Chapter 11: When It Falls
The lobby of the hospital buzzed with anxious energy, dozens of eyes peering out of the windows and doors facing the streets, a low, nervous murmur spilling out over them.
"Stay calm, everyone," One doctor was saying. "We're alright in here. We have security measures. Everything's going to be okay. We just need everyone to stay calm."
The unspoken caveat of what would happen if they didn't stay calm hung over the heads of the hospital's denizens.
"How long are we gonna be stuck here?" One patient, a younger girl, asked.
"Not much longer."
All eyes turned to the back of the crowd as a new figure began lurching his way forwards.
Sise Tsuki's eyes were locked on the exit, hard with fury. Behind him, he dragged Theia along, the greatsword scraping across the ground. His knuckles were bruised and bloody- the same blood speckled across the sword's segmented blade.
The green crystal blade hidden within, though, was glowing vibrantly from base to tip, speckles of the same green light floating into the air.
The huntsman continued to drag his way forwards, reaching the door before one of the security guards put a stern hand onto his shoulder. "I can't let you go out there, sir." The man said.
Tsuki simply glared the man down silently for a long few moments, until the guard relented, hands held in the air. The veteran huntsman nodded, opening the door manually, marching out into the chaotic streets of Vale.
He looked around himself for a long few moments, taking stock of the unfortunately high number of grimm, rogue Atlesian bots, and who knew what else. Sise shook his head as he peered around- before letting out a sharp whistle, ringing out through the relatively quiet city street.
All eyes- grimm and artificial alike- turned to him, a beowolf letting out a monstrous howl, before the creatures began to descend upon them, dozens of enemies charging the lone huntsman.
Tsuki calmly, but ungracefully, struggling with the weight, raised Theia high into the air, the blade beginning to glow more earnestly, green light coloring his arms as he pumped more of his aura into the sword. With one yell of effort and anger, he brought the blade crashing down to the ground.
Where the sword carved, a wave of green light began, blazing out into the street with ridiculous speed. As it carved forwards, it widened- and widened-
And widened, until the wave filled the street in a monstrous cone of energy. Any grimm or bots caught in it were lifted off of their feet, before being shredded apart by the energy.
The roaring of the attack ceased, and as suddenly as it was unleashed, the wave dispersed, plunging the street into eerie silence.
Tsuki fell to a knee, coughing hard, blood splattering onto the pavement before him, Theia dropped to the ground. He sat there for a long moment, before the doors to the hospital opened, a few guards hesitantly stepping out. Satisfied that the way was clear, they began feverishly ushering the doctors, nurses, and patients out into the street and towards the parking lot beyond, beginning the process of packing as many people into the vehicles as possible.
The guard who had attempted to stop Sise rushed forwards, helping the huntsman to his feet. "Thank you," He said, voice wavering. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."
Tsuki coughed again, shaking his head. "It's… my job."
"You've saved these people today. Thank you, thank you-"
"-Please… that's enough."
The guard nodded, beginning to help the barely conscious huntsman towards their escape- before the heavy flapping of wings made them stop, the guard's eyes widening in horror.
Sise, however, bowed his head, letting out a sigh of relief as a shadow passed over them. The guard spun on his heel, drawing a pistol and aiming it at the sky. The huntsman simply grabbed his forearm, lowering the gun. "It's a… friend."
The flapping got closer and louder, the guard's eyes disbelieving of what was coming towards them.
With an uproar of wind, and fallen black feathers, Corvus Gallant landed hard onto the asphalt, grey eyes looking over the two men. Tsuki patted the guard's shoulder, gesturing towards the parking lot with his head. "Go."
The guard shakily nodded, turning on his heel and taking off running.
The two huntsmen looked at each other, Corvus' massive, brilliant black wings folding against his back, his tailcoat long lost.
"You were… in town and didn't… even come see me…" Tsuki muttered, nearly falling before the taller warrior grabbed him, helping him to a standing position.
"You didn't invite me," The faunus shot back coolly, dragging his friend over to the fallen greatsword, hefting it up. "Saw your light show from three blocks away. How long have you known you could do that much?"
"Oh… about… now…"
Corvus snickered, wrapping both arms around his old teammate. "C'mon, Tsuki. Let's get you out of this hellhole."
"Please…"
With another rush of wind and beating wings, the two huntsmen took flight, soaring high into the sky and towards the outskirts of the city.
Vegas roared as he swung Dragon's Fang viciously, yet again parried away by Shinai, the samurai's purple eyes never once losing their burning hatred for his opponent. Gold immediately followed up with a shoulder bash, missing as Shinai spun away, metal boot striking out to catch him in the back of the knee, before following up with a knee of his own, striking his opponent at the base of his neck, the killer stumbling forwards.
Gold, though, immediately spun on his heel, blade slashing out in a wide arc, catching Shinai across the chest, sending the samurai stumbling away. The killer dashed after him, looking to push his advantage, face twisted in rage, teeth bared, wide eyes manic.
The huntsman recovered quickly, bringing Shi En to parry the golden blade into the air, turning on his heel to plant a vicious flat-footed kick to Vegas' chest, sending the killer soaring away, smashing against the fountain, water spilling out to drench the pavement below.
Gold growled, punching a hand down into the water, before shooting back to his feet, charging after his enemy, swinging out with wide slashes, never quite making contact as Shinai continued to skillfully avoid the criminal's attacks- parrying some, side-stepping others, Vegas' blade cutting through the pavement. The samurai took the opportunity to go on the offensive, a broad slash striking across Gold's chest, followed by another, the younger warrior pushing his enemy back, the heavy golden blade of the criminal too slow to block the incoming attacks.
Finally, Vegas managed to bring Dragon's Fang up, Shi En bouncing off of the sword, a vicious grin spreading across the killer's face, his free hand lashing out and grabbing the edge of Shinai's armor, pivoting and hurling him towards the fountain. The samurai smashed through the center piece, marble crashing down around him as he came slamming down into the metal floor of the fountain, the thin layer of water splashing up around him. Vegas leapt forwards, tackling the recovering huntsman to the ground, before dragging them both to their feet, bodily throwing Shinai away.
The samurai collided with a pillar, the pieces crumbling down around him. He slowly pushed himself to his hands and knees, gritting his teeth in pain, burning purple eyes turning to the giddy criminal scrambling from the ruins of the fountain. Shinai shot to his feet quickly, blade held at the ready, letting the criminal come to him- Vegas took the chance to charge forwards, tip of his blade dragging across the ground, throwing sparks up, before lunging forwards, sending Dragon's Fang straight at the samurai's heart.
Shinai leapt out of the way of the strike, boots meeting the remains of the column, vaulting over his enemy to land in a roll on the ground, immediately dashing forwards with a wicked stab of his own, missing as Vegas swiveled his body, Shi En impaling into the pillar. Gold slashed down at the outstretched arm of the younger warrior, Shinai pulling his limbs in at the last moment. He lashed out with a vicious palm strike, sending it straight for the killer's nose. Gold dodged the strike again, grabbing the samurai's arm and spinning, sending him flying back across the courtyard. Shinai's armored hand struck out, the katana ripping free from the pillar, smoothly catching it before stabbing it into the pavement, stalling his momentum.
Shinai looked up to Vegas, the madman's smile Cheshire-like, duel sets of hatred filled eyes meeting before they dashed towards each other again.
They didn't get far, though, before an explosion rocked the city. Both fighters stopped in their tracks, eyes shooting to the night sky, filled with flames;
The last Atlesian warship was enveloped in fire, slowly plummeting down to the city below.
Gold's eyes widened a touch. "Ah, shit. Roman," He turned back to Shinai with a snarl. "Lucky brats. I'll just have to make your death extra painful. As a last gift to him."
The duo raised their swords again, bringing them down in duel arcs towards one another.
Lance stopped mid-swing, skidding to a stand-still as he watched in surprise as the Atlesian android go limp, red lights fading.
"Oh!" He called out, blinking, a grin spreading across his face. "Ruby brought that ship down! Holy shit, she did it!"
"Hell yeah," Oracle muttered tiredly, dark bags hanging under her eyes, heavy smoke rising from her arms. "That's… one down… two t' go."
The swordsman turned on his heel to her, frowning. "Ah. Shit. O, you okay?"
"Yea', I'm fine. We ready to keep movin'?"
"No," The blonde stepped towards her, putting his hands on her shoulders, staring into her eyes. "Yeah, no. You're not good. You're dead on your feet."
She weakly slapped his hands away. "I'm fine. You can' tell me I'm not."
"I can. I will. I'm getting you back to the others, and you're getting out of here."
Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "And what about you."
"I've still got gas in the tank, and there's still people that need to get saved."
"I'm not-"
"You are, even if it's only because you can't stop me from draggin' your tired ass away."
Oracle stared him down for a long few moments, before sighing in resignation, body going limp. "Aight."
Lance threw her arm over his shoulder, helping the exhausted huntress limp back in the direction of their fellow huntsmen. "It's gonna be aight, O. We're both gonna get outta this mess one way or another."
She leaned her head against his shoulder, eyes slowly closing. "You better…"
"Oracle!" Yang shouted, dashing towards the two huntsmen, lilac eyes wide with terror.
Lance raised a hand to her. "She's alright. Just overdid it with the golden shots."
"Oh, you dumb, dumb hick," The brawler muttered, taking Oracle from the swordsman. "And where do you think you're going?"
He shrugged, looking back out at Beacon. "Oh, you know. Doin' my huntsman thing. No biggie."
"Lance-" She began sternly.
His blue eyes shifted from light-hearted to stone cold in an instant. "There's still people out there. I'm not leavin' until I know that everyone that can get out, did. Aight? You guys hold down the fort here. I'll be back," He hit her shoulder, smile coming back to his face. "C'mon, it's me. Lance. I'm way too hard to get rid of."
Yang looked from him, down to Oracle, sighing. "You better come back, dumbass."
"Wouldn't dream of it otherwise, bimbo."
The two blondes shared small smiles before he gave her a two fingered salute, dashing back out into the depths of Beacon. She watched him go for a moment, before turning down to the barely conscious form of Oracle hanging off her shoulder.
"Fine," She muttered, as much to herself as to the gunslinger. "I approve of him." The brawler turned on her heel, beginning the slow march to the small safe zone the huntsmen had cleared out, just inside the boundaries of the school campus.
Vegas' blade fell first, missing as Shinai feinted, Dragon's Fang burying itself into the stone. The samurai spun around his enemy, drawing a vicious strike across the killer's back, before immediately leaping, using his momentum to land a nasty kick across Gold's ear, the older warrior stumbling a few feet from the impact.
Shinai pushed his advantage, reappearing in a cloud of smoke above the killer, falling with a downward swing. Vegas dodged to the side at the last moment, letting the samurai drop to the floor, immediately turning, moving to kick Vegas' leg out from under him. The criminal leapt the strike, lashing out with a stab to his enemy's chest.
Shi En lashed back out, parrying the golden blade into the air, giving Shinai room to spin to his feet, a stab sent towards Vegas' throat. The killer's eyes widened as he swiveled out of the way at the last moment, the blade instead carving a thick lock of hair from his head.
Gold's hand went to his head, a scowl crossing his face as he let loose with another wide, wild swing, smashing his heavier blade against the base of Shi En's blade, sending the katana clattering to the ground. Shinai hardly reacted, striking out with his fist, the golden criminal's sword hand coming up to block against the blow, the same happening with the other arm-
Before the samurai struck out with a hard headbutt, Vegas' head flying back, his hands moving out to the side. Shinai immediately balled both hands into fists, cracking them against both of the killer's temples, Gold's ears immediately ringing from the blows.
Shinai lashed out with two forearms in quick succession, before planting a boot into Vegas' chest, then leapt, two more lightning fast kicks separating the fighters, the samurai scooping up Shi En as he leapt away. He landed in a spin, hurling the katana at his opponent.
Gold's grin returned, parrying the blade away to the outskirts of the courtyard, intently watching as the samurai shot to his feet with a scowl, dashing forwards. Shinai leapt into the air, jerking his hand back, his steel blade carving back through the air at Vegas' knees, sending a vicious flying kick at the killer's head.
The older warrior, though, left the ground as well, arcing his back with a smug, satisfied grin as he arced his back; ducking the kick, but leaping over the blade. Shinai immediately spun with the criminal, however, grabbing either side of his head, crashing him dome-first into the pavement. The huntsman landed in a roll, drawing Shi En back to his hand, resolutely marching towards the dazed, groaning criminal, moving onto his hands and knees.
Without a second of hesitation, the samurai sent a heavy swipe to the back of Vegas' neck.
Rainier's feet hit the pavement in a rotating, mismatched pattern, the faunus' gait quickly deteriorating, body screaming in agony from the exertion, his eyes hazy; his skin, hair, and tracksuit soaked with sweat.
After a moment, he ducked to the side into a long-abandoned shop, collapsing onto his hands and knees, struggling for breath, wheezing, muscles quaking.
"Come on," He hissed to himself. "You have more than this. Come on… come on…"
His hand lashed out to grab the edge of a display, shakily struggling back to his feet, tail limp behind him. He stood for a moment, using the ransacked shelf for support as he mustered all of the strength he could. With one last deep breath, and a shaky swallow, mouth bone dry, he turned on his heel, lurching back out into the street.
The Vacuoan sighed, whirling around to stare out at the city, the night awash with flames. "Just a little longer." He whispered, before taking off at a run again, slowly forcing himself to speed up. The faunus rushed to and fro, ears and eyes peeled for anyone- huntsmen, civilian, or otherwise- that was in need of help, sticking near buildings, the burning home with the father and child never far from mind.
Then, his eyes shot to the sky, to a nevermore flying overhead- much smaller than the one who had attacked the colosseum, but still decently sized nonetheless. In its talons, though, was the starkly obvious form of a human or faunus. Rainier's eyes narrowed, leaping into the air, kicking off the building to his side with the aid of a cannon shot, careening towards the grimm and its captive. He collided with the creature, striking out with a vicious kick, sending all three crashing down to the ground- the figure rolling out of its grip, the nevermore going limp, and the Vacuoan himself tumbling across the pavement, letting out a scream of pain.
Despite that, he scrambled back to his feet, stumbling towards the other teen who'd pushed himself onto his hands and knees; his skin unnaturally pale, flesh and clothes splattered red. Rainier pulled his jacket off, intent on handing it to the shaking boy.
"Hey," The faunus said, keeping his voice as still as he could. "I've got you-" As he neared him, the boy collapsed, only failing to fall to the asphalt as the huntsmen dashed forwards, catching him in his arms. "Talk to me, friend."
He turned him over, the boy staring up at him with hazy, unfocused eyes, mouth gaping, struggling to form words, hands limply reaching out for the faunus' face.
"Kassandra…" The teen managed to utter, voice cracking and weak. "Tell… I'm… sorry…" He trailed off, hands slowly falling, shaky breaths slowing. His eyes turned to the night sky, and he was gone.
Rainier stared at him wide-eyed.
The moment seemed to drag on for eternity, the faunus staring down into the unmoving teen's face.
Slowly, the world began to come back to the Vacuoan, the unsettlingly real feeling of something warm soaking his arms beginning to register.
Rainier gasped back to life, waves of horror washing over him as he clambered to his feet, looking down at the red coating his arms, mortified gasps escaping his lips as he began feverishly trying to wipe the blood off of him in vain, scrambling backwards from the dead teen, chest rising and falling shallowly, a panic beginning to overtake him.
The Vacuoan turned on his heel, stumbling away from the boy and the nevermore, grabbing his jacket as he ran.
Shi En moved centimeters from Vegas' neck, flying true- but not before the killer looked out of the corner of his eye at Shinai, gold eyes wide with manic satisfaction, a twisted smile crossing his face.
He corkscrewed in place with ridiculous speed, a hand latching onto Shinai's gauntlet, sending the samurai careening over him to smash into the pavement. Vegas didn't let go of him, however, rolling so that he was on top of the samurai, still clutching the captured arm.
"Third time's a charm!" He barked out, other hand reaching out to latch onto the huntsman's face, covering his mouth, his semblance activating, the samurai's skin beginning to burn in ungodly pain. "Here we are, samurai! Your last moments! Only mine! Breathe it in- I'll be the only one here to watch you die!"
Shinai roared in fury behind the hand, bucking his hips as he tried in vain to knock the larger fighter off- then his eyes narrowed, taking a deep steadying breath.
Poof.
Vegas blinked owlishly as he struggled to comprehend what had happened- then reality whirred back to him, the wind rushing passed his ears as he and Shinai began to free fall, hundreds of feet in the air.
He let out a panicked scream, before turning furious eyes to the samurai; the huntsman glared right back at him, sending out a swipe at his enemy as they continued to free fall. Gold spun with the blow, whirling out of control as one of the dorm roofs began to rush towards him.
Both samurai and killer crashed hard against the roof, tiles dislodging and drywall cracking with the impact, the two fighters tumbling across the roof- falling to the ground far below.
Poof.
Shinai landed in a crouch, huffing in exhaustion, the duel Death Blossom taking a heavy blow out of his aura reserves. Vegas, though, plummeted directly into the pavement, a massive spiderweb of cracks spilling out from under him.
The samurai dashed forwards, immediately penalty kicking the criminal across the jaw, stumbling forwards with the excess momentum. Gold groaned as he shifted in place, shakily pushing himself onto his knees, glaring with pure hatred at the turning samurai.
"YOU THINK THAT THIS IS WINNABLE?!" He roared, voice cracking. "YOU THINK- EVEN IF YOU KILL ME; WE HAVE THE DAMN MAIDEN! WE HAVE THE WYVERN! YOU HAVE LOST, SAMURAI!"
Shinai didn't react, beginning his steady march back to his foe, Gold stumbling to his feet, face twisting in fury as he roared at his enemy.
"YOU, OZPIN, THIS PIECE OF SHIT WORLD WE LIVE IN- YOU'VE LOST! OUR QUEEN HAS MADE DAMN SURE OF THAT!"
That made the samurai's eyes narrow, stopping in place, twirling his blade. "Why." He asked solemnly.
"Why? Why?! WHY?!" Gold struck out with Dragon's Fang, carving through the dormitory's doors like it was nothing. "BECAUSE THIS WORLD'S GOTTA END! AND WHEN SHE GIVES US OUR NEW ONE- IT WILL BE A FUCKING PARADISE!" He trembled in rage, hands gripping into white-knuckled fists. "And none of you are gonna live to see it. But you… I'm going to hang your corpse from the highest rafters, the grandest gate! So everyone will know that I! KILLED! YOU!"
He let out a scream of pure rage and hatred, before lunging forwards.
Gail huffed, hand pressed against Ulysses to keep standing, dark eyes looking up to the giant's own. "…You okay?" She asked quietly.
He looked down to her, one hand reaching out to wrap around her arm, holding her steady. The hulking huntsman's eyes were his own- but glassy, almost blank. He nodded, looking her up and down himself.
Yang stopped by the duo mid-run, lilac eyes turning to them in concern. "You guys holding up okay?"
The archer gave her a weak thumbs up, managing a small smile- before it dropped. "Where… are you going?"
The brawler looked into Beacon, sighing. "Blake went in there, and no one's seen her since. I've gotta go find her."
"Have we heard from Shinai?" Gail asked.
Yang shook her head. "Nothing. He won't answer his Scroll either. I'm going to try and get as many of our own out as we can."
"Okay," The taller girl whispered as the brawler took off again. "Be safe…" She watched her go until she was out of sight, face falling. "I hope Daria and Nash got out okay…" She turned her gaze to the other huntsmen around her- Oracle, Weiss, Ren, and Nora, barely conscious; others still standing, but all looking exhausted. The students had given up trying to retake Beacon, simply holding the line for as long as they could as the last people escaped or were rescued from the campus.
The archer sighed, fishing her Scroll from her pocket, trying Rainier's number again- going immediately to voicemail. She buried her face in her hands in frustration for a moment- before trying Daria.
After what felt like eternity, the diminutive huntress answered. "…Gail?"
"Oh, thank the gods…" She whispered. "Are you two alright?"
"I…" Daria trailed off. "No. Nash…"
"Is he…"
"He's alive. His hands… they're… it's not good…" The DRGN leader sucked in a shaky breath.
"Who… who did it?"
"Nash…" There was a beat of silence. "Nash said the golden guy did it."
Gail didn't say anything for a long moment. "Are you two-"
"We're in Vale, they're making a safe zone… please… get here."
The archer looked at Ulysses, before turning her gaze to Beacon Tower, the Wyvern swooping around it, more and more grimm falling from its inky flesh. "…Not until everyone's out,"
Daria said nothing.
"Dar-"
"Where's Rainier."
"I… I don't know. He won't answer."
Her leader went silent for a moment, the barest hints of a smothered sob coming through, before the Mistrali sniffed. "Okay. Talk later."
The line went dead.
Gail dropped her Scroll to the ground, closing her eyes, face falling in misery. Ulysses hesitantly reached a hand up, clasping her shoulder and giving it a small squeeze.
"Thank you." The archer whispered.
"RAINIER!"
The huntress' eyes shot back open, turning to where Weiss seemed to gasp back to life, pale eyes wide. The faunus stumbled into the courtyard, lurching towards his friends and teammates, eyes wide, face a mask of horror- the front of his chest and arms coated with drying blood. The Vacuoan collapsed as he reached the safety of his fellow huntsman, going limp on the ground. The students still standing rushed to him, all eyes locked onto the huffing, wheezing faunus in wide-eyed concern.
"Gods." Neptune muttered.
Weiss shot to her feet, scrabbling her way to him, hands gripping the back of his dark shirt as she reached him. "Rainier. Rainier, please- are you-" She stopped as he slowly shifted onto his knees, catching sight of the blood. "Oh my- are you hurt? Are you-"
"It's not mine." He whispered, voice hoarse. He said nothing else, pale yellow eyes lifeless as he stared at the pavement. The Atlesian heiress' arms went to his shoulders, looking him up and down in shock. She pulled him into a hug, regardless of the sticky, nearly dried blood covering him. He didn't return it, hardly reacting.
"What happened, man? Where you been?" Sun asked, kneeling down to his fellow Vacuoan. "We haven't seen you since the Colosseum."
His mouth moved to form words, though nothing came out for a long moment. Finally, he swallowed hard, deigning to look around at his friends. "Where's… where's everyone else?"
"Yang, Lance, Shinai went back into the school," Weiss muttered, leaning back from him, her momentary shot of energy spent, eyes cast back down to the asphalt. "Daria and… and Nash went into the city. He… he's hurt."
"Pyrrha?" The faunus asked quietly. "Jaune?"
"They-"
"They left," Gail cut in, hands folded in front of her. "We don't know where."
Rainier looked up at her, as if just registering his partner, eyes scanning over her form, before he turned forwards again, shaking his head. "…This wasn't suppose to happen." He said quietly.
"Hey-" Sun said, putting his hands on the wolf's shoulders. "Breathe, man. In and out. Just breathe."
The other faunus didn't comply, glassy eyes nearly unblinking.
"You're gonna be okay. We're gonna be okay," Sun continued. "Weiss- help, please."
The Atlesian leaned forwards again, pulling the wolf into another hug. This time, he reciprocated, holding her to himself tightly, face buried into her neck
Shinai sucked in a breath, dashing backwards, out of reach of Vegas' wild strikes, broad slashes getting closer and closer, the killer losing himself in a mad rage. The samurai's eyes widened as he felt the heat of a raging fire get closer behind him, his back nearly touching the flames. He Death Blossomed away moments before Gold's blade struck true, reappearing a short few meters away, stumbling as he landed.
Vegas turned on his heel, frothing with fury. "STOP RUNNING, AND JUST DIE!"
He charged after the defensive samurai, leaping and stabbing out with Dragon's Fang, missing as Shinai leapt to the side, landing in a sloppy roll, before scrambling back to his feet, Shi En's blade pointed steadfastly at his enemy- stock still, despite his muscles screaming at him in protest.
Gold landed in a roll of his own, crashing his fists into the ground, lips curled back in a snarl, the coy, giddy warrior from earlier in the battle long gone. He turned on his heel as he climbed to his feet, manic golden eyes not leaving the samurai's as he furiously began to storm towards his opponent, body trembling in hatred. He roared and lunged forwards again, a vicious blade strike aimed towards Shinai's head, missing only as Shi En came up skillfully, parrying the blade away.
The two fought to a standstill; the killer's violent, enraged strikes slashing out wildly, the samurai's own blade masterfully parrying any shots away, even as he himself began to falter, his strength rapidly leaving him.
Finally, Vegas managed to feint wide, Shinai's katana striking out to parry the blow, overextending himself with wide purple eyes. Gold brought his knee up, burying it into the samurai's stomach, getting him to double over, a gasp of air rushing from him. The golden criminal immediately followed up, bashing the base of Dragon's Fang against the back of his enemy's head, sending the samurai face first into the pavement, a nasty crack ringing out through the courtyard.
Vegas planted a brutal kick into Shinai's midsection, sending the samurai rolling away, groaning quietly in pain as he slowly began pushing himself to his knees. Gold didn't give the samurai long to relent, slashing out viciously, catching his enemy across the cheek-
With a small splatter of blood.
Gold let out a cackle of satisfaction, rushing towards Shinai, eyes wide with manic glee. The huntsman, momentarily distracted by the blood beginning to fall down his cheek, didn't notice the killer's charge until he was already upon him, golden blade swinging out horizontally.
At the last moment, Shinai brought his katana up, the two blades meeting as he saved himself from a quick death. He reached up with his other hand, bracing Shi En as Vegas bared down on him with all of his weight, leering with a wide, twisted smile into the samurai's face.
The huntsman scowled in effort, forcing his body to push with all of his strength, bucking Gold forwards-
Schink.
Time slowed to a crawl for Shinai, his purple eyes widening, staring at Shi En-
The blade split in two, Dragon's Fang cutting through the metal, sending the two shards into the air, the firelight shining in their reflection. His eyes followed their trajectory as they fell to the ground, bouncing slightly before coming to a stop.
All at once, Shinai came back to reality, Vegas' golden blade ripping through the exposed half of the samurai's shirt, cutting through the black cloth to the flesh underneath, carving a decent gouge into his chest. The samurai spun with the blow, gaze never leaving the halves of Shi En tumbling away, purple eyes wide in pure shock.
Vegas stumbled forwards with the pure momentum from his follow-through, nearly tripping over Shinai, before catching himself, turning quickly to the samurai.
The younger warrior hadn't risen to his feet yet- nor had he moved at all, wide, purple eyes staring at the remains of his sword. Slowly, he lifted himself to his hands and knees, crawling forwards to pick the halves of Shi En up, hands shaking, face stuck in an endless mask of horror.
"Oops," Vegas cooed lowly, cocking his head to the side. "So that's it, hm?" He muttered, voice little more than a low rumble, blade dragging across the ground, throwing sparks in the air as he began to lurch towards his enemy. "All I had to do… was break your little sword? You're pathetic,"
Shinai never looked up at him.
"That's the thing I've learned about you people," The killer continued. "That's all it takes… you lose your suit, your sword, your friends; and what are you? Just children. It's a blessing that I kill you… because the world would do so much worse to you,"
He stopped before the samurai, crouching down to eye level with him, head cocked to the side, looking into his enemy's pale face, his shocked eyes. "But you? Mm… I'm going to enjoy this; this isn't business. This is personal. This-" He gestured around them, at the campus burning to the ground around them. "The electricity in the air, when you're just aching to kill someone…" He took a deep breath in. "…I haven't felt this in a long time. For our last moments- remember the name Vegas Gold. Remember the man that finally killed you,"
Vegas rose to his feet, taking a step back to give himself room, staring intently into Shinai's face, Dragon's Fang raising high into the air. "Game."
Airbuses began to descend onto Beacon, civilians boarding first, slowly shuttling the survivors away from the school
Port and Oobleck climbed out of one, looking out over the huntsmen. "That's it!" The former professor called out, waving for them to begin boarding. "Everybody on board! This is a mandatory evacuation!"
"A safe zone has been established in Vale!" Oobleck added. "Please, remain calm and listen to Atlas personnel!"
The students' eyes, however, barely turned to the teachers, instead locked onto the two bodies on the ground.
No one even noticed as Ruby came charging forwards, Zwei by her side, barking urgently. The short huntress skid to a stop with wide eyes, staring at her friends and teammates. "What-"
"Ruby!" Weiss cried, pulling herself away from Rainier, rising to her feet and turning to her leader.
The two partners embraced. "I'm so glad I found you guys!" Ruby said, letting out a sigh of relief.
"Where have you-"
"Don't worry, I'm fine! What's going on?"
Weiss struggled for words for a moment, face falling in grief, turning to the ground.
"Weiss?" Ruby asked, voice quiet. "What is it?"
The Atlesian stepped to the side, giving her leader a better view of what everyone else's gazes were turned towards;
Blake and Yang were laying on the ground with the other injured huntsmen- the former was curled into herself, her midsection wrapped heavily in bloody bandages. The latter huntress was unconscious-
Her right arm missing from the elbow down, the remaining stub wrapped in bandages as well.
The former White Fang shakily reached over to her partner, tears falling freely down her face. "I'm sorry," She whispered. Ruby reached a shaky hand of her own out to her teammate and sister, tears of her own welling in her eyes. "I'm so sorry…" Blake finished, screwing her eyes tight, face falling in agony.
"Yang…" The leader of RWBY said quietly, voice wavering in shock.
"It was Adam," Rainier whispered. "It was Adam. Adam's here."
"Hey," Sun said, walking up to the short huntress. "She's gonna be okay. The soldiers have a ship ready to take you guys to Vale."
"But…" Nora began weakly. "Jaune and Pyrrha are still missing." She tried to climb to her feet- before collapsing, holding her side, a groan of pain escaping her lips.
"What?!" Ruby cried, silver eyes widening.
"Lance…" Oracle muttered, not opening her eyes. "Shinai… they're… still in there."
Sun shook his head sternly, blue eyes hard. "Look, guys, that giant thing is still circling the school! Hell, even the White Fang are pulling out! We all have to leave, now!"
"We're not- leaving!" Ren spat, trying in vain to climb to his feet, before falling to his knees, face screwing up in pain.
Ulysses clenched his hands into tight fists. "Not without my team."
Sun moved to retort, before turning to Blake and Yang, face falling in concern.
"I'll find them…" Ruby said quietly, before adding more confidently, "I'll find them, and I'll bring them back."
"No!" Weiss said. "We will find them," She looked over to the other huntsmen. "Watch after Blake and Yang. We'll be back."
The two huntresses moved to run off- before the Atlesian jerked to a stop.
She turned, to Rainier, his hand gripping her wrist, head bowed, silver hair falling around his head messily. He said nothing, still holding her for a long moment.
Then he let go silently, body going limp.
"I'll be back," She said quietly. "I promise."
Rainier said nothing, gaze not rising from the ground. She shakily began to run off, joining Ruby ahead as they dashed back into the school.
"You better be!" Sun spat, gesturing angrily at them. "Buncha idiots."
The elevator of Beacon tower screeched audibly as it soared ever upwards, cutting through the smoke that had filled the shaft. Finally, it skidded to a stop suddenly. There was a beat of silence, before the doors went flying open.
Pyrrha's sword went flying from the elevator, soaring out into Ozpin's tattered office, red and gold weapon spinning through the air.
Cinder simply leaned to the side, a smug grin on her face as it tumbled past her.
The sword was swiftly followed by the Mistrali warrior's shield, Pyrrha herself quickly flying after it, both huntress and weapon slamming into the criminal with a dull 'whoomph', the red-headed warrior planting both boots onto its bronze surface, pushing off and away, shield falling to the ground.
Pyrrha landed solidly onto the ground, green eyes hard as she stared at Cinder. Her hands glowed black, sword and shield shooting back through the air to land in her hands, holding them out in a battle stance.
With a smug grin, Cinder lifted her hands- rising from the ground, a pillar of flame beneath her. She continued to wave, two streaks of fire shooting from her eyes, glowing brilliantly in the dark clocktower. She swatted a hand through the air, a slash of fire soaring towards Pyrrha, her shield rising to block it on instinct.
Immediately, the huntress rolled away, narrowly dodging a beam of fire blasting from Cinder's hand. The Mistrali shot back to her feet, spinning as she avoided another blast, balls of fire forming in a loose circle behind the criminal.
Cinder, her smirk fading slightly, let loose another beam, this time making impact as Pyrrha lifted her shield, the fire soaring around as she dug her boots into the ground. She leapt up and towards her opponent, pushing through the blast of fire, body curled behind the safety of her shield. Cinder dropped the attack as the huntress reached her, Pyrrha twirling and sending a vicious stab straight towards the killer's heart.
Cinder simply raised a hand, catching the blade in the air.
The criminal twirled her opponent in the air, letting loose a small fireball, sending Pyrrha flying back towards the elevator, crashing against the wall with a shout of pain, weapons falling from her hands. She shot to her feet quickly as Cinder soared towards her like a bullet, two pillars of flame blasting her towards the younger fighter.
Pyrrha leapt as the killer reached her, planting her boots onto the wall and narrowly swiveling her body around Cinder, looping one arm around the criminal's own. The huntress pushed off, flipping over her opponent and bodily threw her across the office.
The moment Cinder's shoulders touched the floor, she pushed off, flipping gracefully backwards, landing on her feet, smug look dropping in shock as the huntress reached her in moments, bashing into her with her shield. Pyrrha continued to twirl with her momentum, two swift slashes let loosed. Cinder raised her hands to the attacks, small sparks of red energy deflecting the blows away, before flipping backwards, flames following her foot's arc, heel crashing under the Mistrali's chin, sending her flying into the air.
Pyrrha righted herself quickly, hurling her javelin back forwards as she tumbled away. Cinder simply raised a hand quickly, bashing the weapon away, immediately lashing out to block the spinning bronze shield as well, gaze turning back towards the huntress, now twisted into a scowl.
The Mistrali huntress pushed off of the wall, shooting back across the office to slam into Cinder, wrapping her arms around her as they crashed into the ground, a small explosion echoing out around them.
Pyrrha quickly hefted her opponent back to her feet, sword slowly edging towards the criminal's throat, Cinder's hands wrapped around the blade, struggling against the younger warrior's grasp.
The two warriors scowled as the Wyvern flew around the tower, screeching; the movement of the beast drawing Pyrrha's gaze from her enemy, unaware of Cinder's hands beginning to glow with heat, the gold and red sword beginning to rend in her grip, twisting the metal with ease.
The Wyvern let loose another roaring screech, turning and soaring back towards the clocktower-
And Pyrrha's sword cleaved into thirds, breaking her grip and giving Cinder enough room to let loose with a vicious elbow, the force of the blow sending out a shockwave, the huntress flying away, the glass of the office shattering.
The grimm simultaneously crashed into the tower, ripping the very top of the clocktower off, massive gears falling around the fighters.
Pyrrha groaned from her spot sitting against the wall, shaking the impact from her head, before beginning to crawl forwards, trying to block the pain from her mind, the bronze of her shield tantalizingly close.
Cinder stared down smugly at her younger opponent, floating back in the air, head cocked to the side. The Mistrali's mind raced as she looked around the office, gaze shooting around, taking in the motley of gears around them.
With a shout of exertion, she leapt to her feet, hands glowing black as she swept them through the air, a massive half of a rent gear flying towards Cinder, impacting solidly and crashing the criminal down into the ground with a grunt. Pyrrha dove for her shield, pulling it into her grasp, landing in a roll, holding her shield above her.
Cinder shot like a bullet back into the air, the gear flying away, a scowl planted on her face. She let loose a flurry of fireballs, missing some as the Mistrali dashed and leapt around them- before finally making contact, sending Pyrrha tumbling away, fire littering the floor of Ozpin's office.
The criminal didn't get much time to relish in the small victory, as the bronze shield came spinning back towards her, a hand lashing out to bash it away-
And then her ember eyes widened in shock, turning upwards as dozen of gears floated above her. Pyrrha grit her teeth in concentration, hands waving in front of her, holding the hulking pieces of metal up. With a wave of her hand, her shield came back towards, taking Cinder's legs out from under her. Immediately, a gear collided with the killer's midsection, driving her down towards the ground. Pyrrha let out a growl, clenching her hands together, the remainder of the gears forming around the criminal, crushing down around her.
They'd only smothered her for a moment, before an explosion rang out through the clocktower, the gears flying away; one heading straight towards Pyrrha. The huntress didn't get the chance to react, the heavy hunk of metal colliding against her shield, sending her soaring back to slam into the wall again, a scream of pain escaping her lips as she fell to the ground.
Lance swung his greatsword out in a wide swing, cleaving the grimm's head clean from its body, joining its brethren dissipating on the ground. He let out a breath, huffing in exertion. "Holy shit," He muttered, looking up at the circling Wyvern high above. "I hate your friggin' guts."
He shook his head, continuing to march on. "Captain!" He called out, peering around the flames that had consumed the campus. "Captain, poof if you can hear me!"
There was no response. He groaned, shaking his head. "If I've gotta spend one more friggin' minute in this hellhole, so help me, Captain."
He continued his steady march forwards for only a few steps, when a door came crashing open, a beowolf leaping from its interior latching its fangs around his arm. He let out a shout of surprise and pain as the duo pinwheeled from the momentum, the grimm trying to drag him off.
Lance, instead, scowled, passing his greatsword from his captured sword arm to his free hand, bashing the pommel against the creature's skull- once, twice, thrice- before it finally let go, stumbling backwards, disoriented. The swordsman skillfully flipped Iron Maw around, pirouetting in place, the massive sword carving through the air, before bisecting the grimm in two. He sighed, scowling at the beast.
"Stupid jumpscare mother-" He trailed off, hissing in pain as waves of agony began to wash over his arm… and his skin began to get soaked in warm liquid. He stabbed his sword into the ground, reaching over with his non-injured hand, and began ripping his sleeve off at the shoulder, letting it fall to the ground.
He stared at the bleeding wound wrapping around his upper arm, blood falling, thankfully not too heavily, down the rest of his arm, pale skin dying red. He sucked in a breath. "Ooh, that ain't good."
The swordsman picked his sleeve back up off of the ground, trying- with much effort- to wrap it around the wound, pulling tight with a wince, the bleeding beginning to slow.
Ripping Iron Maw back out of the ground, he looked off to the side, back the way he had come- airbuses landing, and taking off, thankfully finally beginning to usher civilians, and hopefully the other huntsmen, away.
Then he turned towards Beacon Tower, the Wyvern landing at the clocktower, Ozpin's office getting torn to shreds by the beast as it settled in. But more importantly than that; the chaotic glow of flames emanating from the shell of the tower, accompanied by the sound of metal striking against metal.
His eyes widened. "That's definitely not good."
He looked between his two destinations for a moment- before taking off towards the CCT tower, greatsword held over his shoulder.
Cinder smiled at Pyrrha, holding a bow high, knocking an arrow tightly. The huntress let out a growl as she shot to her feet, dashing forwards and twirling, her shield cutting through the air towards the criminal. Cinder let the arrow fly, arrowhead meeting the edge of the shield- and began to shatter into glowing ashes, the bronze shield flying through it-
Then reformed on the other side, never loosing a hint of momentum.
The arrow flew true, ripping through Pyrrha's boot and piercing straight through. She screamed in pain as she fell to her knees, huffing as she tried to block the agony from her mind, stumbling back to a standing base;
And then fell again with another scream, hand shakily held out towards her pierced limb, hand glowing as she shattered it in two, letting the halves fall to the ground, pain allayed somewhat, turning back onto her hands and knees.
Cinder sauntered towards the huntress, shaking her head. "It's unfortunate you were promised a power that was never truly yours to begin with," She rounded towards Pyrrha's head, kneeling down and holding her chin, turning the warrior's green gaze to her own. "But take comfort in knowing; I will use it in ways you never could have imagined."
Pyrrha weakly pulled away, staring determinedly up at the killer. "...Do you believe in destiny?" She whispered.
The smile dropped from Cinder's face, eyes going hard. "Yes."
She rose to her feet, bow reforming in her hands as she stepped back.
She knocked an arrow, staring down its length at Pyrrha.
She fired.
The arrow pierced Pyrrha's chest, a gasp escaping her, green eyes widening. The spot the arrow made contact with began to glow, smoke rising into the night sky.
Pyrrha put a hand to the wound, shakily letting loose choked gasps, struggling for breath.
Cinder strode towards her, cupping a hand against her face. The legendary huntress' form flashed golden-
And she began to disappear in a cloud of ash, whisked away by the wind.
Her crown hit the ground with a dull, empty clatter.
"Weiss!" Lance shouted, skidding to a stop at the base of Beacon Tower, eyes wide as he looked to the pale girl.
She turned to him, eyes equally as wide. "Lance! Where have you been?!"
"Looking for you dumb assholes! Where's-"
The Atlesian pointed at the tower, face a mask of fear. He followed her gaze to the red blur dashing up it. "Pyrrha's up there!"
"What the hell is- what the hell is Ruby- WHAT THE HELL?!"
"I don't know, alright?! Jaune told us that that someone powerful was up there, that Ozpin- that we don't know what happened to Ozpin, and that Pyrrha was going to fight them!"
"AND WHERE THE HELL IS-"
"I don't know!" She snapped back. "We just need to get-"
They were interrupted by an ear-piercing scream of grief, Ruby disappearing over the edge.
"PYRRHA!"
Their eyes went wide in shock and horror, shooting to the clocktower high above.
"Ruby?" Weiss whispered, eyes going wide.
"What even-" The swordsman didn't get a chance to finish his thought-
As a brilliant, white supernova enveloped the entire top half of the tower, spilling out dozens of meters to the sides, the light bright enough to make the huntsmen below have to shield their eyes.
"RUBY!" Weiss shouted, face falling in terror.
Gold turned on his heel with wide eyes as Beacon Tower was enveloped in light, golden eyes widening in terror and realization.
"Cinder," He whispered, voice wavering. His breathing began to rise and fall faster and faster as the possibilities began to fill his mind. He instinctively began to run towards the tower- then stopped, turning back to Shinai. "This…" He raised his blade again, before turning back to the tower. His body began to tremble as his gaze shot back and forth. He let out a bellowing scream of fury. "YOU'RE LUCKY, SAMURAI!" He roared. "YOU'RE LUCKY! I'LL BE BACK FOR YOU!"
He let loose another scream, curling into himself in pure frustration and anger, before taking off at a dead sprint to the tower, climbing the sides of buildings with ease, making his way ever upwards and upwards.
Leaving Shinai kneeling in the midst of his burning school, purple eyes staring down at the remains of the sword- not even mustering tears.
Just simply staring as Beacon burned around him.
Lance and Weiss dashed to the base of the tower, the swordsman looking over at her with deadly serious blue eyes. "Can you get me up there?"
"I- yes! I can!"
"Good, then-"
They froze at the sound of heavy wings beating behind them, turning on their heels; Corvus was speedily flying passed them, and up, ascending like a black bullet, before disappearing across the threshold of the shell of the clocktower.
"Who was that?!" Weiss snapped.
"I don't friggin' know!" Lance shot back, the duo backing up, looking up with duel grimaces of helplessness, waiting anxiously.
There were several beats of silence- before Corvus came barreling back off of the tower, speeding down towards them. He hit the ground hard, rising from a crouch, wings folding behind him.
In his hands was Ruby- unconscious, but still breathing.
Weiss let out a sob of relief, dashing forwards to the huntsmen. Lance, though, didn't move, face rising into a smile, before immediately falling.
"…Where's Pyrrha?"
Corvus slowly looked up at him, grey eyes dark with his answer. "…She was the only one I found."
There was a flurry of movement, Qrow Branwen dashing up to them. "Ruby!" He shouted, skidding to a stop, hands hovering over the girl. "What the hell happened up there?"
The faunus passed the girl to her uncle, face stony. "…Silver eyes, Qrow."
"Shit." The huntsman said, sucking in a breath.
Corvus didn't respond to him, reaching to his belt-
And pulled Pyrrha's crown off of it. He extended it to Lance. "…Sorry, kid."
Lance swallowed hard, blue eyes widening as he stared at the offered accessory. He slowly took it from the veteran huntsman. "…No," He whispered. "No, that's- there's-"
"That was all that was up there." Corvus said, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"What about the person she was fighting? Maybe they-"
Qrow and the faunus shared a knowing look, the latter shaking his head. "She was gone too."
"She?!"
"She. But… there…" He sighed. "Your friend's gone, kid. Sorry."
"How do you know?!" Weiss pleaded, face crumbling in grief, holding onto the barest glimmer of hope. "If she's-"
"Weiss," Qrow said softly. "…We've gotta go."
That made the Atlesian fall apart, tears beginning to fall down her face, shaky sobs spilling out, her hands flying to her mouth.
Lance swallowed hard, forcing his face into a scowl, teeth grit as he tried in vain to keep his own tears in. "No." He spat.
"Excuse me?" Corvus asked, voice losing its sympathetic tone. "We. Have to. Go. Right now."
"Not without the captain." The swordsman shot back.
"Not without- there's no one left, kid!" The faunus hissed. "Everyone here is gone. And we've gotta go! Before it's too late."
"I'm not-"
"You don't have a choice."
The duo stared down for a long few moments, watery blue staring into cold grey.
After a few moments, Qrow shook his head, an irritated scowl painted onto his own face. "Corvus- take the kid. I'll get them to safety."
"Qrow-" The faunus began.
"Just. Do it. If you find Kyani, great, if you don't, you get out."
Corvus stared at him for a moment, before snapping his attention back to the swordsman, holding a finger up. "You've got five minutes, kid. Five minutes! If we don't find him, we're out of here."
Lance nodded. "Then let's go," He stalled, gaze falling onto Ruby's unmoving face, swallowing hard. "Stay safe, you guys." His scowl came back, and he turned on his heel, jogging out into Beacon, Corvus right behind him.
The two huntsmen frantically scrambled around the campus, Lance shouting out for Shinai urgently. "CAPTAIN! CAPTAIN!"
Corvus shook his head as they wheeled around. "It's useless, kid, we've gotta go."
"Not-"
"I said you had five minutes, and that's up! I'm not letting you die out here, kid! Alright?"
They stared off for a moment- before Lance shook his head. "Go. I'm not leaving without him."
"You don't have a choice. I'll knock your ass out and drag you back to Vale if I have to." Corvus shot back, grey eyes challenging. They locked gazes again, glaring one another down. After a long few moments, the swordsman averted his gaze, sighing in resignation-
Then his eyes widened in shock. He took off running away from the faunus, towards a billowing wall of flames- without hesitating, he leapt forwards, through it, screaming out in pain. He crashed down on the other side, a grimace cladding his face. Despite the burning pain, though, he shot back to his feet-
And dead sprinted towards Shinai.
The samurai was still on his knees, holding the two shards of Shi En tightly, the bottom left half of his face covered in blood, more blood falling from his hands where he was clutching the halves of the blade tightly, purple eyes stuck in a state of shock, never leaving the katana, even as his teammate came rushing up to him, falling into a slide.
The swordsman shook his leader urgently, grabbing his head and forcing him to look up. "Captain- Shinai- it's me, Lance. We've gotta go!"
Shinai slowly blinked, breaking himself from his trance, finally registering his teammate's presence. "L… Lance?"
The blonde huntsman let out a sigh of relief, hefting his leader to his feet. "Yeah, it's me, captain. We've gotta go."
"…Vegas. Vegas Gold."
"I'm sorry?"
"That's his name, the killer. Vegas Gold."
"Cool, that's great- we've. Got to. Go."
There was a rush of feathers as Corvus landed next to them, grey eyes appraising. "Good, great, we've got him. It's time to go," Lance nodded, the faunus wrapping his arms around the duo. "I can get the three of us out of the fire, but we're gonna have to go on foot after that."
"Fine," Lance snapped, patience wearing thing. "Just get us out of here."
The veteran huntsman, not looking very impressed with his younger counterpart, nodded nonetheless, the trio taking flight.
The transport ship piloted away from Beacon Academy, the school's enormous, sprawling campus wreathed in flames, crawling with grimm; hulking buildings burning, some already having collapsed, its pristine, white walls dark with soot. The CCT tower's top half was borderline gone, the clocktower nearly nonexistent- attached to it, was the Wyvern, its skin hard stone, unmoving- little more than a statue, staring out over the school.
The huntsmen stared out at their academy as it began to disappear out of view. Team JNPR, or… what was left of them, were huddled together, Jaune clutching Pyrrha's crown tightly in his hands, sobbing over it, Ren and Nora holding him tightly, tears of their own spilling down their faces.
Gail was standing in the corner, staring at the trio, face streaked with tears, though, no more were falling anew, the girl falling into her usual silence. Rainier, similarly, was sitting against the wall, hazy yellow eyes not ripping themselves from the crown, face emotionless.
Leaning against him was Weiss, curled into herself, his jacket wrapped around her shoulders, face buried into her arms, quietly sobbing.
The rest of RWBY were laid up on the seats of the bus- Yang and Blake next each other, the former still unconscious, the latter holding her hand tightly, crying quietly. Ruby herself was also unmoving, chest rising and falling with small breaths. Qrow stood over her, pink eyes locked onto his niece, colored with concern.
SOUL were occupying one of the corners, huddled together; Ulysses standing, staring out into space, dark eyes glassy; Lance sitting, looking around in grief at his friends; Oracle, unconscious, head in his lap, sleeping fitfully; and Shinai, still holding the shards of Shi En, face a mask of stone, staring out the window at the slowly appearing city of Vale, dozens of flares lighting up the safe zone Atlas had established, soldiers waving up at the airbus.
"We're landing in Vale," The pilot called over the intercom. "You guys are gonna be okay."
None of the huntsmen seemed to believe him.