Here we go.

The Blind Huntsman

Volume 5, Episode 6

Chapter 118- Ignite

Lionheart the brave, they used to call him in his prime. In his youth, he was able to believe that. He was a strong, powerful huntsman just like the rest of his peers in Haven and in Mistral. He may not be amongst the strongest now, as he would be the first to admit that he had let himself fall from grace during times of peace, but he still held himself in high regard. Once, he felt an incredible amount of pride in being the headmaster of Haven Academy, appointed to such a high position by the council in an elective event once his predecessor stepped down and retired. That was the high of his life, and he felt all the pride that his namesake would imply for him.

Then a fast-rising professor of Beacon paid him a visit. At first, he thought Ozpin was a prodigy. Someone with awesome control over his aura and the skills of an exceptional huntsman. He also thought that he was intelligent, cunning, and brilliant of mind. He first came to him asking for his support and being kind enough as it was, he gave it to him. He endorsed Ozpin, supporting him and publicly announcing that he would love to have Ozpin as a fellow headmaster running over Beacon. The other headmasters soon followed. Atlas' headmaster, Colonel Ironwood before he became a General, endorsed him, then so did Vacuo's Theodore. Before he knew it, Ozpin had the support of every other Academy, including his own, and he then rose to headmaster at a younger age than any other headmaster recorded in the last six decades. Just as quickly as glory came to him, it left him in lue of Ozpin getting all the attention and trust of the world, and he was great at it too. Once upon a time, Lionheart may have been jealous of Ozpin. He outshined him in everything he did. Equalizing Beacon for all matter of races, including faunus, and inviting students from all around the world to enroll and also helping in the establishment of Signal Academy as a prep-training school. All in just his first year, Lionheart's rise had been forgotten.

But he didn't even get the chance to be jealous of him. Because Ozpin had then come to him in secret to speak to him about something he would have never guessed would be true or even possible. He told him that because of his position, he now had a duty not just to Mistral, but to the entire world as a whole. He had to dedicate his life to stopping the Queen of the Grimm, a woman of dark magical power, Salem. All that pressure, thrown onto him all at once. Gods help him, he did his best. The best that he could for ten years after the fact. He did whatever was told of him, bending to Ozpin's will and letting him cross lines and allowing him authority over some decisions that would have been expected to be left to Haven's headmaster or even their council to make. He was no longer the proud lion faunus that had defied the odds and conquered adversity to become headmaster, he was now regarded as the kneeler, someone who never wanted to get in the way of the prodigy known as Ozpin. Time and time again he tried to tell Ozpin to reveal to the world the knowledge of Salem. The very fact that she existed would unite the world against her, and with Atlas' rising growth in development and technology and everything that they had access to now, surely they could find a way to defeat her.

But Ozpin never did. He dismissed him each and every time he suggested it, and time and time again they argued about it. Lionheart's curiosity got the better of him, and he had no choice but to find answers for himself. The first time he went against Ozpin's will was when he never told him when he found the Spring Maiden on his own when the power first came to her after the last maiden died of old age. He recruited her, forced her to open the vault underneath Haven, and then dismissed her all in a matter of hours, abandoning her in the middle of Mistral's wilderness after throwing her out of a Bullhead. He was desperate to know why. Why was Ozpin so scared of this Salem? She was powerful, that was without a doubt, but why did he give up on trying to kill him? With the Relic of Knowledge and the password known to him, he decided that he would ask one of the three questions available to mankind in that century.

Jinn, the spirit within the Relic of Knowledge, told him the truth. Salem was immortal, and she shoved into his head centuries of memories that never should have been shoved into his mind all at once. She showed him how Ozpin in all of his previous lives had been fighting Salem for thousands of years. And all the times that he failed. Times where he recruited armies on a scale that Remnant has never seen before, even during the Great War, and the similarities to all of those moments correlating to today. After that experience, he locked the Relic back behind the Vault's doors and ran back to his office. Terrified.

Everything went downhill from there, he thought now. Salem found him soon after, and in his cowardly state, he couldn't refuse her. The first chance he got, he changed sides, betraying Ozpin and everything he used to stand for. He knew that what he was doing was wrong, but like all humans, he was scared of death. Salem promised him a long life if he did what he asked, and to his shame, he did it. He still remembered all the names of the men and women he betrayed and sent to their deaths. And that list would have been so much longer having Vale not fallen and Mistral not begun their industrialization and militarization to combat the oncoming invasions. In a way, he was grateful that he didn't have to kill many more people, but that wouldn't stop Cinder from ordering him to help her kill Qrow, the new Spring Maiden, and all the allies that they brought with them. And he would do it because he has already done too much to be forgiven. He was too far gone, irredeemable. As much as he hated everything he was being told to do, he was more scared of being killed.

"Oh, how far I've fallen…" Lionheart said quietly to himself, letting out a soft, bitter chuckle at the thought.

"What are you on about?" Cinder asked him as she fixed her dress. He didn't know why she was so ordained on looking good for what was about to happen. But he wasn't about to tell her that the entire left half of her body couldn't be made up for in a well-kept red dress.

"Nothing, just thinking out loud to myself." He said as he traced his hand over his weapon, Stalwart, a weapon once used for good. Now he was going to use it to kill practical children.

"Stop that," Cinder said absentmindedly. She had gotten remarkably calmer lately. Lionheart wondered how that could possibly be considering that they were about to wage war in the middle of Haven Academy. But he preferred this to her intimidating him every chance she got just to remind him how small and weak he was compared to her. "Adam will be here soon, with his best men and with Emerald and Mercury. Once he does, we will be making our grand entrance." She gave him a venomous grin. "That is when you will announce to the world your betrayal of them. It will be my final parting gift to Mistral before I move on."

"Where… where will you go next?" Lionheart gulped when she scoffed at him.

"You may be a pushover, Leonardo, but I am not so cocky as to reveal things to you that you do not need to know." Cinder said, shaking her head in her own amusement. "You will be free soon, if you are worried about your deal not being honored, we have not forgotten your service, Leonardo."

"Yes… that is good." He let out a visible sigh of relief. The faunus looked down at his hands, finding his fingers shaking as he loaded each individual dust crystal into his weapon. He steeled his nerves when he saw Cinder looking at him, and he stood up in all reluctance to join her as she made her way to the exit from his office. As he followed her, he noted that this would likely be the last time that he ever sees this office again.

"Don't be useless." Cinder said as she threw open the doors, revealing the hallway that laid in between his office and the stairs that would bring them down to the main lobby. "Do what you were told, and you might just get to live the rest of your life in peace."

Lionheart gulped. "Yes, Cinder. I will."

He made his way through the hallway, Cinder disappearing out of his vision, he still knew that she would linger. He walked ahead, his mind blanks and only coming to a stop when he reached the railing that protected him from falling off the ledge. He looked down and over, locking eyes with a curious Qrow as he conversated with two of the students that he had connected with on his way here from Vale.

"Qrow, you're here," Lionheart said, gulping again when he saw that he did not bring just Orchid as he requested him to. No, he brought everyone with him. Thank the Gods he was able to get the other students of Haven out before this encounter. "And you brought the kids… and Oscar."

"Hi," Oscar Pine, Ozpin's latest reincarnation, waved politely at him. "We haven't been introduced yet."

"I do apologize for that, I have been busy." Lionheart chuckled.

"Well, we're here now," Qrow said, scratching the back of his ear as he looked up at him from his lower position. "Sorry everyone else tagged along. You sorta caught me while you were on speaker when we were all in the middle of a training session, so there was no real moment for me to even attempt to try and keep whatever you wanted private."

"How could we when this sounded so mysterious!" Nora exclaimed, bouncing up and down eccentrically and throwing her arms into the air. "A secret meeting between Qrow, the teenage maiden, and the lion of Haven. Like, seriously, something like that could be put in a comic book! Right Cardy?"

"I told you to stop calling me that." Cardin indignantly scowled at the ginger.

"Right," Nora laughed.

"In any case," Qrow rolled his eyes as the kids all shared a laugh. "Whatever you wanted to say to just me and Orchid can be trusted with everyone else here anyway. They can be trusted. They may still be little brats," using his uncle's senses, Qrow blocked a playful punch to the shoulder from his blonde niece. "But they're the best we got right now."

"Of course…" Lionheart toyed with Stalwart behind his back, feeling sweat start to pour down his face as he avoided looking into their eyes. "Yes… of course… well, you see… I…" He coughed into his fist, making a show of clearing his throat and prolonging his announcement. "The relic…" He finally managed to make out.

"The relic?" Qrow's eyes widened suddenly. "Did something happen to it!?" Instantly, he looked to Orchid.

"Don't look at me." Orchid raised her hands, defending herself. "I've been with you guys the entire time we got here, and I don't even know where the vault is yet."

"Nothing happened to the relic." Lionheart cursed himself. Shall he be a coward forever? At the very least, after all the death he's caused, he should at least be able to announce his betrayal to their faces before they inevitably find out anyway. "At least, not yet. You see… I am sorry." he said suddenly, feeling their eyes lock onto him all at once. "I am sorry for many things, for what I've done and what I've neglected to do. Mistral was attacked once and I did nothing, Vale was attacked and I did nothing, Beacon fell, hundreds of thousands of people died and I still did nothing." When they looked like they were about to say something, he snapped and continued before they could make him do something foolish. "And now Haven is going to be attacked, and this time I am going to be the one to cause its fall. Hmph… I really am the worst man alive."

"Lionheart…" The young Oscar looked up at him with sad eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

With no tears and a desperate resolve, Lionheart raised his right hand, Stalwart coming with it. Twirling with energy and ammunition. "Old friend… if only you remembered what it is like to be mortal and afraid."

The doors off to the side of the lobby smashed open, and masked faunus came out bearing weapons and guns. Adam Taurus being the most notable of them, leaping into the group of them and slashing at Qrow. The older man had the reaction time to draw his own blade and parry the oncoming blow, causing Adam to disengage before he could be dogpiled by all the other huntsmen and huntresses in the room.

"Orchid, leave now!" Qrow exclaimed, pushing the young maiden behind her as soon as the situation took a turn for the worst. "If they're here, then Cinder will be as well."

"You led us all into a trap!" Yang shouted, eyes flashing red with anger and sadness as she glared up at the headmaster. "How could you!? Aren't you supposed to be a huntsman!?"

"Lionheart used to be a great many things," A blackened hand gripped Lionheart by the shoulder, causing him to still as Cinder Fall revealed herself, looking down at the group of would-be heroes as her eyes became enflamed with magic. "But a proud huntsman he is no longer. Orchid Rosa, was it? I don't believe we've ever properly met."

Orchid met eyes with Cinder for the first time. She has seen her before, for an instant during the first attack on Mistral, and fought her briefly during the fall of Beacon. But never had she ever had Cinder's fully undivided attention as she did now.

"It doesn't matter, we'll be well acquainted soon enough." Cinder said as she used the betrayer's shoulder as leverage to vault herself over the railing and onto the floor ahead of them. They were surrounded by the White Fang's best now, Adam Taurus to their rear covering their retreat and Cinder from their front.

"You!" Cardin's eyes widened with anger and hatred as he glared at Adam, his mace held up high as his bronze aura flared with emotion. "You won't get away with what you did!" Breaking away from the group, he charged headlong toward Adam. His men were about to get in his way, but Adam gestured for them to stop.

"Let him split himself off from his team," Adam said coldly. "It seems that he didn't learn his lesson from last time. I'll teach him another one."

"RARGH!" Cardin roared, swinging his mace wildly at the faunus who'd killed his entire team.

"Cardin, no! You can't beat him alone!" Nora shouted, leaping in to support him. Ren and Yang looked at each other, and they leaped in as well. Ren going after the men Adam had brought and Yang charging in to help Nora and Cardin against Adam. Strangely, the rest of Adam's men didn't intervene. Instead, they merely filled in the gaps left behind their comrades and kept their weapons trained on the rest of them. Qrow looked around and assessed the rapidly chaotic situation. Cardin, Nora, Ren, and Yang were fighting together against some of the White Fang and Adam. Leaving him with Orchid, Oscar, Pyrrha, Jaune, against Lionheart, and a very infamous Fall Maiden.

"You need to leave," Qrow said as he pushed Orchid back even further.

"I-I can fight!" Orchid shouted, pushing his hand away. "This is what I was training for. I have to fight her, I'm the only one here who stands a chance against her!"

"You aren't ready yet!" Qrow shouted at her. "It's you she's after, without you she can't get the relic." Cursing under his breath, he could do little else but watch as Lionheart went up to the statue of a woman behind Cinder and place some kind of device in it. Opening up a secret elevator that would lead them down into the vault, he presumed. Though nobody entered it yet, Cinder had no intention to without Orchid.

"You poor old Qrow." Cinder laughed darkly as she sauntered her way toward them. Leaving scorch marks behind as her feet touched the ground. "You never have luck with women, do you? They just never listen. First Amber, then Summer Rose, that woman you seemed to care so much for… hm, what was her name again?"

"Marron!" Qrow screamed. "Her name was Marron, you damned monster!"

"Qrow, no!" Oscar tried to stop him, as did Pyrrha and Jaune, but the old huntsman was still far above their level. He shoved past them and ran at Cinder, forgetting himself as grief and anger took hold. Cinder simply smiled wider, summoning up a glass red sword as she sauntered on. She didn't get to use it though, as a similarly red katana blocked Qrow's strike instead.

Red eyes met red and Qrow's mouth went agape just before Raven kicked him away. A red and black swirling portal widened up even further behind her as his own old bandit tribe entered the fray.

"Raven… you didn't."

"I am just doing what I need to do to survive, little brother," Raven said as she sheathed her sword. She reached up to her mask and threw it off to the side, ridding it instantly. "If you were as smart as you are strong, you might have been able to figure out some schemes of your own for once."

"Very well timed, Branwen." Cinder said as she shoved past her, pushing her shoulder against hers as she traced her glass sword into the concrete tiles beneath them. "I thought you'd be too cowardly to show yourself here."

"I made the required arrangements and then some," Raven said as she kept her eyes trained on Qrow. "You have what you asked."

"Then feel free you get your hands dirty. I'm sure your feral tribe will enjoy what Haven here has to offer." Cinder said as she raised her sword and pointed it at Orchid. "As for me, I am going to enjoy siphoning the power out of you, girl. It's been far too long since I've felt the sensation."

"Then you can wait and see how it feels for yourself!" Orchid exclaimed. She began to hover, magenta eyes igniting with fire as her arms crackled with energy as she drew her long greatsword. "I won't let you hurt anyone else, you'll die today!"

"Don't let her fight Cinder on her own," Oscar told Jaune and Pyrrha. "Orchid may be able to hold her own at first but not for long due to her magic siphoning abilities. I can't help, since I have magic I would only make her stronger, plus I don't think I'd be much help. But you two can. I'll handle the bandits and Lionheart. Qrow, it seems you have a rowdy sibling to set right."

"Yeah, no kidding…" Qrow shook his head. "Before I do that, am I speaking to Oscar or Ozpin right now?"

"Just me," Oscar remarked. "I'm afraid Ozpin won't be much help this time around. He being present might only serve to make Cinder stronger."

"Then I hope you haven't been skimping out on your training," Qrow said, rolling his shoulders as he stepped off to the side. As he expected, Raven followed him. "And don't be gentle. These folks need to be treated like the wild animals they are."

Oscar held the cane with practiced grace he knew didn't belong to him. "I will." He set his eyes on Lionheart. Feeling a wave of resenting anger within him as he did, but also felt a resounding soundness welling up from within his chest. "We have a score to settle with that one."

Orchid felt the energy of her magic crackle around her body and into her aura as she stared down Cinder. Pyrrha and Jaune joined her side, after hearing Oscar's instructions, she didn't shew them away like she immediately intended to. Deep down, she knew that she couldn't defeat Cinder all on her own, but right now she just had to try. Cinder was right there in front of her, threatening to cause the downfall of yet another Academy, and for all she knew, an entire other kingdom as well. She couldn't allow it, not without at least putting up a good fight.

"We need to stick together," Jaune offered. "If we let her separate us we'll just be picked off one after the other. If we want any chance of bringing her down, we have to have perfect teamwork."

"Thankfully we've spent so much time together than," Pyrrha acknowledged. She and Orchid shared a glance and they nodded, agreeing to a silent plan. Cinder seemed willing to let them make the first move, and so they did. Orchid grasped the hilt of her greatsword in both hands and pushed forward directly to Cinder while Pyrrha and Jaune split off in the same direction to her left. Cinder raised her sword to block her low-coming attack and raised a wall of red energy to block the dual strikes coming from Jaune and Pyrrha from her right. That same wall exploded outward, forcing the other two away. Orchid groaned and used her magic, her sword encasing itself with energy and hot ice, causing an explosion of elements that propelled her sword up and into Cinder's aura. The woman didn't look at all concerned considering the slash across her aura. If anything, she looked impressed.

"To have such control over the Spring Maiden after so little time," Cinder threw her hair over one shoulder and chuckled. "You had a lot of potential after all."

Orchid didn't rise to the bait. She didn't allow herself to respond. If she did she knew it'd only make her angrier. She assessed her opponent. Pyrrha's semblance wouldn't be of much help against her, since Cinder's weapons were mostly made of glass and dust rather than any kind of metal, and in that room there didn't seem to be any noteworthy amount of metal regardless, so she was constrained to good ol' fashion physical combat. Jaune on the other hand didn't have as much training as they did. Although he was much stronger, he was smarter and more tactical than anything else. Before Qrow found them, he was the one who took up the mantle of leading them, after all. The two of them recovered quickly from their stumble and rejoined Orchid.

"I can't use too much magic at once against her," Orchid reminded them. "But I have to use it to stay alive against her, what do I do?"

"There has to be a limit to her." Jaune said. "Nobody can just absorb that much power forever and still have enough aura to spare for fighting. The only advice I can offer you is just to moderate yourself. Other than that, target her Grimm parts. If my hunch is correct, than those won't be protected by her aura. Pyrrha and I will play support, but you'll have to be the one to do most of the heavy hitting."

"Then we have a gameplan." Orchid split her greatsword into two smaller, lighter weapons and held one in each hand. She touched back down on the ground and entered a lower stance. A shift of personality came through, and with it came a new style. Orchid shot forward like a bullet, striking like a mantis, leaving her limbs limp just after each strike before exploding into the next. Cinder reacted with fine finesse, blocking, deflecting, and parrying each other blow as it came to her. But as soon as she went for a counter, Orchid's eyes flamed on, and she used a streak of lightning to ward off the blow before reverting back to normal just as quickly. She had just enough time to hear Cinder's tongue click with indignation as she realized what she was doing. Switching back and forth between magic and aura was a practice that she came up with on the spot, but thankfully it wasn't at all difficult to pull off. It was like second nature, aura and magic were so similar, but one was just so much more powerful than the other. Cinder went on the assault first next time, her own eyes flickering with orange fire but Jaune and Pyrrha met each of her blows with their shields. Jaune however, held his shield with both hands, giving himself a sturdier guard as Pyrrha thrust her spear over his shoulder, slashing through Cinder's left shoulder. The evil maiden let out a short screech of pain as black ichor splashed onto the ground beside her, and she held her Grimm arm as it hung from strings of dark black flesh. Orchid charged in to capitalize, her eyes flaming on as she extended one hand out toward her, a ball of pink and purple magic forming and exploding out in a crackle of ice and electricity. Cinder used her good arm to swipe away at the attack, sending it far off to the side and through several walls before it finally came to a stop. She then reached to her injured Grimm arm and shoved it back into her shoulder socket, reattaching it as if nothing ever happened. Orchid felt the heat of the fire before the flame could erupt from beneath Cinder's feet. Orchid dove out of the way of a pillar of flame that would have scorched her alive that came from beneath her, but then looked on in horror as Cinder turned away from her and charged straight at Pyrrha and Jaune.

"No!" Orchid exclaimed, pushing more magic into her body as she flew forward to intercept her.

Four seconds passed before she could reach them, and in that time Cinder had blown away Jaune's shield to the other side of the room and blasted him away with a ball of fire. Pyrrha held on longer, trading some blows with the maiden before succumbing to a fiery kick to her gut. She fell to her knees, gasping for air that flew out of her lungs. Before Cinder could do anything else, Orchid clashed into her side, her shoulder smashing against her ribcage as she grabbed Cinder by the waist and lifted her up into the air with her and into the ceiling. They didn't crash through it but more smashed into it, causing both of their auras to flare as Orchid pulled away and made to slam her enemy into the ground as well. Cinder reversed their roles just before they could make contact, however, and she felt the air get driven out of her lungs as her back smashed against the tiles below, shattering them. Cinder straddled her. Her left hand reached to her face with a glowing red-black mark pulsing in her palm. Orchid's eyes widened with recognition, she herself didn't know what that symbol meant, but her power knew that if Cinder was able to grab her with that, she'd begin losing her power.

"HAH!" Orchid used her aura as a weapon with her magic. Causing her body to glow a vibrant magenta as she pushed her power to make a magical makeshift bomb. Blowing away Cinder and saving herself from a very painful transfer.

"Orchid!" Pyrrha was back at her side instantly to help her up when she saw that she was having trouble doing so herself. "What's wrong, are you dizzy?"

"M-My power…" Orchid winced as her vision began to blur. "Cinder's siphoning… it's that efficient?"

Cinder herself was incredibly unscathed as the dust settled around her. Her aura flared a bit, but anyone else caught in an explosion like that would have been seriously injured. Even another maiden. But Cinder's siphoning absorbed most of the blast, and now she was all the stronger for it.

"Ah, that tasted good," Cinder said, licking her lips as her Grimm eye became visible through her hair, glowing a disturbing red color. "Not as delicious as Ozpin's or Amber's magic, but I can't stand to be picky at a time like this."

"Damn." Pyrrha whispered as she got in front of Orchid, holding her spear with both hands after having lost her shield in her last encounter with Cinder. "Take some time to recover, I'll hold her off in the meantime."

"W-where's Jaune?"

"He took a heavier hit," Pyrrha said sorrowfully. "He's alive but will be unconscious for a few minutes."

"You can't take her on her own."

"I know," Pyrrha looked back at her and grinned. "Somehow, the thought of a vastly superior opponent excites me. But I'll remind you that I am the champion of Mistral, and Cinder has already attacked my home twice. Once while I was here, and another in Vale. I won't let a third fall to ruins due to her greed and lust for power."

"A touching sentiment." Cinder remarked, floating in the air on a cyclone of flame. Around them, Adam held off Cardin, Yang, and Nora at the same time while Ren battled the remaining members of the White Fang. Oscar was taking care of the bandits, who had a surprising amount of training and control over aura, while making his way to Lionheart who was warding him off with glancing blows from Stalwart. Qrow and Raven were dancing around the lobby, their swords flickering and flashing with each clash of their weapons. But more would begin to enter the fray, more members of the White Fang, led by a taller, huge bulk of a man named Hazel Rainart, who immediately went after Oscar the second he saw him. With reinforcements like that coming in for the opposition, the situation was growing more and more dire.

Orchid than looked back at Pyrrha right as she began her charge toward Cinder all by herself. She knew that she would die if she were left alone with her for long, but what could she do? Her powers were dormant right now, recovering, and even if she had them now all she'd do is just make Cinder stronger. She felt hopeless, but she couldn't afford to get depressed now. She had to keep fighting, to stand back up and keep pushing on. It's what Kai would do, after all. Grabbing her swords and summoning back up her recovering aura, she prepared herself to help Pyrrha.

Then she was interrupted.

Qrow stopped fighting Raven. They seemed to have figured something out, since Raven was opening back up another portal now that she was behind Cinder as her attention was focused on Pyrrha. From the portal came a sickle of white light, a form of power that seemed foreign even to Cinder. She fell forward, causing a great pause in the action as everyone turned their attention to what had just happened.

Through the portal Raven had just opened, three figures came out. First was Weiss Schnee, next came the presumed dead younger sister of her best friend, and the third was Kai Matsuoka himself. Silver Ebony shining with white light. A fourth figure entered from behind him as well, but she was too focused on her savior to care about that one.

"Hahahaha!" Cinder laughed hysterically, even as her Grimm parts stitched themselves back together after suffering damage from Kai's attack. "I don't even need to see you to know that it is you, Little Kai! I knew it, I knew it! All this time, I knew you couldn't be dead!" Eyes wide and excited, she turned to face Kai, two swords being summoned into each hand instead of the previous one.

Kai's blindfold was on, but it still looked like he was glaring right at Cinder. He took a stance, Malienna and Weiss darting off to the side while Qrow and Raven instantly turned and betrayed the White Fang. The bandits did as well, leaving Oscar alone and instead of turning their attention on the hulking mass known as Hazel. Then it started to click, this wasn't just a trap for them, but also a trap for Cinder. It made sense, Adam should have been able to kill everyone he was fighting with his semblance after everything she saw from him back in Beacon. He was holding back, biding his time, perhaps searching for his own chance to strike…

Right now though, she was too focused on Kai. He was there, at last, he looked so healthy. So strong, and so grizzled. She wanted to cry and run up to hug and kiss him right then and there, but she knew it wasn't the right time.

"Kai…" She sniffled. "You came back to us."

She knew he heard her.

"Sorry, it took so long," Kai replied. "But now it's time to finally end this."

"Yes!" Cinder exclaimed, hovering into the air again as black blood dropped from the left half of her body, splattering onto the tiles below and forming a puddle. "Yes, I think it is."

When Grimm started pouring out of the pool, the real battle began.

And there we go. As you can see, a lot is happening, but instead on trying to focus on everything at once, I am instead working on one key event at a time. Qrow and Raven's fight was practically the same was it was in the show so I didn't bother with it. You guys already know how strong this version of Adam is and after all the other chapters you all should've known he was holding back from the very start. Ruby, Blake, Ilia, and all them are around as well, but lets say for now they are focusing on making sure that all innocents are out of the way so they don't get hurt. But they will show up soon. As for Hazel, yeah, he's here and I am aware he had quite the sudden arrival, but honestly, he's not too important in this fight all things considered. He's more of a side boss, really. But I need to have him here because plot. Anyway, these next few chapters are going to cover one or two fights at a time, and the grand next fight of Kai v Cinder will happen soon. Technically, it has already started, but meh, there's always grander settings to look forward to.