Road to the End, Volume 3
By: athrunzala
12: Forever
Near the once elegant ballroom, flashes of light were rapidly going off. Blow for blow, gunfire and the whistling of a blade as it rapidly sliced the air.
Try as she might, Yang couldn't get close enough to her target without putting herself in striking distance of his preferred Lato-combat style, and Blake wasn't risking either of their lives in a foolish assault.
So she continued to move in, and, just as their opponent felt he had the upper hand, flashing away with her semblance, leaving behind a copy of herself to take the hit, which opened him up to a hail of dust rounds from Yang's weapon. Just as they were falling back into this rhythm, the blonde woman made a small mis-step, allowing her opponent to throw a punch that knocked her to the ground. He then slowly and deliberately drew his weapon and turned to Blake.
"I may not have finished her last time, my love," he said, his vocal tone sadistically sweet, his words laced with hatred, "but this time, I won't make that mistake."
He raised his blade and swung, only to find it caught in a manner he hadn't expected.
"What!?"
He glared at the offending appendage, the hand gripping the sharpened metal not showing any signs of blood.
"How could you?"
"Well, I suppose I have you to thank for this," Yang gloated slightly, and began moving her arm away from her, taking the bull Faunus' blade away before releasing her grip, causing it to slam into the ground.
"I'll take you both out!"
Adam then flipped his weapon over, and pulled the trigger, sending both women flying into the wall with the force of the Gravity round he had fired.
"Two issues with one move. How nice. The traitor to both her friends and race, and the trash that needs to be disposed of."
He lowered his stance ready to make his move, when he was sent sideways by a powerful kick. He impacted a pillar, having flown through the oversized window from the force. He peeled himself out of the masonry and glared.
"Keep your hands off my daughter."
"Heh. More trash, I see."
His weapon was then sent skyward by a single blow.
"I'd listen to him. Keep. Your. Hands. Off. Our. Daughter."
Wilt and Blush clattered on the ground a few feet away. As he made a move for them, a sharp pain ran through him. He glanced down as he was lifted into the air, suspended by the red sword blade that ran through him, just below his shoulder.
"You will all face my wrath when I get out of this, mark my words."
"Not if I have anything to say about it."
Taiyang lept into the air, the movement quite agile for the sturdily built human. He was followed by Blake, who proceeded to use her semblance to give him something to rebound off of. He then flipped around and brought his legs down on the bull Faunus' right arm, shattering the shoulder.
Mere moments after he pushed off, a pair of hands were on the White Fang leader's head.
As she shot past, Yang twisted the appendage. A sickening snap was heard, followed by this left arm going limp.
Yang landed hard, the maneuver having thrown her off balance. As she went to stand, she noticed she was having some trouble moving her arm, so she ripped off the plates around the majority of it, exposing the inner workings to the air, steam rising as it became clear that the coolant line had come loose, causing it to overheat slightly.
"You okay, Yang?"
She looked over at her father, her face slightly unhappy.
"Yang?"
It was only when Blake ran over and hugged her that she knew she was going to be okay. The rage in her eyes subsided, the irises returning to their normal lavender hue.
"I'm good now, dad. Thanks."
Back in the arena, Team JN_R was getting a fairly sound schooling in fighting dirty, with Cinder using every last power at her disposal to cause near untold amounts of damage to their Auras. Before long, Ren began firing Stormflower in a manner unlike any they had seen him do before. This caused rounds to ricochet off the metalwork in the building and go all over.
Outside of the building, Qrow, Winter, Ruby, and Weiss were headed towards the CCT to stop any remaining White Fang members from tampering with what was left. They stopped when they heard the firing, glancing towards the direction of the arena to see a flaming object shoot through the roof.
"Ruby, you and Weiss go check the arena. Winter? You're with me."
"But... Uncle Qrow..."
"I'll be fine, kiddo. You'll see me after all this is over. I promise."
The drunk then gave his niece a hug, and headed away from her, towards where he had seen the fireball head.
The remaining pair from Team RWBY arrived at the arena, just in time to see Ren stumble out, supported by Nora, who was missing her trademark hammer.
"What happened in there!?"
"Jaune... he... and Cinder... and fighting... and fire... and you've gotta help him!"
The orange haired woman's voice was filled with panic and concern. However, neither Ruby nor Weiss could make sense of what she had said.
"Jaune was sent skyward by Cinder. I don't know where they are now."
Ren's statement came out between gasps and pained wincing. Weiss wasn't about to let the two of them be alone like this.
"Ruby, you go catch up to your uncle."
"Weiss..."
"Ruby, go."
"Not without you!"
The outburst brought a grin to Nora's face.
"What are you saying? Are you two..."
"Yes, Nora."
The Queen of the Banhammer smirked.
"You know she isn't going to leave you alone about it now, right?"
"Oh, I know. You two head back to the landing pad. Be safe."
"Okie dokie!"
Nora then pushed Ren onto her back and proceeded to walk away towards the pad. They didn't get far before a small group of soldiers found them and escorted the pair away. The heiress then returned her attention to her stubborn partner.
"Ruby, they're going to be up in the CCT. Do you have any idea of how we're supposed to get up there!?"
"Yeah. We need a ride."
Weiss' paled when she saw what Ruby was staring at. Sitting atop the ruins of the statue in the courtyard was a Giant Nevermore.
"We are not doing that again."
Moments later, the pair was airborne, on the back of the avian Grimm, clutching to the feathers.
Atop the CCT, sparks were flying as arrow after arrow was deflected by an unseen force.
"Why... won't... you... fall!?"
Cinder knocked four arrows and fired, the quartet seemingly broken up by Jaune's semblance and his shield. She quickly summoned a fifth and fired, the projectile bypassing his shield and embedding itself squarely in the blonde's side, just below the ribs. Before she could shoot again, however, a rain of white birds shot out at her, accompanied by several Dust rounds.
"What!?"
"He may not be much of a match for you, but we may be."
"Miss me?"
"You!"
Qrow pushed his hair back and smirked. "Oh good. So you do remember me. Seems you've made some upgrades."
"Oh, I've made more than that. And I'm not afraid to use them."
"Bring it on."
The drunk then took a defensive stance and put his sword out in front of him, only to be interrupted as his raven haired opponent shot a fireball into the sky.
Ruby and Weiss weren't sure what had exactly happened, but they could faintly hear voices.
"We've got to get them out of here, Winter! Now!"
Qrow and Winter then rushed to get both younger women away from Cinder. At the base of the CCT, the drunk turned to his lover.
"I've gotta go back."
"But if you die..."
"I won't die."
"Qrow..."
"Winter, look. I'm doing this now. So don't try to stop me, alright? He won't last a moment alone like he is."
Back at the top, Jaune had broken the arrow in half, and was locked with Cinder's weapon, holding his own with one hand.
"But you... You're supposed to fall."
"Not today."
"Have it your way."
The raven haired human eased up and ducked, throwing a quick jab into the blonde's gut, just below his armor. As he staggered, she spun around behind him and fired several arrows in rapid succession.
Each one found their mark, Jaune unable to block as he staggered, trying to catch his breath.
"And now, you, like your partner before you, will die."
She then separated her weapon into its two halves and impaled the blonde.
As he choked, the sudden intrusion of the weapons into his torso sending him into shock, he shot out one thing.
"Not. This. Time."
He then pressed his blade against his opponent's abdomen, the shattered metal easily piercing her through the navel. As his life crept from him, he leaned on the handle of the weapon, causing it to move up and into her chest.
"But... this... isn't... how it... was... supposed to..."
She backed away, staggering desperately clutching the hilt, slowly removing it from her body. The metal clattering on the ground once she had done so.
"That child... won't ever... have... this... kind of... pow... power..."
She hit the wall and slumped against it, just as Qrow arrived back on top, having dismounted from a glowing white Nevermore.
As the scythe master surveyed the scene, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. There, slumped against the wall, was the dying form of the woman who had stolen the Fall Maiden's powers. On the other side of the room lay the lifeless body of the former leader of Team JNPR.
"Damn... Ruby's gonna kill me."
He returned his attention to Cinder's body, just in time to see it fade away into black dust.