Chapter 42

Year 7 Month 0 Day 0

After defeating Hazel, the strike team has opened the portal leading to Salem's dark realm, where her inner circle awaits.

Cinder walked back into the realm holding onto her arm that was taken from her by Darth Siren moments ago.

"Lady Salem, help me." Cinder said. Salem took one look at Cinder and laughed.

"You expect me to replace that arm for you again. You remember what I told you, not to fail me again. I will not help you. Go and get ready. The invaders have entered our realm." Salem said. Cinder's eyes opened wide.

"If you send me out there, they'll kill me!" Cinder said.

"And?" Salem said. Cinder looked at the ground. She finally realized that she was a tool in Salem's hands to be thrown away at a moment's notice. But she realized too late.

Uriel walked beside her.

"What happened to your arm?" He asked while they walked down the hallways to get to the main entrance.

"I was sent to fight a hidden Sith Lord. They cut my arm off and Salem refuses to replace it." Cinder said.

"Just like I told you. Never trust her. All these years and finally you see why." Uriel said.

"Don't lecture me." Cinder said. He grabbed her shoulder and kissed her.

"We're not going to make it through this fight, are we?" Uriel asked.

"…No. There's no chance. They killed Hazel."


Oscar was holding onto the pedestal that kept the portal open, and the third wave of troops arrived. Barris Offee walked up to him.

"Where are they?" She asked.

"They've already went through the portal. Hurry in and help them." Oscar said. He watched as they all ran into the portal, leaving Oscar alone to keep the portal open. He stared in the portal remembering when he sealed Salem into her realm. He could even see his original staff sitting there. He knew that the long memory would stay here as a memorial to what they did today. He had full faith in his students that they'd be able to bring about the end of Salem. And if they couldn't, well at least they wouldn't be around long enough to see what would happen.


Karel looked around, seeing a dark red sky, with a dark red moon in the sky.

"That is Bogan. This place has a special connection to the moon of Bogan, and the planet of Mortis. It is also a dark side nexus, so be careful." Pyrrha said. She put on the crown of choice and saw a vision of the future. She gasped when she saw it but regained her composure when Jaune rushed to her side.

"Pyrrha." He said

"It was nothing." She said, but Karel could feel the change in her. She seemed more determined now.

"Invaders? Why, what would lady Salem say about this?" Laughing rang out afterwards. A scorpion faunas jumped down and looked at the intruders. Tyrian Callows stood there with a smile on his face.

"It seems that our friend Hazel failed. It is sad, but not unexpected." Dr. Watts walked forward fixing his gloves. Four more force users dropped down. He looked back and saw who came. He rose his eyebrow.

"And the snipers?" Watts asked turning to them. A bullet landed at the feet of Nora.

"Guess that's good enough." Watts said.

"Let's kill them." Tyrian said.

"Fine by me." Watts said.


Tyrian laughed and rushed forward. Qrow blocked the attack with his scythe. Tyrian laughed at Qrow and jumped backwards. The strike force rushed forward; the force sensitives all turned on their lightsabers. Karel ducked under the strike of a force sensitive and kept running. More Sith Black Fang jumped down, turning on their lightsabers for anyone who went passed the opening. Karel held his lightsaber out as Vuren backed him up.

"Looks like we're going to face the best of the best here." Vuren said.

"How are you holding up?" Karel asked.

"Not too bad." She said as she blocked a lightsaber strike and sent the Sith backwards.

Ruby backed up her uncle, but he seemed to be doing well against Tyrian. He blocked two attacks from the tail with his weapon in sword mode. He looked at her and snapped her finger. Out of the air dropped a handful of Grimm. She jumped to the side and fired at the Grimm. It held up its hand and started to pound its chest. Beringel Grimm were some of Ruby's least favorites. She used her semblance to get behind the Grimm before it brought its arms around it in a circle. She dropped to the ground and jumped, using the force to put some muscle behind her hit.

It let out a roar and went to punch Ruby, but she sped to the right of it. She twirled her scythe around her arm, slamming it into the Beringel. It screamed at Ruby, making her hair wave behind her. She pulled the trigger, and the bullet ripped through the Grimm. It dropped to the ground, and she spun around, placing Crescent Rose at the base of the neck for the Grimm. She pressed the trigger again, and the Grimm's head went flying. She looked back at her uncle and saw him jumping back, twirling his sword and when he landed, he blocked an attack from Tyrian. He thrust his sword in the air and sent a force push at him. He brought his arms up and took the force blast. Qrow jumped in the air and spun towards him. Tyrian brought his arms up, with a smile on his face as he blocked the attack from Qrow.

Ruby used the force to pull Qrow towards her as he brought his tail to where he was.

"That was a close one." Ruby said.

"He's stronger than I thought." Qrow said.

"But he can't beat us together."

They looked at each other and smirked. They rushed at him, attacking from both sides. He brought his wrist blasters up and fired at both. Qrow's semblance made sure they missed him, and Ruby blocked hers with her lightsaber.

Ruby and Qrow took out their Scythes and jumped at Tyrian. He brought his hand up, but he didn't need to. Both Ruby and Qrow were blasted away by Tanner.

"Salem wants you to take out the weaker ones first." Tanner said.

"Then maybe I should start with you." Tyrian said, before feeling a burning sensation at the top of his head.

"Forgive me lady Salem." Tyrian said.


He rushed passed Ruby and Qrow and jumped on top of Captain Violette, bringing his tail down on her. She let out a gasp and was about to shoot him when he brought up his blaster, killing her. He jumped off her and slashed down on two imperial troops. He was sent back flying when the third sister pointed her sword at him.

A dome arose around him, and he saw two men standing there.

"You ready Akio?"

"As long as you are Xar." Akio said.

They rushed forward, slamming their swords into Tyrian's blades. He ducked under the swords and brought his tail at Xar. Xar tried to dodge, but he was hit. Or so Tyrian thought. Xar stood at the edge of the dome, seeing he image of his body drop to the floor. He smirked and dropped to his knees, gathering force energy.

"That's one of you." Tyrian said. Akio was nowhere to be seen, but Tyrian has fought more than one opponent who seemed to vanish. Akio appeared out of the shadow and slashed at Tyrian. He brought up his weapons and pushed forward, knocking Akio off balance and he fired at him. He took out his lightsaber and blocked all the bullets.

"A Jedi. I've killed a couple of you." Tyrian said. He rushed forward, dragging his tail across the ground. Akio put away his lightsaber and disappeared back into the shadows. Tyrian cracked his fingers and got low to the ground. He closed his eyes and waited for a sound. He rushed for the first sound he heard and found Akio in the shadows. Akio tried to jab at him, but Tyrian wrapped his tail around Akio's arm, bringing his arm forward, ripping Suspicion out of his hands. He saw the dome lighten, and laugh, but he also felt a massive wave of force energy slam against him. The dome lowered, and he went flying. He landed next to Olive Gashley. He smiled as he touched the back of Olive, and his tail slammed through his spine into his heart. He dropped dead and Tyrian laughed.

"That's two wannabe huntsmen in so short of a time. What are they teaching you?" Tyrian said.


Tyrian stood up and looked at Qrow and Ruby again. He felt a pain in his forehead, but that couldn't stop him this time. He rushed forward and slammed his blades into Ruby and Qrow's weapons.

"Master think's I'm spending too much time with you two, but really who cares about that?" Tyrian brought his tail up and brought it down towards Qrow when it got stopped by Raven.

"You won't touch them." Raven said.

"But I think I will." Tyrian jumped back and two Black Fang troops rushed passed him. They jumped at Qrow and Ruby, leaving Raven alone to fight Tyrian.

"So, I get to be the one who fights you? Well, that all right by me." Tyrian said. He rushed forward, reaching into his jacket before slamming his tail into Raven's sword. He smiled as he took out gravity dust. He crushed them. Raven widened her eyes as she fell to the ground, barely able to move.

"Tell me this isn't all there is of you." Tyrian said. He brought his tail back and was about to plunge it into Raven when he had to block fire dust bullets. Yang ran up to Raven.

"The effect of gravity dust wears out quickly. You're going to be ready to fight again in a minute mom." She said. She held out the yellow blade.


"Fine, I'll just have to show your offspring not to step in my way!" Tyrian said. Raven clenched her fist. She wished her daughter didn't have to fight her battle.

Tyrian fired at her. She blocked each bullet, then stepped to the side. She sent out a force push that made Tyrian jump in the air to avoid. She saw him combine a small shard of lightning dust with gravity dust and activate it. It ripped her lightsaber from her hand, and he caught it. He smirked and rushed forward. He turned on the lightsaber and went to plunge in in her chest, but at the last second, she pulled out another lightsaber. The green light came out of it, making her own lightsaber bounce in the air. She punched him, and he dropped her lightsaber. She used the force to catch it and turned it on. She switched to her blue blade, holding out both lightsabers out at Tyrian. He smirked as he pulled out a grenade and tossed it at Raven. He also tossed an activated wind dust crystal at Yang. She was flung back.

Raven rose her hand and stood up.

"What?" Tyrian asked.

"You didn't ever learn to keep track of time?" Raven asked. She threw the grenade at a Grimm that jumped at her. It blew up. Raven took out the purple lightsaber and lowered her mask. She rose a hand, and Tyrian's tale was covered in ice. He let out a yelp and fired at her. She blocked every hit as she walked to him.

Ruby finished off the Sith with some trouble, but when she did finish, she went to help Qrow. He jumped back and rose his hand the black fang troop was lifted in the air. He was killed by a stray bullet.

"Uncle Qrow." Ruby yelled. She rushed over to him, and they turned to Raven. She kept walking to Tyrian. She rose her hand and sent out force lightning at Tyrian. He screamed when it hit him, then he started to laugh.

"Raven! Stop it!" Qrow said. Raven felt her finger shine. The light surrounded her, and she stumbled back for a second. She shook her head and continued to Tyrian. He reached in his jacket, but before he was able to take anything out, Raven stopped him.

"You don't get any more dust." She brought her hand forward, and a dozen shards of dust shot forward. She tossed them in the air where they exploded without harming anyone.

"Kill me. Go on, kill me and join Bogan!" Tyrian said. He started laughing and fired his last bullet. Raven blocked it and rushed forward. He closed his eyes, and he jumped up. His tail was stuck in the ice, until Raven cut it off. Tyrian screamed in pain. He landed and held onto the tips of his tail.

"You Bitch." He said angrily.

"I've been called worse." Tyrian screamed as the tip of his tail started to drip black blood. He coughed up blood on his blades, then gave Raven a crazed look.

"I'm not done yet." Tyrian said. He started laughing as he rushed forward. Qrow stepped next to Raven.

"You two go on. We've got this." Qrow said.

"But…" Yang said.

"Don't worry. We won't lose to him." Raven said. Ruby and Yang nodded. They rushed passed Tyrian who let them by. He slammed his blades into the swords of Raven and Qrow. They blocked and both sent a force push. He felt Salem take control of his body as he was in the air. She twisted in the air and jumped on a rock pillar, launching herself at them. She rushed forward and started swinging. After getting into a lock, Salem left Tyrian's body. He looked at them, then ducked. He brought his blade down and swung. Qrow felt the blade cross his stomach, but Raven was able to dodge. Qrow clenched his teeth and slashed at Tyrian. Tyrian stepped back before hitting his back against the rock formation. He felt a giant ice spike enter his stomach, and as he looked down, he saw it covered in blood. He puked up blood, which melted the ice. He started breathing heavily. Qrow held onto the wound and clenched his teeth. He used his sword to keep himself standing. Two Grimm came up to him which he quickly killed.

Tyrian smirked as he put his hand on his body. He brought his hand up and saw all the blood. He tried to raise his hand, but his body ignored him. The ice must have heavily damaged his nervous system. He also felt the poison contained in his tail enter his bloodstream. It burned.

"That may do it." Tyrian said as he fell to his feet. Qrow came up to Tyrian.

"Did you poison your blade?" Qrow asked.

"My blood can do a lot, but not that. You're just going to bleed out now." Tyrian saw as his body started to fade away. "It was great while it lasted. Unlike Hazel, I don't have any regrets. Well, maybe not killing you. But that's hardly fair." Tyrian sighed. He put his head against the rock formation and smiled. He laughed as his body dissipated.

"You should get to a healer." Raven said.

"I won't be too far behind you." He said.


Winter led Blake and Weiss in the dark realm. They were stopped by a man in a coat.

"I really don't care for the rude way you invaded my home." Watts said.

Winter took out her twin blades and glared at Watts. He held out the spear towards the women. The pressure increased as the warriors looked at each other. Winter rushed first. She flew at him, but before she started the attack, a glyph appeared beneath Watts. She smirked as she sent out a magic blast. Watts pulled out mist dust and crushed it. Before Winter could activate the glyph, Watts slammed his spear into it, breaking the Glyph. Winter sat in the mist, then sent out a blast of wind. The mist was gone. She landed when she felt a hand grab her leg. She looked down and slashed at the hand. The hand let go of her leg, then Watts jumped out of the ground. He kicked Winter, sending her back. Blake quickly fired in his chest. He started to fall back, but the body turned to shadow. She looked around.

"Was that it?" She asked.

"No." He was behind her. Before she could turn around, he grabbed her arms, and drove her to the ground.

"Get off her!" Sun said, as he rushed over.

"Fine." Watts said. He jumped up and took out his spear. He spun it, slamming it against Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang in staff mode. He laughed as Sun was sloppy. Watts made four more strikes in a few seconds. Sun struggled to keep up. Watts dropped, and swept Sun off his feet. Sun fell on the ground but before he could kill Sun Watts was hit by a sound blast.

Weiss sent out more of the sound blasts, some of them hitting. Watts spun around when he got hit in the chest. He places his hand on the ground and got back up. As a troop ran passed, he pulled out his revolver and shot the troop.

"You have to do better than that to kill me." Watts said. He smirked until he felt a lightsaber rushing up his back. Watts turned back into shadow. Soule stood there with a confused look on his face.

"Normally when I kill people they don't turn into a shadow." He said.

"Sorry to disappoint, but not even that will kill me. You see, I am Doctor Arthur Watts." Watts said. Winter's eyes widened.

"You're a monster." Winter said.

"What did he do?" Weiss asked.

"I was a scientist who studied semblances and auras for Atlas. So, what if the project ended with piles of dead bodies. It was for science." Watts said.

"So why is it when we kill you, you don't die?" Soule asked.

"Let me show you." Watts took off his heavy coat and showed them his body. Emblems covered his chest.

"I was never able to activate my semblance but now, I have a choice between all of these. Satisfied?" He put on his shirt without buttoning it up.

"What? Why does that have to do with any of this?" Sun asked.

"Each emblem correlates to subject that died in my experiments. Each one of them is an additional life."

"That just means we have to kill you a lot." Soule said.

"If you can." Watts said.


Watts looked behind him and saw four troops pointing their guns at him. They fired, and Watts body turned to water. Watts appeared behind the troops as the water fell, and he snapped the neck of the first troop. He fired his revolver, taking out another two troops. He took out a shard of poison dust and slashed the last troop with it.

"That's better." Watts said. Soule fired force lightning at Watts, which he couldn't block. Blake and Weiss rushed forward and slashed at Watts. An emblem broke, then he appeared by Soule. He tried to surprise the Sith, but Soule held out his hand. Watts was flung backwards, then he took out a playing card. He threw it at Sun. Before it hit him Sun jumped back. When the card hit the ground Watts teleported to it and fired a round at Sun. Sun sent out his clones, who took the hit. Watts spun around, letting Weiss overstep, but before he could kill her, he felt Winter's sword enter his chest.

He appeared behind Blake. He placed a small explosive on her back then pushed her. Because her aura was up, the explosive didn't kill her.

"How long do you think you can fight me? I have more semblances than anyone. More lives than anyone. And I have the best mind out of all of you." Watts said.

He jumped back as a wrist rocket almost hit him. He had to step back to avoid getting shot by Zia.

"You talk too much." Zia said. Four Mandalorians landed next to her.

"Mandalorians. You never consider the finer aspects of intellect." He said. One of the emblems glowed and his form changed. He seemed more animal like. "This should suit you more" Watts said. He took out an Axe and rushed forward. Zia held out her wrist and fire came out. Watts rushed through it, barely noticing the force blast sent his way. Zia jumped up, activating her jetpack. Weiss hit him with a massive sound blast. Winter raised her hand, and the ground took hold of Watts. He brought his arm up, breaking one of the prisons, but he couldn't stop the pistol at the back of his head. It fired and the body faded again. He returned on top of a rock pillar. He took out a pair of kunai and tossed them at the enemy. The kunai divided as he threw them, and in a few seconds, there were two hundred fifty-six kunai falling to them.

Winter rose her hand and a small tornado came up towards Watts. That knocked the Kunai away. Watts fell backwards and used Kunai to steady his fall. Before he was on the ground, he brought his feet up and launched at Soule. He spun in the air and tossed the kunai at him. It split into eight. He brought his hand up and used the force to shield himself from the kunai.

He landed next to one of the Mandalorians and brought his kunai up. The Mandalorian brought his hands up. He blocked the attack, then Watts jumped up and kicked the helmet, knocking the Mandalorian off balance. Watts pulled out ground dust and activated it. The earth rushed out of the dust, slamming into the Mandalorian's chest. He tossed more Kunai at his enemies. He threw thirty-two of them. They had to use earth dust to avoid getting hit. The other Mandalorians fired at him. One of them had a rotary cannon blaster, one a blaster rifle, and the third had twin pistols. Watts slammed an earth dust shard into the ground and cover rose in front of him.

He looked at his hands, and watched the Kunai disappear. The one thing they didn't know was that he did have a time limit if he used the semblances. He lost another Emblem.

"Well, no time like the present." He said. He reloaded his revolver and put his explosive rounds. He tossed ice dust in the air, which the Mandalorians shot. Soon shards of ice came raining from the sky towards the Mandalorians. While they were focused on that Watts left cover and fired at them. He shot the one with the rotary cannon first. The explosive round hit him in the stomach, which he didn't have for much longer after he was shot.

The second explosive round hit the blaster rifle, which its owner lost their hand holding. The third explosive round hit the arm of the fourth Mandalorian, taking it off. He fired the other two into the Mandalorians quickly after, and he spun around shooting the cover. He smirked then felt him getting shot in the head. The Mandalorian who got hit by the earth was still alive. Watts appeared in front of him. He slammed his spear into the Mandalorian.

"Is that all you got?" Watts asked. He felt a prick against his neck and saw Bora flying passed him. He took it out and saw a poisoned dart. Soon, another emblem broke.


He appeared in front of his challengers holding out his hand. He clenched his fist, and out of the ground came four copies of himself. They all held spears. They charged the challengers. Soule quickly took one down. That was expected. Blake ducked under a strike and slashed at the clone. The clone brought the staff down when Sun jumped over Blake and smashed his staff against the clone's head. Then Weiss used glyphs to speed behind the Clone and stabbed it.

Winter jumped back and rose her hand. A knife made of dust was created and she fired it. The clone slapped it out of the air, but he got overwhelmed when four more of the daggers flew towards him. After destroying the last dagger, he brought his lance up to Winter. She smirked as the dust all came together and all five daggers flew into the clone. The clone disappeared. The final clone died to Zia.

"That was disappointing. I thought they'd last a little longer." Watts said.

He rushed forward and jumped in the air. Winter sent a blast of Magic at him. It slammed into him, and it finished off the Emblem. He appeared behind Winter. He was about to kill her, but Weiss sent a sound blast. He was sent in the air. He landed on the ground and coughed up blood. His body wasn't used to this. He lost more emblems in this short fight than he had in years.

"I just wanted to answer the question everyone wanted to know. Science demanded to know why semblances exist. Salem had that vision! She is where she is not because she was born special but because she earned it! How many of you have earned where you are? The Schnee princesses? The princess of the animals? GODDAMN SITH? How did you earn your power!?" Watts said.

"Is that what this is all about? Power?" Weiss asked.

"Everything is about power you idiot! Every relationship you have is based on power. And you know what's power? Knowledge. None of you are leaders. You all followed that damn Jedi here! And he's not even the true mastermind! All of you are pathetic!" Watts said. He placed his hand on his chest and took out an emblem.

It started to beep. He held it in his hand.

"You may think this place is hell, but I can tell you that you all will soon find what true hell is." He rushed forward. He dodged all the attacks and stood in the middle of them. The emblem in his hand started to glow. Weiss quickly put up a dome around Watts. He exploded. The explosion through everyone out of the dome. The painful impact of the attack wasn't fully felt until Watts came back.


Weiss fell to one knee. She took almost all the damage. Watts walked passed her and stood over Winter. He started breathing heavily. One of his eyes was closed, he was unable to open it. He took out another emblem and rolled it around in his fingers. He started to place it on her when he felt a burning in his chest. Soule hadn't gone down yet. He was injured, as everyone was after the explosion.

"How many more times do we have to kill you?" Soule asked. The emblem in Watts's hand broke. He appeared behind Soule. Everyone else was incapacitated. He brought his spear up but before he was able to plunge it, he felt something wrap around his arm.

"Who is it now?" Watts asked. Pyrrha stood there, holding her arm out, the light coming from her hand, wrapping around his arm, which fell off. The light made his arm fall.

"I won't let you do that."

"What, kill all your friends?" Watts pulled out his revolver and shot Soule. He missed because Pyrrha used the force to move the gun and the bullet scrapped his face. He pulled his gun back towards her and fired. She didn't move her hand, and all the bullets fell to the ground.

"What is this?" Watts asked.

"You will not touch them." Pyrrha said. Soule got back up and spun around, plunging his lightsaber in Watts's back.

He tried to reform but Pyrrha sent a ball of light at him. Before his body could reform, he lost another emblem. He moved away from the hunters and reformed, to immediately get killed but Jaune.

He tried to move away, but he couldn't. He was quickly running out of extra lives. When he reformed, he saw five emblems broke. He felt the pain fill him, bringing him to his knees. A side effect of having the emblems break is that he still felt the pain, and one breaking was extremely painful, but this was multiple in a brief amount of time.

"No wonder Salem calls you the whore of Ashla. You worship the light." Watts said. Jaune and Pyrrha stood by his sides. He was up against a wall. He started breathing heavily, his hair became disheveled.

"Bogan's influence over your life is undeniable, but you had a choice. You could have stopped what you were doing. But you chose not to." Pyrrha said.

"This was never a fair fight, but then again, I doubt Salem sent us here to make it a fair fight. She just wanted to have some more time. And she hoped to slow you down. I could have done so much more. If only Ironwood never found out." Watts said. He brought his hands out and all his remaining emblems activated.


"I wonder how you're going to stop this." Watts said. Pyrrha widened her eyes and grabbed Watts with the light. She broke another emblem, then threw him in the air. He pulled out a shard of gravity dust and plummeted towards the ground. Pyrrha sent the arms out again and held onto him, but he was only a few feet above the ground. Jaune placed his hand on her shoulder, and she felt amplified by him. She moved the hands to cover him.

All the emblems exploded at once. Even thought he was in covered; the explosion nearly broke the hold. It shook Pyrrha and Jaune. It shook the waters in the ocean, and made so many of the troops stumble. It killed a Grimm that was unlucky enough to be right below the explosion.

Soon the explosion faded. Pyrrha let out a breath and put her hands down. Watts's shadow landed one final time at the feet of his challengers.

"I'm dead. You are more powerful than I ever thought possible. That explosion could have destroyed the kingdom of Vale. It should have broken your hold on me. It wasn't supposed to end like this though. It was said that the priestess of Ashla would…" He looked at Pyrrha then back at himself. His body started to dissipate like the others.

"Well, that's yet to be seen. I wonder if I could have done better. I used everything I had in that attack and yet you are still standing. If I were Salem, I'd be worried." Watts looked at the moon of Bogan in the sky. "What kind of name is Bogan anyways?" He was gone.


Bora landed in front of Karel, who just finished taking out an ancient Sith Lord. She ducked under a lightsaber blade and pulled out her pistol, killing the force user.

The explosion's waves hit everyone, knocking them all off balance. Vuren took advantage of the black fang troop being off balance and slashed through them.

Soon the main force of the army finally caught up. Akio took down a Sith then came up to Karel.

"We just need to get to the gates of that castle now." Akio said.

"That's right, but where's the others?" Karel asked. Vox stepped next to Karel.

"It seems that we've stopped. What's wrong?" Vox asked.

"Where is everyone else?" Karel asked.

"They should be finishing up those two." Vox said.

They heard a disgusting screech in the air.

"What was that?" Karel asked. Nora and Ren got up to Karel.

"I recognize that noise. That can't be right." Ren said. He looked at the castle and saw it.

"That's… the Nuckelavee." Nora said. The Grimm charged forward, leading a group of Grimm behind it. It held out an Axe and swiped at the troops. They had nowhere to go. They were in the valley with massive stone walls to either side that led up to the castle. Karel, Vox, and Vuren used the force to push it back. Nora shook Ren trying to get him back.

"We can't hold it for much longer!" Karel said. It roared and Grimm started to plunge at them from the sky. The force users had to let go of the Nuckelavee. Ren clenched his hands and grabbed reloaded his weapons.

"We've got this one." Ren said with a determined look. Nora went next to him.

"You're right about that." Nora said. They rushed forward. The Nuckelavee swung its axe at them, but they jumped up. Ren fired at it, and it stopped. Nora fired a grenade and slammed her hammer against the Nuckelavee's arm. It let out a cry and dropped the axe. It brought back its arms and looked at Ren.

Ren rushed forward, dodging the arm slamming next to him. He jumped when it brought its arm across the path. Its other arm shot out at Ren. He swung his weapon down, slicing the hand of the Grimm. It roared and the Grimm behind it started the charge. The bullets of all the troops slammed into the Grimm, killing many of them, but many others rushed passed. Nora fired grenades into the hoard of Grimm, killing many of them all at once. Ren stopped his advancement and made a stand. A dust grenade was thrown over hoard. Ren and Nora braced for the explosion, which killed a cluster of Grimm. Ren and Nora jumped back and continued to fire.

The Grimm were getting slowly pushed back. It seemed that the force the Nuckelavee brought with it was slimming quickly, but some of them made it to the lines. Karel slashed a Grimm and saw the man next to him have a claw enter his chest. Karel made a quick move and decapitated the Grimm. Ren and Nora saw the Grimm running around them thanks to Ren's semblance. They walked forward to the Nuckelavee. They rushed forward and were both caught by the claws of the Grimm. Ren slashed at the hand of the Grimm. It brought him back and roared in his face. It made him lose grip of his weapons. He pulled out a fire dust shard and tossed it in its mouth. He pulled out his father's knife. Nora blasted the arm off the Grimm and landed at its feet. She rushed forward and slammed it against the body of the Grimm. It let go of Ren and slammed against the stone wall. Ren dropped to his feet and started running. He jumped on the head of the Grimm and shoved the knife in its head. It let a roar and tried to fling Ren off it. He held on and brought the knife out again. He plunged it back in, trying to get a killing spot. The liquid Grimm started to come out of the Grimm. Ren let go of the head, then brought the knife down on its neck. He left a massive slash on it, and it cried out again. He breathed heavily and jumped at the chest of the Grimm. The roar was cut short. The knife hit a vital. He jumped off the Grimm, and watched it dissolve.

"That was for my village." Ren said as he put his father's knife away. The coalition forces came up to him and looked at the castle. They were at the base of the castle.


Ilia breathed heavily after taking down another Grimm. She was defending the capital of Menagerie, trying her best not to die. The Grimm invaded the island in massive numbers. The air defense systems took many of them down, but the aquatic Grimm were beating back the aquatic faunas.

"This isn't going the way I thought it would." Ilia said. Her squad took down another Grimm.

"Ma'am, we've been able to start pushing them back. But it seems like another wave of Grimm is coming." One of the red fang said.

"What about the docks?" Ilia asked.

"The ships are barely able to hold back the sea Feilong. The air defenses are just barely holding back the aerial Grimm. And we're getting hit hard by the land Grimm." Her squad captain said.

"So, we're barely holding out." Ilia said. She saw a missile fire and destroyed a large cluster of flying Grimm. She knew they didn't have many of them of that size.

"We're going to have to hold down the front lines!" Ilia said.

"Sir, we need more than that." One of them said.

"Do not let the Grimm get passed where the empire did! Is that clear?!" She shouted. The captains all sent out the orders and went out to hold the lines.

"Ma'am, how are we going to make it through this?" They asked.

"I don't know, but we have to try. Where are Yuma and Trifa? Jennie?" Ilia asked.

"We cannot confirm." One of her men said. She sighed. Saber Rodentia, the highest-ranking faunas general in the alliance, walked up to her.

"My forces have arrived." He said. A dozen drop ships landed, letting out the most elite faunas troops. They the 214th legion, made up of mostly faunas.

"We're glad to have you here commander." Ilia said. A Jedi ship flew passed the hoard of Grimm and made an emergency landing in the market. Jennie Celio jumped out the ship and took out her orange lightsaber. She slashed a Grimm in half then used the force to push her damaged ship into a large Grimm. It exploded, taking out the Grimm.

"Menagerie must not fall." She said. She used the force to force push a dozen Grimm into a pillar. The Pillar fell, killing all the Grimm. She ran to the command center.

"Master Jedi." Saber said.

"We're going to be in trouble if we don't get these monsters away from HQ." Jennie said. A Grimm landed behind her, when she spun around, taking its head.

"Agreed." Saber said. His forces went to bolster the Red Fang. The Grimm kept charging.

"It seems this is going on everywhere. Vacuo, Vale, Pare, Atlas, and Mistral. It seems that our enemy wants to destroy everything before we destroy her." Jennie said.

"It seems that way. But we're going to have to hold out." Ilia said.


Rouge started to breath heavily. Even with the help of team CFVY, and the other Jedi, they were barely holding on. Team DYMD arrived and showed their strength. They all wore Bora's symbol, and all wore armor like hers.

"We're holding them back for now, but if things keep going like this, we won't survive the second wave." Alex said. She took down another Grimm.

Rouge nodded and saw the police force take position firing at the Grimm. She wanted to go over there and tell them to leave, but she was pinned down when a Nevermore slammed on her back. It knocked the wind out of her, and after it opened its wings, it flung Alex and Adi away from her. It closed its claws down on her. She couldn't get her lightsaber. That's when a cop came over and fired at the Grimm. It let go of her, and went to eat the cop. Rouge grabbed her lightsaber and held the Nevermore with the force.

"Go!" She yelled. The officer went behind a bench and continued to fire at it. It launched its feathers at the officer, but he was grabbed by Fox. Fox put the officer down safely and jumped back at the Grimm. He slashed the Grimm's eyes off. Rouge rushed forward and slashed the Grimm in half.

"We got more of them coming." Adi said. She fired at another Nevermore.

"Thank you." The officer said and ran back to his fellow officers. They were joined by the alliance troops. Rouge turned around and force pushed an Ursa Grimm charging at her.

A member of team DYMD fired her twin pistols taking down a Grimm. Rouge wondered how much longer they needed to hold out for.


Ironwood watched as another ship was forced to land. The hoard of Grimm was too large to be able to easily take down. This battle was becoming worse. Their firepower was becoming decreased. They lost two of the Colossus and multiple ships. He just had to focus on the battle in front of him.

At the beach front the Hound Grimm appeared. It roared and rushed the beaches. Ironwood watched as the ground forces were having to hold back the new Grimm. It was strong and quick. It was too much for many of their forces. He clenched his teeth as he saw the battle start to shift again. The pendulum had gone back in the favor of the Grimm. He needed them to beat Salem soon. They had only a few more hours left. He closed his eyes for a moment and heard Cordovin send a transmission.

"Get those damn things off us then! Sorry for that general, we've been boarded by the Grimm. We're struggling to get rid of them." Cordovin said.

"Try to keep them off your ship. We can send a drop ship if you need it." Ironwood said.

"We may need it. We got an octopus Grimm that just climbed on the main deck. It's not the only one." Cordovin said.

"Understood." Ironwood said.


After defeating the hordes of Grimm leading to the castle, the strike team got to the very doorsteps of Salem. One man sat at the top of the castle's doorway. Adam sat there, looking at Blake and Sun.

"I got this one." Blake said. The troops started to go in the castle, but they were stopped by five Geist Grimm. They had taken the forms of different elemental dust. They also had sharp shards of dust coming out of them, and behind them were hundreds of black fang troops.

Adam stood up and jumped down to Blake. She stepped back. Sun glared at him. Yang turned back to look at Blake, but she nodded at her.

"Blake. I see you have this fool with you now." Adam said. He brought his hand to his sword.

"You should have stayed dead." Blake said.

"Oh, but then I wouldn't be able to get revenge on the race traitors standing in front of me." Adam cracked his neck and glared at Sun. They waited for the other to make the first move. Adam let go of his sword and reached in his jacket. He pulled out four small bombs and threw them. He then grabbed his sword and rushed at Blake and Sun. They jumped back, and Adam went in front of the bombs. They exploded, but he put the energy in his blade. Blake widened her eyes as he dashed towards her. Sun jumped forward, creating two clones. Adam ducked under the clone, spinning and slashing at it. After he stabbed the first clone, he swung his body around, slamming the sword into the second clone. He looked at Sun who had flung himself at Adam. He brought his sword out and gathered the energy of each hit.

"Be careful Sun! He steals the energy from attacks." Blake said.

"Noted." Sun said. He swung the nunchaku at Adam's head, firing a round. Adam blocked the overhead attack and kicked Sun back. Sun slammed into Neon.

"When did you get here?" Blake asked.

"Just got here" Flynt coal said. Ivori and Kobalt stood with the other members of their team.

"How many of you wish to die today?" Adam asked.

"That's Adam Taurus, the terrorist." Ivori said. He grabbed his whip.

"That makes six dead hunters." Adam rushed towards Kobalt. He barely had time to bring out his pistol before Adam slashed his arm off. Adam kicked him into the stone wall and turned to Ivori. Ivori used his whip on Adam, hitting him. Before he was able to bring his whip back, Adam grabbed it. He gritted his teeth and the sky turned bright red. He rushed forward and slashed at Ivori.

Ivori was gone quickly, with the blood flooding out of his body. Neon gasped as she rushed at Adam. She took out her nunchaku and Sun rushed at him with his own pair. Adam stepped back blocking the attacks and sent the stored energy at Neon. She was flung away, but she was still alive. She coughed up blood as she crawled to Kobalt.

"You send these weaklings to tire me out Blake? How pathetic can you get?" Adam said. Flynt sent out a blast from his trumpet, which Adam took.

"Your just a monster." Flynt said.

"Of course, a human would say that to me. You made this monster!" Adam said. "All I wanted was to be treated as an equal! But none of you would give me the time of day. But you would blame us for your misfortune, attack us whenever you felt like it." Adam rushed at Flynt. He jumped in the air when Flynt sent out another music blast. Flynt jumped back and sent out another blast when Adam landed. Adam brought his sword up and blocked the attack. He glared at Flynt then shot his head over to Blake who jumped at him. He jumped back and dashed at her. She blocked the attack and jumped backwards in the air. When she landed, she created a dust clone to take the attack from Adam.

"You are everything wrong with this red fang! You let the humans walk all over us! You know what they did! But you still fight by their side! Has nothing I ever told you gotten through to you?!" Adam rushed at Blake she clenched her teeth blocking the attack. She was driven to one knee.

"You became the monster the humans thought you were." Blake said.

"And you became the whore of humans!" Adam let go of the lock and spun around. He blocked Sun's weapon.

"Don't call her that! She's better than you!" Sun brought his other nunchaku around and hit Adam in the side. He grunted, then brought his hand in his jacket and pulled out a spider Grimm. He placed it on Sun's chest, and made it explode. Sun was flung back, his aura taking most of the damage, but there was still a mark on his chest. Flynt shot another blast of music at him, but Adam jumped in the air. He landed and kicked the trumpet out of Flynt's hands. Flynt jumped back and took out two pistols. He fired dust bullets at Adam. Adam jumped, avoiding the dust bullets. Blake jumped up behind Adam and kicked him to the ground. He landed and took out a revolver. He fired at Blake, who blocked the attacks.

"This revolver nearly killed your father, until I killed the man who wielded it. This revolver led me down the path I took." He spun around and fired at Flynt. Flynt had to get behind cover.

Blake fired at him. He sped to the right and spun around to meet her. He holstered the revolver and rushed her, unleashing a part of his power. She was barely able to block it.

"The humans spent their entire lives mistreating us, and you just let them!"

"No, I don't!" Blake pushed him back and slashed up at him. She hit his mask, and it fell to the ground. She saw the marking of the SDC left on his face. She couldn't look at him. The mark on his face saw burned on his eyes.


"Look at me. I must live every day with a constant reminder that these damn humans are evil. Every one of them, including that Schnee girl you have with you. You fight against the cause of the faunas! You let the humans steal from us!" he slammed his sword against her weapons. "They beat us! They ban us from gathering and having pride in ourselves! They mark us! They kill us! They destroy our homes and families! They rape us! They destroy us!"

Blake couldn't hold out against his nonstop assault. He only stopped when Neon and Sun rushed him again. When he turned to see them, they stopped when they saw his eyes.

"Oh, my gods." Neon said.

"Who…?" Sun started to ask.

"The Schnee Dust Company does this! They make us SLAVES and you fight with the heiress! Don't any of you tell me that you fight for faunas equality!" He went to Ivori's corpse and picked up the whip.

"This is what they used on us. His family were the slave drivers. Did he ever tell you that?" Adam looked at the faunas.

"He didn't…" Neon started to say but couldn't finish. Flynt clenched his fist. Ivori never told anyone about his family.

Adam held the whip in his hand.

"You want me to give up, but how can I when I see the scum pretending now that we're equals. Did they promise you aid? Land? Equality? Their humans. They wouldn't, couldn't keep their promises." Adam said calmly. He threw the whip into the ocean.

"We have to be the change we want to see in them. We convinced them that we were monsters. They were afraid of us." Blake said.

"You're saying that it's our fault that we were mistreated?" Adam asked.

"No. We never deserved this… but we can't let their racism justify our own hatred." Blake said.

"Your father always said that we couldn't get anywhere with violence but look at this. Violence is exactly what let Atlas and Menagerie fight on the same side. Your pacifism had led to nothing except our prolonged suffering!" Adam said. He rushed forward towards Blake. She prepared to block when Sun and Neon jumped in front of Blake, she widened her eyes as the red light came from Adam again.

"No!" Blake said.

Sun looked back at her and smiled. A second later, he rushed towards Adam with his staff. He blocked the strike for a second, then the staff was broken in two. Sun was flung back, with the sword crossing his chest. He fell at Blake's feet, seeing the blood rushing down his chest. He turned to Neon and slashed at her. She blocked as best as she could, but the attack sent her flying back into the rocks. Adam stopped glowing and tossed a sticky grenade at the rock formation, destroying it. Neon looked up and rolled to the side, but not fast enough. Her leg was pinned on a rock. She screamed out in agony. Blake opened her eyes wide looking at the horrible sight.


Adam kicked Blake in the face, then rushed at Flynt who went to help Neon. Flynt turned around and slammed Flynt's face in the rocks. He brought his arm back but couldn't plunge the sword in his chest. He stumbled forward when Kobalt shot his back. His aura took the damage. Adam punched Flynt, then dropped him. He walked to Kobalt, who was still bleeding. He blocked each of the shots, absorbing the energy again. Kobalt's arm started to shake. He dropped the gun and lowered his head, fainting from blood loss.

"Pathetic humans. The lot of them." Blake held onto Sun. He was losing a lot of blood.

"Not you too. I don't want to lose anyone else." Blake said.

"Now Blake, you see that in the end, you are all alone. A traitor quickly losses all their allies. You chose to side with these weaklings." Adam walked over to her. He stood over her, holding his sword in his hand.

"Why?" Blake asked.

"You know why. You've always known that this is how it would end the moment you left the white fang. Look at where your 'morals' have left you! Dead and dying allies standing at the gates of Hell." Adam looked at the pitiful sight with contempt.

"Why did you come back?" Blake asked.

"Because my mission wasn't completed yet." Adam said. "I am the hurricane of change that will make all equal." Adam reached his arms out as if he was a messianic messenger.

"Not you." Blake said. She quickly kissed Sun's head and stood up. "Weiss, Yang, Ruby, didn't I tell you I had this?" Blake said.

Adam turned around to see the rest of team RWBY. They stood there with their weapons pointed at him.

"We're a team. We're not going to let you take him on by yourself." Ruby said.

"Your our sister. Of course, we were going to come back for you." Weiss said.

"You need our help. This is nothing less than what we should do." Yang said.

A tear fell down Blake's cheek.

"Thank you all." Blake looked around at the remnants of team FNKI. "We're going to avenge you." Blake said.

"Send as many huntresses as you can. Nothing can stop a hurricane!" Adam said. "And to think I get to kill the race traitor and the Schnee bitch!" Adam smiled as he stood at the center of all of them. "And I can't forget the Jedi who think they can win against me!"

"We're going to do this together." Ruby said.

"Of course." Weiss said. She glared at Adam, then she saw his markings. "You were one of them then. My father… I'm not my father."

"I've learned to never trust the word of a Schnee." Adam said.


Karel turned off his lightsaber breathing heavily. He just finished taking down the fifth Geist Grimm. The Black fang troops were barely beaten back with high casualties on both sides. Karel looked around and saw that they had lost well over two hundred of their troops fighting in the main hall of the castle. It didn't help when the grenades started falling. They even got a Jedi and two Sith. The fourth brother was killed by two jedi knight level opponents.

"I wish we knew a little more about this place." Karel said. The palace was just like the outside of it, dark with black and red covering every inch. Karel could feel the dark side radiating off the walls of the palace. He held onto his necklace, feeling the warm light come over him. He took a deep breath and looked back at the remaining forces. They were the best they had. All of them were at the level of fully trained hunters. They had to make it through this gauntlet of torment.

"We can't just ask Oscar what the layout of this place is." Bora said. Everyone took a moment to recuperate from the assault that had taken so many of them. All over were the bodies and skeletons of those who were killed.

"I can feel the dark side even stronger in here than out there." Soule said.

"That means we're getting close. Once we get to her, we're going to face the avatar of Bogan." Karel said. "And if we defeat her, we're going to have to take the relics back to Oscar. We're going to lock the realm from our side, and we'll… we'll see from there."

"But we have to defeat her first. Do you think we'll be able to beat her?" Soule asked.

"That's not fear I hear in your voice, is it?" Karel joked.

"I'm not afraid to face down the abyss. Are you?" Soule held onto his lightsaber, twisting it in his hands, examining it.

"I'm ready to die if it means that we defeat her." Karel said.

"What about sacrificing everyone here? Would you be willing to let them all die as well?" Soule asked.

"Let's hope it doesn't get to that. But if it does, then there is no death, there is the force." Karel said.

"For all the faults I find in that code, that one line is something we both agree on. There is no death. There is the force." Soule looked at Zia. She and Bora were talking.

"My daughter and Prince Cedric nearly caused an international incident at the peace summit." Karel said.

"What do you mean?" Soule asked. What could the children do that would cause that?

"They snuck passed Rouge and Sno. Remember, I can see the history of an object when I touch it. But I didn't tell Rouge I can see history from people too." Karel smiled to himself.

"That's impressive for their age." Soule said.

"We're going back to enemies after this battle ends… but we don't have to. We could leave this realm friends." Karel said.

"Friends? This is a simple alliance." Soule said.

"You don't sound so sure there." He turned around and saw everyone getting ready to continue the fight. Soule didn't answer Karel's accusation. There was something about Karel that Soule liked. He suspected if he was a Jedi, he would be good friends with Karel. He could imagine also Karel being a Sith under him. That was the difference between Jedi and Sith. The Jedi were married to the light, and the Sith were married to the dark.

"There's always a little light in dark, and there's always a little dark in the light." Karel said, turning away from Soule. It was an idea that the people of Remnant subscribed to. It was one he wondered if it was true.

As they left the main hall, there were six figures standing in a hallway, looking at the group. They all wore masks, hiding their faces. Karel put his hand up and glared at the figures. One of them walked forward. The hallway was long with doors leading to any number of rooms, but the hallway itself was large enough for a few dozen people to stand comfortably. There were giant windows outlooking the hellish terrain. A bolt of black lightning rushed down the sky, ripping right above the windows.

"Welcome and congratulations of making it this far. Sadly, we can't let you go any further." Karel recognized the voice.

"Echo." Karel said. He could never forget his voice. Winter glared at him, and her eyes glowed.

"I'm glad to see that you're able to tell it was me. You see, with me are the rest of the members of my guild. I am the guild leader, after having taken out the old guild master. Our Patron, Salem, wants us to kill you, so we cannot disappoint." He held out his hands, waiting for the first strike to come at him.

Oscar saw the chess board again. He had taken many of Salem's pieces, but he saw just as clearly that he had lost many himself. He clenched his teeth as a wave of pain ripped through him. A siren sphere had cracked, and the strain on his body increased.

"Professor, how much longer are you planning to keep playing this game? Can you not see that no matter what you do, my pawns keep coming? I can throw an army of pawns at your rooks. Your bishops will crumble, and your knights will abandon the cause just as your precious Lionheart did." Salem said.

"You have to realize that this is the end for both of us. Finally, at the very end of this war, we shall shed these tabernacles of clay. Our souls will return to the resting place where they belong." Ozma said.

"You presume too much. Ozma, Orlando, Oak, Orion, Omar, Odin, Oliver, Ozpin, and now you Oscar. Plus, those who had avoided me long enough that I couldn't learn their names. How long have we lived? How many sins have we committed in the eyes of the Gods? You think that if you were to somehow beat me that we would end up anywhere besides hell? I think not." Salem said.

"I trust them all. You cannot stop them. For all your power you have never been able to think of how you would die. You always thought you were immortal, and for a time you were. But now, your body will be destroyed, and you will live forever in that state. At least until we bring the Gods back. Just you watch." Oscar said. A bead of sweat came down his face.

"I accept this challenge."

Author's Notes: So, I'm having to split this chapter in two just because of length, so I set up everything for next chapter. I missed posting on Sunday because of something I did with my dad. We've got a few more fights coming up until the dramatic end of the story.

Please review the story and tell me if you like it. I just want someone to tell me what they think of my story before I end it. I want to know if people like it. I wonder if I made the summary bad, or if this story starts in a way that I expect you to have read some of what came before. I just want to know if anyone likes this. I spent so much time on this project, and have written a lot of stuff for it, but I know that doesn't make a good story. I just want to know if my hard work writing this has paid off. Perhaps if I focused on this story like the way I have been recently, I would have more people who read it. The first story in this series was a lot more successful, but some of that was people telling me to change tiny details, while others wanted me to make a whole new story. But I think now, this story is so different from what has come before. I just hope someone sees this and finds enjoyment out of what I write.

May the Force be With You

-DragonZlayerX12