For nearly two decades, Mountain Glenn had been largely silent, as befit the largest mausoleum in the world. Its mournful repose was only occasionally interrupted by the huffing of passing Grimm, the sporadic collapse of a decaying building, or by the cries of animal life that reclaimed the ruined city for the natural world.

Now, gunshots, battlecries, and explosions rent the air.

War had returned to Mountain Glenn.

"Pyrrha, Livewire!"

Jaune shouted the order as he dodged underneath the spiked gauntlets of an enhanced Beringel, stabbing back at it as best as he could with his spear while ducking away from the swings of its heavy, armored fists. Even had this Doctor Merlot not wreaked such havoc with his creations before, Jaune would have wanted the man dead for having the stone-stupid idea of armoring the vulnerable points on a Beringel.

As Jaune chipped away at the Grimm, Pyrrha grimaced as she activated her Semblance on her own armor, then smashed the small capsule of lightning Dust against herself. She grit her teeth against the painful shock, but only for a moment, as Nora quickly put her hands on her shoulders, actively drawing the magnetically-enhanced electric current into herself without harm.

"All right!" crowed Nora. "Let's do this!"

With her lightning-boosted strength, Nora hurled her friend high into the air. Pyrrha shook the last of the electric twitches from her fingers, extending her spear. Below, Nora hurled her hammer into the air while keeping her grip on the handle, effectively throwing herself as well. The two exchanged a nod as they passed one another, Nora rising as Pyrrha fell.

Jaune slipped under one of the simian Grimm's grasping hands, boosting himself with his Semblance as he bashed the creature in the throat with the rim of his shield, as hard as he could. It staggered back, in just the right place for Pyrrha to hit, driving her spear into its trapezius, just shy of its armored shoulders - or whatever served as its trapezius analogue, the Grimm being made of concentrated evil. The Beringel roared in pain and outrage, whipping around and trying to grab the Mistrali champion, who doggedly held onto her spear.

Then Nora hit.

Like an oversized nail, Pyrrha's spear provided the perfect way to concentrate the overpowered force of Nora's mighty Magnhild into one spot. That force traveled through the spear and into the body of the Beringel.

The Grimm exploded, sending a gout of cloying, green ooze raining through the air.

"Ha!" Nora cheered as she stood back up, hefting her hammer over her shoulder. "Did you see that?"

But Jaune wasn't paying attention, having already run off to reinforce Ren. The quiet scholar was a storm of blades and bullets, a sword in one hand and a gun in the other as he fended off a pack a Sabers, quadrupedal feline Grimm with long fangs made for puncturing deep into vulnerable flesh. He used his Semblance to disappear from the evil creatures' perceptions, only to strike from seemingly nowhere, causing devastating hits and disappearing once more.

"No time to celebrate," Pyrrha said with a shrug, turning to square off against some enhanced Boarbatusks that had made to attack Ren and Jaune from behind. She knelt to block one's razor-sharp spin attack with her shield, rising to her feet to lift it up and presenting a target for Nora to smash it to the ground.

With an emerald flash, Ren sliced through one of the Sabers, skidding to a stop as one of its packmates reversed direction to leap at him. He caught the creature with his sword arm and opened fire with Storm Flower, using the recoil to walk the automatic fire up the Grimm's midsection. The Saber fell away, revealing Jaune, who drove his sword through the last of the pack's skull.

"My guns aren't so weak after all, hmm?" remarked Ren, taking the opportunity to defend his choice in weapons.

Jaune shrugged. "Sure, at point-blank range. With all the claws and the teeth, and you with no armor!"

Ren was about to say something else, when Jaune noticed movement to the fore of their defensive cone. The aspiring knight sheathed his sword and drew his rifle, kneeling into a firing stance.

"What is it?" Nora asked, the two Huntresses jogging over to join the rest of their team.

Jaune frowned. "Two more Beringels, a Deathstalker, and numerous 'Tusks," he reported. He raised a finger, testing the wind. The destroyed remnant of the subway station was open to the air, which made this slightly less insanely dangerous than it otherwise would have been. Jaune opened a pouch on his belt and pulled out a silver canister with red striping on it, loading it into the grenade launcher of his rifle. "Stand well back, and get ready to run if you see it blow back towards us," he instructed.

"Wha-"

Nora had meant to ask what it was that he'd loaded into his grenade launcher, when the first of the Grimm had hove into the subway station antechamber. Jaune aimed above the lead Deathstalker and fired into the midst of the group, the grenade launching with a distinct 'bloop' sound.

They watched as the grenade detonated, and a thick white gas began pouring out of it.

"It's something Atlas whipped up," explained Jaune. The gas began burning through both the Grimm and the metal armor that they wore. "Originally meant to decommission mechs and tanks with a quickness. They found out pretty early on that it burns the hell out of White Fang too. Me, I was going to hit Hazel with a gravity bola, keep him in place and see how well his Aura could deal with that."

Ren winced as he saw how swiftly the white gas incinerated the Grimm from inside out and outside in. "That sounds...harsh," he said.

Jaune waved him off, still keeping a close eye on the noxious cloud and its movements. "Sir Roland said to win the battle, then compose poetry later. Also, to hell with that guy in particular."

"Well, do you have any more of those?" Pyrrha, more pragmatically-minded, asked her partner.

Jaune shook his head. "Afraid not. Just carrying this one made me nervous enough." Satisfied that the cloud was in place and that the Grimm were unable to escape its searing chemical properties, the aspiring knight looked up. The sun was getting lower in the sky - between the rescue and their holding action, Team JNPR had been actively fighting for almost a day, and it was beginning to show. Nora was noticeably slower with her hammer, Ren was growing exhausted, and even Pyrrha's unimpeachable combat skill was beginning to lose some of its edge with fatigue.

Jaune handed his canteen over to Nora, who took a long, grateful gulp of water, while Pyrrha tossed an ammunition magazine to Ren.

"Heads-up, incoming, three o'clock," Jaune said, turning to face the new threat and opening fire with his rifle.

Their all-too brief respite over, the battle continued.

[/]

Aboard the subway train, Weiss Schnee was trying very hard to keep a level head. After all, someone had to, and that someone was not going to be Yang Xiao Long. Shortly after their car had set off, Yang had been wracked by spasms and shivering fits as the adrenaline drained from her. True to Jaune's assessment, she looked ready to collapse.

Then, in the silence and darkness of the train car, with nothing else to distract her, the weight of her actions fell onto the blonde brawler. She'd stared at her hands, and at the dried blood that had crusted both them and her gauntlets, her arms stained red up to her elbows. She'd sat next to her sister and stared blankly at them ever since.

Weiss tried to relate, but it was hard. She was pretty sure that she'd killed at least one person - a White Fang soldier whose Aura had flickered before she had shot him with her offhand pistol. She hadn't seen him die, exactly, but the best case scenario was that he had a gunshot wound to the chest, in a secret underground facility far from medical care, which was being overrun by Grimm. It was a fairly safe bet to assume that the man was dead.

Even so...while it weighed on Weiss's conscience, there were at least mitigating circumstances to it, given that it was in the heat of battle against forces that were clearly trying to unleash Grimm on a city. But Yang had blasted men and women apart with her own two hands, and in some cases, in circumstances where she could have at least knocked them unconscious or given them a head start to flee. Instead, she had ripped the White Fang to shreds in her uncontrolled fury.

Weiss shook her head. Even that, it could be argued, had served a higher purpose, as Yang had been a one-woman siege weapon that allowed the rest of the team to reach Ruby in time. She supposed that only Yang could answer if her berserk fury had been worth it...or if she could live with her actions when the battle was done.

She sighed. They'd done all they could for Blake and Ruby, and now there was nothing that they could do until they reached Vale. She'd watched the message that Team JNPR had entrusted to her, twice, before she forced herself to stop.

Jaune would make it. He had to. He would lead Team JNPR through the crucible, and she would get him reinforcements, and they would all come back, safe and sound. No other alternative was acceptable...she would have her knight back at her side, where he belonged, and together, they would bring justice to everyone who had anything to do with this...debacle.

Weiss felt the gaze of the mute on her. She looked up, cross, meeting the heterochromatic gaze of the thief girl, trying not to squirm at the intensity of her inspection. "Yes, what is it?" she snapped.

The girl began moving her hands through sign language. Is the handsome knight single?

"What?!" Weiss growled. "No, he is not. He is very much taken, so keep your mitts to yourself, thief."

Neo's mix-matched eyes widened in surprise. You can understand me?

"Of course I can. It's important for the heiress of the SDC to be able to communicate with people in a wide variety of languages and dialects."

The mute just shrugged. So, are you with the handsome knight?

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes, yes I am, and we are quite happy together."

Do you share?

Weiss choked on her own reply, finally gasping out, "I beg your pardon?"

What? You're cute too, I wouldn't mind giving you a lick. Neo stressed her statement by making a v-sign with her fingers and wagging her tongue suggestively.

"What is wrong with you?!" shrieked Weiss, her face warming at the visual the gesture imparted. "Jaune is off fighting, possibly dying as we speak, and all you can think to do is make...lewd and indecent propositions to us?"

Neo shrugged, unphased. And for these past few moments, you've been too busy being outraged to go crazy worrying about him.

Weiss could only stare at the thief.

You're welcome, Neo added, smugly.

"I'm pretty sure I hate you," Weiss muttered.

The heiress was saved from further conversation by a chime on her Scroll, indicating that they had moved into range of Vale's CCT relay network.

"All right," Weiss said to herself, pulling out her Scroll. "Here goes nothing."

[/]

Team JNPR had tightened up their defensive formation, making a small half-circle, their backs to the wall of the collapsed subway tunnel. Gunfire roared through the destroyed subway station as the student Hunters sought to drop, or at least weaken, the charging Grimm before they reached them. As these Grimm, unlike their normal counterparts, didn't dissolve upon death, a large pile of corpses filled the center and far side of the station

Ren swore as his rifle ran dry, clicking on an empty chamber. He shifted it to a sheath, slinging it over his shoulder as he drew his twin pistols. "Pyrrha, any rifle ammo left?"

She shook her head. "No dice."

A charging Saber crested the pile of corpses, bypassing its fellows that were transfixed on the sudden storm of gunfire and leaping at Jaune, who stood at the point of the formation. He caught it on his upraised shield and swiftly stabbed through the hollow of its throat with a fluid overhand thrust. The Grimm fell to the ground and Jaune stabbed it again for good measure.

Nora shifted Magnhild into its grenade launcher form as an Enhanced Deathstalker burst through a crumbling wall. "'Nade out!" Valkyrie called as she fired off a grenade. The pink explosion, targeted under the Deathstalker, flipped the arachnid Grimm. Jaune, boosting himself with his Semblance once more, leapt onto it, shouting with effort as he forced his blade deep into the unfused cracks in its carapace, stabbing into the underside of its head.

Sweat dripped down his face as he tore his sword out of the rapidly-dying Grimm. He looked up, past the destroyed wall of the subway station, paled, wiped his face to make sure that he wasn't seeing anything, then quickly fell back to his team.

"What? What is it?"

Jaune took deep, rasping breaths, gulping down air. "Goliaths," he simply said.

JNPR went quiet at his statement, understanding that he had just effectively pronounced their deaths. In their condition, even a single Goliath would prove a challenge to take down. Even though they weren't Enhanced, they must have heard the commotion and sensed their desperation, and figured that the battle-weary Team JNPR to be easy pickings...and there were a hell of a lot of them.

"Well," Pyrrha began. "We had a good run. It's been an honor to fight beside you all."

Nora hugged onto Ren. "At least we're going out together?" she half-said, half-suggested to him.

Jaune stared at his team for a moment, and then stared at the oncoming Goliaths, who were gearing up for a charge. Stampeding Goliaths would kill them, no matter what else they brought to bear…

"No," he said. His teammates looked at him, surprised by his sudden declaration. "We're going to fight through this and we're going to live." He grabbed Pyrrha by the arm as a sudden, wild, insane idea took hold. "Ren, Nora, on our six. Pyrrha, let's go do something impossible."

Pyrrha canted her head as her leader frog-marched her over to the crumbled wall. "Jaune? What are you doing?"

He grinned at her, a half-crazed, wild look. "You see these buildings?" he indicated the skyscrapers that rose into the sky around them. "You're going to use your Semblance on the rebar, and bring them crashing down on our enemies."

Her jaw dropped. "What?! Jaune, I can't do that!"

"Have you ever tried?"

"Well, no, but -"

"No buts," he interrupted. "You do this, or we all die."

"Are you crazy?"

"I have a note from Miss Goodwitch that says that yes, yes I am. Now you reach out and you pull!"

Despite knowing that it was impossible, Pyrrha did as Jaune ordered her, reaching out with her Semblance. She found the intricate patterns of steel that held up the concrete in the four buildings closest to them, before focusing on the bottom sections. She reached out and she pulled, tugging with all her might...to no avail.

"Jaune…" she gasped, panting for breath. She winced as she saw the Goliath herd begin its stampeding charge towards them. "It's too much...I can't...I can't…"

"Yes, you can!" Jaune clapped his hand on her shoulder. "You can do anything, you've just been conditioned not to! I believe, with everything I have, that you can do this, so you try again and you pull!"

Suddenly, with his hand on her shoulder and his roaring in her ear about how Pyrrha fuckin' Nikos could work miracles, something burst within her. Aura surged forth through her entire being, a raging torrent of power from...from somewhere.

Pyrrha reached out once again. And she pulled. And she pulled. She didn't stop when she heard the rebar creaking and giving way. She didn't stop when something in her head popped, and blood started streaming from her nose. Pyrrha Nikos grabbed the world with power unseen, and demanded it bend to her will.

And it did.

The skyscrapers fell forwards, crashing onto both the Goliaths and the other assorted Grimm that had been surrounding the ruined subway station. Pyrrha Nikos brought down the sky, and sent it onto her enemies like the hammer of a vengeful goddess.

What remaining tunnel roof stood above the station gave out as well. Pyrrha's knees gave out from under her, the hot, coppery taste of blood in her mouth as she spat it out to keep breathing.

It was a beautiful sunset.

As she faded into darkness, Pyrrha reached her hand out to that sun, as if she could hold it in her palm.

Pretty.

[/]

Ozpin ran a trembling hand over his face. He had already alerted Winter and her troops to the incoming Team RWBY, and she had a lock on her sister's Scroll signal as it grew closer to Vale.

There was nothing for it. He would have to address the city.

Despair was the weapon of the enemy. He knew it well from his bitter, eternal war with the monster that had once been his beloved wife. James had known it as well, and had sought to harness it to his own ends.

Jaune, however...he had hit on another way to approach the weapon of the enemy.

The counter to despair...was valor.

He took another moment to compose himself. Headmaster Ozpin had no children, after all. It was time to strike the balance of the concerned but composed Headmaster and Councillor, and to ruthlessly push down the gnawing ache of fear that Charles d'Arc le Magne had felt welling up again, the fear that echoed that awful time when he had lost his son.

No matter if Jaune lived or died, he and his friends had made their sacrifice on behalf of the people of Vale, and how Ozpin addressed it could determine how the city itself reacted.

Finally, he flicked the switches on his desk. One sent a camera on an arm down from the ceiling, facing him, and the other overrode the CCNet broadcasts for the entire city of Vale.

"People of Vale," he began. "The previous day, I became aware of a potential threat lurking in the ruins of Mountain Glenn. I dispatched two Huntsmen, with two full teams of Beacon Academy students as backup, to investigate this threat. Last night, we lost radio contact with the team, only for half of the students dispatched to return to CCNet range in order to send a message for the people and city of Vale."

The feed switched to JNPR's video, beginning with footage that Blake had taken, showing the Enhanced Grimm and clearly-uniformed White Fang soldiers grabbing what equipment they could as they fled the facility.

"People of Vale," began the voice of Jaune Arc. "My name is Jaune Arc. What you see here is a White Fang facility dedicated to experimenting with the creatures of Grimm, using the methods of Doctor Merlot to turn them to weapons of war. Those efforts were both successful and extensive."

The footage changed to show a somber Jaune, flanked by his fellows from Team JNPR. "The threat is still far away. Do not panic. Discord only aids the enemy. Keep calm. Heed Headmaster Ozpin's instructions. We are here to protect you. We're sending our sister team ahead through the old subway tunnel, as they have suffered injuries. We will collapse the tunnel behind them and defend it to our last breath. Send a team to make sure that the threat is eliminated. Our names are Jaune Arc. Nora Valkyrie. Pyrrha Nikos. Lie Ren. Together, we are Team JNPR, and we will hold the horde at Mountain Glenn, or perish in the attempt. Stand strong. Stand together. Team JNPR, out."

The feed cut back to Ozpin. "The threat is real, but still far away. Rest assured that Huntsmen are being mobilized, both for the defense of the city and the eradication of this threat. Please remain in your homes for the duration of this emergency, and stand by for further instruction or information from the Vale Council. As the brave leader of Team JNPR said, we must stand strong, and stand together during this crisis. Thank you."

Ozpin took a deep breath when the feed ended, and motioned for Glynda to follow him. They needed to retrieve the last Silver-Eyed Warrior.

[/]

The priestess knelt before the shrine in her garden.

"As there is a God of Darkness, there is a God of Light," she intoned. "May He turn His gaze towards our sons and daughters, and cloak them in His silver, celestial light. May He shepherd them safely to our loving arms, and shield them from all harms."

Her voice hardened.

"As there is a God of Light, there is a God of Darkness. May He turn His gaze onto those who seek to do harm to our sons and daughters. May He send vultures to rend their flesh and feast upon their livers. May their genitals putrefy before their horrified gazes, and let them know terror before their end."

She drew a ceremonial knife, and drew it across her wrist, welcoming the sting like an old friend. She held her wrist over a bronze bowl on the shrine, allowing her blood to run into it. "Life for life and death for death. Bring salvation to our children, and ruin to their foes. By blood, by breath, by life, by death, I offer all to make it so."

[/]

"Well, this is the end of the line, kiddos."

Roman Torchwick stepped out of the conductor's car, surveying the assorted youths. Red was still out cold, the catgirl wasn't going anywhere, Blondie had fallen asleep holding her sister's hand, and Neo was currently torturing the snow princess by flashing her cleavage at the girl.

"Neo, button your shirt back up. There are some things I just do not want to see, for cryin' out loud."

She pouted at him for ruining her fun, but complied anyway, much to the Schnee girl's relief.

"So, your peeps have some way to get us out? The original plan called for just blasting a hole through the street."

The Schnee girl huffed. "My sister and her soldiers are locked onto my Scroll's signal. Trust me, our rescue will be a matter of -"

An emerald flash of light carved through the stone above them, splitting open the tunnel.

"...moments," the Schnee girl finished, unnecessarily. She went to wake up her friend. "Yang," she nudged her. "Yang, it's time to go."

"Weiss?" Blondie sat up, smacking her lips loudly, but then some sort of realization struck her. "Ruby!"

"She's fine," Weiss said. "We're in Vale. We need to get to my sister and help them get Blake and Ruby to the hospital."

"Right...right." Yang took a deep breath, brushing her hair away from her face.

They stepped out of the subway car just as Penny Polendina, hovering above the street with her rocket boots, finished blasting open a wider hole in the street.

"These kids keep getting weirder and weirder," Roman muttered.

The girl with the rocket boots flew down the hole, hovering in front of Weiss. "Weiss! Where is Ruby?"

"She's in the train. She and Blake need medical attention, immediately."

Penny was off in a flash, and just as quickly, she returned, gingerly carrying the unconscious Ruby up to the street, where, presumably, paramedics were standing by. As she went back for Blake, a pale blue light flashed from the street, and a long, but narrow staircase of ice carved itself into existence before them, reaching from the subway tunnel to the street.

"That would be Winter," muttered Weiss, shaking her head at her sister's masterful precision in the use of Dust. Carefully - the staircase was, after all, made of ice - Weiss, Yang, and the crooks made their way out of the tunnel and up to the street. As expected, Winter was waiting there, along with the Headmaster himself, a squad of paramedics, who were working on Blake and Ruby before loading them into Bullheads, and a good two-dozen professional Huntsmen who were eyeing the hole from which they'd emerged with suspicion.

"It's good to see the both of you unharmed," the Headmaster said. "We'll get you to Beacon, where we can debrief you in safe -" Ozpin's expression soured as he saw Roman and Neo standing behind his students. "Roman Torchwick. Neo Politan. Why am I not surprised to find that you had something to do with this debacle?"

"Who me?" Roman spread his arms open, his face the very image of affronted innocence. "Why Ozzy, I'm hurt, truly."

"You're about to be," Winter said, her arms crossed and her expression sharp.

Roman put on his most charming smile. "Why, hello. I don't think we've been introduced. Roman Torchwick, gentleman thief -"

"And soon to be dead man if you don't give me a very good explanation for what you're doing with my sister and her team," Winter interrupted.

Roman dropped the smile. "Sheesh, what is it with the gals in this town? See Neo, this is why we're goin' to Vacuo. Anyway, you girls wanna explain the sitch to Miss Stabby-Pants here, or do I gotta do it?"

Weiss sighed. "When we were fighting through the White Fang base things...went south. Port was dead, Oobleck was dead, their radios were lost to us, Blake was injured, Ruby was unconscious...and then these two," she said, indicating Roman and Neo, "found us, looking to flee from the situation. They claim to have been forced to work for some woman. Irrespective of the truth of their statement, they made an offer. They knew where a working subway train was, and the codes to get it working, and in exchange, they wanted help faking their deaths so they could flee the country. Jaune agreed to their deal, before...before he stayed behind to make sure that the Grimm couldn't follow. I hate to say it, but we wouldn't have escaped without them."

Ozpin frowned. "I see. In exchange for your assistance in this matter, I am inclined to honor Mister Arc's side of the bargain, and give both you and your niece eight hours to be gone from my city." Ozpin smiled faintly at the startled expression on Roman's face. "Come now, Mister Torchwick. You're not the only one who can find things out, and that secret was neither difficult to uncover nor especially significant. Now, before you leave, I must insist on knowing the identity of the woman who you claim forced you into this...state of affairs."

"Oh, that's easy. Her name's Cinder Fall. Visiting student from Haven. Black hair, gold eyes, killer gams, real psycho-bitch. Yeah, have fun with that. Now, if that's all, I believe Neo and I have pressing business of the 'not-being-here-anymore' variety."

"So it would seem," said Ozpin, his tone terse. "Farewell, Mister Torchwick. I'm sure you can understand if I hope to never see you again."

"Yeah, yeah, bite me too. Say goodbye, Neo!"

The short girl waved cheerily before holding up her hand in the shape of a phone. Call me! she signaled to Weiss. And with that, the pair of ne'er-do-wells were off, fading into the shadows of the streets as if they'd never been there to begin with.

"Ugh. Pervert," Weiss muttered. She started as she felt Winter put her arm over her shoulder.

"Come, sister. There is still much for us to do this night."

[/]

"And this is why we've been packing."

Illia Amitola folded her arms across her chest as she watched the Headmaster's address to the city. Her own, much smaller splinter of Adam Taurus's Vale Cell had immediately recognized what the public airing of their very dirty laundry meant, and her team was currently scrambling to gather up everything that they could take with them as they prepared to flee the city. It wouldn't be the first time she'd been effectively chased out of town, but this time seemed different.

They had been caught weaponizing Grimm.

In all the sordid and blood-soaked history of warfare on Remnant, utilizing the Grimm was one of the very few taboos that transcended barriers of nationality or race. Entire peace treaties had been struck from the cooperation borne between warring foes who banded together when the Grimm had fallen upon the survivors.

Abandoning an enemy to the Grimm, when it was within one's power to have saved them, was anathema to all civilized people in Remnant. How much worse would it be for the White Fang, to have Vale - and soon all the world - know that they sought to ally themselves with the enemy of all that lived? To harness that corrupted evil and turn it on an entire city?

Would her remnant of the Vale Cell even be welcome in Menagerie?

Illia clenched her fist. "I hope they killed you, Adam Taurus," she muttered from between gritted teeth.

They were swiftly running out of places to flee.

[/]

"Ozpin. What the hell is going on?"

"Sit tight, Qrow, and watch over your charges. We have already retrieved your nieces, and while Ruby is unconscious, she appears otherwise unharmed. I assure you that we're doing everything we can to ensure their safety. We have the name of the infiltrator now, so we're moving to arrest them. Keep watch, Qrow. This is a dangerous time."

"Right. Just...damn it."

"I know, old friend. Rest assured that I'm protecting your family as if it were my own."

"All right. Thanks, Oz."

"It's nothing."

[/]

In their dorm room, Cinder Fall was having a conniption. Somehow, Ozpin had not only found out about her plan to flood Vale with Enhanced Grimm, but he'd gone and as good as destroyed it without her even knowing! Years of planning, of effort, of kissing up to the disgusting Doctor Merlot, and it had all come crashing down.

And she didn't even know how!

"Emerald! I need answers! Now!"

The thief shook her head as she typed furiously into her terminal. "Ozpin was just contacted by his lieutenant, but I couldn't crack their encryption in time."

"Then where was the lieutenant?"

"Oddly enough, in the faculty dorms."

Cinder paused. "What? Why would…" Her eyes narrowed dangerously, a fiery corona flickering around her eyes, struggling to fully ignite. "The basement was a decoy! He had her up there this whole time! I'm going to tear that old man's heart from his chest!"

She turned and jumped through the window, a powerful leap that would have been beyond even the most powerful of Aura-enhanced efforts. She leapt clear across the campus, latching on to the faculty dormitory building, clawing her way up the side in a burning frenzy.

Emerald and Mercury watched by the shattered window, stunned.

"We need to follow her!" Emerald finally declared.

Mercury shook his head. "Nope."

"Nope? What do you mean, 'nope?'"

The silver assassin shot her a look. "Cinder there just chucked subtlety out the window. Won't be long 'till they're comin' after us, if they aren't already. Either she wins or she doesn't, but no matter what, we're screwed."

Emerald shook her head, her mint-colored hair shaking with it. "Cinder wouldn't just abandon us! She wouldn't abandon...me," she added, her voice little more than a whisper.

"She just fuckin' did. The question is whether or not you're going to let yourself go down with her, or if you're ready to move on to something better."

She looked at him, suspiciously. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, if you help me, I can cut you in on a new deal, a better deal."

"What?"

He smirked at her. "I don't work for Cinder. I'll land on my feet. Now the question is, when I report back to the Boss, are you going to be an asset, or a loose end?"

Mercury knew that he had her. And a good thing too, as Cinder was about to bring all the heat in Vale on their heads, and Emerald would be able to help him hide for long enough to get his hands on Ruby Rose.

Ironwood wouldn't be happy about the Maiden situation, but the way Mercury saw it, it was his own damn fault for not telling him what he was getting into. Freaky magic shit was a bit above his paygrade, thank you very fuckin' much. But it was confirmed that there was something special about the little silver-eyed bitch, and delivering her to him counted as a "strategic war asset" or somesuch soldier boy bullshit jargon.

Sure. That was the plan. Lay low with Em while Cinder lost her shit, nab the bitch, and report back to the Boss, with Emerald in tow. After all, Ironwood had promised him a Semblance as payment for his services, and Mercury couldn't think of any power more helpful to an assassin than the ability to conjure illusions at will. Once he got her to that machine, Emerald's Semblance was as good as his, and he would be...unstoppable.

Mercury smiled. Life was good.

[/]

She was breathing.

Jaune's heart almost stopped when Pyrrha had dropped in his arms, after definitively pushing her Semblance to its limit. Coughing against the dust that had been kicked up into the air by the impacts of collapsing buildings, Jaune held his partner close to him, half-carrying and half-dragging her to the collapsed tunnel that they had been defending for so long. He propped her up against the wall, putting her spear and shield next to her in case she woke up to resume the fight. It was all that he could do for the girl who had saved them all.

"Ren?" Jaune called out. "Nora?"

He heard a strained groan and rushed towards it, blanching as he saw Ren. He had almost managed to avoid the falling masonry, but he'd been caught by a piece of collapsing building, the heavy stonework crushing his left leg from the knee down.

"Jaune," Ren gasped. "Help...help me." He was pale and strained, obviously in a great deal of pain from the crushed leg.

"Ren? Ren!" Nora shrieked as the dust cleared enough for her to see him pinned to the ground. She ran to them, falling to her knees and cradling his face in her hands. "Ren…"

Ren gave her a pained grin. "Hey, you," he croaked. "I kinda got a little smooshed."

"It's okay. It's okay, it's okay, it's okay," she babbled. "Jaune's here, and he's gonna fix it, we're gonna be okay, you're gonna be okay…"

"Nora," Jaune interrupted her, his tone grave. This was the exact situation that he'd been worried about for as long as he'd known them. "Nora, look at me. Look at me," he said, using a commanding tone that hit Nora like a slap to the face. "Nora," he said again, once he was sure he had her attention. "I need you to stand watch while I help him.

"But -"

"Nora." He stared at her as he began tying his sash tightly around Ren's lower thigh, just above his knee, to serve as a tourniquet. "You promised to keep him safe, remember? This is how you do that."

She was taken aback for a moment before her gaze hardened and she nodded. "Right. No one's gonna touch him." She hefted her hammer and went to stand watch. Jaune watched her go before looking down to Ren.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm so sorry." He ripped off one of Ren's sleeves, using it as an impromptu gag, before standing back and drawing his sword. "...This is going to hurt," he warned.

Ren grimaced, before nodding.

Jaune brought Crocea Mors down onto his thigh, severing it in one clean cut. Ren screamed, the gag muffling his agonized cries, which only increased in pitch when Jaune brought the Burn Dust to his raw stump. As the smell of burnt meat and hair permeated the air, Ren finally, mercifully, lost consciousness. Jaune checked his pulse - faint, but present - and waited to see that no blood was coming from the seared-shut veins and arteries before untying the tourniquet. When he saw that the hemorrhaging had stopped, he carried Ren over to the same wall where he'd left Pyrrha, propping up his stump on her shield to elevate it.

This was his fault. He'd led them here, he'd driven Pyrrha to bring it all down, and now they were both paying for it.

He shook his head. There would be time to fall apart later. For now, he needed to get to his last teammate standing, and ensure that his friends would make it until rescue arrived. Jaune marched over to Nora, who had just finished venting her fury on some Beowulves that had opted to investigate all the commotion.

"Ren's going to be fine," he told her. "We need to make sure that nothing gets past us to threaten him and Pyrrha."

"Right." She shook her head. "It's night already, Jaune."

"Just means that Team RWBY must have reached help by now."

"It's so dark…" she murmured.

He put his hand on her shoulder. "And yet the stars still shine. Where there's light, there's hope."

"And if they go out?"

Jaune triggered his Semblance, glowing white-gold. As he had suspected with Pyrrha, part of that Aura seeped into Nora, restoring her own reserves, a neat trick that could save all their lives. Still, as he did so, he felt a gnawing ache in his side. He'd been drawing on his Semblance to use it on himself for hours on end, and he was beginning to wonder if his body had limits that his Aura did not. He shrugged off the pain and gave Nora a reassuring nod. "Then we'll shine all the brighter in their stead."

She started at the feel of his Aura bolstering her, and her grip was tighter on Magnhild as she stood straighter. "Right. Let's do this."

"For the queen's glory?" Jaune asked with a smile, invoking her self-given title.

"No. For love."

[/]

With one last check of her enormous gun, Coco Adel folded up her weapon and nodded to her teammates. Together, they marched, with purpose, towards the Bullhead hangars. Soon, Sinmin and the rest of Team SLVR fell in line with the older team, as did the third-year Team GRNT. Team SSSN from Haven followed suit, and their counterparts from Team ABRN. Even Team CRDL joined in, which genuinely surprised her.

"Really, Cardin?" Coco just couldn't help but ask.

He spat. "Arc's an asshole, but there's Grimm to be smashed. I know what side of the firing line I'm on."

"Took you long enough," she replied, dismissing him from her mind.

The force of two-dozen Hunters-in-training was met at the hangar by Headmaster Ozpin, who was directing paramedics. The students came to a halt as they saw two members of Team RWBY being carried out on stretchers.

"Blake!"

Sun made to follow the paramedics, only for his partner to hold him back. The blue-haired boy patted him on the shoulder as Sun's shoulders hunched, obviously distressed for the girl he'd seen be carried out.

"And there's the little Rose," Yatsuhashi said, noting that the youngest of them was also being rushed to the infirmary.

Ozpin sighed deeply. "I see that you have all seen Team JNPR's message. This is quite the team you've assembled. I assume you're going after them?"

Coco nodded. "That's right."

"And if I told you that this was too dangerous?"

"Then I'd tell you to shove it. Uh, sir. Respectfully." Coco gulped. "What I meant to say is, I promised Arc that if he ever needed it, Team CFVY would come runnin', and I'm not about to let anyone make a liar out of Coco Adele, not even you. Sir."

Ozpin frowned, before leaning in closer to address her alone. "It has been hours since they recorded that message, and it will be hours still until you can arrive, even if you depart right now. In all likelihood, you will be recovering their bodies."

Coco stared her Headmaster dead in the eye. "Dead or alive, we're bringing them home, sir," she said.

Ozpin stood back, running his hands through his hair. This whole thing had gone south fast, and now...well, if nothing else, getting these students out and away would keep things from getting more complicated as they moved to arrest Cinder Fall and her accomplices. "Very well," he said. "Winter, Glynda, go with them. We are not losing any more students today, understood?"

"Yes, sir," Glynda replied.

Coco watched as a stranger, like an older, hotter version of Weiss Schnee, gave the younger girl a tight hug before moving to gather up some of the students. As they made their way to the Bullheads, Coco reached out to Weiss.

"Hey. Chin up. We'll bring him back home, Snowflake. I promise."

The barest hint of a sob escaped the younger girl, before she forced it down, maintaining her composure through sheer force of will.

"Atta girl." Coco patted her shoulder once, and then joined her team in boarding the aircraft.

[/]

It occurred to Qrow that he really should learn how to keep his big mouth shut.

Well, he hadn't actually said anything about his frustration in keeping watch over two women while his nieces were hurt, but somehow the Universe had discerned his dissatisfaction and had decided to express its displeasure in the form of a deranged psycho who had burst through the window and bodily hurled his ass through a wall.

"Excuse me," Fria said, looking curiously at the newcomer. "Do I know you?"

"Out of the way, hag," Cinder spat as she strode over to Amber's sick bed. Her face split open in a deranged leer, actually drooling as she held her palm up to the stricken woman. That palm split open, revealing the sharpened maw of some sort of Grimm implanted into her arm.

Yeah, no.

Cinder reeled as a shotgun blast hit her directly in the side of the head, staggering her, making her Aura flicker dangerously, and forcing her to fall away from Amber. She looked, with hate-filled eyes, as Qrow racked his gun, switching it back to a greatsword.

"Yo. She-bitch. Let's go."

Cinder flash-forged a glass blade, raising it just in time to prevent a heavy overhand chop of Qrow's greatsword from cutting her in half. She forged another blade in her offhand, stabbing it towards his ribs, forcing him to bring his oversized blade down to the side to sweep it away. She surged towards him, keeping up the pressure and demanding that he keep on the back foot.

Then the drunken son-of-a-bitch headbutted her, bashing her in the nose and smashing it flat against her cheek. She swore and lashed out blindly, her eyes welling with tears as blood ran freely down her face.

Qrow grabbed her wrists with a grip of iron. The bones of her forearms ground together under the pressure, and she screamed as she dropped her blades. Her vision cleared, showing her nothing but the sneering face of the veteran Huntsman as he overpowered her.

This couldn't be! She had come so far, done so much, only for her rightful prize to be snatched from her at the last minute by this...this drunken nobody!

All the pain would be for nothing. All her sacrifices would be in vain.

The corona around her eyes flared to life. She may only have been half a Maiden, but that was more than enough power to squash this insect. Cinder called upon every ounce of magical power she had at her command, and exploded.

Qrow had just enough time to try to shield his face from the flames before the detonation carried him off his feet and sailing through the air and out the window, falling five stories down to the ground.

He groaned as he rolled to his side, spitting out blood. Yeah, those were his ribs. Fuck. He didn't know she could conjure Maiden powers with only half of 'em. Then again, Ozpin didn't know either. Guess that never happened before.

Qrow forced himself up to his feet as he looked at the building. The damn roof had been blown clear apart by that little display, and alarms were going off around him. Well, at least he'd have backup soon.

Then he heard the screaming.

Fuck!

He transformed into his bird form, flying back up to the fifth floor. Cinder turned away from Amber, who was very definitely now dead, and that corona around her eyes burned even brighter. Oh, this did not bode well.

On the other hand, Fria had apparently been shocked into lucidity, and was now setting her own Maiden powers against the intruder, which had caught Cinder utterly by surprise. Ice and fire clashed, forming powerful gusts of wind that threatened to send Qrow reeling.

The old woman was putting up a good fight - a damn good fight - but Cinder managed to brute-force burn her way past the icy winds and latched her arm around the old woman's throat.

Qrow tucked his avian body into itself, diving down towards Cinder in his best impression of a hawk. At the last minute, he transformed back into his human form, maintaining his speed while drastically increasing his mass, all of which transferred into Cinder via a double-booted dropkick to the chin and chest. Cinder was ripped away from Fria, and then it was her turn to take a five-story dive. Qrow transformed back into his bird form and dove after her. Cinder was able to summon magical winds to break her fall, landing delicately on her feet, and had just enough time to look up as Qrow, in his human form, hit her with all the force of a missile.

Cinder lay in the center of a crater blasted into the Beacon Academy grounds, her Aura flickering before breaking entirely. Qrow's lip curled as he raised his greatsword to cut her head off, when she raised a hand, sending a burst of lightning striking his sword, blasting it out of his hands. Qrow, undeterred, fell on her, beating her with heavy punches, determined to kill the bitch at all costs. He ignored the searing burns that she inflicted on his chest and abdomen, wrapping his hands around her throat to strangle the life out of her.

Then he felt the stab in his chest.

Growling, he kept his grip tight around her throat, until a surge of magical force blasted him off of his feet.

Cinder gasped for air, her throat and face heavily bruised as Qrow had damn near killed her, Maiden powers or no powers. She forced herself to her feet, staring down at the Huntsman, who, despite drawing harsh, rasping breaths from a collapsed lung, courtesy of her belt knife, was still trying to attack her.

Her lip curled. "Time to die," she croaked.

"I. Think. Not."

Cinder's blood ran cold as she saw a very angry Headmaster Ozpin rushing towards her. Had she been fresh, she would have enjoyed humbling him, crushing him under her heel to please Mistress Salem. But as it was, with no Aura left, he would make quick work of her. It was humiliating, but she needed to withdraw. Now that she knew what the other Maiden looked like, she would be able to hunt her at her leisure, and take what was hers.

She summoned the magic of the Fall Maiden once more and took to the skies like a shooting star, just before Ozpin's cane would have struck her.

Ozpin stared at the Maiden as she flew away, then down to Qrow.

"Oz," Qrow gasped. "I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "Men were never meant to contend against Maidens. Stay with me, old friend, help is on the way."

"Oz…"

Ozpin put his hand on his faithful lieutenant's forehead. "Be at ease."

The Headmaster stowed his cold fury as the medics arrived and firefighters began putting out the burning faculty dormitory building. The infirmary was going to be very busy tonight.

[/]

Fria lay still on the floor of her room, struggling for breath. She knew that she had to protect the powers of the Winter Maiden, and as far as she knew, that nice young man had saved her. Well, for a given definition of 'saved.'

It hurt to breathe. It hurt to lay still. Everything hurt.

Still, at least he had stopped that woman from tearing out her soul. She should have helped that poor girl, but she hadn't realized...hadn't…

It was time to let go. It would be a relief. There was another, wasn't there? She remembered someone else had wanted to rip out her soul, a cold, clinical place. A young, white-haired woman, she had pulled her from there.

Wasn't she her daughter? Or granddaughter? Or was she just...Fria decided that it didn't matter anymore. Whoever she was, she was the first to have saved her, because she had a conscience. She would be a good choice.

Fria smiled as she let go.

She found herself in a white void, free of pain, and fully lucid. She groaned a bit as she remembered how her mental state had degenerated without the medication. At least Qrow had been polite and kind to her in her last hours.

Finally, her chosen successor arrived. Tall, strong, a fearsome beauty as stark as the Solitas winds. Perfect.

"Fria?" Winter asked. "Where are we?"

"Well, you are wherever you ran off to," she said, her tone wry. "As for me, well...end of the road, I suppose."

Winter's face fell. "I'm sorry."

Fria waved her off. "Don't be. I'm afraid I spent the last day or so annoying your poor boyfriend to no end. Kept asking after you as if you were my daughter."

Her successor smiled sadly. "Well, you'd have done a better job of it than my real mother."

"And I would have been proud to have had a daughter like you. Don't be too wroth with your man when you return. He did his best...but mere men were never meant to contend with Maidens." She shrugged. "But enough of that. You're here because I've chosen you to succeed me as the Winter Maiden."

Winter seemed genuinely surprised. "Me? But I...I was Ironwood's toy for so long, I…"

"And when it came down to it, you gave up everything you had because you knew that it was the right thing to do." Fria took her hands in her own. "You took the little robot girl with you because someone needed to care for her, and that someone was you. You are brave, strong, honorable and kind, and a far better woman than you give yourself credit for. You are worthy, and I can rest easy knowing that our sisters are safe in your care."

"Our sisters?"

"A part of us remains, the strength and wisdom of generations of women combined into one. This is what we guard, and when I'm gone, a part of me will always be with you."

Fria's hands glowed with magical power, and she smiled as she felt the power transfer to Winter. "And now I can rest."

"Fria...thank you."

"Go on, girl. I'm sure you'll do wonderful things."

Winter faded away, and Fria took one last, relieved breath before she faded as well.

[/]

Jaune and Nora stood back-to-back, fending off the Grimm to protect their friends, a surge of oozing darkness and malevolent shadow surrounding them. They had run out of grenades long ago, and at Jaune's insistence, Nora had switched to her new handguns as the Grimm had physically pushed in on them. She was no longer physically capable of swinging her hammer fast enough for combat, and he didn't want her getting gutted on a slow swing. The chainsaws on her guns roared as they tore into Grimm flesh. She rolled over Jaune's dipped shoulders, switching places to allow him to block the spinning attack of a Boarbatusk with his shield, while she jabbed the barrel of one of her guns into a Beowulf's torso and blasted it apart with a single, powerful shot.

Their hair was matted to their skulls with sweat, and they had to blink away the stinging, salty beads of moisture as it dripped into their eyes. Each breath was dried agony as they had run out of water long ago. Still they fought on, forcing weary muscles to swing their weapons and carry themselves into position.

"Hey," Jaune rasped.

"Y-yeah?" answered Nora.

"Dawn's here. We made it through the night."

It was true. The sky was alight in the golden hues of the breaking dawn, the sunlight diffused amongst the gathering clouds.

"Ooh, pretty. At least we'll die in the daylight."

"Yeah, well - shit!" Jaune scrambled to cover Nora, as she'd not seen the stinger of a Deathstalker to her right.

A trio of green bullets hit the stinger, knocking it offline. Jaune called up his Semblance, Crocea Mors glowing in sympathetic resonance, and hacked through the offending tail in a single, mighty blow. He grimaced as the ache in his side grew sharper, and forced it down. He just hoped he could hold long enough to get his team out. The candle that burned twice as bright lasted only half as long, and he'd been burning so very brightly for so very long.

He risked a look to the wall. Ren, his stump still elevated on Pyrrha's shield, was pale, his face drawn with pain, and his grip on his gun was shaky, but he was conscious, and back in the fight, as it were.

The claws of a Beowulf raking against his backplate brought Jaune's attention back to his immediate situation. These particular Grimm had been fitted with steel claws, which had gauged deeply into the thick steel of his armor. Still, better him than Nora, and better still the armor than him. "Why did they even bother enhancing you?" Jaune asked as he stabbed the lupine Grimm through the chest.

"See? Ren's back with us," he said, trying to raise Nora's spirits. "The odds are getting better!"

[/]

Winter snapped back to her own consciousness aboard the Bullhead.

"Uh, ma'am? Are you okay?" one of the students, a girl named Chocolate or something, regarded her curiously.

The former Specialist shook her head quickly. "I'm fine," she said. What could she have possibly said to the girl? That she had just been granted unbelievable magical powers by the dying spirit of a crotchety old lady back at Beacon? Instead, she merely asked "How close now?"

"We're in range of their Scrolls," the girl, whose name Winter simply could not recall, reported. "If nothing else, that means that their Scrolls are intact."

Winter took out her own Scroll, and used the clearance that Ozpin had given her to tap into Team JNPR's team Aura display. Ren's was almost non-existent, just a slight sliver of red at the very end of the bar. Nora's was solidly in the yellow, while Jaune's flickered back and forth between low yellow and full green, which was easily the strangest reading Winter had ever seen.

Pyrrha's read as non-applicable, which did not bode well for the Champion of Mistral.

"All right," she called out. "They're likely holed up in the subway station underneath the old Central Plaza. We'll land on one of the nearby buildings and fire from elevation to thin out the Grimm and then -"

"Uh, ma'am?" the girl interrupted her.

Winter bit back her annoyance at having her orders interrupted. "What, cadet?"

"Uh, those buildings? They're, uh...they're gone."

"What?"

Winter leaned out of the door to see for herself. Sure enough, the four buildings that marked each cardinal direction of the central plaza had collapsed. Not only had they collapsed, but the way that they had collapsed had cut off access to the central plaza, which had also been obliterated, revealing the subway station underneath. Winter went to her radio.

"Goodwitch. Do you see that?"

"I do," the deputy Headmistress confirmed. "It must have been tactical on their part, funneling the Grimm into more manageable numbers."

"Right, but how?"

There was a silence over the radio. "It's Arc and Nikos, had to have been. If they can wreak as much destruction to Beacon's campus on accident, I put very little past them when it comes to working together to wreck things. Take CFVY, SLVR and SSSN and do a combat extraction. I'll take the rest and clear out this mob."

"Understood. Schnee out." Winter put the radio away and looked at the teenagers, who were both her backup and her charges. "All right, cadets. Our orders are this: we are to jump into the station and clear an LZ. We don't know the status of JNPR, so be prepared. We assess the situation, evacuate who we can, and then assist Goodwitch's team in clearing out the remaining Grimm. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am!" came the affirmation from the teenagers.

"That's what I like to hear. On my signal." Winter leaned out again, judging the distance. "Go!"

[/]

"Jaune," Nora gasped, hunched over her knees, panting for breath in between swings at the Grimm. "Do you hear that?"

Jaune's face split into a wide, wild grin. "Sounds like engines. We made it!"

They backed away from the Grimm, gulping in air. Jaune looked down to Ren. "Ren. Help's here. We going to be okay."

"They're...late…" Ren murmured. He was clammy, and Jaune worried that he was fevered.

"Yep. We're gonna tease them for it later," he promised. "Just stay with me, buddy. Can you do that?"

Ren looked at the stump of his leg, then back up at his friend. "I don't think I'm running anywhere anytime soon," he joked, slightly delirious.

Jaune winced.

"Sorry," Ren offered. "Gallows humor. I can't help myself."

"Ren, if it helps you get through this, I will personally sit through every awful joke you can think of."

"Good, because I'll be sitting through it too."

Jaune forced himself to smile. "See? There's the spirit."

He almost fainted when the first of the Huntsmen landed in the station. Winter was the first, tearing into the Grimm with precisely-controlled fury, her slender saber slashing through the creatures like paper. Soon, she was joined by Team CFVY. Coco Adel opened fire with her fuck-off huge minigun, and with her hardlight copying-weapon, Velvet was right there with her, the two of them spitting high-calibur fury at their enemies.

Team SLVR was the first to actually approach them.

"Holy crap," Sinmin shook his head as he looked at them. "How are you guys still standing?"

"I'm not," Ren quipped.

Sin looked at his classmate's leg and winced.

"Yeah, Jaune cut my leg off," Ren rambled.

"What?"

"Was cheating at cards. Remember kids, cheaters never...prosper…" Ren mumbled in his delirium.

"We need a medevac," Jaune added, unnecessarily.

"Yeah, no kidding." The leader of Team SLVR looked at the massive stack of Grimm corpses that dominated the center of the station. "How did you guys do all of this?"

Jaune shrugged. Suddenly, his armor felt like it weighed a ton, and he couldn't even lift Crocea Mors any more, the sheathed sword dragging down his left arm with its weight. His feet gave out from under him, and Sin reached out to help him sit against the wall. His classmate gave him a canteen, and Jaune drank greedily, having never tasted something so pure and wonderful in his life.

"We just had faith, I guess."

[/]

Weiss paced in the infirmary, where she waited with Yang and Penny. When she'd asked the robot girl if she would be okay, Penny had attempted to answer in the affirmative, before she broke into a series of hiccuping fits. She had clutched Weiss to her, strangely convulsing, and it struck Weiss that Penny couldn't cry the way the rest of them did.

To keep her distracted, Weiss had asked Penny to design a prosthetic hand for Blake. Penny had surprised them all by revealing that she knew the manufacturing process for the synthetic skin that covered her alloy frame, and would be happy to share that to help her friends - but she would need help manufacturing it.

While Weiss was contemplating how to reshape Vale's medical industry, Penny had begun designing an interim prosthetic for Blake, which, to Weiss's uneducated gaze, at least looked similar enough to her real hand in its shape, though it would be made of a glossy black alloy.

Then her Scroll chimed. Weiss answered it, revealing Coco Adel. "Heya, Snowflake. We're landing in twenty minutes. One knightly husbando, alive and sound, as promised."

Her hand went to her mouth, and before she could stop herself she was crying in relief. She'd been so scared for him…

"The rest of the team's still kicking as well, but...not all got out as well as Arc."

Weiss felt a sudden rush of guilt. She had been so relieved over Jaune that she hadn't even thought to ask about his teammates, who were her friends in their own right.

Coco apparently saw her distress. "Hey, hey, it's all right. They'll need some TLC, but everyone's alive, and we'll get them fixed up. It's okay to be relieved."

"I…" Weiss couldn't even think of the words to begin to thank her fellow Huntress.

"No, no, no need to thank me," Coco said, with a big smug grin. "That's just Team CFVY for you...awesome on demand. Although, if you really want to thank me, you could hook me up with that hot sister of yours..."

Coco gave up as she saw that Weiss had stopped listening entirely, and ended the call. Weiss was beside herself with joy, relief, guilt, and just...she stopped and took a deep breath. From the sounds of it, Team JNPR was in a bad state. Half of Team RWBY was down, and with Yang having gone borderline catatonic at the news that her sister was in a coma for reasons unknown to medical science, and her uncle had been wounded stopping some attack on the school itself, it was down to her to coordinate efforts to ensure that their friends recovered.

"Yang?" she said, gently putting a hand on her teammate's shoulder. "Team JNPR is coming back. Do you want to come with me to greet them?"

Yang just stared off into space, and Weiss forced her heart to unclench. Perhaps staying in the infirmary was the best thing for her for now.

The heiress took a moment to clean the streaked makeup from her face, forcing herself to be composed. Then she made her way to the hangar.

Her heart dropped as she saw Pyrrha carried out on a stretcher. Ren was next, with Nora, barely keeping on her feet, refusing to be parted from him as the medics carried half of Team JNPR to the infirmary. And then finally...there he was.

His armor was hanging off of him. Something had dug deep furrows into his cuirass. He reeked of dried sweat and body odor, and he was pale, gaunt, and favored his side as if he'd been stabbed.

But he was her Jaune. And he was alive, and there before her, safe and sound, where he belonged. She drew him to her, unheeding of the smell, the sweat, and the grime, tears streaming once more.

"Hi, Weiss," Jaune said, sounding bone weary, and weaker than she'd ever heard him. He held her close, relishing her embrace.

"Marry me?"

[/]

Chapter Endnotes:

Team JNPR pulled off an insane, suicidal holding action to protect Vale. And now all of Vale knows that.

Cinder Fall flew off the handle and threw subtlety to the wind? Who would have foreseen such a thing?

"Yo, she-bitch, let's go," is a quote from Army of Darkness, which I felt fit Qrow's personality perfectly.

Yes, Jaune was, in fact, planning on gassing Hazel with white phosphorus. Having fought the man and barely survived, Jaune isn't pulling any punches with that particular motherfucker.

Yep. Mercury wasn't really working for Salem or Cinder, but Ironwood. You know, for all the flak this version of Ironwood gets, I at least try my hardest to make him a competent, intelligent, and threatening villain, which is more than RT did for him. So he placed spies around, and even got one to infiltrate Cinder's group, buying his loyalty with the one thing that would be irresistible to Mercury - the promise of a Semblance, courtesy of the Aura Transfer Machine.

I mean, Merc's still evil, it's just that there are different factions at play here. As for why Ironwood wants the last Silver-Eyed Warrior, well, I'll let you guys speculate for a while.

How powerful is Pyrrha's Semblance when she goes all out? Well, we never got to see it, not really. And how powerful would it be if Jaune got to Aura boost it? Again, we never got to see it, but I posited some Magneto-level feats...though not without cost, at least at first.

Speaking of costs, while Jaune's Semblance makes him a perpetual Aura generator, his body may not be able to handle the strain of repeated, heavy use over time. I felt that this was a good way to put some kind of cap on his otherwise bullshit ability, while still making him a beast of a tank.

Pyrrha's mom is a priestess, but she's a priestess in a world with some fucked-up gods in it.

Qrow's divebombing tactics came from watching "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," where one of Falcon's techniques is to curl into a ball to gain velocity before opening up into a powerful kick. I just adapted that for Qrow's shapeshifting, giving him an edge over other Huntsmen, and bringing him just shy of taking out a newly-minted Maiden.

I've been trying to strike a balance between making Ozpin more competent than in canon while still being a man capable of making errors that can be exploited.

I was surprised by how controversial the deaths of Port and Oobleck were the chapter previous. The next chapter marks the halfway point for the first book in a planned trilogy of stories, so after I upload that, I'll do an intermission. For those who aren't familiar, I use intermission updates as a way to share deleted scenes that I decided not to add, humorous and non-canon omakes, and occasionally discussion of plot points. I'll go into more detail about the thought processes behind Port and Oobleck's deaths, but for a quick TL;DR version, Port got dropped by a vicious, capable, and lethal fighter who is less than half his age, and Oobleck was a victim of circumstance: had to protect Ruby, Ruby was chained down in an enclosed area with a giant armored gorilla murder monster that's hopped up on murder steroids, he overestimated the impact of his weapon on the Grimm, and got got for it. I'm a little puzzled at the assertion that no Grimm should be a threat to a seasoned Huntsman, which must come as a relief to the Huntsmen, I'm sure.

I see it as being similar to a Witcher; there's only a brief period when you're capable of recognizing that you're starting to get too old for this shit, and most of them don't survive that realization.

Right. So, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you on the next update!

-Mahina