" Reencounter - Part 1 "

"Welcome Back to Home"

That phrase communicated via the radio communicator located on the navigation panel was enough to keep the other Beacon survivors' team members on full alert, along with an amazing surprise at the tone used in that voice that seemed to refer to the ship with a certain "familiarity," almost as if addressing specifically one of the only descendants of Atlas, who was at the bottom of the fleet ship with her arms crossed at chest level, but then slowly lowering them during a clear change of facial expression before serious, for a worried and apprehensive.

The others sitting with their backs to the metal surface of the walls rose almost immediately as they looked out the front window, with the gigantic island of the city still to float amid its glittering bluish glow that covered almost the entire surface of the walls. Numerous remarkably large buildings that could be seen even miles away, along with the slightest whitish features that made them stand out.

The fleet indicated by Qrow moments before the announcement was quite suspicious for its position, evidently prepared for some kind of direct attack on Atlas, there was something going on there that none of the passengers of that ship suspected, but would surely discover, taking into account given the fact that they were approaching where the ship's landing sector would be, which was reluctantly happening, as Maria was trying hard to change course to land in a part farther from the city's military, something of the which they needed least since the insane confrontation they had against the completely psychotic commander who protected the previous city they passed.

" What the hell are you doing, Maria ?! We can't appear like this in this place! " Qrow was definitely in the throes of near panic and nervousness as he headed for the older woman who piloted the ship, but whose face would briefly stare at him with a pained countenance and amid enormous confusion.

" It's not me doing this! The steering doesn't work at all, it's like an outside system is controlling the ship! " She retorted as she tried to rotate this sideways several times, trying some buttons and features she was aware of on the control panel, but it was a totally useless attempt, none of the aircraft's internal operations worked.

" They know we're here... " Weiss spoke wide-eyed in terror as she placed both hands on the surface of her chest and was shivering at the thought of having to face her father once more, having to turn back to that mansion that most resembled a prison, and worst of all, having to see herself far from its teammates once again. It was inevitable that tears would well up in the corners of her eyes, turning slightly downcast as she tried to hide her emotions from the others, who watched her sadly as they learned of her situation as she flew through the air.

Ruby was the first to go to her teammate, hugging her tightly and whispering in her ear calmly.

" It's all right, Weiss. I won't let them take you away from us... " Those words were enough for Schnee to engage her friend in one of the tightest gestures of affection that could be done on her own, as much as possible to avoid letting the hurt come over her.

" Damn, I knew we shouldn't have trusted that stupid old woman! " Yang gritted her teeth in anger before closing both fists tightly and then unleashing some of his own revolt against the metal wall behind her, using her right hand, leaving an aggressive mark of its destructive potential that would surely use to detonate anyone who was willing to get in the way.

The ship would have already entered at high speed through the entrance tunnel to the main landing gate of the military ships, passing a long black path with some illumination points on the sides of the ceiling, with Qrow narrowing his gaze as the light at the end faded. approached them at that speed.

" Get ready, kids. This may end up needing a good fight. " He made a point of unceremoniously alerting them, rising from the co-driver's chair and joining the others who were awaiting the imminent encounter with their non-fans in a moment.

" It's good that you use several tazers, because today I'm in the mood to bust someone. " Nora would raise her hammer with the right hand, letting it lie above her own shoulders, while Ren reloaded his twin armaments as he cocked them against his own breastplate.

" Well, here we go again. " Oscar would rotate his former Ozpin cane between the spaces of his own fingers, holding it in his left hand in a fencing position, as his second personality had taught him during daily training with the others.

Jaune and Blake stepped out of the ship's access door as the bright light came through the aircraft window, its intensity dimming sufficiently that they could see themselves in a huge sector of not only ships, but thousands of other types of aircraft. Weaponry used by the Atlas military, to the exact same type of robot used by Torchwick in one of the fiercest clashes against Team RWBY. Apparently it appeared to be larger, and multiplied tenfold more than they had found in the mines before the total attack on Beacon.

Soon everyone was facing the front door, which would automatically open for them, already equipped with their weapons and in combat positions, if they needed to take a more aggressive stance against those who should be on the same side as themselves, but for some reason this was no longer the case.

After the ship landed firmly on the center of the sector, the metal door had finally been pulled wide apart to reveal numerous aiming lasers aimed at the corpses of the group, whose stares were firmly facing the more than thirty soldiers equipped with the most recent remarkable. weaponry developed by Atlas since the failure to deploy new troops in other cities.

The temptation of those aiming to pull the triggers was noticeably great, as were the Hunters who clenched their fingers around their weapons to strike back at any moment, but all had been interrupted almost as immediately by a slow and high clap from the one behind that group of men.

They would make room for him as he stepped forward, probably the last person Weiss or any of the other members even wanted to see in their lives. Mr. Schnee, there he was, his facial expression sharply mocked at seeing all those he said were "invaders" for being present there on his territory.

"Well, well, well ... Looks like there's no way to stay away from home, does it, my daughter?"

His tone was obviously full of irony, letting out a short cornered laugh from his lips as he put his own hands in the front pockets of his navy-colored social pants.

" Get down from there. " He would now shift to a more serious and direct countenance, nodding to the soldiers to withdraw one by one from those present until they were finally out of the ship, which would automatically take off in full flight through the busy sector.

Team RWBY and the other allies were in total helplessness at that moment, however skillful each of them was, it would do no good against that fleet that was putting their heads as their primary target, leaving no choice but to stand still.

" Qrow ... I should imagine you were involved in all this. Taking these kids with you on a journey without any kind of downward purpose " He would boldly provoke the technically rival of interests by looking him up and down with some contempt in his defiant smile.

" It's better than leaving them in the hands of complete disorientation just like you, you have no idea what a mistake you are making to see us as enemies. " Qrow words were bold and, at the same time, true in their meaning, confronting the eldest without any reluctance or fear, had already faced more disgusting things than he did.

" Then you should stop acting like them. " The gray-haired man then shifted his attention to Weiss, hitherto hiding behind Blake and Ruby who stood firm in their protection to prevent any stupid action on the part of others.

" Weiss, dear ... Why all this fear? Don't you wanna be near daddy? " The more he talked, the more everyone wanted, especially Yang, to break that bastard's face to the maximum of them potential together, but for the moment, it was out of the question.

" We know what you did to her, you asshole! You're just a cowardly rich shit! " Nora shouted as she pointed with her right forefinger toward his face, frowning, already completely fed up with the psychological terror he insisted on placing on her friend's mind.

" Now I know where Weiss got this classlessness from. " Once again he used his social class to refute the others' arguments, with Ren having to hold his red-haired one so that no disaster would happen.

" Listen, Schnee. There are things going on here that go far beyond what your money can handle. It's a life or death situation, don't be stupid! " Qrow was trying his best to extend his patience by advancing two steps toward he, with the guns unhooked and the gunmen ready to fire in sync, just waiting for the necessary orders.

" We need to talk to Ironwood right away! It's only a matter of time before Atlas is the next Grimm target! "

" And who said this is my problem? I'm only here for my daughter, Atlas can be set aside for now. " That answer completely wiped out all the Hunters present, it was simply unbelievable how far this man could be so far from a true human being. As Weiss had described, he only cared about himself and, of course, about the family's reputation. It was simply shameful.

" - Why you...! " Yang was about to push things over the edge, but it had been interrupted by a strong shudder that would force everyone there to set foot on the landing floor so as not to unbalance, unlike the soldiers who were so focused on aiming at their men armaments, which went to the ground immediately with the slightest stir. With a huge explosion occurring in the ceiling area of the sector, forcing the Hunters to immediately scatter across the enclosure as they dodged several debris that fell toward their heads, with Qrow reluctantly having to save Weiss's father's life by pulling at him collar of the buttoned-up shirt and tossing he away from the area where half of the structure would collapse, then leaping a few feet farther to maintain its own safety, and inevitably many of Atlas's soldiers were eventually destroyed. The others who were well into the ships and out through the hole through the top of the gates, already using their heavy built-in weaponry to fire at something that was only revealed after Ruby and the others finally approaching the area, seeing a gigantic serpent-shaped Grimm outside, which had just destroyed one of the ships in a single bite, turning its attention to the young as it revealed its prey, advancing immediately, with Ruby crumbling into petals roses to fly out of the creature's reach and close to its left eye, striking it in a 360 spin with the use of its scythe, plucking it out without any problems, causing an extremely loud howl of pain by the monster, which was silenced by a top-down hammering from Nora, causing the reptile's body to fall over the remainder of the military sector, with ending with Qrow, who would stab his sword at once into the center of the Grimm's skull, taking the blade from the middle of all that rotting flesh, and then reach the top with the others watching the Atlas horizon in question of mere minutes, being the target of a massive dark attack, with other Grimm being formed by a black cloud in the skies amid a flight toward the floating city. On the ground, chaos prevailed with several soldiers about to be slaughtered while sacrificing their lives to protect their homes, firing their weapons on enemies without any mercy, and not receiving it in return either. The streets were in chaos, and the buildings were collapsing faster than you could see, absurd destruction was taking place there, and Beacon's memories only reinforced the fact that this was yet another of Salem's works.

" Oh my God... " Ren was practically speechless at all this, they hadn't even heard a single suspicious sound, it was all so sudden, there had been no sense in having so many Grimm in the city in a matter of moments. Except, of course, someone brought it straight from a source in Atlas.

" We have to help them! " Oscar immediately suggested as he wielded his cane and prepared to jump from the roof of the structure to fight, but had been stopped by Qrow, who put his arm in front of him.

" It's no use just moving all together without thinking of a strategy, especially with those things up there ... We have to be smarter than that. Support is already coming. " He scolded him for pushing him back a little, taking a deep breath and sighing as he saw Atlesian's larger ships begin to move across the skies, along with the smaller ones that started a trail of fire in the air during the Grimm's clash flying, following the new wave of threats looming in the streets farther away, closing his eyes tightly.

" Right ... Now we can go. " Having said that, he would jump from the roof of the facility toward other nearby buildings, landing firmly on their surface, followed by the young men who preferred to go downstairs.

And so began a mind-blowing confrontation with Salem's evil forces, which fought savagely to pull away every bit of the Hunters' bodies, which they used from all their learning to stay alive in that chaos.

Ruby swung her scythe in front of her own body as she alternated left and right directions as her enemies crowded around her. She bent down at one point as she knelt on the partially cracked asphalt, in the process driving the scythe blade against the surface of a bear-like Grimm's chest, tearing it all the way to the front, already rising to roses, flying towards several that came in a straight line, throwing them away from each other on the sides as it impacted its own body against theirs, due to the force of acceleration. Following already going to the top of the nearest building, where Qrow would be holding five at a time, having double-tapped one of them, knocking him over and sequentially hitting his face to throw the creature beyond the edge of the building construction. He blocked the other two's attacks simultaneously with the sword, using the blade's lying surface to redirect his fists and claws toward each other's faces, causing them to pull back properly to save above them and make a twenty-cut sequence at once, leaving them in tiny pieces, then rotating 180 and blushing another in half, ending by propelling the weapon behind the right side of the waist, nailing into the abdomen of another, then pulling up, splitting it up in two, kicking the corpse away from him. At this moment, Ruby would land above another's head with her scythe, beheading him immediately, giving the older one a wink and already parting from him once more.

Already a few blocks away, Nora and Ren used their Semblance combination to hold Elephant-like Grimm's, with the Browns' guns being the primary use for reaching them from afar, while being wary of the shadow wolves who were advancing on each other, but being thrown away by Nora, who felt almost like a pro baseball player.

Oscar paired up with Jaune in the fight against Flying Gorillas that were just starting to land on the rooftops, with the blond using the shield embedded in the sword to assist the younger during his attacks, blocking the others from the sides and leaving enough openings for him to retaliate. against those beings, acquiring the supporting role, which was soon changed to be able to confront their enemies directly in the sequence.

Blake was tasked with protecting Maria for much of the time, taking her well out of Grimm's quality range that was hovering around the region, while using her Kusarigama to slice some of the flying type and launch onto building terraces to rock for these.

And farther than everyone else was Yang Xiao Long, who had just crossed the stomach of a fully grown bear with his right metal fist, pulling it out of his opponent's rotten body and already grasping his opposite paw to her for launch against one of the wolves that would leap toward her, holding the second under and over the jaw, breaking as she pushed in the opposite direction, having to deal with those flying monkey designs, or whatever they were, that were for spreading through Atlas like a plague. As she turned her attention to the heavens, she could see the chaos that was taking place, with several ships being exploded in the air and collapsing against various homes and other commercial parts of the center, with flames and smoke taking over the horizon in no time.

The blonde sighed heavily before turning her body into the air 360 degrees, kicking her left heel against one more of those thugs, knocking him out and turning to gasp to face the coming horde, destroying everything they saw, having to use Ember Celica on both wrists to fire as she walked toward her enemies, gritting her teeth with hatred of those things, turning to create a huge hole in the chest of one trying to surprise her from the rear, already reloading for further imminent shots.

At this moment, it was possible to notice a bigger tremor to happen in the city, of so strong that it ended up making one of the Skyscrapers far away collapsing with everything, the people were desperate for their own survival, reaching to the other falls without caring , with many eventually being killed on their way to escape, giving Yang the duty to escort the crowd through the streets to the containment zone, which would be located north of Atlesian's main military base. Or at least die trying.

--

Meanwhile, the sharp sound of moving metal was almost a melody in the ears of Neopolitan, who twirled a small, thin-bladed Swiss army knife through her own right-hand fingers, a rather monotonous pastime since the match it had been given by Cinder during their trip to Atlas in search of their common adversary, the well-known Ruby Rose. Just thinking of such a name made the brain of the bicolor reproduce images of when it departed from Torchwick before his death, due to the trick the red-hooded girl used to get her out of the way to confront the redhead alone.

That night, the little girl felt as if her whole world had begun to crumble gradually, failing to accept at all the reality that the only person she had ever lived with almost in a fraternal relationship, and who had truly cared for she since then. At first, was now dead. Anger and remorse were the only sensations the girl had shown since finding out about the elder being murdered, her motivation since that time was to find a way to continue everything he had done for himself and her organization, were it not in vain. The revenge that was now lodged in her heart had now become one of her greatest, perhaps the only, reason to keep trying to get around that situation.

Without Torchwick to lead herself or others who were once also involved with Cinder, she was completely aimless, blinded only by the desire to simply kill whoever was responsible for everything that had gone wrong with him. And thanks to her now "teammate," she felt like she was relocating on track again, had an ultimate goal, and that would only be completed when she had Ruby Rose's silver eyes crushed on the soles of her feet. The only bad part of it was having to align with the one that coordinated them to such fate, who ordered the attack on Beacon, Cinder Fall. She was definitely not easily bearable, costing even silent gestures to her during communications between both parts, but she was the only one who had enough power to assist Neo in concluding her revenge against the Team RWBY leader, who apparently was with other Beacon Hunters.

It was only a matter of a few hours for the ship they were in, which was camouflaged by Neo's Semblance as one similar to those made in Atlas, to arrive in the least possible area of sight of the farthest floating island.

" Looks like we're late for the party. " Cinder commented on the partially deformed when she saw the visible disaster that would be occurring throughout the city that covered the surface of the territory, with a legion of ships on the part of the military that were emerging even from the sides where the two were, with reinforcements being sent immediately by the rulers of other Kingdoms, who were trying their best to rid Atlas of that terrifying invasion, with more ground support from the large robots and metal androids that were beginning to clear the streets.

Neo approached the aircraft's front visor as they approached the area closer, watching the people below as they were chased to death, as well as the huge catastrophes and destruction that went on and on. The girl couldn't help but feel her heart clench at these scenes, no matter how much worse things she had witnessed, that kind of tragedy still shook her head, even reminding her of what had happened at Beacon.

To see all those homes in thousands of pieces, the desperation of all those inhabitants doing their best to survive such monstrosities, the river of blood that was spilled on the ground, so many lifeless bodies. Uneasiness seized Neo's emotional momentarily, immediately diverting her attention to his own feet, taking a deep breath and sighing heavily, closing her eyes tightly.

" It's a really pitiful scene, don't you think? So much weaponry in the possession of this army, but not enough protection capability to ward off these threats from here. More than deserved. " Cinder's cynical laugh was one of the main postcards of this trip, which made Neo squint at her with a distinctly unhappy look at that comment, so little about that terrible tragedy.

Yes, the bicolor was indeed a Serial Killer, but her lethal talents were always used only in favor of her work which, practically, consisted of missions passed on by Romans in the past, not as if she felt the need to kill someone every minute. Besides, her current aim was just to go after Ruby Rose, involve anyone else in the midst of that was out of the question, except her teammates who would surely intervene to protect her. And among them, she was also seeking to find a specific, coincidentally sister of the silver-eyed, physically strongest of all Team RWBY members: Yang Xiao Long.

She remembered her well enough, could not forget the victory she would have won over her during their one-on-one confrontation on the train carrying Torchwick's explosive terrorists to start Beacon's terrifying disaster. She also remembered the chance she had to bring the blonde to a definite end when she almost pierced her heart with the blade of her umbrella, but fortunately for her adversary, they would have been interrupted by an incredibly powerful figure of aura, which prevented her. to accomplish the feat.

She wondered until the present moment: What had happened to her? Was she still alive? Had her skills and technique improved?

Neo's curiosity gradually increased as she reflected more on this subject, which in some ways interested her a little more than her own goal at times, reflecting on it for a few minutes.

This was even removed from her daydreams by Cinder, who gritted his teeth hard as she saw in the chaos a face she could never forget, no matter how hard she tried, it was as if a constant nightmare struck itself.

" There she is, Neopolitan. The reason our lives are in this deplorable state ... We found the little red riding hood. " Such words would make the bicolor immediately focus on the outside view of the aircraft through the front window, being able to see its target because it was moving at a very high speed, because of its Semblance that turned it into rose petals, while being pursued by several Grimm's that were inevitably wiped off the map by Atlesian's troops, who were slowly beginning to regain control of the situation.

(Ruby Rose ...)

Neo thought as she clenched both fists tightly as she frowned, immediately turning to the metal entrance door that Cinder had now opened just after pressing one of the buttons on the control panel, thus enabling the passage outside the aircraft, with several Grimm's taking care of the area near which they were, with the older woman immediately rising from her pilot's seat as she put the automatic navigation in a straight line, approaching Neo and supporting his right hand on her opposite side shoulder. While the other firmly held her deceased's hat over her head.

" Let's get this over with today, now, Neopolitan. " Cinder would smile sharply from the corner before throwing herself from above, using her Fall Maiden powers to fly through the various burning buildings whose interiors were infested with Grimm's, driving at a fairly high speed to where she had detected the little red hood earlier. Neo went after this moments later, wielding her umbrella with the right hand and opening it, so that the strong current of wind would carry her along with Cinder, with the aircraft finally having its illusory image removed and completely destroyed by the flying creatures that made it into several pieces until it exploded grandly.

--

On the ground, Yang was facing the daunting task of holding the powerful pressure jaws of a huge Grimm snake that managed to have time to intercept before devouring an entire family of innocent civilians who were soon escorted by the robotic troops of Atlas. They shot the creature mercilessly until it was completely filled with openings at such a temperature present in the projectiles fired at it, finally dropping the mouth of the monster and sighing with relief, but it was still just the beginning. Ren and Nora seemed to be having trouble in the South, while Jaune and Oscar didn't know if they could hold back the horde coming from the West any longer, so all that remains is to hope that Ruby or Qrow could put order in the air, and couldn't help rising her head to watch with such dread for the intense slaughter that took place there, with bodies of the dead creatures falling from minute to minute on the streets, was almost like a disturbing nightmare.

However, such factors would be set aside altogether after her eyes captured the image of a familiar female figure who was about to move in the wind not far from where the blonde was currently, and could recognize those garments and that hair even in among the entire world population. That girl was... The same one she faced on the train run by Torchwick! What the hell was she doing there? Was this young girl part of an alliance she would have formed with Salem's forces?

Yang had no idea what her longtime rival might be doing there, but one thing she was sure of, after all the hard training she had been through and the humiliation she felt during their first fight that fateful day, Yang felt absurd need to go after that girl and put a definite end to it. She hadn't seen Cinder yet, since the difference in airspeed between them was very sharp, but not noticeable to the eyes at that distance, so she was driven only by the desire to repay what have received when faced the bicolor for the first time, trying to begin the follow the path she made with that damn umbrella, completely ignoring the presence of any Grimm that got in her way, causing more damage than they themselves were doing, making way by using her fury in advance to warm herself, in order to be really ready to confront her opponent once and for all.

--

There she was, Ruby Rose, after so long searching for that girl, finally Cinder found herself with part of her duty as she landed on the cracked ground of that huge crater located in the center of the city, and in front of her, the silver-eyed was busy facing a praying mantis grimm that used its "claws" to try to slice she into several pieces, having to be well focused to block the powerful strikes against the sharp blade of her scythe, making sparks bounce from the sides, turning the object around her neck, with the end of the loop eventually hitting one of the creature's legs, being the front right, grabbing the handle with both hands and pulling laterally, tearing it to the point to make the unclean blood spurt out, placing the scythe at the side of the body to prevent another powerful blow to the remaining paw, trying to pin the object around it and twist with all her might using the two hands, then pulling at she and yanking at once, ending in a horizontal cut that separated the monster's face into two pieces, already gasping for so much energy spent in that seemingly endless fight.

Just then, something strange in the air, with the arrows up and a little normal, in order to point the eye down. Cinder Fall accompanying her with chest-length crossed arms, with the left side of the face and body covered by a long brown cloak, staring at her with a smile at the same time with a remarkably startled reaction from the little girl.

" C-Cinder ...?! "

Neo would arrive shortly thereafter, closing the umbrella after being at a significant height from the ground, managing to reach it gracefully, closing the object and standing on the back of his right shoulder, watching. a little hoodie with an opium-filled facial expression that now circled through the bicolor's veins with incredible intensity, fists to the metal floor of the umbrella and staring at him in full force. own account. The new generation was completely at the same time, with a welcome appearance, swallowing hard before being defensive with their weapon.

" Neopolitan ... "

" Well, well, well, it looks like she remembers your name." Cinder turned her gaze to the bicolor, who smiled cruelly before fix her attention to the opponent ahead, narrowing her gaze slightly.

" What are you doing here...? Are you responsible for this? Are you still next to Salem?! "

Neo was slightly confused by a self-defeating blindness, raising an eyebrow to Cinder, who ignored her partner's apparent doubt.

" Oh no, no, no ... Salem is past, Red. We're on our own now ... What's a problem? "

She would laugh wickedly, causing a strong wind sphere to form in the palm of her hand aside from the waist.

" That won't change anything, Cinder... "

" I know, Red. But, you know, at least it will help me dream back. "

" You're completely insane! We are in the midst of a war that could end up destroying this world! You don't have to do this... "

" But inevitably, I want to. And as you see, I'm not the only one. " She indicated with the head to Neo, that then would remove the umbrella from the shoulders and leave one end resting on the ground, leaving as two options on the other without its support, adjusting the hat on her head first of all. That was almost an immediate response to Ruby, just seeing the characteristic object that was always with the redhead, taking a few steps back, but still holding a defensive position.

" I didn't kill him! I swear to everything that exists! "

" Red, Red, Red ... Lies are not the safeguard of your destiny. "

The air accumulates around the old woman's body, now floating as she withdraws her eye that covers her face, using her left hand, revealing some of the visual vision, burning deep and sighing furiously, using the Powers of Fall to increase her capabilities and tackle the silver-eyed along with Neopolitan.

The Serial Killer was looking at the target on both sides, removing the umbrella from the ground and pressing the button at the end of the support cable, retracting a sharp blade and seeing the fear in the younger girl's eyes, knowing that she would have no chance against both of them, but not seeming to want to back off at all.

" Let's finish what we started in that night, Ruby. "

And it was with these words that both of them would advance in sync towards the opponent, starting the confrontation that had been waiting so long since they had formed a team.

--

The battle had been arduous and even a little longer than they had hoped it would be, with victory being secured for Neopolitan and Cinder, who faced the enemy lying in the rubble, her scythe nailed to the ground not so far from where they were. The front of her else's face was gradually bleeding as she tried to regain consciousness, uselessly using the remaining strength to lift herself, but was prevented by a kick by the older woman over the stomach, rolling her to the side, agonizing with pain.

Neopolitan had a smiling face as she felt the power coursing through her veins, the feeling of finally being able to fulfill her greatest will, her revenge, was of extreme value. She always loved to feel above the opponents, to see them at her feet for not even being a match for herself, the absolute conviction that she could kill anyone, anytime she wanted. It had been several days since someone's blood had been on their hands, so that moment had become somewhat nostalgic for her.

" N-N-Neo... P-Please... " Ruby was begging her with that silver eyes, trying her best to lift herself up, but having her back tread on Cinder with great pressure, making her scream with the purest pain to travel through her physique. Tears streamed from the corners of her eyes at imagining the imminent possibility of being killed there at that moment, having made the whole journey in vain, disappointing her teammates, failing with the whole world.

The bicolor would observe this without any apparent sympathy at first, but not being able to allow herself to hear her words, as much as it was intended only for the girl's death, was intrigued by her final remarks. She raised her eyebrow slightly as she looked at her, almost as if to indicate to continue the talking.

" I-I swear, I didn't kill Roman...! H-He was... Swallowed by a Grimm! I didn't do anything! Please ... Don't do this... I know you're suffering, but this revenge won't get you anywhere... "

She complemented this by staring at her with a sad, desperate facial expression for her own life, closing both eyes as she finally managed to sit up and lean her back on some debris closer.

Neo was quite surprised by her words, for the first time she had received details about Torchwick's death, not even Cinder had bothered to clarify this for herself. For a moment, a strange feeling came over her mind, it was almost like a reprimand that her conscience was applying to her, but she didn't understand why.

She would squint at Cinder beside her, that in turn would give a smile that said it all for himself, indicating that this was the time to finalize they pending accounts and leave the Hell that was gradually settling around the city. However, the girl's tone of voice would make Neo rethink the reason why they were there, having crossed all of this, just to end the fight Roman began. One wondered if even the oldest cared about that.

" What are you waiting for, Neopolitan? Get it over with at once. " Cinder was precise and straightforward, as the partially deformed was eager to taste the blood spilling from the dying girl's body in front of her, with Neo needing a few more minutes to decide her conscious course, with Ruby's words managing really make she hesitate for the first time before complete her goals. Was that really what she wanted?

Is this what Roman wanted?

" N-N-No... I... I beg you... "

For the first time, the Little Red Riding Hood found herself completely alone, vulnerable and helpless in the face of the evil forces running through their hearts, but still trying in some way to keep the bicolor from making that mistake.

" Neo, finish it! " Cinder screamed, already totally impatient with that, the sound of the blade being pulled from the handle of that umbrella being the death sentence of the silver-eyed one, who stared very closely at the glow of the metal being lit by the glare of the high flames that were they scattered across Atlas, then with Neo positioning the sharp point toward the left side of her opponent's neck. A mix of feelings was to occur in the mind of Serial Killer, which at best tried to focus only on its goal of revenge, leaving any kind of mercy away from herself.

" KILL HER! "

And in that, it would move the pointed object against the marked region in a single quick and precise strike, but whose impact was not made against the skin, but on a metal surface that would hold the blade before it even hit the silver-eyed.

As she shifted his attention to the right side, Neo could once again find herself facing the same person who had already been the subject of much thought in Neo's mind, the same long blond hair she thought would never see again in her life. There was the main rival that the destiny held so much for such an unexpected reunion, taking a quick breath between her lips as she stared at the bicolor with a hostile countenance.

There was a distinct difference in her, noticeable in her right hand and arm, which were replaced by advanced Atlas technology, apparently in perfect condition. With Ember Celica attached to her wrist on the opposite side, Yang did not hesitate to fire more than three shots at Cinder, who was thrown several meters away due to Dust's excessive load on the robotic arm's inner compartment, then attempting a shot against Neo's face, but she was quick enough to immediately dodge and pull the blade away from her rival's hand, bouncing back gracefully and landing now to snap the handle back into the umbrella, opening it wide immediately to block some more explosive projectiles sent by Yang.

" Sorry for the delay, Sis. I had some problems with the traffic. "

The blonde joked as she reached for the smaller one, whose grip she would hold tightly as she struggled to her feet, having to rest her back on the debris behind her, the bicolor firmly watching the longtime enemy, leaving the umbrella on her right shoulder gently, smiling at her in an innocent expression.

" Yang, these two ... Y-You can't ... "

" No more fighting for you today. This is up to me now. "

" But ...! "

Right now, Cinder would return at incredible speed toward the two young women, with Yang immediately aiming for Ember Celica toward the attacker, but with Blake's Gambel Shroud being faster than herself, wrapping the wire around his neck. her and pulling her off the ground to drop her face over it a few feet away, with the Fauna landing as she turned her weapon sideways to her own body.

" I take care of her, Yang. "

As Cinder try to retaliate, she would be surprised by a cut in the area of her chest in a matter of moments, placing her left hand over the wound and howling in pain before standing again, and could see Weiss for being in the opposite direction of Blake, acquiring a fencer defensive position.

" And me too. "

The descendant Xiao Long knew what should be done now, trying to signal Qrow that he was not far away, with he becoming a raven to fly over and land safely on the ground, as he was previously above a building. twenty-two stories. As he approached the little one, he would take her in his arms and then run away, casting a trusting look at Yang before disappearing from sight.

Then, finally, that long-awaited day had come, the reunion between the blonde and the bicolor had taken place sooner than expected under normal circumstances, now facing each other in silence, separated by the considerable distance taken by both of them in additional caution.

Yang's lilac eyes connected with the deep brown and pink of Neo, who kept her smile on while giving his opponent a wink with her left eye, with the blonde in response slammed both fists against each other with power.

" No matter how long it lasts, I will end you completely once and for all. " Yang threatened, already determined for the imminent fight to come, with Neo being somewhat euphoric internally for the start of the confrontation he had been waiting for. From the day they had first fought, she saw the immense potential that the larger one had within her, but unfortunately wasted by the anger of her Semblance, who gave her knowledge of all the older woman's weaknesses.

However, there were so many different things about her, both aesthetically and mentally, that was remarkable in Neopolitan's eyes. She seemed more focused than when they first met, and had improved physique with far tighter training than the one could imagine.

The girl couldn't help biting the lower left corner of her own lip at the sight of Yang's changed look, drawing her attention from the bottom up to her, ending with once again fixing their glances for seconds that seemed more like hours of pure concentration on the next act each would do.

And it only took Neo one step to start one of the best battles she'd ever dreamed of having with anyone all her life.

Now was the time for truth.