Team STIK (Strike)

by Aragon365

One born without the power to make a difference. Another gifted with an incredibly powerful dual semblance. One who wishes to live up to his elder brother. And a faunus whose anger makes him almost as brutal as the Grimm. At Beacon Academy, these four unlikely souls would meet, and forever change the face of Remnant. These are their exploits. (Discontinued)

39. Battle for Beacon

A/N: You all knew this was coming. Hope you're ready for a bloodbath.

Thank you all for everything. We're at over 300 reviews and over 400 followers now. Seriously, thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I hope you enjoy the chapter, brutal though it may be.

Warning: Blood, gore, and plenty of violent descriptions ahead. View discretion is advised.

Also, the review responses are going to be at the bottom of the chapter this time, because there are a lot of them.

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or My Hero Academia. They belong to Monty Oum, Kohei Horikoshi, and their respective publishing companies. Please support the official releases.

I do not own the cover image

Chapter 39: Battle for Beacon

When Tenya first saw the ships begin to pass by as his half of the group began to make headway towards Vale, he paid them no mind. They were of Atlas make, unlike the ones that had dropped the Grimm into the Coliseum, and were making their way to assisting both areas of assault. Then another ship passed by. It wasn't an Atlas model, nor was it that of Vale's. The colors were especially off. Instead of the standard issue grey, like most of the other models had, this one was a dull, dark shade of purple.

He glanced towards the rest of the cabin, noting that most of the members of team SSSN, with the exception of their leader, as well as a faunus with a particularly large tail, a few other hunters in training whose names he couldn't remember dotting the seats as silence filled, the room.

Then, the crack of explosions ripped through the air. Familiar explosions, so faint that if he hadn't been hearing them for the past half year he'd have sworn he was imagining them. And they were coming from one of the Atlesian Warships.

That gave him all the reassurance he needed to follow through on what he was about to do next. He heard people from down below ask him just what the hell he was doing, but he kept climbing to the top of the ship. He narrowed his eyes onto the ship that he could hear the explosions echoing from, a standard Warship in every sense of the word. It was fairly far, too far for him to get there by normal means, and even with the assistance of Pride he wouldn't quite make it.

So, he pulled out another ammunition cartridge and loaded it into Pride, the mark emblazoned onto the side reminding him of just how powerful the kickback for this kind of ammunition was. He and Bakugo had been working on making it throughout the year, with many, many volatile reactions and many more dud bullets. However, this past week, with some input from Nora, they'd finally managed to find the right balance of Fire and Wind Dust and managed to make a total of five cartridges. In total, he had about thirty rounds of explosive ammo.

Let's just hope I have enough to make it all the way over to the ship.

The spectacled boy got back to the edge of the ship, as far as he could possibly go, and leaned into a starting stance. His semblance would hopefully get him at least partway there, and the explosive ammo would do the rest. After launching the only thing he'd really have to worry about was timing.

He leaned back a bit more, feeling his semblance charge within his legs in anticipation. Then he rushed forward, a dull boom echoing behind him as he raced towards the other end of the ship and, just as he got to the edge, jumped as high as he could in the air. He gave himself more air than he thought he would, but, as he'd predicted, it wasn't nearly enough to get him all the way over.

With practiced ease he extended Pride and pointed the barrel downwards, firing with the slight squeeze and being launched far higher than he'd predicted. He'd definitely be able to get over there now.

Hold on, you damn fool! I'm coming!

(meanwhile, an Atlesian Warship, Bakugo's POV)

Another explosion sent Bakugo sprawling away from where Serpent Saw had buried his weapon halfway into the hull, ripping it out as various electrical noises sparked from within and the overhead light flickered slightly. The scaled man was coming after Bakugo with no remorse, and he'd been on the defensive throughout most of the fight. Blasting his way down here wasn't something he was happy about, as his semblance was practically made for fighting out in the open, but it had saved him from getting run through by a fucking chainsaw, at least at that moment, and he'd prefer that it stayed that way.

"Come out. You're only delaying the inevitable," Serpent Saw said as the groan of his chainsaw arm dulled to the point that Bakugo could hear the gears slow. "I can still make your death quick, and quite painless. If you're willing to listen, however, there is another alternative.

"You could join me. While I am not normally partial to those who aren't willing to devote themselves wholeheartedly to our cause, I can see that in your eyes you hold similar contempt that I once did. How humans could get away with such dastardly acts, how they dared to act as though they were superior to us-"

It was in the middle of this speech that Bakugo, unbeknownst to the heavily armed man, managed to launch himself forwards with such momentum that his punch audibly cracked against his torso, the man's aura breaking with the contact as the ashen blonde direwolf then forced his weight into the punch with the assistance of an otherwise eardrum shattering explosion, sending Serpent Saw rocketing down the hallway as he tumbled across the ground, digging his prosthetic arm into the ground with a sickening, metallic screech as he brought himself to a halt.

Bakugo hardly even noticed the man's glare as he began a speech of his own, "You really outta know when to shut up and fight! I mean, seriously, a monologue?! We're on a battlefield, not in a lecture hall!

"Besides, do you really think that I'd actually join you? Fuck that! Spout all the radical bullshit you want to, but I'm not breaking! Ever! Yeah, humans can be assholes! Fact is, most of them are assholes! But I'd rather fight and die with assholes I respect than fight and live with psychopaths like you!"

The silence that came between the two as Bakugo finished his speech was unnatural, like the laws of physics themselves were bending to make that particular moment last far longer than it should've. The sounds of battle were white noise. The sounds of chaos were white noise. All that remained was the two of them.

And Serpent Saw laughed. A laugh that started as a chuckle as it built in volume, eventually turning itself into a full-on cackle. Then, Bakugo saw something disturbing. His scale patches began to grow, and spread throughout his body. Covering more and more portions of skin, progressing to the point that only the barest hints of skin were present at all.

"Wrong answer, kid," Serpent Saw said as he dug into his tailcoat side pocket, pulling out a distinctly marked Fang mask that was almost entirely purple with white detailing, which looked similar to the ones that Adam wore on his same mask. "I tried to show you what was really happening. Truly I was. But now you've done something that no one's done in a long, long time. You made me angry.

"And you never, ever make a Berserker angry if you know what's good for you."

And the mask finally covered his face, lifting his head as it was to reveal a monstrous looking opponent, the chainsaw on his hand whirring to life once more. Bakugo, now shaken, lowered himself into a defensive stance. This was gonna be one hell of a fight.

CRACK!

And from the hole the ashen blonde had made to get away stood Tenya with Pride at his side, having fired one of the explosive shots directly at the scaled man's feet and kicking up a large cloud of dust in the process. He leapt down the entry point and landed with a loud thud, visibly denting the steel where his feet were, Pride never losing focus on that dust cloud.

"The hell took you so long, four eyes?" Bakugo said, visibly easing back into his normal stance. Sure, he and Tenya didn't quite have the coordination skills that Deku and Half and Half did, but they were still a force to be reckoned with.

"I'm sorry that it takes a little while to launch myself off of a ship and by some miracle get over here without getting killed by Griffons and Lesser Nevermores!" the spectacled huntsman said without taking his eyes off of the billowing cloud in front of them.

"Excuses, excuses! Just get ready to fight and try not to die, dammit!" Bakugo said as he brandished the blades on the sides of Smoke and Shrapnel, the edges glinting in what moonlight managed to peek through the hole above them.

"... so, this is your true answer...

"... then die for your betrayal."

(meanwhile, Amity Coliseum, Dabi's POV)

The echo of Dabi's boots against the cold concrete floor and the various cries of Grimm species that he couldn't differentiate were the only sounds that were still in the somehow floating arena. But he didn't care about that. All he cared about was finding her.

And he did. And what he found of her was the cloven pieces of her body, with wires and gizmos and metallic appendages exposed. Her eyes had never closed. The dark-haired boy leaned down to do just that, his skin touching hers for the first time since they'd met again. Her eyes closed.

But Dabi was not brought to peace. If anything, having to bury the only person he'd truly cared for since his mother died stoked the flames of his rage even further. And speaking of flames...

He pointed a single, scarred arm at a particularly large pack of Grimm that had begun to make their way towards them. His runes started to glow the same fluorescent blue as before, the barest wisps of blue fire emanating from his palm until finally-

BOOM!

A tidal wave of colored flame was released, rushing forwards and almost instantly incinerating every Grimm in its path, the heat just as intense as the fire that emanated it. And as the fire crackled to sparks and embers, none of the Grimm remained. He was going to show Penny the respect she deserved.

No Grimm, no hunter, and no Cinder fucking Fall was going to keep him from doing that.

(meanwhile, somewhere at Beacon, Izuku's POV)

Another Grimm fell to Tempest's edge, scattering into dust as a Creep took its place, quickly disposed of by that same weapon before he got off a shot with Stratus to take the legs out from under a Beowolf who'd been getting way too close to Yang's back, allowing her to blow the things head off and scatter it into ashes.

It had been like this for the past few minutes, with Grimm just coming and coming and not giving them a break. Still, the important thing was that he and Yang had each other's backs. He'd cover her, she'd save his life, so on and so forth.

The two stood back to back as more Grimm began to surround them. There were too many to deal with separately anymore. While it had been a while, it seemed that they would have to use those combo attacks sooner than they'd hoped to.

"Mighty Dragon?" Yang said as she caught her breath, the barrels of Ember Celica visibly smoking as she did so.

"Mighty Dragon," Izuku confirmed as he pulled Tempest into a Neben stance and Yang shifted into a stance that put her closer to the ground, the Grimm snarling and growling as the gathered ever closer to the two as they formed a circle to entrap them. Little did those creatures know that that was exactly what those two were planning on.

In a sequence so fast that the two looked like green and gold blurs, Izuku stabbed Tempest into the ground and lifted his body from the ground, feeling Yang's weight on his feet as he kicked upwards with both feet, sending her rocketing skywards as he came back down and quickly shifted Tempest into scythe mode, swiping at the Grimm that had begun their attack mid-transformation. He managed to catch plenty of them on the return stroke of the blade and dragging more and more with him as he sped around the circle until finally, he stopped, launching the Grimm he'd caught on the blade towards the center.

And then, from above, screaming a guttural war cry with all the air her lungs would allow her to expel, came Yang, her hair now ablaze and her eyes crimson red, delivering a punch to the ground that was so powerful that the Grimm beneath her fist almost instantly faded into ashes as the ground itself caved beneath the force, and what remaining Grimm were still around them were blown back several feet. The green haired inheritor himself was barely able to keep on his feet, his blazer audibly flapping in the wind as a result. And even in a moment as dire as this one, he couldn't help but think to himself that Yang looked absolutely beautiful.

But he'd have time to work out those feelings and thoughts later, as they now had the remaining Grimm to deal with. At least, they would if a few others hadn't taken care of the problem first. A familiar violet haired huntsman took the legs out from under one Grimm and slammed his fist into its skull, audibly cracking it before the beast faded to ash. His grinning partner jumped over him, his ribbon launchers wrapping around a Beowolf as he launched himself downwards, kicking the monster's skull so far back that bones could be heard snapping before it faded.

It was Hitoshi and Sero, both of whom looked a bit ragged but ready to fight.

"Hey. What the hell are you two just standing around for? C'mon!" Hitoshi said as he grabbed a Creep from the ground, killing it with a single punch.

"A lot of the others are already back at the courtyard! All we gotta do is get back there and pick up any stragglers we come across!" Sero said as he gave the two a shaky thumbs up. The two of them didn't hesitate for even a second to join them, gradually making their way to the courtyard and killing Grimm as they went, picking up a couple of students as they did so. For a brief, fleeting moment, it felt like everything was going to be alright.

(meanwhile, down in Vale, All Might's POV)

Damnit. My form is going to start slipping sooner than I hoped it would. The smiling giant thought to himself as his fist felled yet another Grimm with little effort. Despite his outward appearance, he knew that there wasn't much time left for him. This year had been a strenuous one, even by his normal standards of a tough year. He had thirty minutes, maybe an hour if he was extremely lucky.

A few AK units had picked him out and began firing at him, the bullets thudding into his aura before they dropped to the ground, harmlessly clattering against it. But before he could dispatch of the enemies themselves, loud, distinctly familiar shots rang out through the nearly empty and ruined street. And there stood, standing against his own soldiers and Grimm alike, was Ironwood, the top half of his uniform almost entirely ripped away in some kind of battle, his right, robotic side revealed to the world with his revolver in hand, firing shot after shot into the bodies of his enemies, taking one unlucky Ursa Minor by the skull and crushing it into dust with as much effort as it took to speak.

And coming from behind was a Griffon, one that he neither saw or heard, even with his enhancement's assistance. Qrow did see it, however, switching Harbinger straight into scythe mode as he ran towards it, slicing the thing clean in half with a single, well-placed strike. As he landed, he looked back at Ironwood with a cocky grin, something that All Might had come to associate with Qrow's confidence about something.

"I know you're not the reason behind this, Jimmy. I mean, seriously, I know you're strict, but I also know that even you're not crazy enough to try to pull off a full invasion of Vale. 'Sides, we need all the help we can get," Qrow said to the still stunned general as he gave a light twirl of his scythe, easily bisecting a pack of Creeps and Beowolves who'd gotten a bit too bold and had made their way towards them. The red-eyed reaper wasn't the number three huntsman for nothing.

Goodwitch quickly used some spare debris to skewer a few spare Grimm along her way over to him, saying, "If you two would kindly quit standing around, I believe we have a job to do."

All Might quickly made his way over to the three of them, asking, "What's our plan of action? I know that the AK units aren't the most reliable, but there are still a lot of them."

Ironwood breathed in a quick sigh and straightened himself, putting his revolver behind his back as he said to the three of them, "They were built with a specific programming flaw, titled 'Stormtrooper,' and no, I don't know why it was named that way. It's honestly one of the most absurd things I've ever heard or said. Anyway, it was meant to activate if the units were ever hacked by and hostile programs or coding, to deliberately make them unreliable against us. It wasn't quite perfected, and I don't think it's taken effect on all the units, but we'd be seeing a lot more casualties if it wasn't there. We should take advantage of this. Whoever's behind this went straight for Vale's CCT tower, and it might not be long until they break the programming. Right now, our primary concern should be getting back to my flagship. Every unit in my army has a direct link to the main console located there, so if the enemy wanted to take them over, that's where they'd be. After that, we need to secure a safe zone in Vale for any who might need it and then evacuate Beacon. Ozpin's students are tough. They can survive that long, hopefully."

"It's a solid plan, I'll say that much," Glynda said as he briefly flicked her wrist, causing a brief spark of energy to fire off, lift up a tiny sharpened chunk of shrapnel, and shoot it through a Creep's skull, all without even glancing at it. All Might could've sworn he saw Qrow shiver at that. Speaking of the red-eyed reaper-

"Yeah, but there's only one problem. We're the only real authority there is down here. Ozpin's trying to organize as many people as he can, but Scroll signals are total crap down here. Hell, most huntsmen who're even here are fighting for their lives already. We can't just up and leave. Besides, it's quite the walk to your ship. Sure you're up to it?"

Qrow pointed to somewhere in the sky, towards where Beacon was, his finger trained directly on the massive, unmistakable silhouette of Ironwood's flagship, which was currently raining fiery hell upon all the other ships in the area.

"Ironwood? Did you have Torchwick incarcerated on your flagship?"

"Yes. And I can see now that that wasn't the best idea. I should've sent him straight to Atlas, but I know that he knew more than he was letting on. I decided it was worth the risk to keep him here."

"Hope hindsight's giving you a good kick in the ass, Jimmy, 'cause we've got work to do," Qrow said as he shifted Harbinger back into its blade mode, preparing to dispose of the Grimm that were currently making their way towards them.

And then, like the bleakness of a cold day at war, a thunderous boom echoed throughout the city. It shook the ground beneath them, causing all but he to stumble and almost lose their balance. They all knew what it was. It was something that he, along with his old friend, Flaming Rose, had sealed away years ago, unable to slay it. It had cost her an eye, but the seal should've held for an incredibly long time, more than enough time to find a way to end it permanently, and certainly far longer than just one and a half decades!

And yet, still, the mountain broke open. And from that break emerged a Grimm that he'd hoped to never see again. The destroyer of Mountain Glenn, one of the greatest foes that he had ever faced: The Ichor Dragon.

"Holy shit! That thing's free?!" Qrow exclaimed in surprise, something that All Might almost winced at. He and Flaming Rose had neglected to tell anyone else, save Ozpin and his council, that the Ichor Dragon hadn't been slain. Qrow was especially distraught at the revelation, seeing as he and Flaming Rose were former partners and practically family. He could only imagine the turmoil inside the red-eyed reaper's mind, but something kept him from fully acknowledging it. Something sick. Dark. So depraved that even the Ichor Dragon that it rode on was a mere fledgling compared to it. He knew it well. And it angered him. It had slain his master.

As the Ichor Dragon flew overhead with a thunderous roar, spewing its namesake every which way onto the ground as it did so, Grimm emerging from the pools it left, the presence left the Dragon's back and landed onto the ground lightly, with nary a sound. But his helmet, his suit, and his stance were unmistakable. It was him, injured though he was.

"ALL FOR ONE!"

(meanwhile, Ironwood's flagship, Tomura's POV)

Man, these guards are actually a bit competent. They can actually aim worth a damn. Tomura noted as he crushed another Dust Crystal between his fingers, allowing his hand to bask in a darkened red glow before grasping the hilt of Oblivion, allowing the energy to spread into the blade to glow the same hue. He then dashed out of his cover behind the wall, slashing wildly at the guards who were pinning him, Spinner, and Twice down.

The energy from the blade rocketed forwards as manifestations fiery decay, practically burning through the air itself before they reached their targets. What blood that hadn't been vaporized on contact had been splattered against the walls of the ship like a fresh coat of paint, only outmatched by the agonizing screams that the guards let out before they died. There was an entire squad in there, totaling out to six unlucky soldiers, all of varying genders and skin tones, but all human. Not a single faunus. Honestly, it pissed Tomura off just the slightest bit. Why wouldn't they pull out all the stops for something like this? Hiring a couple faunus would've saved Atlas a lot of trouble and made this actually challenging.

Twice and Spinner crept out from behind their corner to see the damage that had been done. Tomura made a single sweep with Oblivion, cleaning it of the blood that would've otherwise stained the blade, sheathing it quickly at his side as he walked onwards, his hand covered trench coat audibly flapping behind him. The only giveaway as to his inner thoughts was the slightest scratch to his neck, something he'd only do sporadically if he got extremely pissed. Luckily, he was not, as it was only fleeting frustration at best, letting him go onwards with a particular hand still covering his face as it always did, paying no heed to the blood that his shoes trailed through.

"Wow! These guys were certainly clean," Twice yelled as he too paid no heed to the crimson on the walls. Maybe it was because he was insane, but he just seemed way too comfortable with all the blood.

Spinner stayed silent, though Tomura could certainly tell that this wasn't a pleasant sight for him. Kid would have to get used to it. The road to true change was a long and bloody one, and the only one that Tomura wanted to walk.

"That should be the last of the grunts. Let's get back to the bridge," Tomura said to the other two followed, then receiving a brief buzz on his scroll. He paused for a moment to take it out and see who the message was from. Unsurprisingly, it was from Neo. The contents of said text were what gave him a bit of fright.

This is that girl that Torchwick calls 'Red.' Can certainly see why he gave her the nickname, but... dammit, I thought her kind was supposed to be extinct.

He pocketed the device quickly, saying to the two following him, "C'mon. We've gotta get to the roof of the ship. Now."

"What about everyone else on the bridge?" Spinner asked.

"They'll be going up there too. Trust me, if this intruder is as strong as the old legends say her kind is, then we're in for a fight."

(about a minute later, the roof of the flagship, Neo's POV)

Sorry, kid. This is as far as you're getting. Neo said as she kicked the rose-themed girl away and towards Himiko, who made good use of the chain knives as she whipped and thrashed them around with ease, leaving several gashes in the metal below them and putting their opponent on the defensive. The two of them, in addition to Roman, were currently holding her at bay while the others took care of any Grimm that flew too close to the ship. Tomura, unlike the rest of them, was spectating the battle with a particular stare that made her feel uneasy.

She managed to push it to the back of her mind, however, and with a casual stride she began to twirl her parasol around her arm, winding up for a particularly powerful strike as Roman took over from Himiko and launched Melodic Cudgel at Ruby, hitting her in the nose before he used the hooked end to grab her scythe and use it as leverage to kick her in the chest, sending her rocketing towards her position. Neo then leapt into the air and gave Ruby yet another kick to the back, making her stumble and opening her up for another attack.

However, Ruby managed to use her scythe to launch herself away from the second kick, a large, concave marking left in the dull colored metal where she once stood. Damn, that girl was fast. It was getting very annoying.

The rose themed girl spun her scythe in a wild flurry of cracks and screeches, the metal beneath them becoming even further damaged as she forced Neo to step further back, almost backing into a Griffon that had somehow gotten onto their ship. This was quickly handled by Twice, however, who grew an extra clone to take the thing's head and snap it right off, giving the ice-cream loving teen a casual thumbs up at the end of it.

Neo didn't return it, however, seeing that Himiko was getting a crazy looking her eye and Roman had barely managed to sidestep one of Ruby's heavier swings. Seeing an opening, Neo managed to get in front of her uncle, sweeping her parasol upwards to meet her scythe with a loud impact, suddenly hooking it over and using it as a step to kick her straight in the face.

Ruby barely managed to right her balance and fire off a shot at her, a shot that she used her semblance to avoid, warping to the side as the glass shattered and Roman fired a flare from Melodic Cudgel, catching the girl in the face and sending her sprawling across the roof of the ship, only barely managing to catch herself with the edge of her scythe.

Roman walked over to her slowly, with a cocky saunter that she knew he only walked in when he was feeling overconfident. She couldn't blame him for feeling that way, though. They had some of the greatest criminals that they'd ever met on their side, and even better friends. If she were in his position, and she kind of was, she'd be feeling a similar kind of cockiness, but she'd long since learned to control those emotions. If only she could help Bakugo do the same.

Not important right now. She thought to herself as she pushed those thoughts to the very back of her mind. This was not the time for distractions, no matter how appealing they might be.

"Little red, little red. You are just determined to be Vale's shining hero, aren't you? Well, I mean, the spot's technically taken, but you know what I mean, right?"

"What are you doing?!" Ruby yelled with rage-stricken eyes, ignoring his sarcastic question entirely as she continued, "If you take away these ships, the Grimm will destroy everything!"

"That's the idea!" Compress yelled out as he killed yet another batch of Lesser Nevermore. Honestly, they were even easier to kill than Creeps. Creeps. That was a low bar to clear.

"I mean, is that actually what you think we were going for? You're a genius!" Twice said in his iconic contrast sentence structure. Tomura, as before, simply watched. And waited. Like a wild tiger preparing to pounce on a kill. His gaze had never left the rose-themed girl, not once. The only other person she'd heard he gave this kind of look was some green haired kid who went against everything he believed in.

A sudden lurch threw Roman off balance, giving Ruby the chance to spring back up and take a shot at his back, but not before Neo once again got in her way. This time she used her naught and considerable strength to grab tightly onto the girl's scythe and smack her clear in the jaw with her parasol before using it as leverage to once more to send her sprawling towards Himiko. The weapon itself was pretty impractical, but it gave her a great weak point to exploit. Seriously, the rose-themed girl was making this way too easy. And she didn't feel like killing anybody today.

The half-faunus leapt forward blades in hand, wildly slashing out at Ruby before she overreached with one of her strikes and gave Ruby the chance to retreat to the edge of the ship, almost getting picked up by a Griffon in the process, before turning back and asking them, "But why?! Why would you try to do something like this?! What are you getting out of it?!"

"As much as I'd like to play twenty questions with you, red, you're just asking the wrong ones! It's not about what I've got to gain, it's that I can't afford to lose!" Roman yelled in response as his expression suddenly turned serious. Neo knew what he was referring to. While she didn't know the details, she did know that it had only taken one meeting with that Cinder bitch to ensure her uncle's allegiance, probably threatening her life in the process. Yeah, they were criminals, but she knew that they probably would've quit after another year or two, just long enough to secure their own livelihoods. That would've been it.

Ruby, her expression hardening, rushed forwards to meet them, allowing Neo to leap over her uncle's back and plant a double kick right on Crescent Rose, sending her back and letting Neo safely land and go in for a counterattack, hooking the end of her parasol around Cresent Rose's handle and tore it free of its owner's grasp, opening up her back for Himiko to follow up with a strong kick to the back. She really had been paying attention, then...

Roman capitalized on this, slamming the tip of Melodic Cudgel into the ground so that it could rocket forward and hit her right in the face, letting it flip over and back to him, using the momentum to take aim over his shoulder and fire another flare at the girl, hitting her in the chest. Her only saving grace had been that of her scythe, which had embedded itself on the side of the ship and allowed her to grab on and keep herself from falling to her death.

"I'm a gambling man, yeah, but even I know that there are some bets that you just can't take," Roman said as Himiko began to move closer, spinning her chains as she did so, the blades catching the metal beneath them and causing several uncomfortable groans and scratches. Neo made no move to stop her, though she moved closer alongside her uncle, the blade of her parasol finally laid bare as he backed Himiko up.

The two came to a stop at the edge of the ship, the others trailing behind them as they dealt with various Grimm that still strayed far too close. One of them got close enough to strike at Tomura, who hadn't even looked at the Grimm as he killed it with nary a thought and a gesture. Crescent Rose was embedded deeply into the metal and the ever-terrified girl hanging onto it. It almost reminded her of a particularly nasty experience down up in Mistral, her mind briefly flashing back to the chamber and... the chains... but she quickly pushed those thoughts away too, forcing her face to twist into a small smile before pointing her blade towards the girl's face. She would not allow herself to feel any kind of pity. Not for her.

"Like it or not, red, the people who hired me, Tomura's master, they're gonna change the world, whether we like it or not. You can't stop them, I can't stop them, no huntsman training with the best masters in the world could do it on their own, and even All Might himself couldn't stop them. All Might! If the strongest huntsman to ever live can't do it, then I seriously doubt that you can even attempt to stop them!

"And, well, you know that old saying. If you can't beat 'em-"

But Roman never finished his sentence, as Ruby had taken advantage of Neo's close proximity to reach for her parasol, opening it and letting it catch the wind and sending her tumbling off the side. She'd gotten careless, and now it was costing her. Why the hell had she even let the girl get that close in the first place? So stupid!

She was, however, saved from an untimely demise by Himiko, who'd leapt off the side almost as soon as she'd been thrown from the sip, one of her knives currently wrapped around her left boot as the other dug into the side of the ship, tethering the two of them in place as the half-faunus began to slowly but surely pull the two of them to safety. Her parasol, however, had been lost from her grasp, flipping and thrashing about in the open air until it was caught in a Griffon's feathers and carried off into the night, never to be seen again.

"I don't care what you say. I don't care if I can't stop them on my own, 'cause I'm not on my own. No matter how strong they are, we will stop them, and I'm gonna stop you!" the rose-themed girl yelled to her long-time opponent, a fierce glare in her now slightly glowing silver eyes, something that made Tomura subconsciously start, almost lunging at the girl before a sudden flash of white briefly sprung from her aura as she finished, "BET ON THAT!"

An echoing boom resounded through the air as she rocketed towards Roman, and Himiko, upon seeing this, started to pull on her chain even faster, trying to get Neo over to him before the girl did too much damage. Roman, however, looked absolutely furious, suddenly launching a flare from Melodic Cudgel, hooking it with the grip and of his cane, and throwing it straight at Ruby, catching her in the chest and sending her back again.

He rushed before she could fully recover her footing, managing to crack his cane against her stomach and launch a flare directly into her chest point-blank, sending her towards the bridge as the others watched in surprise. Roman had never shown this kind of combat aptitude outside of maybe the docks, and even then, his specialty wasn't close range fighting. And yet he tossed the red reaper around like a leaf in a storm. Neo's near-death had made him snap.

"I'll admit red! You've got spirit! But guess what?! This is the real fucking world!" Roman yelled as he batted her aside with Melodic Cudgel just as Neo and Himiko managed to get back onto the ship proper, seeing the situation unfolding and everyone else, now unburdened from the Grimm problem, take note of it as well.

And still, Roman continued, "The real world is cold, callous, and cruel!" punctuating every one of those c's with a hit from his cane. "The real world doesn't give a damn about spirit! All it cares about is what you're willing to do to achieve your goals! And you know what?! Most folks don't have what it takes! Why do you think the hunters are so few yet so powerful? Huh?! Ever think about that?!"

Ruby, seeing an opening in his stance, kicked one of Roman's shins, causing him to grunt in pain as he stumbled back, giving the rose-themed girl a chance to stand back up. And still, he continued, "You want to be a hero? Fine! Play the part, and then die a pointless, preventable death just like every other hunter unlucky enough to go out on a battlefield!

"In the meantime, I'll keep doing what I do best," Roman said as he walked back towards her, cane under his right arm, "Lie. Steal. Cheat!"

And as a particularly large Griffon that no one else saw bared down on him, Melodic Cudgel still under his arm, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a white and black, barebones standard issue pistol, whipping it right at the Grimm's eye, almost seeming to terrify it as he finally punctuated his speech, "AND SURVIVE!"

And then, a loud, poignant, and unique shot was fired from that gun, blasting out through the side of its skull as it dropped to the ground, beyond deceased. He looked down at the rose themed girl, saying to her, "What? You think this was the only weapon I had?" he gestured to Melodic Cudgel, which had never moved from its position under his arm. "Little red's still got a lot to learn, it seems!"

"And it also seems that you need to be more aware," Tomura chided his partner as he stood up and sheathed Oblivion, another two lesser but still considerably deadly Griffons bisecting as he did so. Ruby was now looking incredibly terrified, afraid of what might happen to her now that all the villains seemed to be closing in. Neo let herself feel a pang of sympathy for the girl. She'd know what this had felt like before. Even so, it was a pang, and nothing more. She didn't pity her. She didn't pity her. She didn't pity her.

So why was that fearful yet determined look resonating with her so much?! Why was it reminding her of Bakugo?!

"Master Tomura," a voice rang throughout the air, the iconic mist of Kurogiri suddenly filling and continuing, "We should leave. The ship has sustained quite a lot of damage. We have about a minute or so before it crashes."

"Damn," Tomura muttered under his breath. "Alright, everyone! We're clearing out!"

Taking his cue, Kurogiri widened into his portal form, allowing everyone present to slip through to safety. Ruby, conversely, ran in the opposite direction, towards her scythe, with rose petals flailing into the wind behind her as she dashed for it.

"Damn kid's gonna get herself killed," Roman muttered to himself as he too walked through Kurogiri with Himiko at his back, leaving her and Tomura the last two on the ship.

"Nah. She won't die. She's a hunter's kid. They're too stubborn to just lay down and die," Tomura muttered in response before he too walked through Kurogiri, leaving Neo to watch Ruby jump off the side of the ship with her scythe in hand as she used the bullets within to launch herself towards Beacon.

And with that final glance, Neo followed them, the dark gate the disappearing as it hurtled towards the earth at nigh incomprehensible speeds, already a flaming wreak before even an inch of metal had touched the ground. The flagship was down and done for.

(meanwhile, Beacon courtyard, Shoto's POV)

The screeching of cut metal and the cries of Grimm of all varieties accompanied the battle that was ensuing in the inner courtyard, the students who could fight scattered, unorganized, and fighting to keep what little ground they'd managed to hold. He saw Flynt and Neon chasing down a pack of Creeps that had gotten far too close to the mass of students they were protecting, what remained of Team CFVY was defending Velvet's unconscious body, collapsing soon after revealing her trump card, Weiss was giving it her all, managing to summon an armored arm that looked similar to what early versions of Lancelot looked like, and the J and P of JNPR were nowhere to be seen, having disappeared somewhere in the middle of the fight while their teammates stayed and assisted where they could.

Sun suddenly flipped over his side and used his gunchucks to shrapnelize a Beowolf who'd gotten a bit too close for comfort, allowing him to take care of the currently roaring, and suddenly silent, Ursa. The fighting was starting to get to them all, him included, as evidenced by the gasping he had to partake in once he managed to stand up straight. Sun noticed this, asking the half and half leader, "Hey, you doing alright?"

"Yeah. I can keep going," Shoto said as his breathing steadied out, gripping his makeshift blade ever tighter as Sun nodded. Suddenly, and rather luckily, the AKs suddenly stopped stock still, looking like they had just been remotely shut off. And, with the sudden collapsing and dismantling of the units and a once charging Paladin, he was inclined to not ask too many questions.

Everyone else seemed to have the same idea, with Coco and her team getting Velvet to one of the walls and resting alongside her; Flynt and Neon, being less winded than the rest, kept guard while Ren and Nora caught their breath, and Team ABRN covered them in addition to their latter half while the former half stood at the ready.

Weiss was on her last legs of stamina, breathing heavily and only managing to barely support herself with her hands on her knees, Myrtenaster stabbed into the ground to further hold her weight. Shoto quickly made his way over to her with Sun on his heels, asking the white-haired heiress, "Do you need a minute?"

"No-" Weiss said before she stumbled forwards, Sun only barely managing to catch her by the shoulder before she would've tumbled to the ground.

"You sure about that?"

"I can keep going."

"And you will," Shoto said as he and Sun helped her over to a wall, leaning her against it and causing her to visibly to relax. "After you catch your breath. You're no good to anyone if you're dead on your feet."

"I suppose you have a point." Weiss relented. "How many?"

"We've got about twenty from Haven, ten from Shade, twenty-five from Atlas, and sixty from Beacon. That totals out to about a hundred twenty-five unarmed students. The rest have probably evacuated already," Sun responded, not wishing to acknowledge the other possibility. Not that Shoto could blame him. It was only just starting to hit him just how dire the situation actually was. But that could wait until later.

"But how are we supposed to get all of them over to the docks? I mean, yeah, the best fighters from the tournament are here, and we're armed, but I don't think it'll be easy to coordinate that many people."

"I think I could help with that."

The three turned to see a familiar yet surprisingly striking figure that was Hitoshi Shinso, his partner and several more students at his back. They were back from their patrol of the area, with two surprising additions to the roster.

"Izuku! Yang!" Shoto yelled, getting their attention as he made his way over to them. The green haired boy and the blonde brawler briefly perked up at hearing their names, the former turning and greeting him, "Shoto! What's the situation?"

"Well, the AKs have shut down, so we won't have to worry about them anymore. We're catching our breath right now, but we've got a lot of people here who're unarmed or otherwise unable to fight."

Sun then came over to the three, having heard part of Shoto's explanation, and further expanded, "We've been trying to work out a good way to the docks, but most of the ways there have been covered with Grimm. They were all covered before, but the ones that were blocked by AK units should be open now. All we'd really have to do is get them through one of those."

"Let me guess: the group's too big?" Yang asked.

"That's the only real linchpin in this plan, other than the fact that some of them are in shock. We've done what we can to keep them calm, which wasn't exactly easy given all the fighting, but they'll need to get to a hospital or at least have Peach see to them," Shoto answered.

"You rang?"

And yet again Shoto found himself turning to see Peach with her signature lab coat and neon orange hair, casually walking through a few still fading Grimm carcasses with Aizawa at her back, the latter of whom had a few large gashes in his outfit despite the lack of wounds. Damn, she really was good at her job.

"Well? Who's in shock?" Peach asked with an annoyed look on her face. "I'd rather not have to deal with any sudden seizures or brain deaths. I don't have the equipment for that."

"I can take you to them," Sun said as he began to lead Peach towards the mass of unarmed students, pointing out a few of them as she gathered them and started to do what she could to stabilize them further.

Aizawa then stepped forward with a serious look in his eye, saying based on what he'd heard, "Well, in the meantime, we're gonna have to split the group apart. Too many of them together could easily be sniffed out by Grimm, and we don't have enough people to protect them all on the move.

"So you guys would split as evenly as you could and go down different pathways, meet up at the outer courtyard and the make a beeline for the docks," Izuku thought aloud.

"Then two groups will take forty and one group will take forty-five. It's still a lot of people, but we'll still be a lot more hidden than we would be otherwise," Shoto said as he continued Izuku's train of thought.

"Okay, but I don't think there's nearly enough of us to cover that many people. I mean, at best it would be maybe three or four to a group, but-" Yang said before Aizawa interrupted her, raising his hand as he said, "You won't have to worry about that, Ms. Xiao Long. Peach and I will be taking the largest of the groups. The rest of you will be covering the other two groups."

"But sir-"

"We know the risks, and we're willing to take them. Combat might not be Peach's specialty, but I'd damn well bet on her in a straight fight. Don't take this the wrong way, but either one of us is worth at least ten of you on a really bad day. It's basic math."

"That's not the problem though," Izuku said. "It's your fighting style. It's mostly suited to stealth and hit and run tactics. And that's not even mentioning the fact that you specialize in capture missions. It might lead to some... pretty bad results."

There was silence between their group for several seconds, all knowing just what the green haired inheritor was implying, even if he didn't voice it. The disheveled huntsman sighed, saying to his students, "Didn't I tell you all in class? You can't hope to be a huntsman if you've only got one trick. Otherwise, you die. Quickly."

And the silence returned as realized expression donned their faces, their teacher turning and calling Peach over before they began to organize a portion of the students for travel. Shoto, seeing their effort, snapped out of his stupor and said to the other two, "Alright. We'll have to split those of us who can fight down the middle so that we can cover all the groups evenly. We'll also have to balance our ranges and effective defenses, so-"

"Hey, Shoto?" Yang asked slowly. "Where's Blake? I thought she was here with you guys. What happened?"

The half and half leader looked about for her, finding that the raven-haired cat faunus was nowhere to be seen. Damn. He'd been so occupied with the fight and helping to keep everyone else alive that he'd lost track of her. Maybe someone had seen her go?

"Blake went that way, after a Beowolf Alpha," Weiss said, finally managing to stand herself up as she pointed towards the cafeteria, Myrtenaster buried tip-first in order to support her weight.

"Damn. Okay, you stay here in case Ruby shows up and get the students to the docks. Greenie? You okay with going after Blake?" Yang asked Izuku, who looked to be quite split on the decision. On the one hand, he probably did want to find Blake, but Shoto also knew that he wouldn't up and leave a hundred and twenty-five defenseless people to fend for themselves. Luckily, the latter part of that statement wasn't true in the slightest.

"Go with her," Shoto said, placing a reassuring hand on his partner's shoulder as he did so. "We'll get the rest to the docks. Just be careful, alright you guys?"

Izuku shook the hesitation from his eyes and nodded firmly, responding, "Okay. Try to keep everyone safe. And don't forget to-"

"I know, I know, I'll regulate it, now get going!" Shoto said as his partner followed the blonde brawler back into the depths of Beacon to find their currently missing friend.

"Okay... let's get them out of here."

(meanwhile, somewhere on the outskirts of Vale, Dabi's POV)

The ground he dug was tough, bits of frost lining the soil biting into his bare hand as he continued to go downwards. But it barely registered. He moved almost robotically, digging deeper and deeper, so much that at one point he thought his fingers might've been bleeding. And still, he didn't care. He had to bury her.

Dabi stood from the hole he'd dug and lifted himself out, not bothering to even dust off his hands before he moved towards Penny's severed body, her two remaining blades off to the side. Gingerly, he placed his hand to her face, knowing that this would likely be the last he ever saw of her. He didn't want to say goodbye. It was too soon. He'd just found her again, and now he had to lay her to rest. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair!

He quickly wiped the gathering tears from his eyes, steeling himself as he reached under the copper-haired girl's shoulders and lifted what was left of her body and placed her gently into the hole. He arranged her as neatly as he could, her strewn limbs made as right as he could make them without reattaching them. The bow in her hair was coming undone.

He grabbed an end of the pink ribbon and pulled it loose, letting it spread to its full length once again. How long had it been since he'd given it to her? A year? Two? He couldn't rightly remember at the moment. He wanted to. But he didn't.

Slowly, at a pace so slow it looked as though he were dead on his feet, he wrapped the ribbon around his right arm and tightened it. A memento. To remember her by. He reached out and grabbed one of Penny's swords, still elongated and still as sharp as ever, and placed it in her hands. A token of her bravery, if some afterlife that all those religions spouted about actually existed.

He lifted himself out of the grave, wiping more tears from his eyes as he did so, his face stoic and unmoving as he grabbed the other blade. It was like it's twin, oddly edged, sharp, with a hilt just long enough to fit a single hand. With an almost silent click, he had the blade flick itself closed, and sheathed it in the belt around his waist hidden by his jacket and more importantly, hidden from view. A reminder. To kill the people who did this. To kill the person who caused this. And so, as he put the soil atop his now dead friend, as he buried the only person in his life who could've been more than a friend, he muttered beneath his breath a promise that would define his life for years to come.

"Cinder Fall... as soon as I get the chance, I'm going to drive her sword straight through you twisted black heart, and laugh as you scream in agony. I will make you die the most painful death that I can imagine. No force on Remnant will stop me from killing you. No Grimm, no hunter, no lackey, and not even the gods themselves, if they even exist at all. I will give you hell. And if you decide to kill me first... well...

"I'll just have to drag you down with me."

(Neo's POV)

Dabi's been over there for a while. Should I... no. I don't know him nearly well enough to help him out. The ice cream loving teen thought to herself as she looked at her dark-haired associate, who sat motionless in front of a mound of dirt, the same way he'd been since they'd arrived there. No one said anything about it, but they all knew what it was. Dabi had made someone's grave. A deep, deep grave. To make sure the Grimm wouldn't dig up the corpse right away. It was standard procedure for most respectful burials, and why tombs and morgues were so common around Remnant. No one wanted the dead desecrated by those who were less than human. At least, most people.

Neo then felt a tap on her shoulder, causing her to turn and face her uncle, who had a serious look in his eyes. After a few seconds of silence between them, the hat-wearing thief said to her, "I need to tell you a few things. And show you something. Okay?"

Neo gave a slow nod, hesitant to pursue this conversation in spite of her own curiosity. Still, the two sat down on a wide, recently cut down tree, courtesy of Spinner and Tomura, and Roman began to talk.

"I know that we've been doing the crime thing for a pretty long while now. First it was to get you help, then it was to get out of debt, and after that it was to just secure our livelihoods. And it's been pretty entertaining, last five years especially. But... I never expected to get into something like this. And you know that this was supposed to be our last year. Pull off a big heist, go out with a bang, then disappear like dust on the wind. But... Neo, I need you to understand that you can't come with us. It's not that I don't want you to come, because I do. I really, really do. But these people... they're dangerous. Dangerous than all our other partners combined. Hell, they're probably more dangerous than Thoth himself. And I don't want to drag you down any deeper into this than I already have. I know you care about them, and I know they care about you too. But you can't come with. It's not because I don't have confidence in your abilities. Putting you further down a path like this... I'm scared of what it might do to you.

"And that's why... I think it's time I gave you this," Roman said as he reached into his jacket and slowly pulled a worn, water stained paper envelope with a wax seal, the marking for which had partially been rubbed away from all the apparent years of wear. And if the back of the letter was to be believed, it was addressed to her in familiar cursive. Cursive that she hadn't seen in years... and brought tears to her eyes...

Mom...

Roman hugged his niece around the shoulder and lending her his shoulder to cry into, to which she gladly obliged. She was shaking. He hadn't felt her cry to the point of shaking in literal years. Over a decade, in fact. It was something he'd hoped to never have to see again, but he couldn't keep this from her any longer. She deserved to know.

A few minutes passed before the tears stopped and Neo stopped shaking, distancing herself from her uncle's shoulder in order to wipe her eyes and regain what little of her composure she could. Roman continued, though hesitantly, "She gave me that letter before she died. I think she wanted you to look for your ancestors. She never said who they were, but she did remember where they were from. A desert that houses Dust blacker than the night sky. And... well, to my naught and considerable knowledge, there's only one place on Remnant that has those requirements...

"You know how to find it, and you know how to get there," Roman said as Neo stared at the letter without blinking, trying to encapture everything she'd forgotten about her mother from the one, simple word she'd written onto the back of an old envelope. She didn't remember much about her mother. Only that she was kind, and that Neo cared about her more than anything else in the world. But that was before... the room...

Roman, seeing the gears turn in his niece's head, tapped her shoulder again, bringing her out of her thoughts as he cleared his throat before continuing on, "I have something else to give you." And then, lifted straight from his hands and placed into hers, was Melodic Cudgel in all its fiery glory. It was a bit long for her, and a bit heavy as well, but Roman had taught her to fight with a weapon that was very similar to this in make. And this small gesture meant so much to her. She almost teared up again.

"You're gonna need something to defend yourself, and I don't think that we're gonna see that parasol of yours anytime soon. But don't you worry about me. I've got my backup pistols, after all," Roman said as he pulled out said weapons from his jacket, the one in his left being the same one as before; white and black, whereas the one in his right was oppositely colored; black and white. Ironically named Lux and Umbra respectively. "Man, it's been a while since I've used these things for real-"

He was interrupted yet again by his niece, who was currently burying her face into his side with her arms wrapped around his lower torso tightly with his cane still between her arms. It was uncomfortable, but... she wouldn't see him again for a very long time, if ever. So he placed his arm on her shoulder gently to steady her, and let her have her moment.

She let go slowly, wiped her eyes of tears once more, and smiled. It wasn't anything grand, hardly even noticeable, but it was there. She brought out her scroll, and with shaking fingers wrote out five heartfelt, meaningful words of trust.

"Thank you for everything. Goodbye."

And then, as quickly as she turned around, her figure shattered into a thousand tiny, uncountable shards that drifted on the breeze before they were taken by a more powerful gust and thrown towards the sky, blending in with the myriad of stars above them as Neo disappeared. Dust on the wind. Just like he'd always promised.

(meanwhile, Beacon Vault, Jaune's POV)

"It's... a type of vault," Pyrrha said as they rushed towards the far end of the towering, mightily constructed hall of stone slate with Pzin in front of him, his expression more desperate than anything he'd ever seen the old man give with Lancelot's helmet floating at a steady pace next to them, a trail of white mist left in his wake.

"Hmm... master Jaune."

"Yeah? What is it?"

"There is something powerful down in this place. Something old. Be cautious as we proceed. I don't know if we can handle what is hidden here."

"Alright, but what would this school even have to... hide..." Jaune stopped mid-stride as they finally came upon the contraption that they'd been running towards, with two human-sized pods and several wires connected every which way, all of them large and seeming incredibly important.

He then saw Pyrrha and Ozpin approach one of the pods, the empty one on his right, the one to the left currently occupied by a woman with lightly tanned skin and chestnut brown hair. Jaune then asked with confusion in his eyes, "What... what the hell is that thing?"

"... Jaune-"

"Pyrrha! Get to the pods," Ozpin practically ordered with haste in his voice. What the hell was happening? He'd never heard the headmaster like this before, even during the few times he'd ever been frustrated or angry.

The red-headed amazon in question, after a few seconds of hesitation, complied with his request, moving closer to the empty pods as the gray-haired headmaster addressed the blonde knight, saying, "Mr. Arc, if you would like to help with this, please stand guard for us. I need to make sure the procedure works correctly."

Jaune said nothing to the headmaster, only giving him a firm nod as he turned and got down onto a single knee, expanding Crocea Mors' shield with the blade still housed within, pieces of white armor emanating from his body until they eventually found structure and formed the complete and towering body that was Lancelot. Yet despite his concentration on the task in front of him, he could still hear Ozpin's response to Pyrrha's question.

"We... do nothing," the headmaster said as the glass was opened with a hiss, then continuing, "You, Ms. Nikos, have a choice to make."

(meanwhile, the Atleasian Warship, Bakugo's POV)

Damnit all, Bakugo thought to himself as he laid helpless in the crater on the wall, his nerves still in shock from the particularly nasty blow that Serpent Saw had given to him. Despite his and Tenya's best efforts, they were nowhere near prepared for an opponent of this level of skill. They threw everything they had at that bastard. Explosive rounds, grenades that he'd been keeping on hand for a special occasion, Tenya had used a Burst, and he'd been knocked out of the air when he tried to get off a Howitzer Impact. This man... no, this thing was nothing like Stain. Stain had been overwhelmed and given no time to properly organize. Serpent Saw was angry, and whatever the hell this Berserker thing was that he was using was giving him a serious edge. Add that to the fact that he still had a semblance of control despite his angrier nature and you had one great killing machine.

In layman's terms: they were fucked, fucked, FUCKED, and they needed to get the hell out of there.

"Now, repent for your sins, human," Serpent Saw said as he raised his arm overhead, the saw attached to it buzzing to life once more as Tenya, despite his best efforts, laid beneath the man's heavy prosthetic leg, his chest pressed against the cold metal surface of the floor, and visibly dented where he laid. And despite the glare he was giving the man, Serpent Saw didn't stop.

"Repent... with your pride."

And he lowered the saw to Tenya's legs, the squelching sound of flesh being rent and severed filling the air to accompany Tenya's scream, a torrent of blood erupting from the wound and coating Serpent Saw with a splatter of red. And he didn't stop.

"TENYA!" Bakugo yelled as he tried his damnedest to lift his body, feeling his limbs begin to move bit by bit, inch by bit before finally...

The world went red.

(meanwhile, Beacon Vault, Jaune's POV)

The impact of an arrow, the gasp of air from a woman he never knew, and cracking of glass was all he heard in that moment. Yet he knew that something had gone incredibly irreversibly wrong. There stood at the entrance to the Vault a woman, one he'd seen participating the tournament earlier, with glowing amber eyes and lifting herself into the air with some newly found power, audibly humming as she did so.

And all Jaune could think to do at that moment, his mind filled with rage, was charge at her, ignoring the pleas of both Ozpin and Lancelot as his blade crackled to life, electricity sparking up and down the blade as he swung straight at her.

And was blown back as casually as one would swat a bug.

Lancelot dug his armored hand into the ground to slow their momentum, stopping near Ozpin as Pyrrha leapt from the pod, only the stopped by the headmaster as he ordered, "Take Jaune and get out of here. Find Glynda, Qrow, Ironwood, anyone you can! The tower must not fall."

"But we can help!" Pyrrha exclaimed as Jaune rose to his feet.

Ozpin looked back at the red-headed amazon and, with an unmoving gaze, told them, "You'll only get in the way."

Her eyes widened, realizing what Ozpin was trying to do. She nodded in response, though shakily, rushing towards the blonde knight and dragging him behind her before they rushed down the hall, a spare glance from Cinder the only recognition the two received.

(Ozpin's POV)

Damnit. I thought we would have more time than this. Ozpin thought as he readied himself for what might very well be the last fight of his life. He didn't know this woman beyond the fact that she was definitely Autumn's assailant and now the full Fall Maiden. She wasn't someone to be trifled with. He hoped he could live through this so that he could investigate her properly. And Midoriya seemed like he had something to show him before all of this went down. Maybe this was part of it?

"This entire time... right beneath our feet. No wonder I couldn't sense it, all the way down here.

"She was right about you," the woman said with a hateful glare, Ozpin flipping his cane into his combat stance in response. "Such arrogance."

The quiet that ensued between the long seconds was deafening. Unbreaking. And it seemed to go on forever.

But all things come to an end.

(meanwhile, somewhere in Beacon, Izuku's POV)

"Blake! Where are you?!"

"Blake!" They called out to the cat faunus to no avail, the Grimm, The White Fang, and the flames around them growing thicker as the traversed the once peaceful walkways of their school. Things were going to hell, fast, and there was nothing they could do but survive, and help anyone they could find.

And then, a pained scream rang from within the cafeteria, causing the blazer-wearing boy and the blonde brawler to turn within and find Adam standing over Blake with his blade in her stomach, pulling it out as the girl continued to scream in agony.

As quickly as they'd seen it, Yang launched herself faster than Izuku could react, her eyes a glowing crimson and her hair now alight as she rocketed towards Adam with her right fist cocked back in what would be a devastating, Aura breaking punch.

At least that's what should've happened.

Instead, Adam simply sheathed his red blade, holding it gingerly as she came towards him with all the rage of a thousand suns. And just as gingerly, he pulled the blade free with only the slightest rasp of the sheath, slashing it outwards with such speeds that Izuku barely even saw the stroke that... that...

Yang fell to the ground in a heap, her Aura almost immediately broken by the strike and her arm now severed from her, a glowing yellow stump all that remained attached to her shoulder. The shock hit Izuku like a train. He couldn't move, he couldn't speak, for a few seconds he might've even forgotten how to breathe. Adam Taurus had just defeated Yang Xiao Long, one of the most powerful fighters he knew and one who could easily go toe to toe with Pyrrha and Shoto. How was he supposed to fight that?

The shock didn't last, however, as he saw Blake put herself in front of Yang's body, attempting to shield her from what Adam was about to finish. And he rose his crimson blade once more...

… but it never laid its edge on either of them.

Izuku, with green energy crackling through his body, his markings glowing as brightly as the stars that still dotted the sky, his sclera as black as the shadows of the moon while his eyes flared a deep, fluorescent green, clenched his right fist as tightly as he could and aimed it straight towards Adam's chest. With a cavernous boom and all the strength that he could muster, he put all his weight into the strike as he yelled with rage and fury seeping from his voice, "DIIIIIIIIIIIIE!"

And the crimson haired bull faunus was flung from where he stood, crashing through the wall of the cafeteria as the flames around Izuku flickered and sputtered from the force of the blow. He relaxed back into his normal stance slowly, like using that much force was almost painful, but he still pushed on.

But just as he was about to turn and make sure Blake and Yang were truly unharmed, Process flared up again, this time for even longer than usual. Through the haze and the now greying fires, he saw a deep, bloody red aura. It was harrowing. And it was demonic. Adam was still there. He was nowhere near done. He'd come back. He'd...

… someone had to hold him off.

Izuku reached over his shoulder to grab Tempest's handle, the iconic snap off the magnetic holster echoing throughout the space as the blade began to charge with the amount of Aura he was generating, suddenly seeming to glow as he held it tightly in his right hand, saying to the conscious of the two behind him, "Blake... get Yang out of here as fast as you can."

"What-"

"Blake, we don't have time to argue about this. Adam's still alive, and chances are he's not gonna stop until he finds you and kills you. Yang's injured badly, and neither of us have medical training beyond first aid. Get her to Peach as fast as you can. I'll hold off Adam for as long as I can."

"Don't phrase it like that. You're making it sound like you're not coming back."

"... I can't promise I will. What I can promise is that I will buy you as much time as I can damn well give you. Now move, dammit! Before he gets back up!"

"You'd better make it back!" he heard the raven-haired cat faunus yell over her shoulder as she carried the blonde brawler as quickly as she could with her towards the docks. Out of the corner of his eye, Izuku could've sworn that he saw tears escape Yang's closed eyes.

But he stopped himself from following them outright, shifting his half mask onto the lower part of his face as he began to channel his maximum output for combat Full Cowl: 13%. Glancing downwards, he saw the severed right arm of the blonde brawler next to his feet, still there. He plucked it from the ground and holstered it under his blazer. If he managed to get out of this alive, he would get it to Yang as quickly as he could.

And Adam then emerged from the wreckage of Izuku's attack and the flames of destruction that he and his group had wrought, his clothing only minorly scraped and scuffed, twirling his blade in a full circle before maintaining a tight grip in the hilt.

"You dare to stand in my way, human?"

Izuku didn't respond, only shifting further into a new stance that Qrow had begun to teach him. His blade was behind him and held in a dexterous grip, his left arm only outstretched the slightest bit with his body shifted sideways to make himself a smaller target, his knees bent and feet evenly spread apart. He glared at Adam with all the rage in his heart, simmering with the glow of energy sparking across his body. He was ready to fight.

"... very well. If you will not move...

"... you shall be moved."

A/N: Oh god, I think this just might be the longest chapter that I've ever written. I actually had a lot of fun writing this despite the brutality of it all. If you want to know where I got the inspiration for said brutality: Fate/Zero. I was watching that show as I was writing this, and I was blown away by just how good it was. If you can get past the awkward dialogue from the first fourth of episode one. Also, if you have any plans to watch it, I'll warn you now, it is dark, dark, DARK. I'm not kidding. If you're sensitive to brutal stuff, blood, gore, any of that stuff, I don't recommend you watch this if you don't want to puke or something. However, if you're alright with that kind of stuff, have a blast! And I highly recommend that you watch the sequel, Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works, afterwards. I'm doing that right now.

And now, the review responses:

Kaiser Dragon: Yep. I hope you weren't too disappointed by how it turned out. As much as I might've wanted that, it didn't seem appropriate for the situation at hand.

Odin's Eye: Thank you, Allfather! Let this war echo through the annals of Remnant's history as one of the greatest ever fought! And I hope Valhalla treats Penny well.

Dreamweaver543: I've actually got a bit to say about requests and stuff. Join me at the bottom of the Review Responses.

KingKong94: Yes. Yes, it was.

And now, a response to these awesome and incredibly imaginative people:

Black Fang, Midgarsomr Jr, and Thunder Dragon:

First of all, I'd like to say thank you. Thank you all for having the confidence to share with me these wonderful and unique ideas that I honestly probably couldn't do justice even if I tried my damnedest. We're lucky to have barnstormers like you guys on this site, and you're all truly awesome.

Now, if you're feeling as though there'll be a bad part to this response, it's because there is. Unfortunately, to my eternal dismay, there are several factors that would keep me from working on these ideas. The first being this:

For those of you who don't know, I recently started my first year of college. It's going on week three and I have the feeling that I'm going to be swamped with work pretty soon. That'll slow down updates a bit. Speaking of:

Secondly, I've got this story to write. Not that I wouldn't want a bit of a break from it, but I really want to get this out of the way before I do anything else. And with the outlines I've got for future chapters and arcs, that might not be for a long while.

Thirdly, I have some ideas of my own for what I might want to do when this story finishes up. Now don't misread me on this, I think that your ideas are far more amazing than what I have half-formed in my mind. But I don't really think I'd be a good match for them. I wouldn't be able to do the ideas the justice they deserve.

I would, however, with your permission, be willing to post the ideas here on my story page to spread the word to other people who might take these ideas up. And who knows, one day I might come back to this stuff and take a crack at one or two of them, hopefully when my writing style has improved and had all the kinks ironed out.

And concerning all future recommendations and story ideas: I will take them under consideration, but that won't confirm that I'll be able to write them, either now or in the future. I will also post all future recommendations, with the creator's permission, on my story page to spread the word. I haven't really been that involved in the community side of things on this site, and I don't plan to anytime soon, but I do hope that this clarifies things. I'm sorry if you were at all disappointed, but that's just how it is right now. I hope that you guys eventually get these ideas written because seriously, these are freaking amazing!

Next Chapter: Sep 30th

Seeya in the next one!