The Grimm erupted from the tunnels like a volcano. A massive black King Taijitu rose straight out to the sky roaring.

Only then did people begin to run.

Ursa, Beowolves, Deathstalkers, Boarbatusks, King Taijitu's and some Grimm that I hadn't fought in years all began chasing down their prey and feasting.

No, no, no, "NO!" I cried, trying to jerk myself up. Peyton was ashen as he stared about him. "Quickly, team DEEP! Protect the citizens! Go now!" I cried, trying to move the slab off my leg so that it could heal. None of them moved, too much in shock to do anything but stand and stare.

Peyton in particular, his emotions were so volatile that I actually, for the first time since I had met him, blocked him out completely. His emotions threatened to overtake me.

The bones were shattered in my lower leg and I knew that I was going to suffer. The leg that Omar had broken was shattered again, furthering the damage that would not heal.

The sirens kept wailing and the screams were all around me. "Dahlia!" Elise cried, slicing a Beowolf in half just in time before it could bite my head off. She helped me to lift the rock off of me but her arms shook. She had expended too much energy.

I used Orchid to stand and my eyes quickly assessed the damage. "Team DEEP, the south is where most of the citizens are, quickly, go!" With clear orders, the team finally shook off the horror that had frozen them and they threw themselves into the fight. "Go, Elise, I'll be fine." I told my friend who looked at me worriedly.

Team RWBY began fighting too and for a second I hoped we had a chance.

It didn't last long.

Team RWBY was fighting as hard as they could but they were quickly surrounded. My team were guarding the citizens they could, fighting just as hard.

Once my leg had healed up enough for me to lean some weight on it, I too joined the fray, splitting Orchid into my four dancing blades.

Gods, the pain. It almost eclipsed everything else but I held on and used it to put more power behind my attacks. There were so many Grimm and more came through the breach every second.

There was no way to close it so I concentrated on easing the two team's burdens as much as I could. I was a silver blur through the black of the Grimm. We had to protect the people. We had to kill all the Grimm.

I heard an explosion from far away and my spirits soared as I saw Nora flying through the air to crack down on the King Taijitu's head, killing it instantly.

I closed my eyes for a second and blessed our luck. Reinforcements were on the way.

I kept dancing with my silver blades, killing left and right.

The only time I stopped was when I saw an Ursa towering over a little girl, who hugged her teddy bear and closed her crying eyes. My fury washed the streets in red and I gripped the little girl around the middle, carrying her to where my team had the citizens.

"Lisa!" A mother cried. I was covered in blood and gore but the mother planted a kiss on my cheek before I was off again. I had no time to rest.

Pyrrha, Ren and Jaune joined the fight as well. It was beautiful. But not enough.

There were just too bloody many.

Jaune took down an Ursa Major with a savagery I had never seen and I felt proud of how far he had come. And then, bless their hearts, Sun and Neptune came up flashing their detective badges.

"Fight you idiots!" I yelled, throwing one half of Orchid into the mouth of a Beowolf pack leader. But there was little need. For in the sky, there were Atlesian battleships primed and ready. The army had come at last.

Atlesian knights rained from the sky, gleaming in their armor. The robots turned the tides but truth be told, they didn't do much. The Huntsman and Huntresses killed fifteen Grimm to one the Atlesian Knights killed together.

The Knights took to guarding the citizens, freeing team DEEP to truly fight.

It still relieved me to see the back up. I wasn't sure I could keep going.

I looked to the breach and froze.

Within the tunnel I could hear the shouts and screams of the Faunus who had been left behind. I could feel their fear, sharper than even that of the citizens, for theirs was tempered with the knowledge that no one up here cared whether they made it out of not. Their desperation left a horrid taste in my mouth. They felt abandoned and scared and they accepted inevitable death.

I made a decision then.

I kept fighting, back to back with my team, months of training making us flawless even in exhaustion. Perhaps especially in exhaustion.

"Altrich!" Peyton called as Simon got slammed by a Wheel of Death. Elin dashed over to him and threw him over his shoulder. "Get him out of here!" I called, flicking Orchid back into a rifle.

We needed more than robots, we needed real back up. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Emerald and Mercury joining the fight.

My mind must have been playing tricks on me… I could have sworn I saw Cinder.

A rumble from the tunnel alarmed me and I prepared for more Grimm. More Grimm came, yes. But so did Professor Oobleck and the little dog I had seen earlier. Oobleck had a severely beat up Paladin around him and the dog head butted a Beowolf without fear.

"Dahlia, you need to stop." Peyton called. I hadn't realized it but I was swayed on my feet. I shook my head, trying to clear my vision and I dove into the fight again.

"Team CFVY and MMCY, incoming!" Elin cried, pointing up. I even saw Professor Port!

I breathed a sigh of relief. We had enough Huntsman and Huntresses now. We could win.

Martris hit the ground heavily alongside Mykel who projected fear into every Grimm around him. Carella, the amazonian girl on Mykel's team and her younger sister, Ygritte, went to work as well. Team CFVY leapt down to the streets, Fox and Velvet taking off, Coco taking her time and Yatsuhashi was immediately attacked.

Yet, he only pulled his long orange blade off his back and slammed it into the ground. It rippled through the ground and it was effective but I screamed when a flying piece of debris flew and hit me square in the leg, where it hurt the most. My body was struggling so hard to try and heal that part again. That slab had done a number on me.

I was ashamed but I dropped to the ground, blind for a moment with pain.

"Dahlia!" Velvet cried. I tasted blood were I had bitten through my lip but I was able to struggle to my feet. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Go. More important things to worry about." I said faintly. Mykel was by my side immediately, helping me to stay my feet. "Easy, Ms. Dahlia. You're very injured." He said while Martris defended us. "I'm fine. Protect the citizens. Please." I said, recovering enough to stand on my own. Mykel nodded, a serious look in his eyes. "Don't do anything foolish, Dahlia." He said. It was the first time he had called me Dahlia without saying Miss. It surprised me enough to make me smile. "I'll be okay. Go, quickly." I said and he and Martris were off like a shot.

With Coco in the playing field, I knew they would be fine. And I saw Goodwitch striding angrily down the block.

She's going to seal the hole.

"Team DEEP, to me!" I called, my voice carrying through the carnage. There were so many bodies.

This never would have happened if I hadn't failed.

"How is everyone?" I asked smiling. They sighed, knowing that particular smile meant trouble.

"Nearly dead."

"Close to dying."

"On the brink of death." They replied. I nodded. "Great. Well, I hope you're ready for this then. We're going back in the tunnel for the other Faunus that are trapped in there." I said. They didn't seem surprised.

"Ready?"

Elise punched her hand and cracked her neck. "Let's go!" I bolstered them with my Semblance, barely able to use it. Too many emotions battered me and if I slipped once, I would be out and down for the count. So much fear. So much grief. Too many hadn't survived.

We ran towards the breach just as Glynda reached it. "Wait!" I called. She looked up startled.

"Go." I said to my team and they unflinchingly dove back into the dark.

"What in God's name do you think you're doing?!" She yelled but they were already gone. She looked at me, fear and anger warring in her cold green eyes. I met them calmly. "There are still people down there. I'm taking my team back down there to get the survivors to safety." She looked appalled.

"They are the enemy! And I'm not keeping this hole open to wait for you to save them!"

My eyes didn't waver. "I didn't say you were."

She jolted. "Y-You want me to seal you in there?" She asked horrified.

I smiled kindly, knowing it wasn't very comforting as I looked mostly dead and covered in blood. "That's exactly what I want you to do. We'll find another way out. Don't worry." I said turning and diving into the breach before she could say anything.

I was met with more Grimm. I looked up and saw her staring in.

"Close the hole! We'll be okay! Tell Ozpin that! Tell him we'll be okay!" I yelled, fighting. My voice cracked and I felt Glynda warring with herself. I sounded so scared, so desperate and in so much pain. And I was but I could feel my team and the remaining Faunus inside.

It gave me something that resembled courage.

Close to tears, Glynda hesitated then waved her crop and the debris went back to its proper place and sealed, like it had never happened.

She sobbed with despair, feeling like she had just signed team DEEP's death warrants with her own hand.

And team DEEP was left in darkness with more Grimm than they could count.

Yet we fought. The other three closed their eyes, like I had taught them and felt the battle with their sixth sense as I called it. The darkness brought them relief and safety and courage to battle the fear, weariness and pain. Darkness was our true element.

Side by side, back to back team DEEP fought the creatures, saving those they could, killing those they couldn't. I usually made that decision. I would put them out of their misery and ease their passing if I could. A rifle shot to the head hurt less than being eaten alive by a Grimm or dying of festering wounds.

It was hard. It was one of the most excruciating things I'd ever done. I pushed my body beyond its limits and then some. I had to get these people out of this Hell.

I would not abandon them like their leaders had.

"Quickly follow us!" I cried and their fear left an acrid taste in my mouth.

"Who are you?" They asked. "My name is Dahlia Derivalle of team DEEP. That is Peyton, Elin and Elise. We're from Beacon." I said, not pausing in my killing spree. The taste of blood bolstered me in savage ways.

They talked amongst themselves as they followed us. At least I knew there were no Grimm behind us. We didn't let a single one slip by.

I felt their confusion. "Why did you come back for us? We tried to kill you." A tremoring voice asked. A pair of claws caught me down my arm but my body was so numb with exhaustion that I didn't really even know it.

"We couldn't leave you all here to die. You're people too and deserve our protection as well." I knew they distrusted all of this but they were stunned to be alive and their gratitude helped me forge on.

Sometimes I was so tired, I couldn't understand how I was still breathing, let alone fighting. I had gone so far beyond my limits, farther than I had ever gone before. By now I would have either ran away to recover, or I would have desperately called for back-up. Even when I had been a General under my Father, I had never fought so desperately.

But no one was coming in after us. We were all these people had. If we gave up, their lives were forfeit too.

And we were team DEEP, so we had to keep fighting.

What seemed like hours later, we came to an opening to the surface that wasn't raining Grimm. I was so numb I couldn't even feel relief.

"Go." I gasped and the White Fang members quickly made for the opening. Most of them were crying in relief. They were alive and they thought they would be dead. I could feel them reevaluating a lot of things. These humans had come back in just to save them.

Well, three of us are human.

A Wolf Faunus who had been leading his people and occasionally helping us put a paw/hand on my arm and looked deep into my unseeing eyes.

"We won't forget you Dahlia Derivalle of Beacon Academy. The White Fang will not forget what team DEEP did for us." I gave him a slight smile that showed my fangs and bowed my head in acceptance. He was surprised and wary as he recognized the significance of my smile. He sniffed experimentally and was surprised to smell the wolf in me buried underneath the stench of Grimm. He growled and lifted his chin, exposing is neck in a gesture of gratitude. I growled back."Go. Get your people out of here and go somewhere safe. We'll get the rest out of this place." He thanked me one last time before he bounded up to freedom. A freedom that I denied to myself and my teammates. I would have been okay if I had been the only one trapped down here but it hurt my heart to know that I was endangering my friends as well.

My team was in the same shape that I was. We guarded the Faunus until the last one escaped and we paused momentarily, gasping for breath and hissing in pain. "Do you think there are anymore?" Elin asked breathlessly. I was shaking and it was no surprise that so were the others.

We had spent the entire day fighting with little to no break. The sun would be setting soon.

Elise looked towards the tunnel. "Marco!" She yelled with all her strength. It echoed on and on down the tunnel, carrying over the sounds of the Grimm.

"Polo!" Was the faint reply. It was a childish way to find out but it worked. She smiled at us and somehow, just somehow we forged on ahead.

Where was this strength coming from? How was it that we were still standing even though we had used up even our reserve energy.

I had no answer to that question and I didn't find it inside the maze of tunnels. There was nothing but the darkness in my vision, the cold steel of my weapon in my hands, the feeling of it passing through flesh and bone and the screams of Faunus and Grimm alike.

Screaming and crying and begging for help or mercy… so much screaming…