( Here it is peeps! The final chapter i worked so hard on, balancing comedy, action, and romance! Enjoy! I hope i didn't screw up. )
It was said that people saw their entire lives flash past their eyes in the moment before death.
Cinder wondered if the same would happen to her victims.
Qrow lunged at her with his weapon, she dodged and shot a fireball at him.
Ozpin slashed his cane at her, but he missed and received a discharge of flame in his chest.
Asshole the witch fired a neon green, shimmering spell at her head, but was parried by an attack from Cinder.
These three great warriors, she scoffed, was no match for her.
They were all weak, useless, like fluff on a carpet.
They were no more than an insect to her. After the power she gained from the Fall Maiden, she was untouchable.
Fire roared behind her eyes, and on her palms. Her enemies stumbled back.
She waved her hand. Fire rose up from the ground, cracking the marble floor.
A kick. Qrow yelled and fell back.
Everyone should fear her, no matter who they were.
"Jesus, lady!" Qrow shouted in pain. "Watch where you're sticking that foot."
"Give me the balls." Cinder growled. She advanced on them, slowly.
"I'l give you a kick up the ass!" Swore Asshole.
Black smoke curled curiously around her fists, licking her wrists, and whispering with a hollow tune.
"Black magic…" Cinder smiled at the magic. "Meh."
"Meh?!" Asshole snapped, finally losing her cool. "Meh?! I have fucking black magic in my hand and all you say is meh?"
Not too far behind her, fought Adam, who was taking on Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Pyrrha and Jaune.
At first, it seemed inundate for all of them to be fighting him, not to mention unnecessary, but the adults wouldn't have it any other way. It seemed that even Adam, was inferior to Cinder.
CRACK!
The ground split open with the force of an explosion, and a ghostly navy light shone bravely through. The shill sound of the screams of the dead, variegated with their cold whispers.
Hands began to latch onto the sides of the fissure, and pull their bodies up. They were wrapped in decomposing, white flesh, most of it gone, revealing pearly bone.
There was a giant, climactic battle at the old Vacuo ruin, and Asshole had just invited the dead.
Traitor.
Good for nothing, completely filthy, traitor.
Even if he was fighting six people, Adam Tarus only saw one target : Blake.
He swung his katana wildly, but precisely, the killing edge of the blade always facing the fanus.
A barrage of attacks was deflected by Blake, but not without cost. She was getting weaker, and her arm became from feeble with each parry.
Blake swung back, making Adam open to attack from her friends, while allowing her to catch her breath. She clutched a stitch in her side, and her face was red. Consciousness flowed in and out of her head like water.
Over the years under the White Fang, she had learnt a few tricks that could catch expert swordsman, but the problem was, Adam knew more. Heck, the guy was the one who taught her them.
Blake rounded her shoulders, and went back in.
A shard of wintry ice slashed across his cheek. Adam bellowed. Weiss thrust her rapier at his throat, but the move was smacked aside by his aggressive swordsmanship.
He locked blades with her, and pushed her back. Weiss's shoes clamped onto the ground, resisting movement. Sweat beaded on the ice queen's forehead, which was odd, and something that almost never happened. Adam grit his teeth, and put more effort into his advancement. Weiss began to, against her will, slide back. Myrtenaster groaned under extreme stress, the fine silver metal shuddering, and Adam's blade making a firm groove in the edge.
She knew she wasn't gonna last long like this. Weiss was facing an opponent much more skilled, intelligent, and for lack of a different term, muscular.
In an instant, she twisted away, and skirted around his flank rapidly, catching him by surprise.
The stinging, ice cold bite of Myrtenaster in his back made his vision blurry. The dust system in the weapon had a primary purpose, to inflict as much pain as possible on contact.
But Adam had learnt to cut pain off, to not feel the prick of a blade. A backhanded slap sent Weiss down to the floor.
"WEISS!" Ruby bawled, rushing to her fallen teammate's aid. Such heroic acts were of no concern to Adam. He stepped past Weiss, and toward Blake.
"You knew this day would come, you filthy traitor…"
"Um…actually, no, i had no idea." Blake retorted, attempting a biting remark.
"You had no idea…?" Adam started, with trembling rage.
"Yup, no idea." Blake's head shook rapidly.
"Well then." Adam growled. "Let me…"
"Let you what? You are one confusing little man!" Yang had stepped next to Blake, arms down, swinging casually. But there was a tone of apprehension behind the mask of flippancy.
"Confusing?" The man said, eyeing Yang with interest.
They had fought just days before, and apparently, the confident teenager had forgotten that she almost died.
"Totally confusing." Replied Yang, with massive emphasis on the 'totally'.
Blake silently wondered what the bloody hell her friend was doing. In the corner of her eye, she saw Ruby tending to Weiss, and saw Pyrrha and Jaune creeping up on Adam from behind like freakily dressed murderers. Distraction? Though Blake serendipitously.
Actually, it was more an insult than a distraction.
"YES! Confusing! One second, you're this grave mentor in the White Fang, teaching this poor, vulnerable, fanus." Yang waved her hands comically at Blake for visual aid.
"The next second, you're some creepy guy, wanting to get in your student's pants…I mean come on, i know Blake is hot, but…"
Blake went red. "What the hell Yang? That is so not true."
Adam also went red, and instead of doing what he should have done, engaging on combat, he engaged in an argument.
"I did no such thing!"
"Uh…of course you did. If you didn't, why did it say so in Blake's diary?"
Blake dropped fifty shades of red brighter. "You read my diary?" She yelled, indignant. Realising her mistake, in a micro second, she corrected herself, and said in a similar tone: "I have a diary?"
The man in front of them had lost composure. Any normal guy would have too : being accused of flirting was a serious accusation.
"How dare you…you accuse me of…you dare…"
Yang beamed at him, hands on her slanted hips, like she was looking at a naughty child.
"Awww, its ok to be attracted to someone. Take me for example. I mean, have you seen Sun? I just want him to nail me with his long, hard, d-"
AGH!
Ozpin dropped the floor, clutching his arm. Warm, red streams of blood poured from behind his fingers. Cinder stood triumphant, but only for a second, the two remaining fighters attacked with increased vigour.
All of the student's attention was instantly drawn to their headmaster.
Adam took advantage, and lunged forward, sword in hand…
Blake felt the blade pierce her abdomen before anyone had noticed. It parted her flesh, and her blood swarmed to meet the intruder.
She uttered no screams as she fell to the stony floor.
Her eyes were wide open, mouth hanging.
Her body was limp, every muscle flaccid, and her breathing heavy.
Yang's attitude was no longer cheerful or cheeky, but instead…she didn't even know. How was anyone to react to their best friend being stabbed?
A spear and sword pounced out of nowhere.
Adam twirled around to face Jaune and Pyrrha. Both angry.
Simple duck and swerve, combined with a flurry of parries and lunges sent them down quickly. But not fatally.
Adam looked around.
Cinder fought Asshole the witch, an infuriated Qrow, Ruby, and an army of endless skeletons than rose from the fissure in the ground, and now back with a vengeance, Weiss.
And if Jaune and Pyrrha got up, two more would join against her. ( Yang was with Blake, who was near death. )
Maybe he was on the losing side. However, he never really wanted the balls. And he never really wanted to work with Cinder. She mostly forced him into it.
So was it worth it to help her? Adam pondered and made up his mind. No.
And he turned his back on Fall and his mind on where the fastest way out of here was.
He stumbled past the rocky hole in the wall that Yang had previously blown open, and vanished into the misty jungle.
A cold, bony hand clasped onto her arm. Cinder growled, and shot fire at the skeleton aggressor.
But it had no flesh to burn, or no nerves to hurt.
The skull was charred coal black, but her attack only served to make the skeleton head look cooler : the flames were now nestled inside his skull, giving it the appearance of a flaming skull.
The particular bag of bones brought it's head close to her's, and let the flames singe the edges of her dark hair.
Pain seared her scalp. The rattling groan of the dead reverberated in her ear, sending tingles up her spine.
"Die…" It whispered belligerently. His friends chattered in plain agreement.
Qrow was advancing on her, weapon out and ready. Far behind, and in safety was Asshole, putting every inch of effort into controlling the dead.
Not for long.
Cinder shook off his grip, and rose her knee to meet his pelvic bone.
CRACK. The excruciating crunch of bone. The skeleton moaned in pain, and fell, clutching his shattered pelvis.
Free, Cinder ducked under their bony arms and Qrow's savage swipe of his scythe, and landed a fist straight to Asshole's nose.
Another crack, and Asshole reeled, blood pouring from her broken nose, and concentration crushed, the skeletons relaxed and flattened.
Thrusting her hand into Asshole's pocket, grasping the balls, and she pulled out.
"GOT IT!" Cinder laughed, her hair askew, and her chest heaving.
Immediately, the spheres glowed, and the hand grasping it as well. Her breathing slowed, becoming more loose and light. A smile reached across her smooth face.
"Ah…shit." Qrow muttered, beginning to back away. Light grey fume spiralled around Cinder's feet, rising from the ground magically.
Ozpin looked up at her, his hand drenched red, and face sour.
All around, the walls began to shake threateningly, dust fell from the roof, and the crack of stone echoed around the hall.
A chuckle left Cinder's crooked smile, and another, and another, slowly evolving into a maniacal laugh that sounded somewhat not human.
The combination of the maiden's powers combined with the orbs resulted in an unstoppable user.
Everyone backed away, waiting for the inevitable with bated breath.
Cinder's eyes had actual fire in them. White hot, steaming, and vibrating with power.
"HAAHAH! NOW! FINALLY! ULTIMATE POWER…."
The orbs in her hand had lost their metallic hue : they now shone bright, pure white, and pumped power into their host.
Shards of stone flew up into the air, the floor split like a spider's web, intricate and beautiful, and the cobble surrounding Cinder flared with fire, and was seared inky black, steam towering, curling, encasing the woman's figure with a cocoon of haze.
Yang gripped Blake hard, sensing the end.
Blake coughed, a trickle of blood escaped her mouth. "Yang…thats a bit too tight."
"Ah, sorry Blake."
"Yang?"
"Mmmh?"
"This is it, huh?"
Yang never responded to that, but instead watched ahead, feeling the air rise to temperates that were too much, even for her.
Weiss and Ruby stood side by side, dread creeping deep into them.
And Pyrrha and Jaune?
They hugged each other while they sat on the ground, wanting to spend their final moments, their last seconds, with each other.
What followed took place over a matter of seconds, but from the point of view of the both of them, it took hours.
Almost like time had slowed.
Fire leisurely danced, dust fell from the ceiling like snow, and people moved sedately, their voices sluggish and morphed.
Cinder's laugh sounded now monstrous and deep.
Massive power surged through her body, and she slowly rose her hand to destroy her enemies.
It took forever for her arm to get up, and longer still for the fabric of the robe to respond.
Suddenly, her expression was altered : a grimace.
A pang of pain seared her brain. Her smile faltered, slowly sinking into a frown.
What the hell?
Another shot of pain hit her head. It widened her eyes, and caused distress to her nerves.
Her body twitched, involuntarily. Her foes didn't notice her odd spasm. It only lasted a second after all, Cinder thought bracingly.
But then another agonising discharge ate at her brain, burning her eyes and bringing her to her knees, clawing at her head.
Her foes definitely noticed that.
Then another strike of pain, and another. Cinder's aura made an effort to numb it, but each strike hit harder and faster.
Her skin began to glow with feral light, and her clothes smoked under the heat.
"AGGGGHHH." She growled in pain, and the others in the room backed away in haste.
"What the fuck?" Asshole said, but less in fear, more in confusion.
The ground below Cinder cracked and liquidised, fire surrounding her like a devilish circle.
Her skin sagged, her hair flared with heat, her eyes became brighter than the Sun, and she glowed like an absurd angel on fire.
"Nooooo…this…wasn't….supposed to…happen…" With each passing word, her voice was less feminine, more monstrous and distorted, like her very vocal cords were slowly melting.
Everyone in the room shielded their eyes as the light inside of her reached a peak. Bright, pure hot white phosphorescence beamed all round, engulfed every inch of the hall, and Cinder's scream reached miles around.
The blood inside her evaporated, and to Jaune and Pyrrha, exploded in a magnificent bright flash.
She imploded with such speed, that the naked eye would find it impossible to track.
And at that very moment, Cinder Fall saw her entire life flash past her eyes.
Adam heard Fall's yell. Assuming it all went to hell, he turned to the helicopter in front of him.
The White Fang general and his remaining men saluted him stoutly.
"Wheels up." He ordered, calling to every soldier present.
The general followed him into the cabin of the copter.
"Um..sir? What about Miss Fall?" He swallowed, summoning as much confidence to sound dignified.
"Miss Fall?" Adam turned to peer at the green mountain tips, where the ruin and Cinder was. He felt the cool wind rush into his hair, blowing sweetly in his face. He smiled. "We won't be seeing much of her anymore."
The General nodded curtly, not fully understanding, but signalling to his men nevertheless. They were leaving. The heavy metal door slammed in his face. The blades of the machine whirred. The rest of the army lifted off the sandy beach, once again tossing buckets of sparkling sand around.
The general took his seat in the hard, plastic chairs of the vehicle, careful not to wrinkle his uniform.
He gazed out of the metal oval window, at the beautiful scenery off vast, lush but snow capped mountains, brilliant beaches, and white, clear waters. He watched it rush by.
Where Cinder Fall once lay in torment, now was a deep depression in the razed ground. A slowly revolving column of cinders was above it. The floor around it was in pieces, shattered and smoking.
"Holy shit…" Gasped Qrow. For the first time in his life, he was speechless. Why wasn't he dead yet. Or maybe he already was.
"I don't understand" Croaked Ozpin, who's arm was still bleeding profusely.
"Neither do i…" Mumbled Asshole. She comically scratched her head. "The orbs give the user extreme power. Unless Cinder already possessed another form of extreme power, and i mean extreme power, she would have been able to use the orbs. The human body of a mortal can only handle so much power until it internally combusts."
She bent down and analysed the flaming pit.
In the centre, was the balls. Perfectly polished, and unharmed.
Behind her, Jaune gave a sigh of relief.
Asshole held it up. "You know what, Jean?"
Jaune cleared his throat softly. "Jaune." He corrected politely.
"Jaune, you and your friends saved my life. Without you, they would have killed me."
Pyrrha perked up. "Does this mean…?"
"Yes," Asshole nodded "Your boyfriend gets his soft little man bags back."
Pyrrha did a fist pump, rocking her hips and winking at Jaune.
"Hey?"
Asshole twisted her head to see Yang eyeballing her.
"Yes, Yong?"
"Yang."
"Yang. What is it? Oh right." Asshole said brightly, "Your mother!" She nodded smartly.
Blake coughed again in Yang's arms.
"I'll tell you what," The witch hummed. She seemed instantly jubilant, and unlike the rest, was completely unnerved of the death of Cinder. "I'll give you back Mummy when she's ok, and i'll help that cat-girl too!"
Blake normally would have gotten pretty pissed if someone called her 'cat-girl', but enormous loss of blood pacified her.
Ruby stared at the crater. Her mouth hanged open, agape, with eyes open wide.
"Ruby?" Weiss asked her timidly, frightened that the image of a woman blowing up sent her into insanity. She had been standing there, in the same stupefied pose for the last few minutes. "Are you ok?"
"No, no, no, i'm fine." Ruby answered mildly. "I mean its not like a traumatic event will turn me into a serious, grown up who fights Grimm with Jaune, Nora and Ren, and influence me to dress in an awesome, revealing, and borderline sexual costume, splitting a fan community into two."
Weiss smiled anxiously, and led Ruby away.
The plane shot through the air with little resistance.
Its white with baby blue stripes paint job stuck out in the cold and dark weather.
Thunder boomed ahead.
Inside, was the crew. Asshole had kindly supplied them the ship, but would not answer how she acquired it, leading them to assume that she got it under illegal terms.
Ruby looked out of the dirty window. A streak of lightning sliced the grey sky in half.
The city of Vale loomed into view.
Ruby had never seen anything more beautiful.
The grey sky seemed sparkly clean, and full of fluffy clouds.
The murky sea seemed to dance at her, and the waves sang harmoniously.
Vale was a welcome sight, most welcome indeed.
The light oak door swung open and smacked against the wall.
Pyrrha and Jaune tumbled in, each in other's deep hug.
The team JNPR room was messy, and had Nora and Ren's clothes tossed everywhere, which the actual people no where in sight.
Next to Nora's bedside table was her scroll, playing James Brown's 'I feel good'.
Jaune grinned and looked into his girlfriend's eyes. "Looks like we're alone."
She kissed him deeply. "What should we do?"
Jaune simply chuckled and pushed her against his bed. The silky linen sheet embraced her body, and Jaune climbed over her.
He lay his body over hers, and slid his tongue into her mouth. Pyrrha gave a cry of surprise, but giggled and wrapped her legs over his back.
Unexpectedly, Nora's scroll switched song to Tammi Terrell and Marvin Gaye's 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough.'
The heavenly opening notes struck.
"I love that song…" Jaune muttered.
Listen baby, ain't no mountain high, ain't no valley low…
"How appropriate!" Pyrrha laughed, stripping off Jaune's shirt.
Ain't no river wiiiide enough baby…
If you need me, call me, no matter where you are, no matter how far…
Jaune stopped kissing, and looked at Pyrrha face. Her smile faltered.
"Is something wrong, Jaune?"
Just call my name, i'll be there in a hurry, you don't have to worry…
All his life, Jaune had been the subject of ridicule, had been teased and deemed a failure.
Cause baby, ain't no mountain high enough…
All his life, he never would have dreamed he would be able to get a girlfriend like the one before him now.
Ain't no valley low enough, ain't no river wide enough, to keep me from getting to you babe…
But now…Pyrrha changed that all. She had dropped into his life, and illuminated his soul. She had given him a reason to live, to never give up hope.
Remember the day, i set you free, i told you you could always count on me darling, from that day on…
Pyrrha was an angel to him, his life, his love, his meaning.
"No, nothing's wrong Pyrrha." He smiled. "Let's shag."
I made a vow, i'll be there when you want me, someday, somehow…
And they did, and for the first time in his entire life…Jaune ejaculated.
It was a day he would remember till the end of time.
Cause baby there ain't no mountain hight enough, ain't no valley low enough, ain't no river wiiiide enough
to keep me from getting to you baby, oh no darling, no wind, no rain, or winter's cold can stop
me baby, no no baby, cause you are my gold, if you're ever in trouble, i'll just sing to me,
oh baby, my love is alive
deep down in my heart