Thanks for continuing to support me! Here's the new chapter! And the title... well just read on.
Cinder and Ozpin stared off at each other for a few seconds as darkness overtook the Vault. Suddenly, flashes of green and orange colors illuminated the darkness, clashing with each other. One could see the orange belonged to Cinder, while the green belonged to Ozpin. The two of them struck at each other, trying to get the upper hand when Ozpin managed to land a thrust at Cinder's stomach. She slid back, her hand on the ground melting the floor below her while rocks flew up into the air from her hand. Using her new powers, she used the flying pebbles and transformed them into ice crystals, sending them flying at Ozpin. Without even moving his feet, Ozpin blocked them all, faster than most people could even see. He dashed towards Cinder, landing fourteen stabs onto Cinder, who couldn't even block it in time, before punching her away.
"That's IT!" shouted Cinder as she used her newfound powers, halting her momentum and floating in midair.
She became the center of a ball of fire, shooting out streams of flames everywhere. She started to concentrate all her power to wipe Ozpin from the face of Remnant. Ozpin quickly slammed his cane into the floor, forming a spherical force-field around him, made of pure Aura. Cinder unleashed a powerful flame blast, using her favored element, fire. Ozpin leaped into the attack with the barrier protecting him, pushing forward. Cinder tried to force more power in, but Ozpin was getting closer and closer. Suddenly, Ozpin's shield shattered, and the blast hit him, sending him flying away in a bright flash of light.
Cinder chuckled as she saw Ozpin laying on the floor, groaning in pain. Cinder frowned as she did a body check of herself and found that a lot of her own Aura had been consumed. Ozpin had definitely proven that he was no ordinary man, and the title as Headmaster of Beacon, as well as one of the leaders of his little group, was not for show. If she had only half the Maiden's power, she would have had definitely lost. To be honest, she felt like she had only won because Ozpin had gotten a little too overconfident with that barrier move.
"So it ends... wizard," laughed Cinder as she used her powers to shake the Vault.
The ceiling began to cave in, burying Ozpin in it. Even though he managed to live through the rock fall, he wouldn't have the energy to escape. He would die from the lack of air, causing him to die a slow death. Cinder walked to the elevator, looking at Ozpin's burnt body as the rocks fell down. A large boulder landed right between them, closing off Ozpin from her sights. She grinned. Her job with Ozpin was done. Using her new powers, she launched herself to the top of the tower, using fire from her hands as propulsion. She needed to be at the top for the next phase.
"I have failed..." coughed Ozpin.
He had tried his best, and thought for a second with the Aura shield, he could get close enough to land a killing blow. He underestimated how much control Cinder had over her new powers. Most likely from training from Salem and her cohorts. He looked up to see another large rock falling towards his head. With no energy left to move, he closed his eyes, ready to welcome death, to the void. It never came. He slowly opened his eyes to see the falling boulder had been split into two.
"Told you, Oz. You needed to be careful."
He smiled as he recognized the voice.
"Raven. Didn't think you'd be the one to rescue me."
"Don't get used to it," growled Raven, "I suppose the one time deal can be applied to you, too. You were the one who convinced the others to accept me and Qrow into Beacon, even though our backgrounds stated we came from a bandit clan."
"I couldn't have children be so carelessly tossed into the darkness," sighed Ozpin, "My hope was that you, along with team STRQ, would be part of the ones to lead Remnant to continue peace."
"That's a fool's dream," retorted Raven, "The world is not so kind."
"Even so, it's a dream worth pursuing. As all Huntsmen and Huntresses do," replied Ozpin, "Summer so dearly wished for it, and that dream has passed down to her daughter."
Raven briefly twitched at the mention of Summer, but chose to lift Ozpin up, putting his arms around her shoulders before slicing open a portal. She put on her mask, as she didn't want anyone to recognize her.
"I'll drop you off at where Qrow and Tai are at. They're busy acting as guards for the evacuation area. You should be fine once you get dropped off to Vale. They'll treat your injuries."
Ozpin remained silent as they walked towards the portal. Just as they entered, Ozpin muttered, "Thank you."
Back out on the docks outside of Beacon, air buses were quickly picking up all civilians and students. To Ironwood's surprise, he saw Junior leading his men out, helping secure the perimeter as well as delivering a bound Roman Torchwick and Neo. For now, they would stay on the ground, as they needed the civilian and students too scared to fight to escape first. Ironwood had always suspected Junior of a few crimes but was unable to pin them on him. Now, he was here helping them out, giving them much needed medical equipment and supplies. He supposed that even underground criminal lords would rise to defend Vale when threatened.
"That's it! Everybody on board! This is a mandatory evacuation!" shouted Port, as he was patrolling the area.
"A safe zone has been established in Vale! Please, remain calm and listen to Atlas personnel!" announced Oobleck.
Saffron, Xanthe, and Winter had managed to make it to Beacon to became part of the guard to defend the evacuation zone. They were dealing with a few stray Grimm every now and then.
"Where's Jaune?" asked Saffron in worry.
"Haha you don't have to worry about him anymore!" Answered the mocking voice of her 'father.'
Saffron and Xanthe looked to the source of his voice to see him tied up with Aurelian and Boyd.
"What do you mean?" questioned Xanthe, her eyes narrowed.
"The brat's dead!" laughed Vlad maniacally.
Ironwood instantly kicked him in the head, silencing him, but it was too late.
"No... You're lying!" shouted Saffron.
"Father is right," sighed Aurelian, "Jaune Ryu-Long is most likely dead. After defeating father, he was ambushed by the White Fang. Three of those Mutated Grimm Creepers exploded at point blank range from where he was. He was blasted out of the Colosseum, dropping towards Vale, unconscious and with his Aura shattered."
"Brother?" asked Boyd in shock at how Aurelian seemed to be expressing... regret?
"I'm tired of this," answered Aurelian, "To be honest, I was afraid that somehow, Jaune Ryu-Long would somehow become Jaune Arc again. That he would steal that title from me. But seeing him defeat father and still rejecting the Arc title has made me see he had no interest in it at all."
After that, he became silent, along with Boyd. Saffron and Xanthe were crying. They had just finally reunited with their little brother, and their damn sperm donor had caused his death. How were they going to tell the rest of the family now?
One of Junior's henchmen had heard this outburst and quickly ran to tell Junior. When he heard it, he did his best not to march over to Vlad and swing his bat on his head over and over and over again. There would be time for that later. Right now, he needed to at least fulfill what Jaune would've wanted; escorting these people to safety.
Another horror came when Blake was carrying Yang, both of them bleeding from their wounds.
"Oh, no... Blondie," murmured Junior softly before barking for medical supplies.
"Taiyang, Qrow! I think you two need to see this," said Ironwood when he noticed the two newcomers.
"What is it, somethi-" Taiyang trailed off when he saw her daughter missing her right arm.
"No... NO!" shouted Taiyang, running to Yang, putting her head on his lap as he could only cry.
Blake was having her injury wrapped up, and she could only lay down next to Yang, placing her hands on her only hand.
"I'm sorry," cried Blake, "I'm so sorry."
Weiss had arrived a few minutes later, and Winter went to hug her tightly.
"I was so worried," whispered Winter, "With the White Fang and their grudge against us Schnee, I was terrified if they caught you, or you end up like your friend Yang or Jaune."
"What? What happened to Yang? And what about Jaune?" asked Weiss. Winter could only point to Yang sadly. As for Jaune, Ironwood had told her. She gripped her saber hard when she heard about his death. It only made her resolve to fight against the White Fang much more. They had taken so much from the Schnee family. They had made a mistake to take Jaune.
Weiss looked over and gasped in disbelief. One of the strongest fighters she knew, one of her close friends, was crippled. She couldn't believe that such a thing could happen.
She heard her name being called and turned around to see Ruby running up to her, with Penny, Miltia, and Melanie behind her.
"Ruby!" shouted Weiss in happiness. She had been very worried about Ruby, too.
"Oh, I found you!" panted Ruby.
"Salutations!" waved an armless Penny, "Lieutenant Schnee! Good to see you, too!"
"The feeling... is mutual," replied Winter, unsure how to reply back to a quirky girl who seemed to have no problems with missing limbs.
"Ruby, where have you-" began Weiss, but Ruby interrupted her.
"Don't worry, I'm fine! What's going on?"
"Blondie," gasped Melanie and Miltia.
Ruby looked at them before turning her head to where they were looking before gasping in horror. Her sister was missing an arm. And unlike Penny, she couldn't just grow it back or have someone fix her up. Ruby ran next to Taiyang and began talking to her sister, before glancing at the last member of RWBY.
Blake, who was still curled up, was still crying while repeating "I'm so sorry," each time. Taiyang was slowly drifting his hands through Yang's hair, trying to comfort her. Glynda was kneeling beside Blake, telling her it would be all right.
Suddenly, a portal opened up and out came Ozpin and Raven, with her mask on.
"Oz!" shouted Qrow and Ironwood.
"Get him to a healing station, asap," replied Raven. Seeing as her job was done, she was about to turn around and leave when Qrow grabbed her on the shoulder. She felt herself being turned before being punched in her face, knocking her mask off.
"What was that for?" asked Raven in annoyance as she picked up her mask, looking at it. There was a slight crack from where Qrow had punched her. "You better have-"
Qrow didn't respond, giving her another punch to her gut before pulling her head, forcing her to look at Yang.
"Where's your rule of one? Didn't you say you would honor it!? That you wouldn't break it!? Then where were you this happened to your DAUGHTER!" roared Qrow.
Raven slowly looked to where Yang was before feeling her heart stop. Her hands stopped working, dropping her mask to the ground. It landed on the crack, shattering her mask. But she didn't care. Her blood ran cold at the sight. She could barely breathe. Her world was turning upside down on her. For laying before her daughter, missing her right arm and in so much pain.
"Y-y-yang?" stuttered Raven, slowly walking forward to Taiyang, Ruby, and Yang, stumbling at almost every step.
Raven was prideful. She was powerful. She would always fight for what she wanted. But she was also honorable to her own code. To always follow through, and keep her word. And now, she had just broken it. She had established that her rule of one for Yang was still in play. That she would save her once before letting her fend for herself. If Yang got over her head again, then it was her own fault for not learning the first time. But this was Yang's first time in true danger. And she had not been there to protect her, like she should have.
But more importantly, feelings she thought she had discarded or locked away came back to the surface. The feeling for her beloved daughter, laying in front of her. The emotions of being a mother. She had been afraid that those feelings would weaken her. But she could not ignore them now. Ozpin was right, 9 months of carrying Yang inside her uterus could not be so easily forgotten. Her own flesh and blood, was now laying there without an arm. Something she could have…. no, should have prevented it.
She kneeled down directly in front of Taiyang, raising her hand towards Yang's face before recoiling. She had no right to do so. But Taiyang understood, and gently guided her hands onto Yang's face.
"Yang, sweetie," said Raven softly, "Please, tell me who did this?"
Yang groaned as if slightly hearing Raven's voice before replying, "Mom? Dad?.. It hurts so bad... I can't feel my right hand.." She was still in a dazed state, unable to tell what was happening.
Raven's tear ducts, once to have thought to sealed away as she believed crying was for the weak, was being released now. She knew that when Yang said mom, she meant Summer. But just for a moment, she could feel that it was also being directed towards her.
"Don't worry, baby. You'll be alright, my sunny little dragon," whispered Taiyang.
"Sis, I promise you'll be okay, I promise! I'll make it right somehow!" Ruby said nervously, trying to calm herself down.
Raven noticed Blake was saying sorry over and over again before walking to her.
"Blake, was it?" asked Raven. Blake looked up and nodded. "Can you tell me who did this to my daughter?"
"So, I hit the jackpot!"
Everyone looked to see Adam was walking towards them slowly, surrounded by his elite guards. Anyone still able to fight got ready to fight. Junior had his men point their weapons at Adam specifically.
"The Headmaster of accursed Atlas. Two Schnees. And some filthy traitors," said Adam, looking at the Faunus that was ready to fight them.
"Adam Taurus, you are under arrest for deliberate genocide to the people of Vale," announced Ironwood, "Throw down your weapons, and give yourself up."
"Like we would listen to a man working with a Schnee," sneered Adam, taking a step closer.
Ruby glared at Adam, her usually kind and playful eyes filled with sorrow and anger.
Raven noticed Blake was trying to scoot back from the said man, her eyes locked onto the blade Adam was carrying. Raven looked at the wound on Yang and Blake. They both seemed like clean cuts like a katana had gone through them. The leader of the invading group was carrying a katana. She stood up, walking a bit forward.
"You're outnumbered and outgunned!" shouted Ironwood, "I repeat, give yourselves up, and you may be given a lighter sentence. Don't, and die."
"Who say's we're outgunned?" smiled Adam as he snapped his fingers. Instantly, cages dropped down in front of them. With a tap, the cages revealed the Alpha series of Beowolf, Boartusk, Beringel, Ursa, and Beoyeti. Before they could do anything, the Alpha was sprayed with the green liquid, transforming them all into the Mutant variety.
"That's not good," cried Neptune.
"We got this," said Sun, though not as confident. Suddenly, a huge Deathstalker appeared and started to walk towards them. It was a mutant variety, and Weiss paled. It had taken two teams just to kill one. And now, they were also dealing with Alpha Mutant Grimm varieties. To make matters worse, a Goliath appeared, also having green markings over its body to signify it was a mutant. Both the huge Grimm had also been an Alpha variety.
"While I may hate humans, Dr. Merlot certainly provides good tools," laughed Adam, "These mutant Grimm won't aim for us. Just you. Have fun dying! Though don't worry Blake, I made sure they won't aim for you. I still need to take everything you love. Including that armless girl."
Suddenly, Adam felt that he was in danger. He quickly raised his sword just in time as Raven slashed down with hers. Adam's knees buckled from the impact, a loud ringing noise could be heard around them. The ground below them caved down, blowing most of the White Fang away from them.
"So, you're the one who took Yang's arm?" asked Raven coldly.
"You mean the blonde bitch?" clarified Adam, "Yes. And I would've done more. Perhaps take her legs, and her dignity as a woman. Her body doesn't look too bad, and could offer some comfort for my men."
"Then die," snarled Raven.
Before Raven could do anything, shots were fired at Adam, who quickly jumped back to dodge them. He wasn't in the best position to absorb them. He looked to see Ruby had fired at Adam. The other teams that were still here had engaged the enemy and were busy fighting the Grimm and the White Fang. Port and Oobleck were dealing with the Deathstalker. Glynda and Ironwood with the Goliath. Penny was staying back, offering supporting fire as she tried to make sure the people evacuated safely. Ren, Nora, Weiss, NDGO, the DSC of DSCO and SSSN were working together with Xanthe, Saffron, and Winter to deal with the Grimm and White Fang while the O of DSCO was in the medical area using the station function of his weapon to use his semblance and use the songs he has for healing to treat the wounded and transfer a bit of his aura to them. Taiyang and Qrow were also dealing with the stronger members of the White Fang. Junior, Miltia, Melanie, and his men were all trying to herd the civilians and students into ships for safety.
"Ruby, stay back!" ordered Raven.
"I'm fighting too!" shouted Ruby, "He hurt my sister! He hurt my friends!"
At that Ruby charged forward, slashing as fast she could at Adam. He scoffed at this, easily blocking before kicking Ruby away. He followed up with a slash, only to be blocked by Raven. Suddenly, she heard a giggle, and quickly rolled away, grabbing Ruby in the process. A stinger scratched her shoulder plate before Raven jumped away with Ruby.
"Aww, you got lucky."
Raven looked to see a crazy looking scorpion Faunus man, with many scars on his body. She knew instantly this man was skilled.
"Ah, Raven Branwen, leader of the notorious bandit clan! Allow me to introduce myself," grinned the Faunus, "I am Tyrian Callows."
"The assassin," replied Raven, knowing this man was dangerous. She had heard rumors about him. The crazy assassin that loved to play with his prey.
"Oh, so you do know me!" grinned Tyrian, "Oh, I'm so happy, the infamous bandit leader knows me! But, right now, my interest is in that little girl with silver eyes."
Ruby gulped, slightly taking a step back, "What do you want with me?"
"Tell me, did your mother also have the same colored eyes? And a cloak like yours, but white?" asked Tyrian.
At this statement, Taiyang, Qrow, and Raven stiffened and focused their attention at Tyrian.
"Ummm, yes?" replied Ruby, confused on how this man knew what her mother wore.
"Ohh. OHOHOHOHOH!" laughed Tyrian maniacally, "I knew your mother quite well."
"You did?" responded Ruby clearly not knowing what he was about to say.
"Oh yes" nodded Tyrian, "Quite intimately. She was so strong. She took out Grimm in a flash. Then one day, we ambushed her. I managed to sting her when her guard was lowered. Even then, she killed 5 of our hired guns while being poisoned before I stabbed her with my weapon. She still even managed to injure me, right on the chest. She was still breathing until I slashed her throat, throwing her to the Grimm to finish the rest off."
Ruby felt her world spin. She was staring at the murderer of her mother. Raven quickly picked Ruby up, bridal style, before jumping to where Yang and Blake, setting her down. Yang had awoken from all the clatter before looking up to see Raven standing before her in shock.
"Mom?" gasped Yang, not even bothering to correct herself.
"Yang, Ruby. Leave this to me," said Raven softly, patting both their head before turning back around. She felt someone running towards Tyrian behind her.
"Taiyang, you can take him. I got Adam here. Go get-"
She didn't finish as the person who had run past her was NOT Taiyang, but Qrow. And on his face was pure rage. Fury beyond what she thought Qrow was capable of. And it was all being directed at Tyrian. Qrow slashed down, to which Tyrian blocked with his wrist blades. The same thing almost happened with Raven and Adam, except Tyrian's knees wasn't buckling.
"You... YOU!" roared Qrow,
"Me?" smiled Tyrian, his head tilting in glee.
Qrow leaped back, standing on the ground. The two of them looked at each other for a bit before clashing again.
"I knew it," frowned Raven, "There's something that's being hidden from me. And I intend to find out later. But for now...," Raven turned to Adam, her fury raging, "I'll take care of you."
Yang gulped as she could feel Raven's rage. And yet, she was calm, controlling it easily. She could learn from this if they all managed to live through it. Ruby was trying to figure out why Qrow was so angry at Tyrian. From his face, it was like he had stolen something precious to him. Something that he loved a lot.
Winter gulped when she saw Qrow attacking Tyrian. The ferocity of his attacks showed that when they had fought, he had been holding back quite a bit. She growled and continued to fight the White Fang Lieutenant, who seemed eager to have his chainsaw feed on her blood. She would not allow that.
A few minutes earlier
Pyrrha has just run out the front door of Beacon tower. She could hear and feel the energy from Ozpin and Cinder's fight. She shivered slightly. Ozpin was right, she most likely would've been a distraction for Ozpin. She quickly pulled out her scroll, trying to look for Professor Goodwitch's number when her heart stopped. When she opened her Scroll and accessed her contacts, she saw Jaune's number. Hoping for the best, she dialed that number. The Scroll rang once before it gave off a buzzing noise, telling her that the Scroll she called wasn't in service. She cried at that. It meant the Scroll Jaune had was broken, and it could possibly mean that he was indeed dead. Then the ground shook.
She heard an explosion behind her and turned to see Cinder flying up to the top of the tower. Ozpin had been defeated, she surmised. She looked out the courtyard before looking back to the tower. She made her decision. She slowly walked towards the tower, her fists clenched, her face showing she was determined.
She walked to the nearest elevator, standing inside the broken elevator. She closed her eyes, mustering all her strength and will. The elevator shook, and the elevator shot up to the top of the tower, with her in it. She was using her Semblance to control the elevator to reach to the top. Pyrrha Nikos would make damn sure that woman paid for her crimes, for taking her love from this world.
At the top of the tower, in Ozpin's office, Cinder strided across the room to the window. As if sensing her presence, the Wyvern climbed up to the top of the tower and peered at her through the window.
"Shhhh... This is your home now," said Cinder with a soothing voice, "She sent me here."
The Grimm dragon continued to stare at her before uttering a short quiet screech. Cinder merely grinned before stepping back, creating a fireball in her palm to show it her power. She revealed her new powers. She could feel it welling inside her. The fight with Ozpin had drained her a bit, but she could feel herself recovering. From the 33% she had left after fighting Ozpin, she was back to around 40%.
Then she heard something grinding behind her, and turned around to see sparks coming out of one of the elevator doors. She looked at the closed elevator door suspiciously, the fire in her hands disappearing. The sound come to a stop, as well as the sparks. A few seconds later, the elevator door was flung towards Cinder, who blocked them with her hands, bathed in fire. A javelin followed right after Cinder had tossed the doors away, causing Cinder to lean to the right to dodge it. It cut through some of her hair as it passed by. Right after that, a shield came right for her face. Cinder raised both arms to block it, just to discover Pyrrha was right behind it, trying to drop kick it and add weight. Cinder easily pushed her back. Pyrrha flipped back to her feet, summoning Akouo and Milo back to her, ready to fight. She glared at Cinder while Cinder casually started to float in the air, fire spouting from beneath her. Cinder's eyes started to glow with fire and with a swipe of her hand, sent an arc of fire at Pyrrha.
Pyrrha blocked it, and Cinder followed up with a stream of fire. Pyrrha dodged it easily. Cinder sent two more streams of fire towards her. Pyrrha dodged the first one and used her shield to block the second one. Feeling confident, she charged forward, shield up, getting closer and closer to Cinder. When she felt the Cinder stop her attack, she spun and swung her xiphos right towards Cinder's face. Cinder caught the blade with ease, infusing a little Aura into her hands so the blade wouldn't give her a cut. She pulled the blade back, causing Pyrrha to move forward a little before thrusting her palm at Pyrrha's stomach. Pyrrha, who had felt herself moving, immediately let go of Milo and used her Semblance to re-position herself, dodging the palm thrust. Pyrrha transformed Akouo into another xiphos and slashed at Cinder again. Cinder used her other hand to block it, but Pyrrha had already expected that. She let go of that weapon, landing on her feet before spinning and delivering a back thrust kick at Cinder's stomach. Cinder, who had both hands occupied, was surprised by this move and was sent flying back a little, letting go the weapons.
Cinder slid on the ground for a bit before stopping herself with a blast of fire from her hands before lifting up stray rocks, turning them into ice shards and fired them at Pyrrha. Pyrrha responded by moving the broken elevator doors in front of her to block the shards while summoning her weapons back to her. The doors suddenly burst apart, and Pyrrha eyes widened as Cinder had propelled herself forward towards her, flames jetting from her hands. Cinder tried to elbow Pyrrha's abdomen with the momentum, but Pyrrha leaped into the air above her and wrapped her arms around Cinder, abandoning the attempt to summon her weapons for now. Cinder slowed to a stop to avoid smashing into the wall, letting Pyrrha land perfectly on the wall with her feet, feeling her knees bend. She pushed herself off from the wall, flipping over Cinder before throwing Cinder across the room.
Cinder hit her back once but used the momentum to do a back handspring to get herself back up. As she landed, she looked up just to see Pyrrha bash her in the stomach with Akouo in shield form. Pyrrha followed up with a spin, slashing at Cinder's stomach and legs. Cinder responded with a somersault kick, but Pyrrha managed to dodge it with a back flip before transforming Akouo into a xiphos again and slashed with both weapons, only to be blocked by Cinder's weapon. She had created two swords from Dust.
"So.. the 'Goddess of Victory' isn't just a showy title," smirked Cinder.
Pyrrha just growled and pushed down harder, causing Cinder to fall back a little.
"What's wrong? Are you mad because I denied you power? Or that I killed that fool Ozpin?"
When Pyrrha didn't seem to react to any of this, Cinder thought back for a bit before remembering the end results of the 2v2 for JNPR.
"Or... is it because of me, that your beloved leader died," whispered Cinder.
That did the trick. With a fierce war cry, Pyrrha managed to tilt Milo so the blade was pointing at Cinder, and made it fly, transforming it into a javelin before letting the blunt end of the javelin shoot out flames. Cinder looked surprised and took the hit, flying back a bit. Pyrrha gave chase but found herself flying back from a flying fireball that Cinder had shot out. She groaned in a bit of pain before throwing Akouo in shield form towards Cinder, who blocked it. She manipulated Milo to fly behind Cinder, but Cinder easily turned around to block it. When she turned to face Pyrrha, the girl had launched herself towards Cinder, tackling her her while grappling. The two of them spun, trying to counter grapple and be the one on top. They both landed hard inside the room, filling it with white dust and smoke. As the dust cleared away, Pyrrha had Cinder in a choke hold with her left arm, and her right arm wielding Milo, trying to slit her throat. Cinder had both her hands gripping on Milo, trying to prevent such a result. Even if she was the Fall Maiden, she had no doubt she would die if her throat was cut open. As if responding to this, the Grimm dragon shrieked before flying off to gain some distance before turning around, flying straight for the two of them.
Cinder's eyes began to glow again as she channeled heat into Milo, hoping to melt it into pieces. To her shock, though, the blade was still solid, not even melting or even shifting. She put more heat, but the blade refused to budge.
'What's with this sword!?' shouted Cinder inside her head as she channeled more Aura to her hands.
"Surprised?" whispered Pyrrha as she drew her blade closer to Cinder's neck, "This was crafted with a material that Jaune gave my uncle to create this weapon. It's only fitting that your death comes from this weapon, gifted to me by the man whose death you had a hand in."
Cinder was starting to get pissed and was losing oxygen from the chokehold. She let her left hand go of the weapon, well aware that this was giving Pyrrha a chance to drive the blade even closer to her throat. It was almost touching her skin when Cinder lowered her hand, placing it right at Pyrrha's stomach.
Pyrrha got distracted when she heard a loud screech to see the Grimm dragon flying towards them. She growled at this. This Grimm copy was nothing like the real dragons she saw with Jaune. Suddenly, she felt something was hot, and looked down to see Cinder's hand already coiling with fire at her stomach. As the Grimm dragon crashed through the room with its wings, Cinder let off a blast of fire at point blank range, sending Pyrrha flying into a wall. Her blade managed to cut Cinder at the side of her neck, but not lethal enough to kill. Cinder gasped for breath as she put her hand on the neck wound, feeling her Aura working to heal it. She added a bit of heat in her hand to sear the wound, just in case. She would deal with burn wounds later so that it wouldn't detract her beauty. She was a woman, after all.
Giant cogs and debris came crashing down as the structure containing vital CCT transmitters fall. The tower itself was now running on its emergency power to keep it working. Something Cinder wanted. As soon as this CCT finally fell, then Vale would be in the dark from all other major kingdoms. But there was still something she wanted to broadcast to the world.
Pyrrha shook her head, trying to throw off the concussion she felt in her head. She looked up to see her Akouo right in front of her, and Milo across the room. Cinder was watching her from her position, levitating off the floor again. Pyrrha took a quick glance around the room, noticing the cogs all around as well as plenty of metallic objects. With a quick wave of her hand, Pyrrha launched Ozpin's desk flying at Cinder, who hadn't expected it and was thrown sideways. Pyrrha quickly grabbed her shield and tried to summon Milo, but Cinder was up already, throwing balls of flames at Pyrrha, but the young champion dodged two of them, and blocked the last one, but was sent tumbling back, forming a wall of flame. Cinder smirked as she levitated off the ground, drawing closer when suddenly Pyrrha threw her shield at her. Cinder blocked it without worry, but suddenly noticed a multitude of giant cogs floating in the air around her in surprise. Pyrrha was using her Semblance at full power, manipulating all the cogs. With a wave of her hand, Pyrrha had her shield knock Cinder's feet from beneath her before driving a cog down at Cinder's abdomen, pinning her to the floor. She called Akouo and Milo back to her before using all her strength bring the cogs together on top of Cinder, hoping to crush her to death.
Cinder didn't like it, and channeled her power, creating an Aura barrier around her. Still, Pyrrha tried even harder, trying to break through it.
"Enough!" yelled out Cinder, throwing her hands out. The barrier blew up, dispersing the cogs as well as sending a shockwave all around her. Pyrrha opened her eyes in shock before throwing her javelin just before the shockwave hit her. She flew right into the wall as it hit her, taking away the last remaining bits of her Aura. Cinder, however, did not come out unharmed. She felt the javelin stab her in the hips, taking a bit a flesh before flying off into a wall. Cinder put her hands on the wound and seared it quickly, grimacing in pain. She had been quite surprised to see Pyrrha's last attack cut through her own Aura.
Cinder quickly summoned her bow, ready to fire while Pyrrha quickly got up and threw her shield at Cinder just as she released her arrow. Pyrrha was hoping to hit the arrow to block it when it shifted back into Dust upon impact, going over and under it, before reforming again and hitting her right on her right heel. Pyrrha groaned in pain as she fell down, unable to stand. Not wanting to take the chance, Cinder quickly fired another arrow right at Pyrrha's right shoulder just as Emerald and Mercury reached the top of the tower. They all saw the arrow somehow miraculously bounce off Pyrrha's shoulder. Frowning at that, Cinder tilted her head at them, telling them to subdue her and find out. They quickly approached Pyrrha, each grabbing one arm as Cinder looked at where she had shot. She then noticed Pyrrha suddenly wearing a white shirt. She touched it before understanding what had happened.
"I would've never thought you managed to get a Mithril shirt. I certainly didn't see it on you before," murmured Cinder, "Perhaps a special enchantment that doesn't cover your skin unless it's needed?"
Pyrrha could only just glare as her ankle was still searing in pain. The tip and the shaft had broken off, leaving removal of the arrow impossible for her for now.
"What should we do about it?" asked Emerald.
"Remove it, of course," smiled Cinder, "Such a valuable item could prove useful for me."
At this, Mercury smirked as Emerald cut the ropes that held Pyrrha's vest together. Her protective vest fell off, leaving her with just the Mithril shirt. Pyrrha struggled, but it was useless as they removed the shirt from her body, leaving her with just her strapless sports bra.
"Don't suppose we have a bit of time?" leered Mercury, getting himself a good view of Pyrrha's bountiful cleavage.
"No," replied Cinder, "I want to broadcast one last thing before the CCT shuts down."
A few seconds later, Pyrrha found her arms locked in place by two stone pillars. Emerald had toss several drinks to Cinder, who began drinking it. It tasted disgusting, and it was made by that horrid man, Arthur Watts, but she could not deny his skill in medicine. Cinder felt her Aura regenerate faster than normal. She would soon be back to full power. Her wounds were healing nicely. The only downside to the medicine was that she was basically using up the reserves for tomorrow. She would be weakened for at least three days. But it wouldn't matter, once they were finished here. Emerald was broadcasting one last time for everyone to see. She was sure to position the camera so it wouldn't reveal any of their faces. Anytime she had to point the camera at Cinder, she would make sure the head wasn't revealed.
Back in the courtyard, the students and teachers were slowly being pushed back. Sun had adorned his new form again to fight, and Ren was using his marks to the fullest, as well as Nora and Junior. However, it was not without damages. Dew had been bitten on the shoulder by a Mutant Beowolf, sending her flying back with a flick of its neck. A Mutant Beringal grabbed Ruby when she wasn't expecting it and threw her into the floor, shattering her Aura. Luckily, Taiyang was able to dissuade it with brute force while Saffron took her to safety. There was blood spilling from her head as she laid unconscious. Ozpin had managed to wake up and slowly walked towards the few injured considering he had been somewhat healed, Onyx had yet to heal. Once Ozpin got close enough he slammed his cane down to form a protective barrier around them, just in case. Other members of SSSN, DSC and NDGO were also sporting injuries that they couldn't ignore, while the Mutant Grimm pushed on, Onyx was starting to get quite tired since his Semblance drains a lot of Aura depending on how many Aura strings his weapon and semblance produces are connected to. Raven and Qrow were fighting their hardest against their opponent. Qrow was allowing his Semblance to spread wildly around Tyrian, causing him to feel unlucky. Qrow had shifted to his scythe, showing he was quite serious on killing Callows.
Adam, however, wasn't doing so well. He felt like his opponent kept getting lucky with all her hits or dodges. Already, Raven had broken through his Aura and stabbed him 5 times, one on each thigh, one on his right shoulder, and two on his left hip. Not to mention Raven was also a user of Iaido, so she could easily predict what Adam wanted to do.
"That's it!" shouted Adam, calling his ally to shoot a charged beam at him. The said minion obeyed, and Adam was able to charge up to use his Semblance.
"Hope you're ready to die, you filthy human whore!" shouted Adam.
Raven merely sheathed her blade once more, letting her special sheath spin for a bit before drawing out a completely new blade. This one looked as though a multitude of Dust had gone into it, as it had different colors at different parts of the blade. They stared off for a bit before everyone heard a loud static noise. Adam grinned as he knew it was Cinder, wanting to play out one last moment of despair. He called the remaining Mutant Grimm to back off with the White Fang.
"Look to the broadcast, and see one last despair. The act that will drive your race to extinction!"
Everyone turned to look to the broadcast to see Pyrrha, stripped down so she was wearing only her sports bra and her shorts. They gasped as they saw her trying to struggle.
Back in Mistral, Leonidas, Golga, and Hephaestus could only gasp as they saw their daughter/niece trapped in what seemed to be an execution ground. Leonidas couldn't tear his eyes away from the scene. His hands gripped his chair tightly, breaking the wood. Hephaestus was no better, as he was holding a metal bar and bending it with just his strength of rage.
"As you all know, this is Pyrrha Nikos. The famous 'Goddess of Victory'," began Cinder. "She was a worthy foe, managing to hurt me, granted I had just fought dear old Ozpin and killed him."
On the courtyards, they all glanced at Ozpin, who was clearly still alive. Cinder must not have known that Raven had intervened.
"But she was promised power that didn't belong to her. And yet, she fought me for revenge for her lover, who died at the beginning of this war."
"What?" shouted Weiss. She looked to Winter, who could only look away. She looked to her future sister wives, who had the same expression. Ruby had woken up from the concussion in time to see the broadcast. Weiss could only cry as the only boy she had come to love just to be dead.
Leonidas, Golga, and Hephaestus could only gasp as they knew who they were talking about. They had seen the 2v2 fight and had cheered Jaune on. To hear that their future son-in-law was dead was maddening. Hephaestus hadn't mustered the courage to tell them that Jaune needed multiple wives, but that was beside the point. Right there and then, Leonidas swore that he would hunt these murderers down.
"Pyrrha Nikos. The pride of Mistral. Known to never lose a fight... until now. And it's a shame, but as legends fail..."
Cinder drew her bow and arrow, aiming it at Pyrrha's chest.
"They must die."
She released the arrow, striking Pyrrha right at the chest.
Wails of agony, of misery, of sadness was heard all around Remnant. A mother's scream could be heard all around Mistral as she watched her daughter with an arrow sticking out of her chest.
Pyrrha felt the rocks imprisoning her arms fall, but she couldn't do anything. She could barely breathe. She felt her hand flop uselessly, her life fading away before her eyes. She looked at Cinder to see her walking closer and closer, her hand going for her head.
'I'm sorry, Jaune,' cried Pyrrha, 'I couldn't get your killer. The person who planned this all out. But at the very least, may we find each other again in the next life.'
In Salem's secret palace, they were watching the broadcast. Salem had a smile, with a touch of pride as she watched her student drive one more wedge into humanity.
"I must say, at least she has a talent for theatrics," complemented Watts, "Though she seems to have been injured. I can tell from the scorch marks around her body."
"Hehe, I just want to see more of my beauties running around!" grinned Merlot. He had seen his mutant Grimm tear apart soldiers and even some students.
"It looks like your plan to destroy Vale is complete, Mi'lady," complemented Hazel Rainart.
"Indeed. I look forward to seeing Cinder soon," replied Salem.
Cinder was grinning. This was the moment. When the sparks of war would fly. Kingdoms would be pointing fingers everywhere. Vale was dead. Atlas and Vacuo at Mistral for having someone from Mistral mastermind this plot. Mistral and Vacuo at Atlas for having their soldiers slaughter innocent civilians and foreign travelers from their lands. Mistral and Atlas at Vacuo for not providing any help with the tournament. Mistral at all the lands, pointing that their rising star, Pyrrha Nikos, was dead because of them. And with Adam fanning the sparks, Menagerie would be pulled in. And the Grimm would rise in power.
She approached Pyrrha to touch her head. She was planning to detonate the fire Dust that was streaming in Pyrrha's blood. The arrow had been composed of pure fire Dust, and when entered into a human body, she could activate it to explode, causing the body to disperse into dust. The shirt, shield, sword, and perhaps the tiara would be useful for her. Her hand approached Pyrrha's faces, inching closer and closer until she was just about to touch her hair. Victory was hers!
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"HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Who's that roaring!? Is it truly the end for Pyrrha? Am I truly that much of a jerk?
Well, now you know where Raven was. At the wrong place!
You know, it would be really evil of me to take a sudden hiatus in this story XD.
Since I've been so nice in rapid releasing... I'm going to take a short break. I'll release the next chapter next week. Of course, I might release it earlier if I was to say... finally hit my 1000 review mark. So either that, or next week. Am I slightly evil for putting it on a cliffhanger like that to demand reviews? Well yes. But I still will release it next week even if I don't hit it.
Just a side note, I released a Justice League x Keyblade crossover. Just a random story that nagged me.