Chapter 32

Everybody wants to rule the world

Panic spread throughout the grounds as the revelations Cinder Fall revealed about Atlas came out, however all I could see was the shredded body of Penny. It took Andrea shanking me to wake me out of my stupor. "Damien, we need to move, this must be what they've been planning."

I nodded in agreement. "Anderea, I need you to head to Beacon and see if everything's ok there. Gabby and Nathan go and help evacuate people around here. I'm going to see if I can get to the stadium. Keep your scrolls ready and let the others know if you need help. Break." I smiled as we all ran our separate ways, we really had grown as a team, hadn't we? I quickly shook the smile off my face, I had a job to do.

Finding a ride was easy and soon I arrived at amity stadium. As I was running through the halls I ran into Mercury. I was caught off guard leaving enough time for him to rush past me. I debated if I should go after him but judged that I was needed more urgently up ahead. I arrived at an opening at the base of the stadium to see a crying Ruby. Everyone was screaming and panicking when suddenly general Ironwood stood and bellowed "everyone calm down!" Everyone paused and the military man continued. "I understand that you are all scared and confused, but panicking will only bring grimm. I promise all of you that we will have answers In time but right now we need to focus. We are here to protect you all, nothing bad will happen." and that's when I shot and killed ironwood.

At first I was shocked, seeing another me creep behind him and fire my gun. That was, until I remembered Emerald's emblence. As soon as the murderer finished using my likeness she ran off. I turned to Ruby who had an even more shocked face. Before either of us could say anything she turned and tackled me into a hug and we wept and the world fell apart around us.

Eventually, we managed to pick ourselves up. "We need to start taking out all these grim before people get hurt. I'll go and look for Mercury. Now go." with a determined nod Ruby got up and went further into the arena. I turned and ran back down the deserted hallways in order to catch up with the silver haired criminal.

The halls seemed endless as all were the same dull beige with little to no indication of where Mercury had gone. They seemed empty. "Stop right there." Ah, apparently they weren't. Hiding behind a corner was Jason, the leader of John and Cortana's team. He always seemed a little forgettable. Pretty hard to forget someone with a gun aimed at you. "You're going to pay for what you just did."

I could see his eyes which were red and still wet with tears. Before he could do anything he would regret later John and Cortana came running down that corridor, causing Jason to turn his head for a second which gave me just the amount of time I needed. I teleported to the floor below, yet despite the thick concrete I could hear Jason's mad ravings. "You Bastard! I'll get you! There won't be a place on remnant you'll be able to hide from me!" With those ominous echoes I continued down.

Finally getting to the bottom floor I turn just in time to see a ship flying away, too far to teleport safely to. My mind filled with anger and revenge I ran over to the last ship and tried to go after them. Unfortunately, I wasn't good at flying and soon crashed into the city. After a minute of checking to see if I was all right and still in one piece I begin searching around to find Nathan and Gabby. I landed close to where their scrolls were so they should be easy to find.

After a few minutes of searching I catch up to them. "Will you two stop goofing off for five minutes, I need to call Andrea." After a few presses on my scroll I managed to call her. But I only get a few words from her when the signal shuts off. Something is wrong with the CCT tower. I turn to look at the others who had a grim look.

It took a bit to find a still functioning vehicle that could take us back to Beacon but soon enough we were there and, quite frankly, it was a mess. Robot parts strewn everywhere, people laying around, just over all really ruined. In the midst of the wreckage I spotted two familiar dresses and rushed over. "Weiss!" I yelled tackling her with a hug. "The two of you made it!" I said looking over at Ruby. I saw her face sour and turned to two figures lying on the ground. One was Yang, her hair cut in certain places with bandages wrapped all around her body and missing her right arm. The other, surprisingly, was covered with a sheet with only a broken red sword next to them.

"Where's Blake?" I ask. Ruby and Weiss turn away. "What happened to blake?!" I nearly scream at the two.

Flinaly Weiss turns back to me. "We don't know. All they found was Yang and Adam laying there. His sword was broken and Blake's was lodged in his back. They barely had time to get them out of there before the flames grew too high.

I took a step back. The world narrowed as a throbbing beat into my ears. Twice this my world had been shaken. I wouldn't let there be a third. The shock soon wore off, replaced by a rage I never knew was in me. "Damien?" My girlfriend took a concerned step for me but it was too late. I teleported to the top of the tower.

The roof had been utterly destroyed, leaving rubble and glass strewn about as a cold wind whipped my face. In the center of what had been Ozpin's office was a strange altar, made of the black goo grimm were made of. It was made to resemble a dragon's head and laying down on their back was the unconscious form of Pyrrha.

Standing nearby the altar was Cinder, apparently communicating with a floating yellow orb. As I take a step forward the crunch of glass alerts her to my presence. She turns, a wicked smile growing on her face. "Ah," she exclaimed, "the one that got away." I silently draw my rapier. "Are you sure you want to do this? Things didn't exactly go as planned for the last girl."

I take a deep breath as she gets ready. Anger won't help me here. Soon I feel a droplet land on my head. I had just a second to look up and see the dark grey cloud releasing their rain before Cinder charged at me. Her glass weapons morphed between two swords and a bow depending on my distance. The clash of our weapons rang out unnaturally like lightning.

My teleportation ability was the only thing keeping her off me as I constantly dodged glass spikes and arrows. Duck, dodge, parry all in time to the beat of thunder and rain. She brought both of her sabers down in a crushing blow, scraping my arm. However it gave me enough time to lunge at her left hand, causing her to drop one sword.

She screamed in frustration and, as the wind began to pick up, began to float. She motioned her arms as in pointing me out and streams of fire struck the ground I was standing on, knocking me off my feet. The wind lifted rubble which would strike me and glass with cut my face. Battered and bruised, I nonetheless prepared to charge at her. With a yell i teleported within inches of her and attempted to stab her but an invisible force blocked my strike. I widened my eyes as the corner of her mouth twitched. Then she unleashed a wave of magical fire upon me.

I hadn't felt heat like that since the night I came to Remnant. My hair and clothes were signed but I was mostly still alive thanks to my aura. The hit almost completely drained it however and I fell to the ground in a heap. The wind calmed down a bit and the clack of Cinder's heels told me she was walking toward me. I turned to face her and caught a glimpse of Pyrrha, still unconscious. "Why?" I asked my attacker, "why would you do this? Destroy everything? Help grimm? Why?"

She paused, a far away look in her eyes. "The world is cruel. It sat there as my life unravel before me. What good did cities, hunters, people in general do for me then? With my dying breath I will ensure that everyone and everything that stood by as I suffered is destroyed!" She looked down at me as I propped myself up. "Starting with you."

"I wish I could say something really witty but I'll save that for when our roles are reversed." I then threw some pieces of glass into her eyes and teleported to Pyrrha and jumped off. I didn't really think of anything but not letting her get the final say. As the two of us plumited, I saw a red blur rush past and glyphs slow our descent. Before we reached the bottom a bright flash engulfed the area.

The next few moments were a blur. My team and JNPR rushing over. Loud shouting. Jaune crying. My teammates picking me up and carrying me away. I passed out and dreamt of a city on fire.

-x-

I awoke in a tent. Someone had taken most of my clothes off and set a new outfit next to me. Nice of them considering it was freezing. I quickly changed and stepped outside. Snow covered the ground and the surrounding trees. I was in the front lawn of a large house. There were a few other tents nearby around a campfire. Huddled around it was my teammates. They all had a grim look on their faces which immediately changed when they saw me. "Damien!" they shouted and ran to hug me.

I slowly rest my arms on them and squeeze. "Yeah, I survived. How are you all?"

"Not good," answered Andrea. "Ozpin is missing, they never found his body. Most people think you killed the general and had something to do with this whole mess. We barely managed to get out of Vale. We're currently hiding out at Ruby and Yang's house. JNPR is coming over soon to plan what next."

"What about team RWBY?" I asked.

Andrea glances to the others before continuing. "Ruby is still passed out from, whatever it was she did. All we know was that every grimm nearby was destroyed and Cinder Fall is missing. Weiss," she paused for a second, unable to meet my eyes, "she wanted to stay, but."

"Her old man came in shouting about how you were a criminal and no worse than a beast. We had to hold Andrea back when he said that. Eventually he took Weiss and went back to Atlas." Interjected Gaby.

Nathan put a hand on her shoulder. "Both Blake and Sun are missing. I'd wager he's gone after her. As for Yang," he trailed off and looked at a second story window. I could see the outline of a messy yellow man.

We stood in silence until the crunch of footsteps got our attention. There was team JNPR with Jaune pusing Pyrrha in a wheelchair. Everyone had a sad smile. I slowly walk up to Pyrrha. Before I could open my mouth for an apology she cut me off. "Don't say you're sorry. Because of you I have a second chance at life." she clutches Jaunes hand. "So really I should be thanking you." And with that the eight of us went inside and began our war meeting.

I started by explaining everything, the weird dragon vision i had in forever fall, the gorilla man grimm thing we fought, my fight with Cinder and how I believed it to all be connected. "Things are stirring, powerful things. The weather changed suddenly in the battle and I couldn't land the finishing blow because of some force. Were going to need everyone in order to beat this thing. I think we need to split up." There was a murmur from around the table before I continued. "The way I see it, one group needs to head to Altus to rescue Weiss and try to stop this ridiculous manhunt. One group needs to head to Mistral and dig up Cinder's past, see if we can get a trail there,and try to connect with Sun's team. If we find him we find Blake. The third needs to help get Yang and Ruby better while also investigating foreverfall forest. Sounds like a plan?"

We discuss it a bit longer before everyone agrees. Team one is me, Gabby and Nathan heading to Atlus. Team two is Andrea, Nora and Ren going to Mistril. Third was Jaune and Pyrrha who would stay in Vale. We spent a few days getting supplies before heading off. As we were leaving I glanced back at my friends, knowing things would never be the same.

So, I'm back. Sort of. For almost two years now I didn't have the time to work on any of my stories. In all honesty I still can't say for sure that I'm going to work on everything. As such all of my stories other than RWBY: Dragon Son will be on an indefinite hiatus.

It's not all bad though. I can promise everyone that I WILL finish this story. I had actually started this Right after the previous chapter but never got around to finishing it. Until now. Never give up.

Arrivederci