A/N: This is it. The final chapter of this story. If you have been reading the whole thing then I want to thank you for sticking with it this far.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

The ceiling was bleeding and the blood was forming into more grimm. Richter repeated that in his mind to see if it made more sense, it didn't. If they didn't move soon, the soulless creatures would overwhelm them.

As if on cue, a pile of boulders fell down on top of their current room's exit. The large rocks blocked their only way out. If Richter had the strength, he would have ran a hand through his hair and let out an exasperated sigh. Of course they were in the worst-case scenario, nothing ever goes right.

Ruby's eyebrows furrowed in concern. "You wouldn't happen to have any secret escape tunnels or anything would you?"

"No escape tunnels." He answered, searching his brain frantically. Gena Celvic had a contingency plan in case the entrance caved in, but he couldn't remember it exactly. "But there might be something." He added.

Richter looked around, the entire room designed to trap grimm once the Sirensong had lured them in, was a mess. The scars of their battles were all over and there was no standing furniture to be seen. Whether it be tables, chairs or other Dust-powered equipment. He found what he was looking for in the northwestern section of the room, Gena's laptop, lying on the floor. If it still worked….

He pointed out the laptop to Ruby. "If that laptop is still operational, then we might have a chance." Richter went to stand, but found that he was having a bit of trouble, when did his body get so heavy? He saw Ruby reach out a helping hand out of the corner of his eye, but he grabbed her wrist to stop her. "I'll be fine, your friends need more help than me." He told her. "Get them over to that laptop as fast as possible."

Ruby didn't look convinced, worry was apparent in her silver eyes, but she nodded nonetheless. "Okay." And with that she took off, leaving rose petals in her wake.

Finally getting to his feet, Richter began limping towards Gena's laptop. The short ex-huntsman's chest burned from the wound Ruby had given him. Blood flowed freely from it, but he paid it no mind. All he had to do was last long enough to get everyone to safety.

Some of the grimm began converging on him. Even in his weakened state, Richter was able to dispatch them swiftly with Dyrnwyn. Still, for every grimm he was forced to slay, it delayed him from reaching his goal, and his waning strength was very finite.

After what seemed like hours, but was probably less than a minute, Richter reached Gena's laptop. Dropping to his knees, Richter quickly turned the tiny computer upright, his dark eyebrows furrowed in concern as he saw the screen was partially shattered. If the laptop was broken then they were screwed.

The sound of boots landing behind him drew Richter's attention and he turned around to see Ruby gently drop Weiss' unconscious form near him. The heiress looked like hell, rips and tears in her clothes, bruises on her pale skin, and a thin trail of blood running from the top of her forehead down to her chin. Ruby hastily took off in another shower of rose petals, slicing grimm in half as she made a beeline for Blake. She returned with her faunus teammate just as fast, setting her next to Weiss. Richter cringed at the sight of Blake's bloody socket where her right eye should be. She would never be the same.

"I don't see Yang!" Ruby shouted in distress. Richter remembered when he had last seen the blonde huntress. Darion had knocked her through the room's exit.

"With the way Darion hit her, she probably got knocked completely out of the mountain. She should be safe, well from whatever is in here at least." He informed her.

"You're sure?" She asked him.

Richter was already typing furiously on the laptop. "As sure as I can be at the moment, we have our hands full now." As if to emphasize his point, several grimm began approaching them growling and snarling at them. "Keep them off me while I work on this thing."

Ruby went to work, slicing grimm to shreds with Crescent Rose. She was a red blur as she flitted from grimm to grimm, leaving them a smoking ruin in their wake. Still, as many as she killed, just as more popped up and Richter noticed with growing nervousness that the black blood from the ceiling was starting to drip more frequently.

Ruby blurred back into place behind Richter, gripping her scythe tightly, "Richter, I don't want to bother you but…"

He grit his teeth as the laptop gave him another error message. "I know! I'm working on it!" He said in a highly stressed tone. "Trying to remember what password out of thirteen is the right one."

Ruby shifted her weapon into gun form, firing a few rounds into a pack of grimm. "Remember faster! We're running out of time!"

Richter growled, "I'll throw my brain at you and you can pick it for the right password! Will that help?" He snapped.

"I don't know it might!" She snapped back.

Richter typed in another password, error. He typed in another and got the error message once more. He felt his palms get sweaty, silently cursing Gena for having so many passwords for so many different things. One of these damn passwords had to work!

A sudden affirmative beep sounded from the console and Richter's eyes widened in disbelief, he found the right one! "Got it!" He shouted to Ruby, "Regroup on your friends! It's time to leave!"

"Okay!" Ruby said, she fired a few more rounds and maneuvered herself to stand near Weiss and Blake's unconscious forms. She was in position.

Richter smiled sadly and pressed the button to activate the escape pod.

Ruby and her friends became encased in a translucent sphere, it looked like glass, but it was stronger than steel. This escape pod was designed to survive a large grimm attack and was meant for an alternative means of escape if someone who wasn't altered got trapped in their current room. In a very short time, a rocket embedded in a disc-shaped platform on the bottom of the pod would launch Ruby and her team to safety through a secret passage in the southwestern part of the ceiling. That is, if the passage was still intact.

"Richter!?" Ruby exclaimed, noticing with great alarm that Richter was standing outside of the pod.

He gave her the best reassuring smile he could, which wasn't great. "Someone has to make sure that thing spawning all of these grimm doesn't awaken, I'm sorry Ruby."

If what Gena had told him was true, this thing sleeping in the mountain had the potential to bring the city of Vale to its knees. He couldn't let that happen for two reasons, one was so many innocent lives would be lost and the other was because it was Cinder's big goal. He couldn't let that arrogant bitch get what she wanted.

"Don't you dare do this!" Ruby shouted, "Get in here right now!"

"It's too late." Richter replied, "The pod can't be reopened once the launch sequence has engaged."

"Then abort it!" Ruby quickly responded, when he didn't move to comply with her wishes, she slammed her tiny fists into the side of the pod. "Damn it Richter! Abort the launch sequence!"

The short ex-huntsman's eyebrows furrowed in sadness. "I can't."

Ruby slammed her fists into the side of the pod once more, tears beginning to form in the rim of her eyes. "I'm not leaving you behind again!"

A gentle smile played across Richter's lips as he placed his right hand on the pod's wall, over the same spot Ruby had her left hand. "You never left me behind in the first place."

She clenched her eyes shut and shook her head furiously, as if doing so would deny the inevitable outcome they both knew was coming. "This isn't goodbye!" She reopened her eyes and as Richter looked at them he felt his resolve temporarily weaken, he hated doing this to her, but he'd rather she live. "Richter please. Just abort the launch sequence!"

"If I do that, we all die." He placed his forehead onto the pod's wall. "Vale is going to need you in the near future, so you have to live."

Ruby mirrored his action, their foreheads would have been touching if not for the escape pod's translucent wall. "Why?" She asked softly, her voice breaking, a single tear ran down her right cheek. "Why is it always you that has to make the sacrifice?"

"Because I'm the one with the least to lose." He answered her gently. "Thank you, for not being afraid of me."

"How could I ever be afraid of you?"

Her response warmed his heart. "Stay strong." He said to her and with that he moved away from the escape pod. Richter looked at Ruby's face, doing his best to commit it to memory as best as he could. Something odd swelled in his chest, he wasn't quite sure what it was, but it was warm and it felt like it was threatening to burst out of his chest. Words began to form at the tip of his tongue and before he knew it he blurted out something he couldn't believe he'd ever say.

"I love you, Ruby Rose."

The last thing he saw was Ruby's silver eyes widen in shock, and then the escape pod launched. A circular hole opened up in the room's ceiling and the pod rocketed through it. Richter watched it go with a small smile on his face. It was selfish of him, to admit his feelings to her right before sending her away, but he needed to let her know before marching to his death. Richter felt strangely at ease after his impromptu confession, he hadn't even realized he was bottling that in for so long. Invisible strength filled his body. He wasn't ready to admit defeat just yet. There had to be a way to survive this and still stop the massive grimm, but how?

The short ex-huntsman stared out at the increasing number of grimm. He couldn't fight them normally, not with the massive chest wound Ruby had inflicted on him in their duel. The self-destruct sequence would take all the grimm out, including the sleeping one generating all of the ebony-colored monsters, but that would kill him too. Realization dawned on him, there was a way he could make it, but it was a hell of a gamble, and there was no guarantee he would come out of it the same.

But it was a chance.

Richter typed in a new command on the laptop and his right hand shakily raised to cover his left eye. What he was about to do was incredibly stupid and dangerous, so much so that not even Darion was willing to try it. The room was designed to weaken and trap grimm so that Darion could mass consume them and subsequently, achieve "Godhood." It however, was not designed to consume the massive grimm sleeping in the mountain. Darion didn't even want to risk it.

And here he was about to try.

If he could consume all the grimm, including the giant one sleeping in the mountain before it woke up completely, he could make it through this. However, doing so could change him forever, and that's if he was even successful. What kind of being would he be? What kind of monster would he turn in to? Richter realized it didn't matter, just as long as he could see Ruby's face again.

Now resolved, Richter ripped his face off, transforming into his altered form. The blinding pain in his left shoulder made itself known again, but he paid it no heed. He needed to focus all of his energy into one thought.

Consume.

The laptop executed the command he had put into it and the entire room flared to life as bolts of electricity shot to and fro, zapping every single grimm in the room. As they began dissolving Richter opened his mouth wide, the smoke from the destroyed grimm all changed direction, heading straight for his mouth. He held back the urge to vomit as he began swallowing all of the smoke. The room continued to fire off electricity and the black blood from the ceiling began to dissolve before it could even form grimm, Richter consumed that as well.

The room began to shake even more violently, but the short ex-huntsman stood firm. The massive grimm was beginning to awaken, he had to consume it before that could happen. Redoubling his efforts, Richter began drawing smoke from the ceiling above him. Was that from the massive grimm? Was this actually working?

An inhumane shriek made itself known in the room and Richter stumbled to his knees, losing his concentration. He vomited, dark fluid flying from his mouth to land in a pool at his feet. Wiping his mouth with his bandaged hand, Richter stood back up to his feet. No, he wouldn't lose this battle, he had to succeed here or Ruby and an entire kingdom could be lost.

With the last of his strength, Richter leapt up to the ceiling and stabbed Dyrnwyn into it. Gritting his teeth, the short ex-huntsman began spreading his aura across the entire ceiling. The grimm he had consumed gave him a boost and he used it to the fullest of his ability. One giant land mine, if he detonated one giant land mine he might be able to kill the sleeping grimm, at the very least he could wound it and maybe make it weak enough for him to consume. It was the only plan he had.

Another inhumane shriek, but Richter let out a roar of defiance in his distorted voice. The entire ceiling was now glowing black-white with his power, all he had to do was give the mental command to detonate. It was the moment of truth.

Richter's last thoughts were of Ruby's cheerful face as he shoved Dyrnwyn into the ceiling another inch and detonated the giant land mine in the ceiling he had formed. His entire world flashed white and then became nothing at all.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Yang Xiao Long would never forget this day.

She had regained consciousness a few minutes before to discover that she had been knocked outside of the whole mountain. Despite her broken left arm and destroyed right gauntlet, the blonde huntress was about to charge right back in when a peculiar sight stopped her. A translucent sphere shot out of the side of the mountain and Yang spotted her little sister and the rest of her teammates inside of it. The sphere deployed a parachute and began to descend gently below the treeline, some distance away.

Yang let out a sigh of relief, her friends were out of danger, but what about Darion? Did they stop the Sirensong? As she was asking herself these questions, the unbelievable happened.

Yang Xiao Long would never forget the day she saw a mountain cave in on itself.

The blonde huntress was forced to cover her face with her right arm as dust and small rocks washed over her. Yang's aura had yet to recharge and so she took the full brunt of the pebble shower that hit her. She was going to have so many bruises in the morning.

When it finally ended, what was once a mountain was now a giant crater, a lazy trail of smoke flowing into the sky from the center of it. Yang stood there and looked on in amazement, there was no way nothing could have survived that, not even Darion in his roided up form.

With that settled in her mind, Yang began limping her way towards where she saw the escape pod land. It took some time, especially in her battered state, but thankfully there was no grimm to attack her. The progress was slower than she would have liked, but eventually the escape pod was in sight, and what Yang saw almost broke her heart.

Weiss and Blake were still unconscious, both looking like hell. Blake's right eye socket was a bloody mess and Ruby….

Yang frowned as he saw his little sister, crying her silver eyes out. It was then she realized the group was one short.

Richter.

The blonde huntress looked back towards the destroyed mountain with a frown, that bastard, did he really sacrifice himself again? What a noble idiot.

It took some more time, but eventually Yang figured out how to open the escape pod. As soon as she touched her sister's shoulder, Ruby was embracing her. Her little sister's tiny arms were wrapped around her waist as she sobbed into her abdomen. Yang held her as best as she could with her right arm as she looked on in worry. She hadn't seen Ruby this bad since their mom had never returned from her mission. But she was strong, she would get through this.

She had to.

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One month later

"By bringing the existence of the Sirensong to the public, you have caused the company great harm, Weiss." A stern voice said from the screen in Weiss' scroll. "Approval rating is at an all-time low and our stocks are dropping by the day."

Weiss did her best to fight back the headache that was building. She had literally been discharged from the hospital an hour ago and had barely shut the door to her dorm room when she got the call from her father. His slightly wrinkled face was radiating disappointment.

"Darion was going to use the Sirensong once more and my team couldn't handle the situation on their own." She replied, keeping her tone even and respectful. "I had to seek assistance."

"The integrity of the company must be upheld at all times." Her father quickly interjected. "I would have thought my own daughter would have learned that by now."

Hearing this, Weiss' expression immediately soured, "Does that come at the expense of your own integrity?"

"What?" Her father said, caught off-guard.

The heiress pressed the attack. "You knew what Darion Shiver had done in the past. You knew what the Sirensong was capable of, and yet, you turned a blind eye to it all." Her eyes narrowed as she began to lose her temper. "Thousands of people died because of the Sirensong, and for what? To see a return on your investment?"

Weiss' father's voice went dangerously low, "You have no idea how much that device cost the company, cost ME. I wasn't about to throw it in the trash bin."

Hearing those words were like a dagger to Weiss' heart. She had heard all the rumors about the questionable acts of the Schnee Dust Company under her father's rule, but she didn't want to believe it. Even if it came from sources like Blake, her own teammate and friend, she vehemently refused in her mind that her father was a corrupt businessman. However, here it was, staring her in the face.

"So you would rather protect your investment than the lives of innocent people." She said slowly, incredulous of it all.

Her father took a breath to compose himself, "Where there is life, there is death my naïve daughter. Some just reach the end of the road we call 'Life.' Faster than others."

She knew he intended to sound like he was giving sage wisdom. Weiss saw it more as a snake revealing its true nature, a snake that had raised her and cared for her. Now the snake was biting her hand and the venom it spewed made her want to retch.

"I can't believe it." She responded, tearing up. "To hear these words come out of my own father's mouth…"

Just like every other time, her father was unmoved by her emotional display. "We can talk more when you're back at home." He told her in a cool and clipped voice, all business now. Just like he always was. "I have a plane coming to pick you up in six hours, I expect you to be ready."

Weiss' face hardened. No, she was done being ordered around by a snake trying to act like a father. "I won't be there."

Her father's face turned bright red. She could practically hear his teeth grinding as he fought to keep from yelling. "I will brook no more argument on this Weiss. You've caused enough damage to the Schnee name already."

"Then perhaps I shouldn't be a part of it anymore."

Her words stunned her father into silence for a moment, which was a first. She wasn't sure how he would react and so she waited, mentally bracing for the verbal reprisal with her neutral expression.

"I want you to think carefully about what you're saying." He finally said, almost hissing the words, so like a snake.

Weiss scowled at the screen. "I have." She informed him. "You're so concerned with the value of your investments that you don't stop to think about the value of people's lives!" Her eyebrows furrowed in sadness. "Not even your own daughter's! Darion almost killed me and the only thing you can think about is your precious little Sirensong!"

Another moment of silence ensued, but this time her father wasn't wearing a stern expression. Instead, he was surprised, shocked, as if her words had reached the real him for the first time since she was a little girl. Before the White Fang dominated his attention.

Emotion overwhelmed the heiress and she felt her careful calculated control begin to break down. "You're no better than the grimm. I'm ashamed to have ever called you father." Tears were streaming down Weiss' cheeks now, but she refused to let her face break, she glared intensely at her father on the scroll's screen, "Don't contact me ever again." She commanded, spewing as much anger into her voice as she could. She then disconnected the call.

Weiss finally let the emotions have their way with her. Her tiny body rocked with sobs as the tears flowed. Her father was a snake of a businessman and it took her this long to finally see it. There was no way she could stomach being the heir to such a corrupt company now. She would have to clear the Schnee name another way.

"I'm sorry." A familiar voice said from behind her.

Weiss turned around to see Blake, now sporting a black eyepatch that covered her right eye. The doctors' and Blake's own aura were unable to restore it. The faunus had been released from the hospital a week before her. She looked none the worse for wear, leaning her back almost casually against a wall.

The pale huntress wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "Don't be. You weren't the one who caused all of this."

"I know." Blake said. "But it's never a good thing when family fights. For what it's worth, I'm glad you stood up to him. It's because of his apathy that we went through that mess in the first place."

Weiss nodded her thanks at her friend's support as she dried her eyes, composing herself once more. "What have I missed?"

"Thanks to the information Richter gave Ruby before our…final battle with Darion. We were able to oust Cinder Fall and her accomplices, Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai. Unfortunately, they were able to escape the hunters and the Atlesian military." The expression in Blake's good eye became feral. "Their current whereabouts are unknown, but we got them on the run."

"Hopefully we can keep them that way." Weiss replied. "The Vytal Festival is coming up soon, can't have them ruining that."

Blake allowed herself a small smile. "Indeed."

Upon thinking of her next subject of conversation, Weiss' eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Is Ruby still searching for Richter?"

The smile quickly disappeared from Blake's face. "She still believes he's alive."

Weiss remembered the picture her faunus friend had showed her on the way to her dorm. "The entire mountain collapsed in on itself! There's no way anyone could have survived!"

"I agree, but Ruby doesn't."

The pale huntress shook her head. "Sooner or later, she's going to have to accept the fact that he's gone."

Blake's good eye softened, "I just hope it's sooner rather than later."

Weiss sighed, "Me too."

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Yang fidgeted once more, her left arm, currently in a sling, was starting to itch, but there was no way to scratch it. At least not out in the woods like she was. The doctors' informed her that while they could heal her left arm, it might never move the same way again. Some of Darion's aura had apparently got into her arm when he broke it and messed things up in there. Her career as a huntress was in jeopardy and it scared her, but she had bigger things to worry about, like trying to convince her baby sister to stop a fruitless search.

Ruby Rose fired Crescent Rose in gun form yet another time, shattering a boulder a dozen meters from where she was standing. Her silver eyes examined the empty space before taking aim at another boulder and firing again. Yang had been watching her repeat this process for hours. Hanging out on top of a giant pile of rubble left behind by a collapsed mountain was not her idea of recuperating. She couldn't leave Ruby out here alone though, her little sister was suffering.

"Take a break Ruby." The blonde huntress gently ordered, "You've been searching since morning, it's almost eight now."

Ruby fired her weapon again. "I'm fine." She wasn't. Yang could see the bags under her sister's silver eyes and the way she slouched. The girl was exhausted.

"You're going to give out at this rate." Yang said, she needed to change tactics, nothing she said before had gotten through. "Listen, I don't want to believe it either, but we may have to consider that Richter is…."

"No." Ruby immediately replied, interrupting her. "I made that mistake before and left him to be tortured by Cinder." Her hands gripped Crescent Rose tighter, "She twisted Richter, almost turned him into a monster." A sad sigh escaped the petite girl's lips. "And I wasn't there for him."

"It's not your fault." Yang responded.

Ruby turned to look at her, a melancholic look on her face. "Then why do I still feel guilty?"

Yang walked up to her sister, placing her right hand on her left shoulder, "Hindsight is 20/20 Ruby. If you keep looking at what you should have done in the past, you'll drive your present self insane."

Ruby lowered her head, "I thought I was given a second chance. When I saw Richter alive again, I thought I would be able to set things right and we could be like we were at Signal. I was really happy." Her lips curled downwards into a frown. "And then the idiot has to go and sacrifice himself again."

"He did it to keep you safe." Yang informed her. "That's how much he cared about you."

Ruby shook her head, "I'm not going to let him off that easy Yang." She looked at Yang then and the blonde huntress saw the familiar fire and determination in her eyes that she was used to. "I will find him and if I have to, I'll drag him back to Vale, bound and gagged."

Yang still didn't believe Richter had survived, but seeing such passion from her sister was a welcome change. She grinned mischieviously at Ruby. "Whoa, you don't need to share your kinky romance ideas little sister." Yang suddenly found her vision filled up with Ruby's backpack as it smacked her in the face.

"Help me search if you have time to talk." Ruby said in an annoyed tone.

Yang noticed her tone was lighter. She smiled, she was making progress.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Mercury Black was not having a good day.

He had been stuck in this miserable bunker outside of Vale for three weeks. When he had escaped the hunters and Atlesian military robots sent to capture him. And they didn't send just any old hunters to capture him and his team. No, they sent friggin' Qrow Branwen and Glynda Goodwitch. He lost track of Cinder and Emerald in the chaos and hadn't heard from Neo since his escape from the city. He had been all alone in this bunker, wondering if he was the only one who had escaped the authorities when Emerald finally showed up. She was currently grabbing a snack from the kitchen, stating she hadn't had a decent meal in days.

Mercury was currently in a meeting room of sorts, with a long table, several chairs on each side and a whiteboard at the opposite end of the exit door. The silver-haired terrorist had several marks on the whiteboard, dictating patrol spots around Vale, there were A LOT of marks. Someone had stirred up the hornet's nest and he really wanted to find out who, so he could kick the living stuff out of them.

The sound of the door opening caught Mercury's attention and he looked to see Emerald biting into a sandwich she had made as she closed the door. She looked like she had seen better days, her clothes were torn and dirty and there were bags under her eyes. She took a seat opposite of Mercury.

"Have you heard anything from Cinder?" He asked her.

Emerald shook her head, biting into her sandwich, chewing and swallowing, "No, they came after us so suddenly, it was all I could do not to get caught."

Mercury shook his head, slamming his fists onto the table in frustration. "How the hell did this happen? How the hell did our cover get blown?"

Emerald's eyes narrowed in thought. "It had to have been that weasel, Torchwick. He sold us out to get his freedom."

"Or maybe Neo?" Mercury suggested, "I could never quite tell what she was thinking."

"Whoever it is, I'm going to skin them alive." Emerald threatened, he couldn't agree more.

The sound of fighting and grimm dying filled their ears. The two terrorists jumped to their feet and Mercury frowned. The bunker was located deep in a nest of grimm, it would take a large military force or an exceptionally skilled hunter to have made it this far. Which meant it was either General Ironwood, Glynda Goodwitch, or Qrow Branwen. None of the possibilities were good.

"Damn it!" Emerald cursed, "Have they found us?"

The thief and the assassin raced for the bunker's exit. Peering outside all they could see was the bodies of multiple dead grimm, smoking in the moonlight. Cautiously, Mercury opened the bunker's exit door and stepped out, right into the center of a massacre.

It was worse once he got outside, dead creeps, beowulves, ursai, and even gryphons were strewn about as far as they could see. The two terrorists turned their gaze towards the center of the clearing, the place they couldn't quite see while behind the bunker's door and were greeted by an unusual sight.

A short figure stood before them, dressed in black with the exception of the ragged greycloak draped over their shoulders and the bandages wrapped around their hands and forearms. The first thing Mercury noticed that was off about the figure was the eyes, they were like miniature suns. The second thing was the mask draped over the front of his face, it looked very similar to a grimm mask. The last thing was the figure had the throat of a grounded nevermore gripped tightly in their right hand. The large winged grimm squawked weakly as it flapped its wings vainly in an attempt to escape, but the figure held firm. It was an unsettling sight to see such a formidable monster held in check like that.

"Cinder Fall…" The figure spoke, the voice male, but distorted and to Mercury, it almost sounded like a dozen voices speaking rather than one. "…Where is she?"

"She's not here." Mercury stated, getting the chills. He didn't like the vibes he was getting from this guy.

"What business do you have with her?" Emerald quickly added.

The figure's eyes flashed and Mercury immediately took a step backwards. He could feel the killing intent rolling off the short man in waves, it was almost suffocating him.

"She shattered my world…" The figure spoke again with quiet intensity, his eyes flashed again, and the nevermore in his hands squawked in newfound agony as grey flames engulfed it. "….So I'm going to burn hers."

With that, the figure dropped the nevermore and turned away, walking back to the treeline. Mercury noticed that the trees closest to the short figure warped and bended, turning from a healthy brown to a withered black or grey. The nevermore continued to squawk in agony, making sounds that Mercury didn't know the flying grimm could make. He exchanged a glance with Emerald and saw in her eyes the same fear that he felt in his gut.

The nevermore continued to wail in torment as the grey flames continued to torture it without mercy. Mercury could only look on in disbelief.

What in the world had they gotten into?

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

A/N:I was heavily inspired by Mortal Kombat X's after-credits ending for that final scene. The one where Raiden warns Liu Kang and Kitana about attacking Earth Realm then throws Shinnok's head at their feet.

And so ends Shattered Worlds. I originally was going to stop this one after chapter two, when Ruby was visiting Richter's grave, but my brain had to keep giving me ideas. So I decided to experiment with poor Richter Bremen and see how I could fit him into the RWBY universe. I'm not sure if the experiment was a success or not, but I had a lot of fun writing this. Now it's time to recharge the creative battery.

As to what I'll work on next, I'm not sure, there are some unfinished fics I would like to get back to, but it's been so long that I lost my train of thought. I also have some ideas for a sequel to this fic, but I'm not sure if enough people would be interested, I also need to take a little break before diving back into it again.

I hope you enjoyed this story and looking forward to Volume 4 whenever that comes out!

UPDATE ON 4/18/16

-Work has begun on another fic that takes place after Shattered Worlds. I don't really want to call it a sequel as it's a shorter story.

-Forgot to mention another inspiration, Ruby and Richter's fight in chapter 16 was heavily inspired by Kakashi vs. Obito fight in Naruto: Shippuden. I really loved the sad music that played while two old friends beat the hell out of each other.

-If Shattered Worlds had a theme song I think it would be the song "Through It All" from the band "Spoken" One of my favorite songs atm.