I was not prepared for the end. Period.

Behind A Ice Wall

Cyres and Mel fall behind a ice wall that is placed by Cyres when their original steel walls broke under the fight with the turncoats.

"Mel." Cyres started, making the younger girl pause her firing and turn to her.

"Yeah?" Mel asks, ducking behind the cover again. A explosion sent a chunk of rock over their heads.

Cyres hesitated, which she rarely did. Her hand instantly covered her stomach when another chunk of rock sailed overhead.

"I know this is a really bad time to say this…" She grabbed Mel by the collar of her shirt. "But I can't tell Akaia. I don't want her to worry about me."

"Are you sick?" Mel looked confused, placing a gauntlet hand on the Queen's forehead. Cyres rolled her eyes at her. "You feel ice cold as usual."

"No, you bloody idiot." Cyres gives a small smile before that fell. "I-"

"Are you constipated? Is that why you're holding your tummy?" Mel tilted her head with a child-like smile."

"No-" Cyres started, her eye twitching slightly.

"Are you dizzy? Because you were-"

Cyres gives an annoyed growl and grabs Mel by her shoulders, shutting the girl up instantly. Light blue meets ruby red.

"Mel, for my sanity's sake I am pregnant!"

Mel's jaw dropped and stared at her. It looked hilarious to see Mel's reaction, she looks like a fish out of water with her mouth flopping open and closed.

"Wh-who's kid is it?" Mel seemed to find the muscle to close up her mouth before she swallowed a fly. "A-and ho-how long?"

"Akaia's." Cyres blushes a little. "About four months. And a horribly timing for this to happen."

"And you're not showing?" Mel asked again with a smirk on her face.

"Psh, Scyrian's don't show until the fifth month or halfway into the fourth." Cyres boasted, smiling.

Mel gives a giggle before her mood suddenly shifts from cute to serious in an instant.

"Then why the shit are you fighting?!" Mel waved her arms in the air. "You're carry a baby and you- ugh!"

Mel takes Cyres by the shoulders and presses her face close.

"You can't fight Cyres," Mel whispers harshly at her. A tone so foreign for Cyres to hear her serious. "I can't risk you having a miscarriage since you seem so happy about it."

"What am I supposed to do then?" Cyres whispers back. "Akaia can't find out otherwise she'll go full "Overprotective Dad Mode" on me."

Cyres summons an ice ramp over their heads as a brick strikes the roof and rebounds into a Grimm.

"Rio's gonna do the same too if I tell him, Mel." Cyres reasons. "You're the only one I can tell this and for once in my life. So help me for I ask a irrational, idiotic, demigod like you for advice."

"Well if she's about to get her ass kicked then you should tell her so she go all protective about you and her kid." Mel shrugged. "I've seen enough cartoons to imagine her getting back up instantly and beating the living shit out of everything that would harm you or her baby."

A rather long pregnant pause settles between them.

"I'll be honest that sounds like a good idea." Cyres blinked a few times.

"I wanna see Akaia do that too." Mel admitted.

A explosion rocks them as they peer over the wall to see Akaia and Rio flying into the air by a Goliath stepping in some mines.

"Let's go help them." Cyres sighs, drawing Icentooth.

Inside Vale / Convince Store

"Cindy!" Jay shouts in a hushed voice as she and Diane hobble over to their leader who is running down the street. The dup is hiding in a broken convenience shop, the rooh has crumbled and the brisk walls are falling apart with glass strewn across the tile floors. Diane casted a small orange plate into the air to catch Cindy's attention. "Over here!"

They make way as they hear the boot flash against broken ground as their leader skid inside and out of the Grimm-infested city. Jay takes one look and hurries off into the store for more bandages.

"You look like shit." Diane drags her partner's battered body behind the wall with them. She quickly notices the bundle in her arms. "What happened to you?"
"Let's just say I still won and got my ass nearly kicked again." The bloody girl flashes a thumbs up as Diane immediately facepalms, who is very familiar with Cindy's antics when she's by herself.

Diane opened her mouth to promptly chide her fool of a leader.

"You best be joking me, we're in a war zone and you decide to go frolicing in the ruins?!" Diane whisper-shouts to her leader who shifts slightly in her place.

"It was that panther Grimm we couldn't catch three months ago." Cindy shrugs before wincing slightly. "Tis all but a scratch."

"A scratch?! You're bleeding every-" Diane turns away and takes in a deep breath before giving a muffled scream of frustration. She turns back to Cindy and gives her a small smile. "At least your still alive. Though, what happened to the panther? Did you ki-"

"I'm back." Jay's voice came as the crazy girl slides up to the duo with a bundle of bandages and cleaning a half bottle of what seems like alcohol in her arm. She literally shoved Diane away, making the older girl do a back roll onto her face. "Sorry Diane."

"No problem." Diane gives her a thumbs up before pushing to her feet again. Jay turns back to Cindy and instantly cringes.

"Is it that bad?" Cindy asks, giggling and then lightly punching the young girl on her shoulder.

"Yep." Jay blinks before placing her arms contents down and sucks a breath through her teeth. She then unzips the once orange tracksuit. "This might sting a bit… "

Cindy scoffs.

"Probably not as bad when Kelly had to amputate her arm herself without anything."

Beacon Hill

It reeked of death and decay.

That is the first thing Kelly smells when she is pulled back into the realm of consciousness. Her body ached, that's a sure sign she is not dead yet. She shivered at the wet feeling on her back from the blood and what not that soaked the hill. Shaking her head clear, she pushes herself onto her feet, groggily standing on the mushy ground. Her heart sinks when she sees Ripple Corruptions shattered form on the ground, there's no way to salvage it in any way, shape or form. Only the hand remained on her, the rest is… well, everywhere.

"You have served me well." She whispered.

She also has no idea where her haori went and it felt a bit chilly. She also discarded her broken cuirass, leaving her tassets on instead. At least she was smart enough to wear a thermoclad tank top under her scarred blue shirt before she left Beacon.

She looks at the greenish hued sky, then at the school not too far from her. There were fire and hell everywhere. Citizens are screaming as they try to escape the White Fang or the Grimm while the unfortunate are torn apart by the latter. She can see children crying in the streets, the elderly scrambling to safety of the Hunters. Her feet collides with a piece of squishy bone.

"Damn, what a mess I made." She comments at the mangled remains in front of her feet. She can still taste the copper in her mouth as she turns away.

She pulled out her scroll to see if she can call her teammates. Only to find it cracked and not even working anymore, she reattached it to her arm slot. She can see the apparitions of the armored warriors running through the streets, cleansing it of Grimm or anyone that opposes them beside Beacon students Hunters and Huntresses. What catches her eye is a banner that has partially fallen, tilted on the muddy ground. She walks over and grabs the fallen banner and walks to the top of the hill. With all her might, she stabbed it into the ground, letting the colours fly high once again.

A hollow victory for them.

She turns and begins her walk down the hill to the city.

They could've prevented all this mess. They were to protect the citizens of the world- human or Faunus. They were supposed to keep things safe.

And now this mess is the punishment that could've been prevented if they were not busy with their personal investigations.

At Beacon

"Kelly!" Jay shouts over to the larger girl who is jogging onto the school grounds. The familiar green eyes locked to hers. "We're here!"

Kelly takes no time to wait as she sprints over to them, and Jay taking her in a instant hug.

"Is everyone okay?" Kelly asks, looking around the area for the other two. Jay nods.

"Diane is carrying CIndy and you know her, she's fine." Jay reassures Kelly by giving her metal arm a punch. "We call her The Undying for a reason."

Kelly only gives a huff before noticing two people turning the corner.

"There they are!" Jay squeaks happily, drawing them all into a hug. "We're all alive!"

Kelly clears her throat.

"Actually, we're the only team that is still with four people."

"What do you mean by that?" Cindy asks as they break up from the hug.

"I saw Qrow picking up Emily on my way back, he shook his head at me." Kelly started. "She's dead. Qrow drew a line over his neck before shooing me away."

"Who killed her?" Cindy asks Kelly, she did not believe that her childhood friend is dead.

"I saw Gaheris standing on one of the buildings next to the fallen Atlesian ship before turning and disappearing." Kelly explains, gently grabbing CIndy's shoulder before the girl can collapse in tears. Heck, she's tearing up right now. "He was charred and had cracked all over. I could briefly smell the dust rounds Emily uses."

"I'll kill that bastard." Cindy growls, but it slowly turns to hiccups and shudders as Kelly pulls her into an embrace.

"You can do that later, Cindy." Diane wrap her arms around both of them. "We have to focus on finishing what she started here."

Kelly winces at the hard grip on her flesh arm as the wetness grows on her chest.

"Emily wouldn't want you to cry now," Jay takes all three of them in a bone crushing hug and no one complained. "Use all your emotions as your advantage now."

Cindy slowly stops shaking in their embrace, reducing to sniffles when her breathing steadys. She gently pushes them away, wiping her tears with her stained jacket.

"Y-you're right." Cindy sucks in a deep breath. Her fist clenches around Mourning Dawn as she sniffles one last time, looking at each and every one of them with puffy eyes. "She wouldn't… "

"We can grieve later, Qrow sent me a message for us to meet with ROCK to help do a final push." Kelly announces.

At Beacon

"Ruby, Weiss!" Mel shouts to the two as she bandages Yang's stump. "Less lollygagging and get your ass moving! Time is precious now!"

"But we have to get Jaune and Pyrrha-" Weiss starts before Mel shouts again, heaving Yang over her shoulders despite the fact Mel is pretty much a dwarf compared to everyone else.

"Go! You can't let the tower fall!"

ROCK, CTDK and _BNY has formally gathered again on Beacon, with their remaining men and Argus securing the ground and air. Argus and the Shadow Reavers are ferociously guarding the remains of Mordred who was recovered by his personal guards. The legion is reduced to nothing more than three hundred in total, now condensed in this courtyard where they continue to mow down any attackers and fleers without fail.

Many of Gaheris' men remain loyal to them while the rest are non-existent now as they lay dead on the stone ground.

They stand behind two steel and ice reinforced six foot wall that separated them and the Grimms not too far.

Hazurfun is lying on one of the buildings, his neck bleeding from the talons of the Grimm slashing across his throat. Surprisingly he bleeds bioluminescent blood instead of blue or red blood. The Dragon Grimm is now flying around the CCT, clearly wounded by the much older dragon with long gashes through the tough hide and bite marks on it's black neck from Hazurfurn's massive fangs.

"We don't have much time." Argus shouts, sending a ball of white fire through the oncoming Grimm. "We can't let the tower fall!"

He turns to Akaia and Rio and nods.

"Everyone get back behind the Aegis!" Cyres and Mel shouts towards the students and Hunters. Without much of a hesitation, the small group manages to jump over the thick walls as the ice melts to leave the steel wall at only five feet tall.

"Let's go, Rio." Akaia and Rio both reappeared over the metal walls, setting them between the enemy that their face and the students behind them. "You first, brother."

Rio walked forward a few steps, and raised his hand before it started glowing white and the visor of his helmet the same.

And the students get a glimpse of their otherworldly semblances.

Anything not cement or bolted down to the ground is lifted a hundred feet into the air. The Grimm roared and screeched in futile as the Griffons and Nevermores tried to gain balance in the gravity-nullified air.

Cyres' ice began sprouting from the ground, creating ice spikes that is as tall as a one story house. Her eyes glowing blue while the ice morphed with every flick of her hand. She is breathing out frost as she dons her helmet again.

Mel is on fire, her body ignited with enough heat make the fountain ten yards from her slowly evaporate. Wings of fire sprouted from her back as she hovered in the air. She grasped a long sword of fire in her hands.

Argus waves his spear in the air, signaling all the Imperial Shadow units to pull out of the attack, even the war machines. They slowly walk back, their fire ceasing, leaving Cyres and Mel standing behind the first partial wall.

"Now!" Argus shouts to Akaia.

Akaia walked forward, gray fire spewing from her mouth and hands. The air grew heavy with each of her step.

"Let's end this." Akaia growled. She reaches out with her hand. The buildings around them and across the road began cracking and groaning, even some condensing into itself.

The warriors around them all drew their daggers and swords, their guns cocked and raised.

The special teams look around as Akaia flared her semblance.

The ground shatters and building flattened as Akaia clenched her fist. The Grimm cried before being impaled on the ice under. Then they were flattened into nothing more than a black and white pancake on the ground. Even the Deathstalker was crushed into nothing under Akaia's harsh power.

Although what happened behind the impaled Grimm is not what anyone wants to see. A massive horde of Grimm from the pits of Hell decides to manifest behind the impaled bunch- just down the road.

"Prepare offensive position." Argus calls out They all stand at ready.

Cyres and Mel joined them in the front. They can feel their hearts hammer in their ear as the rumbling grew closer.

Boom!

Their focus shifts when a loud explosion wracks the ground as the top of the tower exploded, sending chunks of stone into the courtyard.

"Shit!" Mel swears, sending a swath of fire into the air to burn the oncoming rocks into nothing but ashes. "This is bad."

They grow closer and Cindy looks around uncertain that they would live through this. Even Kelly, the braver of the lot seemed a bit scared as the horde grew closer to them. Heck, they are all nervous

But to see such a inspiring aura coming from ROCK, and their banner still fly tall, Cindy finds herself standing in the front next to Cyres' confident from. They met eyes briefly before a metal hand clause on her shoulder.

"We're here." Kelly gives a mismatched smile. To her left, everyone stands together in a line. They looked slightly confident and ready to take them head on with the rest of the students that have joined them.

"Hey, Emily wouldn't want us to give in." Ying smiles at her. "She would want us to give our best of the best because we failed to keep the citizens safe like our pledge said we would."

There's a place where we'll stand outnumbered

where the wolves and the soul-less will rise

in the time of our final moments

every dream dies

"Steady." Akaia commanded, the remaining army bubbling behind them. She looks to CTDK, the four girls readying their weapons with the remains of _BNY. Such young spirits staring death in the face with as much ferociousness as their own hardened warriors of age. She looks back to the Grimm as the ground begins rumbling under their thunderous steps.

There's a moment we make a decision

not to cower and crash to the ground

the moment we face our worst demons

our courage found

They can feel their hearts hammering in their mind like the Newton's Cradle. It is a lot of Grimm to be even fighting. Jay is vibrating in her place, her chainsword revving like crazy as they grew near.

"Steady." Akaia's voice raises slightly.

Rumble.

A brilliant white glow in the shape of wings sprout from the top.

When we stand with friends

and we won't retreat

as we stare down death

then the taste is sweet

I may fall

A scream that echoes like a banshee.

And they run down the street, colliding with the Grimm.

And everything is bathed in white.