"Agh!"

An anguished cry ripped from Blake's throat. The sound of a blade tearing flesh lingered as she collapsed to the ground.

"Blake!" Yang cried.

Writhing, Blake tried to stifle her agony. But the pain was too great as she pressed down on the horrid gash. Her body throbbed as blood streamed down her calf and tainted her slashed clothes.

Adam glared down at her with a satisfied smirk. "If you didn't try to protect her, I wouldn't have done that."

Since Yang's ribs were more than likely broken, Blake became the role of a tank. It wasn't ideal, but she'd do anything to protect her girlfriend. When Adam noticed Blake had an opening, he didn't hesitate.

"Damn you…" Blake muttered she heaved.

Despite enduring a gunshot earlier, Adam was able to stand. Barely. He was favoring his left leg over the other. He was equally as drained, his face pale and coated in sweat.

After Blake took a deep breath, she was calm. Even though she suffered a terrible gash, she never felt calmer. Even though her girlfriend was critically injured, Blake found her center and focused as her adrenaline spiked to new levels.

It was then that she clashed against Adam's gaze. If amber pools could warp red, they would now. Noticeably, Adam was taken aback. She'd never looked so resolute.

Like the pain vanished, Blake hopped up and swung her katana in a precise line. She'd never used her muscles so forcefully and chopped his blade like it was paper. Since she was quicker than lightning, Adam was momentarily in shock as he watched the tip of his blade plop onto the ground.

"How the-"

Now that he was caught off-guard, Yang hastily leaped to grab the fallen half of the sharp blade.

"Agh!"

With war cries, the bumblebee couple charged him from the front and back. To them, it felt like slow motion. When in reality, they were swifter than a heartbeat. Together, they impaled him. Each end of the blade met inside his torso and slid together like puzzle pieces.

Time was still as they stood there, listening to his breathing as it became faint. They couldn't bear to look at him to see the true damage they'd done.

"No…" Adam breathed as blood trickled out of his mouth.

After he murmured that, Yang and Blake backed away to give him some space. There was no way he could survive that, so they wanted to at least be somewhat respectful in his final moments.

After an eternity, Adam slumped forward and faceplanted. When he was still, the bumblebee pair only stared. Their battle was finally over. The relief was so overwhelming that they collapsed onto the green ground.

With guilt swimming in her voice, Blake murmured to him. "I'm sorry…"

Next to her sat Yang, who set a hand on her back. "I'm sorry."

Without permission, tears spilled over.


"Die already!"

Narrowly, Qrow evaded another whip from his opponent. "Make me!"

Fortunately for Sienna, his movements were slower. More than likely thanks to his fractured leg. Despite that, the pirate was still a force to be reckoned with. She bit the bottom of her lip in frustration.

Since this fight was about endurance, she was no longer confident she could win. Not to mention, she was starting to feel the effects of blood loss. If she'd been shot earlier in the fight, her aura could fix it. But now she lacked spare aura. Even now, she had several slashes that leaked blood. None were deep, but her aura couldn't keep up.

Lowly, Sienna growled as she pressed down on the gunshot wound.

"Adam's not lookin' too good," Qrow observed the faunus bloodied and limp on the ground and the bumblebee couple trying to comfort each other. "Come to think of it, you're not, either."

It was so satisfying to see her trapped in a corner like this. At last, he was going to achieve what he came here for. To avenge his sister and fallen friends. Victory was so close he could almost taste it.

"How's the leg feeling?" Sienna countered before slamming his injured knee, which earned a loud grunt. "Arrogant bastard."

"I've been called worse," Qrow smirked through the pain, feeling a crack.


Barely, Weiss flipped away from a lethal jab.

Sweat dripped from her brow as she soared through the air and landed on her feet. Although she was a bit wobbly. It was a good thing that Neo was solely focused on her. Weiss had to buy Ruby time to recover from being stabbed deeply.

When Neo rushed her again, Weiss activated the wind dust on her rapier. That caused Neo to sail away thanks to the open umbrella. While Neo glided in the air, Weiss shot out several jolts of lightning dust.

However, no bolts hit the target. Neo was using the wind to her advantage. Weiss' precision was decreasing after being locked in combat for so long. Before she could switch tactics, there was another gunshot. In her father's direction again.

As soon as she could, Weiss veered him away from the bullet. This time, it was shot by a random Khan that was quickly taken down by Scarlet. From being saved, Jacques merely scoffed at his daughter and crossed his arms. He was entitled to her protection, or so he thought.

"Tell your faunus swine to stop shooting at me!" Jacques yelled at the Khan leader.

Sienna flipped to the side to evade another swipe. "They can't help it! They see an asshole, they wanna shoot!"

"This wasn't part of our deal!" Jacques screeched. "If I get hurt, you don't get any part of the money!"

"You came to a battlefield, what'd you expect?!"

After the exchange, Weiss focused back on the battle. Only to be faced with a pissed off, rushing Neo. The right-hand slammed her steel umbrella down onto her forearm, causing it to crackle relentlessly.

"Agh!"

Her arm dangled uselessly and was bent in a way it should never be. Now, it was bright red and about to warp purple. Despite the pain, Weiss powered through and managed to gain some distance with a tiny glyph.

From the sidelines, Jacques sneered. "Weakling, as always."

Not hearing her father's words, Weiss focused on her main task. Buy time for Ruby. Protect her. No matter what. In a flash, Neo advanced for another attack. As she watched her opponent approach, Weiss' vision blurred without warning.

"Weiss!"

Her guard was completely down as the pain throbbed. She couldn't even lift her arms to defend herself-

In time, Ruby was there to deflect the deadly umbrella and sent Neo stumbling backward. After Ruby was successful at holding her back, she clutched her shoulder wound tightly. It didn't look like it was healed yet.

"Ease up on your semblance!" Ruby shouted, noting they were both exhausted. "We'll figure out other ways!"

"Understood!"

While they exchanged words, Neo checked on her leader. She'd never seen Sienna so pale. And so desperate. With urgency, Neo checked how the Khans were faring in general. Their reinforcements were still present, but notably dwindling.

Might as well run while she could. If Neo didn't now, she might end up like Adam.

Without warning, Neo took off before the white rose couple could counterattack. They were left to watch her retreat in confusion.

"W-what the…" Ruby was taken aback by her desertion. "Hey, get back here!"

Despite her words, she didn't pursue the Khan. If they didn't have to fight her, they weren't going to. Neo was never part of the overall plan. She had nothing to do with her parents' deaths or even general Ironwood's mission.

"Hey!" they heard Sun yelp as he gave chase. "Don't think you can get off so easy!"

Since the monkey faunus was kidnapped by her, he had a bone to pick with her. Naturally, he wanted to bring her to justice.

"Does this mean we're done with her?" Ruby asked, confused.

"I suppose," Weiss answered while holding her limp arm.


When Sienna realized that her right-hand abandoned her, she hollered.

"Damn you, cur!"

Sienna would chase her down and kill her, but she was still preoccupied with Qrow. And Neo was already out of sight and disappeared into the dense jungle.

"Even your right-hand isn't loyal!" Qrow taunted.

Snarling, Sienna formed one last trump card. This should get her out of this mess. Or at least distract them. Close by was the hidden Schnee. He would be her ticket out of here.

Faster than light, the Khan leader rapidly neared him with her whip poised. She was too agile for Qrow to react. He couldn't use one of his legs, so sprinting after her was difficult.

"What're you doing?!" Jacques asked in annoyance.

With a satisfied smirk, Sienna jabbed the sharp end of her whip into his chest. Slowly, Jacques looked down. The sharp whip end was deeply embedded into him, causing blood to stream down his shirt.

"Did you think the most bigoted person on this planet could make a deal with me and survive?!" Sienna roared in anger as she twisted the whip, eliciting a pained grunt. "You're the vilest scum!"

With this man gone, at least some racism would die out in this world. By doing this, Sienna knew she was doing the world a favor.

"I am your karma!"

Before she could inflict more damage, she was knocked to the ground by a red blur.

"Get away from him!"

Knowing it was her utter defeat, Sienna used her whip to wrangle around a tree and pounce away. She had no chance of winning against them. If she wanted to live, she had to retreat.

While the Khan leader fled, Jacques thudded on the ground.

"Help him," Qrow ordered his niece. "I'll get her."

"But-"

Ruby was about to retort, but Qrow dashed away. Even though his leg was more than likely broken, he powered through the pain to give chase. He was going to catch her and end this no matter what.

Roughly, Ruby dropped to her knees to begin aura transfer. Only to grimace in frustration. She didn't have much aura left.

Suddenly, Weiss joined her side and gazed down.

"Father…?"


Sienna is a huge fan of karma.

Stay dandy,

~Toto