The first blast had destroyed her. There was nothing left but green fire and soot. Recalibrating his cannon, he hoped she didn't survive. That it was instant. He didn't want to have to fight her. Not even his semblance could suppress those emotions.
Dead eyes gazed at the portal. Through it, there were traitors and enemies fighting for his staff. A few steps and he'd enter a new world that existed in its own dimension. A few steps and Atlas would have its salvation. Anyone who got in his way would have to die. Walking past the ashes and the fire, Ironwood took a look at the vault at the edge of the portal. Everything seemed so peaceful. Like Atlas wasn't falling. He had to save this image. Then he turned. It took more than five of them in a surprise attack to bring him down the first time. He would not make that mistake again.
Stepping through the portal he heard and saw civilians and soldiers all over. Multiple other portals fed into one massive central gate that led to Vacuo if he had to make a guess. Snapping his eyes downwards he spotted Team RWBY and Cinder battling it out. Curiously, Xiao-Long was missing. That just made things easier.
Blake was swinging towards Neopolitan. Tears flowed from her eyes as the illusion shattered. Schnee was firing glyphs towards Fall while Ruby was in combat with Neo as well.
Having made his battle analysis, he searched for Penny. She had to have been given the staff. He spotted her flying towards Cinder Fall. There.
James took a firing position on one knee. The gun had been made specifically to destroy Penny. All he needed was the staff. Several civilians had spotted him and kept running. It was time to make his presence known to the traitors and the enemies.
"Why didn't you learn your lesson!" Penny shouted towards Cinder. An evil smirk twisted across her face before she spoke.
"Oh Penny. I did."
The blast of green fire dust interrupted both of them. The noise was loud enough to draw attention from all combatants. The General stood in full view, gun smoking and a determined - perhaps crazed - look in his eye. Cinder spent only a second on the General before lunging towards Penny with her Grimm arm. A second blast struck her directly and threw her back.
Breaking into a sprint, the General leapt from one platform to another to face Johanna Greenleaf, one of the few happy huntresses left on this side of the dimension. A former student of his. So many years ago he had looked at her with pride. Eyes gleaming at the tallest girl in their cohort having fun and learning with her team.
His eyes were cold to her now. Only intent on killing. Stay out of the way! She lifted her polearm to strike only for him to remove Due Process and fire several rounds into her chest. Her aura took most of it but he finished it with a reverse side kick into her chest. Her aura shattered and she fell unconscious as he kept marching on. A bullet finished the job. Returning Due Process to its cannon form, he faced down the traitors. Schnee, Penny and Arc. Fall was flying towards them at top speed.
"Give me the staff Penny! Now!" his voice was empty when he spoke. The look in her eye was all it took to know her answer. He didn't wait to fire again and resume the battle. Cinder shot her own fireball and together, a massive explosion rocked the platform and flung everyone to the ground. Several civilians had taken a fall or were just killed by the blast outright. None of that burdened him. Mettle removed any concern from his mind.
Clawing back up, James aimed his cannon at the first thing he saw. It just so happened to be Weiss. Wouldn't be the first Schnee I've ended today he thought before firing. Weiss managed to create a glyph to ward herself. The glyph took the brunt of the energy before bursting into flame. Not waiting to see if she survived, James looked for his goal. Penny. He had to find Penny again. A fireball came from the shadows. Rolling out of the way, he refocused to fire at Cinder.
The two blasts collided and Ironwood hit the ground from the force of the blast wave. Cinder stood, a burning gleam deep in her eyes, looking from James to Penny. The Winter Maiden stood over Weiss, guarding her with magical imitations of Floating Array. James held his cannon close, preparing to fire but holding back. Cinder appeared to have the same idea.
"A tin man too stubborn or too deep in to quit, a Schnee and your false Maiden." Her eyes darted towards Penny, calculating the odds she'd make it in time and if Ironwood would shoot. She wasn't worried or scared of him, but wanted no more setbacks.
Gazing at James, she wondered if there was a possibility. A possibility of playing her enemies against one another.
She got her answer in the form of green fire being shot at her. Penny raced towards Weiss while Cinder backflipped and rushed towards the deranged general. "You couldn't just stay down? Couldn't you just die with the rest of your city?"
Ironwood dodged a flaming blade and tried to deliver an overhead swing with his cannon only to be met with a jabbing pain. She was faster than any other opponent he'd faced.
But not stronger.
Letting go of the grip, Ironwood grabbed one of her arms and swung upwards. Caught off guard, Cinder was thrown up then down and into the ground. Her eyes flicked up to see bright green energy gathering above her face. Exploding out with flames, she knocked James down. Shards of ice hit her from behind as Weiss joined in.
Cinder grunted, slashing at Schnee with twin blades forged from magic. James fired again, forcing the two combatants away from each other. Growling, Cinder tried to find Penny again. Weiss called out to James.
"General! Work with us! We can stop Cinder here and now!"
Ironwood heard her. But it was too late. Too late to change course. Too late to be saved. His reply was shooting Due Process toward Weiss, the cannon seeking to claim its third Schnee this day. Using her glyphs, Weiss blocked the main burst of energy but the backblast launched the girl to the main platform. James followed after with a running jump. He'd lost track of both Maiden's. Overheard he could hear Neo and Ruby battling.
Where's Cinder? Where's Penny? Schnee wasn't his target but if he could draw Penny out with her life.
"Penny" he spoke up, voice thin but filled with raw energy. "Show yourself now. Give me the staff and Weiss can go." James had already threatened to bomb Mantle. What was one more threat now? James primed his gun and aimed it at Weiss. "Give me the staff!" That drew her out, but it also brought Cinder. Penny flew down between James and Weiss while Cinder was standing in front of James and the portal to Vacuo. People were screaming and running all around them.
"I'm right here. I'm what you want!" Penny yelled. Cinder merely chuckled and took two steps forward.
"I want it all."
James glared daggers toward Cinder before snapping his cannon towards Penny. The gun was designed to kill her as an android Maiden. He was confident it would destroy her as a human. "You don't understand. She's not yours to take," he snarled. Cinder couldn't be allowed to gain another Maiden. Simple, heartless, logic prevailed. James was unsure of his ability to defeat Cinder, but was willing to deny her Penny. Cruel, but effective. Cinder created flames and rushed forward.
Neither came to pass when Blake crashed her heels into Cinder. Weiss took the moment to swipe James and kick him to the ground. Blake landed next to Weiss and shouted "Get up!" Taking the staff and running with her glyphs, Weiss fled.
The staff! James got up and tried running after her before being met with a vicious kick from Blake to his chest. His aura flickered. With sheer anger etched on his face, he charged his gun and fired blindly at Blake. She dodged the blast while Penny was forcibly engaged with Cinder. James fired again, watching the explosion and holding his gun in one arm. From the smoke came a black ribbon. It wrapped around one of his arms and with a sharp tug, dragging him towards her.
Ironwood didn't allow that. Using superior strength, he grabbed the ribbon and pulled hard. Blake came barreling down. Slamming against the ground, James ran forward, leapt and then drove a steel fist into her chest. In pain, Blake heaved loudly before utilizing his weight against him. Off balance, James was flung with the force of two powerful boots. Using her semblance, she added extra force with her shadow clones. Fortunately for Penny, James slammed into Cinder and knocked down both. The sound was not unlike falling cans when his metallic body crashed to the floor.
Cinder rose first and in her anger targeted Blake. Launching fire at Penny, she shot a plume of burning flames at Blake that surrounded her before jumping and shooting red hot streams of fire. That sent Blake flying over the edge. Penny screamed and flew at high speeds to catch her. Getting his bearings together, James only managed to get a quick glance at Cinder before she tried blasting off to hunt down Penny and the two relic's. James got up and lunged to grab her foot. Searing pain shot down his arm as fire burned around his aura. Growling, he pulled her down hard and into the ground. Finally, Cinder was forced to pay attention to the General.
"You just don't know when to give up! Don't you get it? Your miserable floating city is gone! Your plan failed! You've saved nobody!"
Ironwood rolled to grab his cannon but Cinder blew it off. James only managed to snag his white gun, watching the rest fall into an unending black abyss. Cinder would have sent him careening down with the weapons if it wasn't for the sound of Weiss and Ruby. She wants the staff more than my life!
Ironwood got back up to watch her fly off. Left alone on the main platform, he scanned for a way to get to Penny and the staff. There's still time. I can still save Atlas. Mettle burned harder than ever, single-minded fury eating away at him. Breaking into another run, James struggled to reach them. Just a little more. A little more fighting. A little more running. Then he'd save Atlas. No more enemies. No more traitors.
He had to win here and now!
Up and up he ran, until he saw that his efforts were for naught. Once again they had all moved. They were fast. Too fast. Without his cannon he couldn't force them to fight at his pace. Dammit! He cursed Cinder under his breath. Then something miraculous happened. Cinder blasted Weiss, who had the staff. Apparently she'd managed to break Neo away from Ruby. And then she betrayed Neo! Cinder Fall betrayed Neo!
It was too good to be true. All his enemies destroyed one another. The downside was that Cinder had both Relics on hand, but he'd be reliving them from her corpse soon enough. Blake was launched from above by Penny who'd then take a fireball to the chest. She shot Gambol Shroud out, catching Weiss and hooking it onto one of the platforms.
For a second they appeared saved, but then it all came crashing down when Cinder shot flames at the ribbon, shredding it and sending Schnee and Belladonna to the grave. Then Penny was flying in the air, tears in her eyes. Cinder was distracted by the sound of gunshots and the feeling of bullets rattling her aura.
Ruby. It was Ruby that stood last. The sword-gun of Gambol Shroud was all she had, opening fire and crying for her sister, her friends, her partner. "It figures you'd be left. Letting all your friends die first." She threw Ruby back, the sound of cracking bones and her groaning revealed the level of damage she'd taken. Before Cinder could finish the job Penny rushed in and blocked the wave of fire that was about to envelop Ruby.
"You wouldn't know anything about friends!" she snarled at her foe. The time to strike was now!
James stepped back, ran and then leapt. A battle cry roared from his lips as he trashed into Cinder and knocked her back. His legs kicked her hard and then he landed by the traitors, whipping out Due Process and aiming at Cinder. From behind James came the Arc boy, flying down with his shield and the gravity dust in it. The knight ripped out his sword in a battle stance.
Four against one. Cinder had no chance. A rumbling shook the pocket dimension and made the Grimm arm attached to Cinder writhe uncontrollably.
"She's back…" Cinder said under her breath. Then she attacked. A shockwave emanated from Cinder and pushed the teens back while Ironwood stood his ground. Cinder did not let up and formed two flaming swords to attack Penny with. Ironwood was faster on the draw. Unloading a few rounds into Cinder he drew the Fall Maiden's attention for only a moment. A moment was what Rose needed. With two steps she ran in to slice Cinder with Crescent Rose. In a rage, the Fall Maiden shot fire from her hands towards Ruby. The silver eyed girl cut through the fire and met Cinder's blades.
"Enough!" Cinder growled and leapt back, then shooting fire out in V-patterns. Everyone was separated from the others. Ruby, still able to attack, ran forward to fight. Ironwood wasted no time in rushing Cinder, opening fire as he did so.
That gave Cinder all the time she needed to launch her Grimm arm directly into Penny's chest. Flesh was penetrated, and while she could not siphon off the Winter Maiden's power, she did fatally wound the girl.
Ironwood was wholly unconcerned about Penny. In fact, it was something he'd have done later himself. He would have thanked Cinder, if they weren't trying to kill one another at the moment. Ironwood holstered Due Process and fell into melee range. Ruby swung high and he punched low.
Cinder caught both strikes with her swords. Crescent Rose sparked at contact and Ironwood's prosthetics groaned under the pressure. Then she kicked off his body and into Ruby.
James was flung back and nearly fell off the edge of the platform. He clung on and pulled himself back into the fight. Ironwood looked down the sights of his revolver when his focus was broken by the sound of Arc crying out.
Everyone's gaze fell onto the knight who stood over the corpse of Penny with a bloodied blade and tears in his eyes.
Penny was dead. The Maiden power had gone to…
All eyes fell on Ruby. Ironwood looked shocked for a moment but only a moment. None noticed that Cinder had taken the staff, roaring in anger over Ruby's theft of the Maiden power.
The realm shook with the fury of Salem. Cinder flew up and then out of the connector realm. Suddenly, the world was falling apart.
Ironwood ran toward the exit portal. Jaune Arc was grabbed by Ruby Rose and she flew toward the portal. Ironwood reached out to try and grab Jaune's leg but the two disappeared into Vacuo. Screaming, James fell.
