a sight that would haunt the few nightmares the people of Vale had left.
Those nights of sleep were limited, of course, as other nightmares came before even that had time to process. The Amity Colosseum, the great symbol of the Vytal Festival, suddenly tettered in the sky, then slowly began to descend, the people below it, the people who had a day ago had their worlds uprooted as generations of seemingly invincible Hunters and Huntresses were killed, found the whole of the sky falling on them.
The death toll, as it crashed down into the middle of the city, everyone aboard from support staff to foriegn hunters, and all those who were below, all suffered the same fate, as death came for them all. No aura or semblance could hope to stand up to that. Worse, when the Kingdom of Vale needed its allies most, the Atlassian battleship vacated the sky, leaving only a few support vessels behind, leaving them all to wonder 'why?'
It was only days later, while trying to clean it all up, that the Council was found. Their chamber, sealed so they could debate the crisis and plan the response had gone silent, was finally opened, and they were strung up. Some nailed to the wall, some simply left dead on the floor. All looking in horror at something in their final moments, and a message, written in their blood on the wall. 'Justice is what WE make it.'
That message reverberated through the kingdoms. A similar message soon appeared in a hunter's residence on Patch. Five bodies, all looking like they'd been through hell. No way to tell one from the other, bad as they were, and only identified simply by the size of the community, and the fact that Taiyang and Team RWBY had been visibly at their home not a day before they were found like this.
And still it went on. White Fang claimed no credit for it, but were openly celebrating as the battleship that had fled Vale came home, and subsequently smashed into the docks and military heart of the Atlas Kingdom, exploding with the force equal to a large bomb, and taking out almost all of Atlas' own military capability, leaving them quite vulnerable as the murders began to happen on their soil.
The Councilors, all of them, and their staff, all dead inside of an hour. The same as Vale's Council, locked inside the chamber they'd been meeting in, under heavy guard. The executives of a dozen companies, from Schnee Dust and Chivalric Arms, down to the makers of Atlassian Black Coffee, all slaughtered, in their homes, or in their offices, their bodies strung up in ways to show them off, as if someone were displaying works of art.
Each one drove the message home, each one told the same story, as the Kingdoms were faced with what they had claimed they were hunting. Null was loose. Everyone knew it, and everywhere Null went, he slaughtered. It was focused, even now, but it was without remorse, and without any care for the consequences. As Atlas began to tear itself apart in civil war, Menagerie took back its own, taking in the displaced Faunus, for all kingdoms.
Soon, it was the only stable point left, as Mistral and Vauco both were targeted. Not the leaders, not the Council, but executives, and those who defended them. Each one dead, each one mutilated, evidence of crimes left with the bodies, as if to just drag all the sins of the world kicking a screaming into the public eye, printed in blood. Declaring in the loudest voice possible, this world is unfair, for everyone now.
And deep in her citadel, far from the Lands of Men, Salem watched, and smiled, waving away her minions, even dismissing Watts and others from her service. Her plans, for this generation, were disrupted, but she would take some pleasure in watching the world burn, as more and more bodies piled up. This was, as the message said, Justice, and she loved watching it finally be brought to this pathetic world.