Chapter 13 – The Alternate Fall of Beacon Part II

'NO!' Emerald cried out. 'That wasn't supposed to happen!'

The Grimm Dragon screamed as it was dragged down out of the sky. The three of them couldn't see exactly what was going on from where they stood, but they heard a distinct tearing sound of its wings and a reflexive gag as it was stabbed through the throat. It then disintegrated into ashes and scattered, leaving behind a thick cloud of black smoke.

The thing that had killed it was big, but still not as large as the Dragon had been! How could it have slayed the Dragon with so much ease?

Cinder, Emerald and Mercury covered their ears as it fulminated with its thunderous voice.
They uncovered their ears once it had stopped shouting.

'Are you sure we shouldn't be concerned about that thing now?!' said Mercury rather loudly to Cinder. His ears were ringing.

Emerald stamped her left foot and clenched her fists at her sides. 'Yes! We should! We could have helped the Dragon if we'd made a move!'

'So what do you reckon we do?' Mercury asked.

'We go and stop it!'

'Hold up.' said Cinder, putting her hand in front of Emerald. She was unsettled: the Dragon had been a key part in their plan to destroy the Beacon Tower. Now they had to bypass its untimely demise. 'There is no way we can take that thing on. It'll just shatter through our aura and kill us.'

Emerald stopped, her frustration rising exponentially. 'Well then what do we do?!'

'The thing seems to be holding its own against the kids. Right now, we and it have a common target, against them. It seems to be very destructive in its nature, calling itself

"The World-Ender". If we let it do what it wants, then maybe it'll kill the kids for us.'

Emerald opened her mouth to object, but could not formulate any retaliation. She pondered Cinder's suggestion. 'So let's just wait?! Let's just hope that it does what we want it to do?! Is that what you're proposing?!'

'Have patience girl!' said Cinder. She rarely raised her voice and coughed to clear her throat. 'I am not happy that it has killed the Dragon, but we should be able to work around its absence. I can feel this power swirling inside of me.'

'Do you think that golden bug you crushed has really provided you with enough power to slay that giant?'

'Maybe not enough to outright kill it, but enough to do some damage or lure it away when combined with what I already have.'
Emerald and Mercury looked at each other tensely.

'If the battle continues, it'll tire itself out.' said Cinder. 'But if it is the "World-Ender", then we'll intervene if things look dire.'

Emerald sighed. She had sworn loyalty to be at her mistress' side, ever since she had given her a purpose in life – a reason to live on – but Cinder's thought-process was questionable sometimes.

'It is essential that we find the Fall Maiden and the Relic,' said Cinder. 'but there are two other bonuses we could get if things play out nicely.'

'What might they be?' Emerald asked.

'Bigger payments for both of us?' Mercury asked.

'Hmm' Cinder chuckled lightly. 'Maybe if the job is done well enough, but I was thinking more like… an extra set of heads.'

'Whose?'

'Firstly, there is dear old Ozpin. It would be an absolute pleasure to see him out of the picture. However, I also really want to see Pyrrha Nikos bite the dust too.'

'And are you going to assume that A… Aytrox – I can't remember its name exactly – is going to kill her tonight?' asked Emerald.

'I would rather… land the lethal shot myself.' Cinder replied slyly. 'I don't think we'll be standing here for much longer, so prepare yourselves. A grand fight awaits us.'

With her newfound power in her arms, Cinder stood with her knees ever so slightly bent as she watched the World-Ender unleash its unrelenting wrath.


Aatrox pounded the ground with his right fist.

A large rift was created, and sent out a red tether that grabbed the legs of everyone in the courtyard, pulling them towards it. The only person who wasn't affected was Reese because she remained above the ground with her hoverboard.

Everyone else struggled as they felt themselves being sucked into a vacuum. They all strained as they fought to free themselves from the shackles, but they were too powerful, too otherworldly to be withstood. Not even Pantheon could untie himself from its grasp.

Neon lost her balance on her roller-skates and fell onto her front as she was pulled to towards the rift.
The rest of the defenders fell immediately afterwards. They were all violently dragged to the opening, banging heads and colliding with each other.
Aatrox raised his humongous sword. 'I will severe your limbs!'

Reese stared, horror-struck as she saw Arslan, Bolin and Nadir about to die.

With some remarkably quick thinking, Ryze knew that they were all either going to get squashed or chopped in half. Summoning the most potent of his arcane power, Ryze placed both of his hands on the ground and channelled a giant portal to spawn around him, Pantheon, the Atlesian Soldiers and the Students. It was a last moment of effort to save everyone, but there wasn't enough time for it to finish transporting them. Ryze knew that they were dead.

Aatrox saw his hapless foes at his feet and the portal surrounding them. He was about to swing the sword down when bang. He felt something hit him on the back of the head and it caused him to flinch, delaying his strike by less than a quarter of a second.

The Darkin Blade rushed downwards and hit nothing but stone. He had been less than only a few milliseconds away from killing twenty six people.

He turned around to see a young girl dressed in red that had fired a bullet at him.

'Leave them alone!' Ruby Rose shouted. She flew at Aatrox with her Semblance recklessly and with a sudden loss of strategy. She neared his feet and swung her scythe in a circle to try and cut off his ankles. Crescent Rose only made its way through a snip of the skin, as though it had been nothing more than a mosquito bite.

She continued to circle around him at high speeds, swinging wherever she could find an opening. Each stab with the toe of her scythe left nothing more than a little prick of brief pain.

'Grrr!' Aatrox grunted. 'I will slice you to death, little girl!' he lifted the Darkin Blade and swung it around him. He may have been strong and able to brandish the Darkin with tremendous power, but his swings were singular and he could not keep up with her agility. Ruby was like an irritating bee buzzing around a person's head.

Reese saw Ruby giving it her best against Aatrox. She got off of her hoverboard and separated them into two twin pistols and fired them at Aatrox, but to no effect.
He was getting irksome. 'Argh! Stay STILL child!' With a hefty roar, he anticipated Ruby's movements. Knowing that she went up his right side and across his head, he continued to wield the sword with his left hand whilst he freed his other hand and caught Ruby in its massive grasp.

'Gaah!' Ruby cried out. She only just managed to keep her hands on Crescent Rose as five extraordinarily big fingers clenched around her. Ruby wriggled in a frenzy, unable to free herself.

Aatrox brought Ruby up to his face and snarled. 'You challenge a God killer?! With a gardening tool as well?! Hah! You make Rhaast and Myisha look like a monster!'

Opzin stood at the ready, knowing that he would have to jump into the action in any second.

'Who are you and what do you want?!' Ruby wailed.

'Hahaha! I am Aatrox, and I shall not rest until everything is obliterated!'

'But why?! What do you get out of it?!' she said, repeated her question to Roman word for word.

'You are trying to reason with me, girl! How amusing!' Aatrox replied, tightening his grip on Ruby. 'You are an unusual person, but I will savour killing you anyway!'

Aatrox raised his clenched fist into the air and then slammed it down with as much force as he could muster.
He let go of Ruby and she felt the entire force of the ground after hurtling towards it. The impact heavily damaged her aura, and she ricocheted off the stone high enough for Aatrox to swing the Darkin Blade directly into her.

He could no longer stand around – for real this time: Ozpin flew to Ruby, leaving a blurry afterimage of himself, and used his cane to create a protective shield around himself and Ruby. It cushioned the blow, but they were still launched backwards, right into the stonework of the Beacon Tower. They fell and landed in a heap outside the front entrance of the main hall.

Reese remerged her guns back into a hoverboard and rode over to see if the two of them needed any help. 'Are you guys alright?' she asked.

'I'm okay.' said Ozpin. 'Are you okay Ruby?'

'A bit… headache-' Ruby mumbled. She had taken a hard hit for sure.

'Oh dear, please, take her somewhere away from her.' he said addressing Reese.

'Wait.' said Ruby. 'I can still… move.'

'You're injured Ruby, let me handle this.' Ozpin replied, who was all too aware of the World-Ender slowly walking towards them. 'Go!' he ordered.
Reese rode away with Ruby in her arms.

Professor Ozpin and Aatrox stared at each other with mutual anger.

'Ahaha! What are you going to do, old man!' Aatrox taunted.

'A lot more than you might expect.' said Ozpin with a subliminal trace of ferocity in his voice.

'Bring it on then!'

With inhuman speed, Ozpin danced around Aatrox, whacking him with his cane and the magic stored inside his body. Ruby had been fast, but Ozpin was unpredictable and Aatrox struggled to even see Ozpin, let alone hit him.

It seemed like Ozpin was the first person having any sort of effect against the World-Ender. He was even strong enough to meet with Aatrox's blade. But he could do nothing to put down Aatrox for good. His raw strength and power was unmatched. For twenty rounds they were toe-to-toe. Ozpin weaved in and out of Aatrox's line of sight, always avoiding the enormous sword. At the end of the skirmish, Ozpin slowed down and panted for air. He had not felt this exhausted since one of his many encounters with the Queen of evil: Salem.

His energy was nearly depleted and his aura became fragile. Every molecule of his body had been converted into the effort he had made to try and defeat Aatrox, but it had been wasted.

Aatrox could feel the nips in his body, but stood strong and well above Ozpin. He saw the debilitated man and raised his sword to deliver the killing blow.


The portal opened and everyone scattered. They all groaned and pulled themselves together and looked at their surroundings, wondering what had just happened.

'So, umm… can someone explain how we got away from that giant sword wielder?' Neptune asked, picking his weapon up off the floor.

A few people looked around, but ultimately fingers were pointed at Ryze. 'Yes, I whisked us all away before we were all killed.' he said. He was on his knees, feeling faint.

'How did you… do that?' Sun asked.

'Never mind how. We need to go back and kill that Darkin.' he said concernedly.

'Take us back then.' said Coco as though she were suggesting the obvious.

'Firstly, it took a lot of energy for me to warp us away from there. Making another portal right now would be an overload to my body and mind.'

'Maybe you shouldn't have taken us so far away then.' she remarked haughtily.

'Sass like that will only get you killed in a war, girl.' Ryze admonished. 'Secondly, I don't even know where we are. Do any of you?'

They were inside an industrial area with large shipping containers surrounding them, with a quayside overlooking the sea, on the outside.
'We're by the docks in Vale.' said Blake, recognising it as the place where she had fought Roman and the White Fang with Sun.

'Who knows there way around Vale then, cause I don't.' said Nadir.

'Weiss, Yang, you two come and lead everyone back to Beacon.' said Blake. 'We know this area better than most people here. Everyone follow us!'
The gang all went behind Blake, Weiss and Yang, with Team CFVY and JNPR bringing up the rear to keep everyone on the right track.

'Is it even a good idea going back to Beacon though?' an Atlesian Soldier piped up. 'We couldn't handle that thing as a group. We'd just be throwing ourselves back into danger.'

'It's our jobs to defend the Kingdoms.' said Yatsuhashi. 'We would be dishonouring ourselves and our people if we weren't giving it our very best.'
There was a unanimous murmur of "absolutelys" and "that's rights" from them. Even Pantheon joined in on the patriotic attitude of this world that he was completely unfamiliar with.

The crew ran through the city. A lot of the buildings had been scathed and some had even suffered heavy damage. It was a dreadful sight to be witnessing and made you feel sick as you traversed through this almost apocalyptic setting. To Ryze this was nothing new, but to everyone else it was mind-blowing.

From the back, Team JNPR followed everyone else. Whilst it was perhaps odd to think that some of the people from other regions would get lost if they fell behind, it didn't matter to anyone who went in what order. Everyone was keeping up with Blake's reasonable jog, so there were no worries to be had yet.

Pyrrha ran almost with her head in the clouds. She thought back to how many blades she had seen above Penny. Her rationale suggested that it was nothing more than an illusion cooked up by stress: almost exactly like what Yang had possibly undergone. Yet the blades had seemed too real and lifelike. Pyrrha had been genuinely terrified at the sight of them.
And once again, her mind rushed back to the Fall Maiden. She would not leave her mind alone and yet Pyrrha could not explain why she was so wound-up about it. Ozpin had hinted that her disappearance was an absolute disaster.
If she was going to become the next Fall Maiden, how much responsibility would be expected of her?

'Pyrrha?' said Jaune, who noticed her absentmindedness. 'Are you okay?'

They both slowed down. 'Huh? Oh, yes. I'm fine. Thank you, Jaune.' she said, forcing a smile.

Ren and Nora looked back to see their dallying teammates.

'You go on ahead.' said Pyrrha.

Jaune looked back to Ren and Nora, who both gave perplexed expressions. 'Pyrrha, what's wrong?'

'It's just this whole battle and my round with Penny.' she lied. I'm just a little bit tired.'

'Umm.' Jaune murmured.

'I'm not evading that titan back at Beacon, I just need to catch my breath, that's all.'

Jaune blinked, unsure of what to say.

'I'll join you back at Beacon shortly. I promise.'

There was nothing else that could be said. Jaune had been aware that Pyrrha had been a lot more on edge recently and also noticed how oblivious she had been to the Nevermores above the Amity Colosseum. But perhaps she would come back to the battle in a better state if he left her alone for a short while.

'Okay then. I understand.' said Jaune. 'If you're not feeling up to it though, please don't put yourself in that thing's range. We're all putting our lives on the line by going back to Beacon at the moment.'

'Of course.' said Pyrrha. She waved and let the rest of her team catch up with everyone else.

Physically, Pyrrha didn't feel too tired, but only mentally. It may have been cowardice, but she just considered it to be her getting into a better frame of mind. She continued walking towards Beacon, breathing heavily as she did, trying to drown out the adverse thoughts from her head.
Something was amiss: more so than everything that was already apparent. She knew for sure that Grimm had been swarming Beacon and she also knew that the giant was something to be highly afraid of; there was something else though that nibbled Pyrrha's guts.
Thankfully there weren't too many Grimm along her path. The teachers and Qrow had dealt with the infestation in the city, although it was still due many repairs.

Someone whispered out Pyrrha's name. 'Hey, Pyrrha!'

She turned to the direction the voice had come from. It was from an alleyway to her left. Immediately she was on her guard. A voice from an unsure location that is addressing you is almost never a good sign.

The voice called for Pyrrha again, this time a bit louder. It was rather high pitched and sounded somewhat familiar.

'Ruby?' said Pyrrha tentatively.

'Hi Pyrrha.' she replied, walking into view from an alleyway.

'What are you doing out here?'

'I've been killing as many Grimm as I can. What about you?'

'I was… helping in trying to take down a giant sword-wielder back at Beacon. It's so tough though that not even twenty Huntsmen and Huntresses can take it on.'

'So how did you end up over here then?'

'Umm…' said Pyrrha, unsure of how to explain who the blue mage was. 'It's a weird story that's probably best saved for another time. We're in the middle of a war right now.'

'So it would seem.' Ruby replied, with a lot of her whimsical dorkiness gone. 'Oh Pyrrha, would you help me with something'

'Sure? What do you need help with?'

'Follow me and I'll show you when we get there.' Without waiting for Pyrrha to say "yes", she jogged down the alleyway she had emerged from.

Pyrrha didn't know where Ruby had gone once she jumped out of the ship, but it didn't seem like the thing Ruby would do, to abandon her team just to go and fight Grimm on her own. It would have made much more sense for her to stay with her team.

She could barely see where they were going as Ruby guided her through different streets and alleyways. 'Do I need to be armed, or are we dealing with causalities?' Pyrrha asked, who was becoming progressively more concerned of Ruby's behaviour.

'Just wait until we get there.' Ruby replied. Her bubbly joy and heroic character were distinctly absent. She didn't feel like she was even talking to Ruby. It was the heat of battle, but Ruby still usually possessed high spirits and fervour in these kind of situations. Maybe this was one time too many.

Pyrrha wanted to say something, but thought that it would be best to wait until they reached whatever Ruby wanted help with. It would probably explain why she was behaving so coldly. With a sigh and a cup of hope, Pyrrha continued to blindly follow Ruby to her point of interest.


'Be on your guard!' said Ironwood as they approached Beacon. It was a pointless thing to say. Of course Qrow and the teachers knew something as fundamentally basic as this, but it didn't hurt to express through words that he cared for his colleagues.

As they entered the courtyard, they stared in utter shock at the sight of Aatrox. He was towering above Ozpin, who was barely standing on his cane, exhausted and on the brink of collapse. 'DIE!'

Qrow reacted instantly and flew over to where Ozpin was. He held out Harbinger in its sword form to block the Darkin Blade. But its overwhelming power broke right through Qrow's stance. If he had held his weapon as a scythe, it would have been snapped in half.
Aatrox cut through the air and forced Qrow backwards with the force of ten charging Grimm Goliaths. He was sent flying into Ozpin and the two of them hurtled across the air into the stonework just above the doorway to the Beacon Tower where Ozpin and Ruby had just been knocked into themselves.

Goodwitch, Oobleck, Port and Ironwood ran forward but then stopped where they were in a panic as Aatrox turned to confront them. They had no way of combating this great colossus. It had torn through one of Ironwood's ships effortlessly. Even if he had his fully functioning armada in his control, it was unlikely that its firepower would be enough to do anything to this unkillable monster.

'Ozpin! Qrow!' Goodwitch yelled their names. They did not respond.

'I'll distract it!' said Ironwood. 'You three go and help Qrow and Oz!'

'Let me help you James!' Oobleck insisted. 'More than one hand is needed here!'

He nodded in moderate agreement. Ironwood shot a bullet at Aatrox's head and Oobleck fired his flamethrower at his torso. They ran towards his left whilst Goodwitch and Port sprinted around the right.

'Over here you abomination!' Ironwood said as loudly as he could.
Aatrox turned around and this time made no hesitation. He charged forward and slashed his sword horizontally, leaving only a marginal amount of room for Ironwood to slide underneath him and recover to fire bullets at Aatrox's back.
They did nothing…

And he did not react in time to avoid the Darkin blade being swung a full one hundred and eight degrees around as it slammed into Ironwood's cybernetic shoulder. He was launched out into the grassy outskirts of the Beacon land. As he slid across the grass, he felt something in his shoulder break.

Oobleck's flamethrower was having no effect either. He stood far too close to Aatrox and only just managed to move out of the way in time to dodge the giant sword. He had no choice but to go and help the General.

Goodwitch and Port ignored what was going on behind them as they reached Qrow and Ozpin. Both of them were on the floor in a lot of pain.

Qrow's wrists were broken. They had been bent backwards when he held his sword out in front of him to block Aatrox. Ozpin had hurt his back and was in the same state that Ruby had been in. He was barely conscious.

'Oh my goodness… No!' Goodwitch said as she saw them in a broken mess. She picked up Ozpin and carried him into the main hall as fast as she could. Port did the same with Qrow.

'No…' said Ozpin weakly, raising his hand up in objection. 'The tower… it cannot fall…'

Aatrox turned his attention to where Ozpin and Qrow had been. He just caught a glimpse of them been hurried into the building.
This was the perfect opportunity for destruction, a brilliant target!
He jumped up into the air and instantaneously grew much larger than he already was. He used his wings to hover and then went up to the Beacon Tower. 'Cower mortals, as I break your worldly inventions!' He swung his sword into the Tower, like an axe. The first two hits made no mark, but each consecutive hit afterwards did. The impact area began to crumble, getting larger with each hit and the building shook more and more from every bit of damage that was inflicted. It was like watching a crack in a dam get weaker and weaker.

There was nothing Ozpin, Goodwitch, Port or Qrow could do. They rushed back outside to avoid being buried under debris but could only watch as the entirety of the Beacon Tower fells backwards. It smashed through all the lower buildings behind it and broke into pieces as it hit the ground, sending another shockwave rushing through the land.

Goodwitch and Port looked up in unadulterated horror as they saw Aatrox, now larger and more terrifying than ever. 'AHAHAHA!' FEAR ME MORTALS! I WILL BURY YOU IN CARNAGE!'

Oobleck watched as Aatrox chopped down the Beacon Tower. No words would come out of his mouth. He didn't know what to do. Ironwood was injured but his colleagues needed help. Yet what could he help with? It was unstoppable.

Port and Goodwitch rushed as they carried Qrow and Ozpin away, but there was nowhere to run. They could not move fast enough. Aatrox laughed. He descended and raised his sword, then slammed it into the ground. They jumped out of the way but lost their footing. Ozpin and Qrow fell to the floor. They couldn't move and there was no way that Goodwitch and Port could retrieve them and create enough distance between them and Aatrox's sword.
He raised it once again, ready to finally make a successful pair of kills. Goodwitch, Port and Oobleck covered their eyes…

Something fell out of the sky. It seemed like a shooting star by the way it rocketed towards the wreckage of Beacon academy.
It hit the ground and dispersed in an explosion of golden light, enveloping over the school and making a splash towards Aatrox. It coated over him… and he froze. The sword was millimetres above Ozpin.

The light had been blinding. Goodwitch, Port and Oobleck opened their eyes after the initial intensity of it had subsided. The detritus of the school and Aatrox were completely golden. It was like they were galvanized in a shiny metal. Aatrox was nothing more than statue that could probably be sold on the black market for millions of Lien.

The teachers' hearts were racing faster than light itself, at more than two hundred beats per minutes. They had not seen where the comet of light had come from and how it seemed to have turned the splash radius around it golden to the point where Aatrox was now in stasis.
If they could be sure of one thing though: it was that they were immensely grateful for a miraculous Deus ex machina like this one.

'Glynda, Peter, Qrow, Ozpin, are you all okay!?' Oobleck called out as he carried Ironwood over to them.

'Ozpin and Qrow are severely injured!' said Port. 'They're going to be on the long list of people who will need medical attention after this disaster is over.'

Goodwitch pulled Ozpin out from under the edge of the Darkin Blade. She sighed. 'You're going to be alright Professor Ozpin.' she said.

'I'm grateful…' he said, looking up at the paralysed Aatrox. 'For whatever it is that saved my life…'

Pyrrha heard Aatrox destroy the Beacon Tower. She also noticed the golden ball of light fall out of the sky. It made a ringing sound, like that of a pair of large cymbals crashing together as it hit the ground. 'Oh no…' she said out loud as she felt the ground tremble underneath her feet. She was relieved that Ryze had saved them from being crushed by Aatrox, but she also wondered that if he had teleported them to a location that was closer to the school, then they would have been able to prevent him from demolishing it. 'This is terrible…'


Ruby did not seem to be paying attention. She was so narrowly fixated on whatever it was she had in her mind.

She didn't want to sound imposing, but Pyrrha was now genuinely apprehensive about Ruby's behaviour. 'Can this thing wait, Ruby?' she asked concernedly.

'Just wait until we get there.' said Ruby demandingly.

They meandered through even more streets and pathways until they eventually stopped at the dead-end of an alleyway with large dumpsters on both sides. It was incredibly narrow and had no light, other than the glow of the moon.

Ruby was looking at the back wall. She did not move and said nothing either.

'Ruby, please, what are we going here?' Pyrrha asked. She was becoming increasingly suspicious.

She turned around and smiled faintly at Pyrrha. 'I was walking down here when fighting Grimm and saw something in a hole by the bottom of the wall over here.' she replied, pointing to that which could not be seen in the darkness.

Puzzled, Pyrrha did not move. Something was fishy… 'What do you think you saw?'

'I don't know exactly, but it caught my interest and I need someone else here to be with me in case I get ambushed. Can you have a look for me?'

Pyrrha Nikos had no clue what Ruby was doing, but she was almost certain that this was not Ruby. She heard a shuffling sound on the roof above her. She pulled out her weapons. 'No.' she replied firmly.

Ruby pouted. 'That's not very nice…' she said emotionlessly.

And then she disappeared into thin air.

Pyrrha looked up in time to see Mercury Black. She raised her shield and attempted to redirect his weight into the wall on the right. She was partially successful but he quickly regained control and kicked off the wall and came at her again.

Unlike their sparring match before the tournament, they had been in a large space for a clean fight. Here, the area was narrow, unlit and dirty. He kicked with both of his boots, rapidly interchanging the area in which he struck. He was fast: much faster than he had been during the sparring match where he had been merely toying with her. Pyrrha was keeping up, blocking his attacks, but he was far too nimble for her to land a hit herself – plus, she was locked into the back of the alley. Mercury had control over the fight.

The smug grin on his face made Pyrrha's temper rise, and he was using that to his advantage. He eventually managed to kick Pyrrha in the face and she stumbled back. He then used his boots to quickly disarm her, but just like in her fight with Penny, she used her Semblance to retrieve them instantly and finally land a jab at Mercury's stomach. He fell back but used a kick-up to catch her off guard and fire a direct shot from his boot into her face.

She was briefly blinded and fell backwards. If Mercury had not taken just a second to look at her gloatingly, then she would have lost. But she capitalised on Mercury's arrogance and kicked him in the groin. He winced and edged backwards, clutching the area where it hurt most.
Pyrrha then jumped up and grabbed onto the ledge of the building on her left where Mercury had dropped down from.

As she climbed onto the roof a chain wrapped around her ankle. She was being pulled away back to the ground, but used her Semblance to stop its tug. Turning around, she saw Emerald Sustrai wielding her kusarigama on the building on the other side. She also wore a smug, dirty look on her face that synthesised with Mercury's. Pyrrha pulled on the chain with her polarity and ripped it from Emerald's grasp and tossed it far away. There was no reason hide her Semblance anymore. This was not a competition with rules to abide by.

Emerald jumped to the rooftop Pyrrha was on and Mercury also got up from the alleyway below to join them.
These two were formidable opponents, a lot more so than everyone Pyrrha had faced so far. She had been beaten all four members of Team CRDL by herself. On their own, Emerald and Mercury were manageable, but together they would be almost unstoppable. Pyrrha braced herself for a fight she was highly unlikely to win.

They both rushed her down, trying to disarm her by force and tackle her to the ground.
Pyrrha blocked Mercury with her shield and parried Emerald's sickle with her xiphos. She was able to protect herself but could not sacrifice either side of defence to make an attack in retaliation lest she be hit.

The attrition endured for what felt like an eternity. Mercury constantly kicked her shield and would then kick lower, forcing her to crouch and this meant she was open to a strike from Emerald. She had to alternate between high and low with no room for any missteps. Pyrrha was worn-out. Everything before her eyes was becoming a haze of the dark night, silver and green. Emerald and Mercury had been inactive all day. They were full of energy and displayed not even the faintest signs of stopping their assault.
She had used her Semblance so frequently that continuous usage had neutered its effectiveness. After ever push, they shoved back just as hard until eventually they broke through. In one last act of desperation, she jumped back to try and create distance between them and flee, but Emerald caught her ankle once again with her other chain. She fell over and dropped her spear and shield. Mercury went to pick them up and threw them out of sight.

Using her body weight, Emerald jumped off the building and pulled Pyrrha down with her. She landed on her front, prostrated. A headache circulated her head, crushing her very skull beneath the hammering pain.
She attempted to stand up, but her head was immediately stomped down by Mercury.
Pyrrha was no longer able to fight back. Her aura had shattered like broken glass. 'W-why are you doing this?' she rasped.
They said nothing back.

Ten seconds later, they forced Pyrrha to her knees and each held one of her arms outstretched behind her, putting a foot onto her back so that she couldn't move.
Cinder Fall strutted towards them. Pyrrha didn't recognise her, but didn't need to know who she was to deduce that she was not here to rescue her. Cinder carried herself with a sense of hubristic self-satisfaction. She was finding it difficult suppressing a cackle and her attire did not belie her malevolence.
'It's such a shame that a star pupil's road to success was cut short.' she said gleefully.

Pyrrha stared at her with her eyes wide. 'What do you want with me?' she asked, hoping to actually get a response this time.

'You didn't kill Penny Polendina as you should have.' Pyrrha was sweating nervously. 'Whilst it ultimately doesn't matter, you, Pyrrha Nikos, are still a major obstacle in our mission. Your reputation matches your formidability, and for that reason, you are an ally of Ozpin and therefore must die.'

The seconds ticked as Cinder let Pyrrha comprehend what she had just told her. 'I-I don't understand. I have done nothing to you.'
'It's nothing personal, but claiming your head and your life will bring me great benefits. I will rise higher in the ranks when everyone knows that I killed Pyrrha Nikos.'

Pyrrha tried to wrestle herself free, but Emerald and Mercury kept their grips firmly locked on her. She was petrified. Was this really it? Was this really her fate? She lurched, feeling unbelievably sick. This was not the way she envisioned her life to end. She had dreamed of spending the rest of her life with Nora, Ren and Jaune.

With Jaune.
She had never got to tell him how much he meant to her.

If only she had stayed with the group; and if only she had not fell for that illusion of Ruby!

Tears were trickling down her cheeks. She instinctively tried to wipe them away but of course her hands were wrenched immovably behind her.

With one final thought, Pyrrha asked Cinder: 'Do you believe in destiny?'

'…yes.' she said after one second.

A bow and arrow materialised from ashes in Cinder's hands.

She took a step back, drew the string, let go and fired the arrow at her throat.