Coco hoped she didn't come out of this tragedy with a fear of heights. On one of the last airships to take off from Amity Coliseum, and increasingly aware of being in a giant tin can over a multi-thousand foot, Grimm-filled drop into an ice-cold river, Coco stood at the window and impatiently tapped her fingers against her arm. Tension left the air thick while she watched the aerial dreadnoughts around them. Leviathans of the sky, ruled by one of the factions ravaging Vale and Beacon alike, they struck an imperious sight... but they were letting them pass. She wasn't the only one watching: students stared on beside her, murmured among themselves, fiddled with their weapons, muttered prayers to themselves—anything to keep their mind off of the potential that they were all going to be shot out of the sky. Either way, Coco doubted they were letting this fight end any time soon.
Beside her, Velvet suddenly gasped and pointed to the distance, just as the largest Grimm she'd ever seen—which said a lot, considering how many abominations had decided to show up tonight—burst from the very mountains themselves. But it was another student's quiet, yet excited curse that caught her attention. Another teen who didn't get the gravity of the situation. Coco rolled her eyes, but then spotted the same thing they had, just as a blonde, monkey faunus boy pointed it out to someone sitting beside him. There were flashes of light on an airship far from the others. White and gold, brilliant red and fiery orange. Had hunters actually made it onto the airships, Coco wondered?
Then, clear as day, the sigil of the Schnee family lit up. There were a lot of questions going through her head at that moment, but the one that fell from her lips was the same as the faunus boy behind her:
"Holy shit, is that Team RWAY?"
Beginning of the End
No matter the number of ice spears Weiss summoned or the waves of gunfire from Adam and Ruby, Cinder weaved through them with enough agility to leave her dry in a storm. Yang rushed forward to keep her back, but Cinder swept her off her feet with a single swing of her broadswords. Adam sprung to Yang's defense, sliding beside Cinder and lashing out with strikes that left Wilt only a crimson blur, yet each was deflected. While Adam's experience with the team let him slip and turn through the bombardment the other three rained down on Cinder, she evaded through speed alone.
In the chaos, Weiss couldn't get more than a glimpse of the black mass approaching them from the mountains, but she had no time to focus. Yang fired herself into the fray again, only for Cinder to leap back, then blaze by them both. Straight for her and Ruby. Adam threw an aura clone ahead of Cinder to bat her aside, but it was only when she slapped the attack away with one swing and aimed her bare arm for Ruby that the team noticed her other, now-glowing broadsword was left behind.
With a clap of thunder, the blade left at Yang and Adam's feet detonated, forcing them back. Sparks lit up across Cinder's arm. Ruby froze up.
Weiss threw herself in front of Ruby just as the world lit up. A lightning bolt pierced straight through Adam's clone and crashed into Myrtenaster. Weiss cried out as the electricity leaped across her through the rapier's metal handle, but she held her ground. Through squinted eyes, she caught a flicker of red as Cinder leaped over the two. They both whipped around, ready to defend themselves, and were instead nearly laid low by the sheer heat gathering around Cinder. Her dress trailed embers, her eye flame, as she brought her hands back. Ruby snatched Weiss' arm and flew back with her Semblance as Yang stormed ahead, Semblance charged to a feverish pitch.
It was only as Cinder thrust her arms out that Yang realized just how much power she was throwing into this blast.
"Behind you!" But Adam had noticed as well. He didn't have the strength to stop it, but he had enough to give Yang. She didn't need to look back, nor did she need to hear Blush firing: bloody light flashed behind Yang, and in a split-second, she turned and snatched Wilt from the air. The world erupted into blinding, white fire. Yang swung down.
The skies above Beacon briefly lit up in a fireball of white, gold and crimson. Then came the eruption, rippling out far enough to rattle the windows of the airships closest to them.
Weiss was blown away, sent tumbling across the airship and nearly into the cockpit before she could get her feet back under herself. Even so, she was able to throw up a trio of black glyphs that were instantly compressed into one by the force Yang hit them with. She was unhurt, but still smoking from the explosion. Across them, on the now flaming deck marred with a jagged hole where their attacks collided, Cinder lowered the bare arm she used to shield herself. She smirked and beckoned them forward. Weiss sneered and let Yang down, who was quick to toss Wilt back to Adam.
Weiss felt the pressure of aura at her back. Immediately, she twisted, aimed Myrtenaster and raised a glyph. Green energy washed over it like a wave, but she was unharmed. Wait. Green?
The flash barely had time to fade before Penny was standing only inches away from her. She was so close that Weiss' rapier was pointing over her shoulder. Penny's eyes were glowing an alien red. Penny frowned.
"Please forgive me."
Weiss saw a gleam of emerald-green further behind her friend.
"No!" Ruby tackled Penny, only moving her a few inches, but it was enough to give Weiss time to lean out of the way of a glowing blade firing straight through where her neck once was.
Penny grimaced and shut her eyes to not have to look at Ruby, and Weiss narrowly pulled her teammate away with a glyph. Ruby's eyes widened as she saw an array of emerald, wireframe blades hovering in the sky. A split second later, and they sank down halfway into the airship's steel deck.
Any hesitation or shock that Yang and Adam had vanished in that moment, but Cinder was already flying in, glass greatsword swinging for Yang's neck. She blocked it with her bare hands and the remnants of her Semblance before Adam blasted Cinder away with a trio of shots from Blush. Running empty, and knowing that he and Yang would have to fend of Cinder themselves now, he loaded a Dust magazine, and the two rushed for their despised foe. Cinder, however, slid away on a snake of fire, sword transformed into a bow that she peppered the duo with. Adam took point, deflecting each with ease, but when he finally caught up to Cinder, she quickly reverted to her heavy sword and brought it crashing down.
It was easy for Adam to duck, and have Yang roll over him to shatter the weapon with a single punch. She kept Cinder trapped up close with a flurry of blows, and when Cinder kicked her back with a blast of fire for good measure, Adam was at her side for revenge. He ripped Wilt across her chest, leaving a wave of fire in his wake and leaving Cinder stumbling back and reaching to form a new weapon. A quick shot from Yang turned the glass shards she gathered to dust.
"You're wide open!" Adam rushed in and stabbed Wilt forward. It was only an inch away before Cinder forced him back with a beam of concentrated fire.
Lances of emerald light tore through the night sky, chasing after a red comet—Ruby using her Semblance the best she could. A sweep of Penny's arm sent another beam racing after Ruby. It'd just scorched her cloak when Penny's arm was yanked back by a black glyph.
"You don't have to do this, Penny!" Weiss cried out to her. "I don't know what happened, but I know you're not with them!"
With a grunt, Penny tore her arm free from the sigil and stormed ahead for Weiss, her expression flat and unreadable. Glyph after glyph formed to hold Penny back, but she walked through them as if they weren't there.
"We know you're in there, Penny," Ruby said as she landed beside Weiss. "Whatever Cinder did, you can break through!" She fired bullets charged with Ice Dust at Penny's legs in the hopes that they'd slow her down. They bounced off like she was shooting at a Paladin.
Spinning her rapier's cylinder to Ice Dust, Weiss grit her teeth. "We're not giving up on—"
In a flash, Penny sprung forward and drove her fist into Weiss' stomach. Her aura erupted into white mist, and her words became nothing more than a strangled cry. Weiss collapsed with what little aura she had left barely clinging on.
And as Penny caught Weiss by her coat halfway through her fall only to let her drop more gently, Ruby hated the thought, but she understood why Penny hid her nature. If this was what she was actually capable of...
Without emotion, Penny's blood-red gaze locked onto her. Ruby flinched. For a second, she thought she saw Penny do the same, but it passed as quickly as it came, once more replaced with a stoic stare.
"Surrender now, Ruby Rose."
"This is your last chance, Torchwick."
Roman Torchwick was not feeling like a million lien. A vicious blow to his head sent him staggering, and he needed to burn even more of his Electric Dust energy to be fast enough to block the follow-up swing from Ozpin. He tried to beat a retreat through the airship's halls, but Ozpin was just as fast as he was with as much pilfered energy he could use at once. Their canes clashed hard and fast enough to be mistaken for gunshots. Every blast of electricity or spear of ice he threw was weaved around or swatted aside. Fire Dust enhanced his shots, but Ozpin rushed through them and sent him careening into a cafeteria that was sterile right up until he went barreling through half of the tables in the room.
Ozpin was already over him, cane raised up to finish the job. Panicked, Roman threw his arms up and force out every drop of Energy Dust he'd drained. A brilliant shield of cyan light, bright enough to light up the room, formed above him. Then, with one blow, it splintered and warped like safety glass.
Oh. He was completely out of his league.
This trick might've potentially been enough to keep Cinder down, but right now, Roman was wondering if Cinder's plan ever even had a chance to succeed. Couldn't he have just stayed at home?
Time was his only saving grace. Roman could get a feel on Ozpin's aura: it was strong enough for him to practically taste in the air, but it was fluctuating. Spotty. He wasn't working with a lot, and by the Gods was Roman thankful for that.
Looking down as if he were only an ant, Ozpin twirled his cane and pulled it back like a rapier. Roman could feel aura channeling through it. At least, he thought it was aura: some kind of energy flowed up into the headmaster. Roman delved back into the Electric Dust stored in his Semblance and crushed time down to a crawl. Even then, when Ozpin drove his cane down, beating his way through Roman's shield, the strikes came fast enough to be only a blur. Green afterimages from aura and speed alone followed suit from every swing. His shield was already buckling. His Energy Dust stores were already empty. He needed more power... and Roman was desperate enough to take anything he could get.
Just as Ozpin's cane pierced through his shield, Roman snapped out with his free hand and grabbed hold of it. Immediately, he could feel some sort of energy lurking, ripe for the taking by his Semblance.
A split second later, the entire ship swung to one side, Ozpin pulled back, and Roman was left scrambling to get to his feet.
Alright. He had a plan. Torchwick was back!
A swing of Penny's arm and roar of the airship's thrusters, and the AAS Endurance was swung back to face the main fleet under her control, knocking Ruby off of her feet and sending her skidding to the edge. With a spark, a wireframe blade stabbed through Weiss' coat, keeping her from sliding off into the night altogether.
Penny clenched her fists and scowled. "If you aren't going to fight, then retreat!" she ordered. Penny thrust her arm forward, sending a flurry of created blades and blasts of energy alike at Ruby. Her frustration only grew when Ruby darted and slid beneath each.
"Fine, then," she huffed. The barrage let up enough for Ruby to roll to her feet and aim Crescent Rose once more, but she found nothing but flames and the broken glass of the bridge.
She was suddenly yanked back by her hair and, with brutality Ruby never expected, Penny slammed her head down for the deck. Rose petals exploded around Penny as her hand instead only left a gnarled dent in the steel, with Ruby nowhere to be found. She raised her arm to defend from a pair of shots that plinked off of her like rain. Ruby had already reformed atop the cockpit, aiming down her sights.
Behind Penny, Ruby could see Weiss stirring. She might not be able to take Penny down alone, but together, Ruby still had hope they'd get her to listen to reason... even if they had to beat Penny up to do it. Still, Ruby thought as she looked over to the bow of the airship where Yang and Adam fended Cinder off, she really wished they had their powerhouses right about now. But by the time that thought ended, Penny was already flying for her, a silhouette in a fiery explosion from further ahead.
Cinder was stronger than them both combined. Adam knew it. Yang knew it. And Cinder definitely knew it. But Adam was well aware that it was her weakness.
A wave of crimson aura sliced ahead of Cinder and kept her from capitalizing on Yang's slowness. She didn't get a step back before Adam was on her, forcing her to dodge and duck under innumerable swings of his blade. The point wasn't to damage but to pressure: he didn't have the power to keep her there. Snarling, Cinder sprung back, drew back a freshly-formed bow of glass and fired a trio of arrows for the two. A pull of the trigger and flick of his wrist, and a wall of ice sprouted to catch each.
The thundering crash and blinding flares of Cinder's arrows detonating swallowed the cold night in a cloud of steam. A single, smooth step brought Adam behind Yang just as Cinder tore through the shroud, bow turned to a lone greatsword. She swung without care for her now-changed target. The metal of the deck trailing behind her burned cherry-red. Yang reached out a hand.
Yang lit up in golden flames. Cinder's sword crashed to a halt and sent sweltering heat bursting past them both. Splinters shot through her glass weapon. Cinder's eyes widened when, rather than pull her hand away, Yang dug her fingers into Cinder's sword and yanked her forward. A shotgun burst straight to the head sent Cinder staggering away.
Yes, Cinder was stronger than them both combined. However, she lacked one thing that both Adam and Yang shared: an equalizer.
Adam was beside Cinder in a blur, every inch of red across him blazing with bloody light. Yet in that instant, when Cinder looked towards him, it was not panic he saw on her face. In fact, Cinder wasn't looking at him at all: she was looking past him. His grip tightened around Wilt. A moment of hesitation, then realization. The Grimm from the mountain!
The world lurched. Screeching metal and a twisting floor briefly left Adam forgetting that they were on the skies, not rough seas, as he was thrown fully off his feet. Briefly, ahead, he could see that gigantic Grimm dragon pass by towards Beacon, having knocked the airship aside as if it were merely an insect daring to occupy the same space. Countless stability and emergency systems in the craft worked to level out the airship's flight, but to Adam it was only a constant, nausea-inducing roiling. Only a few seconds was enough for Cinder to have gotten her bearings back, but in desperation, Yang tackled her to the ground. It was enough time for Adam to get to his feet.
However, he glanced to his side, and despite the scorched metal and flames around them, Adam's blood ran cold.
They were the only ones left on the airship. Ruby and Weiss were gone.
Through squinted eyes from the sharp wind, Weiss spiraled through the night sky. One second, she was getting her aura back under control, and the next, she was falling. She wanted to remain calm. She wanted to keep her cool. But the icy reality was sinking in that she did not have the aura to make a safe landing from this high up. Weiss caught a glimmer of black and, frantically, swung out to grab it. Her drop was halted, if only for a moment, then a flash of green filled her sight and forced her eyes closed. She heard the rush of fire and expected the worst... yet while the wind whistled by, and her aura strained with how tightly she was forced to hold on, she wasn't falling again.
Expecting to have perhaps narrowly avoided an attack by grabbing onto a Grimm, Weiss peeked an eye open, and almost immediately lost her grip. She'd latched onto Penny, soaring through the sky on jets of neon-green fire from her boots. For a moment, Weiss was motionless. Penny wasn't looking at her. Did she even notice that she'd grabbed on? No, she didn't have time to think of that. She needed to get a bearing on her surroundings. Weiss couldn't see any sign of Yang, Adam or—thank goodness—Cinder, but a flicker of red in the distance caught her eye: Ruby, using her Semblance to shoot off towards the closest airship below. Unfortunately, it was far and only getting further for her.
Pale white flickered around Weiss' hand, and her grip slipped. She tensed and searched for something—anything—to land on. Weiss would've taken a Nevermore in that moment, but the closest thing was another airship they would soon pass over. Another flicker of aura, and her grip failed altogether. The airship would have to do: she was already falling towards it. Weiss resisted the urge to close her eyes. This drop was much smaller, but it was going to be a hard one. She aimed her rapier, gathered her aura and formed a glyph to break her fall. And yet, she didn't need it.
Penny caught her.
Unsure of what to expect, Weiss frantically tried to wriggle out of Penny's arms, but it was a futile effort in her iron grip. Refusing to look down at her, Penny slowly descended onto the deck of the airship and gently set her down.
Frustration bubbled up in Weiss' heart. Shadows moved about in the bridge of the airship, but Weiss could only watch Penny turn away without a word and march towards the edge of the deck. If Penny was brainwashed and trying to kill them, it made no sense to help her. And if Penny was still the kind of girl to save her, surely she wouldn't have joined Cinder of her own volition. Something wasn't right at all, but Weiss clung onto her hope for all it was worth.
Green flames lapped at Penny's feet once more. No more time to think. A wave of her rapier, and an earthen wall shot up in Penny's way. Penny did not so much as flinch.
"And just where are you going?" Weiss demanded.
Penny did not look back. "I must assist Cinder Fall," she said in a monotone.
Weiss scoffed. "You mustn't do anything: she can't reach you here, Penny. Headmaster Ozpin knows what's happening. I'm sure that if you can get to him, he'll understand whatever you're going through."
For a moment, Penny said nothing, and Weiss allowed her hope to rise. "I'm sorry, Weiss Schnee, I'm afraid I can't do that." Her tone was unchanged, but her fists were clenched. "Even if he could assist me, there is no guarantee of my survival upon returning to Atlas."
"Then run!" Weiss pleaded. "None of us want to fight you!"
"Fight? Weiss Schnee, your aura has only recovered to a third of its total capacity. You are unable to fight me. Please run. Return to Beacon." In a whisper nearly stolen by the wind, she added: "Just forget about me."
Shakily, Weiss raised her rapier and put all she had into a last glyph beside her, tipped with frozen flames. "I'm not going to give up on you. We will stop Cinder, and we will save you."
Penny trembled, shoulders raised, but refused to face her. "Even in such a futile battle? Even when you can't win against me?"
"That's just part of being a hero." Weiss would be lying if she said she was confident in her chances. Even so, she forced a smile. Her frozen simulacrum of Torchwick stepped forward and readied its cane. "I'll come up with something."
Penny lowered her head and, finally, turned to face Weiss. Tears gathered in her bright-red eyes.
"I guess that's why I just don't get it, friend." A quartet of emerald, wireframe blades formed behind her. Penny waved her hand, and they shot out for her best friend.
Wilt had become a shield for Adam and Yang's advance, striking down arrows with pinpoint precision as the two rushed through the flames for Cinder. They could only afford for Yang to use her Scroll for a second to check Ruby and Weiss' condition, and even that was a risk. The only way to get to Ruby and Weiss now was to defeat Cinder themselves, but that was a tall order.
As if she could sense their doubt, rather than retreat back to make space, Cinder rocketed ahead with swords drawn to meet Adam. Yet, just as Cinder swung, Adam halted and ducked down, leaving Yang to vault over him and kick Cinder back.
"All these tricks won't help you!" Cinder said with a sneer and laid into Yang with unmatched speed, black blades melting into the dark night and felt only by the heat. Yang's guard couldn't hold up, but the moment it faltered, Adam swept in to force Cinder back with a glowing swing. In an instant, her eye flared to life and her blades melted into gauntlets.
Something twisted in the air, invisible yet no less sickening. It was gone in the next moment, replaced with blazing heat when Cinder thrust a palm toward him. Adam could feel his aura already waning from the scorching air alone, but there was no time to escape.
Pain tore across Adam's side from a blast from Yang's gauntlet. He was nearly knocked off his feet, but certainly knocked out of the path of Cinder's impending fireball, visible only through a trail of sparkling white in the air. The bridge behind them was erased in rending of steel and blinding light. That destruction, however, was immediately enveloped in crimson. This time, Adam did not miss his chance to rush by and rake his Semblance-charged blade across Cinder's back in vengeance. Even as the airship shuddered and shifted beneath their feet from the loss of controls, Yang dove forward to uppercut her. An uppercut turned to a follow-up slash from behind, throwing her into a vicious hook, shoving her into a kick from Adam directly to the wound he'd left behind.
The two had Cinder all to themselves now, bouncing her from one strike to the next with brutal efficiency, but by their next strike, she'd gotten her bearings. By the third, she could parry their blows. By the fourth, Cinder matched them. There was no fifth: she leaped up on a plume of fire, raised her arms, and molten spears of metal stabbed up from the deck, forcing Yang and Adam to retreat once more.
Choking, black smoke swallowed up most of the airship to their back from the ruins of the bridge. Flames, gauges and craters marred the warped war zone that had become the airship's deck. Even now, the dreadnought groaned with the rumble of failing metal. Yang and Adam could keep the fight going, and despite her injuries, Cinder landed and stood tall, but their battlefield was on its last legs.
Worse yet, Adam thought, their plan wasn't working: chipping Cinder down was taking too much time. Time Ruby or Weiss may not have against Penny. He needed to think... so he fell back on an old strategy.
"You don't care about the White Fang, and you didn't care about Pyrrha Nikos, so what is this all about!" Get the arrogant foe talking. "What's the endgame so important you'll die for it here, because this precious magic doesn't seem to be helping you here."
Cinder raised an eyebrow, nonplussed, and for a moment Adam feared he may have misjudged her. Then, she laughed, and Adam's fears were put to rest.
"Fine. It's about time, anyway: let me enlighten you~" She motioned beside them, to Amity.
And Adam's fears came clawing their way back up.
Another river of black ichor sprayed down upon Beacon from Kilgharrah's maw. Stone buildings along Beacon's main road melted away like ice beneath boiling water, and the screams of the fleeing masses doubled. Rising from the dark stain left on the land were more Grimm. They were small and without their bone-like armor, but waves of weak Beowolves were still far more than any civilian could handle. That was why Blake was there, slicing them apart a dozen at a time with swings of her kusarigama.
"This should be the last wave, Miss Belladonna," Goodwitch called out from behind her, using now-empty buildings to bury the spawning pools beneath piles of rubble. "The naval docks are still operational. It's time for you to get to—" Her next words were drowned out by a bestial roar that forced Blake to one knee. Above, the Grimm dragon was flying erratically, ichor replaced with peals of green flame aimed at something dancing about its form. Something too small and too quick for her to see as anything more than flashes of red aura and gray steel. A Hunter with a flight semblance?
She stood and quickly shot down a leaping young Beowolf from a fleeing citizen when her Scroll began to vibrate. Blake grit her teeth and collapsed Gambol Shroud back into its sheath. The only ones who would possibly be calling now were Team RWAY. She left it on speaker and jogged back to Goodwitch.
"Is Cinder handled?" she asked without hesitation.
The voice on the other side came out in a breathy rush. "Blake, it's me, Ilia! Where are you? I heard about RWAY fighting on the airships, is that you?"
Blake pulled up short. She hadn't even been able to look at the sky for more than a moment in the chaos. She snatched her Scroll up. "No, I'm getting people to the Beacon Docks."
She heard a sharp gasp on the other side and tried to blame the cold creeping along her skin on the autumn air. "Are you still there?" Ilia asked.
"Ilia, what's going on—"
"Are you still in Beacon!"
"I—Yes!" Blake scanned the skies for whatever could be happening. The fleet of airships were scattered, some moving away from Amity, one moving towards Vale, and another was seemingly in flames drifting into the center of the pack. Blake would've feared an attack if their positions weren't so strange.
"Look, you need to get out of there, now!" Ilia shouted in a panic.
Blake grit her teeth and cast a glance back to Goodwitch, still waving the last of the civilians down the road. "Ilia, you have to tell me wha—" A sharp, electric pop assailed her ears and stung her hand. Blake yelped and pulled her Scroll away only to find it charred and offline. Lights flared and flashed all across the main street, some bursting in flashes that enveloped entire buildings, others failing altogether to leave blocks in darkness, but it was the smallest worry.
The real concern was the tug Blake suddenly felt on her body, and the gasp from Goodwitch behind her. Her eyes turned to the source: Amity Coliseum, where every light shone brighter than the moon. The purple glow of Goodwitch's semblance surrounded her and much of the crowd not a moment too soon, holding them in place.
Amity Coliseum, the jewel of Remnant, the work of all of humanity, darkened. The power failed, lights shut off for good. However, it didn't fall. It hovered in place for a single, precious moment. Then, the imperfections began to show: the partial dome atop the structure crumpling, the splinters across the grand crystal suspending it, one of the pavilions beginning to peel back like old wallpaper.
And the noise. The final death knell of a colossus the size of city blocks echoing out with tearing steel and shattering glass. Crumbling stone and bursting Dust from deep within its mechanisms. Finally, all at once, in a deafening cacophony spreading throughout all of Vale and an explosion of dust and shrapnel, Amity Coliseum collapsed in on itself. Entire airships were ripped towards it, engines roaring in protest. Clouds already began to swirl in towards the epicenter. Air whipped and sliced against all those in Beacon.
Atop the unstable AAS Endurance, Yang and Adam both watched in horror, barely able to hold their footing. Adam could just barely make out what, to him, was barely a speck of black amidst a warping in the air: a mottled stain on the sky where no light escaped. Not even the Grimm were spared, as the cloud of Nevermore once surrounding Amity were dragged into its depths.
The sheer force drawing them in was temporary, but even as it faded, the ever-present pull remained for Yang and Adam. As if one wrong move would leave them slipping and falling up into the endless night.
Any hopes of using the explanation to think of a plan fell apart in Adam's mind: he'd known of the bomb in Amity, but what kind of chain reaction could create that?
Ahead of them, Cinder drank in their fear, a proud grin on her face. "And this is only the beginning!"
Then she was before them once more, prepared to end it all.
