Ugh, my mental space is not doing so well. I've had to drop out of TAFE, on account of timetabling snafus, unwanted bouts of illness, and unhelpful teaching methods. Couple that with a lack of any friends (and I do mean that literally. I haven't had any meaningful relationships with anybody about my age since I started high school), and a developing case of agoraphobia, I'm starting to think that I'm some kind of sociopath.

But why am I telling you this? This is a FANFICTION website, not a blog about my crappy life. You don't read this to hear me whinge. So on with the show!

Chapter 50: Conflicting Loyalties

Flying over the streets of Vale soon revealed the scope of the chaos that the people's panic had brought. Hordes of Grimm, from Beowolves to Goliaths, swarmed the streets, causing the people to panic. Their screaming… it was beautiful.

"Darrel, come in. Do you read?"

Lady Cinder's voice crackled through my Scroll. I landed on a nearby roof, so I could respond.

"I read you, my lady."

"Do you know of the Fall Maiden's whereabouts?"

I grinned.

"Go to the Headmaster's elevator, and push buttons 8, 7, 2, 4, 8, 6, 7, in that order. You'll have your prize." I answered.

"Excellent. Reinforcements will arrive shortly. The White Fang will be yours to command."

"Understood. Darrel out."

Tapping on my Scroll, I took off into the air again. The White Fang… this would be interesting.

A blast of fire emanated from a nearby roof. Tracking its origin, I saw Lady Cinder holding her hand aloft, her arm lined with glowing lines. Flanking her was Emerald, with a pensive look, and Mercury, with a Scroll at the ready, and a sadistic grin as he filmed the carnage. Pulling in for a landing, I walked to the trio.

"The city is in a panic. More and more Grimm are arriving by the minute. It won't be long before the enemy is overrun." I reported.

"Good. And now, for act two of the spectacle." Lady Cinder purred, pulling out her crimson Scroll. Flicking it open, she handed it to me.

"Would you care to do the honours?" She asked. I chuckled, and took the Scroll. On the display was a black queen chess piece. The virus which would turn this small incursion into total, worldwide anarchy with the push of a button.

"It would be my pleasure, milady." I answered. Holding it up high, I pushed the screen with my thumb. With this virus I had uploaded to the system weeks ago, the entirety of the synthetic army of Atlas would be corrupted. Their weapons would turn from monster to man. Software would be rewritten easily, and the world would see Atlas fire upon the innocent.

Handing Lady Cinder her scroll back, I looked up to see Bullheads soar towards the academy. Contained within would be the forces of the White Fang.

"I shall rendezvous with the White Fang at Beacon. The Grimm and robots can take care of the town." I stated. Cinder nodded, smiling darkly.

"Good. Emerald, Mercury and I will coordinate the other attacks. Good fortune to you, Darrel." She responded. Nodding, I turned, and ran to the edge of the roof, and rocketed away to the academy.

Ozpin sought to control me. His group treated me like a pawn. A pawn to fight in their futile war against the inevitable destruction.

Ozpin's little clan would burn for all the suffering they had put me through. Then he would watch, as his world would crumble and shatter by my hands. He had treated me like an attack dog.

Now was the time to break free of the leash.

The academy's docks were occupied with hastily constructed fortifications, and deployable lights illuminating the encroaching darkness. In the center was a tent, and some White Fang lieutenants were paying attention to a demonstration occurring within. Landing on the edge, I approached the crowd, and pushed my way into the tent. Working my way through the crowd, I saw the White Fang's leader poring over a map, rendered in a 3D holograph over a table.

"…and Savage Squad will take the armory and the second-story classrooms. Any questions?"

Shoving my way to the front, I slammed a palm onto the table, drawing the leader's attention. Adam growled, and his mouth twisted downwards.

"Who am I to command?" I asked. Adam strode towards me.

"Cinder's lapdog. Were it up to me, I'd have you killed. But she thinks you're important." He growled.

"Just tell me what to do." I hissed. Adam reached for his sword, but remained relaxed in his stance.

"Squads Wolf, Griffon, and Pelt are yours to command. But if any harm comes to them, I will kill you."

"Spare me the threats, Taurus. Just tell me what to do. I won't ask again." I stated, my voice growing dangerous.

"Hunt for any students taking refuge in the academy, and kill them." He ordered. I said nothing, only giving a nod, and turned on my heel, striding out of the tent. Three groups of soldiers greeted me.

"Wolf Squad, search the dormitories. Kill anyone you find hiding there. Griffon Squad, shut down internal cameras and security systems. Pelt Squad, barricade emergency exits, and kill anyone who tries to leave." I ordered. The groups nodded, and took off into the school. I was about to follow suit, when a tremor rocked the ground. Turning away from the burning building, and looking to the horizon, I smiled.

The world had only seen a sample of the horror. Soon, the star of the show would arrive.

"Have you documented it all?"

"Yes, my lady. There won't be any doubt as to the identity of the mastermind."

"Good. We have everything we need. Our servant has outlived his usefulness."

"It's just… sad."

"It's horrifying. Focus on the Atlesian knights."

In the darkened halls, I heard screams of terror echo from above and below me. A beautiful sound, one that I relished. Pain, suffering… it was beautiful.

"Darrel!"

Turning to the source of the voice, I saw a blonde girl, with a hefty chest, and gauntlets encircling her forearms screech to a halt in front of me. Yang.

"Darrel, we need to get… wait…" Her voice trailed off, as she looked closer at me.

"What's wrong with your eyes?"

I snickered.

"They've been opened. Opened to the future. One which cannot be avoided." I laughed. She just looked at me worriedly.

"Darrel, what are you talking about?! This isn't you!" She cried. I unsheathed a blade, and charged at her. As I swiped at her feet, the girl sprang backwards, blasting a shot into the ground to propel herself back onto her feet, and holding her fists up. All worry disappeared from her face, now replaced with angry determination.

"Darrel, don't make me hurt you." She said. I laughed.

"You? Hurt me? Try it." I taunted. The girl growled, and lunged, swiping her fist at me. I leaned back, dodging the blow, and met it with a hammer blow to her back. She fell to the floor with a grunt. As she got to her knees, I planted a boot onto her back, pinning her the the floor.

"You've got spirit, but spirit doesn't matter in this world. You can't hope to stop this." I taunted.

"Wrong."

She looked back to me, her eyes now shining red.

"I will stop you, and whoever is controlling you!"

With a yell, her hair burst into flame, igniting my boot. Surprised by the sudden inferno, I leapt back, and tried to smother the embers on my foot. The girl rolled around, and hopped to her feet again, charging with both arms ready to strike. I tried to counter, but I couldn't block her attacks in time. Crouching low, she swung one fist after the other into my gut. I couldn't counter her onslaught; she was just too fast. Hit after hit, she planted a foot onto the floor, and swung her final attack to my head.

My feet left the ground as the inertia backwards, corkscrewing three times until I slammed into a wall, knocking the wind out of me. Slumping to the ground, I tried to recover as Yang strode up to me.

"I don't want to hurt you. But I will if I have to." She grimaced. I looked up, with a sneer.

"You can't stop me. Nobody can." I snarled. Unsheathing my second blade, I swiped at her. She leapt backwards, giving me room to stand. As I slashed at her, she merely used her gauntlets to block my attacks, and followed up with light strikes.

"Just! Die!" I growled, becoming more and more desperate to land a hit. Every attack was blocked, until finally, I nicked her forehead, opening a small scratch, and severing a lock of her golden fringe. But instead of striking back, she watched the hair float gently to the ground, her eyes following its trail. I barely had time to register my actions, before a fist swung into my face with the force of a freight train. The wall I had impacted earlier crumbled to pieces, as I was sent flying through it, landing in a pile inside the dining room. Looking up groggily, I saw the now infuriated blonde stride through the hole I had made, her hair smouldering and her face twisted with anger. As she looked down at me, a cry of pain caught our attention. Both me and my foe looked to the source of the noise, to discover a black-haired girl lying prone on the ground, with Adam standing over her, his blade buried in her stomach.

Blake, the traitor.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" She roared, her hair igniting into a flame hotter that the sun. If she was angry before, it paled in comparison to this level of fury. As I struggled to get up, a boot slammed onto my back, disappearing after a moment. The blonde had used me as a springboard, leaping skyward to strike Adam down. But Adam merely looked up, and swung his blade forwards, intercepting her strike. As they separated from their clash, the girl began to tumble, and a meaty smack resounded on the ground in front of me. Looking to the noise, I saw the girl's right arm, severed from the elbow and bleeding Aura as it dissipated into rose petals before my eyes.

I should have been thankful. Grateful to the man who had saved my life. But all I felt was sorrow. Sorrow for the girl, sorrow for all the innocent lives that had been affected by this man. Sorrow for my part in this madness.

And in an instant, that sorrow bled into anger at Adam. Anger that only seemed to increase with every passing moment, until finally, there was no hope of containing it.

Ironically enough, the rage cleared my head. I knew who my enemies truly were now. Adam. Mercury. Emerald.

Cinder.

My desire to end Ozpin's little group vanished. For what Adam had done to Yang…

He would die.

"The drug… it's wearing off!"

"Good. Our peon has served his purpose."

"But he has knowledge of our plans! We'll lose our servant!"

"When servants are no longer needed, they are tossed aside. They become garbage for the rats to fight over."

"You planned this?"

"Humanity's greatest asset is unity and camaraderie. And while our end goal is to snuff this out, direct these qualities to the wrong target—"

"And they will destroy themselves."

"Exactly. Our servant is now garbage. And now we wait for the rats to come."

Fury overtook all my senses, as I got to my feet. As Adam prepared to sheathe his sword, I activated the cutting mechanism on mine, and charged. Letting out a furious roar, Adam barely had time to swing his sword up to block my strike.

"What the hell do you think your doing?!" Adam growled.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" I screamed, boiling rage the only thought driving me. Adam spun away, and continued to block my attacks, which had devolved from planned attacks to mindless slashing. His mouth twisted upwards into a condescending smirk as I swung blindly.

"Better than you have tried, lapdog." He sneered. That smug grimace only served to make my anger burn ever brighter, and I continued swiping furiously. Finally, I swung my fist towards his chin, hoping to cause as much pain as I could. He merely leaned sideways, and my blade buried itself into the stone walls of the building.

"You fight for these people? They can't protect themselves, let alone you. Why fight for them?" Adam taunted. With my free hand, I swung at him, desperate to land a wounding strike.

"You and me… we're more alike than you realize. We fight for our freedom, but we're shackled to our masters. You can join me, and we can make them pay!" He exclaimed.

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP, YOU MONSTER! YOU ANIMAL! YOU-"

A fist met my chin, and I immediately recognized the taste of a metallic liquid creeping across my tongue.

"DON'T! CALL! ME! ANIMAL!" Adam roared, dropping all pretense of defense, as he held his blade's edge to my throat, pinning my free arm against the wall.

"We are the stronger species! We were here first! Humanity should serve us!" He yelled. But in the heated debate, I finally worked my trapped blade free from the concrete, and fired a concussive blast into his torso, sending him flying into a table, causing it to crash into splinters. As he recovered, I sprinted forwards, and leapt up high, blades held aloft and ready to pierce his body. But he merely raised his legs, and powerfully kicked me away. With a crash, I came to rest on the hard floor, my body aching all over.

I slowly got to my feet, and saw Taurus standing over an unconscious Yang and a kneeling Blake. He held his blade at the ready.

"Why must you hurt me, Blake?"

With that comment, Adam swung his sword, straight through Blake's neck. Her head went flying for a single moment, before both body and head faded into shadow. Overcome with fury, I took off running, right at the renegade.

This ended here and now.

As I sprinted at him, I raised my sword, ready to deliver the killing blow. With a yell, I charged forwards. Adam merely spun around…

and buried his sword into my right shoulder, and out through the back, under my clavicle. The hot pain burned like a poker against the cold steel, and I let out a scream of pain. For what felt like eternity, the blade stayed there, unmoving, until finally, the renegade ripped it free, unleashing a steady stream of blood, staining my tunic a deep crimson.

Falling to my knees, my hand flew up to my shoulder, clenching the wound in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding. Hissing in pain, I barely noticed as Adam knelt in front of me, and gripped my chin, forcing me to look at him.

"You weren't supposed to get involved, boy. Orders were to keep you from getting hurt." He sneered. I spat out a mouthful of blood and saliva into his face.

"Go to hell, Taurus." I snarled. Adam just wiped his face clean, and held his sword up.

"But… accidents do happen." He sneered, holding his blade up high. He swung it down, and I closed my eyes, anticipating the end.

It never came.

Gingerly, I edged my eyes open, to find a familiar black cloak in front of me.

Kimba.

She was blocking Adam's sword, with what appeared to be spiked knuckledusters.

"Not you again…" Adam snarled, swinging his weapon free of the lock. Kimba looked back to me.

"Get out of here! Get to the courtyard!" She yelled, before narrowly dodging another of Adam's strikes.

"No, he's mine!" I yelled back, launching an uppercut at Adam's chin. He dodged it easily, and threw a punch into my face, colliding with a meaty smack. I spun around, and fell to the floor, seeing stars. Shaking it off, I got to my knees, and prepared to whirl around and charge. But instead, Kimba placed herself between me and Adam, engaging in another weapon lock with him.

"He hurt her… I'll kill him…" I snarled. Kimba just worked a hand free from the lock, and from her knuckleduster, fired one of her spikes at me. The impact was immense, like a train had slammed into my sternum, and in a flash of darkness, I felt myself fly backwards, crashing through a window and slamming to the ground. Pulling the spike from my chest, I realized that it must have been loaded with gravity Dust. Looking up from my body, I saw Kimba and Adam continuing to fight in the burning building. I eased myself up, grimacing from the pain, and ran back to the window.

But I didn't get far, before the window frame collapsed in a pile, blocking me. Through the flames, Kimba and Adam continued to fight. Part of me wanted to jump through the inferno, and fight. But the rational part of my brain argued. I wouldn't last against Adam in my current state. Besides, he would undoubtedly return.

Turning my back, I ran. I didn't care where I went, as long as it was to safety. But another thought flowed into my mind.

The Maiden…

Cinder would be after her. And I had given her the key.

If she got the remainder of that power, she would win.

I turned, and prepared to run back to the main building, when I heard a roar. Looking back, I saw something on the horizon. Something which drove a spike of fear in my heart.

A dragon of titanic proportions, the size of a city block, covered in bones, and black as pitch. It was flying over the horizon, headed straight for Beacon. As it soared, it opened it's mouth, and let out an ear-splitting roar. Covering my ears, I watched it grow closer.

All the panic, all the fear that had been expressed by this attack… all of it must have woken this monster. But where it came from, or what it was was of no consequence to me.

There was no way I was going to kill it.

But I could still stop Cinder.

Turning back to the courtyard, I ran.

A stabbing pain in my diaphragm screamed at me to stop and take a breath, but that wasn't going to help anyone. All I could do was draw breath as I ran and push past the pain. Finally, I reached the courtyard, where the statue to Hunters past still stood. In the distance, Jaune and Pyrrha stood by a rocket-propelled locker, as Pyrrha looked back to the school, with determination in her eyes. As I drew closer, I watched as Pyrrha turned to a protesting Jaune, grab his face, and lock her lips with his. Ordinarily, witnessing this moment would give me a great sensation of elation, as I was hoping for this moment ever since I had seen the pair together back on Earth.

But as the two parted, Pyrrha shoved Jaune into the locker, and forced it shut. Then she tapped the interface buttons, causing the locker to soar away into the night sky. As she watched it go, I finally reached her.

"Pyrrha?" I gasped. She drew her weapons, and held her sword up to my throat, giving me a murderous leer.

"Are you here to kill me?" She asked harshly. I held my hands up, startled at her hostility.

"What? Why would I–?"

"You butchered Penny. You brought the Grimm here. You broadcast that speech to the world. Why should I trust you for a second?" She spat.

"Pyrrha, I'm not the one who did this. I was brainwashed. The real enemy is Cinder. She's the one behind all this." I explained, trying to keep calm. She lowered her sword, but her gaze remained.

"I'll believe you, for now. That woman, Cinder, has the Fall Maiden's full power. Ozpin tried to transfer it to me, but– the process was interrupted. Cinder killed her." She explained.

"Where's Ozpin?" I asked. Pyrrha looked back to the building.

"He stayed behind. I–I think he's dead." She answered, her voice quivering.

"And you're going to stop her?"

"Yes."

"That's suicide!" I exclaimed. Pyrrha whirled around to look at me.

"It's my duty. If I can kill her, the Maiden's powers will transfer to me. Her conquest will be for naught."

"But what if you die? That kind of power can't be beaten alone, no matter how good you are." I stated. Pyrrha looked back to the building.

"We won't know until we try."

"You're not doing this alone, Pyrrha." I argued, putting a hand on her shoulder. She looked over her shoulder to me.

"I'm going to help you, whether you like it or not."

Pyrrha sighed, then turned back to me, her emerald eyes sparkling ever so slightly.

"Just like the Darrel I know… you were always so stubborn." She smiled.

"Don't I know it." I returned the smile.

"Now let's go burn her plans to the ground."

Well, time for the final battle!

…but seriously, don't write reviews expressing sympathy for me. I'm coping. Somehow.