Has anything stupid and awful happened this week? Yeah, pretty much. I can't really comment on it however until Wednesday because I'm waiting on test results, but a very young member of our family (not me) might have an advanced form of lymphoma. If so, it's fucking tragic as he's twenty-one and his girlfriend just got pregnant a month back. I went with him to the early screening, and it feels like he doesn't fully "get" what he's being told. I kept trying to explain and he got argumentative. I didn't push since it feels like he's trying to grasp onto whatever comfort he can but… well…

It's hard. Not going to claim it's harder for me than him because it isn't but being the one he asked to come in with him to the doctors, then watching him blank out as the doctor talks was painful. I had to be the one to listen to the doctor and take notes because his head wasn't in the right place when they dropped the C-word. I'm going in with him again Wednesday for test results.


Cover Art: Curbizzle

Chapter 34


Team JNPR didn't get so far ahead that they lost sight of them. Hunter could only move at the pace of a normal person, so Team RWBY and Revolutionary caught them halfway to their destination. Jaune looked surprised for a moment and then relieved, flashing Ruby a grateful grin before continuing on. They ran together in silence, the sounds of battle all around them but no words spoken, at least until they reached the corridor Team JNPR had left the fight in, when a gasp tore itself from Blake's throat and then a furious cry from Jaune's.

Adam Taurus stood alone in the corridor beside the bodies of both Magnis and Nicholas.

Winter Schnee surged ahead and struck the terrorist first, driving him back from the two men and giving Jaune a chance to slide onto his knees by his father's side. Ruby clutched Crescent Rose, looking between Winter and Jaune and wondering what she should do and whether she'd be in the other woman's way if she tried to help.

"He's alive!" Ren said, a hand to Nicholas' neck. "Your father is alive, Jaune."

Jaune sagged in relief and scurried over to check for himself just to make sure. Ruby could see the man's chest rising and falling now that she looked closely enough, but it hadn't been immediately obvious. The problem was that she couldn't say the same for Magnis. Pyrrha knelt with two fingers to the man's neck, and she shook her head sadly. Another iteration gone. Killed. One of the stronger ones. Ruby's hands clenched tight on the haft of her weapon.

"Where are Cinder and the rest of them?" Nora asked.

"They must have gone ahead." Yang said. "This is a distraction."

It was a good distraction in Ruby's mind. Adam might not be able to take them all on at once – or she hoped not – but Jaune wouldn't leave his father alone with the killer. Then they'd have to leave some people to make sure they could deal with Adam, leaving those going ahead all the weaker.

"Hunter." Revolutionary spoke. "He's next to no use against Cinder. Let him drag Nicholas to safety. I shall deal with Adam."

"No." Blake blurted out. "I should stay. Adam is-"

"Not your responsibility. You left him. Whatever you two once had is over and done with." The Jaune who had worn a White Fang mask drew his sword and stalked forward. There was an odd lilt to his voice, an accent that didn't feel quite right. It was biting and sharp. "I am the one summoned and he is my responsibility. Worse, he takes the trust placed in him by our brothers and sisters and throws them to their deaths! As leader of the White Fang, I cannot accept that!"

"You are not our leader!" Adam roared. He'd overheard, pushing back from Winter, who in turn hopped back to stand next to them.

"That got his attention." Revolutionary grinned. "Winter Schnee, take the teams and go after Cinder. Hunter can get Nicholas out of here."

Winter eyed him and asked, "Can you win?"

"We'll be evenly matched. If I win, I die when I kill him. If I lose, I buy time and will at least injure him. It's the same result either way so there's no point leaving anyone behind to fight with me."

Leaving another person to die. It didn't feel right. There were still two whole teams here. They could afford to split up a bit, send the majority after Cinder but leave one or two behind to make sure the fight ended well. If they captured Adam alive then Revolutionary wouldn't have to die with him. Jinn only said an iteration would die if their anchor did, not that they had to kill the anchor.

"Blake and Yang can stay-" Ruby began.

"No!" Revolutionary shook his head angrily. "This is my fight. My anchor. No one interferes."

"You heard him." Winter said, tugging Weiss by the shoulder and pushing Ruby with her other hand. "We have to focus on the war itself. Ashari and Null are our targets. Taurus was left behind to distract us and the longer we let that happen, the further ahead they get."

"But-"

"No buts!" she and Revolutionary snapped as one. "Go!"

The two teams and the Specialist ran ahead while Hunter as already dragging Nicholas by his shoulders out the corridor. Adam snarled and snapped Wilt out, determined to cut them off. A sword met his before he could, pinging his weapon upward as Revolutionary stepped in his path.

"Traitor." Adam sneered.

"I could accuse you of the same." Revolutionary said. "You've betrayed your allies to your doom, betrayed Sienna and betrayed the White Fang. If anyone is a traitor here, it's you."

"Me? I am the White Fang! Sienna is weak."

"Your first mistake was torturing me." Revolutionary said coldly. "Your second was joining with Cinder and your third was sending your men to their deaths. Your last mistake, though? Insulting my girlfriend."

Adam laughed. "You and Sienna? I guess she really has let her standards drop if she's mating with a worthless human." He attacked suddenly, thrusting across the space between them without any warning.

He was fast – too fast – but he was also predictable. Jaune's sword came up in the exact same stance, slid under Adam's blade and forced it high. He thrust himself, mirroring the move perfectly and scoring a line across Adam's shoulder, slicing through his black jacket and scoring against aura.

Adam's eyes widened behind his mask, and he launched himself back only to be pursued. Crocea Mors flicked and flickered like a much smaller, lighter weapon. Cut and slash, two handed grip, long arching swings and a stance that mirrored his own. Adam fended the heavier blade off clumsily, falling back under the sudden onslaught.

Their blades crossed, locked, and Jaune slid his weapon down to pin Adam's in place. Adam kicked his foot out, a prepared move to strip someone engaging in a guard lock, only to strike Revolutionary's foot doing the exact same. The same move, the same timing, the same intent. Revolutionary even went so far as to place his hand on the back of his sword to push, his aura flaring as it protected his hand from the sharp edge. Such a manoeuvre was typical of a single-edged weapon like Adam's own where your hand could rest on the back, but now a two-edged longsword.

"You fight like me." Adam hissed as his own hand met the back of Wilt and he pushed back. "You fight exactly like me."

"Didn't I tell you?" Revolutionary asked. "I'm your replacement. Your better." The human's face stretched into a smile that didn't look right on him. It was bitter, angry and more suited for Adam's own face. It was his own smile. "And we know everything about you, Adam. We know all there is to know."

"You know nothing!"

"We know how you drove Blake away with your fits of anger."

Adam's breath hitched. He released Wilt, let the sword fly back and slashed to decapitate the man while he was off guard. His sword sparked off the longsword as it predicted and foiled the move. He even swung his hip to fire Blush, only to have the human slide aside as if he fully knew the danger the innocuous sheathe represented. The buckshot went wild and punched into the ceiling.

"We know about the lonely nights."

Wilt carved a line in the wall, cut a furrow into the floor and smashed into the other's sword. Revolutionary flowed with him, matching him blow for blow and strike for strike. It was like shadow sparring with himself.

"We know about the bitter longing and white-hot rage."

"She means nothing to me!" Adam roared. He hewed like a lumberjack to no avail. "Blake is a traitor – a traitor to her people! Just like you are!"

"We know about the poetry as well. Such bad poetry. It's probably best she never read it."

Adam's lips peeled back. "DIE!"

"That's a given either way. The only question is whether you're dying with me."

Adam screamed and moved faster and faster. Their swords were a blur and it got to the point where Revolutionary was more predicting the attacks than reacting to them. They fought with the same style, the same technique and the same ferocity, clashing down the corridor in the dark as sparks of metal on metal lit up the gloom.

"The White Fang doesn't need you or your revenge, Adam. You're dragging the movement down with your rage."

"Everything I do, I do for the White Fang!"

"You do it for yourself. You're a selfish man, Adam. All this death, all this misery, is for no other reason than to make others suffer like you have. Did you ever really love Blake, or was she just someone you could sink into to forget the anger and pain?"

Adam howled like a wild animal.

/-/

"We don't have any iterations left." Winter said as they chased down Cinder, Null and Ashari. "Assuming Hunter survives, that leaves us with him and him alone. We can't let Cinder anywhere near him or we will lose this war! Who is his anchor?"

"I am." Ren said.

"Stay out the upcoming fight. You can help from a distance, but you cannot die."

Ren nodded unhappily. Ruby didn't like the implication Knight was dead and gone but she understood what Weiss' sister was saying. The war would be decided by the last Jaune that survived, and right now… hell, right now they had only one confirmed still alive, and he was a pacifist who didn't have any aura.

What happened? What went wrong? They had seemed so invincible before with Knight, Leviathan and Magnis on their side. Ashari, Null and Grimm were strong but not able to stand up to them, and yet now it was their side who had fallen, and Cinder's were almost unharmed. Had they handled things that badly? Was it her fault for being inexperienced? No. It was Fate's fault. He'd killed Leviathan, Barista and probably even Agent by now, and he was responsible for Magnis' death and maybe Warchief as well.

The laziest Jaune, the one that's underestimated the most, had the highest body count in this war by an order of magnitudes. He'd crippled them in one blow. Utterly ruined them and left them bleeding out on the floor. A sudden crash and a boom echoed above them and caused the school to shake and groan violently. It was enough to have everyone stop, Winter looking up in shock.

"What was that!?" Pyrrha asked.

"Something hit the school." Winter said. "I hope it wasn't one of our ships. We can't dwell on it. We need to move on. Cinder is looking for something and we have no idea what that might be, so we need to-"

"I know what it is she's after."

Who-? Ruby's eyes widened.

"FATE!" Yang roared his name and surged forward with a furious cry. Her eyes blazed red and her eyes yellow. She tackled him back and down, mounted his body and pinned him to the floor.

Despite the very real threat – and Yang was in a murderous mood after finding out what he'd nearly done to her sister – Fate kept smiling. He stared up at the girl who might just be prepared to kill him and smirked.

"You've a lot of nerve coming anywhere near us after your actions." Winter said icily. "You are a traitor!"

"Am I, though?" He jerked his head to the side just enough to let Yang's fist split a crack in the floor. "And you might want to be careful, Yang. You could have killed me with that. And then where would you be? Down another iteration. One step closer to Salem's victory."

Yang grabbed his collar and dragged his face up. "We're this close to losing because of you, you fucking monster! You killed Leviathan. You- You tried to kill Ruby! Tell me now why I shouldn't kill you myself!"

No one made to stop her, certainly not his anchor. Pyrrha refused to go near them and was gripping her sword as though she'd been about to attack him herself. Ruby kept her scythe between him and her, the shallow wound on her back still stinging badly.

"Traitor…?" Fate asked calmly. "I'm not sure that counts. The Gods brought us here to fight a war, Yang. It's a battle royale in case you didn't notice. Every man for himself. Ozpin went and ascribed sides to the matter, but the reality is that we're all in this for selfish reasons and there can only be one winner. Those were the rules the gods set. I'm no traitor. I'm just fighting this war like it's meant to be fought."

"Did you kill Warchief?" Winter asked.

"Guilty as charged. I left a surprise with his body, too. Ironwood must have caught that – but I doubt he would have died to it." Winter's sword came free with a hiss of metal. "Ah-ah-ah," he said, wagging his finger in Yang's face. "If you kill me, how many iterations will you have left? Hunter? He's a coward and helpless in a fight. Knight? I'm sorry to say but if he hasn't come back by now then I don't think he survived against Grimm." He winked her way, though Ruby took no relief from it. "Which means I don't need to kill you anymore, Ruby. No hard feelings?"

Weiss and Blake stepped in front of her protectively.

"You think that makes up for everything you've done!?" Yang howled. Her fist shot back. "You lied to me! You tricked me! I'll kill you myself!"

Winter caught Yang's wrist and held her back.

"Winter!" Weiss protested.

"He's right." Winter sounded no happier about it than Yang, and the woman's teeth were gritted tight as she struggled with Yang's raw strength. "We're outnumbered and we've lost the iterations capable of protecting themselves. I know it's his fault but that doesn't change what's happening. We're losing this war. We need him."

"How can we trust him!?" Jaune shouted.

"Pyrrha is my anchor." Fate said. "I need to side with you to make sure Cinder doesn't kill her and end my chances of winning this thing. Also, there's – what? Xiong and Headmaster on one side; Null and Ashari on the other. That's all of us that remain other than Revolutionary, who you left to die against Adam, and Hunter, who won't fight at all. It'll be easier for me to deal with them with your help. And vice versa for you."

Ruby couldn't believe what she was hearing, and apparently neither could any of them. Yang sobbed angrily and said, "So, that's it. You kill off half our people, betray us, try to kill Ruby, and now that we're in a bad situation that you caused, you think you can slide back onto our side and fight alongside us."

"That's it." Fate said. "For what it's worth I am sorry-"

"LIKE HELL YOU ARE!"

"-that it had to hurt you," he finished. "I won't apologise for doing what I had to do to win. Blame the Brother Gods for that if you want someone to hate. If I could have done this without hurting you all, I would have. And I did," he added. "Do you really think it wouldn't have been hard for me to poison Ren, Ruby and you back when this started? It'd have been a lot easier than stealing dust and setting up bombs and making sure none of you walked into them first. I went easy on you."

Yang's fist trembled in Winter's grasp, itching to strike down and silence him.

"I could have killed Ruby day one had I wanted."

"RARGHHH!"

Yang's fist tore free and slammed down with force enough to shatter the ground and kick up a cloud of dust and debris. Ruby held her breath as it cleared, unsure what outcome she was hoping for. Yang's hand was buried through the floor to her wrist, angry tear tracks running down her face and her eyes clenched shut. Fate idly looked at the arm that had brushed by his face. Wisely, he chose not to say anything.

Still shaking, Yang pulled her arm free and clambered off him, moving away. Blake chased after her to make sure she was okay, while Weiss remained between Ruby and Fate with her rapier drawn.

Fate sighed and slowly pushed himself up.

"You are not trusted." Winter said icily. "You are still alive by necessity alone. Should I believe for even a moment that you will betray us, I will kill you myself and take a chance on Hunter. Do not think you will go unpunished for your treachery."

"Yeah. Yeah." He brushed himself down. "Nothing I haven't heard before." Winter was making to draw her weapon regardless, but Fate beat her to it. "Cinder is headed for the school's vault. The access is through the central elevator. Ozpin has a woman hidden down there, the Fall Maiden, and Cinder intends to take her power for herself. Explaining it would take too long and would be entirely unbelievable… well, I guess it wouldn't be now you know gods exist. Let's just say it's magic. Kill the Fall Maiden and get her powers. That's close enough in Cinder's case."

"And these powers?"

"Mostly elemental and weather control with a bit of flying. It's a major power-up for her but difficult to control. I don't doubt all of us could beat her even in that state, but the real problem is that it'll take time, and Null and Ashari won't be sitting around doing nothing during it. Then again…" He grinned. "Null is probably easier to kill than Cinder anyway. Same goes for Emerald with Ashari. You want my advice – ignore Cinder, distract Ashari, kill Null and Emerald, then deal with the new fall maiden afterwards."

"I'll have to confirm this story of yours with Ozpin."

"You'll struggle."

Ruby gasped. "What have you done!?"

"Hey, it wasn't me this time." Fate spread his hands innocently. "The whole tower has been ripped down. One of Atlas' battleships was driven into it, snapping the thing clean in two with Ozpin at the top."

He ignored their startled gasps. "Ozpin is dead…?" Weiss stammered.

"I'm sure the old bastard is alive." Fate said. "He won't die that easily. Problem is, if I didn't plan that and Cinder didn't plan that, and I sure as hell doubt Atlas planned it, then who did? Only two people come to mind."

"Headmaster and Xiong."

"In a nutshell." Fate mimed a finger gun to Ren. "And that's the real problem here. I know everything about anything when it comes to Cinder and our forces. I made sure to do plenty of investigating before making my move. Them, though?" He shook his head. "I've got nothing. No idea what they can do, what they are doing or why they're doing it. Their motives are a complete mystery to me."

"Unlike your own."

He shrugged. "I was brought here against my will and told to fight and die for a chance at a wish. You can count on me as long it's working towards that."

He said it like it was a simple matter, but Ruby wasn't sure she could trust him, and judging by the looks on everyone else's faces, they weren't either.

/-/

Cinder bustled into the vault with Null beside her and Emerald and Ashari slowly bringing up the rear. They'd been fortunate not to be challenged, though maybe their enemies had been fortunate there as well. Ozpin must have been busy what with that ship impacting the school building.

Headmaster's work no doubt. Does he not realise he's helping me or is he too focused on Ozpin? Whatever the case, this works to my advantage.

Ozpin would have never normally allowed her to reach the fall maiden unchecked and her plans had involved so many distractions. Funny how the Gods had rendered that pointless. In a sense, the maiden's power wasn't so great a deal now that she had a chance to secure victory out from under Salem's nose. Having Null kill Tyrian's champion all the way back in the Grimmlands had paid off greatly, for she knew he'd have never let her turn on his so-called goddess.

Whether it was necessary or not however, the maiden's power would be useful. In the short term it would assist her in beating back the chaff that would come challenger her and Null, but even in the long term it was more power for her to have. By no means a bad thing. Cinder stared ahead at the frosted glass tube and the machine that had been brought from Atlas. A flare of her Semblance had her bow materialising in her left hand and a long arrow in the right.

Step, nock and draw. The target wasn't moving and there was nothing to get in her way. Cinder breathed out and released, sending the black shaft whistling forward to shatter glass and thunk loudly into the body inside the tube. Grim satisfaction spread through her as she took a breath and prepared herself for the rush of power.

Nothing happened.

"Did she survive?" Null asked politely.

"Did you miss?" Ashari asked, far less so.

Snarling, Cinder summoned and nocked a second arrow. It was entirely possible she had failed to land a killing blow given the distance and any deflection caused by the arrow striking the glass. Given that device was intended to keep her alive, it might have kept her going on a sliver of life. The second arrow pierced through the same hole, her impeccable aim shown off, to strike and stick close to the first.

There was still no rush of power.

"Something is wrong…"

Had the fall maiden thought of someone else? The thought terrified her. Cinder cast her bow aside to let it dissolve, dashed the distance to the machine and leapt up the steps. Grabbing both arrows in one hand, she yanked them out and dissolved them, then took the closest glass shards and ripped the glass cylinder open to see the maiden within.

What she saw was no maiden.

It was a mannequin.

A pale, empty-faced mannequin as one might use in the window of a clothing store. Its chest was cracked open where her arrows had struck true, shattering its plastic exterior and revealing the foam within.

The sound of ice clinking against glass came from behind the device.

"There's a benefit to coming from another world..."

The man who walked out – the Jaune – wore a crisp black suit with a white shirt and red tie. He held a shallow crystalline glass in his hand filled with cubes of ice and amber liquid that he sipped at gently. His blonde hair was slicked and gelled back, his outfit immaculate and his demeanour unhurried and unafraid.

"Even if some things change, others stay the same." The Jaune took a slow sip of amaretto, his black shoes clicking on the stone floor. "Enough to make you rather predictable. But then, I did have a little help filling in the gaps from my friend in the education sector."

"Headmaster…" Cinder snarled.

"That's the one." He chuckled and twirled his glass again to make the ice clink together. "You may call me Xiong. Or Jaune. Whichever you prefer. I'm not so interested in this little war, nor that promise of a wish at the end. I've steeped my hands in too much blood to dare risk changing things. I might just make my world worse."

Cinder was shaking with fury. Her heels struck loudly as she leapt off the machine and approached him. Her fingers wound their way into his shirt collar, and she dragged him close. "Where is the fall maiden?"

"Not here." He smirked. "But that's obvious by now, no? Don't worry – she's long gone. Far out of your reach. I'm sure she'll die soon as a result but not soon enough to benefit you, and I have a certain pair of sisters waking her up. The power will be theirs if anyone's."

Cinder's other hand slapped his glass away and sent it to shatter on the stones. She then gripped his face, heating her hand up until his flesh turned pink. Her teeth were bared as her lips peeled back in a furious snarl.

"We all have our different motivations." Xiong said calmly. "Headmaster wants to teach a lesson, Grimm wanted to support his mother, and Fate wants his wish. Me. I'm a little simpler. All I cared for – all I asked – was for the chance to ruin all your plans and see the look on your face when you realised it."

His smile grew even larger, a stark contrast to her mounting panic, disbelief and rage.

"And I have to say," he mocked. "It's every bit as marvellous as I imagined it would be."

"Y-Y-You…" Words failed her. Thoughts failed her. "Y-Y-You…"

"What's the matter, Cinder? Lost for words?"

Cinder screamed as loud as she ever had, brought forth her fires and ignited the man in an instant, casting him in a pillar of flame that tore into and, after a full minute, through his aura to reduce him to ash.

All the while, from the start until the finish, he laughed. He laughed and laughed and laughed.

When it was done, he was gone, but ash on the floor, and yet even then he'd struck the final blow. Cinder cast down his remains, heaving great gulps of air as her blood pounded in her ears and her temples throbbed. Shakily, her fingers came up to her nose and left bloody. They trembled and clenched together into a fist that she drove into the closest tube, cracking the metal through the force of her fury.

Even now, dead and ash, she swore she heard him laughing in her ears.

Cinder threw back her head and screamed.


Xiong out but not before striking a devastating blow against the one person he well and truly despises. Sure, it could have been another Cinder than his in this world but given what he's seen of her he knew she was just the same as his own. Man's got to get back at her for what she did to Hei, and he made that his only goal.


Next Chapter: 23rd July

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