I do not own RWBY or any of the characters.
Fall
As Fox walked into the arena, his eyes swept the stands, seeing Emerald sitting in the stands, squinting and glaring into the arena. In the arena, Penny was fighting against Pyrrha. Well, actually, Penny was standing with eight blades floating over her, held by tiny wires that were only visible if you happened to notice them barely catch the light for a fraction of a second. Fox just so happened to be in the right position to see one of the wires. The problem was, Pyrrha was looking around in the air in front of her like she was seeing more than eight. Fox looked back to Emerald, seeing Wulfe seated behind her. He pulled out his scroll instantly, calling Wulfe.
The moment Wulfe felt his scroll buzz, he kicked outward, hitting Emerald's seat hard enough to make her jerk, breaking her concentration. Fox looked back to Pyrrha in time to see Pyrrha's head jerk backward out of surprise as Penny sent her blades flying at her. Pyrrha flipped over the blades, her own sword and shield streaking to her instantly as she landed and sprinted at Penny. However, as she slashed, Fox glanced at Emerald, seeing her looking at the arena again, ignoring Wulfe leaning forward and talking to her while tapping her on the shoulder and hitting her seat. She was good at focusing. Which was bad for Pyrrha.
Fox looked back at Pyrrha and Penny just as Pyrrha's sword tore a gash into Penny's side and removed an arm. Several people screamed instantly, Penny's arm landing on the ground, sparking and with wires sticking out, as was Penny's side. Penny stared at it before falling to her knees, then pitching forward.
"She's a robot?" Fox mumbled.
He looked around the stands. People were having mixed reactions between horror at Penny being killed, and shock that she was a robot. He could practically feel the negative emotions in the air. Pyrrha looked more shocked and about to throw up than anyone. And the cameras were still rolling. Fox stared at them. Something was wrong. As he watched, a transparent red box with a black chess piece queen in the middle flashed and appeared on the screens. Fox narrowed his eyes, running outside and looking down at the city while he listened.
"This, is not a tragedy," Cinder's voice said from the speakers Fox swearing loudly, raising his ears to listen. "This was not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians, but are, in reality, nothing more than men. Our academies' headmasters wield more power than most armies. And one was audacious enough to control both. They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have here? One nation's attempt at a synthetic army, mercilessly torn apart by another's star pupil. What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the grimm can tell the difference.
"And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First a dismemberment, now this? Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy. Yet I have witnessed neither. Perhaps Ozpin thought as thought defeating Atlas in the tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded its streets. Or perhaps this was a message to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied an unsuspecting kingdom with armed forces. Honestly? I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong. But I know that the existence of peace is fragile, and the leaders of our kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves. As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you the situation there is...equally undesirable. Our kingdoms are at the brink of war. Yet we, the citizens are left in the dark. So I ask you, when the first shots are fired, who do you think you can trust?"
Suddenly, the breach siren began to blare from below him. He growled in anger, turning and running into the arena's combat area, slowing to a stop beside Penny and Pyrrha. He dropped to a knee beside Penny, Pyrrha looking over at him.
"What..." Pyrrha asked.
"My semblance is to control pure energy," Fox said. "Doesn't matter what kind."
He set his hand on Penny's forehead and it began to glow white, Penny's insides also lighting up white as he used his semblance to force her to reboot and stay active. Beams of energy began to shoot from one end of a break in her power cords at the wound to the other end. Then, Penny's eyes lit up their normal green and flicked around as she looked around.
"Penny," Fox said. "Can you repair yourself?"
"Yes," Penny said. "I need to start with my side."
Fox nodded, carefully lifting Penny so she could see her side and her other hand opened into an assortment of tools, which she put to work repairing her side, the damage slowly being sealed back up as good as new. Suddenly, a Nevermore slammed down on the top of the arena's barrier, screeching. Penny looked up at it, then looked back down at her side, returning to her work. Fox grit his teeth. It was hard keeping her running with his semblance. His head was throbbing and his entire body was getting sore like he had been fighting for hours.
"Hurry Penny," Fox growled.
"Almost done," Penny said just before her internal power source kicked back on. "Okay, I am now self sustaining again."
Fox stopped instantly, falling flat on his back and groaning, Pyrrha kneeling beside him.
"Are you alright?" Pyrrha asked.
"Get to Ozpin," Fox said. "Even if you decide not to do it, you need to protect Amber."
Pyrrha's eyes widened and she stood, nodding. He caught her ankle before she could go.
"Take Jaune," Fox said. "And tell him how you really feel about him. I think you might be pleasantly surprised."
Pyrrha nodded and turned, running out of the arena. Fox took several more breaths as his team arrived before standing, Penny standing as well as she was reattaching her arm.
"Thank you for rebooting me," Penny said.
"You're welcome," Fox said.
Just then, Ruby slammed into both Fox and Penny, hugging them while thanking Fox and welcoming Penny back at the same time. After a minute, Fox managed to get away from Ruby and stood, looking up at the Nevermore.
"Okay," Fox said. "That Nevermore is going to be one of the smallest ones here. I have to find Cinder and kill her. The rest of you need to help with the Grimm. I'll try to join you as soon as I can."
The others nodded and Fox drew his new weapon, extending it as a bow and drawing it back before releasing it. The arrow punched through the barrier easily, killing the Nevermore before the barrier repaired itself and Fox switched weapons, sprinting out of the arena and stopping at the edge, staring down into the city. This time, he spotted her. A tiny speck of red on a black rooftop. He leapt off, falling toward her as he activated his Semblance. As he neared her, he fired an arrow. At the last second, Cinder's head snapped upward and she leapt away, Emerald and Mercury, who were standing beside her, also leapt away as the arrow punched down through the roof where Cinder had been. Cinder formed a pair of curved broadswords just in time for Fox's sword to crash into them, he and Cinder both exploding down through the building, Cinder bouncing off the ground floor and shouting in pain as Fox landed feet first, dropping into a crouch but not being injured, thanks to his semblance. He glared at Cinder, watching as she stood, flames already flowing from her eye.
"You just do not know when to give up," Cinder said.
"I was about to say the same thing," Fox said. "You had to have Emerald save your ass once already. Don't think I'll fall for that trick again."
"Oh, that wasn't because I lost the fight," Cinder said. "It was because I needed you to think I did."
Fox's eyes narrowed and he shot forward, slashing at her, only for Cinder to duck under it, forming a pair of sword and beginning to slash at him rapidly. Fox blocked or dodged her slashes, striking back when he could, Cinder managing to do the same. Neither was even able to hit each other's Aura. Finally, Fox allowed Cinder to rake her swords across his semblance-charged aura as he drilled the tip of his own sword into her aura over her navel, lifting her into the air and making her shout in pain, despite the blade being blocked. Then, he flipped, slamming the blade and his foot both into her torso, launching her backward through the wall of the building. She bounced into the street, rolling to her feet as Fox stepped out of the building. Emerald and Mercury landed beside her but she stepped forward, holding her swords out to her sides.
"Keep filming," Cinder said. "I can handle this."
As Mercury and Emerald turned to the building behind them, Cinder slashed, a half dozen lightning bolts flying off of the arc of each sword's slash, blasting into Fox and launching him backward into the building again, Aura completely depleted and torso burned. He groaned, pushing himself up and feeling like his body wasn't hurting nearly bad enough. He sprinted sideways, leaving the building's front door just as Cinder sent a massive fireball into it, demolishing the inside of the building. Fox jumped, flipping and firing an arrow at Cinder. She shouted in surprise, dodging to the side, his arrow slicing her hair off just above her shoulder. She shrieked in rage as Fox landed, forcing his semblance to start recharging his Aura. He sprinted forward, returning his bow to its sword form and slashing at Cinder, his sword crashing into her swords. She shoved his blade away and stabbed at him but he sidestepped it, slamming a kick into her abdomen.
She recovered quickly, turning and slashing at him, only for him to spin past the blade and stab at her. She deflected the blade to the side, the blade scraping along her aura for a moment before she knocked the blade away and slashed at him with her other sword. Fox dropped, sliding past her, then flipping to his feet just as she stabbed both blades backward at him. He slashed them to the side and she spun, releasing one blade, which attached itself to the base of the other as she flipped. Fox stepped forward as she began to turn, three arrows forming, fire and electricity each flashing over two of the arrows and the last being made of ice, only for him to slash her bow sideways, the three arrows hitting the street. A massive formation of ice spikes exploded out of the ground where the ice arrow had hit before the fire and lightning arrow exploded, lightning flashing outward over the ground for a dozen meters as a massive fireball blasted the ice structure and threw Fox backward.
"You're out of your league, Fox," Cinder said, pulling the bow back again, an ice arrow forming.
Just then, the ground shook and she let the tension out of her bow, grinning. Then, she turned, leaping to the top of the building with Mercury and Emerald as her weapons faded. Fox groaned, pushing himself up slowly just as a massive grimm dragon flew overhead, roaring.
"What...is that?" Fox breathed.
He looked up, seeing that all three of the others were gone and groaned. He needed to get to Beacon. He began to limp toward it, managing to walk normally again after a quarter mile. He began to jog shortly after and arrived at the school grounds in time to see everyone fighting a pair of the heavy mechs that he and Team RWBY had struggled against. Everyone, in this case, meant Team CFVY, Team SSSN, Weiss, Nora, and Ren. As he arrived, Velvet held her arm out to the side, a light shining from the camera case she always had with her and formed a holographic scythe in her hand. Except, it wasn't just a scythe. It was Ruby's scythe. She leapt into the air over a burst of machine gun fire before flipping and falling past the first mech, slashing it several times. Then, as she landed, the scythe became Weiss's sword. She used it to block a punch and leapt backward before streaking forward, stabbing and slashing it several times as she jumped into the air before crashing into it with Yang's gauntlets.
As she landed, she sent a pair of energy blasts at the robot, Fox's eyebrows rising as she did. Then, she darted forward, trading the gauntlets for Blake's sword and sheath, latching onto the mech's hand with the sword, holding the strap and swinging around the mech, binding its legs. She pulled it tight and the mech fell to the side just before the other swung at Velvet, only for her to take its hand off in a single blow from the sheath before hurling it into the mech's head, forcing it backward. Then, she had Coco, her team leader's minigun, lighting up the standing mech with it. The mech kept walking, and as it swung at her again, she switched to Sun's staff, knocking the blow sideways as she flipped over it. She slammed several more strikes into the mech as she travelled up its body before jumping and slamming Nora's hammer down on its arm, breaking it off.
The first mech began to stand finally and Velvet switched Nora's hammer for Penny's swords. She dropped off the mech she was on, using the swords to slice its legs off before switching the swords to their laser cannon form and blasting the downed mech. Just as she did, the other mech swung a punch at her but Ava arrived, driving a greatsword as tall as she was a full foot into the ground, stopping the fist could. Instantly, Weiss took off at a run, a glyph forming in the air behind her as she closed in on the mech. The mech swung at her but an arm and greatsword, both made of ice, formed, the sword blocking the punch. Then, it shoved it aside, raising the sword and splitting the mech down the middle, the glyph tilting as needed. Fox grinned, jogging over to them.
"Well done Weiss!" Fox called out. "Velvet, that was amazing!"
Velvet smiled happily as Fox slowed to a stop in front of Weiss and Ava.
"Where's Blake?" Fox asked. "And Wulfe and Leon?"
"Blake and I got separated," Weiss said. "She was doing well fighting, though, so she's probably fine."
Fox nodded, looking to Ava.
"Leon turned," Ava said.
"What!?" Fox growled.
Ava turned, displaying a gash on the back of her shoulder, the gash thankfully shallow and minor, as well as bandaged, but clearly painful. "Wulfe is dealing with him. Is Cinder dead?"
"Yeah, I doubt that'll be happening by my hand," Fox said. "She, Emerald, and Mercury got away."
Just then, the ground began to shake as another mech sprinted around the corner, watching them with a pair of glowing red eyes in its head. Fox stabbed his sword into the ground, pulling out the other and extending it as a bow, pulling it back and sending the arrow directly through the robot's head, destroying it instantly. He put that weapon away and looked toward the city as his fox ears picked up Blake's voice, screaming. He sprinted that way instantly, slashing his way through several grimm and Atlas robots, then slowed to a stop as he got a certain distance into the city.
"Blake!" Fox shouted. "Blake!?"
The only thing to answer were grimm, which he dealt with quickly, all the while listening for Blake. Just as he was about to kill the last Ursa, however, Neo crashed down on it, being knocked unconscious from the impact, as well as suffering multiple broken bones. He picked her up, breaking her remaining limbs, and looked around one last time.
"Blake!" he shouted again.
Nothing. Not even grimm. He looked up as the only remaining Atlas warship exploded. It had shot down the other two, and it looked like it was this one's turn now. He grit his teeth. He wanted to find Blake. But he had to stop Cinder. He turned to the tower just as green energy flashed up it for a half second. Ozpin's signal. He sprinted toward it, dropping Neo unceremoniously at Ava's feet.
"Cinder's teammate!" He called back to her. "Don't kill her!"
Then, he slowed to a stop at the front of the tower when he saw Pyrrha kissing Jaune. Then, she shoved him into a locker behind him, sending the locker flying away from the school. She turned to enter the school but stopped as Fox sent an arrow past her. She turned, staring at him, and he slowed to a stop in front of her.
"Ozpin?" Fox asked.
"Fought her alone," Pyrrha said. "She got the Fall Maiden's power. She...she's at the top of the tower now."
Fox nodded. "Okay. I'm going. You're going to go find your boyfriend and apologize. Then, you're going to apologize to Ava and Blake for me."
"Fox, I'm not letting you," Pyrrha said. "I have to do this. It's my destiny."
"No," Fox said. "It's not. Your destiny is to be with Jaune. To help save the world. This isn't how you do it. Your hero complex won't change the fact that I'm the better option."
"I don't have a hero complex," Pyrrha said.
"Yes you do," Fox said. "You hate being considered the invincible woman, yet here you are going to fight a battle you know you can't win and arguing against letting me do it instead, even though I'm a better fighter, have a stronger semblance, and will survive the fight regardless of the outcome."
"What do you mean you'll survive regardless?" Pyrrha asked.
"My semblance is a bit of a double-edged sword as well as a guardian angel," Fox said. "When I die, it transforms me into energy and I reincarnate, rather than moving on to the afterlife. As a payoff, however, I lose all of my memories. So even if I lose to Cinder, I'll survive. If you lose, you're gone."
Pyrrha stared at him before sighing. "Okay. What do you want me to tell Blake and Ava?"
"Tell Ava I'm sorry that I never felt the same as she did, and that I wish I could return her feelings," Fox said, drawing his weapon and focusing his semblance. "Tell her I hope she finds happiness, and that maybe she should consider Wulfe's feelings for her. Tell Wulfe to look after her. As for Blake...well...just...tell her I love her. And that I wish I had had the balls to kiss her and accept the consequences while I was still able to. And tell Sun that he had damn well better take care of Blake for me, especially now that I'm doing him a favor."
Pyrrha nodded and turned, running away. As she did, Fox turned, running up the wall of the towe.
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