And now for what I'm pretty sure a fair portion of you have been waiting for.
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Beta-ed by xenosaiyan
Pyrrha and Jaune raced out of Beacon Tower as fast as they could, the cataclysmic sounds of battle crashing behind them.
They stopped to catch their breath amidst the rubble just outside the entrance. An open locker rested to the side on a cracked stone wall.
Pyrrha shook her head as her mind reeled. How did it all go so wrong? Ozpin had come to get her and Jaune, bless him, hadn't been willing to leave her side during the chaos of the fall and had followed them down to the vault. He'd been as stunned as she'd been when she'd first seen Amber, speechless at the titanic mass of magic power that was only a few yards from them.
The headmaster's urgent commands had roused him from his confusion and Ozpin had reluctantly ordered her partner to watch the door. He then turned to her and asked her one last time if she was willing to take up the maiden's power.
She'd barely been able to form words, but she had just managed a nod. She was unworthy of such power, her hands had murdered Penny after all. No matter what sinister mastermind might have been behind the scenes or how many times her friends assured her that she was just a pawn in the Black Queen's game, she couldn't forget that it was her semblance that had torn the poor girl limb from limb.
But, Ozpin certainly knew the magic better than she did, he'd been dealing with it for who knew how long. And if he thought she was the best candidate for the job… then she'd just have to do everything in her power to make sure something like what happened to Penny, like what was happening to Beacon at that very moment, never happened again.
She had gotten into the pod and Ozpin began the process of transferring Amber's aura to her. It was pain and agony the likes of which she had never dreamt of before, her muscles howling as her bones seemed to liquefy, her soul drowning in the sludge of their remains. She screamed, for what else could she do in the face of such torture.
That was her mistake.
Jaune, wonderful, kind, caring Jaune, immediately abandoned his post and rushed to her side. His eyes were on her instead of the door.
And then she came through it.
At first, Pyrrha didn't recognize her, the pain obscuring her mind. Then, she'd been confused, her few memories of the woman identifying her as Mercury and Emerald's team leader, and wondering why and how she'd come down to join them. But finally, with a lead ball of dread plummeting through her stomach, she realized the truth as magic equal to Amber poured out from the witch as she drew her bow from a shower of sparks and volcanic glass.
Cinder Fall strutted out of the elevator and fired an arrow straight into Amber's heart, finishing the comatose girl instantly. The pain faded from Pyrrha's conscience, the power abandoning her and rushing out to the murderess. Her eyes glowed with a demonic light and she rose into the air atop a pillar of flame, like a fallen angel who'd clawed their way up from hell, so much raw magic within her that ethernano began to flood out of her to saturate the air.
Pyrrha blasted the door of her containment pod at the woman. Cinder batted it aside like it was nothing.
Ozpin thrust out his hand to prevent her from charging, shaking his head adamantly. "Take Jaune and get out of here! Find Glynda, Ironwood, Qrow! The tower cannot fall."
"But I can help," she protested, her failure taking root in her mind.
Her headmaster shot her a pitying look. "You'll only get in the way."
Pyrrha had come from Mistral, but all of Remnant knew of Professor Ozpin's prowess. He was thought by most to be the preeminent huntsman in the world, a living legend. If he didn't think she could help, then she couldn't help, no matter how bitter a pill it was to swallow.
She had nodded reluctantly and grabbed her partner. Cinder let them pass. Perhaps it would only take her a moment to cut them down, but that opening would be all that Ozpin needed to cut her down and she wasn't willing to risk such a blunder against a foe of his caliber.
Now, here they were. Safe outside the tower while Ozpin battled for his life.
And Pyrrha could do nothing to help. It was infuriating. She was supposed to be a huntress, and yet people were dying, and she couldn't do anything. Ruby had taught her magic, her origin was full of power, and yet she barely knew how to use it enough to do anything.
"Okay, I think I have Glynda's number," Jaune muttered frantically, unaware of his partner's inner turmoil. He searched through his scroll's contacts as he walked off. "Come on, where is it?"
Pyrrha didn't follow him, her eyes focused solely on the tower. She could still hear the rage of battle, the blazing heat bearing down on their flesh even from deep below in the vault.
"Pyrrha?" She turned to Jaune. His eyes were wet with stress. Not that she could blame him. "What was that?"
Pyrrha looked to the ground, unsure if the secrecy she had been trusted with was still to be maintained. "I—"
The sound of an explosion from the tower interrupted her. Both huntsmen-in-training heard a rush of flames as Cinder rocketed to the top floor.
Which could only mean one thing.
Jaune looked to the ground. "Ozpin…"
Pyrrha looked down, the knowledge of her headmaster's obvious fate sinking into her soul. He had given everything he had, and that monster had brushed him aside anyway. Even if they called for those that he'd claimed could fight the homicidal maiden, there was no way they would arrive in time before the tower was destroyed.
Her hands curled into fists. There was only one thing to do.
If Cinder destroyed the CCT at the very top of the tower, she cut off worldwide communication, cause international panic. And that could lead to Grimm invasions just like this one happening all over Remnant. "There's no time. Go, get to Vale and call for help."
"Huh? What are you going to do?"
Pyrrha took a step towards the tower. Jaune followed her gaze and his eyes widened.
"No. Pyrrha, you can't. You saw how powerful she is. Pyrrha, I won't let you—"
Pyrrha shut him up with a kiss, one she'd wanted to give him for so long. Jaune was stunned for a moment, but in the end, rested his arms at her waist, a fact she was quite thankful for.
She kept it going longer than she should have. She knew this would hurt him. But she had dreamed about kissing since that night at the dance that felt so long ago, and the reality was even better than she had imagined.
Besides… she wasn't sure she'd get another chance.
Pyrrha broke the kiss, her eyes closed. "I'm sorry."
She used her powers to shove Jaune into the abandoned locker and slammed the door behind him. She programmed the rocket system to take him as far away as it could manage on its compromised fuel. He pleaded with her the entire time.
She blocked it out and watched him fly away. He might hate her for it, it was hypocritical for the girl who didn't want to be alone to send away her dearest friend. But at least he'd be alive to hate her.
Pyrrha took a breath to calm herself. She knew this was a terrible idea. Cinder had the power of the Fall Maiden and had nearly killed the previous wielder without it. With it, she had defeated Ozpin, a huntsman with more experience than she could imagine. Whatever meager talent Pyrrha had would be nothing to her.
And yet, if she did nothing, the world itself would be in danger. She had to at least buy enough time for the reinforcements Jaune would inevitably call to arrive. She couldn't let everyone down.
She couldn't.
She rushed into the tower.
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Ruby's hands curled into fists at her sides, her eyes hardening from silver to steel at the sight of her sister broken before her. Neptune and Specialist Tremaine helped Yang's unconscious, guild mark arm absent, body onto a stretcher and onto a priority evacuation bullhead.
"What happened?" she asked Sun, who was busy applying medical balm to the heavily bruised Ren and Nora. "What happened to my sister?"
"And where's Blake?" Weiss added.
Sun cringed. "Yang fought some really powerful new Grimm. It was humanoid, it had wings, and it could do something similar to Blake's shadow clones. As for her… I don't know."
"You don't know!?" Weiss screeched. "You were right behind her!"
Ruby frowned. "It had Blake's semblance?"
"Yeah," Sun replied, his eyes downcast. "I had a thought about that, but… it's impossible."
"Not as impossible as you'd think."
In terms of pure destructive force, Yang and Weiss were the most powerful of their team, with her sister's style emphasizing it far more than her partner's. No mere Grimm, except maybe that huge Wyvern that had forced everyone out of the school, could last five seconds against her, and they certainly couldn't cut off her arm. But if it had Blake's semblance… well… they'd all heard the story of why Lisanna had been trapped in Edolas for years. The cat faunus had been hesitant to use the Grimm she'd absorbed for a reason, but if she'd been pushed that far…
They had to find her. Eventually, Blake's magic was going to run out, and when it did, her transformation would fail. Maybe she'd be able to scrounge up enough power to absorb the Grimm that would no doubt be surrounding her, but they couldn't take that risk. They had to find her and bring her home.
Winter and the professors had ordered a mandatory evacuation, the Wyvern's arrival forcing even the White Fang out of the school. They simply didn't have the numbers to hold both Beacon and Vale proper when the Grimm were literally spawning in the academy.
But, Blake, Jaune, and Pyrrha were still out there, in the thick of it. And Ruby wasn't going to leave any of her friends behind.
"I'll find them," she declared. "I'll find them and bring them back."
"No," Weiss said, coming to her side. "We will. Though, we should probably go before Winter gets back. She likely wouldn't approve of this plan."
"Guys, I get what you're thinking of, but there's an entire army of Grimm out there," Sun reminded them. "You're not going to help them if you guys get killed out there."
Ruby smirked. Sun did have a point. Even as skilled she and Weiss were as huntresses, running headlong into a horde of Grimm with no backup was pretty much the dumbest thing you could do. If you got cornered, that was it. No matter how strong you were, eventually their numbers would overwhelm you. And their friends would be in just as much trouble as before, if not already dead.
But leaving them behind was not an option. Fairy Tail didn't abandon their friends.
"We've got a few tricks up our sleeves," Ruby said, spreading her arms. "Requip!"
White light erupted all around her, but instead of covering her hands or her weapon, it bathed her entire body in a radiant glow. The shine lasted for a long few seconds, far longer than her weapon requips. After all, the larger and more complex something was, the more difficult transporting it in and out of the requip dimension was, especially when it needed to take shape around her body instead of just appearing for her to grab. The fact that Erza could shift between armors in the blink of an eye was a testament to her hard-earned skill.
Ruby didn't shift armor that much, she was still building her first suit after all, but she'd worked hard to reduce the required time for her weapons as much as possible, getting it down to a similarly brief period as her mentor. Getting her new suit on took more time, but in time, when it was finished, it would be well worth the effort.
As it was, when the glow faded, her prototype bedecked her splendidly. Her crimson hood remained, but the black blouse beneath it had disappeared, replaced by scarlet scale mail covering her entire form and granting her a skirt that extended down to just above her knees. On her back were four stubby wings, two on either side of her spine, all layered with hundreds of feather-shaped steel links.
Sun's jaw dropped. "Wha- what? Wait, so magic... you really did… so, does that mean that Blake… was…"
Nora patted him on the back as much as her injuries allowed. "There, there buddy. Take it all in."
Weiss cocked an eyebrow, daintily flicking the scarlet steel. "Reaper's Rose, huh? You've been working on it."
"Yup!" Ruby grinned proudly. "It'll give me a really nice speed boost—"
"To your semblance, right?" Weiss smugly smirked. She tapped the feathers under the cloak. "Because with these stubby wings, I don't see it doing much else."
"Well, yeah, I've been working on that, it's based on Heaven's Wheel after all—"
"You still can't get the hardening and mirror magic to work on the petals, can you?"
"…let's… let's just go save the others."
At that moment, Weiss' scroll rang, Jaune's caller ID plain on the screen.
"Speak of the devil."
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Cinder sauntered around Ozpin's office, her glass heels clacking against the floor.
It felt good, just as it should. No less than she deserved.
Her mistress had told her of the maiden's power and she had had half of it within her for months now, but nothing could have prepared her for having the full force at her command. It was more than mere fire; it was as if the sun itself had taken residence within her and she had become one with its radiance. Perhaps the Ophiuchus' flames were mightier still, but in that moment she could only revel in the power. All creation revolved around her and feared her wrath. Just as Teacher had warned, the ethernano erupting from within her was so numerous that her origin couldn't contain it all, enriching the environment around her by her very presence.
It was glorious.
The Wyvern flew outside the office and hovered in front of the window. The beast growled, its dark murderous bloodlust radiating. The spirit's very nature demanded that it do its best to try to end her existence. Only the Scarab within her allowed her to command it and indeed kept it from trying to take her in its jaws immediately.
She shushed the monster like it was an impudent child. "This is your home now."
The Wyvern would guard Beacon, spawn a Grimm horde to drive off any attempts by the local huntsmen to retake the school. With the Fall Maiden's power in hand, Cinder would have more than enough time to acquire the Relic of Choice and perhaps search Ozpin's archives for any information he had the spheres.
She lit a flame in her hand, unable to contain her excitement. Everything was coming to a head. Soon, she'd return to the Queen's castle victorious, Relic in hand. Her mistress would celebrate her and allow her to undergo the Ascension Chamber, elevating her to the height of the Gates, the Eclipse Etherious! And once Teacher returned from Atlas, they would-
A ding from the elevator drew her attention. The doors opened, and a sword came flying out.
Cinder smirked and leisurely dodged the blade. Soon after, a shield followed out with an irate Pyrrha Nikos on its back.
Cinder repelled the assault and watched as the Mistral champion summoned her weapons. She smirked and propelled herself upward on a jet of flame.
She had beaten Amber without her power. With it, she'd crushed Ozpin. Pyrrha Nikos was not a threat.
Nonetheless, the Invincible Girl charged.
Cinder was casual about the battle. Time and again, she knocked Pyrrha down. Each time the girl got up and tried some new way to fight her better.
Her sword was destroyed? She put Cinder in a chokehold.
The chokehold was broken by the Wyvern destroying the tower? Use her powers to bury Cinder in the rubble.
That didn't work? Throw her shield.
Cinder battered the shield aside and broke the girl's aura with a blast of fire. Pyrrha smashed into the wall and slumped to the ground. The Fall Maiden sighed and turned her back.
Pyrrha's eyes shot open and the girl lunged for her shield. She rolled, picked it up, and threw at Cinder's back.
Hearing the movement, Cinder casually formed her weapons, notched an arrow in her bow, whirled, and fired. The arrow broke upon Nikos' shield, but then reformed and shot her in the heel. The shield went over Cinder's head.
Cinder tutted mockingly as Nikos crawled. The young huntress, for there was no other word for her foolish tenacity, was impressive. If Cinder was still a mere mortal, the girl might have actually stood the slightest of chances against her. Sadly for her, she had become more powerful than she could possibly imagine.
Never again would she be powerless. Never again would she be beaten.
She circled around the beaten girl and lifted her chin up. "It's unfortunate that you were promised a power that was never truly yours."
She nocked another arrow into her bow and aimed at Pyrrha's heart. "But take comfort in knowing that I will use it in ways you could never have imagined."
Pyrrha stared back at her. "Do you believe in destiny?"
Cinder narrowed her eyes. What did she—
"Pyrrha!"
A flurry of rose petals alerted Cinder to the oncoming threat more than the shout. She whirled around, raising her bow to intercept an imminent scythe swipe. Her shaft, the blades of her swords in their alternate form, easily parried the crimson polearm. Silver eyes, eyes that had once been her own, glared at her with righteous fury.
Cinder glanced down at the scarlet emblem tattooed on the back of her new attacker's hand. Her golden eyes widened, Salem's interest in the four huntresses finally sliding into place in her mind.
Despite the interruption, she couldn't help the smirk that rose to her face. She loosed the arrow she still had notched, the flaming shaft streaking straight for the huntress' shoulder. Her foe disappeared into rose petals against right before it fired, far too quick to have been mere reflex. She'd been planning to give up the attack already, using Cinder's focus on her to dash around her with her semblance and grab Nikos. It was an effective strategy, if audacious. The girl's back was left wide open as she pulled the other huntress to the edge of the destroyed tower. If Cinder felt like it, she could have killed her there.
But such a thing would be dreadfully pedestrian. Besides, she had just acquired the full powers of the maiden. She needed someone to test them on since Ozpin had been far too dangerous to take chances with and Nikos hadn't been able to push her nearly far enough.
And, seeing Ruby Rose stand protectively over her injured friend, bedecked scarlet armor with her oversized gardening tool in hand, she could think of no finer guinea pig than a Fairy Tail wizard.
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Ruby's mind was whirling. She and Weiss had made it to the bottom of the tower, and her partner had used a line of glyphs to let her dash up to the top while she held off the swarm of Grimm converging on the ground level. Then she'd seen it.
Pyrrha.
Cinder.
Cinder pointing an arrow at a powerless, auraless Pyrrha's chest.
If she hadn't had the speed boost from her armor, if she'd been even a second later…
Suffice to say, she had no doubts as to whether Roman's information was true.
"Pyrrha," she spoke quickly keeping Crescent Rose brandished protectively in front of her friend. "Are you okay?"
"I… I… no," Pyrrha stuttered, as if awakened from a nightmare. "Ruby, she has magic, my aura's gone and… I think she cut a tendon in my heel. I can't stand. I can't help you."
"That's alright," Ruby assured her. She narrowed her eyes at their enemy. "You've done what you can. I'll take it from here."
"You'll take it from here?" Cinder chuckled. "Really, little girl? And just how do you plan to do that?"
The Wyvern circled around, its titanic wings buffering the young huntresses with a vicious gale as it perched itself behind Cinder, an orange glow building beneath its jaws.
Ruby's grip on her scythe tightened. The terrorist mastermind before her had a point. Even if Pyrrha hadn't warned her, it would have been impossible to miss that she was the elementalist they'd all been sensing glimpses of since they'd returned. But it wasn't even so simple as her being a powerful wizard, though she certainly was that, easily in the highest echelon of power the Fairy Tail Wizard had ever encountered. No, wizards took in ethernano from the surrounding area and processed it through their origin into magic to be used for spells. But Cinder… ethernano was building up within her, an unlimited amount being served up to her origin on a platter. It was impossible, incredible, and horrifying all at the same time.
And fortunately, not without its advantages to Ruby. After all, Cinder's origin could only absorb so much ethernano at once. And with whatever entity within her constantly creating more, the excess had nowhere to go but the surrounding area. She could already sense the density of the crucial particle rising to the levels she had known back on Earthland, instead of the paltry saturation native to Remnant.
She could fight with all she had. It might not be enough, according to Jaune's message and the present situation, she was facing a murderer who'd both killed her headmaster and been about to kill her friend, as well as the most powerful Grimm she'd ever seen that she was somehow controlling. But she would fight, and for the friend she had to protect, she would win.
First and foremost, she needed to protect Pyrrha. Trying to run back down the tower with her wasn't an option, both the terrorist and the Grimm had long-range capability and would shoot them right out of the sky. She'd have to strike fast and hard, keep their enemies focused on her so they couldn't get an opening to aim a shot at her friend
"Well?" Cinder mocked, flipping her bow in one hand. "Come on then. I'm curious to see what a real Fairy Tail wizard can do?"
Ruby blinked, suddenly dumbfounded. "Fairy—how do you know about Fairy Tail—"
Cinder's open hand shot forward, a funnel of flame rushing towards the huntresses. Ruby barely reacted in time to snag Pyrrha and use her semblance to dash them both to safety, the fire blasting past them and out into the sky. A glance back as she laid her injured friend down revealed the metal floor they'd been standing on scorched black, errant rose petals that didn't escape the blaze crumbling to ash.
Ruby's eyes narrowed, the heat still rolling across her skin. All that power, nearly equal to Natsu's Lightning Flame Dragon Roar, in one instantaneous shot. No incantation, no real spell even, just raw power.
Well, she certainly had her work cut out for her.
Cinder spread out her hands, her golden eyes aglow with orange light as she rose into the air on jets of flame. Above them, dark clouds appeared from nowhere, crackling with electricity as cyclones and lightning crashed down all around the school from their holds.
"If you wish to surrender, I promise you ends will be quick."
Ruby responded by bursting into rose petals, streaking across the tower and rising into the air above and behind the hovering terrorist, her scythe raised high for a heavy slash.
Cinder casually bent back her arm and brought her bow up to intercept the strike, a resounding clang ringing through the air as the steel clashed with sharpened volcanic rock, the ominous glow within the weapon implying it was strengthened by magic. The terrorist swiped her open hand by her bow and snapped off the bottom half to wield her twin swords. With Crescent Rose still blocked by one, she sliced the other one through open-air, a slash of flame and molten stone carrying outward from the motion.
Once again, Ruby had to resort to her semblance, her only skill for midair maneuvering until her armor was finished. For now, it lessened the strain on her aura, but, unlike Cinder, she'd actually been fighting in the Battle of Beacon already. Her soul had already spent quite a bit of its energy.
She dodged the blast and rushed over to Cinder's front, taking form right before her chest, far too close for an effective strike with her enemy's swords or Crescent Rose. Fortunately, the light of her magic was already glowing over her scythe, Waxing Petal requiping into her grip and lunging forward for a swift stab.
Cinder dropped her weapons, the blades crumbling to dust as they fell through the air. Her hands rushed inward and clapped down on either side of the short sword, her aura crackling as she stunted the blade the same way she'd blocked Crescent Rose's bullets back when Ruby had first encountered Roman. The terrorist's palms radiated heat as they began to glow like molten iron, Waxing Petal quickly shining in a similar condition.
Ruby's eyes widened, instantly vanishing her sword back to her requip dimension before her foe could melt it. She knew instantly what her opponent's next move would be and reached into her arsenal for her counterattack.
Sure enough, without the threat of a sword, Cinder thrust her palms forward in a single, brutal strike. Ruby coughed at the heavy blow to her stomach and shot down to the floor of the tower. As she went, she tugged her arms towards her, even as she smacked into the ruins.
At that point, the swords she'd summoned behind Cinder launched themselves at the terrorist's back. Normally, summoning and controlling that many weapons would be a hugely impractical waste of magic, but Erza circumvented that pitfall with her Heaven's Wheel armor. Which just so happened to be the primary inspiration for Ruby's Reaper's Rose armor. It didn't allow for as many as her mentor's, she'd be ramming a whole mess of other magic into by the time it was done after all, but it was enough for a decent barrage.
To her enemy's credit, she immediately sensed the requip magic, or noticed the light from the weapons' appearing behind her. She whirled around, her hands alight with fire, but the most she could do was cushion the blow as the blades rained down on her. She was knocked from the air down towards the ground, though she managed to keep from striking the floor by reestablishing the jets of flame under her feet.
Ruby leapt back to her feet, ready for another exchange. For a moment, it looked like she might get it, Cinder scowling in distaste. But a second later, that same scowl disappeared, replaced by an amused smirk.
The red hooded huntress cocked an eyebrow in confusion, until a low, thunderous growl emanated from the sky beyond the tower. Her heart stopped as she remembered her other, not so little problem.
The Wyvern opened its maw, a pungent, hellish fire blazing within the depths of its gullet. But it wasn't aimed at Ruby.
"Pyrrha!"
The Invincible Girl wasn't seeming very invincible, unable to stand with a draconic demon bearing down on her. She did her best to crawl away but once the enormous fireball was loosed, it was instantly clear that she wouldn't be able to escape the blast zone.
Ruby summoned Tulip's Aegis into her grip and rocketed into the orb of hellfire's path, surging all the power she could into her shield. A mystic circle glowed bright red in the air before it, the shield's defensive magic activating with maximum strength.
The Grimm's fire rammed into the tiny girl, the flames surging over her steel and licking at her cloak. Ruby held back the blaze with everything she had, her aura flickering as the effort took its toll. Still, in combination with her magic, she held, not a single ember passing her guard. Her friend was safe.
Or at least, she was until a smirking Cinder raised a blazing hand towards the fallen champion.
Ruby's eyes widened. If she moved to block the terrorist's strike, the Wyvern's attack would incinerate Pyrrha. But if she didn't, Cinder would do the job. No matter what she did, Pyrrha would die. Her friend would die.
She'd failed.
She'd failed.
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"Move. Move, god damn it!"
Pyrrha hissed to herself, half out of pain, half out anger. She tried to stand, to run as Cinder raised her palm with fire ablaze. But every time she tried, her foot broke out in agony, her tendon cut and useless. She tried to crawl away, but she couldn't move nearly fast enough to avoid her enemy's aim. Her aura was completely depleted, her semblance spent. There was no way out.
She'd tried to stop Cinder, to hold the line until help could arrive. But the Wyvern had annihilated the CCT in a single pass, and the new Fall Maiden had picked her apart without even drawing her weapon. Pyrrha had heard many of her tournament opponents decry her when they thought she couldn't hear, declare that fighting her was pointless, that no matter how strong they thought they were they always felt powerless against her.
She imagined she finally knew how that felt, to be powerless. And she hated it.
Now, Ruby, one of the friends she'd prized so much, had valued so much, was handicapped having to protect her, because she'd been an idiot. She didn't know if her red hooded friend would be strong enough to defeat Cinder, she could easily sense the wide disparity in their power, but having to constantly worry about defending her wasn't helping. In a strategic sense, perhaps… perhaps it would be better if she let it…
No! Damn it, she couldn't think like that! She didn't want to die! She'd only just gotten everything she'd ever wanted, friends that she could live with, to not be alone anymore. She wanted to play more video games with Ruby and Yang, to talk about her favorite books with Weiss and Blake, to eat pancakes and dance with Ren and Nora. She wanted to just be with Jaune more, to find out how he felt about that kiss, and maybe, if he didn't hate her for her foolishness, have a few more.
She couldn't die! She couldn't let Cinder beat her! She had to move!
And there was still one thing that might help her do that.
She closed her eyes and reached deep within herself, ethernano churning inside her origin. Light erupted within her mind's eye and magic flowed over her entire body.
Cinder's palm thrust out and a funnel of flames launched towards the fallen champion.
Her eyes shot open and suddenly Pyrrha was engulfed in golden light, shooting into the air, barely escaping as the flames melt the floor she'd just knelt upon, the blazing heat buffeting her from behind.
That was one, potentially life-ending problem solved. Now, she just had to deal with the fact that she had no idea how to control her flight path!
She careened through the air like she was on an out of control carnival ride, zipping all around above both the tower and open sky. She panted madly as she desperately tried to direct herself back to solid ground. Her fingers were inches from the edge of the tower…
When the golden glow evaporated as if it was never there. Pyrrha's emerald eyes widened, her fingertips brushing the side of the tower as she began to plummet to her doom…
Until another hand reached out and clasped hers, arresting her fall. The huntress' despair suddenly blossomed into a relieved smile as Ruby heaved her back onto the tower.
Both girls landed in a heap amidst the scorched rubble, panting madly.
"Thanks," Pyrrha said.
"No… problem…" Ruby heaved, recovering her breath as she rose to her feet. "Is that… all muscle? Because if … it is… I think… you should… stop training… so hard."
Pyrrha cringed. "Sorry."
A slow, patronizing clap drew both girls from their discussion. Cinder ceased her jets of fire, landing smoothly back on the tower, the Wyvern hovering menacingly behind her.
The Fall Maiden smirked. "Impressive. Truly impressive. To learn magic yourself is one thing, but to teach it to another, even one exceptional in their own right, that is no small feat in this day and age. But I suppose I should expect nothing less from a member of such a prestigious guild."
Ruby glared at the black-haired woman. "How do you know about Fairy Tail?"
"Who do you think gave you lot the book? That is how you encountered them, isn't it?"
"You gave us the… you…" Ruby's fists tightened. "You're with Tartaros?"
That caused Cinder to cock an eyebrow. "Who? I am loyal to only one person, little girl."
"Yourself?" Pyrrha growled.
"Alright, make that two people. Possibly three if one were to count our mistress. And none of them are this 'Tartaros'."
"Then why?" Ruby demanded, magic gathering in her upper arm. "If you're not with Tartaros, what do you get out of this?"
Cinder shrugged, flames flickering across her arms. "The same thing people get out of anything worth doing. Power."
"Power?" Ruby repeated, as if Cinder had just grown a second head. She glanced warily at the Wyvern's gnashing jaws. "You rallied the Grimm into the kingdom, killed gods know how many people, for power?"
"A necessary sacrifice. One of the last the world shall ever require if the Queen has her way."
"You murdered Penny!" Ruby roared.
"Actually, that was her doing," Cinder replied, eyeing Pyrrha.
The champion couldn't help but look away in shame. Illusions or not, it had been her semblance that had dismembered the poor girl.
"Of course, murder is rather an overstatement, don't you think?" Cinder noted. "You can't murder a computer."
"Penny was a person!" Ruby shouted. "She was my friend!"
"She was a machine. Everything she was, everything she thought she felt, it was all programmed into her by Atlas," Cinder's gaze falter for a moment, her golden eyes momentarily absent of cruelty. "They're quite diligent in their effort to create the perfect tool. Ending her now was actually quite the kindness."
"Kindness?" Ruby growled. "You call that kind?!"
The red hooded huntress thrust her right arm into the sky, her armored sleeve rescinding to reveal a glowing Fairy Tail emblem stylized like an arrowhead above her guildmark. Her eyes blazed with silver light and surged into the symbol, its own golden shine instantly amplifying a thousand-fold. Pyrrha moved her hands to shield her eyes as a gargantuan pillar of luminous power erupted from beneath her feet, the Wyvern screeching in terror as it flapped away from its perch.
The Mistral champion could understand why. Magic power the likes of which she'd never sensed, charged and dazzling in its luster, swirled around Ruby's very being, storming and churning like the maelstrom of a summer storm, yet gleaming like the sun's finest rays. It was as if heaven itself had descended to cast judgment upon the wicked, and the creatures of Grimm would find no quarter from it.
"I'm not going to let you hurt anyone else!" Ruby screamed. "Gather! Oh, river of light that's guided by fairies…"
The titanic mass of light crashed down from the firmament, compressing into a gigantic orb behind.
For a moment, Pyrrha smiled. This spell, whatever it was, was more powerful than even the maiden. It wouldn't last nearly as long, but it only took a moment of overwhelming strength to finish a fight. They could win!
At least, that was what she'd thought. Until she saw that Cinder's smile hadn't left her face. And a series of glowing orange sigils were fading from her wrist.
Her eyes widened and snapped back to Ruby, where a sinister fiery glyph was building up power beneath her feet, the red hooded huntress completely unaware.
"Shine! To destroy the fangs of evil! Fairy Gl—"
"Ruby, look out!"
Pyrrha's magic flared instantly, her own golden glow rocketing her into her friend and shoving her out of the way just as Cinder's sigil exploded from beneath her. Tremendous heat and force slammed into the huntress, her mind sinking into darkness as her friend's spell blasted off into the sky.
RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT
Ruby groaned, her aura crackling into near-nothingness as Fairy Glitter shot off harmlessly into the air, erupting in a massive golden halo a hundred feet above the tower, turning night into day for the briefest instant.
Her silver eyes widened, whirling around to focus on her fallen friend. "Pyrrha!"
She dashed over and fell to her knees, examining the other huntress' injuries. The redhead was covered in black burn marks, a thin line of blood dripping from her mouth. If she hadn't already been moving away when the blast struck, there probably wouldn't even have been a body to examine. Ruby frantically pressed her fingers to her friend's neck, sagging in relief when she felt a pulse, faint but present.
"What did you expect?" Cinder called over mockingly, her hand already rising with another batch of flames. "For me to just let you charge up?"
Ruby grit her teeth as she whirled around to face her enemy. No, she hadn't expected that, it was why she'd gotten her talking, tried to distract her just like with Torchwick. Evidently, it hadn't been enough. Fairy Glitter didn't have the near-instant charging time of Fairy Law. If Pyrrha hadn't shoved her out of the way and taken the blast…
Not that it even mattered in the end. Ruby had just played her strongest card, Mavis' gift already faded from her arm, and all it had done was provide some fireworks for their demise. The Wyvern had returned, another fireball already building in its gullet. Her aura was almost certainly in the red and without her semblance, she just couldn't keep up with Cinder raw power and almost instant spellcasting, and the terrorist hadn't even come close to going all out. She was treating the entire fight like a game. And their lives were her toys.
Maybe… maybe Weiss would finish up with the Grimm Horde below and come to their aid? It was wishful thinking, what with Cinder's finishing blow already charged and ready, but it was all she had. She would protect Pyrrha with everything she had, but even if she held off their attacker, it wouldn't be long before her wounds did her… in?
Ruby was roused from her despair by a single seemingly irrelevant detail. Fairy Glitter was an instantaneous assault, a single blast that quickly faded after it was fired.
So why was the sky still shining?
A rush of ethernano, somehow different from any Ruby had ever felt before suddenly exploded in the heavens, the strange pocket of magic she'd sensed above the tower since her team had returned suddenly erupting with magic. With the hesitance that came with hope unlikely to be rewarded, she looked up to the sky.
She found herself staring at a giant golden sphere of light, Fairy Tail's emblem blazing against the black night.
"It was here!?" Cinder yelled, her composure for once utterly shattered. "It was here all along?!"
Ruby had no idea what she was talking about or how her wayward Fairy Glitter had caused this phenomenon. But it wasn't long before the glowing orb faded, and a pair of figures, one about her size and the other even smaller tumbled down to the tower.
"Aaaahhhhhhh!" The figure about Ruby's size, long blue hair reaching down from her scalp, screamed as she plummeted, a sensible reaction to suddenly dropping a hundred feet through open air.
Fortunately, the smaller figure grabbed onto her back and suddenly sprouted pure white wings, catching the wind and stalling the pair's fall so that they merely crashed to the floor right in front of Ruby. From so close, the huntress could clearly see the feline features of the smaller figure.
Tears of joy flooded the red hooded girl's eyes, her hope suddenly feeling much closer to being rewarded.
"Are you alright, child?" the exceed inquired to her charge.
"Yes, I'm okay. Thank you, Carla," the blue-haired girl responded, shaking her head as she looked up. "But we need to find the others before the White Witch—" her voice halted mid-sentence when her brown eyes met silver and widened in shock. "Wha—Ruby?!"
For the first time since hell had broken loose, Ruby broke out into a wide smile, certain that the dawn was not far off.
"Hey, Wendy."
Should I stop it there? I should stop it there. A nice WTF cliffhanger-y cliffhanger.
All you who have been wondering if Fairy Tail characters would show up on Remnant, I present to you, the tip of the iceberg!
So, Pyrrha isn't dead. For all those who are reading who have read RWBY/Zero, I told you I had a Fairy Tail crossover where Pyrrha survives the tower. She got the stuffing beaten out of her, as did Ruby, but they're both alive... for now.
Also, Reaper's Rose Armor! Ruby completing and upgrading this puppy, as well as learning to cast Fairy Glitter without Mavis' help, is going to be a constant thing throughout her time in this story.
An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, StabKingPro, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, Paula mandel, and Carl Li.
Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!
Go Forth and Conquer!