RWBY: Destiny of Remnant

by UGX7

In the wake of the fall Team RNJR sets out to bring Cinder Fall to justice while the new Fall Maiden overlooks her master's plan in Haven City. Meanwhile Weiss tries to help a friend, Yang struggles with the loss of her arm, and Blake deals with guilt over the White Fang. Meanwhile someone from Cinder's past returns and Salem's newest pawn rises. Arkos, WhiteRose, SunnyBees, Renora

23. Vengeance is Mine

RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and created by the late and great Monty Oum.

Read, review, and tell me how I can improve, what you liked and what you didn't. Your feedback is appreciated, thank you! Thanks to all the reviewers, I appreciate all your kind words and thoughts. Seriously, you guys keep me going so share your thoughts.

RWBY: Destiny of Remnant

Chapter 23: Vengeance is Mine

Cinder listened to the loud cracks of thunder outside her home, the wind howled and the rain beat on the house like a barrage of water bullets, lighting would briefly illuminate the sky every ten seconds, but Cinder wasn't afraid; the house her family resided in had withstood much worse over the years so a storm like this was a minor threat.

She closed her eyes and tried to sleep but she soon opened them again when she heard the door to her room opening. She sat up in her bed and saw a small figure approaching her. She instantly knew who it was.

"Ashe..." she muttered as she shook her head.

"Cinder, can I sleep with you?" the six year old Ashe asked quietly.

"Afraid of the storm?" she asked.

He nodded and said "I'm afraid that old tree outside my room will fall into my room and crush me."

Cinder shook her head and answered "No, go sleep with mom and dad."

"I don't want to, it'll be too crowded, please let me sleep in your bed." He pleaded.

Cinder sighed as she reached over and turned on her lamp. "Ashe I..." she stopped as her lamp lit up the room and she saw how scared Ashe was, the terrified look in his eyes.

Just then a particularly loud boom of thunder made Ashe jump down to the ground and cover his ears. Cinder looked down to her little brother and knew no matter how hard she tried she couldn't deny him.

"Alright, come on." She relented.

Ashe's eyes sparkled in happiness as he quickly climbed into the bed and got under her covers. "Thank you Cinder! Thank you, thank you so much." He said as he wrapped his arms around her belly and hugged her torso as tightly as he could as he snuggled into her.

Cinder could only smile as she hugged him back and said "Hey, don't sweat it. I'll always take care of you, little bro. You wanna hear a story to help you sleep?"

He nodded as lightning lit up the sky outside.

"Okay, once upon a time in Remnant there was a boy and a girl, they were brother and sister and no matter how much they got on each others' nerves they would always stick together. So they grew up to be two of the best warriors in the whole world. And they lived happily ever after. That will be our story, just wait and see." Cinder said as she hugged Ashe closer to her as if to keep him safe from the storm.

The storm raged on into the night, but Ashe was able to sleep peacefully with his sister. Their mother opened her daughter's door the next morning, looking for her son, only to coo at the adorable sight before her as the two siblings cuddling into each other. It had been something she would never forget; neither would the brother or sister.

Cinder shook the memory from her head as she and Emerald entered the main assembly room of the ship where Salem, Ziz, and Steppenwolffe all awaited them.

"You wished to see us, my master?" she asked.

"Yes, Jude has made his move in Haven. He has taken an elementary school hostage and has demanded that your brother surrender himself, Nikos, and the Aura Crystal." Salem announced.

Cinder's eyes widened, she expected Jude to make a move but not this quickly, not so soon after his injury.

"Has my brother come yet?" she asked.

"No, but he will. I have a Grimm Knight watching over the situation and transmitting the it to us." Salem said as she gestured to the wall above the entryway where a large screen showed a school surrounded by a panicked crowd and police officers.

""What should happen if Jude fails?" Cinder inquired.

Salem did not bother hiding her small smile and said "Should he fail me again he shall pay for it with his life, and you shall have a chance to redeem yourself by killing your brother."

Cinder did not show any signs of refusing or hesitation, even though she felt like she should. "Understood." Was all she said.

---

Ashe looked out the windshield as Ross piloted the Vale ship towards the St. Shenna Elementary School. He checked himself, loaded to the brim with Dust bullets and clips, his sword, all three of his guns plus an extra one, two grenades, everything he could need for this fight. He was dressed in his usual attire with his black trench coat but with several bandoliers and pouches filled up with Dust for the coming battle as well as a switchblade in his pocket.

He looked to the back where Pyrrha sat with the case that contained the Aura Crystal. If Jude wanted it so damn badly Ashe was going to give it to him, trouble was he was going in blind; he thought he knew Jude well enough but apparently not since Jude's cyborg half was more than a surprise to him, plus this Fury Gang, he knew next to nothing about them except what little Team SSSN could tell him, they would obviously be hindrances, but Jude was the main target.

It ended today, one way or the other.

"You sure about this plan, Ashe? I mean the stakes are damn high and the kids in that school might get hurt." Ross pointed out.

"I'm sure, I am more than enough for Jude and this gang and so is she, right?" Ashe said to Pyrrha who nodded in agreement. "I kicked his ass twice already; maybe the third time will be the charm."

"Let's hope so." Ross muttered as the school came into view, surrounded by cops, a few Atlas soldiers, civilians, teachers who managed to escape, and of course parents and families of the children and teachers who were being held hostage inside. Ross glanced back at Ashe and asked "Do you think this Jude character will expect what's coming?"

Ashe smirked and answered "If we're lucky he won't have a chance in hell. You know what to do, right?"

"I got it; just keep yourselves and those kids alive, okay?" Ross said.

Ashe nodded and said "You got it. Thanks for going along with this."

"No problem, but I'll tell you what; the last week has been so crazy that I could retire after the crap that's went down." Ross stated as he looked for a place to land in the crowded space, and luckily the police were ordering the bystanders to get out of the way so they could land.

"Looks like listened to Argo, okay take us down." Ashe said as Ross began the ship's landing sequence. Ashe walked down to Pyrrha and asked "You sure you're up for this? This guy is insane, brutal, and unrelenting. We go in there's no guarantee we'll come out of this."

She just looked at him and smiled.

He smiled back and said "Okay, let's get ready to kill that maniac's ass once and for all."

As the ship landed safely on the ground Ashe slid the door opened and Pyrrha followed him out, resulting in most of the crowd gasping at the appearance of someone who was supposed to be dead. Some were looking at him, wondering if he was the one to blame for the predicament their children were in and Ashe didn't blame them; if he had finished Jude off in the first place this wouldn't have happened.

A police lieutenant ran up to him and said "You're this Ashe Kasai that maniac wants?"

"Sadly, I am. Okay officer, what can you tell me about the situation?" Ashe asked as Pyrrha ignored the reporters trying to ask her questions, not even sparing them a glance as Ross exited the ship.

"I have a niece and a nephew in that building so I want to know if you plan on stopping this." the officer, whose badge read Morse, worded.

Ashe nodded and said "I intend to kill him and the gang inside. All of them. I am sorry about your niece and nephew, but this asshole just refuses to die."

"What do you mean refuses to die?" Morse inquired.

"I threw him to a horde of Grimm five years ago and yesterday I threw him down an elevator shaft before a giant explosion went off." Ashe informed him, he had to admit the reaction on Morse's face was priceless. "What do you know about the situation?"

Morse sighed and said "Come with me, the commissioner is up here and she'll want to see you. We only have nine minutes before time is up." As he led Ashe, Pyrrha, and Ross to the front he began to tell what he knew. "From what we can tell on our scanners they have all of the students and teachers still inside of the building held up in the auditorium. We don't know how they got in but we do know they managed to take over the building very quickly. I assume you saw the assistant who was executed, and he was not the only one. From what our scanners have told us three other teachers have been killed trying to stop the punks from the Fury Gang."

"How many gang punks do I have to worry about?" Ashe inquired.

"I think forty-two, but with that cyborg maniac you'll have forty-three according to our scanners." Morse informed him as they arrived to the front where the police and the Atlas soldiers worked together to form a perimeter around the school.

A large muscular woman with an old and worn out face, a face that had seen more than most, looked over to them and asked "Is that Kasai, Morse?"

"Yes Commissioner Vetus, he's brought Pyrrha Nikos as well but I'm... not too sure how he did that." Morse admitted, just now realizing who the girl before him was and how utterly impossible that should be.

Vetus nodded and said "Now, Mr. Kasai, can you tell me what in the name of Oum is Saul Jude, who according to our computer died five years ago, is doing here, why he has taken these innocent children and teachers hostage, how Pyrrha Nikos is still alive, and what you have to do with this?" She knew deep down there was more to this than revenge, Ante was in control of all gangs in Haven so maybe he was using this as a distraction while the rest of his men moved about the city.

Ashe smirked and muttered "You're rather direct, but to answer your questions in order: one, he didn't die, some big time evil saved him and made him a cyborg. Two he took all those people hostage to get my attention. Three Pyrrha here is... well that's one story I think should be explained later once all of this has calmed down. And four, I'm the one who threw Jude to a pack of Grimm and took down his drug trade so now he wants me to suffer for it."

Vetus sighed and said "I feel like there's a fair amount of details you are leaving in the dark, but we are short of time so I'll leave it be for now. Gannz, get on the megaphone and tell that scumbag Gerard that Kasai is here."

"Yes Commissioner." Said one cop who took up a megaphone and walked forward.

"Do you have what he wants?" Morse asked.

Ashe looked down to the case Pyrrha was carrying and sighed. Oh how he hoped this worked, if it didn't it wasn't just his own life he was forfeiting, but all of those innocent kids inside of the school. "Yes I do, I have no choice but to give it to him."

"Alright, Fury Gang, Kasai is here with Nikos and the crystal! We will send him and Nikos up to the entrance so your men can let them in." Gannz called from the front of the barricade.

"We hear you loud and clear." Said a voice from the school's intercom. The front doors opened and a group of seven gang members, all armed with guns, came out. The leader of this small group, a blonde man with glasses eyed them.

"Ashe Kasai, Pyrrha Nikos, and the case you are carrying must contain this crystal I assume."

Ashe nodded and said "If Jude wants a fight I'll be oh too happy to oblige, just take me to him. When will you be releasing those kids?"

"Once we're done with you and take our leave they will be free to go, completely unharmed." The blonde assured him. He gestured for Ashe and Pyrrha to follow him inside and they began following him as the thugs flanked them and kept their guns up and ready for the cops to try anything.

From up above on one of the nearby buildings a Grimm Knight watched the over the crisis and transmitted what it saw to Salem and her followers.

"So you probably want me to hand over my weapons, right?" Ashe guessed as the doors closed behind them.

"No. Well I wanted to, but Jude ordered me to let you keep your weapons, to give you a fighting chance. Frankly I wonder why we just don't shoot you here and get it over with." The blonde admitted.

A man with long dark hair and a strong body appeared around a corner, armed with a heavy caliber automatic pistol and a sword. He laughed at the sight of Ashe and said "So you're him, huh? This Ashe guy who managed to do that" he said as he traced a finger down his face "to Jude? You're armed and ready, but you don't look like much."

"Looks can be deceiving." Ashe quipped.

"That they can." the man agreed with a smirk as he led them down the halls to the auditorium. "I'm Gerard, leader and founder of the Fury Gang, so if you don't mind me asking, friend; what exactly went down between you and Jude and why is Nikos still alive? Thought Cinder Fall killed her."

"Yeah, turns out she only teleported her, oh and Cinder is my sister by the way." Ashe announced, getting a kick out of the shocked reactions the thugs had.

"Well, ain't this a day for surprises?" Gerard deadpanned with a grin.

"As for my relationship with Saul Jude, he used to be a drug lord who tried to take over the town I was protecting; a good friend of mine was killed by his thugs so I waged war on him, got myself beaten, my lover stabbed him trying to rescue me then he killed her. Then I lost it, beat him half to death, threw him into a horde of Grimm and let them feast. Turns out..."

"They took him to that Salem woman Ante told me about?" Gerard guessed. Ashe and Pyrrha both gave him a look but Gerard smirked and said "It was the only way Ante could get me to submit without a fight, and let me tell you; she is one person whose bad side I'd rather not be on. Hell I'd kill a hundred kids if she told me to."

Ashe glared at him but continued "So fast forward a few years later I meet up with these kids from Beacon who are coming to this city to make Cinder Fall pay for what happened and for 'killing' her." he said a he pointed to Pyrrha, "I didn't tell them my relations to Cinder until she made herself known to us and by then shit got crazy. So a few days later me and the kids' friends, teachers, and families all teamed up and kicked our enemies collective asses, Ante's included, and I had another one on one with Jude which ended with me throwing him down an elevator shaft before a massive explosion went off. And here I am, here to clean up a mess that refuses to be cleaned."

The blonde gang member eyed Ashe and stated "You're life is very strange."

Ashe glanced at him and said "You don't... you have no damned idea, man. I'm sorry by the way."

"Sorry for what?" Gerard questioned.

"Your deaths." Was all Ashe said in response.

The thugs all looked either disturbed or furious but Gerard looked at Ashe and smirked. "Oh I think you and I will get along just fine."

"If you want to be friends that's fine by me, but have your gang turn on Jude and let those kids go, and you can all walk away from this, Jude is the only one who has to die." Ashe bargained.

Gerard grinned at him and said "Let me think about that... Nah, what do I look like to you, a fucking charity? Nice try Ashey boy, but no dice, we got a certain pissed off cyborg friend of yours to deal with. Ante is paying us the collective sum of the bounties he placed on those kids, so no way am I turning that kind of lien down."

They escorted the two to the auditorium where hundreds of kids were sitting down in the seats, most of them were too scared to move an inch and others were crying in sheer terror while teachers stood up with guns pointed to their heads. The atmosphere of the room was tense and on edge, everyone waiting for the first shot to be fired, some even expected bodies to begin hitting the floor any minute now. Most of the kids and teachers were shocked at the appearance of Pyrrha, who was supposed to be dead. Ashe could even hear some kids whispering about whether Pyrrha Nikos and this man were going to save them, but the teachers' minds were more doubtful, but the situation got even more complicated as Ashe could sense that up on the stage with Jude and a group of gang members were a small group of teachers who were being used as insurance. Ashe observed the situation and counted the members of the Fury Gang; there were eight with him and Pyrrha, including Gerard, he had briefly glanced at six guarding the school hallways and the front on the way here so that made fourteen, he could see around the room and counted a grand total of twenty-five so put that with the previous thirteen and they had thirty-eight gang members to take care of. Number thirty-nine was Jude himself so if Morse was right they still had three more gang members unaccounted for somewhere in the school.

Jude stood up on the stage of the auditorium and clapped upon seeing Ashe, who couldn't help but stare at the grotesque sight Jude was now, a hideous amalgamation of flesh and metal.

"There you are, Ashe old friend! How do you like my new look?" he asked as the thugs on the stage all aimed their guns at Ashe.

"I like it, now everyone will know what a freak you are. Although I do have to admit the half robot skull makes you look like something out of a sci-fi horror movie." Ashe said as he kept a firm grip on his pistols.

"I must admit it does. Gerard, take the case from them and bring it me." Jude ordered.

Gerard looked to Pyrrha who handed the case to him. Gerard shook his head as he walked over to the steps, went up, and made his way to Jude and held out the case. "Well that was easy." He joked as Jude took it.

"There's a DNA fingerprint lock on this case." Jude observed.

"I already deactivated it, open it up." Ashe called as he secretly used his Semblance, fueled by a desire to protect the innocent youths around him, to spread his aura out and around the auditorium.

Jude glanced at Ashe but did so with ease. He looked at the crystal and had to admit he was somewhat disappointed by the generic, albeit very large, crystal that was in the case. He could feel no major power within it but if what Salem said was true then he knew better than to judge a book by its cover.

He glanced up to Ashe and just now noticed that Pyrrha's skin was back to normal, however it was still pale. "What has happened to her? Why are her skin and eyes back to normal?" he asked.

"The Aura Crystal managed to undo what that mad scientist did, for the most part but I assume the other science cronies will find a way to redo it." Ashe said as two of the guards led the submissive Pyrrha up to the stage, leaving Ashe alone with the blonde and three other guards. Pyrrha looked down at him and subtly gave him a hand signal, which he returned with one of his own.

Jude hummed and said "Very well then, let us recap our situation: I have the Aura Crystal, I have Nikos, I have all these hostages at my mercy, I have all these gang members at my disposal, and the only thing standing in my way from obtaining my Mistress' praise and achieving glory untold... is yourself."

Ashe glared at Jude and said "So are you going to stand us there talking all day or are we gonna get this over with?"

"Oh we shall fight but first... you need to be worn down." Jude said as he gestured to the four thugs with Ashe. The blonde pointed a switchblade at Ashe while the other three, joined by two more thugs, aimed their guns at him.

Ashe glared up and said "I knew you were a coward." He didn't have much longer, the fight was going to begin soon and bullets would start flying, he needed a little more time to get his aura out.

"Oh I'm no coward Ashe, I just playing it safe. The only reason you won last night is because you had energy, you were still raring to go and five years ago I defeated you because me men wore you down. And now it's time for me to win once and for all." Jude said.

Ashe's aura finally finished spreading out just in time. He smirked and said "I don't think so." He let out a roar and he lurched forward, grabbed the blonde man's head, and twisted it, snapping his neck and killing him in the blink of an eye. The body fell to the ground with eyes wide open in surprise as Ashe whipped out his pistols and unloaded them into the five thugs who were surrounding him, he quickly fired but did so carefully and was sure to not miss a single shot, so with a few blasts and enough pulls of the trigger the five thugs around him were all dead.

Kids and teachers screamed as the battle began. Up on the stage Pyrrha's form vanished and was replaced by a smiling Neo who quickly went to work. She hopped off the stilts that made her appear to be as tall as Pyrrha, she unsheathed her estoc and slashed it sideways to disembowel one of the guards who escorted her to the stage. He screamed out in pain as blood erupted from his mouth, before Neo high-jump kicked him down. She landed and stabbed her sword backwards to impale the other guard's knee, making him scream out too. She pulled it out and sliced him across the throat, letting out a squirt of blood.

"Kill them all!" Jude screamed.

The thugs opened fire on the children and the teachers, horrified screams rang out but were soon replaced by sounds of confusion and gasps of astonishment as shields of aura were protecting all of the hostages.

"What?!" Jude exclaimed, utterly baffled.

Ashe smirked; he wished he could have taken a picture of the look on Jude's face. He had been able to spread his aura out to protect all the hostages, it was a move that cost him most of his aura, even with a boost he had gotten earlier, but it was worth it.

---

"What do you mean you're going to give them what they want?!" cried Ruby incredulously.

Ashe stared at the screen a little more before he snapped out of it and told her "Well not entirely, I'm going to save those kids and the only way to do that is to give him what he wants, or at least make him think I am."

"You mean to deceive him?" Blake said.

"Of course I do, no way am I letting him come out on top of this one. Pyrrha, I know it's asking a lot but are you up for another big fight?" he asked.

Pyrrha looked at her parents, then to Jaune and answered "I... I don't know. I don't want any of those children to die because of me but... after everything I've been through I just don't know if I can." She knew she sounded selfish, but after everything Salem and Cinder did to her she didn't know if she could just surrender her friends and family after finally getting them back.

Jaune grabbed her hand and said "What if we both go? They probably think I'm dead so maybe they'll be caught off guard."

"A good plan, but you still look weak from your near death experience last night." Qrow stated.

"Then why don't we all go?" Yang suggested.

"No, I can't bring all of you, if I do something extreme as that Jude will start killing kids." Ashe said.

"But..." Jaune objected as he and Pyrrha stepped forward, but a voice stopped them.

"Neither of you have to go." Neo said as she stepped forward. "I have the Semblance of disguise; I can make myself look like Pyrrha and help you fight them. Unlike the rest of these people I do not mind blood on my hands."

Ashe smiled at her and said "Sounds good to me."

Coco grinned as she gave Neo a friendly pat on the back and said "Hey, I guess it's nice to know you're not that shallow, if you were you would have snuck out in the middle of the night."

"What about the Aura Crystal? If it really is as powerful as you say then we cannot allow Jude to give it to Salem." Glynda pointed out.

"She's right, you can't give into him." Jaune said.

"I'm not giving it to him; I can't now that Jaune and Pyrrha are its new guardians." Ashe said, getting a confused reaction out of Pyrrha's parents. "I need someone go tell Argo about this and see if any student in this academy has a crystallization Semblance." He finished.

"Oh I see where you're going with this. I'm on it." Bolin volunteered as he quickly left the room.

"So you're going to give him a fake Pyrrha and a fake crystal, but what about you and Neo?" Nora asked.

"We'll fight out way out, kill them all, and end Jude for good." Ashe stated simply.

"Ashe, think about this, do you really think you can fight your way out of this?" Jaune asked.

Ashe was silent for a moment before he answered with "No, but I can fight everyone else out of it. They had to get in some way beside the front door so they probably have another entrance. If I die today than so be it, but... but I just want all of you to know that the last week I have spent with you kids has made my life worthwhile, you know? You guys have made me feel like a have a purpose but no matter what I refuse to let innocent people die because of my failure to kill Jude. Maybe I will die today, but maybe I won't. I need to do this."

"Ashe," Pyrrha said, getting his attention, "what happened to me happened because I believed in destiny, I foolishly allowed myself to believe that I needed to do something I didn't have to. I let the expectations of others control me and I made a choice, one that was chosen very poorly. Do not make my mistake Ashe; you have to think about this! I'm not saying let Jude do whatever he wants to those people but you need to be careful if you are going to face him again."

Ashe smiled and said "Destiny. Heh. Pyrrha, you're right. I do have a choice; I don't have to do go and be a hero. I don't have to do anything. I can let all those kids die, I mean after all I don't know 'em, what do they mean to me? But I am going to do this, I am going to save them and beat Jude. Not because I have to do it, not because of destiny or some predetermined path or because someone told me to do it but because I choose to do it. This is something I want to do, not something someone else told me to do. I'm doing this because I choose to do it, because I want to do it, but most of all it's because it's the right thing to do."

Pyrrha stared at Ashe and considered his words. Jaune looked at Pyrrha and squeezed her hand, he smiled when she squeezed back.

"I'll call Ross up, he can take you there." Qrow said as he got his scroll out.

"Thanks, Neo do your best Pyrrha impression while I go load up." Ashe said as he left the room and began running to the elevator.

"Let's help him, give him as much ammo and Dust as you can spare." Ruby said.

"Right." Everyone said in agreement.

"Excuse me, can someone please tell us what is happening?" Zeus Nikos asked.

"Later dad, right now our friends needs all the help he can get. Although... I suppose I do need to explain a few things to you..." Pyrrha said.

A few minutes later Jaune and his sisters arrived in Ashe's room where he was loading up his guns with as many Dust clips as they could hold.

"So that's it? I mean you have a way to save Pyrrha and that stupid crystal, but what about you and Neo? You'll be too outnumbered to take them all on." Jaune pointed out.

"I've faced crazier odds before. I want to do this Jaune, don't make any mistakes I know how insane this is but I'm not backing down from it. I can't promise that I'll be back but I will try." Ashe promised.

"That's all anyone can ask." Sienna said with a nod.

"Ashe you have to think about this!" Bianca objected.

"I already have and it's simple and easy choice. Jude's only given me thirty minutes so I don't have much time to act, I need to hurry." Ashe said.

"But what about the Aura Crystal? Pyrrha and I don't know much about it, we need you to help us." Jaune argued.

As Ashe finished loading up his shotgun he sighed and said "You're right." He walked up to Jaune and placed his hand on his head "If I don't make it..." he whispered a word and Jaune cried out as the memory spell began to pour into his head. Jaune saw Ashe's memories, his experiences, all of the knowledge Ashe had about the Aura Crystal was being poured into Jaune's mind as well as a certain prophecy.

When the transfer finished Jaune fell backwards but Indigo and Sienna caught him. "Whoa, you okay?" Indigo asked.

"Yeah... I... Ashe what did you do?" Jaune asked.

"I transferred pretty much all of my knowledge of the Aura Crystal to you. Everything, meditation, rituals, chants, etcetera. Not everything though, there's a lot more specific stuff I left out as its a bit too complicated to share via memory but if I don't make it back look to those books." Ashe said as he gestured to some book on the floor. "I've kept them in my backpack the entire time; they helped me out a lot. They're old and tattered, but they'll do."

Jaune nodded and said "Ashe, do you really think a fake Pyrrha and a fake crystal will fool them?"

"Only so far, but since Jude never saw the crystal himself he'll probably fall for it. As for Pyrrha, well Neo seems to be pretty good at fooling people, but we may have to do something about her height." He said in response.

"The other kids are all getting Dust ammo for you to use, so you'll have plenty to shoot with." Shani told him.

"Good, my own ammo can only get me so far." Ashe stated as sheathed his sword. He looked at them all and said "Look, we owe you girls big time for coming out here to help your brother. We couldn't have done it without you."

"Hey, we'd do anything for our little brother." Indigo said as she patted Jaune on the head.

"Yeah, plus you know, big sis instincts." Bianca said, before she realized how wrong that would sound to Ashe. "Oh, I'm so sorry I forgot that..."

"It's okay, but just know that you girls are better sisters than Cinder is."

"Well that's not hard to outdo." Snarked Violet.

Just then Qrow and Ross appeared in the doorway. "I filled Ross here on the situation, he's ready." Qrow said.

"You need a pilot to save the day? I'm your man." Ross stated bravely.

"Good, can you find out the school's location?" Ashe asked.

"All ready did, I got the coordinates and I can get us there whenever you're ready." Ross said.

"Get to the ship and get it prepared, we'll be along soon." Ashe told him. The older man nodded and ran off as Ashe exited the room.

"So you really gonna do this?" Qrow asked.

"Of course, even if there were no innocent lives at stake I'd go to finish Jude off." Ashe voiced as Reese appeared.

"There you are! Headmaster Argo knows about the situation and has called the police commissioner to let her know about you." She said.

"Good, what about the fake crystal, how are we doing with that?" Ashe asked.

"I think someone is coming up, I know there's a girl with that Semblance here but I don't know her." Reese informed him as they began walking down the stairs.

"Good, that'll be a big help. So Pyrrha is telling her parents about her... condition?" Ashe guessed.

"Not yet, later once everything has calmed down. She was going to tell them in the library but then this disaster came up." Jaune said.

"There's always something." Qrow muttered.

Just then Pyrrha appeared in front of them. "Hey, Pyrrha! Are your parents..." Jaune began before Pyrrha smirked.

"Fooled you." She said in a different voice. The form of Pyrrha fell away to reveal Neo standing on stilts, the petite girl smiled and said "A girl here is from a circus family and agreed to give me these to make me look to be Pyrrha's height."

"Wouldn't it be easier just to make an illusion?" Shani inquired.

" It would be easier just to create an illusion but those gang thugs will probably grab me by the shoulder to force me somewhere and I can't have them phase through my body, now can I?" she said.

"It'll do, this will fool them long enough for us to start shooting." Ashe said.

"What about all of the hostages?" Violet pointed out.

"I got that covered; I think I can use my Semblance to spread my aura out to shield everyone from gunfire or blades. It'll be tricky and it will take a huge toll on my aura but it's worth a shot." Ashe stated.

"It sounds way too risky." Violet argued.

"Oh, it is, but right now it's the best plan I got." Ashe said.

"What about the Aura Crystal? Maybe Pyrrha and I can use it to give you a boost." Jaune suggested.

"It might work, but not to the extent it did yesterday, you see once a bloodline has ended its service to the Aura Crystal it can only connect to them for another twelve hours, or so I've read." Ashe explained.

"Then what are we waiting for?! Let's go back to Pyrrha and the crystal." Jaune cried.

They quickly made their way back to the lounge where Pyrrha and her parents remained with the Aura Crystal.

"Pyrrha, we got to help Ashe's aura stronger, we need to give him as better chance." Jaune said.

Pyrrha nodded and said "I'm all for it, but can we do it?"

"Ashe just gave me his knowledge of the crystal's workings with that memory thing he does, I think I know how to do it, but I'll need your help." Jaune said to her.

"Pyrrha has told us about this Aura Crystal business and while I'm pretty sure we haven't gotten the entire story yet I think my daughter can help you, Mr. Kasai." Hera voiced.

"Okay, Pyrrha get the crystal out and use the gravity field." Ashe instructed her. Pyrrha opened up the case and pressed a button on the small anti-gravity generator which made the crystal float up into the air.

"Hope they can find that girl, we can't let this scumbag get his hands on this thing." Reese stated.

"Don't worry; I have no intention of handing it to him. Okay, now Jaune and Pyrrha, I need you both to place one hand on the crystal and grab my hands with your free ones." The young couple did so and then Ashe said "Okay now I need you both to repeat this chant: Su Sol Zah Tih lm Ac Nol Yod Utt Amaj Va Sen Ur Kai! The last two words will help transfer energy into my body, okay?"

They both nodded, having paid close attention to the words of the chant. "Okay then, say the words and focus on the power that will flow through you and into me. You ready?" he asked as Shani began to explain the plan to the Nikos parents.

"Yeah." They both said. The trio closed their eyes and Jaune and Pyrrha began to chant the words as aura from the crystal began to flow into their bodies and into Ashe's.

"Su Sol Zah Tih lm Ac Nol Yod Utt Amaj Va Sen Ur Kai!" the two teenagers shouted as they finished the ritual. Ashe reeled back as he could feel the power surge through him, it wasn't nearly as much as the crystal had given him the night before but it was enough to get him through this fight. At least he hoped so.

"Di-did it work?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah, yeah it worked. I think my aura will do the job now." Ashe confirmed as Teams RWBY, CFVY, SSSN, Penny, Flynt, May, Neon, Ren, and Nora all rushed in with loads of Dust ammo.

"Here you go Ashe, top of the line Dust." Coco said as she handed him a string of chained Dust bullets and the right kind of gun to use them.

"And here's for when things go really crazy." Nora said as she handed him a couple of grenades.

Ashe grinned and said "Thanks Nora, I may not need them but you never know."

"Take this too, every little bit helps." Qrow said as he took a small knife out and handed it to Ashe. "Switchblade, those little things come in handy."

"They do indeed." Ashe said with a nod as he took out a pair of bandoliers from his backpack and strapped them on, loading them up with Dust. "Okay; I got four guns, one grenade, a sword, a switchblade, and my own moves. We're nearly ready to move out." After Team SSSN told Ashe everything they knew about the Fury Gang, Argo, Bolin, Ozpin, and a female first year student entered the room.

"Okay, Mr. Hori has told me about the situation and while I think it's a bad idea for you to go alone on this I won't stop you. Kira here can make a copy of the crystal for you, just show it to her." Argo stated.

"It's the big floating shiny rock in the middle of the room, how can you miss it?" Yang asked sarcastically.

The girl now identified as Kira looked at the Aura Crystal and said "Yeah, Yeah I can recreate that, no prob." She sat down on the floor and began to create a crystal form identical to the Aura Crystal's.

"Okay good. Now Argo I need you to get me another case for the fake crystal." Ashe said.

"I don't think I can get you one in time, you only have twenty minutes left as it is so you're rather pressed for time." Argo said as he noticed the clock.

"Shit, you're right. Okay I'll just put it in the case I have now while Jaune and Pyrrha look over this one." Ashe said.

"Ashe, are you sure about this? You could die!" Ruby pointed out.

"I know. I'm still going to do it." Ashe said firmly as Kira finished creating a copy of the crystal.

"Whew... th-there you go, sir. I don't know how strong it'll be as my crystals break under enough pressure but if you want to fool someone with it I..." she began before Ashe cut her off.

"No, it's good enough kid, you did fantastic. Jude doesn't even know what it looks like so we're fine." Ashe assured the girl as Yatsuhashi and Fox quickly picked the copy up and put it into the case.

"Okay Neo, you set?" Ashe asked.

"Yes, although I do plan to take my leave if I survive this. I'm making a nasty habit of being a hero." The multicolored haired girl muttered as she took Pyrrha's form.

"What about her arms, something could phase through those, right?" Jaune said.

"I'll be sure to keep the arms out of their reach." Neo assured him as everyone began to head out.

Outside Ross was inside of the ship and was ready to go as the large group exited the building.

"Ashe, be careful. We don't want to lose you." Velvet said to him, the concern in her voice evident.

"I'll try to be. Thanks for... well for everything Velvet." Ashe said as she hugged him. He stood awkwardly for a second before he hugged her back.

"Try to come back in one piece, even if you don't they can patch you up again, okay?" Coco said.

"Okay. Coco, Fox, Yatsu, it's been a pleasure." Ashe said.

"Hey, you're acting like this a goodbye." Neptune said as he took Ashe's hand and shook it.

"It is, for now. Let's face it this might be it." Ashe said as he looked to Sun. "Take care of your team Sun, they need you and you need them."

Sun shook Ashe's hand and said "They sure do. Kick that guy's ass."

"Will do." Ashe said with a grin as he shook hands with Scarlet and Sage.

He walked up to Penny and said "So I guess you know my odds are pretty bad, right?"

"Well... I don't have all of the factors to properly make a good guess but... your chances don't look good. If you want I can..." Penny began only for Ashe to stop her.

"No, Neo and I can handle this. Penny, you are a real girl. You may not be one in body but you are in spirit. Don't let anyone ever tell you different, or else they'll have to face the wrath of Ruby." He said with a grin.

He said his goodbyes to each of the Arc sisters, but parted ways with Bianca with a rather strong hug. "Good luck." She whispered to him.

Penny smiled back and hugged him as gently as she could. He looked over to see Arslan arriving. "They told me what's going on. You sure you wanna do this?" she asked.

"Oh yeah." Ashe confirmed.

Arslan sighed and put her hand out. "I guess I was wrong about you, you are an okay guy." She said.

Ashe accepted her hand and said "Not by much."

After he said his goodbyes to Reese and Bolin he moved on to Glynda and Ozpin. He shook both their hands before Glynda said "We'll be watching, once the hostages are safe the Atlas soldiers and the police will be able to help you."

"I hope so." Was all Ashe said before he shook Taiyang's hand, then Qrow's.

"Just don't your ass kicked too badly, I've already gotten one friend hurt today, I don't need another."

"Qrow, did you just call this man and James your friends?" Glynda questioned, baffled.

"Yes, so what?" Qrow asked. Secretly Qrow wanted to help Ashe in his avian form but after the physically and emotionally draining events of last night combined with the lack of sleep made it highly unlikely he could help Ashe out.

Ashe snickered as he went over to the eight kids, four of them he had only met in the last couple of days but the other four had made him feel his life had meaning again, in only a handful of days these kids had saved him from the lonely life of a wandering Guerrilla Huntsman. He couldn't but realize how hopeless his situation was now, even with a plan to stop Jude.

"Hey, don't act so depressed! You'll be okay, I know it." Nora said encouragingly as she hugged him, tighter than Penny had.

"Thanks Nora, and thank you for telling me about Magnhild, it... it helped put things in perspective for me." Ashe said gratefully as he hugged her back.

He looked to Ren and said "Hey, now I know you were never my biggest fan but I..."

Ren stopped him and said "I am sorry for thinking you would have betrayed us. That night when Jaune and Ruby were taken, I... I did want to shoot you but... I am sorry."

Ashe took his hand and shook it. "Hey, I would've done the same in your shoes. Take care of Nora, you two need each other." He said.

"More than you know." Ren said with a small smile as he glanced at his partner.

Ashe moved to Blake and said "Take care of Sun, you'll know he'll need you, same with your teammates, despite the whole White Fang past you might be the only sane one on Team RWBY."

Blake smiled and said "Thank you Ashe, I will do my best. Good luck."

"That's odd, a black cat wishing me luck." He said with a grin.

He moved on to Yang who said "Don't get all mushy on me man; we know you'll kick their ashes."

While most of them groaned or rolled their eyes at the pun Ashe just laughed. "Good one!" he said.

"Hey, don't die on me because you're, like, the first person in a while who found my jokes funny." Yang said.

"You can use your entire library of material on me if I get out of this." Ashe promised her.

"Trust me Ashe, you'll be wishing for the sweet embrace of death if she does." Weiss said with a roll of her eyes.

Ashe laughed at that and said "Take care of Ruby, Weiss, it's obvious you care about her and your friends way more than you let on."

Weiss sighed and said "Sad thing is you're right and they have all changed me for the best. Take that monster down."

"Oh I will, and I will make it painful." Ashe promised her before he went on to Pyrrha.

"Now Pyrrha, do you remember what you promised me on the way to the warehouse?" he asked.

"Of course I do, and I intend to keep it for the rest of my life, no matter what." She said confidently and firmly.

"Good. Take care of him, okay? If you don't and I die I am totally haunting you." He joked.

Pyrrha smiled and chuckled a bit before she hugged Ashe. "Thank you for saving him." She whispered.

"I only helped out, the thing that saved him was the love all of you had for him. Hang on to this for me, it has some more stuff about the Aura Crystal and some of my own private files I don't want to lose." Ashe told her as he gave her his scroll.

He moved on to Ruby and wiped a tear from her eye. "No tears, okay? You've been through enough; I can't have you crying over me. I want you to look over this for me." He said as he took off the necklace with the whistle on it.

"No, no! You're only giving it to me because you think you're gonna die, I can't take it!" Ruby refused.

"Ruby, this whistle belonged to my mother, she used it to distract her enemies and let her loved ones know where she was, it has been the one thing of hers that I have managed to hang on to for all these years so I can't let it get damaged, I need you to look after it until I get back. I'll be okay, just take care of it, alright?" he said as he held it out for her.

Ruby stared at him before she sighed and said "Okay, just... just come and get it later, okay?"

"I will." He swore as she took it from him.

One last goodbye to say; Jaune.

Jaune sighed and said "Ashe I... I owe you a lot, man. How long have we even known each other? A week?"

"I don't know, kinda lost track." Ashe confessed as he gripped the engagement ring.

"Ashe, thank you, for everything you've done. I'm not gonna lie, you were a total jerk at times but I understand why, maybe if I never got Pyrrha back I would have been bitter and angry at the world too. You got this, I know you do." Jaune assured him.

"Hey, third time's the charm, right?" Ashe said with a shrug as he removed the ring necklace.

Jaune's eyes widened and said "No, I can't, give it to someone else."

"Shut up and take it. I don't need it anymore and even if I do survive I... I think you need it more than I do. So I want you to keep it." Ashe said. Jaune looked at him, totally confused as Ashe placed it in his hands and glanced at Pyrrha. "You know what to do with it when the time comes."

Jaune blushed a bit but he slowly nodded and said "Do what you have to do, Ashe. You can do it." He tightened his grip on the ring and Ashe smiled.

"You'll be okay kid."

He followed Neo into the ship and took one last look at his friends, the ones who helped him, the ones who had given him a life again.

He turned around and closed the door as the ship began to rise up.

---

Jude looked at Ashe and realized what he was doing. "Kill him! Shoot him now!" he ranted as his arm transformed into gun-mode on its highest setting and fired. Ashe rolled over, letting the blast of Dust hit the ground where he had been standing and pulled out his shotgun and quickly fired out into the gargantuan room, hitting three more thugs who were trying to physically kill the hostages. Three more bodies hit the floor with small splashes of blood on them as the powerful Dust blasts ended their lives.

Neo jumped off the stage as two henchwomen tried to shoot her, but she managed to cover herself with the umbrella.

Jude calmed himself and said "Good, good, this is what I need. Gerard, get your gang ready to retreat."

"Retreat?! You frigging planned on this?!" the gang leader barked.

"Not entirely but it wasn't unexpected, though I have to admit the massive aura shield is pretty out of left field." Jude said as he looked over to the teachers they held hostage on stage and grinned at one of them. Gerard glanced at one of his top men, Nash and shook his head in annoyance as they tried to shoot Ashe together.

On the ground floor Ashe smashed his fist backwards into the face of the thug who tried to sneak attack him. He whipped around, grabbed the guy, smashed his head against the thug's, shot him in the foot, and finally threw him into the wall hard enough to crack it.

He cried out in pain as he felt something stab him in the shoulder, which turned out to be a shuriken thrown by one of the female thugs but he easily tore it out, even if it stung like a bitch to do so.

He looked over to Neo who eviscerated a female thug, then jumped up to ram another through the gut. Okay so if his math was right that made fourteen down so far and a lot more to go. He could feel the large aura shield taking more damage; he needed to end this quickly before the aura gave out. He jumped over a row on seat and landed in front of another thug who he grabbed and slammed into the back of the seats thrice before he rammed his fist into the thug's stomach. He released the thug, only to take a shot in the back. He cried out in pain so the thug took his chance and screamed as he tried to attack Ashe, only for the Guerrilla Huntsman to whip out the switchblade Qrow gave him and ram it into the thug's forehead.

The thug's scream was short lived as Ashe ripped out the small blade and let him fall to the ground as a lifeless husk. The kids who witness the murder were either screaming or too scared to scream. Ashe quickly ducked down to avoid being hit and let more of the aura shield take the damage, but he didn't know how much longer he could keep it up, his aura was draining fast.

He looked over to see Neo had killed two more thugs with her own blade and was constantly trying to give him some relief by using her umbrella to take shots meant for the hostages. Ashe nodded in approval as he used the automatic rifle Coco had given him to blast another thug down from the rafters above, he fell to the floor and his skull was cracked by the hard impact.

Ashe looked up to one of the entryways behind them and saw three of the guards from the front were running in and trying to shoot the hostages, but to no avail as the aura shield was still holding out. Ashe jumped forward and kicked one in the head, slamming him into the wall. He crouched down to prepare for another attack only for the second guard to land a few hits on him. Ashe fell backwards onto the ground, crying out in pain as the third guard stomped down on his gut.

"Not so tough now!" the guard said as he aimed a shotgun at Ashe's head. Ashe quickly grabbed the unconscious form of the first guard and hauled him over his body to protect himself from the blast right before the guard fired. The blast killed the out cold guard and Ashe used the shock of it to jump back up and blast both guards away, killing them both with fast and precise shots.

Ashe looked up just in time to avoid a killing blast from Jude's new arm cannon. He rolled out to the floor and saw Jude was holding one of the teachers hostage, holding her close so Ashe wouldn't shoot at him.

"ASHE! Give up NOW or I kill this bitch!" Jude screamed furiously. Ashe's eyes widened when he saw the teacher, she was only a little younger than himself and she had blue eyes and black hair, not exactly an uncommon combination, but those two always reminded him of Mila, but what was worse was the fact that she was pregnant, the large bulge in her belly made it obvious. She was crying and had a look of pure terror on her face and in her eyes, she was trying so hard not to scream of beg for mercy as she knew this monster wouldn't give it to her.

If Jude killed that woman he wouldn't just kill her but the child she held within her womb. Two more deaths that would Ashe's fault, just like Mila and their unborn child. He sighed and looked to Neo who had decapitated another thug, but she looked to him with an inquisitive look. He nodded a signal for her to stand down. She gave him an angry face but submitted and threw her blade down but quickly pressed a button on her scroll to signal Ross to make his move. Now if Ashe could just keep their attention long enough...

"Okay Jude, alright, you win. You have the crystal and you have me, just let the woman go." Ashe said calmly as he put his guns away.

"Oh I don't think so Ashe, she's my insurance that you will give up. She looks a little bit like her, doesn't she? She has your lovely little Mila's eyes and hair, although her baby has made it longer than Mila's did, eh?" Jude said mockingly.

Ashe wanted to scream in fury but held it back. "Jude, just let the woman go and you can do whatever you want to me." Ashe bargained.

"Not just yet, hero." Jude spat. "Hero, that's what you want to be, what you've always wanted to be, huh? But I'll tell you what, Ashe; you are nothing but a fraud and liar, you are a stone cold killer, just like me."

Ashe glared at him, but didn't even try to deny his words.

"You see Ashe, you're worse than me; you're a killer with a rising death toll and yet you claim to be the good guy! HA! That makes you the greatest liar of all, to the point where you think your lies have become true and you are a hero. Tell me, did Mila even know you were a Guerrilla?"

Ashe shook his head as he looked down.

"Say it." Jude demanded.

"No." Ashe whispered.

"Speak up!" Jude barked as he tightened his grip on the pregnant woman.

"No! She never knew!" Ashe yelled. He had planned to tell her sometime before the wedding but he wanted to be sure she wouldn't hate him for the lie; of course he never got the chance to do so thanks to Jude.

Jude laughed and said "Ashe, look around at these good little children and the good people who dedicated their lives to teaching the next generation."

Ashe did so and glanced around the room. He saw eyes filled with fear, confusion, hatred for Jude, angry, panic, and dread. But Ashe could see that a few eyes held hope.

"They know this is all your fault, Ashe, they hate you just like I do. You're friends, like that Rose girl; they think you can be a hero, that you can save all these good lives, save the little souls of these children..." Jude lectured. He held the pregnant woman close and licked her cheek, making her shudder in disgust. "...but we know better. Don't we?"

Ashe glared at him and asked "What do you want me to do?"

Jude grinned as his metal arm transformed back into a hand and placed itself atop the woman's head. "I want you to understand just how much of a pathetic failure you truly are Ashe, I want you to watch me as I squeeze the pretty blue eyes right out of this woman's skull!" Jude yelled as the teacher began to scream in terror.

"No!" Ashe cried.

"Yes!" Jude screamed with an insane grin on his face. "This is all your fault Ashe! These people will die and I will take you straight down to hell with me!"

"Like hell you will!" Ashe yelled as he whipped out one his pistols. Jude grinned, ready to take a hit or use the woman as a human shield, but Ashe did something he had not expected; Ashe placed the gun to his own head.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Jude asked, confused.

Neo saw her chance and took it; she created an illusion of herself standing still while she began to sneak her way up the stage.

"I'm making sure you lose, asshole. Let her go, now, or I kill myself." Ashe ordered.

Jude's grip on the woman loosened a little. The atmosphere in the room became tenser and even more on edge. Some were confused as to why this Ashe man killing himself would be a bad thing to the cyborg maniac.

"Jude, quit fucking around and let her go, it's me that you want. You know you can't let it end like this, so stop being a damn coward, let her go and fight me like a man. If I kill myself I will rob you of everything you want. You want to see my die by your hand and yours alone, you want to see the life fade from my eyes and know that you killed me. You want to look into my eyes as I die and see my thoughts, hear my dying breath, you want to kill me and if you don't let her go I will deprive you of the only thing that has kept you going for five years!" Ashe yelled as his finger gently rested on the trigger. His grip was careful and steady, his finger ready to pull if Jude didn't give up.

Jude's eye was wide and nervous while his mechanical one stared at Ashe unblinking, trying to make a choice.

"I... I don't need her." Jude said as he threw the woman to the side. "All I need is my own body to kill you!" He jumped off the stage and landed right in front of Ashe and smashed his mechanical fist into Ashe's face. Ashe fell to the ground but unloaded the pistol into Jude's body, making him fall against the stage.

"Gerard! Get the crystal out of here and get it to Ante! Wait for me, I'll be there shortly." Jude yelled as Ashe opened up a barrage of punches on Jude.

"Gladly, this has gotten frigging nuts." Gerard muttered as he and what was left of his gang began to head behind the stage.

"No you don't!" Ashe yelled as he jumped up on stage, trying to keep the illusion that they had the real crystal. Jude jumped up as well and slammed his steel fist into Ashe's back, blowing him down. "Ah!" he cried out as he slammed into the wooden floor.

Ashe glanced up to see that the pregnant woman had crawled to the other teachers who were being held captive and were now free to move as most of Gerard's gang had ran for their escape route.

One of the teachers tried to move away only for a blast from Jude's cannon to cut them off. Ashe rolled over to see Jude aiming at them, his gun set low. "This won't kill a person, but it will be enough to end the life within her..." He muttered as he aimed for the pregnant woman's belly.

"No!" Ashe screamed. He jumped up as Jude fired, the blast hitting his back. He fell to the ground with a hard thud, moaning in pain. Jude grinned as he went over to Ashe while the only remaining thug on stage while one other guarded the door, all the others making way for the exit they had created. Ashe tried to get up but Jude's metal hand grabbed his throat and squeezed tight before he slammed Ashe into the floor.

"Don't worry Ashe, I'm not going to kill you yet." Jude said as he pressed his foot on Ashe's back. Ashe cried out as his aura couldn't take it anymore and the shield he had created around the hostages in the rows of seats fell. "I am going to make you watch as I kill them." Jude finished as he pointed at the pregnant teacher as his arm cannon went up to the highest setting.

All of a sudden a blade stabbed right through the mechanical part of Jude's skull, piercing the robot eye and destroying it in a shower of sparks. Jude screamed in pain as Neo grinned. Ashe smiled as he leapt up, grabbed Jude's cannon and aimed it at the thug. Neo punched Jude in the shoulder and Jude fired the firearm at the thug, killing him with one hit.

Neo pulled her estoc out of Jude's head before she kicked him down. "I hope that hurts, robo-boy." She spat.

"Get down!" Ashe yelled as he pulled her down as the only remaining thug began firing on them.

"Come on dickheads, come to daddy!" the thug yelled as he ran closer to the stage.

Ashe got ready to fight only for a gunshot out of nowhere to blast through the thug's torso, making him fall to the ground dead. Ashe looked up to see Morse, Ross, and over a dozen cops all armed with guns running into the room and beginning to free hostages.

Morse stood holding a smoking gun and called to Ashe "You okay?"

"I'm hurt but I'll live." Ashe said as his aura began to heal him. The aura shield had cost him every bit of the boost the crystal had given him, now all he had left was his normal aura reserves.

Neo glanced over and muttered "Oh crap."

Ashe looked over to see Jude giving up. "My eye..." he groaned as he staggered away. He looked at the situation, cops all aiming at him.

"Saul Jude, stand down you are under arrest." Morse demanded as cops began escorting kids and teachers out of the room.

Jude glanced around and knew his situation didn't look good if he chose to stand and fight, cops all aiming for him and Ashe was getting up. "Not today, later Ashe." Jude said as he quickly dashed behind stage, dodging some shots meant for him.

"No! He's not getting away this time!" Ashe shouted as he ran after Jude.

"Ashe, let it go!" Ross called before Jude twirled around on his way to the exit and turned his hand into its whip form. He slammed it down and managed to drive Ashe back before he whipped it up and caught a low hanging beam attached to a catwalk. He tugged it down and brought the catwalk down to block the narrow hallway.

"See you around Ashe!" Jude mocked as he ran out the door.

"No, no, no!" Ashe yelled as he tried to climb up the wreckage but Neo grabbed him from behind.

"Ashe, stop. They're on the run, we saved the hostages, we're alive, he has lost. Let him go." She said as calmly as she could.

Ashe shook his head. "No, no freaking way! Every time I let that bastard get away he kills more innocent people, I can't let him go again!" Ashe ranted, an obsessed look in his eye.

Neo knew it was pointless to stop him so she sighed and said "Alright, fair enough. Go kick his butt."

"We've already caught the three who were up in the front guarding the doors. Hopefully all these kids will need is a crap ton of therapy but we'll take care of them and we'll try to send some cops in with you as soon as we can, good luck Kasai." Morse said.

Ashe nodded and as he began climbing.

"Wait!" cried the pregnant teacher. Ashe looked to her, fearing that she would blame him for what happened to her, but she didn't. "Th-thank you... thank you for saving me." She said.

"It's what I do, or at least what I try to do." Ashe said as he jumped over.

"I'm sorry about Mila." The woman called. "That Jude madman killed her right? Is... is that what happened?"

"A little of it, Miss..."

"Mrs. Victoria Silvers." She said.

"Listen Victoria, take care of that baby, okay?" Ashe called as he ran off down the hallway after Jude.

"I will, thank you." She said as he vanished from her view.

Ross approached Neo and said "That guy's a little obsessed, but he's okay."

Neo simply nodded in response.

---

Jude ran into the empty classroom where a giant hole in the floor had been created by an explosive to reveal an old abandoned subway tunnel that ran under the school. Gerard and what was left of his crew, along with three who had been left behind to guard their only means of escape, had already gotten into the tram they had used to drive on the subway rails. The tram consisted of one very small train engine which pulled five miniature roofless coaches behind it, but was now significantly empty with all the members of the gang they had lost. Gerard had been talking to the only remaining female gang member about the crystal when Jude showed up.

"Where are the others?" Gerard's lieutenant asked.

"Dead or arrested." Jude answered as he jumped in.

"And Kasai?" Gerard questioned.

Jude glared at him but answered "Still alive."

"You damn failure." Gerard muttered.

"Not entirely a failed job, we still have the Aura Crystal for Mistress Salem." Jude said with a grin.

"Yeah, about that... Miko?" he said to the henchwoman he had been talking to, who was the girl who had thrown the shuriken at Ashe.

"I can sense aura, Jude, there is none within this crystal, in fact I believe it is nothing but a construct created by a Semblance." Miko explained to him.

Jude gave her a look of disbelief before one of terror took over. Salem would destroy him for this failure.

Unless...

"JUDE!" Ashe screamed from above.

Jude grinned and said "I might just have a way to salvage this mess."

Ashe slammed the door open and saw the giant hole, 'So that's how they got in.' he thought. He ran over to the hole just in time to see the rear car going out of view. A subway underneath the school, must be abandoned otherwise there's no way they could have done it. He jumped down into the hole and saw them driving away.

He began running after them, ignoring the pains he still felt from the earlier battle.

"Here he comes!" cried one of the thugs.

"Shoot him!" yelled Gerard. Six thugs quickly began shooting at Ashe who dodged all of the blasts, with only one or two grazing his coat. He kept running behind them and soon enough alongside them, constantly dodging blasts meant to kill him, but something felt off; no way they were this bad with their shots, they were baiting him.

Good.

He jumped onto the middle coach and ducked down to avoid getting hit but he was not alone in the car as a trio of thugs occupied it. He quickly created an aura shield to protect himself from the blasts before he grabbed the thug closest to him.

"What the...?!" the thug cried in surprise as Ashe hoisted him up.

"Sorry about this!" Ashe said as he used all the strength he had to throw the thug forward, over the tram, and onto the rails right in front of the train.

"No, no! AH!" the thug screamed as the small train ran him over, creating sickening crunching and bursting sounds as bones cracked and blood splattered over the rails and the gravel, but the body was enough to derail the train.

"Oh shit!" the driver cried as he jumped off. Gerard, Jude, and the rest of the remaining thugs all got off the train as it was clear it wasn't going anywhere anymore. Ashe stayed in the coach as the thugs began firing at his position to keep him pinned down. Ashe checked his guns, all fully reloaded and ready for action.

"How much further to the exit?" Gerard asked the driver.

"Not far, only a few hundred meters that way and to the left!" the driver answered.

"Good, everyone follow me, we are getting the hell out of here and getting paid!" Gerard barked, then he pointed to four of the thugs and said "You four stay here until we get the cars and come back for you, then we'll finish this asshole off together, understood?"

"Yes sir!" all four thugs answered, three armed with guns and the other with throwing daggers.

"Wait, now's my chance to..." Jude objected before Gerard silenced him with a punch to the face.

"Sorry cyborg, but you had your chance and you blew it. Most of my crew is dead because of your dumb ass so I am calling the shots now, understood?" Gerard barked furiously.

Jude glared at him with his remaining eye and muttered "Yes."

"Good, now you're coming with us because I personally want to see this Salem witch kill you. Now get moving!" Gerard screamed as most of his troops quickly began to run down the dark tunnels.

Ashe moaned as he listened in on them, knowing they already outnumbered him but if they got a chance to regroup they totally overwhelm him. So once he could no longer hear the echo of footsteps and only the gunshots of the four remaining thugs he decided to make his move.

"Hey! Stop! Hold fire guys!" he called.

"What do you want, dead man?" asked the knife wielder.

"The cops will be coming in to back me up soon! Do you really want to stay behind while your boss and buddies get away?" Ashe inquired.

This made the gun wielding thugs stop and consider the implications of Ashe's words and knew he had a point.

Ashe made his move. He jumped over the coach and used the gun Coco gave him to mow two of the thugs down with ease. Their bodies hit the ground as the other two scattered, but the other gun user quickly blasted at Ashe and managed to hit the gun Ashe was using. Ashe cried out in shock as the gun's midsection broke apart due to the heavy impact of the blast.

Ashe ducked down from the next shot as the knife user slashed Ashe across the back.

"Gotta admit, boy, you ain't half bad! Too bad we gotta kill you, 'cause I wouldn't mind fighting with a coldblooded guy like you." He said as he tried to stab Ashe in the chest. Ashe grabbed his hand and wrestled him around, throwing him down as he quickly ducked down to avoid being shot.

He ran forward to the last gunner, taking a few painful hits in the process, but managed to tackle the man, tear the gun away from him, and slam his head into a steel support beam in the middle of the tunnel. Ashe slammed the man's head into the beam several times until he stopped moving. Ashe sighed as he dropped the dead man, only to cry out in agony as something stabbed him in the back.

He whipped around and backhanded the knife wielder as he quickly got out the switchblade.

"Oh, you are good!" the knife wielder cheered as he and Ashe slashed at each other with their respective blades.

"Thanks." Ashe said as he kicked the man in the kneecap and followed it up with a punch to the gut. The knife user cried out as Ashe sliced his throat open, unleashing a stream of blood. The man tried to stagger forward and kill Ashe, but simply fell to the ground face first, gurgling up blood.

Ashe groaned in pain as he recovered from his newest injuries but he knew he couldn't let them slow him down. He needed to keep moving. If his counting was right he only had ten gang members left plus Jude himself. So he began running into the dark tunnels to catch up.

At the entrance of the small tunnel for meant for maintenance engines, which was placed in a big alleyway flanked by two large buildings with various fire escapes leading up the gang ran out to where the gang had left their collective cars. Everyone was getting their guns reloaded or unsheathing their swords for the coming battle with Ashe, one of them even got out a rocket launcher as Jude began to think.

He wondered just how had Ashe beaten him? No, he hadn't won, not yet... he could still win this with some luck. He looked at the fake Aura Crystal Ashe had deceived him with and snarled. He yanked it out of the case and smashed it on the ground with a roar on frustration and anger.

"Calm down, we'll get Kasai soon enough." Gerard said as he took up his scroll.

"Will you? Call your men you left down there and see how much of a challenge they offered him!" Jude growled.

Gerard sighed, but knew Jude had a point; if this Kasai guy could create an aura shield that big and could take out so many men that easily who knew what else he could do. He called the knife user up on his scroll but no answer.

"Shit." He muttered.

"Gerard! I can sense Kasai, he's coming up the tunnel!" Miko cried as she used her aura sensing to feel Ashe running towards them.

"Okay then, new plan boys and girls! We get in our cars and lure this shithead to Ante's factory and we can finish him off there." Gerard decided.

"Why not just shoot at Ashe once he shows his face?" questioned the lieutenant.

"Because, my friend, we cannot draw attention to ourselves! The entire city will be looking for us so even if we do get paid we're splitting town with Ante. Now let's get ready to get out of here. Nash and Miko, you two lead the others." Gerard finished.

Gerard, Jude, the lieutenant, and the driver all piled into Gerard's car and drove off while Miko and the seven others all began to board a large vehicle that could carry up to eight passengers.

The one armed with a rocket launcher opened up the trunk to sit in there only for him to see Ashe coming down the tunnel.

"Kasai is here! Come on we can take him now!" he yelled.

"Stick to the plan Spider!" Miko yelled.

But Spider just ignored her and fired the rocket launcher at Ashe. Ashe screamed out in surprise as he rolled to the other side of the tunnel as the rocket slammed into the wall, causing large blocks of stone to rain down on Ashe, but he managed to only take a few hard hits, which he knew would leave nasty bruises as he lobbed one of the grenades Nora had given him at Spider.

Right before Spider could fire again the grenade lodged itself in his rocket launcher and with a mighty explosion the gang thug exploded in a mighty gang of shrapnel, fire, and body parts. The large vehicle was sent lurching forward into the building and collided with it as its passengers quickly jumped out.

Miko glanced down at the gory remains of what was once Spider and shuddered.

"Up the fire escape!" yelled Nash.

Miko nodded and quickly began to lead the remaining gang members up the ladders and catwalks while one of them remained behind to slow down Ashe. He glared at Ashe and unsheathed his blade, an old katana and said "You are a talented warrior, Ashe Kasai, but I want to see your skills with a blade put to the test."

Ashe nodded and took out his father's sword, while keeping an aura shield up to deflect some blasts from the escaping thugs.

"Bring it on, but if you want a fair fight get your friends to stop shooting at me." Ashe said.

The swordsman nodded and called for his fellow gang members to cease fire. "Let us fight." He said.

"As you wish." Ashe agreed before the two charge at one another. Their blades clashed together with a mighty clang before Ashe elbowed the man in the chest and swung his sword but the man easily parried his strike.

"Fighting dirty, are we?"

"No, just doing what must be done." Ashe shot back as he blocked a strike meant for his head. The two exchanged blows five times before Ashe's enemy managed to trip Ashe over. Ashe fell but quickly recovered and rolled over to avoid the blade slammed into his back. He jumped up and parried another strike and did so twice more before he slammed the hilt of his sword hard into the man's shoulder, giving Ashe an advantage. He struck down but the swordsman easily blocked it and reached up to strangle Ashe, who cried out in surprise before he managed to struggle himself free as his opponent recovered.

The swordsman spun his blade around like a fan to intimidate Ashe, only for the battered warrior to slam his sword into it hard enough to throw the man off balance. Ashe used this distraction to get behind the swordsman and strike from behind, but he was met with a strong parry.

"I admit, you are a worthy adversary and a talented duelist." The swordsman relented as he pressed forward.

"You are too, Look I'm in a hurry so we have to finish this." Ashe said as struck forward. They traded blows three times before the swordsman tried to behead Ashe, but he easily ducked the swing and parried another strike. The swordsman kicked Ashe in the gut, sending him staggering into the wall.

Ashe groaned but tried to ignore the pain as he got up and saw the swordsman smirking at him.

"Shall we end this?" he asked.

"Lets." Agreed Ashe.

The two ran forward and past each other, both striking at their opponent's bodies with their blades and within a few seconds the swordsman let out a dying breath as he fell to his knees with blood running down his torso. He fell to the ground dead.

Ashe bowed in respect to him, this man had been a talented fighter, but in the end he chose to use his gifts for evil so if Ashe hadn't ended his life someone else would have.

Ashe quickly began running after the gang members up the fire escapes, hoping they'd give up their plan or at least tell him where Jude was heading so he could catch him later. As he climbed up the final latter that led to the rooftop a boot smashed him in the face and blew him on his back. Ashe looked up to see a sadistic looking bald thug armed with a machete.

"Ready to die, Kasai?" he asked.

"Come on and find out." Ashe said as he remained on his back, but with a firm grip on his sword. The thug jumped down and landed on his feet, ready to plunge his blade into Ashe only for the Guerrilla Hunter to swing his sword sideways and separate the man from his knees.

The bald thug screamed in horror and pain as dropped the machete and fell forward only for Ashe to kick upwards then forwards and sent his newest would-be killer flying over the railing and onto the concrete below.

Ashe grabbed the railing and pulled himself up to see that the thug was still just barely alive and screaming in pain. Ashe decided to put the man out of his misery so he grabbed the machete and threw it down where it impaled the man's head, killing him instantly.

So many horrible deaths caused by him today, all of them could have been avoided if he had killed Jude last night.

This whole mess was his fault. But he couldn't let that get to him now, he'd have to deal with his breathtaking self-loathing issues later, right now he needed to catch the five who were getting away and make them give up Jude's location. As he dashed after them he failed to notice the Grimm Knight quietly following him.

About a block away Miko, Nash, and the other three gang members got off the scroll with Gerard.

"So what's the plan?" asked a thug.

"We are to lure Kasai to one of the buildings along the highway where they shall be waiting for us. Once there we can take Kasai down and take him to Ante." Miko elaborated.

"They're still on that?! This guy has killed all but a few of us! Why don't we just run for it, hide out with Ante, and let that Grimm bitch kill Jude?" another thug asked.

"Because we're going to make this asshole pay for killing our mates and we are going to take our time doing it." Nash said as he got his grappling hook gun ready.

"Here he comes." Miko said as she looked to the west of their position to see Ashe jumping and dashing across rooftops and alleyways. Despite being a decent distant away they all opened fire on him.

Ashe cried out in annoyance as he dodged the bullets and tried to get closer. "Always the hard way!" he cried.

Miko quit firing at him once her gun was empty and said "Enough for now, let him chase us."

She led the group in running across rooftops and alleyways as Ashe gave chase and struggled to catch up.

"How much longer till the highway?" asked a thug.

"Only half a block away." Answered Nash as they ran faster to jump over another gap between the tall buildings.

"That's good, 'cause I could..." the thug began before he tripped over an old plank of wood that he hadn't seen. "Ow! Ah!" he cried in pain as he tried to get up. As the others jumped over the gap the thug who had fallen moved to jump over only for a soft 'thud' to sound off behind him.

Before the thug could turn around or even call for help a slash of Ashe's sword decapitated him. Ashe didn't even look back as he strolled past the headless corpse, ignoring the nagging voice in the back of his head to just stop the killing. He needed to make them all pay, they would have murdered those kids for profit, they all deserved to die!

Just like Jude.

Just like Cinder.

Just like himself.

The remaining four glared at him but did not shoot.

"If you want a battle Kasai, you have it! Follow us and we will lead you to Jude!" Miko yelled.

"Gladly." Ashe said with a calm nod.

Miko and Nash quickly led the two remaining gang members across the dangerously high rooftops of the city, jumping over the gaps to taller buildings, going higher and higher with Ashe trailing behind them.

Ashe knew they had something planned, they just had to. He was ready for them to try something on them as he followed them, ready to defend himself or counter attack at any moment.

After a period of five minutes they came to the roof of a giant business building that overlooked a rather empty highway with only a few dozen cars going to and fro as opposed to the usual hundreds. Obviously the crisis at the school had been enough motivation for people to stay inside and watch the madness unfold on TV. They were a hundred feet over the highway and a hundred and thirty feet over the ground, with a rather large angel statue with its arms held out and a large passageway being the only things that separated the road from the building.

Miko had quickly called Gerard on her scroll only to find he was still two minutes away from their current position. They could easily hold off Ashe in that time so the four turned on him, ready to fight.

"Sure you don't want to just let me take Jude? It would be a hell of a lot easier." He said.

"No way in hell, you killed our comrades and now we shall avenge them." Miko spat venomously as she held up three shuriken in one hand and a staff in the other. Nash got out his grappling hook gun while the other two thugs whipped out their standard pistols.

Ashe smiled and said "Okay, let's get this over with!"

Miko charged him first and preformed a sweeping blow with her staff but he easily dodged it once, twice, three times before she managed to land a hit on his chest right before one of the thugs managed to shoot Ashe in the shoulder.

Ashe cried out in pain before Miko jabbed him in the sternum with her staff and then slammed the three shuriken into his arm. Ashe grunted as Nash pistol whipped the back of his head. He could feel blood running down his head despite his aura trying to heal him.

"Enough!" Ashe yelled as he created a shockwave of aura to send them all flying, but Miko stayed put. She quickly ripped out the shuriken and slammed one into Ashe's shoulder, then his leg, and tried to stab the final one in his chest before he grabbed her and squeezed her arm hard enough to make her drop the small weapon.

Miko smashed her fist into his face three times before he let her go, she pressed her assault on by punching and kicking his torso but he retaliated by kicking her in the gut, and finally shooting her in the knee. Miko screamed in pain before Ashe smacked a karate jab across her collar bone and sent her flying to the other side of the roof with a mighty punch. Ashe moved to fight Nash but one of the thugs tackled Ashe while the other went to help Miko up.

Ashe managed to get the thug off and blow him away with his one of his pistols before Nash slammed into him and forced him onto the ground, making Ashe lose the small gun.

"I have to admit, for a killer who's a total wannabe hero you're pretty strong." Nash growled as he slammed his fist into Ashe's head five times, sending spit and blood flying.

"You want to know how strong I am?!" Ashe screamed as he forced Nash off of him and jumped up. He ran forward and kicked Nash in the face and quickly followed it up with a punch across the cheek, then two in the chest, then an uppercut to the chin. Nash yelled out and used his fingernails to slash Ashe across the face. Ashe ignored the pain and delivered a series of quick punches to Nash's chest and face before he finished it with an elbow to the head. He was about to finish it when a shot grazed his leg. He looked over to see Miko and the only remaining thug had recovered and were aiming their guns at him.

"Give up Kasai or we shoot you now." Miko threatened.

Ashe smirked and said "I don't think so."

He quickly threw out the other grenade and it began rolling over to them but Miko destroyed it with a shot of her gun, hoping the blast would be enough to kill Ashe.

It wasn't, but it was enough to send all four combatants flying. Ashe and Nash were merely blown on their backs but Miko and the thug were sent over the edge. Miko grabbed on to the edge for deal life as the thug fell screaming to his death, ending with a loud thud and a splatter of blood.

Miko began to pick herself up only for Ashe to appear in front of her and grab her hands. He hoisted her up, kicked her unhurt knee to wound her and held her over the edge, letting her look to see how high up they were.

"What kind of car are they in?" he asked.

"A new one, normal looking dark blue one, but I don't know what kind! They know our location and will be here very soon, just let me go!" she cried, afraid of dying.

"Okay, think of a snappy one-liner for me to say on your way down, would ya?" Ashe said darkly as he let her go. Miko let out a high pitched scream of terror as she fell and landed on a dumpster with a crack of bones and a sudden stop to her scream.

Ashe could feel his mind reeling with horror and disgust at what he just did. What was he...? No! They deserved it! Didn't they? Wait... was he enjoying this?

The turmoil within his mind distracted him enough for Nash to attack him from behind.

"You son of a bitch!" Nash yelled as he slammed a powerful punch into Ashe's back, causing him to spit out blood. Ashe screamed in pain as Nash slammed fists into the back of Ashe's knees and then picked Ashe up. "Die like them!" Nash ordered as he threw Ashe off the building.

Ashe went flying and then fell. He closed his eyes and waited for death to take him. He cried out as he landed on something hard, but something much closer than the ground, something that didn't kill him.

He opened his eyes to see the angel statue had caught and saved him with its outstretched arms.

"Heh... City of Angels." Ashe said with a weary smile.

Up above Nash growled in fury as he got his grappling hook ready to go. Ashe wasn't getting off that easily. He fired the grappling hook into the side of the highway and swung over, landing on the head of the angel.

"It's still a long drop, Kasai! You think you're done?!" Nash ranted.

"Oh no, I won't be done until Jude's dead, but I'll settle for you for now." Ashe deadpanned.

Nash roared and jumped off the head and slammed into Ashe, but held onto his gun and used one hand to keep hold of Ashe. They swung over and Nash let go of his enemy who slammed into the wall.

Ashe moaned as the pain in his back increased but his distraction was short lived as Nash kicked him in the face. "I'm not gonna let Jude have the pleasure of killing you!" he yelled as he grabbed Ashe, brought him up and began to choke him. He then tosses Ashe into a trashcan and began walking towards him. "I understand why Jude wants you dead so badly! You just won't die!"

Ashe smirked as he took hold of his shot gun and muttered "Not for lack of trying." He jumped up and slammed Nash in the torso with the shotgun as a blunt weapon, blowing Nash down and giving Ashe the advantage he needed.

He jumped on top of Nash and began to strangle him "Scum... you didn't even think about letting those kids go, DID YOU?!" Ashe screamed.

"I had no choice!" Nash tried to argue.

"You always have a choice." Ashe said darkly.

"Go to hell!" Nash yelled as Ashe pressed his knee on his opponent's neck.

"You first." Ashe growled as he pressed his thumbs into Nash's eye sockets. Nash screamed in horrific pain as Ashe killed him, blood flowing out of his eye holes and painting Ashe's hands red.

Ashe rolled off of Nash once he stopped struggling and moaned in exasperation. Gods he was exhausted. And yet he still had Jude, Gerard, and two more thugs to deal with and soon if that girl was telling the truth. He looked around the alley at the three dead bodies and felt that feeling of doubt once more, that voice in his head telling him he was no better than Jude was.

He had to be better than Jude. Didn't he?

He looked at the blood on his hands and couldn't get rid of the feeling that he was just as bad as these gang punks were. He knew deep down he wasn't some hero with a rough exterior but had a heart of gold, he was anything but.

Deep down he couldn't shake the feeling that Jude was right about him; he was nothing but a murderer trying to be a hero, and failing miserably at it.

He sighed and reclaimed his weapons; shotgun, sword, one pistol, and switchblade. More than enough to take them on, only question was how much longer could he keep this up? His body was tired but his will kept him going, but that could only get him so far.

Nevertheless he began to climb the statue and wait for his true enemy, using Nash's grappling hook to help him get up faster. He still didn't notice a robotic figure watching him from afar. Or, for that matter, a raven.

To Be Continued...

Yikes, Ashe got pretty violent in this one, didn't he? Now this and Chapter 24 were meant to be the same chapter but my friend smstanton suggested I split the chapter in half, so I did. He thinks that the length of my chapters scare people off so in order to try and attract more readers I will try to keep the chapters shorter in the future.

If you read this on Fanfiction . Net please leave a review and fave and follow the story. Same goes to you guys on AO3, but with a comment, a kudos, and a bookmark. By the way we finally reached 100 kudos on AO3! Please don't let up, good readers.

Please give me some feedback if you want me to continue this story.