K Chapter 48 - the last K, a rwby fanfic

Author's Notes

Note: Minor edits for spelling, grammar, and missed linebreaks in misc chapters of K and The Empty Seat.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!

Chapter 48 – the last K

"Touching, children. Absolutely touching."

"BLAKE! NO!"

Adam wasn't proud of how long it took him to react, but his entire attention had been focused on calming down Ruby and getting her back in control of herself. When Cinder picked up Blake and throttled her, it wasn't until the same stretched out Grimm arm was already gripping Ruby's head that he gathered himself together and tried to stop her.

Raising Blush, he aimed at the–

Blush froze.

Adam paused and looked at his gun for a second. A thin layer of frost had covered every surface, and the chamber seemed jammed with ice. He tried to free it by slamming the butt of the shotgun into the ground. When that didn't work, he abandoned the ranged option altogether and switched to Wilt.

Throwing Wilt at the shadowy arm like he'd done with Mercury's leg would have left him bereft of his weapon, as Cinder, who he now realized was likely the other 'half' of the Fall maiden that Goodwitch had referenced, controlled the elements around them. Actually, given the glow around Cinder's arm, and Ruby's declining eye fire, she was probably more than just a half now.

Thus, instead of throwing his sword, he jumped into the air, caught Lash as it wrapped around Wilt, and swung Ilia. It was a move they had practiced extensively to deal with aerial drones back in the day, one so familiar to Adam that he hadn't even needed to look at Ilia to know she was on the same page. Had it been Blake, it would have been Gambol Shroud's sickle as the hook and its ribbon as the whip. Ilia soared upwards feet first and kicked Cinder's chin with both boots, but it wasn't enough to make her break off of Ruby.

Blake was off the ground by now and had begun taking potshots at Cinder, but she blocked them with her free arm, seemingly unaffected.

She's a maiden, apparently infinitely powerful. We can't overpower her. We need to play to our advantages.

So what advantages did K have?

They outnumbered Cinder.

They…

Come to think of it, the advantage of numbers was it. She could fly, she had a wider range of attacks, her weapons hadn't yet been revealed (if she even still needed them), her aura would be higher from lack of use, and Team Rabies was already down one Ruby and one Blush.

So, we'll just have to outnumber her.

Lash was still curled around Adam's sword, so he pulled Ilia back down, allowing her to kick Cinder again as she made a second pass, then swung her away from the fight towards the pillars. Ilia disappeared into the shadows, turning black and slinking behind one of the columns. Cinder hurled a fireball at her, but she was already gone, waiting to reappear when the moment best suited her. Cinder would probably have trouble seeing her in the dimly lit vault, but Ilia wouldn't have any difficulties, due to her Faunus night vision.

I'm really off my game, because that's another advantage, and I only just remembered it. I should try to put out some of these lights if I can. Cinder may be able to make fire at will, but there has to be a limit to how much she can throw her powers around before she runs out.

Blake leapt at Cinder and instantly was consumed in a stream of fire from the airborne maiden. That was simultaneously both good and bad. Good, because the real Blake was now probably hidden like Ilia, meaning that the two stealth fighters were in their best element. Bad, because Adam now had to hold off Cinder all on his own while they would occasionally take cheap shots, then sneak back into their invisible hiding spots.

Cinder hadn't seemed to realize that she'd only destroyed a shadow clone and was still trying to incinerate the empty space that Blake had left it behind in. Adam took advantage of her misaimed attention and kicked off the ground. Launching himself higher than Cinder, he slammed Wilt into her back and sent her plummeting to the floor. As long as she remained in the air, they would have to jump to get at her. Now, she was just another swordswoman on the ground, something he could handle.

She slammed into the floor, but Adam didn't give her a chance to recover. Kicking her prone body over, he sent Wilt into the hole between her blackened ulna and radius, then twisted. Cinder cried out in pain as her Grimm arm bent out of shape, the motion translating up to her shoulder and possibly dislocating the short stump that was left over her original human arm. Adam kicked down onto her face to shut her up.

Cinder breathed out fire onto his boot, and he was forced to back up. As she spun to her feet, dust in the air hardened into translucent glass and congregated at her human and Grimm hands, forming two razor sharp obsidian-like swords. Cinder charged forward with a scream and swung at Adam's face…quite slowly. Adam avoided the reckless swing and carved up with Wilt in a crescent shape, slashing into her lower leg, then her human arm. Cinder followed up with an overhead swing from her left sword and a simultaneous underhand swing from her right. Adam deflected the higher attack with his own weapon, knocking her blade to the side to make it avoid cutting into his head, and caught her right arm before she could bring it up high enough to make contact. He twisted her wrist, pulled her forward, kicked her in the stomach, and tossed her behind him.

She was surprisingly inept with her own weapons. Rather, she was inept compared to what Adam had been dreading. This was supposed to be a maiden killer, capable of fighting and grievously injuring a fully powered Amber. He'd been expecting this to be the duel of a lifetime, the ultimate challenge of his own hard-earned skills against someone as good if not better. Cinder was just marginally better at swordplay than Weiss Schnee herself. Her ferocity gave her strength, but her technique was just so-so. She was good and probably would rank towards the top of the swordfighters in the hunter academies, but anyone with true mastery of swordsmanship like Adam, Winter, or Qrow Branwen would carve right through her.

And the second she realizes it, she'll go back to an aerial assault with her maiden powers. I need to tone it down.

Adam allowed the next hit to connect, taking care to ensure that it did minimal damage to his aura. He smashed Wilt through her other sword as he did, but the glass blade simply reformed from the shattered pieces. Cinder smiled malevolently and brought both blades down at once. Adam caught them with his own.

"You. This whole time. I can't believe I didn't see it at the da–"

Adam spit in her eye. She recoiled, and her grip on her blades faltered for the briefest of moments. Nimbly moving past her broken guard, he sliced her Grimm arm clean off. Cinder screamed and clutched her shoulder in pain as smoke began to pour out into the air. The severed limb itself began to thrash about on the ground like a flopping fish. Just in case she was still feeling what it felt, Adam stabbed its hand for good measure.

Blake flew down from wherever she'd been and planted a fist into Cinder's face, sending her tumbling on the floor towards the other side of the room to Ilia, who'd also appeared from behind a pillar. The chameleon Faunus whipped Cinder three times with an electrified Lightning Lash, then retreated back. Just like that, both girls were gone.

Cinder clawed herself up using a pillar and glared at Adam. "You'll die for that! I'll slaughter you like a pig! AAAARGHH!" A new Grimm arm began to creep out of her left shoulder as she wailed.

Adam lifted up the skewered Grimm hand, still on his sword and flicked it at the torch above Cinder. The flame fell out of its holder and landed on her, dousing her in hot oil and green fire.

Speaking above her continued screams, Adam said, "If you're going to insult me, at least do so properly. I'm a bull, not a pig."

Cinder's squalling volume doubled, and she swept a hand to the side. The fires instantly diminished, then collected around her in multiple spinning rings. In her newly reformed Grimm arm, an oversized red katana materialized. Chunks of rock broke out of the ground and began to orbit Cinder as she levitated upwards. She stopped shouting and instead simpered coyly.

"Thank you for that correction, my dear Adam. I shall be sure to take that into account and put 'Beef' on your tombstone instead of 'Pork' when I roast you alive."

Now that she was actually using her maiden powers, Adam abandoned all pretense of being equally matched at swordsmanship and let loose. It was all he could do to prevent himself from being buried alive in the endless shower of flaming rubble, glass shards, icicle spears, and electrified air. Blocking, deflecting, parrying, he could barely keep up with her, not because of any coordination on her part, but the exact opposite. The random flurry of attacks she unleashed on him was impossible to predict, and almost as difficult to avoid.

Some of the shots made it through, and Adam's aura began to take hits. Changing tactics, he began to spin Wilt in wide circles to catch as much of the incoming pelting as he could with it. Cinder didn't seem to notice the hum as Moonslice charged up with unimaginable power.

He waited until she came in close with her oversized and, if he was being honest, comically large blade. Had she been male, he would have made an 'overcompensating' joke just to enrage her and encourage the sloppiness that her anger had brought forth. When Cinder came in close, likely believing she was about to finish their fight, Adam let everything go.

Unfortunately for both of them, the sheer destructive potential he'd built up was enough to not only carve through her long blade and her shield of elements, but past her into the ceiling. The stone above them shook, and cracks began to form.

Cinder was damaged by the attack and thrown off balance, so Adam ignored the impending cave in and kept up his assault. As he ran towards her, he caught Blake jumping into the air out of the corner of his eye. Wilt rose into the air, and Gambol Shroud loudly clanged against it. Blake landed in a somersault and opened fire with her pistol, causing more energy to build up. Adam didn't hesitate to sling another semblance-fueled blast of energy at Cinder as he dashed towards her. She managed to block this one with a hastily conjured spray of maiden fire, but she was completely defenseless when Adam drove Wilt at her stomach with enough force to press her into the pillar behind her and fracture it.

"Down!"

Adam dipped his head in time to avoid getting caught by Lightning Lash as it swung around from behind one side of the pillar to the other, passing over Cinder's neck in the process. Ilia, presumably standing on the other side of the pillar, caught the tip and tightened it on both sides, digging the whip into Cinder's neck. Adam stood back up and continued to press Wilt into her aura as Ilia choked her. Lighting Lash lit up with electricity, and bullet fire from Gambol Shroud began to pelt Cinder from the side. Blake had landed after charging up Moonslice, and she was now shooting at Cinder from a distance.

They had her pinned and were all collectively damaging her as best they could. By all accounts, this should have been the end of the fight. K was supposed to win here.

But K hadn't taken into account how strong the powers of the Fall maiden were.

Cinder raised a hand to Ilia's whip and touched it, electricity arcing into the weapon as she did. Instantly, the entire length of it began to spark violently, forcing Adam to step back. Cinder grabbed it with both hands, and electricity flowed out of her arm into the already overloading weapon. Ilia screamed from behind the pillar, and Adam heard a loud explosion. Blake, seeing that she was next, fell back.

The familiar smell of knockout gas filled Adam's nostrils, and he realized what had happened. Cinder's attack had somehow lit up the Dust in Lightning Lash's chambers, causing it to detonate and released the pressurized sedatives into the air. Still, this would probably be a win. As long as Ilia managed to realize what was happening, she could just wait them out as he and Cinder went out cold. Plus, Blake had managed to put some distance between herself and the three of them, so she could be their backup. To be sure, Adam stilled his breath and stepped back just to give himself clearness of mind for as long as possible.

Cinder coughed, then looked around frantically.

"What…the...uhhhf…"

Wheezing again, she leaned back against the pillar unsteadily. Her Grimm hand shot up, its motion jerky and non-fluid. Suddenly, Adam felt a breeze against his face.

Shit! The Grimm has a mind of its own? And it…can…control the…

Ilia managed to stop her lungs before she could fall victim to her own trap. Unfortunately, it seemed like Adam hadn't been so lucky. As Ilia kept her skin black and stayed flush up against the dark wall, she could clearly see him go down from where she was. For some reason, though, Cinder wasn't affected.

That complicated things.

Adam was their main heavy fighter. He wasn't supposed to go down unless it was towards the end of the fight, when victory was assured and they just needed to use Ilia's fourth chamber to claim it. Now, he'd tapped out early, so she and Blake were going to have to fight Cinder on their own.

It's okay. We can do this. We're K, the best fighters that the best kingdom has to offer, not some amateur hunters in training.

Oh, and as an added bonus, the weak structural integrity of this underground death trap of a vault had decided to finally crap out from Adam's attack earlier. Chunks of rock and stone began to crumble out of the ceiling, and the pillars were making cracking noises that solid rock was never supposed to make.

Well, it's not all bad. Cinder will have to dodge the bits of cave-in as well. We can still win this.

Ilia watched as a chuck of rock about five feet across feel out of the roof and landed right next to Ruby's unconscious body.

No one even knew they were down here. It was up to her and Blake.

I guess…if we get lucky, we can win? It's not impossible, per se.

Cinder stepped towards Adam's downed body and summoned a menacing glass knife out of thin air. As a cluster of rocks fell down above her, she swung the blade upwards without even looking and smashed them to harmless rubble that rained down into her hair and dusted her shoulders.

Before she could get to Adam, Blake swung out from behind the pillars and landed in front of Adam's body. Cinder looked at her curiously, then waited a second.

Blake stood entirely still. Then, a second Blake, this one carrying Adam, appeared inches away and fell through the first, dissipating it. Both of the Faunus landed on the floor, unconscious. Ilia wondered what had happened for about two seconds before realizing.

As the maiden, Cinder could control the flow of air. She'd prevented the gas from dissipating, instead collecting it into a highly concentrated bubble around Adam that she then used as a trap, with him as the bait. Upon seeing her comrade in danger, Blake had jumped in to save him, left a shadow clone to distract Cinder, picked up the bull Faunus, breathed in the highly concentrated gas, immediately fell unconscious, and dropped into her own shadow clone before she could rescue anyone.

"And then there was one." Cinder turned around and looked about the room. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

Ilia switched Lighting Lash to the third chamber, only to realize that all five chambers were empty, having been ruptured from Cinder's attack. She was out of Dust, out of gas, nearly out of steam, and shit out of luck.

Okay, fine. I'll admit it if you force me to. We're pretty much boned.

It wasn't a pretty picture. Not only did she have to keep Cinder at bay, but she had to also swiped falling bits of rock to prevent them from crushing her three teammates to death. When a piece was too big, that meant she had to throw one or more of her downed allies out of the way. Between Lash pulling double duty in rescue mode and Ilia having to defend herself at the same time, she hadn't yet managed to fit in landing a single attack on Cinder. Cinder was probably taking her merry time and drawing this out, if only to drink in Ilia's hopelessness.

Breathtaking was a stupendously useful semblance when it could be used right, but right now Ilia wished she was Yang, for all the damage she was absorbing. Ilia was pretty much burning through her aura to stay in the fight, taking hit after hit after hit after hit. She had no long term strategy and was basically so bereft of options that she was limited to praying to the Brother Gods that Adam woke up. Blake was good, but only he would be enough to even the playing field.

C'mon, big guy. Get your fat butt up and bail me out of this one…

Back and forth, she switched between blocking Cinder and the gradually increasing cave in, defending herself and defending her teammates, prioritizing the latter, since they didn't have their auras up. Every third hit of Cinder's made it past her guard, and she was starting to lose her focus. If fighting three opponents in Mountain Glenn had been the Cardin of challenges, then defending three downed allies was the Pyrrha.

"Don't feel bad," said Cinder, casually splashing a wave of liquid fire at Ilia as though they were two children playing on the beaches of Menagerie. "This is your destiny. There's no reason to fight back. Just accept it."

No sooner had the words had sunk into her ears than things became a lot clearer for Ilia.

Cinder was right. No matter how well she fought, she wasn't going to be able to survive this if she continued to protect her friends. If she abandoned them, she would still die, and she'd feel a lot worse about herself at the end. On the other hand, if she kept trying to play the balancing act, Cinder would slaughter her, then finish off the rest of them.

Ilia couldn't win. That much was apparent.

But she could still affect one outcome of this fight – whether Cinder Fall, the new Fall maiden (holy shit, she just got that), made it out of her alive and used her newfound powers to wreak havoc on this crappy school Jam– the general had sent her to.

Wilt was a sword made of alloyed steel and Dust. It wouldn't have been enough normally, but all she needed to do was finish what Adam had started.

And so, smiling at her own cleverness in turning a no-win situation into an everyone-loses situation, Ilia flipped back to the bodies of her friends, grabbed Adam's sword, and chucked it straight up towards the ceiling. Cinder's eyes followed the blade as it shot into the air, likely believing it to be some last ditch tactic used by the desperate Faunus against her. In a way, it somewhat was.

All Ilia needed was a way to detonate the Dust. It wasn't raw, which made it significantly more stable, but it was still Dust, a volatile and eruptive energy propellant. Give it enough force, and boom! Ilia would bring the house down. Cinder may have been strong, but if Ilia dropped an entire CCT on her face, strong wouldn't mean jack.

Fire could ignite Dust. Cinder could generate fire. The next step seemed obvious.

Ilia kicked backwards towards the wall behind her, then sprung off it in the direction of Adam's flying sword. Cinder probably thought Ilia was trying to do some combo move, and she capitalized on the blind spot Ilia intentionally left in her movement patterns by sending out a violent stream of flames.

Ilia chuckled. Here she was, the last Manzat, following in her parents' footsteps – about to be crushed into little tiny bits by rubble, all while ten million feet underground in a manmade hole in the ground.

Cinder was smart, so she shot where Ilia was going to be, not where she was. Unfortunately, she hadn't seen the chameleon Faunus grab Gambol Shroud off of Blake and didn't know that Ilia now possessed two rope-like weapons. Gambol's cleaver was hurled back to a torch fixture, and Ilia stopped herself using its taught ribbon before she flew into Cinder's fires. Lash curled around Wilt's handle and pulled it back into the all-out cataclysmic jet of maiden-enhanced fire.

Ilia couldn't help but laugh a second time. All three of their weapons used to kill Cinder. It was almost as though this – spitting in the face of the woman who was going to kill them for no reason other than vengeance's sake – was K's last act together.

It was the noise that woke Blake up. Like any sensible person on a team with a knockout gas user, she had drilled into her reflexives the automatic response of slowing down her breathing the second she felt lightheaded. It hadn't prevented her from inhaling the gas, but it had ensured she didn't take in an overly large dose. And now, as a reward for her quick reactions, she got to wake up in time to see the world ending around her.

Cinder was holding up the humungous boulders as they descended upon her using her maiden powers, but it seemed like the weight that piled up was becoming too much for her. Adam was still down, and Ilia too, though the latter seemed freshly singed and was still smoking.

Cinder heard Blake stand up, and her head snapped towards her. Both of their amber eyes met for a second, and the collapsing vault stood still. Their game of chicken lasted for about two seconds, though it felt like an eternity. Then, Cinder's gaze shot towards the narrow elevator chamber at the end of the hall. Blake followed it.

Oh no you don't!

Cinder took off running and mentally directed the boulders she'd been holding up with her magic at Blake to buy herself some time. The huge rocks left massive cracks in the floor as they bounced then rolled towards Blake.

Unfortunately for the maiden, with Blake's light feet and nimbleness, she had always aced every obstacle course General Ironwood had ever tossed her into with flying colors. Needless to say, a few pebbles didn't stall her pursuit for long.

Blake tackled Cinder to the ground. Her weapon was missing, so she pinned Cinder's hands behind her back and pressed her knee against her spine. Heat seared her fingertips, but her aura was enough to prevent her from involuntarily letting go. Pain was temporary, but kicking Cinder's ass would be forever.

Cinder roared with fury and pushed off the ground using her upper body, slamming the back of her head into Blake's chin. Freeing her hands, the human rolled herself over and kicked Blake in the chest. Blake caught her leg, elbowed the kneecap as hard as she could, and threw herself onto Cinder.

As close as they were now, both technique and magic lost meaning. Cinder wasn't able to aim a magical attack without the advantage of range, and Blake wasn't able to employ her ninja hand-to-hand combat skills. Their battle quickly devolved into hastily thrown punches, each girl trying to desperately catch the other with a lucky hit. Rocks landed on both of them indiscriminately, the ceiling not caring to give either huntress an advantage.

In the end, it was Cinder who achieved said lucky hit, her Grimm arm giving her the upper hand (no pun intended). One of her bony claws tore into Blake's cat ear by chance, and she yanked on it as hard as she could. Blake howled in pain, and Cinder drove a fiery fist into her sternum, breaking Blake's aura. Blood trickled down her forehead from her shredded ear, and she fell backwards.

Cinder stood up, fused rubble into a craggy glass sword, and raised it into the air.

"You lose! Only I get to win! Now, die!"

The light that came next was so blinding, Blake actually had to rub her eyes to make the afterimage go away. It had been a vibrant flash of intense white that lit up the entire vault, as jarring as it was brief. She heard someone falling down from behind her, but it took her a couple of seconds to actually look back and see Ruby on the ground.

That silver light – did SHE do that?

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

The scream caught Blake's attention and dragged it back to the enemy right in front of her. Cinder's Grimm arm was evaporating, and this time it showed no signs of regeneration. On top of that, her orange aura seemed to have finally broken. Blake tried to capitalize on whatever opening Ruby had given her by rushing Cinder, but the glass sword, still in Cinder's hands, found itself at Blake's throat.

"Oh, I don't think so." Cinder pressed the tip into Blake's neck, and a thin cut formed. "I was going to let you get crushed to bits, but that would be letting you worms get off too easy. For the pain you've put me through, I'm going to carve the eyes out of that empty skull of yours and feed them to you while–"

That was as far as she got before her face ceased to be. In its place was the front three inches of a bastard sword sticking out of her head. Cinder's body slumped, and the glass sword dropped out of her hands, landing at Blake's feet with a clang.

From behind Cinder, someone spoke. "I think I kinda stole that kill from you guys…"

"Jaune?" Blake screamed incredulously. "How'd you even–"

"I was trying to get to the top of the CCT to help Pyrrha, but the elevator was missing and I didn't see and tripped and fell down the shaft and –"

"What?!"

"Look, now's not the time. Grab-our-friends-and-escape-the-imminent-disintegration-of-whatever-this-place-is now, talk later!"

It dawned upon Blake at a later date, but Cinder had to have still been alive despite Crocea Mors tearing open both ends of her skull, because it wasn't until Blake was halfway into standing up that the maiden powers seared through her body.

In her final thoughts, she was cursing my name and planning her vengeance…

Her aura was gone, but she still felt more powerful than ever before. The others were some distance away, but Blake raised a hand, and the wind carried their bodies straight to her. Jaune, not questioning it, picked up Ilia and Ruby under one arm each, and Blake hoisted the heavy Adam over her shoulder. The vault was full-on imploding around them, as the last of the pillars holding it together had collapsed.

Blake dashed past Cinder's corpse as it was impaled by a falling shard of spiky solid stone, then crushed altogether by a jagged sheet of bedrock. Producing a horizontal wall of rapidly swirling air above her and Jaune, Blake held off as much of the rock as she could between them and the elevator.

A chunk of falling debris landed on her shoulder, tearing open a huge gash, but Blake pressed through the pain and kept running. It wasn't on the side she was carrying Adam, and it didn't stop her from running, so it wasn't important. All that mattered was…

…getting…

…out!

They made it to the elevator shaft, just barely. Blake grabbed Jaune's hand and flew up as fast as she could straight up as the last free space in the room they'd just occupied was finally filled up with rock. Fortunately, it seemed like the narrow passageway they were ascending vertically was reinforced and didn't seem to be affected by the crumbling, so they were out of the worst of it.

HA! Superior Atlas engineering for the win!

…except Beacon had the underground portion of the elevator built. Well, I guess the CCT hasn't fallen down, so yay for Atlas there, at least.

Even though it was the dead of night, the top of their elevator shaft was heralded by an increase in brightness from the moonlight and artificial lamps. Blake pulled herself and her allies out of the hole, put some distance between them and the tower (just in case it did go down), then fell to the ground and finally caught her breath.

"BLAKE! ADAM!"

Winter came running over to them, her sabers in hand. Her clothes were torn in several spots, and her hair looked like it was missing several clumps. Oh, right. Beacon is still at war with the Grimm. I'd almost forgotten.

"Is he okay?" she asked, panic rising up in her voice. "A-And Ilia and Ruby?"

"It's just Ilia's gas," explained Blake, patting Winter reassuringly. "She herself took more damage, and I'm not sure how bad off Ruby is. Jaune, focus your semblance on them. Winter, just keep Adam's head elevated and make sure his heart doesn't stop."

"I don't – where are you going?"

Blake got up and steadied herself briefly. Then, she rose into the air, streams of fire coming out of her feet. "I have a Grimm invasion to put down."

Deleted Scene – Original Ending of Ch. 48

"I…I can't stop you…"

Cinder smirked and stepped onto Blake's stomach. "I'm glad you've finally faced facts."

"But there's still someone who can…"

"And who might that be?" asked Cinder.

A chair violently smashed over the back of her head, knocking the maiden off of the Faunus. Cinder tumbled to the ground and looked up in surprise at the godlike, muscular figure who'd attacked her.

"And his name is JAUNE CENA duh duh-duh doooooo!" Blake proudly announced.

"Impossible!" complained Cinder. "How could you sneak up on me?! I have the reflexes of a warrior, honed from birth to be flawless and immediate!"

"It was my secret invisibility semblance, You Can't See Me," explained Jaune. "Your time is over. Prepare to fall, Fall."

"Got'em," said Blake.

"BURN!" said Cinder, throwing a fireball at Jaune. "BURN BURN BURN!"

Jaune nimbly dodged the blast. "So, you control fire, eh, Cindy? Well, I just so happen to control ice with my second secret semblance, Bing Chilling! Prepare to get creamed!"

Jaune let loose a decimating blast of icy power, freezing Cinder solid when it hit. She slowly tried to raise her hands in a futile attempt to save herself, but it was in vain. She grew as motionless as a statue, her arms sticking straight out.

Stepping in front of Cinder's still body, Jaune leaned it forward, grabbed her waist, and threw her down in a massive piledriver. When she hit the rock-solid ground, the iced woman shattered into hundreds of thousands of tiny pieces.

Blake instantly climaxed from Jaune's epic moves. The maiden powers exited Cinder's destroyed corpse and went straight to their new host, none other than Jaune himself, who was currently engaging in a threesome with the recently awoken Ilia and fem!Adam. It was a perfect conclusion to the epic saga, just like Monty and Coeur had always wanted.

THE END

Author's Notes

Is it a cop out to have a Jaune ex machina? I don't think so, since Cinder wasn't the final boss. In my head, Cinder was just the final action scene to satisfy the build up with a fight at the end. The real final boss was K confronting an out of control Ruby and reconciling the fact that they lied to her with the notion that they do still care for her.

Also, Jaune just kind of stabbed Cinder once, and K did most of the work. When you think about it, the three of them (plus silver-eyeholes Ruby) were able to take down a full Fall maiden, which is a pretty big accomplishment. Jaune just showing up out of nowhere will be explained, as will what he was up to in the meantime.

In all honesty, I just wanted a way to dramatically bring Jaune back into the story, and this was the best opportunity. It would've been fairly easy to simply write Blake overpowering Cinder after Ruby silver-eyeballed her, but then who would carry the three dead bodies when Blake only has two hands? And so, Jaune.

RIP Vault. You tried, you died.

RIP Cinder, our final death. I said two characters were going to die and teased that one would be Ruby or Blake, and I'm unsurprised no one fell for it.

RIP Aura Machine. It was crushed by a brick and fucking exploded.

RIP Marrow. His killer still remains at lar–

Excuse me, did I read that right? We still don't know who killed Marrow? What the hell, author, just make the big reveal happen already! There's two chapters left.

Oh, wait. I'm the author.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!