Ruby moved. She moved faster than she had ever moved before. Time and sound slowed as she passed, the air itself tearing against her, begging her to slow down, but she couldn't. The world was melting at her heels.

The walls bent, cracked, and burst open, pressure and flame tearing through them like paper. Tiles broke and the ground split open, light and heat erupting like Remnant itself was prying Beacon apart. Fire blossomed through every crevice, heralded by an invisible wave of pressure that wrecked everything in its path.

Ruby moved, though not yet to escape. The world was slow, and she had people to save. Blindingly quick, her cloud of rose petals swept across the library, searching for her fellow students. She enveloped a blonde girl, her dreary features collapsing into petals as she joined Ruby, then another student with wide eyes and a shocked expression.

Her plume grew as it enveloped more people. A couple of students, confused eyes cast up at the intercom. Yatsuhashi, who was almost fully out of his chair. A few first-years she didn't recognize. She passed Nora and Ren, the former of whom had the latter tight in her arms as she crashed back-first through the window, her face a crazed mixture of excitement and fear. She'd probably just been waiting for an excuse to do that. Ruby even scooped the librarian into her swarm of petals. With a quick glance, the library seemed empty.

Flames had finally started to envelop the bookcases on the north side. Time was running short. The tables in the middle of the room twisted and splintered, rent apart by the invisible force of the pressure wave.

She moved to the south side, ready to follow Nora through the window when two more occupants caught her eye from the other end of the library: A couple of transfers, their eyes panicked. Green and dark, silver and pale. She vaguely remembered seeing them that morning.

Hadn't they started leaving before any alarms sounded?

Her Aura wavered, straining to keep up with her Semblance. No time to think. She crossed the library again, scooping the couple up into her cloud of petals.

The bookcases shuddered, their thin wooden shelves splintering. Time was catching up to her. So much mass— too much mass— she was stretching herself thin, and she realized she had two choices: gamble on her Aura to hold out until she could cross the library and flee through the broken window with Nora, or crash through the closest window herself, which would certainly shatter her Aura and leave her open to injury, but would guarantee everybody else's safety.

Ruby knew what she had to do, it would be better if she was the only one at risk, and she was used to getting hurt, anyways. It was a no-brainer, really. Her plume turned south, barreling towards the nearest window.

She dropped her Semblance mid-air, momentum carrying her head-first into the large, floor-to-ceiling window, a dozen students following her trajectory. She didn't even have time to brace.

Ruby's Aura shattered before the glass did. Her body did the rest.


Yang thought of a point, just like dad told her. A point in the void, a little dot hanging in the vast emptiness. Something she could actually focus on rather than just 'clearing her mind'.

There it was— a point, hanging in the dark behind her eyelids. She couldn't see it, but she knew it was there. She focused on the point, and everything else faded. The sounds of weights clanging, people working out, students sparring, it all faded away. Her thoughts, normally racing, skated along a line. The rage, even, that persistent flame at the root of her being, the constant desire to lash out, the anger that drove her forward, calmed to mere embers. It all came to order in her head. Inner peace.

She inhaled, deeply pulling air through her nose. Yang felt her Aura, the golden sheath of energy flaring and fading around her. She exhaled, slowly pushing the air through her mouth. Annoyingly, her Scroll buzzed beside her.

Yang jolted as alarms suddenly came to life, followed by the intercom. "Attention students!" Ozpin's loud voice crackled over the speaker, "Evacuate now! This is not a drill! Drop everything and evacuate Beacon Academy! Do not—"

Six things struck Yang in quick succession. First: force, like a battering ram, smashing against her Aura. She lifted off the ground as the second thing, heat, washed over her like a wave of boiling water. She was careening through the air when the third thing, sound, roared against her eardrums, its crescendo so intense that her ears rang.

She crashed through the wall, and flew through the air for a second more before another wall broke her fall, cracking under her momentum and finally shattering her Aura. Fourth and fifth.

Sixth, realization. The gym had just exploded.

The gym just exploded.

Yang scrambled to her feet, then pressed her palms hard against her skull. Her ears rang. Her head throbbed. Her skin and muscles pulsed and flexed, threatening to tear themselves apart with all the energy she had stored.

She stumbled forwards, hand outstretched, reaching towards the hole her body had created.

Smoke and embers belched forth. Heat flooded through the breach, blasting against her like an open furnace and nearly knocking her off her feet. Alarm bells blared. Sprinklers briefly came to life, then died.

She couldn't go in. Not without an Aura. She would burn to a crisp. Yang felt her stomach churn, and slapped her hand over her mouth. How many people were in there? No, fuck the fire, she needed—

One person stood in the hallway, caught mid-step and seemingly unbothered by the explosion that just occurred. A girl, shorter than Yang, long hair half pink and half brown. She stared at her with similarly bicolored eyes. The train. The girl that smoked her ass. She was here, at her school, walking by like she wasn't worried about the explosion that could've rocked her ass. Yang seethed and pumped her arms, activating Emb— nothing. She wasn't wearing her gauntlets. The girl smirked.

Yang growled, then inhaled to ground herself. Fine. She didn't need them. She'd whip this pasty bitch up and down the halls, and she'd do it with her bare hands. She cracked her knuckles.

Neo was on her in a flash, faster than she'd expected. The parasol flew from the side and whipped across her cheek, cutting a red line through the flesh as she pulled the blade back across her face. Blood ran down her face as Neo pressed her attack with flicks and thrusts from her parasol. Yang retreated, but she couldn't dodge every hit.

Yang may not have fought with an Aura, but she wasn't helpless. She had a whole year after their fight on the train, and her Semblance was brimming with energy, Aura or not.

The explosion, hitting two walls, all of it roiled under her skin, potential energy pressing against her muscles and making her blood run hot. Still, though, she kept her cool. She had to. She'd been over her embarrassing 'fight' with this girl time and again, and she'd come to a singular verdict: she needed to chill.

Chill. Be cool. Don't freak. Keep the rage down. She wants you to get angry, she wants you to get reckless. Hold it in, wait for the right moment.

The parasol came again, point thrusting forward like Weiss' rapier. Yang took a step back, then another, then another, the three jabs whiffing. When the fourth came, she slipped to the side, palm shooting out and bashing the parasol. The girl's arm flew wide, leaving her open.

Yang tucked her fists over her head and shuffled close, swaying left and right as she advanced. Stance low, she pushed off her right leg, fist coming around with a crashing haymaker.

The girl leaned back, and Yang's fist blew just past her nose, but she caught the glint in the brawler's lilac eyes. Purple shifted, bright red spots breaking through the irises before overpowering the lilac entirely.

Yang pulled with her whole left side, her eyes flashing scarlet as the stored energy pooled in her left fist. It came low and fast, her strike landing firmly into her opponent's gut.

Potential energy turned kinetic, pure power channeled through Yang's bare hand.

Neo's eyes briefly widened before she was sent flying. Her back cracked the ceiling, sending rubble to the ground as her Aura wavered, then shattered as she crashed against the floor. She barely maintained consciousness, and she was sure she had a couple cracked ribs, but she stayed still.

"Guess you underestimated me," the blonde gloated, but Neo kept playing dead. She only needed a shred, just a tiny bit of Aura to come back. "Lots of change in a year, huh?"

Neo frowned, but didn't move. Just a few more seconds, and her Aura would start to regenerate. Then, she would strike hard and fast. One shot was all she needed to get this bimbo out of her way and get back to saving Roman.

"And where's your ginger boss?" Neo's teeth ground against each other at the mention of him, anger bubbling up in her chest, but she kept herself still. "You'd think he'd be here. I mean, this seems kinda important, blowing up my school and…" Neo could hear the pain, both physical and emotional, start to drip into her voice. "All these kids."

She felt her Aura welling up again. Just a little more… "And by the way, I am totally kicking your asses across Remnant once I'm done with you. I'm tired of your bullshit, I just want to be a Huntress."

Slow footsteps came closer. Perfect, that oaf was getting in range. Just a little long—There!

Neo sprung up, bladed parasol aimed at Yang's heart. Yang, to her benefit, didn't seem surprised, her hands were already coming up to catch the blade.

Neo smirked, her trap sprung.

Yang had been ready for a surprise attack, but she hadn't been ready to be staring her own sister in the eyes as the blade came her way. She blinked. A single, momentary distraction, her judgment lapsed for half a second. She should've reached forward, grabbed the parasol before it could change trajectories, rip it away before it could arc up to her neck, but she didn't, her arms stuck in place for just a moment too long.

The point pierced the skin of her throat. She felt it press through the flesh, directly into her larynx.

In that brief moment, she didn't feel any pain, but she did feel terrible. She didn't want to leave Ruby behind, or Blake, or even Weiss. She didn't want her dad to bury another family member.

Worse still, she didn't want to disappoint her mom. Much as she hated it, she wanted to prove herself, to show Raven that she should've stuck around, that she should be proud of creating her, that she should regret leaving her behind.

But it didn't matter. In the blade pushed, then out it slid, her throat an open spigot for her precious blood. Yang stumbled forward, arms flailing with dumb swings like a toddler fighting their parents. Exhaustion gripped her bones. Her arms fell to her sides.

The visage of her sister burst into shards and blew away. Pink and brown watched scarlet fade back to a dull, lifeless purple.

Yang fell to her knees. Black crept into the edges of her vision as she felt herself fade. Looking down, she watched the blood flow down onto her hands. It was odd. Well, she thought it was odd. She'd never died before, but wasn't it supposed to be peaceful?

Why did she hear screaming?


Blake sprinted down the hall. She'd been heeding the call of nature before she would meet Yang at the gym, which she was pretty sure just exploded. Her legs pumped, feet beating against the floor.

Rounding the corner, she saw that girl, the one Yang had fought on the train. She was halfway to her feet, arm extended, parasol in hand. She didn't move, and neither did Yang, even though she was completely open, and perfectly within striking distance!

The parasol pulled back, then fell to her side. The metal tip was red with blood. She flicked it onto the carpet. Blood spurted from Yang's throat. Blake blinked.

She wasn't close enough. She watched Yang fall to her knees, face down at the blood flowing into her hands, then go slack, hunched over her lap.

No time for grief, she needed to act. She didn't even hear herself crying out for her partner.

She needed to be fast. That girl was haggard, Yang had clearly done a number on her, she just needed to finish the job and stop Yang's bleeding, then everything would be okay. Everything would be fine.

She leapt and channeled her Semblance, charging it with all the fire Dust in Gambol Shroud's spare magazine. A clone appeared behind her, then immediately detonated, too volatile to exist with so much fire Dust surging through it. The blast slammed against her Aura, nearly breaking it, but it had its desire effect. She launched forward at a blistering pace, shots flying from Gambol Shroud as she tore through the air.

It all happened at once, in a single anticlimactic moment.

Neo stumbled, one shot shattered her barely recovered Aura before the parasol unfurled, covering her head and torso against a couple more bullets. Another shot slammed into her right thigh, two landed next to her foot, and one passed through the meat of her left calf.

Her parasol dropped low to protect her lower half, only for Blake's body to crash against her not a moment later, her legs wrapping around Neo's torso as Gambol Shroud came down, the metal slide cracking against the girl's face and busting her cheekbone open. Neo cried out and tried to squirm, but her arms were pinned by Blake's strong legs. The pistol came down again, and this time it was the sharp corner of her extended magazine that dug straight into Neo's temple.

The girl gasped, but didn't fall, so Blake bashed her again. That did the trick. Feeling her go limp and collapse, Blake leapt off and rushed to her partner.

She placed one hand over the hole in Yang's throat, and used her other hand to search for a pulse. Ignoring the slick layer of blood over her partner's skin, she pressed her fingers to her neck.

She released the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. It was faint, much more faint than she was comfortable, but it was still there. With her free hand, she gently lowered her partner onto her back. As long as her Aura had time to recharge, she'd be fine.

In the meantime, she gripped the sleeve of Yang's shirt. It must've been shredded by the explosion, making it easy to tear strips of cloth free with one hand.

Before long, she had her makeshift bandages over Yang's throat. She looked around. Besides them, the hallway was empty, but there was too much noise for her to hear anything distinct. Blaring alarms, the distant roar of an inferno, overpowering all other sounds.

Something cracked behind her, likely some kind of support collapsing in the gym. Smoke and embers rushed out of the hole in the wall, filling much of the corridor. Coughing, she felt dread finally grip her heart.

She had to move Yang, the one thing she knew not to do when someone was severely injured, but she couldn't save her partner from a punctured throat just for her to die from smoke inhalation.

She looked up and down the hallway, smoke making her eyes sting. Nothing. All the debris was small or on fire, not suitable for a makeshift sled. She grit her teeth. Only one way, the hard way.

Both arms under Yang's unconscious body, she lifted. Her legs shook, she may not have looked like much but the blonde was one big slab of dense, lean muscle, making Blake grunt as she hoisted her partner bridal-style. She wasn't confident in her fireman's carry, especially since the bleeding wound on Yang's throat was only held together with scraps of cloth.

Her arms strained, every step like pushing through mud, but she carried Yang. She didn't have a destination in mind, just getting away from the smoke. Briefly looking back, she saw that girl, still unconscious in a heap of brown and pink.

Blake sneered, ignoring the pang of guilt that smacked against her chest. She got what was coming to her.


Weiss scrambled to her feet as her stomach clenched. The world around her spun. She felt like Ruby had taken her on the teacups again—

"Ruby!" She cried, realization hitting her. Cerulean eyes scanned frantically around the area. Her head was pounding, and walking was like trying to swim upside down in a vortex pool. She drew Myrtenaster and stuck it into the ground. Priceless heirloom be damned, she needed some balance!

Weiss gripped her rapier, using it to steady herself as she looked around, hoping the dizziness would subside soon.

There were bodies all around her, all in varying states of consciousness. None of them were her partner, but she was close, she could feel her presence through their bond. She turned her gaze back to the library, and gasped.

The south wall groaned, cracked, then dramatically buckled. It collapsed inwards, sending out a thick plume of dust and smoke. Hot air washed over the area, smoldering pebbles bounced off Weiss' Aura.

Weiss stared, transfixed. Nothing was left. The library was reduced to smoldering rubble. The building she had been in mere seconds ago, gone.

A pile of debris beside her groaned.

Ruby.

Weiss tore at the rubble. She gripped and tossed smoldering, heavy chunks of debris, burning and cutting her hands as she threw off stones, wood, metal, glass, everything. She could hear her. She could feel her there. The groaning became louder. Debris shifted under her hands. On her knees, she wedged Myrtenaster under a heavy panel, grunting as she lifted it up and off her partner.

Weiss' heart leapt into her throat, then sank into her gut. "Ruby, no, no, fuck! Please, please!"

Ruby groaned, unconscious. She was on her side, half-curled with her right cheek flat on the ground. Her clothes were shredded, easily a dozen shards of glass stuck out of her left side, from hip to collar, and a thin rod of metal pierced the meat of her shoulder. A deep laceration split the edge of her upper lip, crossing her face up to the cheekbone in a straight, bloody line that ended—

Weiss felt her stomach twist violently, and she slapped her palm over her mouth.

A long, jagged shard of glass impaled her left eye.

Others groaned to consciousness around her, but Weiss couldn't tear her eyes away. She felt herself sinking. So much blood, too much blood— it flowed from the eye like a trail of red tears. It was too much. Weiss' heart raced, her hands shook, her mouth went dry. So much blood. All she could see was the red, the flowing blood, her eyes locked in place, the blood, the red, the blood. She pressed her palms into her eyes, so hard that colors burst behind her eyelids. Inhale, exhale— don't lose it. She needs you— She uncovered her eyes.

That crimson monster stared back at her, silver eye beaming through the jagged shard of glass. A murderous presence hung over her like a glinting silver blade.

Weiss scrambled back, hyperventilating. She gripped Myrtenaster on instinct, her back hitting the ground when her only arm stopped holding her up. She was helpless. Cold winds bit her skin, she was sinking in snow, she was reaching, reaching, her arm was shredded, nothing but flesh and bone and blood. Her partner— a monster— straddled her, silver eyes, silver blades, flecked with red.

The sound of voices cut through. Weiss blinked. Her hand shook violently around the hilt of her rapier. Her mouth hung open, her heart slammed against her chest. She was on the ground, staring up at the plume of smoke that obscured the autumn sky.

Inhale, exhale. She wasn't there. She was at Beacon, in the courtyard, and the whole bloody school just exploded. Ruby was— Ruby!

"Fuck me, what the hell was that?" An unfamiliar voice cut into Weiss' mind, too clear, too unafraid, pinning her back to the ground. "I thought she said the library would be safe!"

Unfamiliar, distinctly masculine. Weiss held herself, muscles straining against her own will. Another voice responded.

"Well, we're not dead, are we?" Feminine, equally unfamiliar. "Shit, I am really dizzy."

A scoff, then a pair of mechanical clicks. "Stop being a baby. We gotta get this over with."

Weiss' heart rate climbed again. The feminine voice returned after a moment, fed up. "C'mon, Merc, let's just move on. These kids aren't getting up any time soon."

Shifting metal, like weapons transforming. Weiss' fingers twitched, tightening around her rapier.

"Fuck that," The masculine one— Merc? — responded. "I know I heard someone talking just a second ago."

Weiss grit her teeth and forced herself to stay still, her mind racing. Who the hell were these people? Did they do this? Her fingers twitched around Myrtenaster. From the sound of their voices, they were only a few yards away. She could flip onto her knees, drop a steam glyph, use a couple vector glyphs to charge at one, then flip them into the air with an inversion glyph. She didn't have enough Aura for a summon, but she had more than enough Dust to neutralize them, at least long enough for help to come.

The feminine voice hummed. "It's not worth it. We need to regroup with Cinder."

Cinder? Regroup? Weiss kept herself still. Merc growled. "Fine. But when one of these assholes gets up and chases us, it's gonna be on you."

Feet stomped against the ground, running back in the direction of the school. She forced herself still, muscles taught as the sounds grew distant, then faded away under the general cacophony of the burning academy. Finally, Weiss got herself back up to her feet.

Ruby was unconscious, probably bleeding out, and at severe risk of infection. She needed help.

Weiss just hoped she would be able to provide it.


Tick, tock.

Tick, tock.

Turning gears, cogs in motion.

Tick, tock.

Metal in the air, acrid taste dancing on her tongue.

Tick tock.

Ozpin sat in his tower, alone, untouched by the blasts and the flames. Clockwork machines hummed in the walls. He shouted into his Scroll, face pained and garbled voice desperate.

Tick, tock.

Staccato, clacking heels and heavy hooves resonated down the halls below in tandem. An oily black blade dragged against the floor.

Tick, tock.

A wolf watched the orange glow on the darkening horizon like a second sun, the bodies watched him back.

Tick, tock.

A midnight symphony played over the ashes of the world.

Tick, tock.

The cogs ground against each other, teeth snapping, axles twisting, the tower ripping itself apart. The rules were broken, the board flipped, pieces tumbled into the void.

Tick.

Grinding, groaning, a chill wind, a cold hand, fear, terror, desperation, a jolt, a surge of warmth.

Consciousness came to Ruby like an annoying trickle of water on her forehead. She groaned. Lying on her side, her whole body throbbed with a mix of dull and sharp pains across her entire left side, especially her face. She groaned. Her lip flared with pain.

Her vision felt odd, almost claustrophobic. Ruby's mind worked slowly. She was on her side. Her right side. She could see the ground, the grey pile of rubble she was prone atop, the cliff in front of the school, the horizon. Where's the sky?

Ruby groaned and flipped onto her back. Smoke covered the sky above her. Weiss loomed, equal parts worry and fear crossing the bond like a loud argument through a thin wall. Ruby's face was on fire. Her vision felt so penned in. Why? Her hand reached up to her face.

Weiss started. Ruby felt familiar fingers wrap around her left hand, but she couldn't see the arm they were attached to.

"Ruby, stay calm," Weiss insisted, her voice shaky, "It's going to be okay. I bandaged you up. Just stay still, you're injured."

Ruby groaned, having to turn her head to see the hand Weiss was restraining. Strips of cloth wrapped around it, up her arm, and she had to wrench her head to the side to see that they extended up to her shoulder. They were covered with red splotches, especially around her shoulder, where they wrapped around the base of a thin, metal rod.

Rod. In shoulder. Hm. That's not normal. She realized she probably should be worried, but her brain was addled by adrenaline, muddling her senses. Her head turned to her partner.

Weiss was… in a crop top? A white crop top, with a severely frayed hem at the bottom exposing more than a foot of pristine alabaster skin. Where did her shirt go? And her cape? Wasn't she cold? Ruby certainly was. Her arm reached forward without thinking, fingers meeting the warm white skin of her partner's midriff. Soft.

"Woah," Ruby slurred, her delirious voice muffled by something, "You're naked."

Weiss yelped when the cold fingers zapped her skin, blush rapidly taking over her features. She dropped Ruby's hand in surprise.

Ruby had to turn her head to see the newly freed hand, even though she knew it should be within her line of sight. She frowned, lighting her face up with pain. A sharp cry hissed through her grit teeth.

Her hand flew to her face, desperate to find the source of the pain.

Her fingers felt cloth, wrapped around her jaw and over her mouth, wet. Her fingers drifted up. Cloth up to her cheekbone, also wet. Up, more cloth, lots more cloth, very wet—

"Ruby, wait—" Weiss' voice went ignored. She felt something, something solid. She touched it.

Her face erupted in boiling pain, back arching as a scream tore past her throat.

Weiss pressed her hand over her partner's bandaged mouth, slightly muffling the guttural cry. She couldn't have those two coming back, not now. Her partner's fingers curled and flexed in pain, her legs flailing wildly, and all she could do was watch. Her own eye throbbed, but whether it was from the bond or the memory of her own injury she couldn't tell.

"Shh! It's going to be okay, Ruby," Weiss said in a calming voice, "I've got you."

Ruby's mind could barely function. It felt like lava was being poured into her eye socket. Her fingers twitched, her last shred of sense fighting the instinct to rip the thing out of her eye. Her throat went raw. She resorted to hissing her partner's name like that would make the pain go away.

"You're going to be okay, Ruby," Weiss assured as she moved her hand from her partner's mouth, using it to hold Ruby's uninjured hand instead. "Your Aura will come back any second now."

Ruby gripped the hand hard in return, making Weiss stifle a wince. She knew Weiss was right. She could feel it rising up again, that well of energy from her soul. The pain would go away soon. She would heal. She felt it coming, her soul resurging.

Her Aura flared back to life.

Tiny sparks flew over her arms, her chest, and her waist, pulling at her wounds and knitting her flesh back together. She felt her pounding head start to soothe. The energy pulled up to her face, washing over her mouth and pulling her split lip together again, before moving up—

Ruby screamed. Red energy sparked across the objects lodged in her flesh, yanking her wounded skin together as if the objects weren't there. It hurt. More than getting hit, more than Bartramb, even more than the Aura transfusion. She cried out and thrashed, hoping she could escape the pure, seething pain in her shoulder and face.

Her grip on the heiress' hand tightened. Weiss yelped in pain, but Ruby couldn't hear her. She was being murdered. Someone was plunging a hundred knives into her shoulder and pouring molten iron into her eye. It was too much, so much, she would die. She was going to die. Her chest heaved, only allowing enough air to let out another awful, guttural scream, and Weiss couldn't stop her this time.

Back arching, she thrashed, the last shred of sense keeping her still thrown to the wayside by the blinding, roaring pain. Her hands twitched. It was too much. She wanted it out. She needed whatever was in her out. Out! Out out out—

The crushing grip around Weiss' hand disappeared suddenly.

Instincts took over. In one swift movement, Ruby reached up and tore the rod from her shoulder, then the shard from her eye.

The pain flashed like a gunshot, and was similarly brief. Consciousness knew better than to stick with her.