Hey there guys! Been a while and I'm sorry for that – came down with the stomach flu or something like and it kept me down and out for a few solid days. Then when it seemed like it was going away and my recovery began, well, I still wasn't really in much of a position to do anything much less even write due to how exhausted it left me, to say nothing of how uncertain I'd felt doing anything lest the symptoms somehow return in full. Don't know if the stomach flu or whatever bacteria that causes something similar is going around, but if so, be careful! All things considered in hindsight, I got off semi-lightly since all I really experienced was just a really bad upset stomach and heartburn, as opposed to, well, everything else the stomach flu would normally entail.

Also, Doom Eternal came out just a few days ago too and so I've been placing some of my returning energy into playing, heh. Honestly, I'm decent when it comes to FPS games and usually don't have much interest in them at all, but Doom is just one of those games where I can really go nuts and truly enjoy what I'm playing. And even on normal mode, aptly called Hurt Me Plenty, it's showing me the ropes!

Maybe one day I'll do a Doom fic or something, but I realize I've come to say that to myself fairly often about all sorts of different works of fiction, ha ha.

Well, on a more serious note, do stay safe out there, guys. With everyone losing their shit over the current pandemic, it's only a matter of time until things really escalate past the point of no return for some people. I know it's a serious thing and all, but still, no need to let it dominate everything in our lives.

Now then, seriousness over. Onto the chapter!

Chapter 35

It'd been only five minutes since chaos had broken out at city hall since some of James' forces had taken notice of it and began to mobilize. During that time, the Atlas general had made sure to inform him, Ozpin, of this and the headmaster of Beacon had started to send out students and faculty to provide much needed assistance, sending out one bullhead after another into the city.

Alas, by then, it'd already been too late – by the time the first teams had even touched down in Vale, the chaos had spread all across the area, spanning entire miles. Additionally, the cameras and comms within this area had gone completely dark, making it unbelievably difficult for any of the police and huntsmen to properly coordinate. Combined with James' force having to travel out towards Vale's walls to keep the Grimm surging towards this new source of negativity at bay, it was a truly bad situation.

However, as Ozpin now discovered, bad situations always had a habit of getting worse.

His eyes narrowed as his scroll beeped a little tune, a tune he'd set to function as an alarm whenever someone tried to take the elevator down rather than up from the ground floor.

Amber.

Snatching his cane from where'd he placed it nearby, the headmaster took his leave though not before fiddling with his scroll to shut down the entire building. However, his unknown foe proved their threat level when the power was restored not even seconds afterwards.

To say the man was shocked would be an understatement, but entire lifetimes of experience have long since made it possible for him to work under pressure and no matter what sort of surprise may come his way.

In any case, with the sole elevator traveling downwards and already about to reach Amber's floor – he could monitor its descent from his scroll, but whoever was in there had destroyed the camera inside – he had no normal way of going down there.

Thus, there was only one option.

Forcing the elevator doors open after instantly traversing the short hallway outside his office, Ozpin leapt down and activated his current body's semblance, backed up just slightly by what little magical power he still had after all these centuries.

His descent picked up rapidly in speed as he ran downwards… quite possibly, right into a hell of his own making.

Hardly the first time he's done such a thing, really. But he prayed dearly that this hell wouldn't be so literal.

It was with an ever-growing sense of glee that Cinder practically forced open the elevator doors of her own accord, using the half of the Maiden power she possessed to blow them almost right off the hinges.

As she did so, she quickly took it all in and almost huffed.

Really now, a massive chamber such as this… all for the dying Fall Maiden? How very needless, but she supposed Ozpin's flair for dramatics was to explain this. Salem had stated as much on an occasion or two.

No matter.

She, Mercury, and Emerald swiftly exited the ruined elevator and spread out. They walked with a brisk pace, but not too brisk. Just because they were so close to her goal didn't mean she should suddenly become so hasty nor secured in her victory. She'd learned as much from the first time, when Qrow Branwen had robbed her of her ascension to power, when Amber had quite literally been at her mercy.

The lack of obvious security measures really only heightened her alertness rather than put her at ease but as a minute and then two went by, the young woman allowed herself to relax a bit.

The chamber proved to not only be extremely large, but actually just one of several it seemed, as they came upon a large set of doors that led into another chamber. It was really quite irritating, but considering the placement of Ozpin's tower above and the direction this area seemed to be built in, Cinder confidently estimated that the ancient and ever weakening wizard was abiding by the rule of three, meaning the Fall Maiden should be in the chamber just past this second one.

"Man, talk about drab," Mercury suddenly said, the man's cockiness reaching a peak after weeks of uncertainty and worry. "I mean, seriously, this is like something right out of a game I just played. Can Ozpin really be any more typical?"

Cinder could practically hear Emerald roll her eyes, the teal-haired girl huffing even with her weapons drawn. "Not all fantasy games are based on real life, Merc. Even an idiot like you should know that much." She sounded as admonishing as always, but there was no denying the grin the young woman had too.

Cinder smirked, allowing this. After all, she was in a good damn mood too.

Finally, after all her efforts and setbacks, victory was at ha-!

A sound interrupted her thought, a sound that came from where they'd just come from – the elevator.

All manner of joy left her and her subordinates and the three of them immediately turned and spread out, their years of training and experience making their bodies move on instinct rather than on thought.

Unfortunately, it proved to be not enough.

For in the time it took them to even register the sound in the first place and turn around – a time that could be measured in a few brief milliseconds at most – whatever, no, whoever, was already upon them.

Mercury, their vanguard due to his particular skills, was the first to be struck and not just once at that either, a short series of strikes hitting him in vitals spots before flinging him aside.

It was only thanks to the delay this provided the attacker – not much of a delay at all, really – that Cinder, who was more or less right behind Mercury, was able to draw her weapon, Midnight, in its dual sword forms.

She did so just in the nick of time and she proved her worth as one of Salem's inner circle by successfully warding off the three blows that would've otherwise struck her right in the throat, heart, and liver.

Nonetheless the blows still proved to be incredibly strong and would've forced her right off her feet had she not adjusted her balance at the last possible instant.

The result was her ending up in a deadlock with her attacker.

She glared at him, her irises glowing in response to her mounting anger and Maiden power firing up.

"Ozpin," she growled out.

The headmaster merely glared at her dispassionately before breaking the deadlock and going on the attack again.

And just like that, the battle for the Fall Maiden had begun.

It was with a growing sense of numbing shock and horror that Blake moved about.

Mere minutes ago, or so it felt like to her currently addled mind, things had been off to a very tense but still bearable start – the council had wasted no time introducing themselves, having her and her friends and parents state their names for public record and then launch into their long series of questions, all of which had essentially been to confirm to just how accurate the file released to the press was on her past transgressions.

It'd been with a solemn voice that Blake had confirmed everything in the file to be pretty much spot on, which had then launched the next series of questions, though not before some of the council members had made several angry and disbelieving remarks.

The next series of questions had ultimately been about her intentions going forth and what, if any, proof she could offer them to show that she truly wasn't a member of the White Fang anymore.

It'd been during this time that her parents had politely stepped up to give their own two lien on the matter, both as parents and as former members of the original White Fang.

Alas, as greatly appreciated as it'd been, Blake knew that this was only going to end one way – with her being punished and rightfully so at that.

She recalled for a brief moment when she'd spoken with Jaune after the docks incident. She remembered what he'd said. So long as she truly wished to repent and made strides in doing so, then there should never be an issue in giving her and others like her a second chance. Unfortunately, the council and most people in general didn't share such an understanding point of view. Even if they did, laws were laws for a reason.

No matter how the council's opinion of her may change, it wouldn't change the fact that she was going away to prison for some stretch of time.

However, it'd been during a brief back-and-forth talk between her parents and some members of the council that things had all gone so horrifyingly wrong.

One instant, they'd been talking quite passionately on the matter at hand, then the next instant, sounds of gunfire, clashing, screaming and explosions had started going off outside.

Naturally, they'd all been ordered to remain here while some of the council's security personnel and even one of her parents' own guard went to see what the issue was – and that had been another explosion had rocked city hall from behind it and the sounds of slaughter and screaming had made themselves known again and much closer this time.

Then the walls between this chamber and the surrounding hallways had been destroyed… and in poured White Fang.

There'd been no cries of 'die humans!' or anything else along those lines. Instead, some of the White Fang members that poured in just immediately took aim at her and fired.

It'd been on instinct that she'd dodged, even kicking over a nearby bench to provide some cover seeing as she was currently weaponless.

But this had only been the start of the chaos, for only more White Fang had poured in… along with… him.

And that had been things had truly gone to shit… and how things have been for the past several minutes now.

"Adam, please stop!" she cried out as she did her best to dodge her former friend's blade.

"I'm sorry, Blake," he said in a stricken but resolved voice. "But no one can outrun their past, not even you."

"Back off, you bastard!" Yang cried out as she threw herself into the fray, her semblance active as she started to wildly throw a barrage of punches.

Adam pulled back just enough to avoid the initial strike and began to use his sword to masterfully swat aside the rest of Yang's blows, though not easily as the blonde brawler's semblance allowed her to hit a hell of a lot harder than normal. Adam was actually left with no choice but to back off a bit.

However, he was hardly the only combatant here.

All around her, just about everyone was fighting. Her friends, her father, the remaining security personnel that both the council and her parents had here, the large group Adam had assembled for this obvious hit on her. The only noncombatants here were her mother and the council members, all of whom were being defended by either her father or the other huntsmen here.

The whole room was getting destroyed all around them, a result of stray Dust bullets and attacks unleashed by the personal weapons her friends and the other huntsmen possessed.

By all rights, this wouldn't and shouldn't be much of a fight under more conventional conditions – while the people that came with Adam were certainly experienced, at best they could seriously trouble her and her friends. As for doing much of anything against fully fledged huntsmen, however? They shouldn't be able to do anything at all. People like her and especially Adam, they'd been considered part of the White Fang's best for a reason – power and skill of their level was not so easy to come by.

However, the White Fang had been the ones to set this stage. They held the advantage due to the surrounding area and the fact that she, her friends, and the other huntsmen here had to primarily concern themselves with protecting the council and other non-combatants. The White Fang had no such issues.

But more than that…

"Ah!" Yang cried out as Adam suddenly sheathed his blade, only to shoot it out, the hilt slamming into the blonde brawler's chest with unbelievable speed.

"Yang!" Blake's concern for her partner overwrote all other instincts she currently had and she leapt into action, knocking Yang aside just before Adam could use the strength of the punches he'd deflected to activate his own semblance.

She'd succeeded in doing so, but only barely, having to use her semblance at the last possible second to take what would've otherwise been a dangerous hit.

Even then, the sheer power of the aura Adam unleashed with his upwards swing was immense, cutting through an entire section of the room and well through numerous other rooms past these walls. The mere air pressure generated was enough to send her and Yang tumbling roughly along the ground.

But it also got the attention of the other huntsmen, at least those who've just knocked out some of the White Fang members that had been unable to maintain a proper distance between them.

Several of these huntsmen prepared to move, but Adam noticed them and promptly swung his blade again, channeling his own aura into it to unleash another aura wave. As it was his own aura, he couldn't afford to use up too much and sure enough, compared to his previous attack just now, it was far less powerful.

However, as it was aimed in the general direction of the council members who'd been forced to stay in place for the past several minutes lest they be hit, well, there was only so much that could be done.

"No!" Blake heard her father cry out. "This stops now!"

"D-Dad?!" She could only cry out as she watched her father leap in front of the attack and take it head on. It struck him hard and blew him back, causing him to crash into the wall just above the council, which got some screams of terror out of them.

"Sir!" some of her parents' guards cried out in horror before that horror turned to rage. "You-!"

Some of them broke off from the current battles they were in and tried to make their way towards Adam…

…But Blake beat them to the punch.

She'd known for a long time now of the dark path the White Fang had been going down, Adam especially. Rather than try to do something about this, she'd ran instead, having feared failure. And so, she'd left her former friend and mentor to his doomed future.

It was something she'd regretted doing ever since.

But now? After seeing her father struck like that?

Whatever regrets she'd held vanished for the moment and she threw herself at Adam without even an ounce of hesitation. She didn't know if Adam cared for what had just happened, not that she in turn would've cared either way – her father had just been hurt. Like hell she was just going to let that go.

Of course, enraged as she was, it wasn't as if she suddenly got a power boost or something – this wasn't like the stories she sometimes read. Thus, when she charged at Adam, intent on tackling him, the man had swiftly pivoted and cut right at her. It was only thanks to a last minute save from her semblance that allowed her to avoid being hit.

And it was then thanks to the sudden appearance of a familiar white glyph appearing below her new position, courtesy of Weiss, that Blake then gained enough speed to clear what little distance there was between them.

And when she tackled Adam, she tackled him hard. The man let out a surprised 'oomph' that was all too satisfying to her ears. And as he stumbled, naturally off-balance, she was quick to suddenly let go of him and practically leap up, smashing the top of her head into his jaw.

Even with aura, it hurt quite a bit, but Blake easily powered through the pain to wrap her legs around his lower half and use her momentum to flip him.

Alas, this was about the best she could do as she currently is – she may have caught him off guard with some assistance from Weiss, but Adam was one of the White Fang's best for a reason. Even with assistance from her whole team, taking him down would be far from easy, even with how unpredictable battle could be.

Sure enough, as soon as she'd flipped him, Adam recovered immediately, rolling so that he was now in a crouch and promptly opened fire, forcing everyone around him to move back, her included. One of the huntsmen, however, apparently had a semblance that allowed him to soldier through the brief hail of bullets and go in for an attack, but Adam was able to dodge in time and deliver a counterattack.

The huntsman was able to deftly maneuver his weapon, a short but wide type of machete, in time to block his swing and launch his own counter, at which point a brief scuffle broke out between him and Adam, the two matching one another blow for blow, steel clashing against steel and at such speeds that no one else could immediately get close without risking being struck in the immediate crossfire.

And while that was happening…

"Look out!" Blake yelled and pointed towards the spot where the council members were all huddled up at. There, one lanky White Fang member that had clearly tried to sneak around through the chaos was within jumping range of her targets. Now that Blake had called her out though, the female White Fang member let out a battle cry and flung her weapon, a large knife, right at one of the councilmen, who could only freeze up in fright.

But thankfully, Blake's cry had gotten the attention of Ruby, who'd swiftly maneuvered her weapon into its more compact gun form and shot the knife down in just one go while another huntress nearby moved far faster than anyone else in the room could to quickly knock out the attacker before she could try anything else.

Two cries could then be heard along with a guttural growl and Blake turned to see her father heft up two of the White Fang and fling them across the room. Yang, who'd gotten back up now, saw this and opted to get some payback of a sort for she fired Ember Celica in a way to blast herself upwards, at which point she clotheslined both White Fang members as hard as she could.

Seeing this, Blake made a brief run towards where her mom was, now that the chaos seemed to steadily be changing in their favor.

"Mom, are you okay?" the B of RWBY asked immediately as she knelt down near the woman.

Her mother, ever so resilient a person, merely smiled in response, albeit somewhat worriedly. "It's just another loud and rambunctious day to me, sweetie."

Blake's mouth twitched upwards for a split second, but she caught herself and grabbed her mom firmly. "Come on; I'll get you out of here and then the councilmen. We do that, then everyone else here could finally give it their all."

Her mother nodded and prepared to move – though not before the entire building shook with tremendous force. It was as though a few bombs just suddenly went off close by. The sight of smoke coming from down the hallways a second later only confirmed it.

Dear lord, Blake wondered, just how many troops did Adam bring?!

The short series of explosions had caught them all off guard, thrown off their balance. This naturally included Adam too, but perhaps because he'd been expecting something like this, he'd ended up being the first out of them all to recover.

Using this to his advantage, Blake could only stagger momentarily as she watched him land a hit on the huntsman he'd been facing, knocking the man back several yards. Then Adam opened fired again with his gun to keep everyone else still off balance while his sword began to quickly glow again.

"..!" Blake made a sound and immediately grabbed her mother before leaping back as far as she could. The others, sensing danger, did the same.

They did this not a second too soon for Adam stabbed his blade directly into the floor and unleashed his semblance, generating an explosion of dark red aura that practically made the whole room collapse in on itself.

Some of the huntsmen immediately rushed back in to protect the council members, cutting up the huge podium they'd been at before lest it be blown right back into the council and crush them. Meanwhile, debris fell from above and Blake spotted her father rush forth to protect some of the now downed White Fang from being crushed to death. Even if they'd meant him and the others harm, he still showcased his good heart.

And nearby, Weiss went a step further by creating the largest black glyph Blake had ever seen her make, using its gravitational pull to halt the rest of the falling rubble.

"H-Hurry!" the W of RWBY shouted. "I can only hold this for so long!"

Blake didn't have to be told twice nor did anyone else really. Rushing out of the room, she passed her mother over to one of the remaining guards that had accompanied her parents. "Watch her for a minute!" she said before leaping back into the fray.

As she'd evacuated her mom from the immediate danger zone, she saw Ruby and some of the huntsmen mop up the rest of the White Fang, who'd also been affected by Adam's sudden attack.

Alas, they couldn't get all of them – there were still a few stragglers here and there. And Adam, of course, still stood standing.

And he was glaring right at her as she dove through the lessening madness.

Blake tried not to pay him too much mind, especially since the other huntsmen were now closing in on him. Instead, she focused on the councilmen, who were now being swiftly pulled out of the collapsing room and into the relative safety of the nearby hallway.

But not quickly enough, Blake noted. There were two council members in particular that have yet to be grabbed and moved out of there and she could spot Adam now training his eyes on them in spite of the incoming opposition around him.

Sure enough, her former friend opened fire in the council members' direction before she could fully close the distance.

"No!" she cried. In a complete spur of the moment, she activated her semblance several times in a row, the creation of each super temporary clone pushing her forward just a bit faster each time.

It ended up being a supremely close call that resulted in her taking a few rounds head on, lowering her aura even more, but she was able to do it – she was able to all but tackle the council members out of harm's way.

Out into the hallway they flew and the three of them hit the floor rather hard, but Blake was able to roll to a swift stop and look back into the room –.

-Right into Adam's hidden eyes.

"Blake…" Adam murmured as he saw her do the unthinkable – she actually went out of her way to save two of Vale's wretched council. He'd known she'd changed, she wouldn't have left them otherwise… but to see something like that when before she'd been of the same exact opinion he and the others were of every kingdom's council… it was enough to boggle.

Thus, all he could do was just stare at her even when everyone around began to direct their attention towards him now. Even when the same damned human huntsman from earlier tried to attack him, Adam merely raised his sword on reflex, his eyes not leaving Blake's for even a second.

Going into this, he'd been resolved to do what must be done, but to know now for certain Blake's new allegiance was enough to render his heart truly numb for a minute.

To think his longtime friend and protégé would turn out like this… the shame wounded him more than any strike could.

However, the numbness lasted only a second, after which he knew only rage.

Very well then. If Blake would betray their cause like this, then it was clear she and all her new 'friends' must truly die. That Schnee girl especially.

And on that note…

Letting the next strike of the huntsman knock him off his feet, Adam flew through the air as one big target. Sure enough, just about everyone who could opened fire upon him.

But he was ready for it. Certainly, he couldn't deflect every shot, not when they were coming at him from so many different angles, but he didn't need to do so – instead, he let them hit him as he absorbed the force behind each one.

With how poorly the situation was going for his forces within the room right now, he must settle for turning his enemies' strength against them. He couldn't afford to just be using up his aura left and right anyways.

He landed in a crouch whereupon he was able to deflect the shots with greater ease. It was also with greater ease that he could see everyone begin to fallback as the rubble the Schnee was keeping at bay began their descent ever so slowly. One quick glance to that damned girl showed that this was deliberate on her part too.

She intended to bury him and his few remaining men under the rubble. Like dogs, huh? He figured as much from a member of the Schnee family.

But that would not be the case.

"Hey, asshole! Try blocking this!"

He looked forward just in time to see that dumb blonde girl from before leap at him with great speed, her hair glowing a nearly blinding goal. Her eyes, red with rage, bore into his own.

He was unimpressed… but also just marginally thankful towards her.

He raised his blade and blocked the incoming punch. He let out a heavy grunt as its power was much greater than anything else tossed his way in quite a while, but he stood his ground as he absorbed the power behind it.

He could literally feel the red highlights in his clothes and even his hair practically glow now too, a sign that this was about as much power as he could handle with his semblance.

Perfect.

Smiling viciously, he promptly batted the girl back and took a stance. "Run," he told his remaining forces, not that he really expected them to vacate the blast zone in time. It was truly saddening that they may very well perish from his own move, but they'd all gone into this knowing death was a likelihood.

"Everyone, get back, quickly!" Blake cried out, recognizing his stance all too well. The panic in her normally taciturn voice was palpable. "He's going to-!"

Indeed, he was. And unfortunately for her, her warning came just a split second too late.

He swung his blade, unleashing the power contained within it now.

And in a flash of crimson red, he proceeded to level the entirety of city hall.

Outside city hall, the battle waged fiercely.

With how chaotic things were, casualties had naturally taken place, a thought that made Pyrrha shudder no matter how much she tried to keep her mind focused on doing what she could. Even so, it was hard to not look around and see just how many people the White Fang had mowed down before the police and huntsmen could truly combat them.

On that particular note, not even the police and huntsmen had gone unscathed so far with even a few casualties of their own out there in the streets, a result of the upper hand the White Fang had going into this situation on top two other important factors.

First and foremost, all the people running around for cover. With all the fighting going on, it was so damned hard for the massive crowds to get out of the crossfire in a timely fashion and with all the explosions going off everywhere, the number of directions they could semi-safely go in were getting fewer with every passing minute. Police mainly tried to take care of the crowd control while leaving the main combat to the huntsmen, but even then, it was tough going since the White Fang would target the civilians and the huntsmen couldn't afford to let that happen.

Secondly, the White Fang had the advantage of a bullhead flying overhead, one that was heavily armed to boot too, shown off as it fired all along the nearby streets and dropping bombs around city hall.

It was just absolute chaos, Pyrrha could only think numbly even as she swung her blade hard enough to instantly knock out a White Fang member that she'd managed to get the drop on.

Pulling her blade back, she looked at it for an instant… and saw some blade, a sight that made her flinch terribly. She was well aware that sooner or later it would've come to this; it was only inevitable that the path of being a huntress would be bloodied. Even so, going through something like this now of all times was not something she'd been expecting.

In any case, not even she, the so-called Invincible Girl by her many fans, had gone through all this unscathed so far – she showed some dirt and smears on her normally clean armor, some small cuts on her body and clothes that hadn't been there before.

In terms of pure skill, none of these White Fang members would even match up to a first-year student, much less fully-fledged huntsmen, but their numbers combined with their viciousness and weaponry more than made up for the skill gap. Even with her semblance to even the odds by flat out tugging guns out of their hands or sending them flying by affecting any magnetized parts of their clothing, there were only so many things she could focus on at any given time.

Thankfully, she'd done her part in keeping the White Fang from advancing on city hall, having worked alongside the other huntresses here to keep them at bay. Again, her semblance had played a large part in that, but it'd been her own ever-increasing skills that had done most of the work. All that time she'd spent these past weeks and months training alongside Jaune and defending Vale's walls had helped to hone her reflexes and control over her semblance that much more. Had something like this happened at the beginning of the school year, when she'd silently and in hindsight arrogantly thought she'd end up plateauing due to lack of competition, she'd have likely died by now or at the very least suffer severe injuries.

But on that note…

"Just where are you, Jaune?!" she whispered as she switched her weapon to its gun form and started to take careful aim at any White Fang members currently in battle with the police and huntsmen. Off in the near distance, she could see Nora and Ren tag-teaming some White Fang members too.

It's been too long since Jaune had gone out to investigate whatever had most definitely gotten his attention. That he's yet to return could only mean one thing – whatever had grabbed his attention was still occupying him. And considering just how unbelievably powerful her friend and leader is, that said something truly scary about all this. The constant shaking that seemed to be originating from somewhere well outside this area wasn't helping to ease her worries for him either.

She started shooting, clipping White Fang members in their arms or the back of their knees. Thanks to their aura and the protection provided by their armor, her shots didn't do much damage, but it did distract and hurt them, which quickly let whomever they were trying to kill get away while those that were actively fighting back now had the upper hand-.

-But only for a few precious seconds.

"Incoming!" someone cried and immediately thereafter, the bullhead above did a quick pass-by, dropping even more bombs.

Pyrrha, noting their closeness, tried reaching out with her semblance to grab the bombs before they could reach the ground, but only succeeded in grabbing a few while the rest hit their marks. Rage growing within her at how things were going, she tried flinging the bombs she could halt towards the bullhead, but it was already out of reach and so the bombs exploded harmlessly in the air.

One would think with all the bullheads Beacon was sending their way to aid them that this single bullhead would prove no match. Alas, none of the bullheads Beacon had at its disposal were equipped with any weapons, meaning their only means of combat would be whatever long-range weapons their passengers could fire. As for all the Atlas ships here in Vale, they were all currently occupied with the small legions of Grimm that threatened to break through Vale's walls.

Just really now, could this possibly get any worse, Pyrrha thought tiredly.

And as if to spite her for her thoughtless comment, reality decided to be extra cruel.

For the next thing she and everyone else knew, a horrible and nearly deafening sound went off right before she and the other huntresses got blown forward.

And the last thing she saw before landing in the thick of the battle was city hall falling.

Jaune grunted as he broke free from the massive pile of debris. Just what in the world had hit him and his foe?

He found out a moment later as he got up and looked around, his eyes going wide in shock.

An Atlas airship.

Unbelievable, he thought. It would seem that it'd been swarmed by enough avian Grimm to make it explode and crash, with him and the unknown man being at the epicenter of the fiery crash.

Looking up, he could spot plenty of ships still about… along with just a handful of avian Grimm – Nevermores and Griffons – flying around too. Looks like the line Atlas had put up wasn't holding as well as one would initially think.

Still, he thought, things didn't look too bad. This ship appeared to be one of the much smaller ones, meant more for maybe a team of three or four to operate rather than the much larger ones that required an entire crew just to run. That meant the bigger ships should be safe for now despite all the Grimm. Presumably, once the Grimm attacking the walls are thinned out, the avian ones that had flown into Vale could and would be easily dealt with.

That said, that could be a while. That meant he can't just afford to keep going at this either – he had to make sure the man was down for the count and then go back to city hall. Once the chaos there was dealt with, the immediate negativity should die down enough to then affect the Grimm numbers past the walls. A domino effect.

Kicking himself free for good of the rubble, Jaune immediately scanned the area. Sadly, he could spot the people that had piloted the craft… what remained of them, that is.

He prayed their deaths had been quick, if nothing else.

But then, he got back to looking. Just where was that ma-?

A hand shot out from directly beneath him and gave a mighty tug, dragging him back into the massive pile of rubble.

He hardly even had a chance to react before a flame and lightning coated fist slammed into his chest, blasting him upwards with unbelievable force.

Painful as it was though, he was quick to flip around in midair and land on his feet before promptly unleashing a wave of aura that destroyed the rubble in an instant and exposing the man's semi-injured form as he came charging right at him.

The man roared, his voice ever more distorted, before suddenly performing a small leap that ended with him slamming the ground with a hammer blow. As his fists struck the street, fire and lightning poured forth from the numerous cracks that formed that would've instantly incinerated nearly anyone else.

As for Jaune, he merely dashed on through and tried to stab the man right through the face, but he twisted at the last possible instant and swatted the blade aside, making Jaune stumble as he maintained his grip on his weapon. Then the man lashed out with a powerful hook that nearly struck him in his side but Jaune regained his balance, pivoted and deflected the blow.

Even then, the sheer force of the attack caused them both to go skidding back several meters.

The two of them started to pant hard now, the effects of their intense battle finally catching up to them. Strangely, though, Jaune wasn't actually tired. Again, it instead felt as though he was becoming increasingly energized, stronger.

And he could tell the same was happening to the man as well.

A particularly loud explosion suddenly snapped Jaune out of his thoughts and he and the man suddenly turned in unison towards the direction it came from.

City hall, Jaune realized worriedly.

"…It looks like that too is now coming to an end," the man commented. "Rejoice, boy; it would seem that within the next several minutes, the chaos will begin to subside."

At that, Jaune gave the man his attention again. "So, you really knew about this attack," Jaune simply said in response to the man's response.

A part of him, the part that analyzed everything around him all the time no matter what he was doing, had figured as much. This attack on him by this man and the now deceased woman had been too perfect. There was no way they would've been able to time their attack on him this perfectly unless they had known what the White Fang was not only up to but when they'd launch their strike too. Not even coincidence could possibly explain this way.

"Indeed," the man easily admitted as he glanced towards city hall. "…What a bunch of fools, the White Fang. They seem to believe such persecution and suffering has only ever been inflicted upon them and no others. A self-centered and delusional lot, all of them… but thanks to their blind and futile crusade, they're certainly useful when utilized right."

Jaune wouldn't dare to even remotely agree with the man on the White Fang, but not even he could change the fact that the terrorists' ultimate goal is a tragically hopeless one. But the White Fang were the topic he wished to discuss.

"There's no way I'm worth this much trouble," he said as he kept his sword at the ready. "For you, maybe… but not for the entirety of whatever group you belong to. What's your general goal?"

It was made clear to him by the man's previous comments about this unknown Salem that he was indeed working with others on something. Additionally, actions on such a large scale like this can't simply be the work of just two or three individuals, not with everything going on. That meant this man had other associates, but just how many was unknown. In any case, Jaune was pretty sure that this entire group wasn't out just to get him. No, his death appeared to be the goal of only this man before him.

That said, he wasn't expecting a direct response. Real life wasn't like movies or stories where the 'villains' share their grand plans with whoever is willing to listen. But with how this man is like, just maybe…

"…Hmph." The man seemed almost amused. "You truly are too smart and dangerous for your own good, Jaune Arc."

Jaune narrowed his eyes. The man actually knew his name. That carried certain implications, implications that he wasn't exactly liking.

"True, your death is my own goal, but there's no denying now that you'll end up a person of interest to the rest of my associates anyways. Sooner or later, your death will have to happen lest you become a genuine threat to our plans," the man said, bristling as he began to slowly close the distance between them.

"You've only yourself to blame for that," Jaune immediately fired back as he prepared to attack. "You're the one willingly telling me all this."

The man grunted in acknowledgement. "You're correct on that front, I'll give you that. Just why, I wonder…? Why am I even bothering to speak to you at all, you damned slave…?"

At that, Jaune was the one to bristle now. "Like I said earlier, a slave I may be, but going through with this is ultimately my own choice. Call me a slave or a fake all you want, I now know the truth of myself. That's more than what could be said about yourself, probably."

That comment, of all things, got the man to stop dead in his tracks, even stagger as if suddenly struck hard. Whatever the man had been about to do was halted not through action but through words alone.

The man then bowed his head as if deep in thought.

While that was a thing, Jaune continued to speak, coming to a sudden realization. "…This hatred you hold towards me… do I remind you of someone you once knew? Such as yourself from long ago?"

As such a thought came to him and was voiced, Jaune's expression of quiet fury slowly fizzled out and he now sported a muted look of understanding and even empathy. "…Even if not in the same way as me, you were a slave too, weren't you?"

The man flinched but said nothing. He raised his head a second after, however, and eyed him blankly, not so much actually looking at him but at something else entirely.

Perhaps he was somehow looking at himself, Jaune mused in silence.

He understood now, though.

The man had once been like him. In what way exactly, he couldn't fully fathom but he could tell now. At some point in the past, this man must have walked a path similar to the one he now walked, except at some point, the darkness of the world and humanity had become too much for him to continue going against.

…Could he have ended up like this?

Again, he'd be lying to himself if he just flat out said no. Before all this, back when he'd barely started Beacon, Jaune had felt himself growing… unsettled. Growing disquieted. Even with how controlled he was by his semblance at that time, his suppressed true self had been teetering on the edge of uncertainty and despair. For no matter how much good he did, no matter how many people had genuinely been thankful for his aid, there'd been just as many failures and accusations prior to that.

His journey out there on the frontier hadn't been an easy one. A lot of the people around him may possibly view him as someone infallible, who always did the right thing. He was not oblivious to this view some people likely had of him as of the time he started at Beacon, but that impression of him they had was a lie – he was far from some perfect or truly ideal hero. If he really did seem that way to them, then such an impression was only due to him first experiencing enough failures to properly learn and grow from.

It now felt to him that this man had gone through that same process… except it looks like, for however much success he may have enjoyed, the number of people that actually recognized this vastly outweighed that accomplishment.

And at some point, the man had broken free of his own slavery too… except not exactly in the same way Jaune just had, otherwise he never would've gone down this current path of his, this path of self-loathing and destruction.

Against his more immediate instinct, Jaune lowered his blade and looked just a bit sympathetic. "…From one former slave to another," he began. "Isn't it time to finally stop all this? It's okay to finally walk away from it all."

Alas, it looked like what he'd said ended up being the exact wrong thing to say, for the man looked at him, genuinely looked at him… and wasn't pleased in the slightest.

"In light of whatever realizations you've just come to," the man started darkly. "Can you bring yourself to walk away?"

That made Jaune himself freeze for a split second – a split second that cost him.

The man's power surged, even greater than before, and he kicked the blond hard in the chest and sent him flying a few solid kilometers.

Jaune smashed through a few buildings in the process before finally coming to a stop, having to bury his sword into the ground just to force himself to slow down in the first place.

He glared at the man, anger now burning within him again. Whether this anger was directed at the man or himself or both was unknown.

"Fine then," Jaune muttered in a mixture of anger and sadness. "So be it."

Looks like it was time to finally end this. He couldn't afford to let this fight continue any longer anyways, what with city hall's currently unknown fate.

He could literally feel the power of the man from here, an unbelievable combination of heat and power washing over the entire area.

Jaune raised his blade and prepared for the next incoming attack.

And sure enough, an attack came – one that he was genuinely not ready for at all.

The sky went dark and not from the fact it was a cloudy afternoon nor even from all the Atlas ships and avian Grimm.

No, it went dark as storm clouds instead formed directly above him.

Jaune almost goggled.

"That's… new," he uttered quietly.

And then a storm of lightning and fiery hail rained down upon him.

Him, a slave…? Such words had rattled Hazel to his core.

He'd honestly thought as much himself at some point, but there was a world of difference between what he'd thought at the time and how Jaune Arc had meant it. The blond had meant it in the same exact context as himself, a genuine slave to his semblance and its terrible hold over him.

All the time and energy the man had spent just focusing on how disgusting an existence Jaune Arc was had gone away for that exact minute, just long enough for him to reexamine himself in that new context… and the realization that he and the boy were that much alike had rendered him truly shocked.

But then, when the blond had dared to try talking him out of this, that'd been when his anger had reignited. Though he wasn't oblivious to the changes Jaune Arc had clearly gone through in these past few minutes, the blond was hardly one to talk at all.

Hazel had then said as much before punting the boy as hard as he could.

But just before he could immediately follow up, his scroll, which had somehow survived the entire battle so far, beeped and threw him off his rocker for an instant.

"What?" He'd answered far more gruffly than he'd intended, putting it on speaker.

And of course, it was Watts who spoke. "Hazel," the man began with a breathless tone, as if he'd forgotten how to breath for a minute. Something had caught the man off guard, though not enough to call him, which meant that something was happening, a change in the situation. "As much as I hate interrupting your work, I'm afraid you're going to have to cut things short – the situation at city hall is beginning to come to an end now. Ironwood's fleet is also beginning to clean up all the Grimm flying above Vale right now. It'll only be a matter of time until they take notice of the havoc you two wreaked and come for you."

Then Watts paused for a split second to catch his breath and continue. "…And Cinder's scroll signal was just lost. Something is going on. I don't know what, but we must retreat for now lest our current plan derail like Cinder's plans have."

Hazel grunted.

In light of his semblance and how much stronger he felt now compared to before the battle, Hazel could realistically assess his chances against the Atlas fleet and that of Beacon's own forces… and his odds were actually looking extremely favorable.

However, now was not the time to truly cut loose. Not when Jaune Arc still drew breath.

In any case, this wasn't a solo effort – though he'd be hard-pressed to truly call them his comrades, Watts, Tyrian, Cinder and whoever else she has under her command… they were his associates. They all had roles to play.

It pained him, but he would have to withdraw, a thought that bothered him only marginally actually. If anything, this would give him time to fully recuperate and perhaps learn why the Dust has been affecting him this way.

But first… he could at least get one final shot in.

Calling forth his power one last time, he aimed towards the sky above where he'd kicked the blond to and through a great deal of concentration, he gave rise to storm clouds, only this were obviously not like real storm clouds.

Thanks to the Dust in his veins and whatever else was going on in his body, when the storm clouds took action a second later, dozens of lightning bolts, each one wider than a car and even faster than actual lightning, along with hail comprised of flames exceeding a thousand degrees in temperature, rained down upon Jaune Arc's current location.

Hazel highly doubted now that such a last-minute attack would somehow kill the blond, but it would at least keep him occupied long enough for Hazel to make a retreat.

Doing this, the man turned around – only to pause for just a moment, dwelling on all that's happened these past several minutes.

"…" He made a sound that one would be hard-pressed to describe as being that of a human. As to what this sound meant, not even the man himself knew; his thoughts were too much of a mess right now.

But as he did begin his retreat back to his group's temporary base, he was certain of one thing – that when he and Jaune Arc clashed again, it will be their final clash.

And whether or not one or both of them will die, Hazel intended to see it through to the end.

That meant that before that time comes, he must complete his other goal first.

"Ozpin…" he muttered as he rushed off. "Your time is coming soon. Mark my words."

And that's it! Heh, bet you guys thought I'd show the rest of the fight between Ozpin and Cinder at the end there, right? Not to worry, that will be shown and wrapped up in the next chapter. Please look forward to it.

On that particular note, this situation as a whole will be wrapping up in the next chapter. This is not a spoiler, merely a statement of fact, for as I'm sure this chapter made pretty clear, things were already winding down anyways.

Now then, to clear up some stuff. Firstly, the whole thing with Blake and Adam. Blake's relative inactivity during all the fighting is due to not having her weapon, thus being severely deprived of options. Sure, she has her semblance and whatever unarmed skills she has, but in a situation as chaotic as that, where her mom and the council was at severe risk of injury/death, going around fighting like she would normally would be impossible. Plus, with so many other combatants around, the possibility of accidental friendly fire was pretty damn high and no number of clones was going to let her avoid that if she got careless.

As for Adam and how well he was doing relatively speaking, the reason behind this is more or less the same; in terms of overall combat prowess, I'd put him above most huntsmen trainees but below fully fledged huntsmen. This is due to his apparent age which is close to Blake's as well as the more impressive feats demonstrated by the likes of Qrow and others at or near his level in general which are above Adam's. However, in a situation like that, where any missed attack could easily end up hitting the council members or Kali, the few huntsmen there couldn't fight like they normally do, especially since their first and foremost directive was getting the non-combatants out of there first, which Adam and his forces obviously took advantage of to control the general flow of the situation. Plus, with the room being as small as it relative to how many combatants there were and the sort of firepower they could unleash, it really worked to his advantage too, especially given his semblance.

Now, as for Hazel and how the fight between him and Jaune ultimately turned out, as stated in the narration, his semblance combined with his growing strength makes him a walking artillery fortress, able to tank whatever comes his way and dish out all sorts of attacks from damn near any range. However, Salem's plan naturally takes precedence, which requires a degree of subtlety still and not even he would dare risk her anger at the moment.

Additionally, thanks to a combination of everything said between him and Jaune and the mental effects the Dust injections were having on him (which, as the show seems to imply, really amplify his more aggressive/negative traits), he's just not in a good enough headspace anymore to continue the battle.

Plus, from here on out, I plan to really examine Hazel as a character now. There's a reason I made him Jaune's foil in this fic and that reason will be especially apparent in the coming chapters.

And on one final note – Jaune. As the last chapter demonstrated, he's started to break out of the mental hold his semblance has on him. However, he's not fully 'free' just yet nor near his full potential just yet either. He still has a fair bit more growth to do before he reaches that point, but when he does, I hope you all will enjoy it as much as I will enjoy writing it.

Until next time, everyone. Stay safe out there and take care!