Chapter 60

(AN: This is the one year anniversary of this story being published on . Check below for a special and grateful author's note.)

Blake, Yang, and I entered the briefing room to see Oscar/Ozpin, Ruby, Weiss, all of team JNPR, Penny, Emerald, the Ace-Ops, Winter, Robyn, and Ironwood standing at the large holographic table, which was projecting a map of the city of Atlas. Surveying what I could see about the city, I saw that several roads were highlighted in red on the blue map. "What's going on?" I asked.

"Good, we're all here," the General said. "As you know, we're effectively in a siege - blockaded by Salem and her forces. There's zero chance of us being able to call for help, especially with more Grimm blocking access to any outside Dust mines. The tower is complete, but we won't be able to reach the altitude needed to deploy the SOS. I should've alerted you to this earlier, but the Amity project is effectively stalled."

"So calling for help isn't an option?" Ruby asked nervously. I wonder what she thought about the distress message she'd sent to the entire world being utterly ignored when the relic showed her what had happened. Then again, it was unknown if it was ignored or if Atlas fell before anyone could arrive in time.

"I'm afraid not. We have no way to get the tower at an altitude high enough to reach the entirety of Remnant," Ironwood said. "And we can't afford to divert massive amounts of resources to send any kind of message." Closing his eyes, General Ironwood sighed and opened them seconds later. "And so, we must go on the offensive."

The General pointed out the highlighted roads on the map. "I'm mobilizing all forces to start an advance on Salem's fleet from the ground. The full brunt of our infantry will be engaging the Grimm in Atlas, while our air fleet engages Salem alongside the defenses Atlas has."

"But that means opening the shields," Yang said. "The entire city will be defenseless if the Grimm manages to get inside!"

"That's another thing we've already planned for," Ironwood said. The hologram on the table switched to reveal dozens of large airships - the same carrier based craft that brought us to Atlas from Argus so long ago. "We're evacuating the cities. Everyone from Mantle and Atlas will be moved aboard the carriers and sent to Vacuo. We'll have the Schnee Dust Company freighter fleet to supplement this. Amity Colosseum will be assisting in this manner - it's being converted into a sort of lifeboat. With everything we have, it'll be enough."

"Abandoning Atlas?" Weiss asked, her eyes wide in shock. "I don't...if we lose Atlas-"

"The entire kingdom? You'll be sacrificing yourselves, that's what Salem wants!" Blake said, equally as stunned by the news.

"No. Salem wants the relic, and we won't give it to her. The plan we have in motion needs all of the people away from the kingdom - no, the entire continent. We ran the numbers. All of our transport capable airships, all of the freighters, Amity, every carrier and civilian airship in Atlas, it'll be enough to save everyone. Atlas can fall, as long as its people are safe," Ironwood said.

I looked at Robyn, who didn't look any happier than anyone else in the room. "But the Maiden is still out," I said, chiming in on the conversation. "Even if she's guarded, she won't be able to fight back if Salem sends someone strong enough."

"And you can't send Liya on the ships with everyone else, it would make the entire populace a target," Weiss said. "If the Grimm can be drawn to the relics, then Salem likely has a way to track maidens down."

"Which is why we're going to destroy Salem's fleet," Ironwood explained as he brought up a hologram of a gun - or rather a massive cannon that looked awfully familiar. It took me a while to realize why - the General had shown me a while ago. "Three of our airships have completed their refit of these new cannons. While our air fleet distracts the Grimm in the skies, and the ground draws Salem's fire with heavy weapons, these ships will move into flanking positions on all sides and gut the monster from multiple directions."

"The whale has to land to deploy its Grimm, and that means it'll be stuck in a vulnerable position and unable to maneuver out of the way," Clover said. "Airships will engage the escorts while the cannons line up their shots."

"It's a solid strategy, given the risk. But there's a chance that the ground and sky forces will be overwhelmed before these flying cannons can get into position. Salem wouldn't be here if she hadn't brought enough forces to demolish the entire kingdom of Atlas several times over," Ozpin said before he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "There's also the seventh infiltrator to deal with."

"I already have Specialists on the lookout. But this room is clean," the General said. "Markus, what do you think?"

I nodded. "It...it sounds good. But there's so many things that can go wrong. You really think it'll work?" I asked.

"We don't have time to run any more numbers or strategies. Salem won't expect us to be attacking her. Penny will spearhead defenses on the ground once the Grimm make it past the wall. I'll be coordinating fleet movements and directing air support for the ground. Our entire force of automated soldiers will be split between ground support and air attack," General Ironwood said.

"What do you mean by air attack?" Ruby asked.

"We'll be dropping Knights all over the Grimm whale, as well as any other larger Grimm that could be a threat to our capital ships," General Ironwood explained. "Our outdated 130s are being pulled from storage for this purpose as well. By tomorrow, we'll have about 27,800 knights active and ready for combat."

"And this is all to...what, destroy the whale?" Emerald asked as she crossed her arms. "What about calling for help? Is Amity really our only option? What if we send some ships to the other kingdoms, maybe-"

"Atlas is on the verge of destruction. Even if we manage to slip a few ships past the Grimm, we won't last long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Our best chance is to hold back the Grimm here, to protect the people and the Maiden. We won't be able to stop all of them, but with the destruction of Salem's flagship, we'll be able to buy ourselves some more time," General Ironwood explained.

"Buy time for what?" Ruby asked, as she and her team shuffled anxiously. I didn't blame them - this was the prelude to one of the most violent events on Remnant's history.

"To drop Atlas on the Grimm," Robyn said, finally speaking up for the first time in a while. The whole room fell into silence at that revelation, most of us too shocked to say anything, with the rest of the room already having known. "Just escaping won't be enough - we need to cut down as much of Salem's armies as possible. And that means turning Atlas into a kinetic projectile."

"And before any of you object, I agree with this plan as well," General Ironwood said. "It's our best chance of taking down as many of them as we can in one shot. With no risk of civilians, and minimal risk to our own forces."

"But...the kingdom of Atlas. Your homes. My home!" Weiss cried. "Is there really no other way?"

"I'm afraid not. Salem has way too many Grimm spread out. If we just focus on buying time, that leaves hundreds of thousands of Grimm free to attack the other kingdoms, maybe even continue following the fleet to Vacuo," Clover said as he stepped in. "Which is why Atlas will be more than a meteor."

Clover pressed a button on the table, and the map of Atlas turned into a camera feed for the interior of what appeared to be an enormous room, full of massive crates and people walking around. "This is the stockpile of unrefined Dust that was acquisitioned from the Schnee Dust Company. We're going to use this to fan the flames a bit. We have several thousand tons of it."

"You're talking about turning Atlas into a literal meteor bomb," I said as I imagined the aftereffects. The Grimm would most definitely be destroyed, but who knows how much destruction the entire continent could go through. Atlas dropping from a normal height was enough to create a massive crater and decimate the icecaps nearby. An explosion of immense magnitude could likely cause permanent global consequences. "I'd say that's overkill, but that term doesn't really apply for Salem. I feel like we're missing something, however."

"We need the Maiden to drop Atlas," Ironwood said. "And the entire landmass has tons of gravity Dust. It'll buy us ten minutes for all of our assets to evacuate before the entirety of the kingdom comes crashing down on Mantle. But to do that, Liya has to be awake."

"Will that be soon?" Clover asked as he looked at me. "I don't think we can keep waiting for much longer."

"I...I don't know," I said as I fell deep into thought over the matter. "She seemed stable the last time I visited, but nothing else."

"Then all we can do is hope in this scenario. We evacuate everyone and start the attack, destroy the whale and lure the Grimm as close to Atlas as possible," General Ironwood said. "If Eyla doesn't wake up, we detonate the Dust and destroy Atlas in the air. It won't have as much of an effect, but it'll still work."

"And how will we all get off?" Jaune asked.

"If Eyla wakes up, we can use the relic to create...what was it, a network of portals?" General Ironwood asked. I nodded in reply, and the general continued to speak. "Portals that lead to Vacuo. I believe you know how the relic works, and since it was done in the last run, you can handle it this time?"

"Yeah. But what if Liya isn't able to wake up?" I asked.

"Then we take our chances with a danger close evac," General Ironwood said. "With any luck, Salem won't bother with attacking us. The vault will remain sealed as long as your partner is safe."

I sighed. "This is really it, isn't it?" I muttered. I looked at Weiss, and patted her shoulder, the distraught look on her face never leaving once.

"It is. We begin in a week," General Ironwood said. "I'd take this time to prepare for the coming storm, get affairs sorted out. Relax and enjoy yourselves for one last time before we start."

The meeting was dismissed with little fanfare, and I walked after Weiss. "Hey, are you alright?" I asked.

"I...I know we need to do this. It'll just take some time..." Weiss said. "Just the thought of Atlas being gone feels..."

"Wrong. I know," I said, as Yang and Ruby came over. "I was hoping Atlas wouldn't need to fall...but in a way, this is at least better than before."

"Wait, what?" Ruby asked. "Markus, how could you-"

"Let me finish!" I said. "When Atlas fell last time, it was after the entire kingdom was devastated by Salem's attacks, Ironwood against everyone, and betrayal all around. This way, we can save the other kingdoms, buy them more time, and still save everyone in Atlas and Mantle, as well as much of the soldiers here as possible. And if Salem possibly gets stuck, buried under Atlas? Even better." I released a sigh. "Atlas can always be rebuilt, but only if we manage to succeed."

Ruby fell silent. "I guess that makes sense. It's just-" she mumbled.

"It's hard, but it'll be for the greater good," Blake said as she placed a hand on Weiss's shoulder in comfort. "It feels a lot better than the kingdom tearing itself apart before Salem even attacks."

Weiss took a deep breath. "Alright. Alright, I'll be able to accept this. Eventually," she said. "I need to see Whitley. And mother, and Klein-"

"I wish to accompany you, dear sister," Winter said, startling her little sister as she joined us, a kind smile on her face. "Brother Gods knows it'll probably be my last chance to do so..."

I hid a frown at everyone's behavior - it was like it was the end of the world. I suppose in a sense, it was a kind of endgame, but it made me feel rather depressed about it, especially since we still had Vacuo and whatever alternate dimension the others fall into. "Alright then. See you around?" I finally said.

The rest of us all split up, Ruby and Yang wanting to go with team JNPR to plan how they could all destress together. I was planning on going to visit Liya and team CRDL, though I got stopped by Blake in the hallway. "Markus, could you follow me?" she asked.

"What for?" I asked. Blake didn't say though, nevertheless I followed her regardless. She led me to team RWBY's room, before closing the door behind us. "Blake, is everything alright?"

"I...did some more thinking. And...you were right. About Adam's weapon. You were using it for good. And in a way, you were honoring his memory. The man who fought for righteous justice before he became what he became," she said, surprising me as she turned to face me. "So...I want you to have this."

I caught the sheathed sword that she tossed, and stared at the red gleam of its blade. "You're...you're serious?" I asked, holding Wilt in front of me, a little bit shocked.

"You could do more with it than I could. Using it for what it was always meant to represent, instead of just collecting dust," Blake said. "You'll have to hurry to get some practice in if you intend to use Blush though."

"I don't think I ever fired a gun once in my life. Not sure if it'll do me any good," I said, chuckling. "Probably a good idea to keep that away from me instead. I'll see if Doctor Polendina can make me a sheath for the sword, maybe on my arm. Something to help me fight better," I shrugged before my smile dropped, the mood turning more somber. "Thank you, though. I'll make the most out of it."

"I know you will." Blake said softly, a small sad smile and a distant gaze accompanying it.

Things stayed like that for a bit. Blake was likely reminiscing about happier times, while I didn't want to interrupt, so I continued to gaze at Wilt, wondering what exactly I was going to do with it. Maybe I should take a page out of Jaune's book?

Eventually though the silence started to get to me. I didn't just want to get up and leave her either, not as she was right now. So I shoved aside whatever awkwardness I felt and tried to get her mind off things.

"So...ever planned for the end of the world?" I asked and almost immediately started berating myself for asking that of all things. 'Markus! You absolute fool! This is the complete opposite of taking her mind off things!' I mentally shrieked.

"Not really," Blake said quietly as she sat on the bunk, oblivious to my inner freakout. She hugged her knees to her chest as her gaze grew even more distant. "It's strange. I've known this was always a possibility, we all have after what you told us. But it just doesn't feel..."

"Real?" I asked, sitting on the corner of the bed, still staring down at the blade. Not the most idle topic, but at least she was talking. "Yeah, I get you. Felt like that for months after I first arrived."

"Yeah," She confirmed quietly. "Like all this is just one big nightmare. That I'll wake up any minute before the Grimm overwhelms us." She hugged her knees tighter.

"But it isn't," I said somberly. "I think we all wish it was, though. That everything would just work out, that we could go and live normal lives instead...or you all would anyway. I still don't belong."

"Don't say that. You mean so much to all of us. I know that realistically, you shouldn't be here. But believe me when I tell you that none of us would have it any other way," Blake said, a light vehemence in her tone.

Memories flashed through my mind. Of times I've spent with everyone, whether just fooling around or on a mission. My times with both Emerald and Yang. And those moments on Earth, when things didn't seem so bad. My parent's especially.

A scene of what our lives could have looked like came to mind. If everything had gone to plan and Salem failed, or if she had simply never existed.

"...Getting that fairytale ending Ruby wants for all of us..."

"That would be nice wouldn't it?" Blake muttered before signing. "If I could've gotten at least one small thing though, I wish we would've had a little more time to complete Amity. Let my parents know that I'm still alright..."

"How were they? The last time you spoke to them that is?" I asked as I remembered Remnant's, seemingly, only stable and normal parents. Had things changed since Yang had been around Menagerie?

"Great, but much better after having their daughter finally come back, they'd say," Blake said as a smile started growing on her face. "My mom wouldn't stop teasing me about my supposed preferences."

"Beautiful blondes with blue eyes?" I asked with a small smirk on my face. "Just imagine what she'll think if she ever sees Jaune. You can have a whole harem!"

Blake just gave a huff of amusement as she threw her pillow at my head. "Like you're one to talk with your apparent thing for green hair. Skater girl and Emerald, I mean. Also, you're seriously including Sun in that?" She asked exasperatedly.

"You aren't the only one who can appreciate a good pair of abs," I said, causing Blake to lightly blush, before we both burst out into a fit of laughter. It wasn't heavy laughter, just light chuckling - which seemed to fit Blake more.

"That's good though." I panted after a minute, the both of us trying to catch our breaths. "They both seem like amazing people, especially your dad. I just hope things are going well with the White Fang and Sienna on their end."

"You know, I'd honestly forgotten about all of that with everything else going on." Blake said once her breathing was back under control. "Sienna seemed genuine when she said she wanted to make things right, I'd like to believe she was being honest. I know with her and my father running things together, we won't have anything to worry about."

"We'll definitely need to all take a visit once things calm down. I can just imagine the potential chaos Weiss will cause though." I laughed.

Things were quiet again after that. The two of us were just basking in each other's presence. Blake's mention of Reese also had me thinking. I hoped everything had gone okay on her end I thought to myself, wishing now just like Blake that I could simply call her and ask. Had she reunited with her team? Had she met up with either SSSN or CFVY yet?

"Are you going to do anything? While we have the time, I mean," Blake said to me after a while. I knew we couldn't keep sitting here forever, even if we were both enjoying ourselves. Blake should try and spend as much time as she could with her team before we inevitably had to fight and I should see the Doctor and get the rust off my skills.

"I'm about to visit Liya," I answered instead, wanting this little bit of normalcy for just a bit longer. " I hope she's doing OK. After that...see the Doctor and get some training in…I'll need to see if the General needs anymore help, go over the plan again-"

"Want to come with us instead?" Blake asked as she cut me off. "Whatever we have planned, it'd be nice if we could all do it together,"

I sighed and thought about it. I could always just drop the sword off and come back later. And my skills shouldn't be that bad. Plus, it would be nice to spend time with everyone... "I'd like that," I said. "Look, whatever happened between all of us...I won't pretend it didn't hurt. But I wanna move past it, especially with everything going on."

"So do I," Blake said, and I noticed she was eyeing my arm. "Yang hasn't stopped feeling guilty, you know?"

"I know. And I doubt I actually forgave her properly," I said. "It was just…so much easier to try and pretend that nothing had happened," I continued, hunkering down on myself now. "You guys were all I had, you know? You were my heroes, the ones destined to save Remnant…and I was just me." I finished lamely.

Slowly, as if unsure, I felt arms wrap around me. Blake didn't say anything, so I didn't either despite my mild shock.

"And, well...I get why you snapped at me that day. Probably should have told you I had Adam's sword," I tried to say after a bit, feeling a bit awkward about the whole situation. But I suppose misery did love company, and Blake probably needed this just as much as I did.

"I...this feels repetitive, doesn't it?" Blake said, a short laugh escaping her as she rubbed her eyes.

"Kind of," I said, sighing. This wasn't the first, and as much as I wished for it not to be the case, it would unlikely be the last time that we hurt each other and needed to apologize. At least it showed me that she and the others truly did care despite everything. "Thanks. For this. I know it was probably hard, but-"

"I shouldn't have taken it from you in the first place. I should have trusted you to know what's right and wrong. You probably do that better than any of us do," Blake remarked as she crossed her arms after having let me go, her cat ears flat against her head. "And the rest...well..."

"I'll talk to them. I know it probably shouldn't even be necessary - especially because of what's been going on here, but-" I said.

"We all need to trust each other if we're going to succeed. And that means making up for everything that happened, then..." Blake said. "That's what we'll do."

I flushed and looked away, not liking the reminder of how much has been screwed up because of my arrival to this universe.

"This isn't the end, I don't plan on any of you dying on me but…" I said, determination filling me. "Just in case…just in case something happens, everyone should know how much we love each other, and that despite everything that hasn't changed, won't ever change." I finished, grinning at Blake.

"Of course," Blake said, seeming far more relaxed and equally as determined. "Thanks. For talking to me."

I simply nodded in reply. The conversation ended right there, with me leaving the room and making my way to the infirmary where Liya remained. After talking to Cardin and the rest of the team, I made my way to Liya's bed. Biscuit sat at the base of the bed, a plate of dog food and a water bowl next to him. He looked very healthy, and very happy indeed when he saw me. I laughed as the heavy dog tackled me yet again. It seems this is going to be a habit from now on. "Good boy..." I giggled as he licked my face. Not minding either action in the slightest.

After about a minute of reuniting, I finally sat up, allowing Biscuit to look at Liya and let out a heart wrenching whine.

"I know, boy. I miss her too," I whispered as I ruffled his ears. "Something bad is going down soon...and I need you to promise me something." I leaned close and nuzzled the dog gently. "I want you to promise that you'll take care of Liya, alright? Promise me that you'll help team CRDL keep her safe."

Biscuit let out a sharp bark, and I smiled. Kissing the dog on the forehead, I got up and went to Liya's side, sighing at her unmoving state as I clenched my fists. The talk with Blake brought up some unpleasant memories. And yet despite it all, just as with team RWBY, I couldn't bring myself to hate her. Even if she was never in the show, she was one of my best friends in this utterly fucked up world.

And now we needed her more than ever if we were going to win this without losing anyone. To get the staff so we could all get out of here safe and sound.

But most of all, even if we weren't as close anymore, drifting apart with me spending more and more time with Emerald, and her being chosen as the new Maiden…I still wanted her to just wake up. To show me that she was alright.

Leaning over, I kissed my partner on the forehead. "Come back, we need you. And...I love you," I whispered. "I just want us all together again..."

I spent another minute or two by Liya's side before walking out to find Emerald waiting for me outside the room. "So, what do you wanna do?" she asked as she and I headed down the hallway.

"...something quiet. Maybe snuggle for a bit?" I asked. "I could use some peace and quiet."

Emerald smiled gently. "That sounds great," she said, and I smiled back, resting my head against hers as the two of us walked away to find someplace cozy to spend time together, and we had a perfect place in mind.

It was near nighttime when we arrived at Iliad's Watchtower, the freezing wind blowing against us. Luckily, Emerald and I were wrapped up in a thick blanket, snuggling against the rocks as we watched the sunset. Despite the stress of the upcoming mission, I felt pretty happy. Atlas would fall - but on our terms. And we'd decimate as many Grimm as we can to save the people, the relics, and our Maiden.

Assuming this would even go well.

"Hey, enough of that," Emerald said, jostling me out of my thoughts. "Can't we just relax? You're gonna get gray hairs just thinking about stuff."

I laughed. "Alright," I said as I leaned into her touch. "Just for you." I didn't miss the way her cheeks lit up as I snuggled closer to her. We ended up spending much of the night at the mountain, with nothing but our auras, our blanket, and each other to keep us warm.

I was going to miss this place. Maybe Vacuo would have something similar...

- two days later -

"There we go, good as new!"

I stepped past Doctor Polendina to look at the weapon and my arm on the table - the traditional straight edged Chokutō blade of Wilt now reforged into a curved and dense Wakizashi blade. The handle was reformed as well, smooth steel with a fabric based grip recurved to fit the blade to make a proper grip.

My prosthetic arm sat next to the blade, its fingers outstretched with little slits running from the middle phalanxes to the knuckles of my index fingers, middle finger, and ring finger. Along the length of my arm was an elongated and thin ring, easily a perfect fit for the reforged Wilt.

"Well, what do you think of the modifications?" the doctor asked as I reattached my arm, before sliding Wilt on my arm. The handle was pointing outwards, allowing me to grab the sword with my good right hand and wield it normally. And since the Wakizashi was a short one handed sword, I found myself liking my fighting chances even more.

I clenched my fists, and found sharp edges as blood red as Wilt shooting out the slits, and I realized Polendina had effectively given me bladed knuckles. "Were these from-" I began to ask.

"Yes. Whatever this blade is made from, it's incredibly light and durable. Very low stress frame. Reforging it was a fairly simple manner. I figured you'd want a smaller weapon, with a bit more offensive capability in your arm, allowing you to make full use of all of your skills." The doctor said.

"You thought right. This is awesome," I said, smiling brightly as I inspected my new arm capabilities. "Can't wait to train with it before the big fight."

"I suggest training with other people," Doctor Polendina said. "A proper battle with adaptive parameters is going to help you in the long run, if you get what I'm intending."

"I do," I said as I looked back at the doctor, inspecting the blade on my arm. Oddly enough, it fit pretty seamlessly - and it was placed in a way that I could draw it with little to no issue. "Though, I guess it'll be pretty difficult to get used to a blade like this in just a week - it's nothing like the old straight blade."

"I suppose it does take some getting used to," the doctor said. "Penny has been training her marksmanship skills with her new weapons. Though, we've had to do it away from the city."

"I'd hope so," I said before shaking the doctor's hand with my real one. "Thanks again for all the help."

"No problem. As long as you remain safe," the elderly scientist said, and I left, satisfied and excited to train. Well, excited wasn't really the right word - I more or less felt anxious. After all, the guaranteed fall of Atlas was at hand, and I needed to improve and adapt if I wanted to help win this fight.

I made my way to one of many training rooms that Atlas Academy had, and I went berserk - starting harsh regimes and situations in the simulated environments, forcing myself into every difficult combat scenario possible. It seemed rather easy at first, the sword flowing much easier with one hand while I was able to throw good punches and fight back properly with my neural Dust. However, landing hits on whatever the room threw at me became less and less of a priority, as my goal slowly turned into "survive".

Training knights and room turrets struck me over and over, dodging and finding cover became just as impossible as actually fighting back, since there were so many opponents, and the cover that the room generated would get destroyed mere seconds after I hid behind it. Every failed simulation ended with my aura extremely low, and me being utterly exhausted. Sometimes if I had enough aura, I'd use Jaune's Aura Amplification semblance to bring it back to 100%. Other times, I'd use aura boosters if I didn't have enough aura. Sometimes, I'd do a mix of both if I was just too exhausted. After one particularly harsh combat simulation, I found it paused as the door opened, interrupting my fight.

"This is where you were?" Yang asked as she stepped in, and she eyed the room - seeing the shattered hard-light blocks on the floor, turrets aimed at me, and the Knights standing still, having paused their attacks due to my unexpected visitor. "Yeesh, what are you doing?"

"Trying to get better. I doubt normal training for a week will cut it," I said as I popped an aura booster in my mouth, grimacing at the taste before pushing it down.

"So throwing everything at full throttle is going to do that?" Yang asked. "That isn't how it works, you know."

"Kind of ironic that you're the one telling me that," I muttered, though her unimpressed raised eyebrow indicated that she heard me. "So, what's up?"

"Well, I've been looking for you for about four hours now," Yang said as she crossed her arms and leaned casually on a nearby wall. "So, are you busy or what?"

"Well...kind of," I said as I felt my aura recharge, using Jaune's semblance and a mix of the effects of the aura boosters. "Why?"

Yang unfolded Ember Celica - which I just realized that she was wearing. "Wanna have a go?" she asked, a grin on her face. "Hope your aura isn't too tuckered out."

I blinked. "I...uhh..."

I didn't get a chance to reply properly before Yang dashed towards me. I was barely able to leap back in time, Yang's fists slamming into the floor with a loud earth shaking boom. Her hair was seemingly glowing, and she fired down immediately after landing, jumping in the air to intercept me. Unfortunately, I couldn't evade, and she tackled me hard into the nearest pillar, shattering it and sending the disintegrated hard-light Dust particles sprinkling everywhere.

"Having fun yet?!" Yang yelled before I managed to throw her off of me with my neural Dust. At once, I formed several armor pieces floating over my body as I lunged at her. The knuckles of my prosthetic arms spiked, and I threw my fist - grazing Yang's own robotic arm with a small shower of sparks. "Hey, when did you get to do that?!"

"Upgrades!" I answered before I lunged again, this time with Yang able to evade and counter effectively, jumping back and firing a shell at me. Drawing the reforged Wilt, I flung my arm up and bisected the shot, sparks flying as the loud "clang" reverberated throughout the room.

I leapt back, flipping and landing on my hand before twisting and kicking downwards to intercept Yang's next charge. The kick landed on her arm before she swung and grabbed me by my leg, flinging me towards another hard-light Dust pillar. I was barely able to carve it up in time before I slammed into the wall, flying through the two halves and landing.

Yang was on top of me before I knew it, and I immediately dashed away - gray rose petals scattering in front of Yang as I landed next to her. Likely because she was caught off guard at my use of Ruby's semblance - she was unable to stop herself from getting punched full force with my prosthetic arm, the spikes in my knuckles cracking into her aura and sending her tumbling a few meters.

Wiping her mouth as her aura flickered and stabilized, Yang recovered in an instant and jumped back, switching to ranged attacks. At once, she began firing round after round, the massive and powerful slugs that shotguns tended to fire flying towards me like missiles - similar to how Yang fired whistling rounds in the Yellow Trailer.

I immediately sent out my neural Dust, sending missiles of my own to intercept Yang's attacks. As they shielded me from bombardment, I took the chance to rush for Yang, her ranged attacks moot.

As I ran, I was struck by nostalgia back in Beacon. During many spars, I struggled to keep up with many students. Any victories I had were based on luck or any quick on the draw solutions I could come up with, and those were rare. Now, after so much time on Remnant, I found myself able to keep up with Yang - Yang, one of the strongest fighters on Remnant.

Feeling a grin spread across my face, matching Yang's own, I decided to push my advantage, intent on being aggressive and tactical instead of remaining cautious - you couldn't hold back against Yang if you wanted to survive, after all.

While I had Yang's attention on me, I reformed the scattered dust, using it to grab ahold of her incoming fist. She was left completely open, allowing my spiked fist to dig into her abdomen yet again.

Yang was briefly lifted off the ground and I sent another tendril of dust to grab ahold of her, and drag her right into the path of Wilt. Yang didn't give me the chance however, as she fired one shell down at my feet, forcing me to stumble. Then I heard the beeping. The explosion thanks to her Volume 7 upgrades sent me flying, causing my dust to scatter again once they exploded on contact and giving her more breathing room.

"Is that all you got?" she said as she stretched her arms. I coughed and got up, deciding to quit playing around. Jumping back on my feet, I stuck to an obscure semblance I'd only used once when I was with Emerald.

At once, I felt my aura crackle and harden, an unbreakable shield in front of me. I had one minute to end this fight.

Yang dashed at me, sending shell after shell towards me as I lunged at her. My minute long invulnerability protected me however, only stumbling from the force of the shells after impact. I wasn't deterred, however - reaching Yang in less than eight seconds. Her stupefied look was the icing on the cake, as I seemed to just barel through everything she sent at me.

It was at the ten second mark when I attacked with everything I had, sending as much Dust as I could at Yang - spines and tendrils of neural Dust shooting and flying as Yang struggled to keep up. Scratch that, she wasn't struggling - she was seamlessly flying back while dodging and weaving everything I threw at her. I had to close the distance or else Yang would outlast what little time I had left.

I had thirty three seconds left when I finally managed to close the distance, catching her off guard and throwing several punches and slashes at her. More than half of them didn't even land - but the ones that did cut down more and more of her aura. I had twenty seconds left when she finally got away, countering with harsh punches meant to push me back.

I was down to fifteen seconds, and her aura was low - I could tell from how frantically she was fighting. However, her hair was glowing and getting brighter by the second. Once my semblance died, my aura would shatter completely. I had little choice but to fight aggressively. Yang's eyes were already turning red.

Five seconds down. Yang was beginning to light up, and I could feel the heat through my hardened aura. I was about to feel it even more after my time was up, so I had one last option.

I went all in - rushing her with all my Dust, all at once. Another five seconds was spent locking her in my sights, and I slammed into her with the velocity of a tank going at the speed of a sports car.

It was almost over now, Yang pinned under me and my Dust as she began to erupt into flames. Leaping back, all my Dust formed a shield in front of me as Yang exploded. My shield protected me from the explosion, but was no match for the missile she turned to, shattering as she dashed and sent me flying, my feet striking the far wall a mere millisecond before my time was up.

That millisecond changed everything.

I landed against the wall, managing to dig my feet in, even as the wall cratered around me. The room shook yet again from the force. My body felt like it was on fire, but I needed to push through, needed to get one last hit in!

With power I didn't think I had, I lunged right for Yang as she continued to fly towards me, desperate to get one final hit in before my inevitable loss. I didn't expect her red eyes to widen in shock, nor my vision to suddenly brighten so much.

I didn't expect my body to start feeling so hot either, even hotter than it had been before. But I didn't dwell on it as I smashed into Yang, spearing her out of the air, the two of us flying back across the training area before tumbling across the floor and coming to a stop. As Yang landed atop me, I felt my aura break, and the subsequent wave of utter exhaustion bury me alive as I began gasping for breath.

"Ow..." I mumbled as Yang groaned, rolling off of me and splaying out onto the floor. "That hurt."

"Hey, kitty...since when could you do that?" Yang asked as she looked at me - her red eyes now back to their soft lilac color. I raised an eyebrow, and she blinked. "You didn't notice?"

"Notice what? I was too busy trying to survive," I said, and Yang sat up.

"You used my semblance. At the same time as mine," Yang explained. I blinked in surprise at that, and for a moment, I couldn't say a thing. After a moment, Yang spoke up again. "I'm not kidding, you really did. Your eyes turned red and you exploded into fire like I do."

"...that...isn't right," I said. "I was using Tock's semblance. My aura would've broken the moment time ran out. And your semblance needs aura to work, right?"

"Yeah, well...maybe you were using my semblance the entire battle," Yang said. "It's the only thing that makes sense."

"Maybe...two semblances at once?" I mumble. "Pfft, just using one semblance is enough to drain my aura. I was only just getting the hang of slowing down my drain rate, and now I got to learn to use two at once?"

"Well, stress unlocked your semblance back in Beacon, remember?" Yang asked. "Maybe adrenaline did some more here. They can do some pretty crazy things at some pretty crazy times."

I chuckled. "Yeah, it's really hard to understand. Even the show didn't explain too much about this. But I guess I shouldn't complain" I clenched my fist in front of my face, before dropping it and sighing. "That was one hell of a fight."

Yang smiled. "Yeah. Probably the most fun I've had since...well..."

Beacon.

I smiled as Yang got up and helped me to my feet. "I gotta say, I'm surprised you didn't hold back," I remarked.

"Believe me," Yang said as her hands shook slightly, either from adrenaline or her own demons, I wasn't exactly sure. "I wanted to, Brothers, I was so worried that I'd slip up and end up going too far again...I wouldn't be able to handle that."

Her voice had gone hollow for a second, almost as if she were running on autopilot for a second. "But I need to know...needed to know that I was fully under control, and that I would never make the same mistake again," she whispered. "So thank you."

"So what, I'm your impromptu therapist? Glad to see I have some people skills," I said, the smile on my face showing Yang that I wasn't being serious. In all honesty, I was proud of her.

Even if I already knew what she was capable of, seeing her and everyone exceed, was an amazing feeling. Like all our efforts had been worth it.

And...I missed the moments we had back in Beacon. Even if things weren't the same, or wouldn't be the same anymore, it was a step in the right direction.

'It seems Blake has a point,' I thought amused, as I once again found myself having these thoughts.

Yang smiled, before I was suddenly punched in the shoulder. Well, it was more of a tap with how tired we both were, but it was still enough to make me stumble. "Asshole, you wish," she said as she looked down, her smile turning rather somber. "Thanks. For letting me fight you."

"Thanks for giving me a real fight," I said. "Getting massacred left and right by a bunch of simulations was starting to get old. Getting massacred by you was way better."

Yang frowned. "That's not funny..." she said. "With everything that's been going on...I'm scared that a bunch of us won't make it..."

"We'll pull through. We always do," I said as I leaned against her, slinging my arm across her shoulders and her mine, the two of us tiredly supporting each other and making our way out of the utterly trashed training room. "I won't let anything happen to any of you guys." I said determinedly. "I know it's a possibility, I won't deny that…but one way or another, you guys are making it out of here."

\

Luckily, the hallway was basically empty - and we helped each other walk towards the Atlas Academy dorms across the building. None of us were hurt, since we more or less ended the fight when our auras finally broke. But we'd still be feeling it in the morning.

"And what about you?" Yang worryingly asked as we continued to walk. "Are you scared that you won't make it out?"

Silence was all I had - so silence was the only answer I gave her.

We walked for several minutes, comfortable silence filling the hallways, at least until we finally reached the dorms. "By the way, why were you looking for me earlier?" I asked when we stopped.

"Well...I was gonna ask you something. But that can wait till tonight. Or tomorrow if you're that tired," Yang said as I leaned away from her, reaching into my pocket and pulling my scroll out. "See you around?" she asked as I pressed a button on my screen, opening the door with my scroll.

I stepped inside. "Yeah. I'll see you later," I said. "Maybe not for another fight. Not for a while, at least."

Yang snorted. "See you later, kitty," she said, and I closed the door as she turned to leave. Limping tiredly to my bed, I set my scroll on the table nearby and rested my head on the pillow, sighing as I finally felt the burn of my limbs, lying down as I rested. It felt like forever since I last relaxed.

But, I had the rest of the day to myself. Pulling out my scroll, I texted Emerald, wondering what Yang wanted to ask me. "I have the rest of today. Wanna cuddle if you have nothing else to do?" I texted.

I smiled brightly as I received a text a few seconds later.

"On my way, babee 3".

(AN: It is November 18th, exactly 1 year after I published the first chapter of this story, and the release date of this chapter - Chapter 60. When I started this, I didn't expect the story to get as much traction as it did. All of you, the readers, inspired me to continue writing this story, and it's thanks to all of you that I made it this far in just one year. With more of RWBY to come, more of this story is sure to follow. I don't plan on stopping any time soon, and I hope you all stick with the story as we all move forward.

RokenDarkly: *Sets off party poppers* Woohoo! And it's been an honor co writing and being a beta for this fic. Honestly can't believe how big this fic's gotten, and that I've been able to be a part of it. But enough mushy stuff, you guys want to see more Markus suffering right?!

Enjoy the chapter!

Thanks again, and expect more chapters very soon!)