So here it is. I tallied up all the different songs people suggested, and came to a pretty close winner. I'm not going to say which it is here, you'll have to find out for yourself. I do appreciate everyone giving suggestions, and honestly I might make a playlist of all of them, just so you guys can listen to them and I can too should I need some good music to write Crue to.

Also, to the person who asked me to delete their comment, how about you read through this chapter and then let me know if you still feel the same ;)

Anyway, on with the chapter!

Fighting was happening all around Oscar, and the boy had never felt more out of place in all of his time since accepting Ozpin was in his head.

Here he was, someone who had never so much as stepped foot in a Huntsman Academy until a few weeks ago, fighting the Headmaster of one. And he wasn't doing too bad. He had no idea how he was keeping pace, but he was a bit too preoccupied to question it.

Oscar swung the Long Memory, striking Lionheart's shield twice, and using the momentum to swing the other way and knock Lionheart off balance. "Lionheart has been the Headmaster of Haven for several years. In that time, he would not have had reason to keep his skills honed."

Ozpin delivered some commentary in his head, that was proving unfortunately distracting. "And with him under Salem's thumb…" He trailed off, as Oscar brought the cane up to deflect a ridiculously sharp shard of ice that Lionheart had generated from his strange weapon.

"Feel free to jump in at any time!" Oscar hissed under his breath, going back in on the offensive. Lionheart seemed to be treating him with the utmost caution. Oscar knew why. Lionheart knew that he was Ozpin's new… host.

As much as he hated to be reminded of that term, it meant that Lionheart didn't know how strong he was, even if he hadn't been with Ozpin for all too long. It meant he was overestimating him. That was fine with Oscar, as it meant he could actually be useful for once.

With a short battle cry, Oscar charged at the Headmaster.

…

Hazel did not want to fight these children. They may have been chosen to stand against him, but they did not know the true reasons for his presence here. They did not know the lies they had been fed.

But he knew who they were. Lionheart had been thorough in his information, and Hazel could see exactly how they had fallen for Ozpin's lies. The boy was Lie Ren. Fast, agile, his weapons peppered his Aura but he felt next to nothing from it.

Hazel swung at him with a large fist, but the boy dodged it as though he was made of water. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a blur of metal approaching. Raising one hand, he caught the head of the large hammer, stopping it in its tracks.

The girl, Nora Valkyrie, glared at him as he gripped onto her weapon. He swung his hand back, trying to rip the hammer out of her hands. She held on, being lifted off the ground and going with her weapon, refusing to lose it.

Good instincts, but it wouldn't be enough. Hazel released his grip on the weapon, letting the girl go sailing into a pillar. The attack clearly angered the boy, who dived in, aiming his bullets directly at Hazel's face.

His face scrunched up up slightly, but thanks to his Semblance he felt no pain from it. Hazel reached out a hand, catching the boy by his midriff. Ren brought his weapons up to stab the bladed fronts down onto the thick arm that held him.

Hazel didn't even flinch, but he did hurl the boy towards Nora, intending to knock them both out at once. The girl saw him flying towards her, and dropped her weapon. With both her hands free, she caught him in almost a bridal style fashion.

They shared some small banter as she allowed Ren to get to his feet, before picking up her own weapon and swinging it round once. These two were not killers, Hazel knew. But how long until Ozpin came back and made them so.

How long until they died for him. As they charged in, Hazel decided there would be no chance for either opportunity to come to pass.

…

Jaune's eyes were stinging as he swung Crocea Mors at his Aunt. The thought alone brought more tears to his eyes, but he blinked them away as he brought his shield up to stop the whip that was about to strike him.

"Why are you doing this?!" Jaune yelled, shifting his shield to the side and letting the tip of the whip slam into the ground before bringing his sword down at her. Sally grabbed her whip with both hands and pulled it taught, holding it up and catching the sword.

"Why are you?!" Sally shot back, blue eyes snarling as they met the same shade. "You were never meant to be a Huntsman!" She pushed back with her whip, sending Jaune stumbling backwards. He caught himself immediately, but his eyes never left hers.

"Does Dad know about this?!" Jaune asked, heaving as he gripped his sword as it felt heavy in his hand. As far as fights went, it wasn't his most difficult or exhausting, but the simple fact he was fighting his own relative weighed him down more than any weapon ever could.

"Of course not!" Sally snapped, both verbally and with her whip, as a small explosion erupted from the ground near Jaune, pelting him with debris. "But he does know what the Arc name means." She hissed, glaring at her nephew.

"The Arc name is a burden. That's all it's ever been." Solaris whipped her weapon towards Jaune, who brought up his shield to deflect it. Instead, he felt it tug around his ankle, dragging him towards her.

"Ever since the Great War, anyone with the Arc name was practically forced into the Huntsman life." Sally coiled her whip around her fist, bringing it down in a punch on Jaune. He raised his shield just in time, before swinging his sword upward and causing Sally to dodge back.

"It happened to my parents. It happened to me, and it happened to my brother." She stared at Jaune. "John swore he would never let any of his children become Huntsmen. And I… I swore allegiance to someone else."

"Salem." Jaune hissed. All he knew was the name, but if she was responsible for tearing his family apart he'd be sure she paid for it.

"Arc's don't go back on their word, which means my brother didn't train you to be a Huntsman. You went against his wishes, didn't you." Sally asked. Jaune met her gaze, but said nothing. "Of course." Her teeth ground against one another.

"Let me guess. You had some dream about being a Hero like your grandfather and tried to get into Beacon without any training. Just coast by on hopes and dreams." She scowled at him. "But it wouldn't have been enough."

Her eyes narrowed, putting some pieces into place. "You faked your transcripts." It wasn't a question, but a statement. Jaune, for the first time since the fight began, glanced away from his Aunt.

"Of course." She hissed, eyes flashing gold and catching Jaune off guard. "Stubborn as your father. Ozpin would have seen through those transcripts clear as day! But he still let you in. All because you're an Arc."

"You're an Arc too, Aunt Sally." Jaune stated, sheathing Crocea Mors and collapsing his shield.

"It's not Sally anymore, Jaune!" She exclaimed, as spikes shot out of her whip, while Jaune's sword doubled in size. "It's Solaris! Solaris Callows!"

…

Pyrrha kept one eye on the fight going on off to her side. Jaune was fighting like she had never seen him before, and she could understand why. The woman he was fighting, Sally, Solaris, whatever her name was, turned out to be Jaune's Aunt.

She couldn't possibly imagine what he was going through. She had fought with her parents before, but only about things that were trivial, looking back on it. But if she found out one of them was working for the same person who was behind the attack on Beacon…

She didn't know what she'd do. "You should focus on the fight in front of you!" Pyrrha raised her shield, deflecting the shots that Emerald sent her way.

She scowled over the rim of her shield, emerald eyes glaring at the one in front of her. Make that two- no, three in front of her. Two more Emerald's shimmered into being, both of them swinging the chains on their weapons.

The three ran forward, briefly merging into one before splitting off in different directions, as they all attacked as one. Pyrrha, almost casually, raised her shield to the right, as an invisible force struck her shield, the rest of the chains passing harmlessly through her.

Pyrrha threw her other arm out, hand reaching for empty space. The hand clasped around a chain, and she pulled as hard as she could. Emerald would have held on tight to her weapon, which meant that bringing her shield to a point just in front of her would lead to…

A resounding gong, sounding out as her shield was struck. Emerald suddenly blinked into view, stumbling backward as she yanked her weapon out of Pyrrha's grasp. She let it go, if only so that she had a hand free.

The chain reeled in, becoming flush with the gun as the blades suddenly shot out, becoming a pair of sickles for Emerald to wield. Yet, she stayed where she was, analysing Pyrrha carefully. "You should remember who it is you're fighting." Pyrrha told her, bringing her shield up and hurling it at the ground.

It bounced, striking the ground and launching upwards with a smack as it hit air. A cry of pain came from nowhere, as Emerald shimmered back into view, Pyrrha using her Semblance to direct the return of her shield back to her.

Her Semblance was proving extremely useful right now. Before, she would have had reservations about using such a powerful Semblance in a fight. And she still did. While she was not the one currently engaged with Cinder, she'd be unable to use it at all if they fought.

But with Emerald? She held no such reservations. With her hallucinatory Semblance, Emerald would be a devastating opponent for anyone else, making them see her attacking from a different direction and leaving themselves wide open while trying to defend.

But with her own Semblance, Pyrrha could send out small, probing pulses of polarity, searching for the metal of Emerald's weapons. It meant she could not attack her out of the blue, and that Pyrrha would always have a vague location as to where Emerald would be.

And it appeared she was beginning to realise this too.

"Oh, I remember who you are." Emerald began, rushing with her sickles. Pyrrha could sense they were where they should be, and brought her shield up to her chest, before pushing forward to meet Emerald halfway.

She pushed her shield out, intending to bash Emerald's face in. Emerald ducked low, momentarily disappearing behind the rim of the shield. Pyrrha had no idea what her plan was, but she could tell she was still there.

Then, she rose back into view. Bright ginger hair, and eyes that nearly matched her own stared back at her over her shield. Pyrrha's breath left her in a sharp gasp, as a disfigured, robotic hand reached to her from the right.

A pulse of magnetism shot out from Pyrrha as the illusion disappeared, and the sharp point of Emerald's sickle inches from striking her. The weapon struggled to move as Emerald attempted to wrench it free.

"How dare you." Pyrrha hissed, her eyes briefly sparking with emerald fire as she struck with a solid punch. The blow forced Emerald to release her grip on her weapon as she backed up to get out of range.

Pyrrha did not let her escape, following her and slashing with her shield, the edge of it proving a very deadly weapon that Emerald had to constantly dodge. With a flick of her wrist, Pyrrha sent the still levitating sickle shooting towards Emerald.

Being struck by her own weapon had Emerald gritting her teeth and glaring at Pyrrha as the Spartan ran in for another attack.

"PYRRHA!" Jaune suddenly screamed. "HELP ME! PLEASE!" He was practically sobbing. Pyrrha responded by slamming her shield down on Emerald, but only striking the floor as Emerald dodged.

"You clearly don't know Jaune as well as you think." Pyrrha stated calmly, removing her shield from the dent in the floor. "I know for a fact he would never call for me like that. Especially in a fight like that."

She didn't exactly approve of him fighting on his own, but she understood. This was his family. This was his fight. "It's called trust. I trust him to take care of himself. And he trusts me."

"Something I doubt your Leader ever showed you." It was a shot in the dark, Pyrrha only vaguely knowing about her opponent's feelings for her Leader. But it clearly hit home as Emerald's eyes narrowed.

Those blood red eyes glared at Pyrrha, before slipping over her shoulder to focus on something else. Pyrrha knew the direction she was looking in was where Jaune and his Aunt were currently fighting, and so moved to block line of sight with her and Jaune.

She wasn't a hundred percent sure how Emerald's Semblance worked, but keeping her attention on Pyrrha seemed like a good way to redirect it. Emerald glanced back at Pyrrha, expression changing to a mixture of confidence and annoyance.

"A good thing I've been training with someone who does trust me, then." Emerald rushed forward, bringing her weapon low in preparation for an upward strike. Pyrrha reared back, ready to block the blow and strike, only for a figure to suddenly pop into being in front of Emerald.

"Hello sweetie~" Pyrrha felt her face grow red as Jaune held out a hand towards her, his smile dazzlingly white and eyes blue as sapphires. And he was wearing absolutely nothing.

For the first time in her life as a fighter, Pyrrha froze. A slash across her chest that grated across Aura and armour knocked her out of her stupor.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Pyrrha exclaimed, staring at Emerald with wide eyes as she felt a trickle of blood leak from her nose despite not being hit there.

"Ugh. How do you think I feel?" Emerald shuddered, wincing as she shook her head. "I have to picture that just to show it to you."

Pyrrha grit her teeth, anger building as she rushed forward, trying desperately to ignore the, now multiple, naked Jaunes surrounding her. On Emerald's side she was also trying desperately to ignore the images she had to picture in her mind.

It quickly devolved into one of the most awkward fights known to man, with Pyrrha only getting angrier as it went on.

As though some kind of catalyst for her rage was getting closer and closer.

…

Yang ducked under Mercury's leg, bringing her fist up to strike at his abdomen. It connected, but Yang had to give up the advantage as his other leg came sweeping back.

Yang backed up, her feet practically dancing as she dodged and weaved under Mercury's attacks, punching back whenever she could and letting her new arm take hits instead of her Aura.

"What's up Blondie? You wanted to match?" Mercury smirked, sending two rapid fire shots towards Yang, aiming for her prosthetic.

She dodged to the side, letting the shots eviscerate the pillar behind her as she rushed back in, throwing hooks whenever she could. "Oh please. I make this look good." She rotated her shoulder once, before bringing the metallic fist down onto Mercury's outstretched leg.

It hit, and Mercury grit his teeth before bouncing back, feet tapping the ground as though it was on fire. "Yeah, maybe we should give a certain bull some thanks." He smiled, grey eyes never leaving Yangs.

For a moment they flashed red, before she got her rage under control. "But, you're not the only one who got some upgrades." Mercury brought his left leg up slowly, deliberately giving Yang enough time to react.

There was enough distance between them that Mercury had to be going for a shot. At least, that's what Yang thought until Mercury shot out his leg, and it kept going. Yang's eyes widened, and she barely had time to duck as Mercury's leg speared past her.

One hand on the ground with Yang acting like it was a limbo tournament, she got a good look at Mercury's leg. It was a length of twisted metal, looking almost as if it were a series of vines wrapped around one another.

It began to, for lack of a better word, reel in as Yang used the opportunity to get out from under it and put some distance between the two of them. Mercury smiled, watching as his leg returned to him, slipping up his trousers and leaving his boot on the ground.

After a moment, it looked as though nothing had ever happened. "Hm. Not bad. I'll have to give my compliments to the good Doctor. Now, let's try the other one." He let his right leg stretch out, and rather than let him unleash some other dangerous weapon, Yang fired off a blast from Ember Celica.

Mercury ignored it, whipping his leg up as it extended once again. This time, a series of bronze rings left his pants leg, not even touching each other as they swung to the side, striking Yang's projectile mid-air.

Yang rushed in while it was still extended, using a blast from her gauntlets to get there as soon as she could. Mercury smiled, and Yang finally noticed the small arcs of blue electricity flitting between the bronze rings.

Mercury brought his leg back, intending to strike. Yang brought one arm up to defend and the other punched forward to hit Mercury. They struck at the same time, and Yang suddenly felt the nerves at her connector burn.

She let out a cry of pain, instinctively clenching her fist and pulling the trigger, letting a shotgun blast off right in Mercury's stomach.

The boy went flying back, and Yang fell to one knee, cupping her arm where flesh met steel. "Yeah…" Mercury grunted, standing up as Yang glared at him. "Advanced prosthetics and electricity. Never the best combination."

He smiled, performing what looked like a small tap dance. "Unless the guy who made yours specifically insulated against it." Yang managed to stand, rolling her arm as she did so to work out the pain.

She could focus on it later. "So, you got two new legs." She said, as the small shotgun popped out of her wrist. "No wonder you look taller." Mercury gave a smiling shrug, clearly unbothered by her comments.

"Sucks they couldn't do anything for what's in between." She rocketed forward as soon she insulted him, giving him enough time to open his eyes and scowl, as well as open his mouth in the beginnings of a disagreeing shout.

Instead, his grey eyes widened and he managed to keep his mouth shut as he leaned back and brought up a leg to block. Yang may not have had as good a reach as he did with those new legs, but she could definitely get in and piss him off enough that he couldn't use them.

…

Weiss spun on one foot, letting Myrtenaster swing and deflect a laser shot from Vernal's weapon. She moved in closer, stabbing towards the bandit as she did so. Vernal brought her strange, dual bladed gun weapon up to deflect her rapier, only to be caught on the second swing by Setanta.

The bandit scowled and grit her teeth as the blue blade slashed across her Aura, jumping back and spinning her weapons round before pointing both barrels towards Weiss. A small white glyph appeared under Weiss' feet that shot her skyward, avoiding the blast from Vernal's weapon.

It looked almost as if Vernal was shooting her with lasers, but Weiss knew better. Concentrated Fire Dust projected through a narrow opening could give the same effect. It didn't make it any easier to fight, however.

Jumping from glyph to glyph and parrying what she could, Weiss could feel herself losing the battle of attrition. So, she decided to go on the offense.

Summoning one more mid-air, she landed on it, before changing the trajectory so that she was launched straight down. Vernal, who had been leading her shot suddenly found herself without a weapon pointed at the oncoming icicle.

She leapt backward, narrowly avoiding being skewered as Weiss struck the ground. She landed, only to have her feet suddenly slide further back, the sudden motion sending her off balance and the front of her body leaning too far forward and slamming onto the ground.

"Gah! My fuckin tits!" Vernal cursed, getting onto her knees as one arm cupped the underside of her chest. Weiss pulled Myrtenaster out of the ground, wincing ever so slightly as Vernal struggled to stand on the ice she had summoned.

She had intended to have her fall on her rear and then make a quip about being where she belonged. But no such comments or quips came to her mind involving smashing one of the most sensitive parts of one's body against the ground.

Eventually, Vernal managed to stand up straight, grimacing and growling all the while, before levelling Weiss with a glare. "That was fuckin' dirty."

"Says the bandit." Weiss rose a challenging eyebrow in response, wondering if she expected an apology. Instead, Vernal tried to shuffle her way off the ice, making as little movement as possible.

Weiss gently tapped the ground with Myrtenaster, sending another coating of ice along the ground. Vernal stopped moving, or at least stopped doing so intentionally, sliding a few inches as she looked up from her feet to glare at Weiss.

"You know." Weiss said casually, bringing up Setanta to inspect it glinting in the light. "I found a scratch on this the other day." She held the tip between her two fingers, before her gaze snapped to Vernal, her eyes not unlike the ice the bandit was struggling to stand on.

"I'm sure you remember my warning."

Despite herself, Vernal clenched up.

Weiss didn't wait for a response, instead darting forward to slide on the ice, bringing Setanta up to swing at Vernal. The bandit's legs flailed, having only ever lived in Mistral meant she was unused to such terrain.

Weiss didn't know much about bandits, but she doubted they went pillaging during the Winter months, when the risk of frostbite was high and there were probably more people in the villages than they could handle.

But Vernal was still a good fighter, bringing her weapons up to deflect, and trying to use the momentum from the strike to push her off the ice. It would have worked, if not for Weiss skating around Vernal and slashing at her from the direction she intended to go.

Vernal swung wildly, legs pumping in an attempt to get off the ice. She ended up running in place for a moment, scowling as she realised how ridiculous she looked. With a snarl, she gripped her weapons tight as Weiss pushed herself towards her.

Vernal shot her weapons at the ground, a concentrated line of fire, rather than the short blasts Weiss had seen before, coming out of it and melting the ice instantly. Weiss went from moving freely to suddenly being reintroduced to friction as she stumbled, arms going wide as she tried to bring her weapon down.

Vernal caught it with a smiling snarl, locking it within the blade of one weapon as she brought her other up high. Weiss' eyes widened, as she realised if she didn't let go, her weapon would break. Reluctantly, she let her grip loosen and tried to slash with Setanta.

Vernal's weapon hit Myrtenaster, sending it crashing to the ground with such force it bounced and went spinning into the air out their view. Weiss was left with just Setanta, swinging and slashing as she tried to regain the upper hand.

Unfortunately, with Vernal now knowing how to stop her icy floors, it left her on the back foot. And it was something Vernal was keen to keep that way.

Weiss summoned a black glyph to throw herself back and give her enough time to summon something, anything as she made to press Setanta against the ground. Before she even had the chance, Vernal crashed into her and locked it in place, using the bottom blades of her weapons to keep it from hitting the ground.

Weiss' eyes widened as Vernal smirked and pulled down on the triggers. The beam of fire dust that melted the ice was sure to come, and at such close proximity Weiss was sure it would do more damage than she could take.

In the second it took for the beam to charge up, Weiss felt her thumb brush against something on Setanta's hilt. Instinctively, she pushed it down.

The blade of Setanta suddenly whirred, metal shooting out of it and pushing against Vernal's blades with such force that they started to crack. The noise was the only warning Vernal got before her weapons were forced apart, the sudden change throwing Vernal's arms out wide as the beam shot out randomly, slicing through pillars and briefly interfering with other fights.

Weiss wasted no time, jumping straight up and front wheeling, bringing both her hands to wield Setanta and hold it high over her head. Then, in a move very reminiscent of Nora, she brought the hurley down to slam on Vernal's head.

The brief shimmering of blue showed she was still in the fight, but Weiss used the opportunity to scan for Myrtenaster while Vernal was picking herself up.

With a groan and growl, Vernal stood, turning to glare at Weiss as she inspected the damages to her weapon. The lower blade on one had completely shattered, while the other seemed like it wasn't far off.

"For a prissy fuckin princess, you fight dirty." Vernal glared.

Weiss smirked, using her free hand and holding up two fingers, summoning a small black glyph as she pointed towards Vernal. "What can I say?" Something whistled past Vernal's head, as Myrtenaster's bladed guard left a thin line of Aura on Vernal's cheek before being caught by its wielder.

"I learned from the best."

…

Ruby's teeth were clenched and her silver eyes narrowed as she swung Crescent Rose at Cinder. The Maiden deflected it with a molten sword, her own expression one of slowly regained confidence.

Ruby knew that she shouldn't be letting her emotions get the best of her, but the damn smirk Cinder was wearing was making her angrier the longer she had to face her.

"What's the matter, Ruby?" Cinder asked, a dangerous smile on her face. "Upset that you killed your 'big bwother'." She mocked.

Ruby's eyes turned to pinpricks as she became a bladed red blur, Cinder hopping back and batting away each spinning attack. "You're the one who killed him!" She came to a stop, panting slightly as she raised a hand to her chest.

"I have the proof right here!" Her hand came to rest on Crue's glasses. The left side of them had a massive puncture, the cracks splintering out into the rest of the lens. Cinder's amber eye glanced down as Ruby spoke.

Of course she knew the proof was there. It was something her gaze had latched onto as soon as Ruby called her out. She was glad the girl was shorter than her, as she didn't think she'd be able to handle seeing her own reflection in the broken glasses.

"I attacked him." Cinder didn't bother denying it. It wasn't like anyone would believe her if she did, and with the rest of Salem's followers currently engaged in their own fights she could speak freely.

"But it was you who killed him. He's survived everything else I've thrown at him. If it weren't for the ears, I would've thought him to be a Cockroach Faunus." She smirked, as Ruby shot forward with a swing and a snarl.

Cinder parried it easily. "But the only difference was you. Your Silver Eyes are what hurt him. What finally did what I could not." Her smile stretched across her face despite the pain, catching the haft of the scythe and leaning in. "You killed Crue!"

"NO!" Ruby screamed, closing her eyes and shaking her head, before they snapped open with a glare. With Cinder immediately in front of her, and pushing down on Crescent Rose, stopping her from attacking, Ruby did something no one would ever expect from her.

She let go of her weapon.

The scythe fell to the ground, all the pressure Cinder was exerting suddenly having nothing to fight against and causing her to stumble forward, her amber eye going wide as Ruby had already brought her head back, before slamming it forward.

Ruby's head cracked against Cinder, the two of them immediately reeling back as they grabbed their faces. Ruby gave a slight groan as she rubbed her forehead. "That hurt a lot more than I thought it would."

She looked up to see how Cinder was handling it, and found herself dodging as a flaming sword was already swinging her way. Disappearing in a burst of rose petals, she formed on the other side of Cinder, reaching out to grab Crescent Rose.

Only to feel a burning pain in her leg as she let out a cry of pain, stumbling over her weapon and feeling Cinder press a heel down into her back. "You!" She hissed, flames nearly spitting out of her mouth as part of her mask cracked.

"You just don't learn, do you! You're a child playing at being a Hero." She twisted her foot on Ruby's back, causing the smaller girl to scramble in an attempt to free herself. Being pressed against the floor made it difficult to breathe as she attempted to reach for her weapon.

"You blame others because something bad happened to you!" Cinder snarled, twisting her heel before kicking Ruby in her side so that she rolled over onto her back. Ruby was left gasping for breath already, only made worse when Cinder slammed a foot down on her stomach, the point of her heel digging into her side.

"You think your world turned upside down because someone you cared about died." She glared down at Ruby, twisting her heel as she did so. "You don't know loss!" She let up on the pressure ever so slightly, enough for Ruby to take a deep breath and for her eyes to open wide.

"But you will."

A bright yellow glow briefly blinded Ruby, as a familiar bow sprung to life in Cinder's hand. Ruby's breathing quickened as Cinder brought her other hand, still covered by the long red sleeve, to the grip.

A small flash of light, and an arrow of molten glass formed as she dragged it back. "The little rose who lost a brother."

She took aim, and Ruby had to crane her neck to see who she was attacking, only to feel her blood run cold as she saw a mane of blonde hair currently fighting Mercury. "Let's add a sister onto that list."

Ruby had barely enough time to scream her sister's name as the arrow was loosed, and her silver eyes suddenly glowed bright.

"YANG!"

The sound of her sister calling her name had Yang spinning on her heel immediately, and her lilac eyes widening as an arrow headed straight for them. Time seemed to slow to a crawl, as light suddenly erupted from Ruby.

The light was blinding, and only served to backlight the oncoming arrow as Yang could only hope to blink and bring her Aura to her face and hope it was enough.

The sound of shattering glass reached her ears, but there was no pain. Not so much as a tickle against her Aura. Cautiously, she opened her eyes and saw… nothing.

In front of her, Cinder had stumbled back, clutching her arm in pain and allowing Ruby to roll over onto her side and make sure Yang was ok. She was able to hear Ruby's gasp from where she was, and now that she thought about it, it seemed all fighting had stopped for whatever reason.

The reason, it turned out, as Yang saw something bright pink begin to lower out of the corner of her eye, was a newcomer to the battle.

Glancing down, Yang felt her eyes widen as she immediately hopped back. Before her was someone she had not seen since the Breach, but she would recognise the pink and brown hair anywhere.

Neopolitan slowly lowered her parasol from where it had been pointing skyward. Her eyes briefly flicked upward, following its trajectory and seeing the back half of an arrow embedded into the ceiling.

"You little-" Cinder's vision had finally returned but her glare at Ruby was quickly replaced by a shocked expression as her amber eye landed on Neo. The pink and brown glared back at her with enough vitriol that it had her hesitating for the slightest moments.

"Neo-" Cinder didn't even have time to finish her words, before Neopolitan shattered into glass. The hairs on the back of Cinder's neck stood on end, as she narrowly dodged the thin blade that shot out of nowhere from behind her.

She rolled away, as Neo landed next to Ruby with her weapon still pointed at Cinder. Her eyes flickered down to the fallen girl, and before everyone's eyes, she offered a hand.

Ruby took it, getting to her feet and grabbing Crescent Rose as she did. The two stood next to each other, Ruby reloading her weapon as she glared at Cinder. However, before getting back into the fight, her silver eyes glanced at Neo.

"How did you get here?" She asked. In response, Neo let out a short huff from her nose as a smirk appeared on her face.

As if on cue, bright white lights suddenly poured into the room from the outer windows. Everyone looked around, shocked by the sudden lightshow and sound of rotors. Neo glanced to Ruby with a cocky side-eye. Ruby rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I suppose that does answer that."

…

A short while ago…

…

"ADAM!" Blake yelled at the top of her lungs. She was stood atop one of the many buildings of Haven, staring down at the small group of White Fang currently casing the courtyard.

They looked up at the shout, and though his mask covered it, Blake knew Adam's eye was wide with disbelief.

"Blake?" His voice only confirmed her thoughts.

"STAND DOWN!" She instructed. The White Fang around him clearly didn't take to kindly to her words, all of them raising weapons in some shape or form to aim at her.

"Wait!" Adam put his hands up before his men, stopping them from firing. Blake was shocked. Was he actually listening to her? Was he actually going to stop?

And then, Adam started laughing. "To think! That I went through so much trouble to find you, only to have you deliver yourself to me."

Blake found it amazing he could be so condescending when she was so far above him, literally. "This isn't what's right for the Faunus! Stop what you're doing, and we can end this peacefully." She needed to give him a chance. Like she was given one. Like she gave Illia.

"You're wrong, Blake." Adam told her. "And you can't stop us."

"No! I can't!" She agreed. And it was that which set off Adam's alarm bells. "Not by myself." The silence that followed was broken nearly immediately by a loud, boisterous voice.

"That's why she didn't come alone!"

The White Fang jumped as though they had been stung by rapier wasps, turning to see a small army of Faunus marching towards them, led by Sun. "Who's there!?" From the other side came another group, her Father and Tukson at the front, answering their question.

"Your brothers and sisters." Clearly, in a more literal sense given how some of the White Fang reacted to those in the army. Blake's eye suddenly caught a figure in white scaling the main hall behind the White Fang.

Neo had told her she was going to have a look in and see if she couldn't find Cinder and stab her in the face. Blake saw no reason to dissuade her. What she did see, however, was Neo look in a window and suddenly vanish in a shattering of glass.

She wasn't sure why, but she hazarded a guess it was to fulfil her promise. And as spotlights began to flood the grounds, she decided Neo could probably do with some company in a bit. But for now…

"Adam, it's over." She said, almost apologetically, jumping down from her place atop the building.

Adam said nothing. Looking around at the airships, the Faunus, and finally at her. "Then it's over for all of us." With one swift motion, he took out the detonator to the bombs that had been planted all over Haven.

He gave Blake just enough time to see it, as the White Fang behind him suddenly shouted, and pressed down on the button.

Nothing happened.

"Huh?" Adam stared at the detonator, pressing it several more times.

Still, nothing.

"What are you doing? Trying to get us all killed!?" A soldier to his side shouted. Adam snapped, grabbing the man by the collar and screaming.

"I! Am making Humanity pay! FOR WHAT THEY'VE DONE!" He pushed him back, turning to glare at Blake.

"We sent someone over to confirm your explosives, and once we did, she disarmed them." From the darkness, a figure emerged, covered completely in black. However, the colour slowly shifted to tan skin and brown hair.

Illia threw a handful of wires down onto the ground, staring defiantly at Adam. The man's body began shake as he seethed, breathing in through gritted teeth. He briefly glanced back at Haven's main hall, clearly wondering if he could get the help of whatever allies he had within.

"I told you, Adam. It's over…" Blake spoke matter-of-factly. Adam's head turned back with such speed it must have caused whiplash, as he let out a yell and charged at her, hand on his sword as he approached.

Blake wondered how mad he must be for him to have become this sloppy. Nothing had charged his Semblance. Nothing had given him any indication she would just stand there and let herself be hit. And so, when Adam did swing, his blade passed through nothing.

Blake's clone disappeared, the true Faunus stepping out of the way and bringing both her hands up to clasp one another. She had a beautiful view of Adam's face realising he had made a mistake, before she slammed her fists down.

They cracked against Adam's head, his own momentum adding to the blow and tripping him, sending him tumbling along the ground as one of the spotlights from the aircraft above followed him.

He lay on the ground for a moment, his sword clattering to the ground. Eventually, he pushed himself up, snarling as he did so.

"KILL THEM!"

…

The spot lights continued to flash, passing through the glass and washing over them. They briefly passed over Cinder, highlighting her scowl as Ruby burst forward in a flurry of petals, while Neo unsheathed her blade completely.

The two worked in surprisingly good sequence, with Ruby's petals blocking Cinder's view of Neo, allowing her to get dangerously close to Cinder's neck.

Cinder's flaming blade was barely enough to stop them from hitting her, bending and ducking and for once in the fight, being put on the defensive. After an attack that had both Neo and Ruby lunge in as one, Cinder scowled as wisps of fire suddenly flickered to life in her eye.

Fire burst from the soles of her feet, sending her backwards, a safe distance away from where the two Tiny Terrors landed. "I'm surprised, Neo." She tried to talk quickly, knowing she wouldn't have much time. "That you'd work with the one who killed your 'love'."

Neo froze, pink and brown eyes glancing to Ruby. She clearly took everything Cinder said with a grain of Dust, but still waited for Ruby to speak.

"Really!?" She looked at Neo in disbelief. "You're actually listening to her?!" She threw a hand out at Cinder angrily. "She killed Crue! She shot him in the eye!" She lowered her hand to point at the glasses hanging from her corset.

Neo's eyes widened as she recognised the glasses. Her head snapped back to Cinder with a silent snarl. "I may have wounded him, but she was the one who finished him off." She deflected, pointing her weapon towards Ruby.

Neo didn't believe Cinder for a second, as she knew for a fact how much Ruby cared for Crue. The night Beacon fell flashed to the forefront of her mind, when Ruby attacked her for betraying Crue and breaking his heart.

But still, Neo glanced at Ruby. The younger girls face seemed to burn red with anger that Neo was still doubting her, before it vanished as an idea formed behind those silver eyes. She pointed at Cinder accusingly and raised her voice.

"She kissed Crue without his consent!"

"Phrasing!" Cinder yelled back, only to realise what she had just said and bring a hand up to cover her mouth much too late. But, in time enough for her blade to stop Neo's who looked positively murderous, both her eyes pure white.

Cinder cursed ever laying anything other than hands upon that damned Faunus!

…

"What's with the helmet?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Not… concerning at all."

"Yeah, yeah whatever. Hey, you mentioned you hacked the School PA system to play music right? You think you could give my Scroll the same permissions?"

"Uh, yeah, I can send it now. But, why? We're almost there."

"Cause, if we're doing this…"

Ding!

"We're doing it my way."

…

Within Haven's Grand Hall, most fighters suddenly found themselves distracted as the PA system crackled. For a lot of them, it was almost a conditioned response to stop what they were doing and listen to whatever announcement was about to be made.

No such announcement came, instead, music began to play.

[Ready To Die - Andrew W.K]

[0:00]

Everyone looked round in confusion for a moment as the sound reverberated around the room. Everyone that is, save the three fighters in the very centre of the floor.

Ruby, Neo and Cinder paid no attention to the sudden noise, completely focused on the fight in front of them. Cinder's jaw was clenched tight, as Neo and Ruby worked in tandem to distract and attack whenever they could.

It was beginning to be too much for even Cinder to handle, with Neo scoring a hit across her obsidian mask as the Maiden's power flared.

[0:09]

"ENOUGH!" Cinder flew upward in a rage, flames billowing from her feet before landing on the railing of the platform held aloft by the marble statue. Her exclamation drew the eyes of her enemies, as those fighting alongside her took a moment to catch their breath.

Her mask was cracked, by the one who betrayed her first. Neopolitan stood next to Ruby, the two of them glaring at Cinder with remarkable hatred for such small bodies. "You think you can defeat me?!" She yelled.

"I AM THE FALL MAIDEN!" She threw a hand to the side, as a fiery sword burst to life in her grasp. "AND I WILL NOT FAL-TER!" Cinder Fall, did falter. It was a tiny thing, something that wouldn't have been noticed had she not the attention of the entire battlefield.

The slip caused those watching to frown in confusion, and her own allies turned to see what had caused the stumble. Cinder looked downward, windmilling her arms to keep balance as one foot raised in the air unwillingly. She had been dragged backward by an unknown force.

Something that pulled at her chest from behind and moved her without her wanting to and nearly had her falling off the railing. Her head shot up, her amber eye shrinking as she recognised the sensation of being pulled in a direction against her will.

"No." She whispered out.

KSSSHHH [0:30]

A massive crash suddenly sounded out, as the glass window behind her exploded inward. Cinder turned on her heel, on her left side. A habit she still hadn't broken since being injured.

She wasn't even able to see what hit her, only a feeling of immediate pain as her world flashed white, before she crashed to the ground below her with a scream. "Well, well, what do you know. Looks like Cinder Fall, fell."

The voice was familiar to her, and her blood turned to ice as she pushed herself up, turning around to see a man with a flowing emerald cloak and helmet standing where she had been. "NO!" She screamed. "I KILLED YOU! YOU'RE DEAD! YOU'RE MEANT TO BE DEAD!"

The man seemed to tense for a second, one bare arm showing his muscles clenching, before they relaxed. A sigh sounded out from inside the helmet, as though he desperately wanted to say something, but knew it would be interrupted.

"Yeah…" The man reached up with a pair of green gauntlets and removed the helmet. A pair of wolfish ears sprung free, standing tall among dirty blonde hair, while a single steely blue eye stared down at Cinder, glinting with vengeance.

"I get that a lot." Crue Cullen let a fanged smile overtake his face, as the dead man walked once more.

[0:50]

Heeeeeee's baaaaack!

God I've been waiting for this ever since I started the sequel. I literally had the sequence of Crue's return written out since fucking February of last year! And it's barely changed.

I hope you all liked the song choice, I tried putting in timestamps this time, just to give a better indication of what you're supposed to be hearing during the fight. Though, honestly if you're reading it and you think a different song would've been better now that you know what the entrance is, feel free to play it!

I'm so happy I've managed to get this out, and I hope I managed to get all of the Blake/White Fang part of it to fit snugly in, even though it goes very different in the show. Blake doesn't actually show up until the penultimate episode.

But, as you know, I like to take canon and carve it for the juicy bits. This also means taking parts from different RWBY media, like with The Grimm Campaign and the Hana Guild. There'll be a lot of opportunities for things like that later, though I don't know if I'll throw the DC crossover in because I'm certain if Crue witnessed that he'd have an aneurysm.

Anyway, I think that's all for for now, hope you enjoyed the chapter, let me know if you did, and as always...

Until Next Time

-Friday