The Reaper

by JKrlin

Her name is Ruby Rose, and she's the deadliest huntress alive.

3. Rogue Air

Okay. Ozpin turning out to be evil with that creepy lair of his? Jaune can accept that. Ozpin a time traveler with a grudge against what Ruby would become in the future? Jaune can accept that, too.

But why did Ozpin snatch Jaune away the day Rubes and her team had sprung their trap on him? What was so special about Jaune? Yeah, he was the latest in the Arc family line to inherit Crocea Mors, but that was all he had going for him. His name was practically the only reason he got accepted into Beacon. He still hasn't discovered his Semblance, he's still falling behind in his studies, and if Pyrrha wasn't there to help improve his combat skills...

Jaune could hear Ozpin climbing down the ladder, returning to his hideaway. Still strapped tightly in the seat of a chair, Jaune had to crane his neck to look behind him, glancing pass the steel columns holding up the high ceiling of the relatively compact room. If Jaune had to guess, Ozpin's second secret lair here was located in some sort of industrial area, somewhere underground, but he didn't have a clue where in Vale they could be. Maybe a hidden room in his Vault. Maybe not.

Putting on his game face, doing his best to not let the fear show through his face, or his voice, or through the shivers of his body, Jaune asked, "Don't suppose you brought lunch?"

Ozpin didn't even look at Jaune as he strolled passed him and beelined it for the workbench. Oz had been tinkering with that gizmo ever since he had brought Jaune here. It was anyone's guess what that gizmo was.

"How about some water?" Jaune tried asking. He's been given forceful sips of water during his stay here. No dice on the food, though. When Ozpin didn't answer, Jaune said, "Why are you keeping me here?"

Jaune was a bit surprised to get an answer. "For insurance," Oz said.

"Okay," Jaune drawled out. "Insurance for what?"

"I have no obligation to answer your questions. Be wary of what you say."

"Yeah? Or Wha–"

In a burst of inhuman speed, Ozpin was to face-to-face with Jaune, leaning right in front of him. Oz's sudden appearance, along with those Grimm-like glowing red eyes of his, shut Jaune up instantly.

With Jaune strapped to a chair for who knows how long, this wasn't the first time he has soiled his pants in the past few days. It still wasn't a comfortable feeling, though. Despite that, Jaune breathed in through his noise and held his chin up high.

Oz blinked. Gone were the red eyes, replaced by his normal brown eyes. He was still smiling like a demented, evil genius, though.

"Apologies for being such an unkind host," Ozpin said with a sincerity Jaune absolutely did not believe for a second. Jaune recognized that look. It was a fake look, a façade that plenty of bullies Jaune has met liked to put on. "Old habits die hard, Mister Arc. It has been several years since you and I have had the pleasure of each other's company without someone trying to main the other person."

Come to think of it, this was the first time Jaune has met Ozpin face-to-face and one-on-one. Jaune's been at his office with the rest of Team JNPR, but Jaune has never been called up or been paid a personal visit by the Headmaster of Beacon.

"How do we know each other?" Jaune asked. "In the future, I mean."

Oz pursed his lips. "Comrades, I suppose. Then rivals, then friends. We developed a sort of student-mentor relationship at one point, even. Ultimately, however, we found ourselves devoted to deeply incompatible missions. You wished to flourish as a huntsman alongside the rest of our peers. I sought to become the Slayer."

Wait a second. "'Our peers'?" Right, right. This really wasn't Headmaster Ozpin. He was a fake. Jaune should really start following that line of thinking. "What's your real name?"

"You may continue to refer to me as Ozpin," said the Fake Ozpin. He turned back to his workbench. "I truly am sorry for the straining conditions I have put over you, Mister Arc, but with my identity as the Slayer exposed, I can no longer indulge you in your high school romance."

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Wait. What are you talking about?"

Fake Ozpin chuckled. "It was not at all by chance or blind luck that your transcripts barely passed Beacon's high standards, Mister Arc, nor was it chance that Team JNPR formed the way it had."

Fake Ozpin was from the future. An alternate future, anyway, where he and Jaune became friends in that future. So in that alternate timeline, maybe, "The me that you know didn't pass the prerequisite tests and did actually fake his way into Beacon."

"Yes, you did," Fake Oz confirmed. "I never did quite understand the true Ozpin's reasoning for that, letting an unqualified student such as yourself enter Beacon while letting his combat partner pick up the slack in giving him supplementary training. I can imagine more than a dozen better ways to invest in and utilize your potential. Then again, there are many things the original Ozpin has done that I still question. I had thought I could one day truly understand him. Perhaps in another life, but in this one, I suppose despite our close bond, we could never truly understand what was it like to be in the other's shoes."

Oh, Fake Oz was starting to sound nostalgic. Contemplative. Maybe he's the kind to ramble to any audience who would listen. Jaune might be able to reap some valuable intel out of this situation, maybe earn some sympathy points from the Fake Oz, or get something that would improve Jaune's current situation.

"Why take Headmaster Ozpin's place?" Jaune asked quietly. "I get that you've got some vendetta against Ruby, and you've got some evil mastermind plan in the works, but pretending to be someone else for ten years –"

"It was far easier than you might think," Fake Oz interrupted Jaune. "Masquerading as Ozpin was no troublesome feat. The true challenge, aside from my efforts to return to my time, was to provide what kindnesses I could to the people that I believed deserved it."

Kindnesses? What the heck was he talking about? "You killed people! Tortured them, experimented on them –"

"And look at what I have given the world in exchange for those losses," Fake Ozpin said, sounding amused. "Weiss Schnee, Mercury Black, Hazel Rainart, Roman Torchwick, and so many more live far more content, independent lives, no longer shackled by false senses of duty, emptiness, or vengeance."

Jaune hardly knew any of those people, even if he and Weiss have chatted a few times, so he couldn't say if Fake Oz was really speaking the truth there or not.

"The Maidens live their lives freely, without an overbearing control freak commanding them, and without a misguided, deluded queen conspiring against them."

Maidens? Queens? What?

"Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie have lived a wonderful childhood thanks to the Slayer saving their home village."

Yeah, Jaune's heard rumors about the Slayer killing a lot of bigshot Grimm over the years, and Ren had claimed to have actually seen the Slayer at work from a distance when he and Nora were still kids, but that didn't make it okay for the Slayer to kill Ruby's and Yang's family! Not to mention the serial killer's basement/prison he kept under Beacon Tower!

"Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos maintain a loving romantic relationship."

Wait, what?

"I can no longer indulge you in your high school romance," Fake Oz had said... so...

"Are Pyrrha and I not together in the future?" Jaune hesitantly asked. "Was Team JNPR ever a thing in the future?"

Fake Oz paused in his work for a moment, as if considering how to answer, before getting back to it. "Team JNPR still formed in my timeline, but to my understanding, you were too socially awkward and unconfident in legitimately courting Miss Nikos until it was too late."

Oh... that... kinda sucks... Sure, Jaune's sisters have always told him that teenage romances don't always last forever, but the time he has spent with Pyrrha... Jaune didn't want to imagine what kind of life he'd be living if he hadn't happened to meet Pyrrha by chance that night in Mistral.

Then again... it wasn't by chance, was it? Fake Oz must have planned the whole thing.

"It was a kindness on my part to bring you two closer together," Fake Ozpin continued. "However, please don't consider what happens later in your relationship as a cruel insult or a dastardly offense against you or Miss Nikos. Despite my best efforts, destiny tends to always find a way to correct itself."

Destiny wasn't a pre-determined fate. It was a goal that you happened to find yourself walking towards throughout your entire life. You can't course correct a path when you don't quite know what direction the path is gonna take you.

Fake Ozpin chuckled again. "I know of yours and Miss Nikos' shared views on destiny, but make no mistake. There are fixed moments in time that, if disrupted, can create catastrophic, unpredictable damages and changes to the timeline. This goes beyond simple personal belief. It is a proven science."

Science. Jaune's worst subject. "I can't believe that," Jaune said. "You can make all the excuses you want, but at the end of the day, you're the bad guy, Ozpin, and if you keep on being the bad guy, then you're gonna lose. No matter what good you think you might have done over the years, it doesn't erase the bad. Not one bit. Ruby and the others are going to stop you."

"On the contrary, for my current plans, I don't plan for anyone to lose," Fake Ozpin stopped with his work and turned back to Jaune. Fake Oz was still smiling. "I suppose, at the worst, you lose, Mister Arc."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"As I said, there are fixed points in time that must go unaltered, lest the butterfly effect spiral out of control. You've seen what altering a fixed point can do. The real Ozpin is gone, the Slayer has made himself known to his ultimate enemy several years in advance, the countless other changes I've made..."

"What does this have to do with me losing and everyone else winning?"

"There is another fixed point that I suspect I will be unable to alter." The expression on the Fake Ozpin's face looked... sad? Sympathetic? What the heck? Seriously? "I am sorry, Mister Arc. In many other worlds, in other timelines, you happen to be quite popular with the ladies. In a thousand different Remnants, despite whatever trials you may face, you get to live happily ever after with the woman you love. In this timeline, however, you are destined to lose the one you love, and to never love another in the same way again."

Jaune stared blankly at the Fake Ozpin.

He stared back, with nothing but empathy on his face.

"She can't die," Jaune found himself saying. "She can't. She's Pyrrha. She's too good. She's the best huntress-in-training out there. She's going to be the best fully-fledged huntress in the world. Nothing can kill her. She wouldn't let anything get close to killing her. I wouldn't let anything..."

"I have done my best to gift you all some kindness," Fake Ozpin said, "but you can never defy destiny. I had to learn my lesson the hard way."

Bull. This was complete bull. Nothing Fake Ozpin was saying was worth listening to.

Pyrrha can't die...

"She will," Fake Ozpin said. The look on Jaune's face must've gave it all away, what he was really thinking. "I can't stop it, and neither can you."

"... Why did you kidnap me?" Jaune asked, not wanting to entertain the thought of Pyrrha being gone from his life any longer.

"Because you are a good man, Mister Arc. Deep down, you are the type of person who would give up everything you have if it meant the salvation of another, even a total stranger. Even former friends who betray you and become your enemies. I require that man's good will, along with his Semblance, if my continued existence is to be preserved."

Jaune hasn't even figure out what his Semblance was yet.

What was the Fake Ozpin planning to do with him to unlock it? Jaune saw the footage of what happened to Cardin's teammates and read the reports of the other experiments the Fake Ozpin had conducted. If the Fake Oz planned to do to Jaune what he did to them... If he planned to do to Pyrrha what he did to them –

"Mister Arc. Jaune. I want you to take a moment and think about all the things that define your life."

Fake Oz went back to his workbench. Before long, some red glow began emanating from his gizmo.

"All the people you love, your career, your teammates, your home."

There was a clicking sound, some sparks that jumped out from the gizmo before the red glow lessened.

"And now imagine if one day, in a flash, all of that vanished."

Seemingly satisfied with his work, Fake Oz pocketed something before stretching his limbs and cracking his neck.

"Would you simply accept your new life and continue on?"

In a blink of green energy, Fake Oz disappeared. From where Jaune could see, the workbench was empty.

"Or would you do whatever it takes to get back what was taken from you?"

Fake Oz returned. He stood before Jaune. Holding her by the restraints wrapped around her wrists behind her back, Fake Oz forced a woman Jaune didn't recognize down to her knees. She had sunken amber eyes, raven black hair, and wore a mangled red dress. Her face was pale, and she was shaking uncontrollably. She looked ten times more disheveled and afraid than any of the other prisoners the Fake Oz had kept in the Vault.

"Because I can assure you, Jaune, I will get everything that was taken from me."

Without a lick of hesitation or remorse, the Slayer shoved an electrified hand through the woman's stomach. Blood began pouring as the woman fell to the floor and struggled with the pain.

The Slayer left again in a flash. He happened to unlock Jaune's restraints, too. As such, Jaune leaned over the woman and tried to think fast on how to best help her. Carry her out to get help? Leave her and go get help to bring back? Try to treat her injury himself?

Maybe Jaune's Semblance, if he unlocks it and it's a power that could...

Jaune Arc was the latest in a long line of veteran, world renowned Huntsmen. Huntsmen destroy monsters and save people. Jaune's going to save this woman, and then he's going help Ruby destroy the Slayer however he can.

And if it comes to it, Jaune will do whatever he has to in order to save Pyrrha from death.

X

Ruby was lying on her side, disoriented. She couldn't see a thing. Her head was spinning, it felt like her forehead was going to split open, and she was absolutely done with whatever other curveballs that could be sent her way.

Trusting Roman Torchwick to help escort all of the Slayer's prisoners into safer cells than the ones getting irradiated from the weird energy fluctuations leaking into the Vault thanks to the sudden charging of power from the Dust Accelerator? Everyone thought Ruby was crazy for suggesting it, but between the reveal of the Fake Ozpin stunning Vale's Council into a confused and paranoid mess, the Slayer's killings of many veteran huntsmen, and the Kingdom's priority in reinforcing their borders against more Grimm attacks, Roman was basically their only option left to request help from. He was a greedy criminal, so paying him a small fortune for the job while also wiping away his criminal record should have been a good enough incentive to keep Torchwick on the level.

Professors Goodwitch, Port, and Oobleck had also thought so, but as it turns out, they were all wrong.

Ruby had no idea where her team, Team JNPR, the professors, or the reserved policemen were. Jaune was still in the infirmary with Pyrrha recuperating from his imprisonment by the Slayer, so Ruby knew those two weren't around, but she couldn't tell where anyone else was in this blinding, deafening fog over hanging over her.

She readjusted her Reaper mask so that it wouldn't slip off, snapped back her red hood, and tried to stand.

Something hit her back and pinned her to the floor. Ruby recognized the feeling: the end of Neo's umbrella. Neo had slapped it against Ruby's head and against Crescent Rose a few times during their brawl moments before.

Ruby's senses were starting to clear up, the fog and pain lifting slightly. She could hear the echoing gait of Torchwick, smell the foul stench of his cigar.

"Oh my God," Torchwick said in genuine surprise. "Lou, is that you? I honestly thought Taurus had you killed for that botched job a few months back. Well, good to see you're still alive. How's Perry?"

"Dead."

"Oh, what a shame. Well, he owed me money that I'm sure he never would have been able to pay back, so I suppose Ozpin was good for something, at least. And Mercury! Whatever happened to that girl of yours? Emerald-something?"

"You were right about her. Total gold-digger, through and through. Look where it got me. Don't even have a leg to stand on now."

"Ha! As unfunny and charming as ever, Merc. You still have a lot to learn in this line of work." Torchwick paused. Ruby could feel his eyes on her. "Some more than others. By the way, where did everyone's favorite dame in the dress run off to?"

"Cinder? Ran off the second she got free. I'm surprised how fast she could move, considering that her Aura's still out of whack."

"Well, nothing we can do about her now. So, on to business. For those of you who don't know, my name is Roman Torchwick –"

"I know who you are," cut in Cardin Winchester.

"Always pleased to meet a fan," Torchwick responded smugly without missing a beat. "Now, I'd just like everyone to know who it was that made sure you didn't get thrown into that airship bound for nowhere."

"What's the catch, Roman?" somebody asked him.

"I think you know. For now, we should all just go our separate ways. This city is going to be turned upside down in the next day or two, so I'd get out of town soon if I were you."

Ruby could hear the shuffling of feet. Some were sprinting away, others at a more patient but brisk pace. Neo got off of Ruby, but Ruby still felt queasy and disoriented. She only barely made out the professors' unconscious and badly battered bodies near the upside down, burning transport truck. They were alive, and from the look of Ruby's nearby scroll, her team, Ren, and Nora still had adequate Aura levels to still be alive, too.

Torchwick, smirking marched over to Ruby. Grunting in pain, Ruby glared at the lying, cheating scumbag. "You said you would help," she muttered. "The Professors gave you what you wanted. Why did you let the prisoners escape?" The Slayer's prisoners didn't deserve to die from whatever the Slayer was cooking with the Vault and Dust Accelerator, but they were all still criminals who had crimes to pay for. It wasn't right to just let them run free.

"Because now they all owe me," Torchwick said, "and something tells me they'll be a lot more use to me running free than rotting away in some top-secret black ops Atlas facility."

"You gave us your word."

"That's true," Torchwick cackled, "but here's the thing, Red." Torchwick's tone steadily became less playful and condescending, and more serious and lecturing. "I'm a criminal, and a liar, and I hurt people, and I rob them. What did you expect me to do? Not be what I am? I saw an opportunity to turn things to my advantage, and I did. Who you're really mad at is yourself, making the wrong call by trusting the wrong person."

Shut up. Shut up! Ruby tried to charge Torchwick, but Neo just thwacked her head to put her down.

"With Ozpin gone rogue, Goodwitch is the defacto head honcho of Beacon," Torcwick went on. "I've seen how much pull you have with her, how much people look at you and see Team STRQ reborn and living on through you. Goodwitch may have been the one to pay me the money, but you were the one who convinced her to employ me. Everything that has happened today is on you, Red."

Just shut up. "Why don't you just kill me already?" Ruby bitterly asked.

"Well I guess you owe me one now, too."

With those parting words, Torchwick and Neo began to make their exit.

"Good luck with whatever Ozpin has in store for you," Torchwick called out over his shoulder as they sauntered off. "I'm actually really excited to see how it all turns out."

X

Once the Dust Accelerator was fully charged, the Slayer didn't even bother showing up while wearing his olive coat or the blank mask. Instead, he wore the real Ozpin's usual attire as he walked up the main avenue to Beacon Tower. Ruby stood at the base of the Tower, patiently awaiting the Slayer's arrival.

The Slayer stopped walking a few yards away from Ruby. Speaking loudly to be clearly heard, he said, "I am aware that your prison transfer didn't go so well. You have my sympathies."

"All part of your plan, I'm guessing?" Ruby shot back.

"Actually, that didn't factor into my plan at all, but I'm impressed you went to such great lengths to keep those people from harm. Ever the heroic huntress, Ruby."

"You've hurt enough people."

The Slayer started pacing back and forth. "You see me as the villain, as expected, but, Ruby, if you were to look back, look back and analyze carefully at everything I've done, every wheel I have set in motion, you would realize I have only done what I had to do. Nothing more, nothing less."

The Fake Ozpin's lips cracked a crooked smile. "Well, maybe I've done a little more than I should have."

"And how does the Dust Accelerator fit into all this?" Ruby questioned. The Accelerator was what had tapped and jumpstarted Ruby's magical affinity in the first place. What was the Slayer's next step in using it?

"Why don't we go inside? Let me show you."

"You know, I just learned the hard way not to trust the bad guy."

"True, but without some degree of moral compromise, you can never achieve anything of worthwhile value in this world. I've shown you time and time again. You can't beat me, Ruby."

Maybe Ruby can't beat him. Maybe the Reaper can't beat the Slayer.

But Ruby wasn't alone.

While Ruby stood ahead of the Fake Ozpin's path, Weiss revealed herself from the shadows of a tree to cut him off from going back down where he came. Blake and Yang also made their appearance, all four of Team RWBY surrounding the Slayer.

The professors were still too weak from the botched prison transfer, the reserve huntsmen far away from Beacon and too busy at the front lines against the Grimm, so many students in Beacon unsure on how to handle the reveal that Headmaster Ozpin, a living legend in the Huntsmen community, was also the Slayer of Men and Grimm.

There was no one else left. While Team JNPR licked their wounds and kept a close eye on the Dust Accelerator, it was up to Team RWBY now to take the Slayer in.

"You've brought yourself some friends," the Slayer said as he glanced at everyone. "Should I be surprised by this turn of events?"

"I don't care how fast you are," Ruby said. "You can't beat all four of us at the same time."

"Oh, I can't?" The Slayer took one step forward. Each member of RWBY readied their weapons. "Trust me. This... This is gonna be fun."

The Fake Ozpin donned his mask. His eyes glowed red. In a fast-moving blur, the form of Ozpin was gone. The Man in the Olive Coat, the Slayer, stood in his place.

Ruby has seen the footage of the Slayer killing six veteran huntsmen in the blink of an eye. From Weiss' and Doctor Oobleck's analysis of the footage, it looked like the Slayer was able to subtlety drain a person's Aura through just by being near them, yet the person won't notice it until someone attempts to break their Aura shielding or if the person overuses their Semblance. Since the force field during that time had been faulty since the beginning, it made sense how the Slayer had so easily slain those huntsmen.

Team RWBY, however, was ready this time. Along with their regular hunting gear, they had on specialized, experimental bodysuits that Glynda's and Weiss' connections to Atlas had managed to secure. They were made out of material derived from the same stuff the Reaper's mask was made from. The suits and the Reaper's mask blocked Aura drainage from outside sources, and they even worked in tandem with the wearer's Aura to reinforce their Aura shielding.

Apparently, the genius Atlas scientist and engineer who designed the suits went by the title of Doctor Polendina.

That was something to look seriously into later, but for now, all that mattered was that the suits put Team RWBY and the Slayer on an even playing field. Whatever other tricks the Slayer had up his sleeve, tonight, he was going down no matter what.

Ruby fired a shot from Crescent Rose behind her to quickly close in on the Slayer. He drew out his cane and met Ruby's assault head on.

Crescent Rose folded up into her storage mode. Ruby hugged her weapon and wrapped herself into a little ball, swerving around the Slayer's swing. Once Ruby was behind him, she instantly unfolded Crescent Rose and fired a shot. As the Slayer leaned to the side to dodge the bullet, he tapped his cane against the floor, inciting an erratic bolt of lightning to fire toward Ruby.

Her silver eyes grew wide. The bolt moved as fast as light, but Ruby channeled the innate magic in her system to augment her reflexes so that the bolt looked as if it was moving in slow motion. She's better prepared now, more driven. The burning in her eyeballs was still there, as was the strained breathing and that sensation of her bones being pulled apart, but she shut away all of the torment that came with utilizing magic. The only thing on her mind was doing what needed to be done.

As much as Ruby hated to admit it, the Fake Ozpin had taught her well.

Spinning her scythe around, the blade caught the bolt of lightning. Bring the end of her weapon back around, the energized blade making a successful cut along the Slayer's arm. Ruby drew blood, though it wasn't much, and the Slayer was already moving to jab his cane toward her stomach. Ruby deflected the attack and backed away to avoid the follow-up attacks.

At the same time, Blake and a small party of shadow clones rushed the Slayer. In response, he generated an energy dome that surrounded him. The clones vanished into thin air as they ran into the shield. The real Blake stopped short of touching the dome. Once the Slayer deactivated his shield, he moved to attack her. Despite his speed, however, Blake has been practicing constantly on leaving a shadow clone for an opponent to take the beat while the real Blake stepped away. As such, the Slayer hit the false image of Blake while Gambol Shroud was unloaded point blank at him.

Still, the Slayer's endurance and his own defenses were incredible. He tackled Blake, giving her a suplex. Blake's shriek of pain was coupled with the crack of broken bone. Not a second after Blake's head hit the floor, the Slayer was already upright and holding Blake's arm up, stomping his energy-coated foot against her elbow so that the arm bent at an unnatural angle. Aura can take a lot of damage, but there was no way a move like that wouldn't hurt.

The Slayer wasn't supposed to do that, but they can't help it if the Slayer's speed threw a wrench into the plans. They can salvage this. The Slayer has barely moved more than a few feet from where he was initially standing when the fight began. So, with the Slayer momentarily distracted with breaking Blake's arm, Weiss was able to finally summon an intricate circle of glyphs that would temporarily paralyze him.

It wouldn't last long, of course. His body was already sparking with vibrant green, magical energy and vibrating at a frequency that would soon erode the designs on the glyphs, thus deactivating them.

Before he could break the glyphs, however, Yang was upper-cutting him into the sky. Ruby propelled herself upward to meet him in the air. She swung her scythe, overpowering the Slayer's blocking cane just enough to stab her blade into his shoulder. Expecting the Slayer to work through the pain and to try to pull a reversal on Ruby, she fired a shot that sent her further upward and him back down.

The Slayer was probably planning to unleashed a shockwave when he landed. Anticipating that, Yang picked up the incapacitated Blake and tossed her to the distant Weiss' arms. The Slayer's cane made contact with Yang's punching fist.

Ruby could still feel the magic flowing through her veins. It went above and beyond normal Aura. Still in the air, she could see Yang grit her teeth as she took on the force of the Slayer's augmented thrust. Ruby could also see the Slayer flinching when too many nanoseconds passed without him overpowering Yang.

Ruby was shocked to see a crack begin to form along the cane.

Seizing the opportunity, Ruby looked down Crescent Rose's scope, channeled what magic energy she could into her Dust munitions, and fired.

Ruby knew perfectly well that the Slayer would hear the shot and react accordingly. He let Yang fully deliver her punch against his cane, pushing the Slayer himself away and in a perfect position to dodge the incoming bullet.

Unfortunately for him, the magic bullet hit Yang squarely in the forehead.

With the damage dealt, Yang exploded into a golden inferno. Her overstimulated Semblance was almost as blinding as the sun itself. Even the Slayer had to raise an arm to block the sudden light from blinding him.

Moving almost as fast as Ruby had ran when she had accidentally time traveled, Yang fired her shotgun gauntlets to send herself flying towards the Slayer. She delivered an onslaught of shotgun blasts and punches that soon stained his entire body with blood and bruises. He lost his grip on his cane as it was thrown in some random direction. Yang even managed to break his mask into two.

Keeping with the momentum, Ruby stabbed her scythe right through the Slayer's spine. It wasn't exactly joy that Ruby felt when he heard him scream, but the pained, panicked sound coming out of the madman greatly satisfied her. Team RWBY was winning this fight.

But then the Slayer clutched Ruby's and Yang's throats, choking them. "That's the spirit," the Slayer growled. As all three descended from the air, the Slayer smashed the sisters' faces against the floor.

Yang was on a roll, though. While Ruby was trying to get back on her feet, Yang performed a somersault and landed a dropkick on the edge of Crescent Rose. The kick dug the scythe deeper through the Slayer's back. Ruby copied Yang's move and delivered a dropkick that hit the back of the Slayer's head. The Slayer now lay prone on the floor.

The intensity of Yang's glowing, fiery Semblance was slowly waning now, Ruby could see. The effects of the magically upgraded Dust bullets never lasted long when they were experimenting with them.

The Slayer's red eyes met Ruby's silver ones. "You can't stop me, Reaper. And you never will."

He knocked his elbow against Yang's jaw, knocking her off him. He pulled Crescent Rose out of his back and tried to use it to slice Ruby's head off.

The Slayer was still as fast as ever, but Ruby has gotten faster. The Slayer's own injuries didn't help him much either. Ruby weaved around the slashes. Without the Slayer's mask on, Ruby was greeted with a maniacal, bloody grin donning the Slayer's face.

Ruby jumped forward to grip Crescent Rose. She and the Slayer fought for control of the weapon.

With the Slayer distracted, that gave Weiss and Blake plenty of opportunity to thrust their respective swords into his back, which they did. The Slayer's hold on Crescent Rose faltered, letting Ruby bring it back around to stab him in his other shoulder, pinning him into a kneeling position.

Weiss and Blake retracted their swords. Weiss held her rapier tightly, holding the pointed end at the Slayer's Adam's apple. Blake stepped back, shifting Gambol Shroud into its gun mode, her broken harm hanging loosely. Yang was back on her feet, though she was leaning to one side and trying to catch her breath as the strain of the magic-enhanced Semblance took its toll.

It looked like the Slayer was at his limit, too. His bloody grin from before changed into a frown, and the glowing orbs on his face faded back into their normal brown color. He closed his eyes, falling into unconsciousness.

As Ruby pulled out her blade and tried to relax her senses. She shut her own eyes tightly, taking one deep breath, letting the magical energy steadily and earnestly shuffle back and give way to the normal flow of Aura.

The Slayer fell forward. Ruby could see the repetitive nature of magic already beginning to heal the knocked out Slayer's injuries.

The Slayer would recover soon, but that didn't matter. He was their prisoner now. Here Team RWBY was, standing over the beaten and broken killer who had taken away Ruby's mother and uncle.

"We got you," Ruby said under her breath, and her resolve couldn't have been any more unbreakable at this moment. She couldn't have asked for a better team.

It was time for the Slayer to answer for everything he's done.