The island of Patch had been completely cleared out by soldiers and students at Signal Academy, rounding them up into bunkers and similar shelters to avoid the collateral damage of the fighting to their south. The early warning systems kicked in during the midst of the shockwaves, sirens blasting through the air, ringing in everybody's head.

Numerous young men and women herded up the people like they were sheep or cows. Furious soldiers in white uniforms violently commanding them into orderly lines, some resulting in altercations, all in the name of Atlesian powers. Soon, the grassy plains of this land would be cleared, only leaving behind buildings to be crumbled by the tremors caused by Giants.

There was, however, one among the crowd who ignored the warnings, slipping past the guards to travel far into the depths of a forest in the east. To this young woman, she knew that ordinary students did not have the strength to restrain her even if they were to somehow spot her leaving in the opposite direction.

And Yang Xiao Long was absolutely right.

With every step of her heavy boots, she was retreading old grounds of memories long past. Old times back in the old days in her old home. The cottage lying in the far corner behind a quiet bed of tall trees, growing to form a natural barrier. It was almost too ideal to be true.

Now with the knowledge that her stepmother was a god, she now knew this quaint life she once had was all thanks to the divinity of Summer. The bright light of midyear's calm creation music.

But beautiful nature's music can only do so much for someone standing on the grave of a loved one, a father.

There next to her childhood home, she glanced down at the tombstone of her father, now covered in moss despite the family's vow to take turns keeping it clean.

Taking in a deep breath, Yang sighed:

"Hey, dad. Just passing through. How've you been?"

Taiyang Xiao Long. A strong man once, and a good man. But he was ordinary. Living to a good age before passing away in his bed. Drawing his last breath at the sight of his two kids leaving into the wild world of gods and monsters.

If they had told people how unremarkable this man was, nobody would have believed them.

But Yang had nothing to prove to the rest of the world. Only one thing remained in her life now, one thought that consumed her every waking moment. And that was the image of that flying despotic flag far in the sky, rupturing the very air.

Dusting off any moss she could, she cleared the grave of any impurity. Tossing away any piece of dirt or rubble she could find, even crushing the cobwebs that formed at the bottom and all around the back, hiding in the shadows of stone.

"Strange luck to see you again."

Standing behind her with his tattered red cape, Qrow Branwen crossed his arms as he stared down at his niece. With them now noticing that the wind had seemingly stopped blowing for a brief second, before the quiet roaring of their Aura disturbed the silent air once more.

"What are you doing here, Yang?"

Pausing for a second, before standing up from the grave. She turned her head, with her eyes now burning and her antlers growing through her hair.

"Scorched earth. I'm sinking this island."

Without letting Qrow retort, she spun her right foot around stomping on the ground as hard as she could, cracking the soil and stones to create tremors that shook the entire island. There, she powered up her fist with raging Aura, skin hardening with draconic scales, and in her grip the chambers in Ember Celica turned, slotting in the appropriate shell before she fired off a blast that could devastate a mountain, aiming it right where Qrow was standing.

What was most mindboggling, however, was the fact that despite not moving a single inch, still standing with his hands in his pockets – the gunshot was never able to make its way toward Qrow, not able to touch his skin, or even scratch the fabric of his clothes.

Mere seconds before the shot was fired, a massive bird the size of half a person came swooping in from the sky to take the full force of the gun blast. With each and every speck of scattered flesh blocking every pellet coming out of that single shotgun shell, not allowing any damage through onto Qrow.

The two of them stood there dumbfounded, eyes widened as neither knew how to properly react. Qrow himself checked thoroughly to see if he had been hit, scouring his arms, legs, and body for the tiniest of scratches. But there was nothing.

"Huh… strange luck," he muttered.

Unraveling his scythe, bringing forth Harbinger, Qrow spun the weapon gracefully before planting the tip of the blade onto the ground, using the leverage to crack the surface Yang was standing on. Stomping hard on the handle of the giant scythe, spinning the platform, flipping multiple times, to push Yang off balance and lining her up perfectly within striking distance.

Tearing off the blade, he swung it as hard as he could, even going so far as to leap off the ground to smash into Yang, almost as if he were trying to take her head off. Yang's thick Aura managed to prevent her from getting sliced in half, but the two of them flew through the air at massive speed. Within seconds, they crashed into Signal Academy placed far in the other direction, crushing the high towers to send ripples through the stone and concrete floors, instantly flattening the numerous buildings in a blink of an eye.

"You're really going to waste away this second chance?" Qrow shouted as they blasted through stone floors and steel beams. "All men can receive new life to correct their wrongs. Don't waste it. It's time to come home."

"What the actual hell are you talking about?"

"You never wondered why she let you go? Why she doesn't round everybody up in less time than it takes to blink?"

"And you know the reason why?"

"No. But this is grace from above. You have an opportunity here. Why are you wasting it?"

Growling, Yang swung her fist to clash violently against Qrow's scythe, creating shockwaves that could travel far and wide, ripping apart any remaining pieces of stone holding up this Academy.

"Hold this pose," Ghost ordered, standing up tall while pointing his finger gun full of Aura.

"Yes sir," Oliver replied.

Crouching beneath his team leader, with his left fist on the ground and his right fist clenched, Oliver held there without blinking. Breathing at a precise rate that only a machine could reproduce to ensure maximum efficiency in technique.

There, facing a god, the two young men's Aura intensified to their absolute physical limits. The two of GOLD represented the best potential the Empire had to offer, and possibly the peak of what a mortal could accomplish.

"Hold it," Ghost continued.

But Nora's simple footstep was not to be underestimated. Just one step, one stomp on the ground – and the very tectonic plate of the continent shifted in ways that gave ordinary men goosebumps from the mindboggling quakes.

This was the true power of Spring recorded in old holy texts. The dominion over the soil, shaking the earth beneath. Drawing from the storm massive plasmic fires that gravitated toward the ground. This was known, of course, as lightning.

How terrifying that one's gravity could be so strong they could draw in fire from the sky. How powerful one must be to lift a hammer heavy enough to crush a continent. How horrid it would be to see that very hammer infused with electrical energy so dense, the plasma was practically a solid block.

But the men of GOLD were disciplined. They held strong, even though they both knew they were severely outmatched. They were sure that even if the Fleet Admiral himself were to go up against Nora, he would still have no chance at victory.

But the spirit of their Empire could not be easily conquered. So with conviction – Ghost fired.

"NOW!"

Dashing from the ground, leaving behind cracks in the sand from his footprints, Oliver came forward in the air to receive Ghost's powerful finger gun shot, massively empowering Oliver's muscles with electrical energies fusing with a raging windy Aura.

Oliver's eyes lit up like stars, crackling and roaring as his fist came forth, smashing onto Nora's hammer. Spinning her hammer several times before blocking, she pulled back to smack Oliver straight across his forearm.

It took everything he had to not be pushed back from the impact, despite the blow shattering several bones stretching up to the top of his shoulder. He powered through, to then deliver a powerful roundhouse kick, spinning his body around one more time for a follow-up heel kick.

Coming off from the ground, Ghost joined in, front flipping and slashing forward countless times, almost as if he were a human bladed wheel. Following it up with several more hand strikes, slashing away at any opening Ghost could find. Forming his hands in the most precise manner he could sharpen into.

But Nora was simply too fast. Her eyes darting around to see every one of their hands and fists coming. Blocking those attacks, taking them with her Aura, Nora persisted through the barrage before shooting from the palm of her hand several balls of electricity, spinning around and backhanding the both of them with her fist to knock them back down in the far distance.

Curiously, descending from the sky above came these Atlesian Paladins deployed from several different airships, crashing straight into Nora's flight path. Which did manage to somehow knock her out of the sky for a brief moment, before she redirected her momentum and tossed the two Paladins onto the ground. One of them shattered into a thousand pieces from touching her electrical skin, the other powered through and prepared several cannons to fire. Another Paladin snuck up behind her, smashing her with its giant mechanical fists, which shattered immediately in just a couple of blows.

"Once again," Oliver smirked, spitting a mouthful of blood, "Diamond coming in to save the day."

Diamond spoke through their earpieces in an instant sharp tone:

"Negative. We cannot defeat her. Fall back."

"I'm afraid there's nowhere to fall back to," said Ghost. "We just need to buy time for Lisa."

"And how long will that take?"

The moment Diamond finished her sentence, not more than a few milliseconds later, a blast of searing fire came soaring through the sky from behind the two men of GOLD, morphing from fire into fast lightning that was not colored blue like Nora's own electricity.

Instead, the blast of flame struck at Nora's torso, catching her off guard, just barely fast enough for her to not be able to block in time, and knocking her down onto the ground at last.

All three of them, Ghost, Oliver, Diamond, watched in astonishment as they turned their heads to witness something that almost seemed blasphemous to the efforts of the Empire, but conflictingly, was something that they were still at least somewhat relieved to see.

Standing in the far distance, shattering the storm dome with her fire – was Cinder Falls, Queen of Mistral.

"Well, I'll be," Oliver coughed.

Dashing from behind Cinder and joining her teammates, Lisa reappeared before her boys, leaving behind a trail of fire from her boots.

"Sorry it took so long," Lisa grinned, cracking her knuckles. "Let's finish this."

Cinder's cackle could be heard for miles, echoing with bizarre rumbling now that her overwhelming Aura had now entered the field. There before everybody on the battlefield, they would now witness the power of someone divine, proving to all definitively that Cinder was, in fact, the rightful ruler of the throne of Mistral.

For she truly was the Fall Maiden.

From behind the woman, a pillar of fire the size of a mountain rose the moment she powered up her Aura, scorching the very desert sand itself, instantly turning them into glass and crystals from the extreme heat. Collateral damage was abound, for anybody not strong enough to withstand the cruel heat of Fall would be instantly turned into ash. This included numerous low-ranking officers of the Empire alongside countless scorpion riders, instantly vaporized into nothingness.

Nora's expression remained unchanged throughout all of this. As she stood back up on her feet, cracking her neck from the impact she received moments ago, which now seemed like a mere inconvenience with her regaining balance. But Nora knew this opponent was not someone to be underestimated.

Nora speculated that even without the Superman, if Atlas and Mistral were true allies, they would be able to conquer the world with little effort.

Charging up her hammer once more, she dashed so far so fast into the deep sky that it almost seemed as if she were teleporting. Now with the power of the earth and the storm, shaking the tectonic plates, her hammer now held the insane power to vaporize the entirety of the West itself.

Still smirking, Cinder was not deterred. And in fact, was so confident in her own ability that she conjured up a fireball from underneath her oversized sleeve and immediately tossed it into the distance. The ball was small at first, but as it traveled it began to sear the atmosphere, burning through oxygen, leaving behind a violent trail of flame so hot that the moment it touched the Death Stalker – the Grimm Giant would be immediately turned into dust in a matter of seconds.

A titan of a monster, disintegrating into the wind from a flame no bigger than a pebble.

From this confidence, Cinder conjured up powerful storms and fire from the sky with just a wave of her hands. Pulling down extreme thunder and hail and rains of inferno from the intense gravitational force of her Aura. Nora responded in kind, also summoning another storm from Spring's earthquakes, killing countless soldiers far below in the process.

Here the two Maidens would clash in a battle the world would rarely see. Or perhaps it was invoking a familiar memory of the soil from this land fractured into the Remnant of today, echoing the past.

"Well," said Oliver, "at least that's out of our hands now."

Clutching the side of his ribs, Oliver collapsed onto his knees, with Lisa immediately bolting to his side to help him up.

"Thanks," he smiled. "I could go for a drink right about now."

"War's not over yet, soldier," said Ghost. "Come on, let's help the Fleet Admiral."

"Wait, do you hear that?"

"What will you do, Daughter of the North?"

Being held down by the arms of Oobleck, Weiss was slowly being consumed by the empty energy of the green goo. The green was fast, and yet when it came to consumption, it took its sweet time. Savoring every flavor it could taste.

After all, Weiss' cellular structure was thicker than anything Oobleck had come across in his entire life, despite his arrogance. A completely perfect specimen that had never been harmed before in her entire life. Even now with the claws trying to dig into her skin through her uniform and Aura, she felt no pain, no damage.

"You can't kill me, Chief Torturer. Your tricks aren't strong enough."

"Oh, but I can keep you here forever. Keep you from the war, make you watch as your ice towers fall. The God King will be pleased, oh so very pleased."

Just then, ringing in her ears and eyes came bright lights…

From a farmland far, far away.

The house at the edge of a place far Beyond, accompanied by the ringing of the bell. There – Red stood, red cape flowing, red spirit lighting, watching Weiss.

Leaning in close, she whispered:

"Remember your legacy."

Weiss did not quite fully understand the true nature of things. But her instinct felt automatic somehow. As she glared at the visage of the one Oobleck to see a familiar emanation from a place higher than where they were. Far Beyond.

A face of something darker, more demonic.

His breath was heavy as the Ooblecks continued to click their tongues, whispering strange phrases littered with strange rhymes.

But Weiss was undeterred, and surprisingly – the arms from the goo began to deteriorate. Their strength weakened as the grip could no longer hold. And now, with flakey pale skin cracking and falling apart, and the seeds of the nails no longer having that scent of strong tropical coffee.

"What are you…"

The green goo was retreating, and even they were not aware of the reason why. Trying to gravitate back any way they could to recapture Weiss and consume her into the deeper depths of Oobleck. But slowly, and surely, the goo could no longer hold power and intangibility over the invincible Superman.

But the Superman was not touching the goo either, or rather she did not need to. All she needed to do – was rise. Standing back up on her feet, floating back up a few inches off the ground, reclaiming dominion. And with that silent raging spirit inside, the fighting spirit of icy steel, the goo became allergic. Backing off from the presence of something so strong.

Something bizarre was afoot. Was this the power of the Superman that had always been dormant within her all this time? Or was this strength something that newly came? Allowing her to grow forth from something dire, adapting?

"What are you?" Oobleck's grimaced, growling. "How? You seem… familiar…"

And faster than the eye could react, Weiss was already floating in front of the Torturer, with her hand now around his neck, lifting him off the ground with ease. Giving him barely enough room just to breathe as he tried to claw her grip from his neck.

Leaning in close, Weiss said:

"We should both remember each other. But I don't. At least not yet. All in due time."

Tossing him on the ground, sure of herself, sure of her power, sure of a guarantee that Oobleck now won't come after her, at least for the moment. She unsheathed her rapier, and with intense vibration that reached a speed that was impossible to calculate, the weapon coated in thick Aura lit up like a violent star. Coming to life from a single precise point of bang.

"NO! You're not getting out of here!" Oobleck crawled on the ground.

And the green goo rose once more into the shape of a tsunami. Massive, as large as an entire mountain, to rise far into the height of the moon before crashing down onto Weiss with the weight of Remnant behind this demonic force.

But Weiss' Aura was too bright. With the vicious vibration of the blade, she stabbed forth – aiming at the subatomic strings of the lower microscopic planes, and there with the most power she had ever put into a blade thus far, she punctured a hole through the fabric of space.

The structure of the air around shook as the dim green light of Oobleck trembled at the immense power of a Superman. Cracks began to form in midair as tremors shook the entirety of Remnant itself, sending shockwaves into the depths of the cosmos far in the distance at a speed no mortal could measure. The point at which the tip of the blade entered through began to widen into a large plate of light, like glass, glowing with intense cosmic energy infused with godly Aura.

The gravity of the entire universe shook, crowding in far distant buildings, pulling in trees, rooting them from deep soils that had consumed them for thousands of years. Even the heart of the oceans could do nothing but obey the strength of the crackling dimensional hole, striking, searing away droplets of water bigger than lands, bigger than ships.

All surrounding around the one Superman of this world, powerful gravitational fields pulling in all sorts of materials in this alternate world, too numerous to name. Cars, beds, wallets, coins, Paladins, ships, submarines, silver, shirts, cattle, worms, poison gas, steel pipes, axes, bowls, fridges, roofs, skeletons, mortar, bricks, combs, wild bees, dead lions, stone pillars, knives, bullets, candies, flowers, rats, crates, shells, polymer, tattered jackets, leather, and many, many more.

"What on Oz's green earth is going on?" Oobleck cried. "This place is supposed to be intangible. What the hell is all this crap? I won't allow you to win, you tyrant. I'm taking back Vale!"

Turning around to face Oobleck once more, she glared, before uttering a single word to the Torturer:

"Farewell."

Now facing the luminous opening in front of her, Weiss pushed the blade through, and immediately after – the entire fabric of Oobleck shattered.

Floating above the sandy desert, Weiss was back.

"Holy shit!" Oliver shouted from afar. "The Chancellor's back."

Before anyone could process the reunion with her people, the cracks of the cosmos reappeared once more, shaking the entirety of Remnant near and far. And behind those bright distortions of space – were two Maidens clashing.

Smashing her hammer against Cinder's fire dome, Nora managed to send Cinder flying back far down into the sand. Quickly regaining her balance, Cinder grabbed a handful of sand from the dirt, and proceeded to superheat them underneath her long flowing right sleeve to form them into fragments of glass. Using her Aura to pull them together into the absurd shape of a minigun spawning under the fabric.

To respond in kind, Nora's hammer morphed, shrinking itself before transforming into a heavy grenade launcher, similar in shape to the head of the hammer. She held the gun while floating inside a dome of electricity, and fired them off down into the sand as Cinder blasted back powerful rains of bullets slashing upward, leaving behind furious trails of fire.

The grenades caught fire and immediately detonated, easily having enough power to crater a continent. And yet, in the middle of it all was Cinder cackling as if she had lost her mind. Which was doubtful to any soldier watching, for many did not think she was ever actually sane to begin with.

Not far from where the Maidens were fighting, the Fleet Admiral continued to battle Oobleck's green goo. Slicing at any attack coming at him in every direction. But the moment the cracks of the cosmos began to appear clearer and clearer in the darkening sky, was the moment Oobleck turned around, alongside his numerous clones, to let out a huge audible groan of a defeated frustrated legion of demons.

Knowing the turning tides, Oobleck slipped into the sand, taking the goo with him. And just like that – he was gone.

Maru tried to chase after him, slicing into the ground to create a massive fissure. But he found nothing under the crumbling rocks the moment they opened out into the open for all to see. It was as if Oobleck were never here in the first place.

Back on the other side far away, the Maidens continued as Cinder gathered up more heated crystals before forming them into a hundred floating javelins, with her now ready to toss them up at Nora, who was powering herself up with dense electrical currents.

Ready to clash once more, they dashed toward one another, prepared to go all out, only to then suddenly be stopped by a rapier flying past the two of them, ripping the air between them with enough force to create a mini cyclone that stopped the two of them dead in their tracks.

"That's enough!" Weiss shouted, descending from on high.

Here in the middle of the desert, three gods would face off against one another. Despite being an ally of the Empire, Cinder's murderous intent for both Nora and Weiss was still somewhere deep behind those fiery pupils of hers. She was practically licking her lips with uncontrollable hunger.

But ultimately, she powered down, for she knew this battle was coming to a close now that the odds were in their favor once again. Vacuo may have possessed a Maiden, but that was still not enough to win a war.

And Nora knew this. So, she too powered down and collected herself. The hammer she held in her hand remained firm, still bloodied with Atlesian soldiers, but now finally resting from its first fight.

With a simple wave of her hand, Nora's lightning bolts scattered across the battlefield far and wide to collect the remaining soldiers of Vacuo. With divine power, she teleported those riders away from this desert into some far-off location, and then proceeded to disappear into the electricity herself, leaving behind no trace for anyone to track or follow.