Had computer issues this morning. Display port errors. Had to pull my apart, clean it all and leave it off the mains for 10 minutes to get it working. Much panic, more for my normal job than fanfiction since I could always write this on a laptop. Important documents were on it for work that I needed done today though. xD

Cover Art: Serox

Chapter 43

Cinder flipped back and skidded away. Her landing was far more graceful than Jaune, who slammed down on his back and had to scramble up onto his feet. He'd cut his Semblance at the last second, letting them use aura to protect themselves from the huge blasts of green light.

"Cinder!" he gasped. "What is this? I'm using Null on him!"

"It's expected!" she snapped back angrily. "Your sister's Semblance isn't! You didn't tell me she could do this!"

"I didn't know. We can still take him-"

"It's doomed," she snarled. "Doomed, over, done. You and your pathetic family have cost me everything! I wish Adam had left you to die in that lab!"

Jaune sneered her way, gripping Mors tighter. Their alliance was falling to pieces right before his eyes.

"Come now." Ozpin said calmly. "It's banal to blame Mr Arc for your life choices. You chose to align against me. You chose to come here. You even chose to seek out and face me."

The Headmaster was far too cocky. Jaune brushed his mouth clean and stared around the vast chamber. Apart from its size and the green pillars, there wasn't much to go on. Amber was asleep on the medical bed up on the top of the dais, and Ozpin was a fair distance away from her. The green light he used like a Semblance only manifested when he kept a distance.

If Amber's Semblance was like his, it cut something off. It had to be dust – that was the only way to explain what the man was doing. Some kind of dust that reacted in big, green explosions. That would also explain why Amber's Bullhead crashed and why she was being kept in a basement away from valuable machinery. Even the one she was hooked up to looked overly simplistic, while the other Amber's – who was now dead – hadn't even been switched on.

"Cinder." he whispered. Even if she hated him, they could work together. They'd have to. "He can't use his dust close to Amber. He can't use aura or a Semblance close to me. If we can get him close to both of us, he's helpless."

The woman's eyes burned into his and he could feel so much hatred in her, so much rage. Once they were out of here, he had a feeling she'd want him dead. Despite that, she nodded and glared back at Ozpin. The man flipped his cane up like a rapier, relaxed and confident. Even smug. Whatever this Relic thing was, he was riding high on sealing it away.

Ozpin stopped ten metres away and summoned four orbs of green light around him. In response, Cinder sent a wave of fire his way, forcing him to bring the orbs down and make them into a shield. As the flames washed over him, Jaune sprinted left, circling around to try and get behind and reach Amber.

"Down!" Cinder warned.

Jaune threw himself flat and felt the green electricity arch above him. He rolled rather than stay still, bringing Mors up in two hands and firing three times while laid on his back. One missed and two hit, only to be deflected by the same green energy. Behind Ozpin, Cinder was running the other way, also circling around to bring the fight closer to Amber.

When Ozpin turned, Cinder summoned her bow and loosed two arrows. The bolts flew by as he dodged languidly to the left, always keeping distance from Jaune's Null Semblance. Emerald light flickered before him before exploding outward like a beam fired from a cannon. Cinder swore and ducked behind a pillar, while Jaune had to fling himself flat again and let it swing by overhead.

"Fucking dust!" he swore.

"Dust, Mr Arc? I suppose your ally didn't tell you the truth."

"You going to?" Jaune yelled, scrambling away to hide behind a pillar of his own.

"I'm a little too old for pointless small talk."

Jaune peered out and caught Cinder running between her pillars. The plan was the same: make their way to Amber and fight there. At least then Ozpin would be on the same level as them, and he wouldn't be able to use all these destructive attacks without risking her.

Green light washed around the pillar and Jaune swore, abandoning his cover and running on mere seconds before it was destroyed. He sprinted down the narrow corridor between the pillars and the wall, listening to the sounds of destruction behind him as Ozpin followed with another wave of dust, destroying pillars and bringing chunks of the ceiling down.

Firing wildly with Mors, he tracked about a quarter of the shots on target. Ozpin stepped back and spread his arms, literally taking to the air and floating several feet off the ground. What the hell is up with this guy? I can't pin his abilities down. Did he work with Fields? Is he packing multiple Semblances?

Enough pillars had been taken out behind that the structural damage mounted. Ahead, the roof started to buckle inward, tipping down toward the point of no support – his path. Jaune skidded, stared in horror, then abandoned the cover of the pillars entirely, hurling himself back into the open area as rubble and boulders tumbled down, sealing half the hall.

"You're bringing the academy down!"

"The Academies were only ever a means to an end. Those means are no longer necessary."

Ozpin fired off another beam at Cinder's side, collapsing the roof and forcing her into the open as well. Clouds of dust exploded outward as Beacon Academy shuddered and trembled.

Jaune coughed for breath. "You're insane!"

"If insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result, then yes I am. With Amber, however, that result can change." Ozpin walked forward, hands crackling with energy. "I have never been saner than I am-" The light crackled out. His powers stopped. "-now?" he finished, looking down in confusion. "Ah. Miss Arc's range is still something of a problem."

"Now!" Jaune roared.

Cinder opened fire and this time Ozpin blocked with his cane, stepping aside from one arrow and deflecting the other. Jaune brought Mors up and pulled the trigger only for nothing to happen. Red dust dribbled out the end like a sorry discharge.

Swearing, he activated the switchblade on the grip and charged in. If he could get close-

Ozpin's eyes widened. "AMBER!"

/-/

Everything was dust.

The Fall Maiden's power was no more, the Relic of Choice was lost, and Cinder's plans were dust in the wind. Salem would be furious. Tyrian had failed; Watts had failed; Hazel had failed. None of them had failed so spectacularly, however. To crawl back and tell Salem could not acquire the Relic was one thing, but to tell her it was forever out of her grasp, forever gone, and solely because of her arrow impacting Amber's breast?

Salem would end her.

Her life, like everything else, would be reduced to dust.

It wasn't her fault.

It wasn't Ozpin's fault, either. He was her enemy, and his actions were expected. No. The only person responsible for all of this was Jaune Arc. The whole Arc family. If those monsters hadn't existed with their stupid Semblances, then this would have never happened!

The power to remove Semblances was bad enough. Now, his sister had the power to invalidate magic. Magic of the Gods, no less. There was no justice in the world where useless brats could inherit such incredible power. None at all. Cinder's plan had been perfect. Perfect. And yet it was ruined. Ruined by some unimportant family of snot-nosed brats Atlas couldn't keep hold of.

There was still one way out of this. One way to earn Salem's forgiveness.

Ozpin was right.

If Amber Arc could kill the maidens and destroy the Relics, what else could she do? Could she kill Salem? Possibly. Among the taunts and Ozpin's smug glory was a kernel of truth that could change the course of history, and if she snuffed that out then Salem would have no option but to reward her.

"Now!" Jaune roared.

Sneering, Cinder nocked two arrows and fired them vaguely in Ozpin's direction. He deflected them with ease, but then they hadn't been aimed to kill. While Jaune rushed in on the belief she would support him, Cinder turned and dashed toward the real prize, reaching the steps with a feverish smile and wide, desperate eyes.

Amber the Maiden lay dead in her tube.

Amber Arc lay close to death on her bed, pale, small and fragile. Cinder tore the medical equipment from her body, scattering it away. Her left hand settled on the bed and her right cast aside her bow, summoning a curved, black sword instead. It reared up above her, drawn back as far as she could.

"AMBER!" Ozpin screamed.

Yes.

If she died, maybe the Fall Maiden would come back, or the power would continue its transference to her. If nothing else, it would be a step toward earning Salem's forgiveness. The sword swung down.

And turned to nothingness before it hit.

Impossible. This isn't dust, it's my Semblan-

Jaune Arc struck her back a fraction of a second later, knocking Cinder over Amber's body. A sharp pain pierced her back and she gasped, shivering as something cold twisted inside her.

Cinder drove an elbow back into his face and he fell back, gripping onto the grip of his gun, the knife in her back, yanking her down with him. With her own grip on Amber's bed, everything fell. Jaune hit the ground first, Cinder second, and then Amber Arc spilled out, rolling across the floor with red splashed across her face.

Blood. But who's-? Cinder gasped as something was dragged out her back. Weakly, she looked to her right, watching Jaune Arc stand with his weapon in hand. The blade attachment on the bottom of the gun was stained red and dripping to the floor. Oh, she thought dimly. It's my blood.

Salem wouldn't be pleased with this turn of events, but she supposed that didn't matter. Cinder was tired and the floor was unusually comfortable. Soft and warm, like a meadow.

Her leg twitched once.

/-/

Jaune stepped back, gasping. Mors was heavy in his hand and soaked with the blood of someone he'd called ally seconds prior. Somehow, that didn't bother him. Cinder had been useful, even agreeable, but once she chose to cross the line and threaten his sister, none of that mattered.

"You're fast running out of allies, Mr Arc. Those you haven't killed, you've frightened away. I wonder if your sister would be afraid of you at this moment. That look of murder in your eyes and the bloodied knife in hand."

"I thought you weren't one for small talk."

"Relief relaxes a man." Ozpin chuckled, wiping a hand across his brow. "That was a close one, I have to admit. You have my thanks for the quick resolution. My abilities would not have reached Cinder with your sister's Semblance active."

Jaune's eyes narrowed. "That means they can't reach me now."

He was stood protectively over Amber. Mors couldn't fire, but he still had his Semblance and aura, but now Ozpin couldn't launch any of his ranged dust attacks because they would fizzle out.

If Ozpin comes close, he's vulnerable. This is my chance.

He wasn't the only one to realise it. Ozpin set his cane down and rested his hands atop it, a good distance away from them both. He made no move to come closer.

"Time is not on your side, Mr Arc. You can't really believe the White Fang will be enough to hold off both Atlas and my students."

Jaune knelt and tried to shift Amber's arm over his shoulder. Rather than fight, he could just leave with Amber and Ozpin couldn't come close. He had her half up when Ozpin dashed forward suddenly.

What-!?

Panicked, he let Amber fall, wincing at the boneless manner in which she dropped down, bumping her head on the tiles. He got Mors up but reversed it with a curse, knowing it couldn't shoot. His eyes burned, Null swimming to life and robbing Ozpin of any Semblance. Of the aura that would protect him.

The man cleared the staircase in a second and lashed out with his cane.

Jaune swung to parry.

The feint was drawn back too quick to see. Jaune only had the time to tense his ribs before it swung around and caught his side. Pain shot through his body and he latched an arm down to pin it against him and disarm Ozpin. The man let go entirely, striking a palm into Jaune's jaw that rattled his skull.

Mors slashed but Ozpin ducked, drove two fists into his stomach, gripped his cane while Jaune was stunned and wrenched it back like he was drawing a sword out of a body. Before he could react, Ozpin jabbed the tip into his throat, and for a second Jaune couldn't breathe and thought his windpipe might be crushed.

Only a second. Air came rushing back and he stumbled away, clasping his neck.

"You forget something," Ozpin said calmly. "The only reason you were ever a threat to my huntsmen is because you had a gun. Right now, you have a knife. One does not challenge a huntsman with a kitchen tool."

The man launched a snap kick with surprising grace. Jaune caught it on his arm, clumsy but instinctive, only to have Ozpin hop back and lash out with his other heel. The force would have broken bone if he hadn't let go of Null and brought his aura back. Now was the time he would have shot the man and made the bullet pierce through, but more dust splattered out the barrel when he tried.

Ozpin struck his hand with the cane, smacking Mors out Jaune's grip and sending it flying away. The cane returned the other way, striking him across the right cheek and knocking him to one knee. It then swung down and up, hitting his chin and throwing him back. Struggling for air, Jaune stared up at the broken ceiling.

He couldn't win.

For the first time, he'd met an enemy who was stronger than him without Null, and stronger than him with it, too. The combination was too much. Jaune groaned and reached out for Mors, only to cry out when a foot stepped down on his wrist, grating bone together.

"It's over, Mr Arc." Ozpin pushed his foot down and Jaune cried out. Through eyes clenched tight, he saw a white figure rise up behind the man, slow and weak, dragging herself up the broken tube the dead Amber lay trapped within. "You had your moment, you had your chance, but I'm afraid you chose to fight the wrong person. We could have been allies. I would have welcomed you."

"You would enslave my family," Jaune rasped.

"And instead, I'll have to kill off most of it. I do so hate the lengths Chivalric Arms went to, but in finding your family's hidden potential, they proved all the pain and misery worth it."

Amber Arc gripped the arrow still lodged in the older woman by its shaft. A construct of Cinder's Semblance, there was no magic keeping it whole, and it hadn't been close enough to his Semblance to fall apart. Amber was so small that she had to fight with both hands to pull it free. That same motion made her tumble away, and she used that momentum as best she could, aiming it at Ozpin's back.

"Goodbye, Mr – Arghhh!"

Without aura, the arrow punched through the back of Ozpin's right shoulder. He turned, backhanding Amber across the face. His sister shrieked in pain and flew down the steps, crumpling at their base like a puppet with its strings cut.

"Damn it!" Ozpin spat. He gripped the arrow to pull it out, but it faded to dust before he could, finally close enough to Jaune. "Gah! You're awake? Blast it. This will make things more difficult. No matter. Obedience can be enforced." His eyes narrowed and he stepped off Jaune's wrist. "Amber? I didn't hit you that hard," he muttered. "Damn it. You can't die here!"

Ozpin moved away, concerned for his asset.

Distracted.

Jaune surged to his feet and charged forward. He had no weapon – and most weapons were no use anyway. All he had was what Ozpin gave him. Catching the man around the midriff, he howled and lifted Ozpin's feet off the floor, carrying the man along as he struggled and drove his cane down into the back of Jaune's head.

Stars exploded before his eyes, but he kept going, eyes fixed on the prize. Amber, but not his Amber. The dead woman lay suspended in her glass tube, a shattered hole by her chest where Cinder's arrow had penetrated, and her forehead resting against the glass above it.

With the last of his strength, Jaune hurled Ozpin at it, activating Null and robbing them both of aura.

Ozpin struck the glass, which shattered inward at the point of impact. The fluid within, that which hadn't drained and was below the previous hole, spilled out, taking with it razor-sharp shards of thick, reinforced glass. The whole thing didn't shatter – only the point Ozpin's back and midriff hit.

The rest held, leaving Ozpin sat on a bed of glass, his back resting against his once prisoner, his thighs and legs pierced through by glass that had held. A long slice ran down the top of his head, ripping right through flesh and carving a furrow across his scalp. His left arm had a shard stabbed right out of his bicep, while his right shoulder and a part of his neck were pierced. Blood streamed down his body, pooling in the bottom of the tube to mingle with Amber's own lifeblood.

Weakly, Jaune staggered back, watching in silence and fear, waiting for the man to move. Waiting for him to come flying back out and kill him. Ozpin tried. His left arm tugged, ripping a great chunk of blood out his body as he ripped the glass free. That action almost seemed too much for him, however. The left half of his face was red with blood running down from what had to be a fatal wound. Any deeper and his head would have been cut in half.

"I… I… will die…" Ozpin rasped. "B… But it is you… who will live… to suffer…" He coughed, lips stretching agonisingly around blood to form a wide, manic smile. "F…Finally… I can… have peace…" He laughed, bloody bubbles spilling from his lips. "I win… Salem… Gods. I… found a way out."

His eyes closed, a long, almost relieved sigh escaping him.

"Thank you… Arc. Thank you…"

Jaune watched and waited, but after a minute passed and the body did not move, he dared to look away. "Lunatic," he spat, a little blood and a loose tooth wobbling about his jaw. "Gods? Is this the kind of person Vale puts in charge of Beacon? You were as insane as Fields."

"Ungh…"

Amber. Jaune raced off the staircase and raised her up with a hand under her neck. "Amber," he whispered. "Are you-?"

Her hands flung themselves around his neck. Her face pressed into his shoulder and sobs wracked her body. "Jaune!" she wept, clinging to him. "Big brother! I want to go home! I want to go home!"

His throat clogged. He pulled her tight.

"We have a new home. Menagerie. Sandy beaches, all the other girls. Coral, Lavender, Jade and Hazel. They're all there. I… I'm going to get you to Menagerie. You'll be safe. They've promised to look after you."

Lifting her up, his muscles straining at even her slight weight, he carried a crying Amber away from the carnage. Away from the dead bodies of Ozpin, Cinder, and the woman who shared her name. Away from all the evil and the death and the pain.

At least, as best he could. There would always be him.

/-/

The attack up top was winding up. Jaune could tell that the second he arrived at the top of the elevator. The White Fang were backing out, soldiers were appearing from the trees, and Emerald looked frazzled.

"Where's Cinder!?" she demanded.

Amber hid her face in his neck. Jaune, bloodied and beaten, nodded back to the elevator. "Downstairs. Ozpin is dead, as is the other Amber. Cinder killed her."

Emerald's face showed clear relief. "Then she's okay-?"

"Look for yourself. I'm taking Amber away."

Perhaps the girl was too relieved to notice his lies, or maybe she had too much faith in the woman she so clearly idolised. Emerald hurried past him and into the elevator, a huge smile on her face. He had no intention of sitting around long enough to see that morph into screams. Instead, he trudged toward the lines of White Fang, and was quickly spotted.

"Jaune!" Adam came running over, sheathing his sword. His first action was to take Amber from Jaune's hands, the girl struggling weakly. "I'm with your brother," Adam explained. The mask likely didn't help. "Trust me, girl. I've saved enough of your sisters already."

"He has," Jaune said. "Adam is a friend. You can trust him."

"H-He is…?"

"He's the one who saved my life. Got my away from Chivalric. I'd hold you, Amber. I'm just too exhausted." The state of him made that clear, and she reluctantly let go of him, letting Adam take her. "Ozpin is dead," Jaune told Adam. "Cinder, too."

"A shame." Adam didn't sound bothered. "The attack is finished. Blake is nowhere to be seen. None of her team is."

"They departed Beacon," a new voice said, ringing out loud and clear. Adam tensed and would have reached for his sword if he could. Jaune stepped between him and the person before he and Amber could be put in danger.

General James Ironwood strode down the steps of Beacon, long white coat fluttering behind him. He was flanked by two soldiers, one a faunus and the other a bare armed man in white with short-cropped, brown hair. The General didn't attack, and his gun remained holstered at his side.

"Team RWBY were disgusted with the way Beacon handled the kidnapping of its team leader. And upset at the way Jaune Arc was treated. They could not accept staying in Beacon any longer and made the decision to leave."

"Tch. Blake running away again." Adam hissed. "Where did they go?"

"I don't believe that's any of your business, Taurus. I'm here to speak with Null."

Here to speak, and with more than enough advantages to force it. By now, even Roman had probably split. The thief held loyalty to no one but himself and wouldn't stick around when things got tough. Jaune couldn't even blame him at this point. There'd never been any degree of loyalty or friendship between them.

"Adam. Take Amber and get out of here. Get her to Menagerie. Please."

"B-Big Brother…?" Amber whispered.

Adam looked down to the girl, up at Jaune and then beyond to Ironwood. He gritted his teeth under his mask. "I promise I'll see her safe. Anyone that wishes to harm her will do so over my dead body." He stepped back. "Just make sure you survive to come visit them. No one will forgive you otherwise."

"Jaune!" Amber cried, reaching out over Adam's shoulder as the man ran. "No! Take me back to him!"

"Our work is done!" Adam bellowed. "White Fang, retreat!"

"Clover. Marrow." Ironwood addressed his shadows. "Leave us. Secure the students but keep them away from this area. Search high and low for any Grimm or White Fang remaining and arrest them. Let the rest retreat. A battle here doesn't benefit any of us."

"Sir!"

The two left, and with the White Fang retreating all around, it was all too soon that they stood alone together in the broken entrance of Beacon Academy, sirens blaring, Grimm roaring and gunfire echoing all around. Jaune eyed the man warily, reaching for Mors, which he'd recovered after besting Ozpin.

"I take it my old friend is dead," Ironwood eventually said.

"He took my sister and tried to use her. What did you expect?"

"Nothing less." He sighed. "I hope he found peace at the end. He was not always the man you saw. Once, he was humanity's greatest ally. Until he found a shortcut. Even the best men are tempted by the opportunity to cut corners, and he had more reason than many to leap at the chance."

Jaune scoffed. "You knew it would come to this."

"I did. As I knew it would with Fields."

"You kept your soldiers away," Jaune remarked. General Ironwood didn't smile. "You kept my side of the bargain. I wonder if Atlas has any idea its General betrayed it."

If the video recording device Cinder and he had worn still worked, that might have come as a shock to thousands. As it was, it, like almost everything else, ran on dust, and the device had failed the moment he stepped close to Amber. Grasping it, Jaune threw it aside.

"I did not betray Atlas," Ironwood said firmly.

"You made a deal with me."

"I did. In return for Winter's safe return, I would grant you your chance to slay Matthew Fields. That was no betrayal on Atlas, however. Only those who have become corrupt. Cleaning away the rot is in the best interests of my people. I would make the same choice again."

"And yet here we are."

"And yet here we are," Ironwood agreed. "And it is with regret that we must fight. I don't expect it to mean much but I am sorry for what my Kingdom has put you through. You did not deserve it."

"You're right. It doesn't mean much."

"You still have one last chance to surrender, Jaune Arc."

Jaune grinned, wiped his lips clean and drew Mors. "I've crossed too many lines. Everyone seems to think it's as easy as stepping back over, but my time on the wrong side has changed me."

"It changes everyone. Do you wish to know my Semblance? Since you will be robbing me of it when we fight."

A bit pointless, but Jaune's muscles were still aching badly so he nodded. Any time to recover some breath was welcome. The large man opened his coat and let it fall, revealing half his body clad in metal.

"It is called mettle. It allows me to hyper-focus, to see what must be done free of concerns of emotion and doubt. It hardens my resolve, giving me the strength to do what few others can."

"Sounds handy."

"It is. It helped me climb from a fresh-faced recruit to General in years. It made me the man I am. It allowed me to excel where others faltered, to always make the right choice, to do what needed to be done for the betterment of my Kingdom." General Ironwood scowled fiercely. "And when I finally let go of it, when I finally dropped my Semblance and allowed myself to see what I had done, I realised how much a monster it made me."

Jaune couldn't help his curiosity. "How?"

"Cold decisions. Uncaring leadership. I rose on the crushed lives and broken families I sacrificed in my wake. All for the betterment of Atlas, as decided by a Semblance that robbed me of compassion. I ripped people's lives apart, cut jobs and sent people to their deaths, all to eke out that extra half a percent of efficiency. Mettle kept me focused. It kept me from looking back on the consequences of my actions, kept me marching ever forward as I rose up the ranks."

"You see your Semblance as a curse, Jaune. I know you do. I know because I have been there. Because I stepped so far over the line that I had to crawl back missing an arm and half my body, dragging my way over the corpses of both Atlas' enemies, and the poor fools who trusted me to lead them."

General Ironwood raised his robotic arm, clenching the fist and looking at it. Light flickered up and down its length and for a moment, he looked like nothing more than one of Chivalric Arms' creations.

"I swore that I would become a better man after. That I would never rely on my Semblance as I did then, that even as my body became more machine than man, my heart never again would."

"Why are you telling me this?" Jaune asked, voice raw. "Are you trying to make me burst out crying and run into your arms? It's too late for that. If you know even a fraction of what it's like with a curse like this, you know there's no going back. The world will never accept me. I've made my peace. I've done what I set out to do."

His family – those that lived – were safe. Free from the horrors of Chivalric Arms, free from the experiments and the pain. Even his mother was free, free from the nightmares and the trauma.

"I tell you because I want you to understand," Ironwood said. "That as cruel as Ozpin and Fields may have been, they were nothing compared to what I once was. At least they had reason. Ideals, as twisted as those may have become. I just saw the quickest way to victory – and to hell with whatever it cost in the lives of my men." He brought out his gun and drew the slide back. "And so you know that right now, for this fight, I will use whatever I must. Even Mettle."

His eyes hardened, losing that faint glint of sympathy, of sorrow. In that moment, General James Ironwood became a machine once more. Every ounce of humanity dropped from his deadened features.

"I expect you to do the same."

Jaune's own eyes flared to life. Gold, purple, green and so many more colours swirling to life as aura flickered and shattered, as the world became just that little bit more final. There would be no retreat here, no escaping with injuries or a last-minute rescue from Roman, Cinder or Adam. This was to the death, and they each knew only one man could walk away. Jaune accepted it grimly, sliding a fresh magazine into Mors.

"Request granted."

Man, I love Ironwood. I also love the idea that his Semblance twists him this way, which was a pet idea I had when I first heard about it. A man who genuinely wishes to do good, who is granted an ability that at first looks like it would be perfect for that, only to realise it takes away his humanity. Without having to worry about resolve or doubt, how much humanity is left in a person?

Next Chapter: 21st December

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur