Ruby's head was pounding. The edges of her vision blurred. Her entire body surged with adrenaline unlike anything she had ever felt before, and yet, she couldn't bring herself to move. She wanted to rush forward with a battle cry and swing Crescent Rose into her enemy with as much force as she could. Her muscles screamed at her to charge, but all she could do was tremble. For all of the bitter hatred in her heart and everything she had lost, none of the emotions or instincts could trump the singular, deafening voice echoing throughout her skull like an air raid siren.

This is it. One wrong move, and all of you die.

Coco Adel had no such inhibitions. The burgeoning whirr of her minigun barrel was finally followed up by the sound of a hailstorm of bullets flying forth as she advanced on Salem, baring her teeth. The witch circled her hands in front of herself and summoned up a shimmering shield that swirled with all the colors of the rainbow as she, too, began to advance at a slow and menacing pace. Ripples and distortions appeared within the field as Coco's bullets harmlessly disintegrated against the raw magical power, but the woman didn't stop firing or moving forward.

It was then that Raven turned and grabbed Taiyang by the collar to pull him in close. With a hissing whisper, she pressed her lips to his ear, her words obscured to all others by the pinging of hot lead.

"Get outside, now! Don't question it!"

Taiyang did as he was told and headed back for the double doors while Fox rushed forward, moving with such speed that he appeared to blink from side to side. The man leapt forward toward Salem with his arm blades extended to try for an overhead raking blow only for the woman to reach up and through her glittering shield to seize him out of the air with a single hand. Salem wrenched him downward and Fox hit the ground hard with the wind knocked out of him as Salem pulled her other hand back and prepared to strike. The blow never came as Cardin rushed in and swung upward as hard as he could, breaking Salem's arm just below the elbow and letting the limb snap backward with a sickening crack.

The lower half of Salem's arm dangled at an unnatural angle, dripping black goo onto the floor as it swayed back and forth. Coco temporarily stopped firing as she sprinted in toward Fox, and Neopolitan moved to begin circling around Salem's back side. Salem herself looked entirely unbothered as the sinewy strands holding the remainder of her limb broke, sending the useless portion of the arm down to the floor. A jagged, razor-sharp lance of bone sprouted from the gaping wound, and before anyone could stop her, Salem brought down the implement to sink it directly into Fox's stomach.

Coco let out an anguished scream as Salem pushed the boy forward and flung him rolling across the floor. The bespectacled huntress rushed over to her fallen comrade and leaned in close as Oscar moved to meet her, his hands shimmering with a sort of magical energy quite similar to Salem's. Raven was quick to rush in and assail Salem from the front with sword strikes as the witch disappeared in a veil of mist, only to blink in close to Ruby.

Finally, the huntress felt as though she could move.

Acting on sheer instinct alone, Ruby launched into a furious assault, spinning her scythe and firing off shots without even pausing to consider where the bullets would go. She tore Crescent Rose across the space where Salem should have been, finding only air with her blade as the woman seemingly melted and reformed around the implement. The white flesh around the bony spike on Salem's arm twisted and coalesced into a new hand faster that Ruby could keep track of it, and the woman threw a magically boosted haymaker directly into her throat. Ruby dropped her weapon and clutched at her neck, her vision growing fuzzy as she watched Salem whirl around.

Raven was back on the witch with a wide slash and spilling grimm fluid across the floor as Salem's stomach was torn open. Neopolitan appeared in midair and drove her shorter sword down into Salem's neck near the shoulder only to be thrown off to the side as though she was nothing but a child's plaything. Salem let out a growl as she rushed forward to engage with Raven, and Ruby shook her head to try to clear her vision. She could hear panicked breathing coming from her left, as well as Coco's frantic voice.

"F-fox?" the girl asked as she kept her bloodied gloves pressed to her friend's oozing wound. Oscar had his own hands upon the seemingly unconscious teenager's stomach, his fingers flickering with a white aura. "Say something, come on…"

"…sorry, Coco," the man sputtered as his breathing began to stabilize. "Didn't… see it coming in time to dodge…"

Coco laughed in spite of herself and removed her sunglasses as she rested her forehead against Fox's.

"You're such an asshole… and I'm going to kill her. I'll fucking tear her apart…"

"No," Oscar warned as he stood up, his gloves covered in blood. Where the small boy's hands had been mere seconds prior, Fox's wound had somehow closed. "All of you need to get out of here. Take Fox outside immediately and find Taiyang. Raven and I are the only ones that stand a chance."

"What are you going to do?" Coco asked as she helped Fox to a standing position and slung his arm over her shoulder. "And how the hell did you save him?"

"…I have my ways," Oscar answered cryptically. "Go, before you lose your window."

Coco merely gave Oscar a nod before dragging Fox toward the door, the sounds of battle echoing behind them. Ruby finally managed to stand up straight only to find Cardin had appeared on the ground before her. Neopolitan was atop him, and both were covered in wounds as magical flashes lit the rest of the lobby where Raven and Salem continued to fight.

"Cardin!" Ruby called as she made her way over, her ears ringing. "Are the two of you…?"

"We're fine," Cardin grunted as he stood up, a trail of blood trickling from his hairline. "Come on, we've gotta get back in there a-"

"Get out of here!" Oscar commanded as he approached the group. "Leave this t-"

"I'm not leaving!" Ruby yelled.

"I can handle her!" Oscar insisted. "But there are too many people here, and I need all of you out of the way!"

"Can you?" Ruby questioned, her expression furious. "Because the way you've been talking, it sounds a lot like your plan is to sacrifice yourself so we can all escape!"

Oscar said nothing, and merely returned Ruby's angry glare. Quite suddenly, a black bird zipped over to them before diving into a roll and transforming into human form as it hit the ground.

"Can you?" Raven asked, breathing hard as her eyes blazed with the flickering embers of a Maiden. "Can you actually hold her attention long enough for everyone to get out?"

"I can," Oscar confirmed. "But I need you to trust me."

"I don't," Ruby asserted as she looked over toward Salem, who was temporarily busy reforming the various wounds that spiderwebbed her flesh.

"I have to," Raven spat. "Hold her. Keep her occupied, and when I return… be ready to run."

Raven took off without another word, sprouting wings and shrinking down as she zipped off into a nearby hallway. Cardin and Neopolitan finally managed to stand up, the girl leaning into the much larger man's side.

"I'm not… leaving either," Cardin insisted. "We've got a job to do."

Neopolitan was quick to push away from him. She silently met Oscar's eyes before hobbling toward the exit, a slight limp in her stride.

"…cowards," Ruby accused as she took up Crescent Rose and stood beside Oscar and Cardin. Salem's head snapped back upright, correcting an unnatural bend that Raven had managed to put into her neck. "This isn't your fight to face alone anymore, Ozpin."

"If you insist on staying, then look for openings and otherwise stay out of my way," Oscar instructed as he lifted his cane. The shaft of the weapon began to vibrate and hum, filling the lobby of the hotel with a heady resonating noise. "And if I tell you to get clear, get clear."

Cardin watched as the cane quite literally ignited into a torrent of blue flames while Oscar held it outward. Somewhere above them, several crashes and bangs echoed throughout the building, and neither Ruby nor Cardin could tell if the sounds were Oscar's doing.

"And then there were two," Salem mused as she began to walk toward them, seemingly unbothered. "How quickly your little army folded, Ozma. Tell me- if I render her untrained eyes completely useless, will the tin man crumble? Or perhaps if I gut him instead, will that inspire the girl to actually do some damage?"

"I'll give you damage," Ruby threatened as she tightened her grip around the shaft of her scythe. "You've been nothing but cheap tricks so far. I'm not afraid of you!"

"And you killed my entire team," Cardin growled. "Breaking your arm was just the start."

"You know nothing of loss," Salem said dismissively as she cast her eyes toward Oscar. "But you soon will. That magic is going to kill him- or rather, kill his current host."

"Ozpin?" Ruby asked as she cast her eyes to the boy beside her. "What is sh-"

The statement distracted Ruby just long enough to allow Salem to fly forward, her arms extended as her fingertips ignited with roaring flames. Oscar was quick to step in between the two and swing his cane outward, causing Salem to redirect her trajectory in mid-flight. The woman flew up above the trio and extended an arm, from which large shards of hooked bone sprouted. A moment later, a rain of lethal spears flew downward, and Cardin swung his mace hard to shatter what he could out of the air as Ruby disappeared within a red, flowing trail of fabric and petals. Oscar swung his cane furiously, tracing flaming arcs through the air that dissolved the bone spears on contact.

"Where is Summer Rose, Ozma?" Salem asked as she returned to the ground. "You must kn-"

"No!" Cardin interrupted as he rushed forward. "Ruby, stay close and don't listen to a word she says! She's trying to get into your head!"

Ruby said nothing as she followed Cardin, and the pair switched sides as they approached Salem. Oscar was quick to come up the middle, an explosion somewhere above them masking his approach as he flung a large, sparkling ball of pure magic Salem's way. Salem was able to counteract the assault with an explosion of her own similar-looking magic, only for Cardin to come in swinging hard for the woman's stomach. With gritted teeth, Salem grabbed the haft of the mace and stopped its bladed head mere inches from herself before leaning in and unhinging her jaw. A torrent of black liquid sprayed from her mouth and over Cardin's neck and chest as the boy let out a horrified cry.

Ruby came up on Salem and extended the blade of Crescent Rose out before the rest of the weapon. She speared the tip into Salem's side and began to push her backward and off of Cardin, whose entire body was smoking as he writhed upon the floor, his aura flickering briefly before it burst. Salem gripped Crescent Rose just below the blade as Ruby continued to push her backward, and quite suddenly, she snapped the weapon before yanking the shaft free and slamming it across Ruby's face. Ruby was sent reeling as the entire building shook, and Oscar moved in with his magically empowered cane.

The broken staff that remained of Crescent Rose ignited with a dark red energy as Salem swung the weapon outward to trade blows with Oscar. Whenever the weapons clashed, the magical impacts between them let out thunderous booms that distorted the very air around them, fragmenting Ruby's view of the fight. She watched as Cardin desperately tried to unlatch his smoking breastplate and shuffle out of it while Oscar and Salem began a duel with untraceable speed. All the while, the building itself continued to rumble and quake, and the unmistakable sound of a collapse somewhere above spurred Ruby to stand on shaky legs.

"We can't win…" Ruby said softly as she stumbled along the floor toward Cardin and began to assist him. She could see his armor beginning to fuse into his skin as the smoking black liquid seeped in through the crevices in the breastplate, and she worked quickly to help him struggle out of it. "Are you alright!?"

"My skin!" Cardin cried as he finally got the armor off. "My fucking skin!"

Ruby looked on in horror at the molten metal that had fused across sections of Cardin's chest. The boy's flesh was warped and burned around his neck and pecs, and shards of armor were embedded within the skin of his stomach. A sudden flash of bright red reflected within the boy's remaining armor around his legs caught Ruby's attention, and she looked behind herself to see Raven standing before a familiar portal of deep crimson.

"Get in, now!" Raven ordered. "Take him with you!"

"Cardin, can you stand?" Ruby asked as she tried in vain to pull the heavy boy to his feet. "Cardin, we have to go!"

"I-I'm going!" Cardin called as he struggled to his feet. "But…"

"It's too late," Raven warned. "Get going. Leave this to Oz!"

"I'm not leaving Oscar to die!" Ruby protested. She peered through the distorted space between them to see the boy's cane had lengthened and become coated in even more ethereal fire as he traded blows with Salem. "What is he doing?"

"Buying us time!" Raven answered as she grabbed Cardin's arm and guided him through the portal. "He's made his choice! This may be our only chance t-"

"Oscar didn't get to make a choice!" Ruby screamed as she stared up at Raven. "Don't you dare close that portal!"

Raven reached out to grab Ruby, but she was too slow in her efforts. The girl had already engaged her semblance and sped through the lobby and back into the fray, where she grabbed Oscar's collar with one hand and his cane in the other. For a moment, Ruby locked eyes with Salem before wresting the cane from Oscar's hand and throwing it at the witch as hard as she could. Upon impact, a deafening noise began to ring out, and the weapon slowly tunneled into her flesh while Salem let out a shriek. Ruby pulled Oscar along and began a mad dash for the portal with Salem in tow as she watched Raven leap through the closing gate.

Ruby didn't know what was happening behind her, but she could feel an intense heat at her back as the sounds of destruction grew louder. For a moment, she didn't think she would make it through the shrinking portal, but with one final push, she found herself at the edge of the wide parking lot and looking at the building from the outside. There was no time for her to catch her breath as she watched the entire lakeside resort begin to crumble from the top down as a massive explosion from within blew out the windows on the bottom floor. Ruby and those surrounding her raised their arms to shield their faces as a massive ring of dust and debris blew outward from the collapsing building, and as quickly as it had begun, it was over.

All that was left of the building was rubble and dust, and somewhere beneath it all would be the remains of Crescent Rose, Oscar's cane, and the corpse of Salem.

Ruby couldn't believe what she was looking at. She wasn't sure when she had started crying, but she knew that it wasn't going to stop for quite a while. Her lip trembled as she kept a death grip on Oscar's collar, and in short order, she collapsed to her knees. Ruby couldn't control her ragged breathing as she choked upon the spreading dust and foul air. She could see the field of unmoving grimm before her, but somehow, she knew that they were no longer a threat. Several had been taken out in the blast, while the ones that remain stood perfectly still, as though they had been turned into statues.

"Ruby!" Taiyang yelled as he ran for his daughter and hugged her from behind. "Everyone's here, right? We all made it out!?"

"It isn't over," Oscar said in a low voice as he broke free of Ruby's grip. "You should have let m-"

"No!" Ruby interrupted as she looked up, tears streaming from her eyes. "Shut up! It's over! Now, all that's left is cleaning up her grimm and her subordinates! I wasn't going to let you just die in there so we could get out!" Ruby stood, wriggling out of Taiyang's grasp as she looked down at Oscar. She was shaking in both anger and fear, but the boy didn't move as she continued to yell. "What else are you keeping from us!? What else don't we know!? You were going to kill Oscar just to get us out faster! Why? So she wouldn't keep talking!? What happened to lives being a currency you refuse to spend? Who else has died without reason!?"

Oscar took a deep breath in through his nose and closed his eyes.

"Are you quite finished, Miss Rose?"

Ruby balled a fist, and for a moment, seriously considering throwing it directly into the boy's face. She barely managed to stop herself, though Raven's voice helped to give her pause.

"Ruby!"

"Don't you dare tell me I'm being unfair!" Ruby threatened as she whirled around to Raven and the crowd. "You have no room to talk!"

"No! Ruby, look!"

Ruby followed Raven's pointing finger back to the parking lot, where the remaining grimm had seemingly collapsed all at once. Their bodies melted down into a liquid pool of blackness before beginning to spread across the asphalt and toward the hotel.

"…what is that?" Coco asked Oscar as she walked forward, Fox still leaning into her for support. "What the fuck is that, old man?"

Oscar turned and opened his eyes, shaking his head.

"Precisely what I feared. I told you this wasn't over. I told you I had to be the one to handle her. For all that you just did, you bought us about ninety seconds…"

From near the edge of the collapse, rubble began to shift aside. At first, it was just a singular, white, shaking hand that appeared through a gap in the ruined stonework. A few seconds later, a shoulder emerged, draped in strands of messy white hair.

"No…" Ruby whispered. "No, she can't be alive after all that…"

A red light washed over the scene, bright enough that Ruby knew exactly what was going on behind her without looking. She was too busy staring into Salem's furious eyes as the woman's head emerged from the pile of debris.

"This is a lost cause!" Raven yelled over the immediate cacophony of footsteps on stone. "Get in!"

Ruby's breathing quickened as she took several steps backward, feeling like she was about to throw up. Still trembling, she turned around, closed her eyes, and ran through the portal to parts unknown.

Author's Note:

Decided it would flow better to finish this scene now and do Sun/Ilia next week.

-RD