To those who didn't notice my updated note, or who haven't read my other stories and seen other notes, there was no update last week as my mother was in a very bad state coming out of a heart operation and I had to spend all of Monday caring for her, then Tuesday in hospital with her. She's going to be having another operation soon (no date given just yet) which is a high-risk operation that's necessary for her to have any chance of living much longer. When that happens, I'll hopefully have a date in advance I can warn people about. We're not sure when it'll be just yet.

Cover Art: Mystery White Flame

Chapter 56

The fact that Cinder could land Grimm on a flying stadium protected by the greatest military power of Remnant, who were famed for their air superiority, was frankly ridiculous. The White Fang may have been the ones to fly them up but did no one on security detail think to ask why Bullheads carrying great big cargo containers were approaching the stadium? Did General Ironwood not think to have anyone watching? Surely, surely, they had aircraft stationed around Amity. The place was flying so you didn't need anything other than that. There was literally no way for the bad guys to reach here without flying up.

All of that, of course, was a moot point given the Grimm running rampant around the stadium as a woman's face, white as ash and lined with red veins, cackled on the main screen. The effect was lost somewhat when, after a solid forty seconds of laughter, she had to pause to take a deep breath before continuing. It was all she'd done for the last three minutes, and her constant laughter was beginning to grate on even Pyrrha's nerves.

"Can she stop already!?" the redhead growled, slicing through the head of a Beowolf that had dared look at her the wrong way. The two of them were still on the arena, though competition had been set aside in favour of drawing as many Grimm as they could away from the stands. "We get it – she's attacked. It's evil. She finds it funny. Nothing is that funny, though."

"And I thought Tyrian was unhinged."

"Is that the scorpion faunus currently riding a Nevermore by digging his knives into either side of its skull and using them as rudimentary handlebars?"

Jaune didn't need to look. "That's him."

Overhead, a black shadow swooped into a pack of Grimm, cutting through them with mad glee. An off-key voice warbled from its back; "I can show you the woooorld~"

"He's insane." Pyrrha said.

"Yup."

"You're not even going to try and deny it"

"Nope."

Pyrrha growled and killed another Beowolf, stomped on its body and left her sword stuck in it. She answered her scroll a second later and began talking into it. After a few seconds, she nodded, hung up and drew her sword out the rapidly decomposing Grimm's skull. "That was my team – they're being recalled to help defend th civilians as they run. Other teams from Beacon are being mustered to clear away the Grimm but there are reports of White Fang attacking Beacon."

"Why?"

"I don't know!" she yelled. "I'm not some magic eight-ball, am I?"

Jaune winced and waved his hands before him. Pyrrha had seemed so sweet and relaxed before, always smiling and unfalteringly polite. Now, she looked about ready to tear his face off. "Sorry! Sorry!"

"No, it's… Rargh." Pyrrha slammed her shield into an Ursa hard enough to smash its face open. "I don't get good fights very often and I was into this one." Her lips drew into a pout. "The first competition fight in years I've been looking forward to and that mad, cackling, witch decides to ruin it. Yes, you!" she shouted, waving her fist at the big screen. "Stop laughing and come down here and fight already!"

"Sorry?" Jaune offered, feeling at least partly responsible. If he hadn't brought Salem away from her tower, Cinder wouldn't have taken over – but then he wouldn't have found the woman – Queen – of his dreams. "I mean, she's here trying to kill us as well so I guess that means we're on the same side now."

"Sure." Pyrrha was all smiles again. "And hey, we both get to avoid having to fight Team RWBY so that's a plus. Speaking of, where are they-?"

Tyrian's noble steed squawked suddenly as it was hit with a sniper round to the chest. It exploded into feathers, throwing the mad man off and into a wall of ice that sprung up before him. He slid down it with a groan. Pyrrha winced and said, "Never mind…"

"Tyrian!" Jaune yelped. "Wait, we're on the same side. Don't they realise-"

"Don't care." Ruby answered, appearing between them in an explosion of rose petals. She cocked the hammer back on her scythe, expelling a spent cartridge. "Besides, he's evil. He was riding a Grimm." Ruby eyed Jaune excitedly. "Do you want to ride a Grimm?"

"Not if it'll get me shot."

"Shame…"

"Ruby!" Pyrrha interrupted. "We need to focus on the important things – like the civilians and what's happening at Beacon. That woman is the real danger here," she said pointing at the screen. "I know Tyrian caused you guys a lot of pain, but we need to focus on the big picture."

"The civilians will be fine. What are a couple of Grimm and the White Fang going to do? We have the entire Atlas military here." Ruby looked around awkwardly. "Somewhere. I mean, it's kind of weird the Grimm even landed on Amity at all. Okay, we're supposed to have an army here."

"Much of Atlas' forces had to be stationed away from Amity after the Penny fiasco." Weiss Schnee said, approaching with rapier drawn. Her eyes were steely and fixed on Jaune. "There were fears of an AI uprising, not quite helped by Atlas bringing a literal army of killer robots to act as additional security. Understandably, people weren't thrilled by that and as such Atlas had to pull some of their forces away."

Well, shit. Jaune withered under the three pairs of eyes. It wasn't his fault he'd ended up against Penny and not wanted to lose. Really, this felt more like Atlas' fault for not thinking ahead in the first place. Still, he offered a quick shrug and an apology.

"What's done is done. Besides, we have Tyrian Callows where we want-"

Said man leapt out from the wild melee between himself, Yang and Blake, face-planted on Yang's back and kicked her into Blake. He used her as a springboard to somersault onto the stands and, with a cry of "My Goddess needs me!" sprinted away. Yang, meanwhile, fell directly onto Blake. In a world of cliché, they might have kissed – and their lips did touch. Alas, so did their noses, their chins and their foreheads, and soon they were both rolling around clutching their heads and shouting obscenities.

"You know," Jaune said. "I can technically order Tyrian to do things…"

Technically as in, he could beg Salem to order Tyrian to do things, and she might feel generous enough to do so, especially if he offered her a foot massage or a head rub. It was a very hefty technical, but a technical all the same.

"And if you did me a favour, I'd be happy to order him to face the four of you in combat without running away. You know, give you all a chance to exact your terrible revenge on him."

It was unnerving how Ruby and Weiss both turned at the same time to stare at him. Were they sure Ironwood hadn't snuck a few more killer robots into Amity? Perhaps replacing Team RWBY with robotic murder-machines?

"We're listening," they said in unison.

Jaune pointed to the big screen, to Cinder, and said one word. "Kill."

"You can't ask students to kill someone!" Pyrrha argued.

"It's really more of a bribe."

"You can't bribe students to kill someone!"

"Technically, she has Grimm features…" Weiss said. Pyrrha stared at her as if to ask what difference that meant. "I'm just saying that if it looks like a Grimm, breathes like a Grimm and wants to kill everyone like a Grimm, then maybe it's technically a Grimm."

"It very clearly isn't!" Pyrrha said hotly.

"We could be mistaken in the heat of the moment," Ruby said, stroking her scythe's blade. "Amity under attack, tensions running high. Who could blame us for accidentally-ing her?"

"Hypothetically, Ruby means," Weiss added.

"Yeah. Hypnotically."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Close enough."

"I-I can't believe what I'm hearing!" Pyrrha said. She covered her face with both hands and screamed into the palms of her hands. "This is ridiculous! Am I the only sane person in Beacon left? You can't just-" When she brought her hands away, she froze. "Where are they?"

"They made a break for it when you covered your face." Jaune said helpfully. Yang and Blake were also missing. "And I expect they have gone to make Cinder a very unhappy camper."

Pyrrha Nikos screamed angrily.

/-/

Cinder Fall rubbed her throat and idly considered halting her manic laughter. Only idly. She forced herself to keep going regardless, because how else would the people of Remnant know they had lost to her-? All her life, she'd been belittled and laughed at, and she'd sworn back then that she would have the last laugh.

As such, she had to make sure her laugh lasted longest. It would be the laugh heard around the whole world. If it didn't destroy her vocal cords first. "Ahem. Harrumph. Ahahahahahahahahaha-ack! Ahahahahahahaha!"

"Cinder…" Watts said.

"Silence, Watts. Can you not see I am laughing?"

"I can see," he said sardonically. "And I can hear as well, though I wish I'd lost the ability some minutes ago. My Queen-" Cinder despised the sarcastic way he said that. "If I may make a suggestion, should we not finish what we came here for? Ambushing Amity is… cute and all… but aside from a few dead civilians and some ruffled feathers, it's not going to bring us any closer to victory."

Cute? How dare he call her first strike against the people of Remnant cute. It was true that Amity wouldn't fall from just a few Grimm attacking it, not with the huntsmen there, but it was a message sent. Salem may have been content to wallow in anonymity and be nothing more than a spectre, but she was not! If she was going to wage eternal war against Remnant, they would damn well know her name.

"Set my laughter to play on a loop." Cinder instructed.

Watts sighed, rolled his eyes and complied. They were stood on the edge of the Emerald Forest as Beacon was assailed by the combined forces of the Grimm and White Fang. Or, rather, as the Grimm assailed everything. The fine degree of control necessary to pick out friend and foe was something she'd yet to master, but that was no reason to delay her plans. If Adam raised any issues, she would just remind him who she was and why he ought to stay quiet.

Again, Beacon might well repel the force. The Grimm were wild and animalistic and wouldn't follow her clever schemes, and the White Fang weren't much better. The students were distracted but competent, and they only had to defend their home until help arrived. That was fine with her, as Beacon's fall was not a necessary part of her grand scheme.

"Come, Watts. It is time to gain the power of a maiden."

"Need I remind you this is a poor idea." he said. "I am your doctor and I cannot recommend adding a little known, unpredictable and potentially God-of-Light focused power into your body."

"Nonsense. The maidens were formed of Ozma's power. It is human."

"That man cannot be called human. Even so, your body is a mess of foreign energies right now, Cinder. The essence of the pools has not yet been safely absorbed, you're running on a cocktail of drugs and I fear this new power will rip you apart."

He feared-? Ha. As if. She knew full well his loyalty to her was born of fear – as it should be. Fear was a potent motivator and only highlighted the discrepancies in their power. As for the power of the fall maiden, it was hers by right. She had brought Amber low, she had struck the killing blow, she had been about to use Salem's parasitic Grimm to siphon the energy from her.

It was all her work. It had been her dream since the start, the dark promise she shared with Salem, and she'd be damned if the sudden shift in circumstances would change that. As for bringing on someone else to take it and follow her orders? Never. Salem was a fool to entrust that kind of power to others, and she wouldn't make the same mistake.

It's my power. All of it. I will become the most powerful woman on Remnant.

Why stop here? Why stop with one? Once she'd wrested control of the fall maiden, she would move onto the winter maiden in Atlas, then spring in Mistral and summer in Vacuo. All four maidens combined inside her immortal body, supported by the Grimm and granted unnatural longevity, an immortal life to learn every skill, master every technique and grow beyond even the Brother Gods themselves.

Who knows if they are still watching? Hmhmhm. Perhaps it is time the Brother Gods had a sister. Or they can be my lovers and bow down to my every whim. Yes, that sounds perfect.

Watts didn't believe of course. He thought she was overreaching, that she'd been driven mad with lust for power. Unambitious fool. That was his failing – he lacked the willingness to push ahead. An odd flaw for a so-called man of science. She'd thought he would understand the importance of pushing the potential of the human body.

The embattled students could do little to stop her and Watts strolling across Beacon's grounds. They were two humanoid shapes and thus much less threatening than the Grimm, and those that did take note of her features were too distracted to do anything other than point. Cinder approached the mighty doors of Beacon and waved her hand. Two Ursa strode forward, crashing into and forcing them open with a great, groaning noise.

"We could have taken the normal entrance…" Watts muttered.

And fail to announce herself to the world? Fail to let everyone know that Cinder Fall was here? Never. The future goddess of Remnant strode boldly across Beacon's tiled floor, her heels clicking and her black robes flowing behind her. She had not the benefit of Emerald or Mercury spying for her, but common sense dictated Amber would be hidden out of sight of the students, which surely meant she was below their feet.

"Destroy the floor!" she ordered the Grimm.

"There is a literal elevator right there!" Watts pointed.

"I shall make my own entrance!"

"But – that- oh whatever." He threw his hands in the air. "You do you."

The two Grimm began to attack the floor with mindless abandon. They tore and rent and smashed their mighty arms down until the tiles began to crack and splinter, and the mortar beneath as well. Concrete shattered and cracks spread out perilously in every direction. Again and again, for a solid four minutes, until even she was beginning to think this was taking too long.

We could have been down there by now twice over. No. It wouldn't be the same. Just imagine Ozpin's face wrought with fear as the very ceiling rains down around him. I bet he's panicking even now.

In thousands of years, Salem had never managed to truly frighten the man, but here and now, in her first year, Cinder would cow him. She would break his spirit and shatter the spine of Remnant's resistance in one fell sweep. Such was her gleeful thoughts as the floor finally collapsed under the barrage, shattering and falling taking the two Grimm with it. They dropped into the depths, no doubt dying on the hard floor below. No matter. There were more were that came from.

Cinder approached the edge and dropped, her robes flapping like wings. She pushed aura to her feet, landing on the tip of the strewn rubble that formed a pile of rubble shaped like an upward-pointing pyramid. In the beam of light cast down from the hole above, she walked down the slope of ruined masonry like a dark angel, like a dark goddess, one foot before the other, arms held out and smile cruel and threatening.

Before her, on a plush chair, the immortal, Ozpin, picked up a mug of coffee and took a long sip – doubtless to conceal his terror! – and sighed. He set the mug down on a control panel, while behind him the soon-to-be former fall maiden lay trapped in a green tube.

He did well to maintain a neutral expression, remarkably well, but she knew he was panicking deep inside, especially as he pointed toward her and said, "I had an elevator installed for a reason."

"I prefer a more dramatic entrance."

"Wasteful, you mean." He sighed, stood and picked up his cane, walking over to stand between her and Amber. For all the good it would do him. "Much like your decisions of late. Cinder, is it? Salem mentioned you in passing, though she had little good to say. I'm beginning to understand why."

"She is jealous of my power!"

"Your power is the same as what she has always had. I very much doubt jealousy is her motivator. So," he said, "You have cast yourself willingly into the pools. Or supped of it. The former would have killed you as it has so many others. Truth be told, I'm not sure if the latter won't as well. Your body must be pulling itself apart at the seams."

Cinder scoffed. "I have the power to control it."

"You do not. And it is not a matter of power at all. One cannot overpower the sun or frighten back the tide. Some forces are independent of human control, for all we like to think ourselves the masters of everything. That power was never meant for mortal hands and it will kill you."

So he claimed. He would, wouldn't he? Like so many before, he wanted to keep all the power to himself. He wanted to remain the strongest, and for that he needed others to be weak. And so, he would make up his little lies, feed the masses and convince them to see things his way. It was all too easy to herd sheep. Her, though? She was smarter than that. She could see beyond the veil he'd pulled over the eyes of the unwitting.

"This power is mine!" she declared, opening her arms wide to show him her body. The white skin, pure and beautiful, the red veins pulsing and throbbing up and down her neck and arms. They hurt with every heartbeat, the pain almost unbearable, but it was all a sign of her ascension. The black pits of her eyes and the red within glowed like hot coals. "Look at me and marvel, Ozma. You who were only granted your power by a god now stand before a human who has earned it herself!"

"By drinking from the pools, which were left behind by the God of Darkness-"

"Silence!" she roared. "Jealous lies from a petty little man frightened to face a true goddess."

"I have fought Salem for thousands of years."

"I am ten times the woman Salem ever was."

"No," he said, feigning calm and bringing his cane up. "No, you are not."

A ringing sound echoed behind Cinder. Turning, she saw the light above the elevator flash and the doors swing open. She expected Ironwood, perhaps Goodwitch or even Salem herself. Instead, she was greeted to the amusing sight of four students walking out. Four little girls who thought they could do a thing to stop her.

"At least someone knows how to use an elevator…" Ozpin grumbled. "Team RWBY, while I appreciate the assist, I do not think you are best suited here. Return to the surface and find help. Leonardo should be around somewhere."

He hadn't been able to find Haven's headmaster, but that probably meant he was off where the fighting was thickest. Ozpin wished he could join him, but protecting Amber was important.

"We're here to kill Cinder!" the pint-sized leader declared.

The blonde elbowed her in the side.

"Sorry. I mean, we're here to accidentally kill Cinder."

The blonde and the Schnee groaned and covered their faces. No fear from them either. Cinder frowned, annoyed by the constant disrespect for her grandeur. They had to realise the impossible task ahead of them, and yet they faced her like hardened veterans.

"Again." Ozpin said. "While I do appreciate the sentiment, I cannot encourage such action. Go back and find Glynda. Also, you're huntresses. You do not kill people. Only Grimm."

"She looks like a Grimm to me." the blond said.

"Looks can be deceiving." Ozpin remarked.

"Indeed." Cinder declared. "I am a god!"

"Technically," the Schnee began, "I think the distinction would be up to the closest expert, which would be you, sir." She looked up at the hole in the ceiling meaningfully. "And last I checked, Beacon's insurance does not cover attacks by rogue humans or criminal huntsmen, only Grimm or damage as part of everyday activities…"

The girl trailed off meaningfully. Ozpin pinched the bridge of his nose. "Miss Schnee, I hope you are not suggesting what I think you are."

"I'm only saying that if she is a human then Beacon won't be able to claim insurance. But if she is a Grimm then it falls under normal use. Also, insurance usually doesn't cover acts of gods, so that would be out as well. If only we had an expert to decide for us poor, impressionable youths."

Cinder was beginning to feel like she wasn't a part of the conversation, which was a little annoying considering her entrance. Before she could rectify that mistake however, Ozpin sighed and shook his head.

"I can't believe I'm doing this. Fine. As the leading and closest expert in the field, I do hereby decide that the being known as Cinder Fall is some hitherto unknown species of Grimm."

The four huntresses grinned and readied their weapons.

"And yes," he sighed, "That means you can legally kill her."

"Kill me? Ha. As if these pathetic children could ever-"

Cinder didn't get a chance to finish on account of the fist that struck her jaw and launched her into the air, delivered courtesy of a blonde missile that had gone from stationary to in-flight faster than she could react. Pain humming through her chin, she vaulted and landed on a pillar, snarling and bringing forth her power. Very well. If they wished to die, so be it.

Wait. Where had they gone…?

And where was this thick, ice-cold mist coming from?

"I was saving this one for Callows." Weiss Schnee's voice echoed ominously from every direction. "I suppose it will still be work as long as you don't live to tell him about it."

Arrogant little children. Did they really think a little mist would harm her? It obscured her vision, true, but would do the same for theirs. Cinder summoned fire to her hand, only to pause as she heard an ominous hissing all around her. The mist parted as she wafted her flaming hand toward it, immediately revealing she was surrounded by explosives that had somehow been planted faster than she could hear them. The shortest of the brats. Hadn't her Semblance been speed? Cinder bunched her legs to jump, only for the fuses to reach their end and the closest of the explosives to click.

The blast shattered two pillars and shook the foundations of Beacon, bringing down yet more of the already damaged flooring above. Several metres away, Ozpin could only cringe and imagine the phone calls he would be making later.

Good job this was definitely an attack by an unknown human-like Grimm and not four of his students fighting a mad woman.

A very good job indeed.

/-/

"Jaune!"

Salem rushed to the centre of the arena where her blood-soaked consort stood with sword and shield drawn. He turned to face her, eyes blazing bright blue and posture undaunted despite the fleeing citizens all around him. Such an immovable figure. Brave, strong and unbending. Salem briefly considered pushing him down and ravishing him right there but knew there would be a better time.

"You are unhurt." It was much an order as a question. He'd best be unhurt or she would rip Cinder to pieces. Thankfully for Cinder's sake, he nodded. "Good. Hazel and the others have dealt with the White Fang and are moving to Beacon to challenge Cinder. We must away there as well lest that brat try and escape."

"You're going to Beacon?" the redhead asked. "Can I come along?"

Salem eyed her. "Who are you again?"

The girl's green eyes widened. Oddly, it wasn't in hurt at being so unrecognisable. Strange. Micky and Esmerelda always looked annoyed when she couldn't remember their names.

"You… You don't know who I am…?"

"Should I?" Salem asked, voice thick with sarcasm. "Do you believe yourself important enough for every single person on Remnant to know you by name or something?"

"No! No, I don't!" The girl was smiling. "I don't think anyone should! I'm Pyrrha by the way."

"I care not. You're identity means little to me."

"C-Can you say that again…?"

Salem frowned. The girl was leaning forward now, hands cupped together and cheeks shining bright red. Salem leaned back, suddenly feeling a little out of her comfort zone at such sudden and amorous attention. She was beautiful, yes, but this was a little sudden even for her. Perhaps the attack had unhinged her, for her insults were being treated like high praise. The poor girl had clearly lost her marbles. It was sad in a way, and Salem felt a rush of pity overtake her caution.

"It is well, child," she said as one might to a baby. "While I may not know your name now, I am sure your actions will speak for you in time." She said it softly, so as to lessen the blow, but the redheaded girl only looked even more excited, practically vibrating with pleasure now. "Ahem. If you wish to accompany us to Beacon, you may."

"Y-Yes. Of course. We have to stop Team RWBY killing Cinder."

"Do we?" Jaune asked. "Do we, really?"

"Yes!" Pyrrha said. "She should face justice for her crimes, not an execution squad. She has to answer to the law."

"I agree with Penny." Salem said, ignoring the girl saying a different name. "Cinder must not die to Team RWBY."

"That's right," Pyrrha said.

"She will die by my hand and no other."

"That's right- No, wait! That's wrong! That's totally not right! I thought you agreed she should face the law!"

"I did." Salem said, cocking her head to the side. "And I am the law. She will face me and I shall judge her impartially. I already have – and yes, it's death. Death for being such a complaining, whining pain in my ass. Come along, you two. It's time to fix all Ozma's mistakes for him."

Jaune shrugged and followed, as did Tyrian, crawling out from under a couple of Grimm and skipping happily to catch up. Pyrrha watched them go, looked around for help and swore to herself. If no one else was going to try and do the right thing, that meant she had to.

"Wait for meee!"

I kind of tried to write Cinder like a conspiracy theorist in this chapter in how she thinks, denying everyone else's points, living in her own fantasy world. I considered looking up flat-earther arguments or even Qanon for inspiration, but ultimately decided I would lose my mind getting angry at such stupidity and chose not to. There's only so much dumb I can take.

Next Chapter: 14th March

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur