Ducking under Cinder's swipe for his head, Jaune immediately went for the offensive not a moment later. An attack that was supposed to have hit his opponent in the hear ended up hitting nothing but air as Cinder swiftly sidestepped to the side while simultaneously parrying Jaune's attack.

Cinder then followed up by striking Jaune on the nose with a precise strike from her elbow that staggered Jaune back a few feet. Not letting the sudden opening be a waste, Cinder swiped the blonde by the feet that sent him tumbling to the floor back first before the woman prevented him from getting up with a blade to his throat.

"That was impressive, Jaune, but alas, it seems it's my win yet again." Cinder said, a smile on her face that was devoid of any sort of hostility. Offering the blonde her hand, Cinder continued, "Better luck next time, though. I'm sure you'll get your win eventually."

"Sometimes I forget how smug you can be. But-" Jaune said, grabbing the woman's hand before he forcefully pulled her down to the ground. The blonde was on top of her a moment later, a triumphant smile on his face and his own blade at Cinder's throat, "-I never said I surrendered, did I? That's your flaw, Cinder, you can be extremely arrogant sometimes. You should remember that, before it costs you dearly one day."

"Well, if you're that worried about me, I'll be sure to take it to heart." Cinder said, the woman unfazed at the dangerous glint of Crocea Mors at her throat as her lips and Jaune's own brushed against each other before the doors to the arena they were in opened with a slam. A moment later, Salem, Queen of the Grimm, entered the room as Jaune immediately pushed himself off of Cinder before helping her get to her feet.

A tense silence reigned in the arena as Salem looked between the two of them, both of whom had immediately kneeled before their Mistress . It felt like an eternity had passed before the Queen of the Grimm spoke, "It matters not to me what sort of interests the two of you share but understand that failure is not something I tolerate. Is that understood?"

"Yes, My Lady". came the reply from both Jaune and Cinder.

"Good. Cinder, how goes your search for the Fall Maiden?" Salem asked, the Queen of the Grimm studying the girl kneeling before her carefully.

"It's going well, My Lady." Cinder said as she looked up at her Mistress, "I've secured the assistance of two teenagers, a girl and a boy, to help me along the way."

"Have you now?" Salem asked, an amused smile on her face.

"Yes. The girl, Emerald, has a semblance capable of casting illusions onto others. Her ability is limited at the moment but I believe that with ample training, it could be a real asset to acquiring Beacon's Relic."

"That does sound useful. And what of the boy?"

"The boy was actually… not my intended target. I had sought out his father, Marcus Black, but when I arrived at his home, he was already dead. Killed by his son." Cinder said.

"Well, I'm sure you're smart enough to not be killed by your own subordinates, dear Cinder." Salem said, a chuckle escaping her lips. She then turned her attention to the blonde, her gaze lingering for a few seconds before the Queen of the Grimm silently left the arena.

"So, you're travelling with another man, are you?" Jaune said, the blonde breathing a sigh of relief as he attempted to diffuse the tense atmosphere they were currently in, "Should I be jealous?"

"Don't be a fool. Discounting the fact that Mercury is a cripple, I only have eyes for one man." Cinder said as she and Jaune stood up.

"Do you, now? Do I know this man?" Jaune asked with a chuckle as he sheathed his blade.

"Idiot." Cinder said, the woman sheathing her own weapons before the two lovers shared a kiss.

"Be careful, alright?" Jaune said, the blonde embracing Cinder as tightly as he could, "There's no doubting your strength but even the best of them can be brought down by a simple lapse in judgment."

"You could join me, you know?" Cinder said.

"I would but that insane bastard wants me to help him burn down a village." Jaune said, the blonde frowning at the thought of his "mentor".

"Why?" Cinder asked, as she and Jaune left the arena hand-in-hand.

"He said they disrespected Salem… or something." Jaune said with a shrug, "I usually tune out when he starts one of his sermons."

Cinder let out a small laugh at the thought of her beloved having to spend his days with the scorpion Faunus.

"Well, here's hoping your sanity isn't affected, what with you spending so much time with him." Cinder said.

"One can only hope." Jaune said as the two of them shared a small laugh.

[~]

"I can't believe you guys are actually willing to trust this jackass with the lives of everyone in Argus!" Yang said out loud so that everyone else in the airship could hear her frustrations. As the blonde spoke, she had to physically hold her right hand from shaking.

None of them, except for Jaune, had taken their eyes off the former leader of the White Fang for a single second since the airship left the ground.

"Yang, I'm sorry but… I couldn't afford to let my personal feelings get in the way…" Blake said, the girl placing a hand on the blonde's shoulder for comfort, "Not with the lives of the people of Argus on the line."

"Yeah, I get it, alright? But just because I understand why we're doing this, doesn't mean I have to like a single second of it." Yang said, a heavy sigh escaping the blonde's lips. She then turned her attention towards Jaune, "Hey jackass, this better work or I'm going to-"

"Kill me? Good news is that if this doesn't work then we'll all be dead, either way." Jaune said, sending a wink to the girl, "Also, I believe the words you're looking for are 'thank you'"

"Thank you?"

"You're welcome, Yang." Jaune said, chuckling even as Yang let out a low growl.

"Why in the world would I ever thank you for bringing that damn terrorist to us?!"

"Well, for starters, now we actually have a plan for dealing with the Leviathan instead of just gawking around like a bunch of idiots, don't we?" Jaune said, the blonde unfazed from the death glare Yang was sending him at the moment, "And secondly, you should be grateful that I even stepped in to save Blake from her being killed. Again, you're welcome."

"I never asked for your help." Blake said.

"Yeah, well maybe if you had a better handle on your relationships, then I wouldn't have needed-"

"Jaune, that's enough. Please." Pyrrha said, the redhead stepping in between the two, "The situation's bad enough as it is."

Jaune clicked his tongue at the redhead before he let out a deep sigh, "Look, I get it. He cut off your arm. That sucks. I'd be pissed, too, if that happened to me but the way I see it, we don't really have a choice but to ask for his help, do we?"

"You don't know that. We would have found a way!" Yang growled, her distaste for the plan at hand obvious for all of them to see.

"We've been over this, Yang. People would have died in the time it would have taken you guys to pull a plan out of your collective asses." Jaune said before gesturing towards the former White Fang leader, "At least with his Semblance and the amount of energy you guys just gave him, we have a shot at taking this thing down."

"So all of a sudden you're overcome with the urge to save innocent lives?" Weiss asked from the side, the girl equally as unhappy as Yang on the whole situation, "Where was all that back at Beacon?"

"Hey, my innocence is a subject for another day, alright?" Jaune said but before the two of them could continue their discussion, Maria spoke up from the pilot seat.

"Heads up, boys and girls. We're coming up on the Leviathan any second now." the old woman said as Jaune made his way towards Adam.

"Adam, you're up." the blonde said with a pat on the Faunus's back. As the man in question stood up, it was with a pained look plastered on his face, "Everything alright? You look like you're constipated or something."

"Never had to… store this much… energy before." the man said as his weapon glowed a dangerous red and visibly shook in his hands.

"But it's enough to kill that thing, right?" Jaune asked. Adam merely shrugged in response before Jaune then turned towards Weiss, "Alright, Weiss. Your turn."

"I can't believe I'm actually lending a hand to Adam Taurus of all people." Weiss said with a deep sigh as the Heiress unsheathed her weapon. A few seconds later, Weiss then conjured a Queen Lancer right outside of their airship, "Don't screw this up, Taurus."

"Hmph. You're the last person… I want advice from, Schnee." Adam spat before he hopped onto the conjured Grimm. As he stood on top of the Grimm, Adam stared down the Leviathan in front of him as the man sucked in a deep breath. Before the could deliver his attack, however, the Leviathan struck first as it breathed a stream of electrified flames towards the Faunus.

Fortunately for him, the Queen Lancer he was standing on swiftly moved out of the way before the attack managed to hit him. Looking back at the airship, it was to see Weiss looking at him with a smug look on her face.

"You're welcome, Taurus." Weiss said as Adam growled, the Faunus annoyed at the unwanted assistance.

"I didn't ask for help." Adam whispered to himself as he came face to face with the Leviathan once more. The Queen Lancer dodged another attack from the Grimm as the Faunus held on as tight as he could while still managing to hold back the massive amount of energy in his sword.

Not too long after the giant Grimm had concluded its attack, Adam found himself staring at the back of the its head as he prepared his blade. Taking in a deep breath, the former leader of the White Fang then unleashed a devastating attack as a surge of red energy was released from his blade as it cut deep into the Leviathan's head.

However, the Faunus's expression slowly turned to horror as his attack failed to deliver a killing blow as the Leviathan was slowly but surely regenerating back to full health.

"Damn it…" Adam cursed, the Faunus panting as he fell to a knee. Looking back at the airship, it was to see the rest of them with similar looks of horror etched on their faces. Turning back to stare at the Leviathan, Adam spoke to nobody in particular, "Any better ideas?"

"I'll take it from here!" a booming voice announced from behind him as if in response to his question. Turning around, it was to see a giant robot with one of its arms missing as it charged towards the Leviathan, "I was entrusted with the protection of Argus and protect it I shall!"

Leaping towards the giant Grimm, the giant robot thrust its drill arm into the Leviathan mid-regeneration causing it to scream in agony before it eventually disintegrated.

Adam found himself grateful for the sudden assistance from the Atlas military though he wouldn't be admitting that fact to anybody anytime soon. Breathing a sigh of relief, the Faunus tensed up as the giant robot approached him before the visor opened up to reveal the one in charge of piloting it.

"Taurus." the Atlesian officer said, glaring down at the former leader of the White Fang from within the giant robot.

"If you're expecting a word of thanks, Atlesian, then you're sorely mistaken." Adam spat as he tightened his grip on his sword, fully expecting an attack to come at any moment.

"Hmph. You should consider yourself lucky, Taurus, that the Atlas Military has a bigger problem to deal with at the moment."

Adam glared at the woman before the Queen Lancer he was standing on brought him back to the airship. As he stepped onto the airship, he was confronted once more by Yang and Weiss.

"Great, thanks for the help. Now get out." Yang said, Ember Celica primed and ready for a fight.

"I agree." Weiss said, her rapier pointed at the exhausted Faunus.

"Guys, come on-" Jaune started to say before Yang rounded on him.

"No! He is not coming with us to Atlas!" Yang shouted, her eyes a deep red. Jaune was about to reply before Adam tossed him his blade.

"I promised Arc that I won't fight you." Adam said as Jaune caught the Faunus's weapon.

"That and he's not a bad fighter. I mean, I'm pretty sure he could even kick Pyrrha's ass." Jaune said, an easygoing smile on his face as he patted Adam on the back, "Come on, what do you have to lose?"

"Are you seriously asking me that?" Yang asked as she poke Jaune on the chest.

"Okay, let me rephrase the question: What do you have to lose having him as an ally against Salem and her lackeys?" Jaune asked, "Look, it'll be fine. If it makes you feel any better, I'll be watching him closely."

"And we're supposed to just trust you to do that?" Weiss asked, Myrtenaster still pointed at Adam.

"Hey, you guys made it this far without me - literally and figuratively - stabbing you in the back, right?" Jaune said. After a few seconds of tense silence, both Yang and Weiss finally relented with a heavy sigh.

"Fine." Yang said before she delivered a heavy right hook on Adam's face, "That was for my arm, asshole."

Adam made to get up but suddenly found himself staring at the sharp end of Weiss's weapon, "One wrong move and I will not hesitate to stab you, no matter what Arc has to say."

"Hmph. How kind of you, Schnee." Adam said as Weiss went to take her seat. Looking around, the Faunus saw that most of them, even Blake, didn't even attempt to acknowledge his existence. The only one who even bothered to try was Arc.

"Ah, don't let it get to you, Adam. Weiss has always been that way." Jaune said, "That's why we call her the Ice Queen."

"You know I can hear you, right?" Weiss asked only for Jaune to ignore her question.

"Anyway, let me be the first to offer you a not-hostile welcome." Jaune said, the blonde offering his hand to the Faunus only for Adam to slap it away.

"I'm not your friend, Arc." Adam said, the Faunus getting back to his feet as he looked at Blake, "I told you why I'm here. Once I'm done with that, I'll be out of your way for good."

[~]

"Hmph. For once, I'm actually grateful for Watts' technological expertise." Cinder said as she and Neo stepped into their new and luxurious base of operations, "What do you think?"

Neo stared at Cinder before shrugging with an unimpressed expression on her face. Scoffing at the woman's reaction, Cinder made her way to a window that overlooked the rest of Atlas as she stared at the giant pictures of Jacques Schnee and Robyn Hill. Smiling to herself, the Fall Maiden gripped the pendant of the sun around her neck before she turned to face Neo.

"So, shall we get started?" The two women shared a smile before Cinder went into the details of her plans for Atlas.

[Chapter END]

A/N: And that's a wrap for Chapter 11. I had a tough time writing this one, particularly the middle part where they were killing the Leviathan. In the end, I'm happy with how it came out and really excited to write their adventures through Mantle & Atlas. Next chapter, we see them arrive there. I already have some ideas on what to write for next chapter and beyond so, stay tuned.

As always, faves, follows, and reviews are always welcome.

Praise be to Cinder Fall