Big Issues
AN: The Battle for Beacon is coming to a close but won't end until next time. Even though this is the longest chapter so far, it's too long to finish the fight completely. I hope you all enjoy. In addition, thanks to Enrq Rldn and powerrangers125 for the favorite and follows of this series.
Survival - Part Three
Deep in the vault, Ozpin stood ready to fight at a moment's notice as he stood apart from Cinder. But he waited for her to make the first move, though she seemed content to talk.
"This whole time, right beneath our feet." She began, sounding accusatory and upset but kept her emotions controlled. Ozpin said nothing but he gave his cane a spin with a rotation of his wrist. "She was right about you." Her tone changed to trying to goad him. "Such arrogance."
"You will not be opening the vault." He spoke evenly but carried an edge that he rarely had use of.
"We'll see about that." Cinder responds as she creates a new arrow and fires it.
The arrow never touched the man, who moved fast enough that he was nothing but a blur that closed the distance. Old Memory lashed out at the new Maiden, aimed for her throat, only to be intercepted by the bow. It shattered from the force the cane exerted on it but that was enough for Cinder to dodge the strike. The curvy woman spun to the side and summoned a pair of obsidian swords before countering.
The strikes from each came fast and strong, the clashes echoing through the vault. Light flashed from their attacks, especially when Cinder ignited her blades. The flames danced in the dark, repelled by bursts of green aura.
Through it all, Cinder wore a small confident smile, clearly relishing her increased power and the thrill of the fight but keeping her mind on the task at hand. Ozpin seemed almost emotionless as he fought, just a cold calculating and determined expression the entire time.
Another clash that made them stop moving for a short time in a contest of raw strength, Cinder's paired blades burning against the shaft of the cane. They separated only to repeat the actions, just in a lower stance this time before Ozpin backed away. It was curious that the man left a sort of green after-image behind him as he moved, but it only showed where he was. Cinder wasn't fast enough to keep up with him for long, not with his power and experience and speed, her weapons being shattered several times in quick succession, barely able to avoid the heavier strikes that came at her. None of her own attacks seemed to be able to touch the Headmaster, with him dodging or blocking everything she could throw at him.
Another round that resulted in broken swords left Cinder to back away quickly and create fireballs that she launched at him. In response, Ozpin stabbed at the pair of attacks, popping them like balloons and flashing between them to get in her face before they could explode. Inside her guard, he was able to get a good jab into her soft stomach that pushed her away, far enough that she had time to recreate her burning swords again before he was on her again.
More clashes between their weapons gave life to the normally lifeless vault with light and sound. A final bout left Cinder thrown back with her swords shattered once again and scattering across the floor that she slid across the tiles. Her left hand dragged across the surface, not just helping her keep her balance but melting the tiles with her semblance. Coming to a stop with a trail of molten material in front of her, she combined her Scorching Caress with her Maiden powers to gather large chunks and form them into crystalline shards that she was able to launch at high speeds at Ozpin.
The man simply let her spend her power to create the attack, responding by seemingly standing still yet also bursting into motion at the same time, the shards being reduced to powder without any from the attack making contact with him.
Before the Maiden could collect her wits, Ozpin kept up his momentum and rushed her to begin jabbing the softened girl as rapidly as a machine gun. It certainly felt like one to her with how fast and hard the cane hit her. The attack, as brief as it was, was able to push Cinder halfway back to the elevator, leaving her sore all over and her frustration growing. That final powerful jab to her stomach hit hard enough to send her airborne.
The flight and her emotions overrode the pain she has from taking almost every attack in the fight, those emotions taking form and empowering her use of her Maiden powers to hover in the air and manifest flames that circles her on different axis. Several small fireballs screamed their way from her like missiles, forcing Ozpin to dodge quickly until they were exhausted or destroyed.
Looking back to Cinder, he found that she was gathering the flames in front of her in an increasingly bright and heating ball. That prompted him to drop to one knee and slam his cane into the scorched floor, a green sphere with hexagonal sections covering the barrier, small pulses of energy rippling across the floor from the shield and green sparks cracked around through the air.
On an unknown signal, Cinder unleashed the biggest concentration of flame that Vale had seen in decades. Meanwhile, Ozpin was launched within his barrier like a cannonball directly at the torrent.
The clash of unstoppable spear and impenetrable shield ensued, resulting in an explosion that ruined much of the vault and scorched much of it.
Ozpin was thrown to the floor where he slid through the ash, his clothes half burnt and glasses gone, patches of skin burned bright red. But he maintained his grip on his cane, using it to help drag himself back to his feet. Cinder had a further fall to the ground, her head ringing from the hard landing and the pressure waves, glad that keeping the flames going shielded her from the worst of the damage. She slowly stood up on her own, amazed at the power she held to not just produce such an attack but to survive the results at close range.
Her attention was drawn to Ozpin as he limped towards her, leaning heavily on his cane and his other hand on the walls. She would give him credit for being the toughest fight in her life, sure that she wouldn't have lasted half as long without being the Fall Maiden. She had made the right choice in finishing off Amber before that transfer machine could finish so that she could take the other half of the power for herself.
But the old man still had fight in him and she had a kingdom to humiliate and destroy. She sauntered up to Ozpin, creating a single sword as she did, ready to hack and slash and burn. Her eyes widened as he suddenly blurred into motion again, her blade rose to defend her and was shattered like so many others before she found herself smacked and jabbed as if the man hadn't been hurt at all.
Letting him push her away to give her space, she formed a fireball in her hand, concentrating the heat until it turned blue before she ran at Ozpin. Apparently, that burst from him had left him weakened and he wouldn't be able to attack like that much more. And she was looking to ensure that would be his last.
A jab at her head as she closed the distance was dodged, if barely, just before her hand brought the blue ball to his chest and rammed it through, the heat vaporizing everything on contact. Once fully in his ribcage, she withdrew her hand and thus, the only thing controlling the flames. In a second, his entire body was engulfed, if he wasn't dead before she stepped back, he certainly was now. The last look she gave him saw the body blackened, shriveled, and some places had the bones exposed. She didn't bother with the cane laying nearby against the wall.
—-
Junior was annoyed.
Scratch that, he was pissed.
The city was being overrun by Grimm and he already heard that Beacon wasn't any better. The militaries of both Vale and Atlas were stretched thin thanks to the scope of the attack and the Huntsmen even more so. Then the machines that Atlas brought with them turned on everyone, their battleships shot down, and the Grimm were taking advantage of the loss of firepower.
He had been doing some digging with his network after Blondie had come through last time asking about Torchwick, not taking long to find out that she had gotten a solid lead on the man soon after leaving his club. He was content to watch the copies of the recordings taken from various security cameras of the fight between the four students against Torchwick in a Paladin. Technically there were six but the boys with them had gotten thrown off the freeway before the final round of that fight. He may have been the one to alert Beacon anonymously about the fight and where to find the students.
But he had watched Blondie punching Roman out of that death machine far too many times to remember since he got ahold of it. Yet he knew that Roman had something to do with this mess and the fact that he was working with the White Fang and stooping to terrorism with them at the Breach downtown… it wasn't his style. He was a thief, first and foremost. A man who got his pleasure from showing that he was better than others, not afraid to get his hands dirty when he had to.
But Hei Xiong could connect the dots well enough, despite what his father said about him, that Roman wasn't the one in charge. More like middle management. Important for the operation but replaceable.
But this wasn't a time for reflecting on the past, he had to act. He already had started harboring civilians within his club, trusting that the building that he'd subtly been reinforcing over years would withstand the attack of the Grimm in the streets. In the back of his mind, he heard the mocking voice of Lil' Miss Malachite laughing at how the Xiong Family has been waning in power and influence since she had his father killed.
It was enough to galvanize his resolve and prove himself to the world and show the strength of the Xiong Family. In short order he had a few of his boys to stay and guard the people here along with the establishment, many of the security features already activated. The rest of his people and the Malachite twins were going out and defending Vale, he wouldn't have much of a business if he didn't have the city to operate in. Plus, he may be able to haggle a few favors from the city in exchange for his help.
They made for a somewhat intimidating force as they marched through the streets. With Junior and the twins at the head to take on the worst of the Grimm as the henchmen unloaded their guns into the rest. He even made sure that there was a guard detail assigned to the survivors that they found on occasion that were escorted back to the club for their protection.
"Get back!" He orders the girls as he converts his massive club into its bazooka form and fires the cluster of missiles into a pack of charging Beowolves. The Alpha of the pack had been in the back and wasn't killed like the rest but quickly found itself fighting a girl in red with claws, a girl in white with bladed feet, and a man taller than itself with a metal bat.
Blades cut into its limbs almost faster than it could react before its head was smashed by the hard blunt object. Its death meant that the last of the Grimm had been cleared in this block and the gang continued its patrol.
—-
The muscular form of the White Fang Lieutenant twitched in his cell. Even deep within the police station where he and the others had been imprisoned since the Breach, he could hear the roars of Grimm outside attacking the city.
He had found that day to be… enlightening. The Huntsman could have left him and the survivors of his group to die with the Grimm inside that tunnel, yet he defended them so that they could escape. Even finding them shelter as few of them could barely get that far. But there was no hatred of Faunus from that man. He simply spoke to them as though they were any human, as if he didn't recognize any difference between the species.
It was… new to him.
Yet the Huntsman had made regular trips to see him and the others, expressing an eagerness to learn about them, as people. To know them as individuals. What had led to them making the choice to join the White Fang. To participate in the Breach. If any of them had been part of the organization before the shift in leadership. If any of them objected to the shift towards violence and their reactions to the methods of force.
The interviews of himself and listening to that of the others, even the cops were given many of the same questions by the fast-speaking man. Bartholomew Oobleck was his name.
The questions and answers made him think and reflect on many of his actions. The people he'd hurt, those he had killed… and why he had done so. The Breach didn't discriminate who was hurt, the Faunus that he and the White Fang had proudly declared many times that they were fighting for… were hurt by their actions, some killed. How could anyone claim that they are trying to help someone when their actions cause them pain?
The screech of a Nevermore overhead drew his attention back to the present. "Sargent." He calls out, catching the man's attention.
"What is it?" The guard was shaking, obviously scared of what was going on outside, barely able to control himself.
"I have a proposition for you. Let us help to fight off the Grimm and we will return to our cells peacefully."
"What! What do you want out of this?" A hand was twitching to his pistol. Something that had been happening since the attack started.
"A chance to help redeem myself." Was the simple answer.
"I'll help too!" "I have cousins who live here!" "My sister!" "My wife and kids!" "I volunteer!"
The various affirmations to support the large man to help Vale in its most desperate hour made the guard stop shaking as he thought about it. "Fine! I'm putting tracking bands on every one of you and you're all sticking together!"
In a few minutes, every volunteer within the cell block, not that it was large to begin with, had been banded and slowly brought to the main entrance of the station. Where firearms and a variety of melee weapons were distributed.
"My saw?" The big Faunus asks the Sargent when he tries to offer him a SMG. The guard looked at him oddly at the polite request before motioning for him to follow him to the confiscated item storage. There, it took a minute to go through the database to find where the weapon was located and another for them to retrieve it, the big man looking and running his hands over the saw lovingly.
"Alright, you have your opportunity to make a difference. Try to make it back in one piece." The Sargent tells the prisoners before he unbars the doors to let them go free into the city.
"See you in the morning, Sargent." Was the last thing that was said to the guard before he was left alone with the few people still behind bars, hoping that he made the correct decision. At the same time, there wasn't any real place for them to go with Grimm everywhere and the trackers on them.
Out in the streets, the Grimm were besieged by a group that attacked them without fear led by a bear of a man wielding a saw-like sword that roared like an Ursa as it tore through hide and bone, making short work of any creature it came into contact with. The smaller mortals supported him with gunfire and coordinated attacks with blades, making them dangerous to whatever they came across.
—-
It was a hard hike to the safe zone, carrying two heavy girls and having to step over and around debris and the occasional body, organic or artificial. But Denko managed with Talon nearby to fight off the Grimm nearby. It certainly helped that when he saw the hastily erected barricades across the streets, there were people there defending the walls. One woman had a rifle that would bark every so often, explaining why the Grimm on the road would have their heads explode randomly.
He passed by the sniper and others at the wall were calling for medics, having to make his way deeper into the crowds to where some of the injured were being dropped off. It was there that he found familiar faces, Team SSSN, CFVY, ABRN, Nora, Ren, and Weiss to be specific. Fox was taking a breather on the pavement, looking like he had another scar or two added to his already extensive collection with Coco propping up Velvet so that she could get a drink.
Nora and Ren looked exhausted and battered, trying and failing to stand up to help him as he approached, falling back to the ground and holding ribs. Sage and Scarlet weren't in any better shape, both of them having splints on their limbs, Sage's left foot and Scarlet's right wrist, among the small cuts and bruises that were already forming. But Yatsuhashi, Sun, Neptune, and Weiss were the most readily available and came to his aid.
"Don't let her arm move, it's barely hanging on as it is." Denko warns as Yatsu and Neptune took Yang from him while Sun handles Blake, the latter able to hobble over with his help to be with the rest of the injured students. Yang was laid down carefully next to her and Weiss was shocked speechless at seeing her teammates covered in their own blood.
"What's the situation?" A young man with a doctor's travel bag asks as he runs up to them.
"Blake was stabbed in the stomach with a sword and Yang nearly had her arm cut off by the same man." Denko quickly tells him.
"Nearly? How bad?" The medic asks for clarification as he begins to examine the girls.
"There wasn't much skin holding her arm in one piece when I found them." Denko was frustrated at everything going on tonight and he was covered in the blood of his best friend.
"Alright, I get the picture. I'll make sure that she's on the first transport to the hospital."
"What about Blake?" Weiss asks, full of concern for her friends.
"At the moment, we are prioritizing the patients. While the stab wound is bad, it isn't life threatening. As for this one, she's already lost a lot of blood and will lose more once her aura is drained. Add in that we'll have to work fast to save her arm." The medic explains as he takes note of the bandages on the girls.
Denko ran his hands through his hair as he took in the injuries of those around him. So many of them were sporting wounds that would keep them out of the fight, at least for tonight, unless the Grimm attacked them now. Even then, he questioned how well they could fight.
"That's it! The first transport is here! Bring the injured in so they can get to the hospital!" The voice of Peter Port rang out across the area.
"A safe zone has been established in Vale! We will continue to hold this position as long as possible!" Oobleck was standing next to the shorter man as they addressed the people assembled around them.
The safe zone here was loosely organized, with the Councilor and General coordinating as much activity as they could from one side with the trauma center not too far away. The general public refugees were kept to one side so that they would be easier to defend and their defenders didn't have to fight their way to respond to threats. Everywhere else, Huntsmen, soldiers, and civilian volunteers were mostly along the perimeter, killing any Grimm coming their way with the occasional Huntsmen, like how Talon and Anya had been doing, doing what they could to take out the Grimm and any other threats before they got too close to the barricades and allowing the safe zone to expand as needed to defend the growing crowds.
It was then that Ruby ran up to the group, looking worse for wear but determined to keep going.
"Ruby!" Weiss nearly shouted in relief, seeing her team leader for the first time in hours, and relieving some of her stress by latching onto the younger girl with a hug.
"Oh, I found you!" Ruby readily returned the embrace, not caring that they were both sweaty and dirty from their various fights. Then they separated so they could speak face to face.
"Ruby, where have you been?"
"Don't worry, I'm fine!" Ruby was quick to dismiss while shaking her head. "What's going on?" She needed to know if there was a plan to fight back. But it was the silence from her partner that caught her attention, the heiress looking withdrawn as she stepped to the side. "Weiss?"
Then Ruby saw the injured laying on the ground, specifically focusing on her sister, pale and covered in blood, her right arm in rags serving as bandages. It was only seeing her chest moving that let the girl know her sister was still alive with Denko watching over her, likewise covered in blood but she was sure that he was the one to save Yang. Blake was being held up by Sun, one hand holding onto Yang's.
"I'm sorry." She was crying. Blake had held off on the tears but with Ruby seeing her sister in this state, her guilt opened the floodgates for the tears and would have collapsed if it wasn't for Sun holding her up, her free hand reaching to his for the extra contact.
Ren and Nora were nearby, as were the others in various states of injuries, some bleeding or had bled, some simply beaten with bone breaks or fractures. While there was so much sympathy she could offer them all, their injuries hardened her resolve to end the pain, specifically those who were the cause of all of this.
"Yang." The name slipped from her lips in response to seeing her sister so vulnerable and hurt. The young woman who had helped to raise her after their mother didn't come home after a mission. The sister who defended her from everything from school bullies to Grimm… it hurt to see her this way.
"Hey." Sun took her attention. "She's gonna be okay. The soldiers have a ship ready to take her down to the Vale Hospital." This was the calmest that Ruby ever heard the normally upbeat Faunus, though Blake had mentioned once or twice that he could be this way.
"But Jaune and Pyrrha are still missing." Nora cuts in, worrying for her teammates clear in every aspect of her, cutting through her own pain, her hand going to her hip with a gasp of pain.
"What!" Ruby's eyes went wide at the thought of any more of her friends still being out there in danger. Denko and Talon going stiff at the news, having an idea of why Pyrrha was missing, guessing that Jaune was with her.
"Look guys! That giant Grimm is still circling the school. Even the White Fang are pulling out!" Sun tries to warn them, apparently, he was of the few with only minor injuries but was all business. "We all have to go, now!" His desire to save those that he knew he could was overriding his willingness to risk everything when he didn't even know where to look for the pair.
"We're not… leaving!" Ren tried to stand with Stormflower in hand, only to drop to his knees before he could get halfway up, clutching his ribs with a yell of pain.
"I'll find them." Ruby says after a few seconds of looking again at the injured, not just her friends but the civilians and soldiers alike. "I'll find them and I'll bring them back." Her voice was filled with conviction with every word.
"No!" Weiss nearly shouted as she walked closer to the cloaked girl. "We will find them." She wasn't going to let her best friend go alone. Then she turned to Sun. "Watch after Blake and Yang. We'll be back."
The blonde gave the girls a nod as they turned and began to run for the barricades once more. "You better be!" He yelled after them, not wanting any more bad news to be told.
"We'll take care of those two." Denko says as he steps closer to the faunus. "But please, keep them safe." He glanced back at his childhood friend and her teammate.
"You know I will."
"Thanks." Denko was sincere before he ran after the younger team with Talon by his side. Medics arrived with stretchers to take Yang and Blake with the others who were seriously injured, Ren and Nora being among them.
"Anya's gonna meet us in a minute a few blocks up. I hope you have a plan!" The chubby girl informs him, having contacted her sister while he was busy.
"Good, I'm working on one."
—-
Jaune and Pyrrha ran out of the base of Beacon Tower into the courtyard that seemed to be empty of anything alive. Atlesian Knights and a few Paladins littered the grounds along with an uncomfortable number of soldiers and civilians that were caught in the crossfire. Several White Fang could be seen here and there, showing that they had gotten into the area as well.
They paused there seeing as the danger seemed to be gone, aside from the Griffons and Nevermore that could be seen high in the sky and the Wyvern that was circling the school. "Okay, I think I have Glynda's number." Jaune pulls out his scroll, trying to complete the orders that Ozpin gave them.
They could hear the occasional dull rumble coming from the elevator from the battle happening down in the vault, making them glad that they didn't stick around. Even now, they could occasionally feel the ground shake, making them hope that it was their Headmaster beating Cinder.
Jaune muttered some frustrations as he searched his scroll for the contact information before the need to know what they had just ran from got to him. "Pyrrha, what was all that?"
The Spartan turned from the tower, looking conflicted about having left the fight but as she looked at her teammate, words struggled to manifest on her lips. "I… uh."
Anything that she may have been able to say was interrupted by a small earthquake that shook their legs and the loud rumble from the tower's elevator shaft told them all that they needed to know- something big had just happened in the vault.
They waited a few seconds, hoping that the elevator would be called for the Headmaster to emerge victorious when it came back up. But the metal box never moved. A minute later, they began to hear a roar, like that of a rocket, before they watched through the open doors as the elevator car was briefly filled with flames as if a bomb had gone off in it. And the rocket continued up the shaft.
"But… Ozpin…" Jaune felt his stomach drop as his worst fear appeared to have come true; Ozpin had been beaten.
"There's no time." Pyrrha shook her head before her face became resolved and stern. "Go!" Her raised voice snapped Jaune out of his stunned state and looked at her. "Go to Vale and ask for help." She tells him, her tone leaving no room for argument.
"Huh? What are you gonna do?" He didn't receive a direct answer as she turned to the tower and began to look up. Then it clicked. "No. No, Pyrrha, you can't!" He moved a bit to stand between the tower and his partner. "You saw how powerful she is." He tried to reason with the girl, remembering the fireballs that she had so casually thrown around down below.
He took a step closer to the heavier girl, ready to do what he could to stop her. "Pyrrha, I won't let you- "
Any further words were cut off as she grabbed him by either side of his head and pulled him in for a full kiss on the lips. One that went on for several seconds, long enough for him to transition from stunned to lightly embracing her thick waist with his arms, feeling her pressed against him as much as their armor would allow. Even her right leg rubbed his left a little during the kiss as it became more one of passion and longing.
Eventually Pyrrha pulled away. "I'm sorry." She tells him softly and sadly, making him confused at all of the sudden turns of events. Then she pushed him away, not just physically but using her Polarity on his armor to guide him into a nearby rocket launcher that one of the students must have used to bring their weapons so they could fight against the invasion.
"Hey!" Jaune yells as the door slams shut and locks, much like how things happened with Cardin earlier in the year and it was thanks to that experience that he was quickly able to figure out her intentions as Pyrrha stepped up and reached for the keypad. "Wait! Stop, stop! Pyrrha, please don't do this!" He pleaded.
The Spartan said nothing, not trusting herself if she did but they locked eyes through the ventilation slats even as she backed away. The desperation to help her, the need for answers, the confusion of everything that went on between her and Ozpin down in the vault… the new feelings brought up about the kiss and embrace they had just shared.
It was all there in what little she could see of his face.
For Jaune, he could see that Pyrrha was full of regret for what she was doing to him now combined with a resolve to do everything she could to stop Cinder.
Then the rockets engaged and the locker flew off to an unknown destination. Both of them were silent as Jaune was forced to accept that he was helpless to do anything and Pyrrha watched as he was carried away until the locker was out of sight.
It was only then did she finally turn back to the tower, resigning herself to what may be her last fight of her life but if there was a chance of winning and turning the tide of this entire invasion, she was the best hope that Beacon had left as there was nobody else around. The one she cared for the most had just been taken to a hopefully safer location.
Pyrrha ran into the tower and located the elevator that they had used recently, the one that led to the vault below the school and found that the button to open the door no longer worked. An application of her Polarity ripped the doors open, revealing that the car was scorched on the inside, a hole large enough for her to fall through in the floor with the metal rent upwards. A matching hole in the ceiling told everything that she needed after seeing how Cinder could at least float and her preference for fire down below.
Carefully, she stepped into the box and around the hole, afraid that the structural integrity had been compromised too much to handle her weight, though aside from a slight groan, the floor held. Another inspection from the inside led her to try focusing her semblance on the car itself to haul it up the shaft, knowing that it would be a serious drain on her aura to do so.
It may have taken a few seconds of focus to spread her control over the entire box but she did it. A few seconds more of trying to lift it eventually broke the emergency brakes that held it in place that had locked down because of Cinder's passing. Once the brakes were forcibly released, Pyrrha was shot up the shaft.
—-
Weiss and Ruby were running across the campus when they stopped when Weiss' scroll rang, reminding Ruby that hers was shattered back at Amity. "It's Jaune!" The owner reads out as she answers it. "Where are you?" Denko, Anya, and Talon stopping nearby to listen.
"What?"
None of the group of five could miss the desperation that filled his voice. "Jaune! What are you talking about?" Weiss asks as the older team looked to be making a calculated plan, comparing their location to the tower. "Where are you?" She asks again.
Jaune screamed over the scroll.
He almost sounded broken at this point.
"We will. Are you okay?" Weiss tried to inquire again. That only led to a scream of rage from the other end of the call before there was a crash of the scroll hitting the ground with force and it cut out. "Jaune? Jaune!?" The abrupt end got Weiss to panic and fear for the boy.
Then another threat made itself known as the Wyvern swung by and splattering its goop all around them, which quickly reformed into Beowolves, Ursa, and Creeps. All of which began to take a keen interest in the girls.
"Denko, I have a plan!" Ruby says as she deploys Crescent Rose as Weiss draws Myrtenaster. "Denko?" The young girl asks and finds that the older team is now gone.
"Oh no." Weiss mutters as the Grimm came at the pair and they had to engage in combat yet again.
—-
"What are you planning Denko?" Anya asks as they stood on top of a nearby building that overlooked the courtyard where they could see Ruby and Weiss fighting the Grimm.
"We need to get up there fast." Denko points to the top of the tower, several stories above them and as far away as the tower was tall. "And we need to stop that thing." He adds as the Wyvern flies by, dropping more Grimm spawn. One of them hit the roof near them and he removed the head of the Beowolf before it could fully emerge.
"And how?"
Denko turned to Talon. "We fly." The shorter sister understood what he meant and began to prepare herself, knowing that it would be taxing on her. "Anya, you're going first."
—-
Cinder emerged from the elevator shaft through the smoke created from her blasting open the doors, and casually walked across the office of the late Ozpin. Stopping at the large windows, she looked out at her handiwork. Beacon and Vale were largely destroyed with Grimm and flames spreading. Atlas would be receiving a sizable portion of the blame for their failure as security and the videos of their machines turning on those they were supposed to protect, leading to countless deaths.
She closed her eyes to preserve the image in her mind, remembering that she didn't do this alone. The little, half-starved thief she had found by chance and had become an integral part of her plan. The young assassin who had no qualms about doing his job which made up for the snark he dispensed with ease. The headache known as Roman who became the public face of her operation and Neo who was his silent enforcer. The White Fang and Adam that provided the manpower needed that were easily convinced to do as she ordered, also providing another face of the ills that befell the city. Her Mistress who gave her the chance to cause so much destruction and the ability to gain the power of the Fall Maiden. And as much as she hated to admit it, she had Watts to thank for producing and distributing the chemicals that made those in the four major Huntsman Academies gain weight and serving as a significant distraction. Even Tyrian deserved some credit for the idea that none of them would have come up with that their Mistress took a liking to and made it part of Cinder's plans for the downfall of Vale.
And with the exception of a few minor details, the plan worked perfectly.
The Wyvern briefly landed on the tower and climbed up so it could look through the windows at the young Maiden. "Shh… this is your home now." Cinder says calmly, the beast screeching quietly- for a creature of its size- in response. She stepped back towards the center of the office and summoned flames in her palm, ready to burn everything in the office for the fun of doing so. Then a noise from the elevator shaft caught her attention.
The box slammed to the top, raising a cloud of dust that added to the trails of smoke from her own entrance. Barely a second later, a sword was thrown out, Cinder leaning out of the path of the twirling blade, straightening up in time to cross her arms in time to catch the face of a round shield that had the full weight of Pyrrha behind it. While Cinder withstood the attack before pushing the heavier girl away, she had slid back a short distance.
Pyrrha landed on the floor, ready to fight and called Akouo to her left arm and Milo to her right hand thanks to Polarity. Across from her, Cinder readied herself by flexing her new powers, hovering in the air with a small flame at her feet.
And it was Cinder who made the first strike from the standoff, waving her hand to release a lash of flame that Pyrrha took on her shield before diving into a roll to avoid a short gout of fire. The Spartan moved to close the distance, another gout of flames forced her to twist herself out of their path at the cost of losing her momentum.
With Pyrrha halted, Cinder charged up a fireball in her right hand before releasing the stream of searing heat, forcing the armored warrior to take cover behind her shield. The attack continued until the Spartan leapt through the flames with her shield holding off the worst of it and assisted by her semblance on her armor to push against the conflagration. Cinder was forced to end the flamethrower once Pyrrha was in striking range, and without the flames the girl gave herself a quick spin and stabbed down at the Maiden.
Cinder caught the blade with her bare hand before it could strike her chest over her heart, much to Pyrrha's shock. From there, Cinder pulled the blade and by extension, Pyrrha's arm over her shoulder and brought her other hand to slam into the armored corset that set off a small explosion on contact. Pyrrha slammed into the metal wall in the back of the office, falling to her hands and knees, dropping her weapons in the process. But after a few quick breaths, she stood, ready to continue.
Cinder launched herself like a rocket, complete with jets of flames from her hands and feet, at Pyrrha with the full intent to ram her into the wall again. But the Maiden was surprised by her target jumping up to lock one of her arms with her own by the shoulder, letting Cinder carry her to the wall where she was able to use the wall to push herself over as Cinder slid to a stop. With Pyrrha having all of the momentum, she was able to swing herself over to land on the floor, pulling the lighter Cinder over her shoulder and throwing the older woman into the hard floor face first with enough force that the Maiden slid a short distance.
But Cinder took it in stride, her aura and Maiden powers making the throw to be like an inconvenience, quickly pushing herself up and flipping to her feet to give herself some distance from Pyrrha. All with a superior smug smile on her face.
Yet she didn't expect that as soon as she landed on the floor for Pyrrha to have retrieved her weapons and ram her shield into her softened midsection. Cinder was pushed back and open for Pyrrha to twist as she struck out with her blade, striking her twice before the Maiden backflipped with a flaming foot forcing the Spartan to back off with a flip of her own.
At the height of her leap, Pyrrha converted Milo to its spear form and threw it with a shot for added power, only for Cinder to bat it away with her flaming hand. A second later she had to do the same with the shield that surprised her. Turning back to her opponent, Cinder was shocked to find the heavier girl about to tackle her. The Spartan wrapped her arms around Cinder, trapping her arms to her side as they spun through the air to the floor.
On contact with the floor, Cinder managed to release a small explosion. But that didn't dissuade Pyrrha from continuing her attack, this time by having retrieved her sword, her left arm holding Cinder's head back while the Maiden's hands were occupied keeping the blade from her throat. That position was stressed even more as Pyrrha stood up, forcing Cinder to do the same and finding that the Spartan was taller than she and her larger bulk kept her glass heels from making contact with the floor in any meaningful way.
Cinder smirked as she saw the Wyvern circling the tower had swept wide and began to head straight at the tower. At the same time, her hands began to heat the sword in her grip, the metal beginning to glow.
—-
"Ready when you are!" Talon shouted to Anya, her sister immediately running and jumping up to land in her sisters' hands. Talon bent her arms and legs to absorb the impact, Anya squatting in preparation for another jump. A moment later, they pushed off with a blast of wind that had Anya moving like a bullet through the air aiming for the tower.
"Damn! The Grimm is going to ram the tower!" Denko had been keeping watch and saw the path the Wyvern was taking.
"Then we gotta do this now!" Talon shouts at him as she readies herself again.
"Got it!" The boy responds as he mimics Anya to jump into Talon's hands and shot off soon after. Talon took a few moments to lean on a nearby ledge to catch her breath, never having to use her semblance to launch her teammates so far.
In the air, Denko's vest and arm and shin guards began to glow, blue lines illuminating paths that couldn't be seen normally within them. Blue sparks began to leap from one line to another, soon enveloping the entirety of the armor, then his whole body.
As Denko drew closer to the Wyvern, close enough that he could see the three eyes on his side move to see him, he took Raijin from his back and gripped it with both hands and the large blade began to produce sparks of its own.
Moments from impact with its neck, he yelled as the sparks grew in intensity.
—-
Cinder kept her smile as she could feel Pyrrha tensing even more as the massive Grimm flew closer to them in the tower. She could feel the metal warping under her fingers from the intense heat she could produce.
A dark streak smashed through one of the windows, much to their shock, and it rose to show that it wasn't a Grimm but a human with red eyes and messy black and red hair wearing black and red that looked like bandages and simple skirts. But it was the pair of bladed gauntlets adorning the arms that ensured that marked her as a Huntress.
Then a bright blue streak slammed into the Wyvern and lightning crackled over its body originating from the figure that could be seen within the source of the lightning. The Wyvern screeched in pain and flailed, turning away from the tower and crashing into the ground, though the spikes on its tail raked through the side of the tower.
With the rattling of the room as a result, Cinder broke through Milo and with Pyrrha shocked at the loss of her sword and off balance from the shaking, Cinder was able to slip free, twist and thrust her palms into Pyrrha's middle hard enough to slam her into the wall again.
Then the Huntress opened fire from her gauntlets, pelting the Maiden with bullets that her aura protected her from before she jetted backwards to avoid the woman's slicing arm.
"Glad I came when I did." Anya spoke to Pyrrha as she struggled to rise from the floor, though she never took her eyes off of Cinder who had begun to hover on her jets again. "But it does make me wonder how this hot air balloon is throwing you around."
"Balloon?" Cinder asks slowly.
"At least you're not questioning the hot air part but with the way that dress is stretched, balloon seems pretty fitting." Anya retorts with a smirk.
Pyrrha finally made it to her feet and retrieved Akouo. "She's too strong."
"Then you should know that I'm one of the best around to fight her then." There was confidence in her words that gave Pyrrha some hope.
At the same time, that confidence and the insults were getting to Cinder. "Enough! I've come too far to be suffering from further interference!" She shouts as flames roared in her hands that became a pair of swords in her grip.
"Then shut me up, if you can." Anya taunted.
With a scream of anger, Cinder shot herself towards Anya who moved to meet her in the middle of the office. Pyrrha could only watch from her place along the wall with a fallen marble column for additional protection.
—-
Back on the ground, Weiss and Ruby had fought their way through the dozens of Grimm to the base of the tower where they could see the bright orange flashes through the windows. What really made them scared beyond knowing that Pyrrha was up there fighting whoever was capable of doing so much damage to Beacon and Vale.
Then they saw the Wyvern flying straight at the tower with the intent to ram it and their fears escalated further until they saw a streak of lightning strike the beast and turned it away from the tower. It fell to the ground, though its spiked tail dragged through part of the tower. The ground shook from the massive beast hitting the campus grounds, collapsing at least one building under its bulk and the cafeteria fell from the rattling of its already extensively damaged supports.
"Weiss! It's down!" Ruby shouts as she cuts the head off an Ursa.
"I noticed!" Weiss was as cold as ever as she dispatched a Beowolf with a trust through its head.
"Who hit it?" A Boarbatusk was shot.
"I don't know, I was busy." A Creep was gutted as it jumped over Weiss.
"We need to help them!" Without warning, Ruby burst into a cloud of rose petals and Weiss found herself dragged along.
Up close, the Wyvern was bigger than they thought. Each of the claws on its feet were larger than the two of them combined, let alone the rest of the foot. It's head and neck is as thick as the tower it was about to destroy. Yet the beast was on its side in the remains of a building or two, twitching as lightning danced over it.
"Denko?!" Ruby shouts when she sees the blonde with his weapon buried in the neck of the Grimm. The sparks died down as he turned to face the girls.
"Ruby? What are you doing? Get Glynda or Qrow! This thing is out of your league!" He shouts at her.
"But we can help!"
"Then do what I said!"
"I'm on it!" Weiss raises her scroll to her ear. Ruby was forced to defend her partner from the smaller Grimm before they could get too close.
With Ruby occupied and Weiss on the call, Denko had to deal with the Grimm under his feet as it started to move again. He gripped Raijin by the wrapped portion of the shaft, the last foot of its length, and pulled while thumbing a concealed button. From the shaft he drew a straight, single edged short sword. Both blades erupted into static over the metal before he plunged both into the Grimm's hide as his armor lit up again, resulting in lightning filling the beast again, a strangled screech emanated from it.
—-
Blades clashed in the former Headmasters office with neither one gaining an advantage over the other. Glass crashed against titanium many times before the glass shattered and was recreated anew to continue the clashing. Then the fighters separated.
"Not bad, but I've fought stronger." Anya comments as she takes a few calming breaths.
"I've had enough with these interferences!" Cinder screams as she fuses her swords into a bow, and an arrow knocked and drawn, then released. Anya easily dodged the arrow with a tilt of her head, content to let it embed in the wall but the smirk on Cinder's face and the wall beginning to glow made her dive at the Maiden with a curse. The wall exploded from the arrow and Anya rolled into an attack on Cinder, their blades clashing once again.
Another minute of getting nowhere with swordplay, Cinder pushed Anya away with a kick, the younger girl landing easily on her feet.
"Just what do you think you are able to do? I am the Fall Maiden!" Cinder shouts as she hovers again with flames in her hands. "You should be begging on your knees for your meager life!"
"From you?" Anya asks with a small smile. "Nah, I play with Summer too much to worry about whatever you can do."
"What!?"
"So far, this doesn't even qualify past a warm up with her." Anya dismisses her anger casually.
"I'll show you a warm up!" Cinder yells as the flames in her hands become flamethrowers directed at the Vacuoan girl who ducked and dove out of their paths until she took cover behind the desk until the flames died down.
"You know, I thought that puns were Yang's thing." Anya was surprisingly calm, something that irritated Cinder. "But you're more of a prick!" With that final word, she spun out of cover and fired Sinner's Punishment into Cinder, only for her to raise a hand and block every bullet from hitting her with a small flash of her powers.
"Useless!" Cinder throws a fireball behind the desk to flush out Anya with the explosion that destroyed a window. But her target used the chair as a shield from the blast before throwing it at Cinder, who batted it away. But that was simply cover for Anya to stab her in the gut, with only her aura preventing penetration. "Gah!"
Cinder was slammed into the wall, where she was forced to avoid being stabbed by the bladed gauntlets that had no problems piercing the wall behind her until the Maiden kneed Anya in the stomach to push her way, only to kick her in the chest to force her away.
"Why won't you stop!?" Cinder swiped her hand across the wall, melting a section and pulling shards of the metal from the surface to launch at Anya, who was caught in the open and had to take the worst of the barrage with her gauntlets as she kneeled to make herself a smaller target.
"Simple; it's my job." Anya smirks as she rises, reloading with fresh magazines as she did, along with a vial in each.
"Then I'll put an end to you the same way that I did to Ozpin." Cinder responds in a low voice that promises pain.
"Try me."
Cinder blasted off the wall with an intense fireball glowing blue in her right hand, aiming to plunge it into Anya's chest. She moved faster than the target had expected, easily getting within her guard and there was little more than aura protecting her life.
Then a shield struck her head.
The shock of the unexpected strike threw Cinder off her aim, the fireball cutting across Anya's shoulder as it fizzled out, leaving the skin bare thanks to the clothes burnt away and the skin red. The girl hissed in pain as she took the moment of confusion to get away from the furious Maiden, stopping just in front of Pyrrha.
"I had almost forgotten about you." Cinder says coldly as she rises by the shattered window. "Not that there is anyone who can equal me here but…" The shattered glass coalesced into a bow and arrow. "I should rid myself of the vermin."
Pyrrha jerked her free arm in the air, the dark office serving as cover for the telltale black glow over her hand as the scorched desk was slammed into Cinder from the side that rammed her into the far wall. Not even a second passed from the impact before the furniture exploded, Anya cutting a chunk before it could hit her while Pyrrha deflected another with Akouo.
Cinder stepped from the burning wreckage of what was left of the wall and desk with an arrow drawn and as soon as Pyrrha was clear in her sight, she let it loose.
Pyrrha whipped around and threw her shield with perfect accuracy into its path, shattering the glass against the rotating metal edge, only for the arrow to reform from the pieces and continue its flight as if nothing had been in the way.
Anya could only watch as the arrow pierced Pyrrha's right boot through her heel and effectively nailed her foot to the floor, the girl letting out a gasp of pain and a trickle of blood came from the hole under the arrow.
Anya turned back to Cinder who had become even more smug at disabling Pyrrha. "One down and one to go." The Maiden taunts as flames began to circle her once more and she rose into the air. "Or I could get them both at once." The flames condensed in front of her as Anya put herself between Cinder and Pyrrha.
And the torrent of flames were released.
—-
"I hope they are on their way!" Denko shouts to Ruby and Weiss as the sparks around him died down, the girls dealing with the Grimm that seemed to be attracted to the Wyvern, both of them visibly getting exhausted from the constant fighting.
"They better be! They said they had an airship nearby!" Weiss calls back as she spears a Beowolf through the chest.
"Is that it?" Ruby saw something that wasn't a Grimm flying their way over the buildings.
"It better be! I can't keep this up much longer!" Denko couldn't see but with the Grimm under him struggling to rise again, he charged up more lightning and discharged it through his blades, prompting yet another screech of pain from the Wyvern.
It was indeed a Manta cutting its way through the smoke, soon landing out of reach of the massive Grimm, and a squad of soldiers deploying to protect the ship as Glynda and James stepped out of it.
"They're here!" Ruby shouts with some relief, missing the Creep leaping at her from behind, until another scythe cut it in half.
"Uncle Qrow!" The chubby reaper latched onto her family with a hug.
"Heya Pipsqueak." He had no issues with rubbing her head to muss up her hair, not bothered by the sweat and grime that filled the dark strands.
"I hope you have some big guns for this thing!" Denko yells over his shoulder at the pair.
"You got that Jimmy?" The caped man calls over to the misshapen General.
"We'll have to work fast."
"No time! Look out!" Glynda warns everyone using her Telekinesis to pull everyone back as the Wyvern fights against the pain when the lightning fades.
It rolled to its feet with a roar and turned, destroying any buildings in the path of its tail and feet in the process. Then there was a bright glow from the top of the tower that drew the attention of everything with eyes.
—-
Cinder laughed as she maintained the flames as she did when she fought Ozpin, knowing that there was no shield to protect the girls in its path, having no doubts that they were reduced to ashes as she could see some of the flames splattering against the wall.
It wasn't until she let the blast end did she notice something odd.
—-
Pyrrha instinctually flinched from the intense heat directed at her and Anya, unable to do anything more than that. But the lack of being bathed in fire made her look for the reason why. All around her, she saw the flames shooting past her and using up much of the oxygen in the air, burning through the wall and superheating the floor. Yet she was in a bubble of relative calm. Then she saw why.
Anya stood tall against the flames, her right gauntlet raised as the majority of the torrent swirled into one of its barrels, the vial in that chamber glowing brightly and growing brighter as it absorbed more fire.
Then the blast ended and both girls could see the confident, victorious smile on Cinder's face be replaced by shock. Anya let her arms drop to her sides, the right one as bright as a flare from the vial.
"What? But how?" Cinder dropped to the floor as she couldn't believe that anyone could have survived. Even Ozpin with his near impenetrable shield barely survived that.
"Kinda easy when I absorb aura like a sponge. It only takes a bit of focus to act like a black hole." Anya straightened up, her right hand pulling another brightly glowing vial from her pouch, this one a bright electric blue.
"I've never heard of such a Semblance!"
"Funny thing about black holes, they tend to be messy eaters. Always spitting out a bunch of their food." Anya tells the Maiden as her left arm snapped up and from a gently glowing vial in it, a burst of condensed wind was released. Cinder was slammed into one of the supports that once held the windows by hurricane force winds, all glass and anything not held down blown out the windows to rain on the courtyard below.
The wind stopped, leaving Cinder pressed against the metal, sucking air into her lungs after it was forced out from being pressed to the remains of the outer wall. She had the sense to watch her enemies, Anya popping out the spent vial and replacing it with the blue one, taking the time to slip the empty to her pouch.
Then both gauntlets were raised and the barrels began to glow as the vials were about to be emptied at the Maiden, the right a bright orange with tongues of flame leaking out as the left a bright blue with sparks dancing from it.
Cinder raised her right arm as she summoned as much power into her hand as possible as fast as she could to counter the return of her own blast combined with multiple lightning strikes. She couldn't hear her own screams of frustration and pain as the attack hit her.
The floor between Anya and where the windows once were was now nothing but molten slag, as was the ceiling, the gears that turned the clock glowing red and warping until it jammed and shut down.
Pyrrha took a deep breath as the cool autumn wind blew into the former office, replenishing the oxygen in the room. Her savior is in much the same condition as she dropped to her knees.
—-
On the ground, the humans and Grimm watched as the enormous stream of fire and lightning shot out of the tower, even the Wyvern ducking to ensure that it wouldn't be hit, the shards of glass and metal had annoyed it enough, the smaller Grimm around it that were hit were nearly all killed by the sharp debris.
But few saw the figure that fell from the top, trailing smoke behind it, that was caught by an Alpha Griffon and carried away.
The Wyvern and the humans stared at the tower in shock for a few moments before the massive beast turned its head to the mortals. If its master was gone, it would finish what was started.
AN: The battle is almost done and Cinder's part has been concluded. Now all that is left is the Wyvern who is looking at the survivors and the tower with vengence and murder in its eyes... well, more murder than a Grimm normally has. The next chapter may be the last until the one-year anniversary of this series on this site, that's not too long from now anyway.
As always, reviews are welcome.