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Fighting Rose

Chapter 35

Bloodshed under the moonlight

Ruby and Pyrrha sat beside each other, both of them numb as they replayed the meeting in their heads over and over again. Neo finally reuniting with Torchwick was the only real light to the situation. After that, everything went downhill.

The reveal of the Maidens and the wonders of magic.

Amber Autumn, slowly wasting away in a metal coffin.

The offer for Pyrrha to fuse souls with her.

Her mother, lost in a nameless battle that was meant to seal the tide of Grimm forever.

'…That's nothing compared to what Pyrrha's got to be going through right now,' She said as she grit her teeth. 'I've got to keep my cool. I have to hold it together. Pyrrha's being cohereced into basically destroying her soul in order to help people. I have to… Oh God, how do I tell Yang?' Her throat tightened painfully as her eyes began to sting. 'Stop it. Stopitstopitstopit.'

She felt a hand on hers and looked up to see Pyrrha looking at her, her own eyes watery and hollow.

"…Goddammit," Ruby muttered as they both hugged each other tightly. "GODDAMNIT!"

"I know," Pyrrha sobbed, "Gods, I know."

They both silently cried into each other for what felt like an eternity, helping ease the weight of the world from each other's shoulders even if only for a moment. Even after they stopped crying, they simply held each other in a tight embrace.

"…you know," Ruby croaked, "For all the shit I give you, I think you'd make a great sister."

"I'm an only-child," Pyrrha chuckled hollowly, "I'd be happy to call a little brat like you sister."

Drying their eyes, they simply leaned on each other for support, once more trying to think rationally about the whole situation but unable to let go of the pain and weight that came with it.

"…This situation's so fucked," Ruby sighed, her voice gravelly as she wiped her eyes again. "Pyrrha, you can't take that offer-!"

"And let people I can help die?" Pyrrha shot back, softly but firmly, "If it weren't for your eyes, would you refuse that offer?"

"…Maybe, maybe not," Ruby admitted, "It's just… if I'm going to be strong, then it'll be on my terms. I just…" Her eyes itched again. "I just can't stand the idea of becoming something I'm not to try and help others. I want…" Her throat got tight again and Pyrrha gently rubbed her shoulder, "Wanted my mom to be proud of me sticking to my guns."

"…Gods help us all," Pyrrha murmured, rubbing her face into her hand.

"If they exist," Ruby said between grinding teeth, her aura beginning to spike as she settled back onto sensation of blood racing through her veins and the heat of anger that came with it, "Then they can go to hell for all I care."

"If," Pyrrha chuckled, Ruby at least a little happy that she managed to help Pyrrha, even if only a bit.

'…Wait.' A lightbulb went off in her brain, 'If I end up fighting Mercury (and knowing my luck along with Cinder's bullshit hax I'll definitely be fighting him), I can put a stop to Cinder's plan right from the get-go. Pyrrha won't have to fuse her soul with Amber!'

Her fist clenched tight as she vowed, 'I will beat Mercury, and I WILL stop Cinder's plan. But first… I'm gonna need Sun's help.'

}-{

She breathed out sharply through her nose as the Arena lit up, looking to the cheering crowds. She drowned out Port and Oobleck's voices, the roar of the crowd as all the finalists lined up to her sides. She ignored the way the others were shaping her up and focused. She bit her lip at the feeling of Sun's aura squirming with worry. Port as usual was a bit long-winded, but it gave her the time necessary to finally pin down Cinder's position in the crowd, a front-row seat off to her left. Just trying to feel her out made her eyes begin to itch, and she kissed her teeth as they began to outright sting with pain the moment the opponent-randomiser started up.

'Is it that she's affecting the technology itself? The display-boards?' A scary thought crossed her mind. '…Is she affecting probability to suit her desires? Can magic do that?' Cinder's magic flared and her eyes stung.

*DING*

"Our first contestant for our finals…" Port started, "Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the bombastic dark horse of the competition who's rapidly become a fan-favourite, the fast-footed reaper in red, RUBY ROOOOOSE!"

'Figured as much,' She nodded. She was already as warmed up as possible for the stunt she was about to pull. It wouldn't be enough, she knew. Hell, she'd probably badly damage her auric circuits for the rest of the finals, but for something like this, it would be necessary. Her eyes were jabbed with pain and she flinched as she felt Cinder's power flare for an instant.

*DING*

"…and our second contestant, a hard-hitter and quick-kicker who's had dominant displays over the course of the tournament, ladies and gentlemen, a round of applause for the young man in grey, MERCURY BLACK!"

Ruby kept her eyes closed, continuing to ignore everything as she began to cycle her aura through her body the same way blood circulated through. Slowly at first, ensuring that it was as controlled as possible. This was key: if her control was off by even a small amount, she would cripple herself before the fight even started at best. Hell, she wasn't even sure if this would work. At worst… A warm hand was on her shoulder and in that moment Ruby felt her tension and fears begin to slip away.

"Be careful," Sun whispered, "I believe in ya."

She smiled and nodded silently, her control over her aura tighter and more uniform while her body relaxed. There was no way she could lose now.

'The power of love, I guess,' She snorted.

"Someone looks happy," Mercury said as she opened her eyes.

"How can I not be?" She shot back as she slowly got into a ready stance, "I've got an easy win to start off the finals. You can't ask for more than that really."

His face twitched and she pressed the advantage.

"I mean, with how bad I absolutely – no, literally kicked your ass, I'm kinda surprised you're not shaking in your size-15 boots."

His teeth began to audibly grind.

"Clown-ass boots."

She could see veins pop up on his forehead now.

"…Goofy aah boots."

Right when it looked like he was about to snap back at her, she immediately switched tactics, her face morphing into a snarl and catching him off guard as the ten-count begun.

"You better grit your goddamn teeth. The rose Blooms, the petals Scatter!" Her roar was accompanied by the explosion of bright-red aura and the swirling mass of petals before she hunched over slightly, teeth bared as she stared directly into Mercury's shocked eyes. "A pint of blood and a pound of flesh, I'll shed it all… AND ADVANCE!" Her complexion turned pink and veins popped up as steam now hissed off her skin. Already she could feel her muscles beginning to pull and yank painfully at the sudden influx of power but she powered through the pain and focused on controlling her aura.

Sun's Kaio-ken technique was something that had been in her thoughts since the fight against Torchwick's paladin, being similar to her Advance in that they multiplied their physical abilities, though the latter focused entirely on increasing her torque and speed. Skilled as she was, trying to copy it outright was too dangerous, not to mention impossible given how little time she had to understand the Kaio-Ken, but all she needed was the basic mechanics of it to understand that it was still useful to her. Aura was, in a way, the heartbeat of the soul. The faster the heartbeat, the more powerful the aura's output.

So why not combine the principle with the Advance?

"UUAAAAAAAAA!" Ruby screamed as her veins began to glow deep crimson under her skin, the patterns of roses and thorns on her skin shifting and fusing into her blood-vessels. Her heart serving as the literal centre, she concentrated and circulated her aura along with her blood, willing every drop of it to pump faster, to empower her to its utmost limit without letting even a tiny sliver of aura slip. Every strand of her hair was glowing rose-red, even the whites of her eyes now glowing the same colour as she grinned savagely.

"HELL YEAH, IT WORKED!" She roared triumphantly, the crowed partly in awe, partly going wild at her change. "EXPLODING HEART: CRIMSON BURST!"

"LET THE FIRST MATCH OF THE FINALS BEGIN!"

(Que Music: Doom Eternal, Meathook)

Ruby disappeared, the ground beneath her feet pulverized before she reappeared crouched low on all fours at Mercury's feet. His senses screamed at him as he shifted his gaze upwards, Ruby already there with a leg raised to drop a meteoric axe-kick on his head. His arms shot up to block just as her leg began to move –

*BANG*

Her heels exploded into his jaw from below, his eyes almost rolling into his head as he shot into the air, recovering as fast as I could to see Ruby literally flying straight at him.

"GODDAMN BRAT!" He roared as he fired a high-impact dust-round with a downward stomp, Ruby sharply flying around it and above him even as he spun and fired off another round with a roundhouse kick, yelling "GOTCHA!" as the bolt was an inch away from her head, only for her to disappear right before it hit her –

*BANG*

Her heels impacted his jaw and temple in a vicious drop-kick, body wheeling through the air before smashing into the arena below. Biting back a bark of pain, he scrambled to the side as Ruby descended like a crimson buzzsaw, her wheeling axe-kick ripping a three-foot deep gash into the stone as Mercury readied himself to start retaliating. He couldn't even rise off his knees as Ruby already grabbed the back of his head and smashed her knee into his mouth at full-force, head snapping back before she spun sideways through the air and sent a roundhouse crashing from above onto his exposed chest. His lungs crumpled like soda-cans and his ribs screamed in protest before he snarled defiantly.

Pale grey aura burst from his body, shining patterns of wiring pulsing just underneath his skin with his own Trigger. He shoved her off and dashed back to give himself as much breathing-room as possible, setting his feet to –

Ruby was already in front of him, a left-straight piercing into his stomach, a right uppercut to the jaw and a spinning hook-kick to the temple all before a person could blink, his body spinning like a top as spit and a bit of blood flying from torn lips before he was speared in the ribs by Beowulf's clawed feet, this time screaming in pain. His mouth was smashed shut as Ruby stepped in, gunshot-like jabs blasting into his stomach, solar plexus and lips, again snapping his head back so far that his back was parallel to the floor.

"Exploding Heart: Red SMASH!"

A punch between a hook and uppercut blasted into his back right where his left lung was, a crimson shockwave radiating from the impact and ripping through the air, forcing him back onto his wobbling feet to face Ruby, her head bobbing and weaving so fast that it created a glowing infinity symbol. He barely brought his hands up in time as Ruby flowed into the Dempsey Roll, her fists exploding off of Mercury's guard so fast it looked and almost sounded like a fully-automatic machine-gun. The metal-padded bracers he wore were rapidly ripped to shreds under the assault, Kevlar and plating flung to the side as each impact drilled deep into his skull even through his guard.

'Dammit, sh-she's even stronger than before!? At this rate she'll grind me into the dirt before Em' can use her semblance to trick her!' For a split second as a right hook shattered his guard, his eyes met Ruby's and he could see her determined face: she wasn't just trying to rapidly wear him down, she was aiming to knock him out cold. '…she knows. That fucking brat KNOWS! SHE KNEW ABOUT THE PLAN!'

Ruby wound back for a final left hook with all her speed, weight and power behind it, steaming petals trailing off her skin and weapon as her punch tore through the air and raced for Mercury's jaw.

"YOU LITTLE BITCH!"

Her fist impacted his stomach as Mercury screamed and smashed his knee into her eye-socket, and explosion of grey aura and crimson petals blinding everyone for a split second as the combatants were blown backwards. Even as he tumbled across the ground, he scrambled back to his feet and instinctively lashed out with a wild roundhouse kick to where he thought her head was going to be, only to swing through empty air. His guard went back up a moment later, only to realize that she wasn't anywhere near him. Confused, he looked around and saw that she was a good distance away from him and on her knees. Blood was pouring down the right side of her face from a nasty gash above an eye so swollen that it couldn't open while more dripped from her nose and mouth. Strangely, her power seemed to have deserted her entirely, her breathing heaving and ragged as she clutched at her chest.

'…The way she's rapidly circulating her aura,' Mercury realized, 'She's a prodigy alright, but she can't maintain that kind of concentration if she takes a hard-enough shot! Not to mention the physical backlash from power exploding out of her circuits like that…' He quickly glanced at where Cinder was watching, her face surprised but not displeased as he made a quick hand-gesture, and while it didn't convey everything, it was enough to get the basic message across.

'She won't fall for it.'

Cinder smiled then, and he felt his blood go a little cold at the sight.

'Plan B it is. God I hate plan B…' He looked at Ruby and a twisted grin split his face. '…but if it means killin' this little shit, then it's so worth it.'

"Y-yup, figured this'd happen," She wheezed, stifling a groan as she felt every twist and micro-tear in her muscles before baring her bloody teeth in a big grin and smashing her fist into her chest, right where her heart was. "C'mon heart n' soul, we ain't done yet... so GET BACK TO BEATING!"

She looked up to see Mercury fire off a hail of dust-rounds directly at her. She felt her heart stall for a moment, unable to keep up with the circulating blood and aura before she revved back to life, hair blooming back to vibrant red as she leapt to her feet and dashed forward. Her legs lashed out to bat the projectiles away, spinning rapidly and shouting in exertion as she swung a whirling hook-kick into the final one, launching it straight back at the sprinting Mercury. To her surprise, he snarled and punted it out of the way with a hook-kick of his own, sending the dust-attack smashing into the shield hard. They both roared as roundhouse kick met roundhouse kick in the centre of the ring, a wave of writhing grey clashing with swirling red petals as the crowd roared, a tinge of bloodlust worming its way through them as they revelled in the violence.

"So you knew, huh!?" Mercury snarled as they pushed against each other. "Warned Cinder about the possibility too, y'know!"

"Jig's up then!" She laughed through a bloody mouth, "You and your boss aren't as slick as you think!"

They broke off the clash and began to swing at each other full-force, Ruby's roundhouse cutting through air as he ducked and spun low, sweeping her off her feet and spinning into a handstand helicopter-kick barrage. Now airborne and right as his heel was about to hit her, she Tricked up and spun into a Lunar Phase, her buzzsaw axe-kick barely missing him by a hair as his fingers punched through the floor to arrest his movement, tucking and spinning on his side while Ruby threw a hook-kick where his back once occupied the air. His palm to the floor, he sprung up sideways and shot both heels towards her, Ruby sharply kneeing his feet to redirect them away from her ribs, the glancing shot enough to make her lock up in pain as she felt one of them fracture and then snap cleanly as her control slipped and aura flooded to the bone in an overcompensated attempt to heal it.

"I don't need to be slick anymore," He said viciously as he set his feet and spun, another hook-kick aiming for the same broken rib. "I just need you dead."

Ruby spun even faster with a whipping hook-kick of her own, their heels clashing with another thunderous *BANG* that cracked the ground beneath them.

"Then you'd better try a hell of a lot harder!"

She hooked his foot with the crook of her ankle and yanked down, leaving him off balance and open as his head and upper body was pulled forward. Right roundhouse to the temple, left roundhouse to the jaw, spinning hook kick to the base of his skull, all in an instant.

"Three-fold Petal!"

He snarled and lashed out with a back-kick, Ruby redirecting the attack while still floating and blasting Beowulf's heel into his mouth in a side kick, her roundhouse almost tearing into his face if not for his high guard. She adjusted, shooting her heel low to crush his lungs, doubling him over and opening him up to a rapid-fire barrage of right-legged stomps, his head rapidly snapping every which way from the impacts and eyes rolling up into his head.

'If I can finish this now, so be it!'

She spun like a top, leg lashing out in one final roundhouse k –

"Can't believe I have to use my fuckin' hands for you."

*CRSNAPSNAPSNAPSNAP*

Three, four, five ribs broke as Mercury roared and stepped in hard, dark grey aura trailing from his fist and smearing the air as it blasted into Ruby's stomach in a karate-style Seiken, all of the air and momentum turned against Ruby as she struggled not to vomit blood on the spot and control her aura. He followed up with the same punch, crushing her nose and flinging her back, Mercury right above her to deliver a diving side-kick to the mouth, her body bouncing off the floor and right into the path of a vicious uppercut.

"TATSUMAKISENPUKYAKKU!"

Her world all of a sudden spun and it felt like she was inside the turbine of an aircraft, hammers smashing into her from all sides as he spun in the air with a leg outstretched in a continuous hook-kick. The pummelling stopped, Ruby's body spinning through the air and falling face-first into his rising fist.

"SHORYUKEN!"

Her lip burst in a spray of blood as she was sent limply cartwheeling up into the air, a chocked scream as her control failed her and her burst faded away, muscles violently spasming and yanking as she opened her eye to see Mercury cupping his hands together, a sphere of pure aura formed between as he grinned victoriously.

"Buh-bye brat! METSU…!"

His hands shot forward, her world engulfed in white as her mind went blank and body went limp.

"HADOOOOKEEEEEN!"

"Crescent Rose KICK!"

For a split second, something smashed into the Hadoken, struggling against each other before his auric attack turned red and shot right back at him, Mercury so shocked that he couldn't react in time as it exploded into his chest, his scream drowned out by the explosion of red. Barely twenty percent of his aura remained, his body shaking as he realized he was standing at the very edge of the arena. He went to try and jump forward, only for his legs to fail him as he fell to a knee, struggling to breathe as he looked up and observed Ruby.

She landed on her feet and had also fallen to a knee, but he had to blink rapidly to ensure that his mind wasn't playing tricks on him. He could still feel her aura circulating around her body, but at a far slower and more relaxed flow than before, her skin now its normal shade of fair. She was still in rough shape, but nowhere near as bad as the damage she'd previously inflicted on him. He could even see the swelling, gashes and cuts steadily healing themselves, spasming muscles calming down and steam rising from them as she steadied her breathing and stood, her legs a little bit shaky but her body otherwise operating fine as her Trigger bloomed to life.

"You…" He muttered before rage engulfed him entirely. The ground beneath his feet exploded as he launched himself at her, his flying dive-kick meeting her sharp side-kick with another *BANG*, agony lancing up his leg, even the prosthetic. Their feet now on the ground, their hands clasped around each other as they began to push and heave against the other, cracks spiderwebbing around them as their auras flared.

"How!? Fucking HOW!? You were struggling to maintain your control not even five minutes ago! You couldn't even goddamn MOVE from the beating I handed to your ass! Hell, you're barely running on fifteen percent of your aura right now!"

To his shock and horror, he found that he was actually being pushed back, arms shaking in exertion.

"Because I know just throwing power around… wouldn't be enough!" She said right back through grit teeth, "If I couldn't K.O off the bat… I'd just wear out down enough from the get-go… then I could shut my Crimson Burst off and recover! You're an assassin: you might be in good shape but…!"

Her words enraging him further his knee shot towards her face, Ruby letting go and backflipping away. Mercury dashed in but was shocked at how heavy his body felt, fractured bones and torn muscles screaming at him and making his flying hook-kick painfully slow, Ruby ducking under, flipping on the spot and smashing her heel into his chest. His diaphragm seized up as he was flung onto his back, Ruby landing awkwardly on hers rather than Tricking down to conserve her aura before she smoothly sprung to her feet, Mercury barely making it up while struggling to breathe.

"You've never had to brawl it out at full power for so long, have you!?"

Leaping in with a barrage of stomps that rattled his guard, she ducked low under a straight kick and hooked his ankle with her own, Mercury quickly trying to stomp on her head to both regain his balance and stop her from sweeping him, only for her to leap out of the way and lash out with a low roundhouse to his thigh, Mercury barely stifling a bark of pain.

"You're way more skilled and powerful than most people here, no questioning that," Ruby admitted as she landed on her feet, "But you trained to kill with one good shot, you never had to push yourself to the limit in your jobs, huh!?"

Roundhouse met roundhouse once more, and this time it was Ruby's that won out, Mercury limping backwards with something creeping into his heart as he gazed upon the wounded, bloody, confident, grinning face of Ruby Rose. He thought it was fear at first, but in the back of his mind he rationalized that it wasn't that. Cinder made him feel fear, but this? He was impressed.

"You're gassed out. But me?" Her Trigger seemed to flare even brighter, her aura still circulating through her body and empowering just that extra bit more as her eyes shone fiercely. "Now I'm MOTIVATED!"

Her sidekick to his floating ribs outright doubled him over this time, his face wide open for her front-kick that snapped his body into an upright position. A left-roundhouse to his ribs almost had him curl over one way while her right hook-kick to the face flung him bodily the other direction. She'd already Tricked to where he was going to be, her body curled up and relaxed before she exploded into motion, her shoulder spearing into the small of his back at full speed.

"Iron Rose MOUNTAIN!"

He let a strangled gasp out before gritting his teeth and whirling around, trying to elbow her in the face and hitting nothing but air as she backstepped just enough for him to brush her nose, her leg turning into a blur.

"Crescent Judgement!"

The attack assaulted him from all sides in an instant, Ruby immediately working him with a nasty combination: jab-cross to the jaw, a roundhouse to his leg, weaving in with a vicious left uppercut to the gut. She shot forward and shifted her weight as he threw a fast but sloppy sidekick, now at his side as her right knee exploded into his ribs, a left roundhouse crashing across his cheek only for a hook-kick from the same leg to blast off his other cheek.

"Crescent Judgement!"

Again at point-blank range, the attack tore more aura away from him, his shaking hands barely able to stay up now as Ruby lay into him with one final combination. A jab-cross slipped right through his guard to bust his lip and nose, Ruby weaving under a strike that wasn't coming to load up a right hook to his cheek, left-hook to the temple, a right-uppercut that snapped his jaw up and a left hook to the liver.

"Crescent JUDGEMENT!"

The attack wove seamlessly into her combination, Mercury insensate as he could barely keep his legs under him while he was sent sliding backwards blinded by his pain.

"Crescent PISTOL!"

Solid air mashed into his lips and tore flesh, arms finally dropping as he failed to lift them. Looking one last time, the final thing he saw was Ruby bursting with power, skin pink and steam trailing from her as she dashed in to finish the fight. His body moved on its own, setting itself into a light stance before his leg shot out in a straight blur of motion, surprising him: it was the best kick he'd ever thrown in his life. And it did not hit her. She spun on a dime as her hand redirected his last-ditch attack, all his momentum added to her spin as she lashed out with a roundhouse to his exposed chest in the best kick he'd ever seen.

'…not a bad way to lose,' he mused.

"Exploding Heart," She intoned, almost gently, "Red Release."

An apt name.

*BOOM*

(Music End)

Her foot exploded into the centre of his chest, literally tearing his already tattered jacket and shirt clean off. Rather than a shockwave, a storm of petals burst from his back and mouth as his eyes rolled up into his head, slowly slumping to his knees and revealing the perfectly circular impact-mark on his chest. Ruby stood there for a moment, leg still outstretched as she let out a long, quiet breath to the sound of a silent crowd. She put her foot down slowly, biting back a cry of pain as her muscles randomly pulled and twisted again, that and the wave of utter exhaustion almost sending her onto her backside. Even then, the swelling feeling in her chest could not be dimmed by her exertions. Slowly, shakily, she raised a single fist as she had done many times before and shouted a single word.

"JACK…POT!"

The crowd roared and Ruby finally fell to her knees, sitting on her knees and gasping for air as her aura repaired the most damaged muscles and bones, ribs popping back together neatly but otherwise still aching along with the rest of her body. Motivated or not, she was still in rough shape so she opted to even her breathing and get a better grip on her aura to heal even faster, the pain slowly but steadily ebbing away as she watched the medical staff load him onto a stretcher. She looked up at Sun, JNPR and the rest of her team cheering for her, joy and relief on the latter's faces while Sun beamed with pride. She couldn't help but blush, shooting a big grin and a thumbs up back at them.

Then her eyes began to grow hot, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

}-{

In the void of unconsciousness, Mercury Black felt at peace. As fun as all the murder and the money that came with it was, there was nothing as soothing to his soul as the white void of his own mind. Occasionally he relived the satisfaction of killing his father over and over again, but it seemed like today was a peaceful day. Until his mind began to burn.

"Always goddamn Mondays," he hissed as he clutched at his head and turned around, falling to a knee. "Hey boss. I lost."

"So it would seem."

He did not look at Cinder, his eyes staying firmly glued to her 'feet' if they could be called that. They looked more like roiling flames in the suggestive shape of human feet. He knew not to look upon her because the last time that had happened, she'd invaded his mind on the sixth day after he'd attempted to kill her for the sixth time, at six in morning right before he normally woke up to ensure the image stayed fresh in his mind. He did not want to look at her again.

"You may have lost," Cinder sighed, her voice like crackling flame, "But your task is not yet complete. Kill Ruby Rose. If not that, kill who you can."

"…I mean, I can try," He said as casually as possible, trying to keep the tremble from his voice. "But I'm all tapped out. Even if I woke up, it doesn't change how messed up my body is. O-of course, I'll still try."

The silence and oppressive heat radiating off her was really getting him. This wasn't how he wanted to die, not after something as exhilarating as the fight with Ruby. He could suddenly Cinder's intrigue and amusement as she felt his thoughts.

"Oh…?" The heat increased as she began to chuckle, genuine mirth bouncing off the walls of his mind. "Interesting, very interesting! I didn't think you'd grow to respect her. That is good, very good. I will bestow a gift unto you then."

It felt like someone shoved a knife through his brain and he screamed, the void shaking violently as he felt her burn a slow mark into his forehead. His scream of pain rapidly morphed into a gasp of pure pleasure as power flooded his body, the Satsui No Hado coursing through his veins and mind in a way that he'd never thought possible.

"You know," Cinder said gently, "Some call this the mark of Demon-Lord Mundus. Others say it came from the Demon of Greed Mammon, while a few will claim that it actually was made by the hands of Demoness Sorceress Malphas. But do you know what they have in common? Well, the name comes from old Mistralese, but it serves well enough."

Mercury stood and he felt more alive than ever, face permanently split in a monstrous, inhuman smile. He willingly gazed on Cinder's true face and found it to be beautiful, her pointed ears and shining, flaming eyes soothing his heart.

"They call it M████." She said softly as she kissed his forehead, a shudder of ecstasy roiling through him. "Now… Do as thou wilt."

}-{

"Gotta say, he's taken a good deal of damage," One of the medics said as they checked over Mercury, "But all nonlethal. Fractured bones, torn muscles, bruised organs, but otherwise he's gonna be fine."

"Really?" A younger medic asked, "Dude, she hit him with a point-blank explosion. And that kick at the end… urg, that one looked like it'd have a person firing their organs out from both ends."

"Hah, you'd think so," The first medic chuckled, "It's… funny though. Most of the damage is focused internally and really precisely on vulnerable spots. Probably some aura-trick she did."

"…what, like flow your aura into someone? Is that a thing?"

"Under normal circumstances no," The older medic said, "It happens sometimes when professional Hunters overcharge their aura too much in a serious situation and cause internal damage to themselves. Granted, the way the bruising and damage pattern looks… definitely done by her."

"…Hunters are scary," The younger medic shivered as he glanced at Mercury, doing a double-take as he looked at his forehead. "…hey, am I going crazy or was this symbol never here before?"

The older medic had the same reaction, looking closer at the simple yet ornate black mark.

'M'

"…huh."

There was a flash of purple light before Ruby flew in, yanked them off their feet and flew them to the edge of the ring, blood running from her nose as she bit back a grunt of pain.

"Wh-!?" The younger man yelped, startled as he saw blood covering one of her arms, her cloak around it also stained with fresh blood. "Miss, you're bleeding-!"

"Breathe and stay calm," She said gently, "It's not my blood."

*SPLSH*

Confused, he looked down to see that his right hand was cut clean off at the wrist, blood periodically spurting from the wound. It took a few second for it to register to both the medic and the crowd, but the screaming started eventually.

"…oh," He said, eyes going wide as shock began to set in.

Ruby quickly lashed out with her free hand, chopping the young man on the neck while Beowulf was retracted and knocking him out cleanly before his heartrate could spike. She quickly took her hood off, wrapping it around his arm and tightly binding the wound in under a second she before gave his severed hand over to the medic.

"Put this on ice as soon as you can, get yourselves out of here and turn the shields back on RIGHT NOW!"

She didn't wait for an answer, pivoting and blasting back towards Mercury. He was standing straight up on the stretcher before, his back to her and a hand covered in blood before he looked up at the crowd.

"NonoNO!" Ruby screamed as he crouched and launched himself at them, people screaming and falling over each other as he closed in on them like a bird of prey, fingers curled like talons. She couldn't risk firing an aura-attack at him lest she kill someone in the crowd: there was only one option and she didn't hesitate. "CRIMSON BURST!"

(Que Music: Metal Gear Rising, Stains of Time)

*VYUUUUN*

Hair bloomed red and steam flew from her skin as her body rocketed through the air in a tight arc, crashing into Mercury at full speed as she grabbed his wrists and pushing back against him mid air.

"BASTARD, WHY-!?" She started before she looked at him, really looked at him. Sure, there were the obvious changes: the whites of his eyes now pitch black, the pulsing letter 'M' seemingly burned into the skin of his forehead, the way his veins threatened to rip from his flesh and his muscular structure far more ripped than before. No, that face of his scared her. His lips were literally splitting and cheek-muscles groaned as a smile so deranged, so inhuman, threatened to rip his face from ear to ear. He was foaming at the mouth, once-grey irises now glowing a vibrant purple as they bounced around in his skull before they suddenly laser-focused onto her. They terrified her.

Excessive Executioner

M████ Mercury Black

"Hwoooooo…" He hooted almost comically, "SHA!"

His arms snapped out with Ruby still gripping his wrists, leaving her wide open for a stomp to the face, the shield barely coming up in time for her to be smashed against it. Her eyes almost rolled up into her head and she almost had her skull caved in as she barely slipped past the following stomp and lashed out with a straight kick of her own to his face, not holding back as he was sent flying into the stone floor like a meteor, wincing in shock as she felt her leg overextend and the impact die out.

'Did he just use Hua-Jin?!'

"RUBY!" She heard Yang scream.

"Whatever you do, don't let the shield down!" Ruby shouted, never taking her eyes off him, "He'll kill the audience if you do! Leave him to me!" Not waiting to hear a response, she gathered her aura into herself, pushing right up to the absolute limit of her power as she locked onto him. "Rip right through, DEEP STINGER!"

The shield rippled as she tore through the air like a glowing red drill, her dropkick impacting his chest like a missile and blasting a crater around them six feet deep.

"Yeah, COME ON!" He screamed right at her with ecstasy in his mad eyes, "Give me more, GIVE ME MORE!"

Danger screamed at Ruby as she leapt out of the crater, a thin flash of light lashing up where she used to be as the crater was suddenly sliced up. Mercury was standing up now as if nothing had happened, hands poised as if he was a musical conductor and his stance as graceful as ever, aura trailing from his fingertips in a perfectly straight line. He was suddenly behind her and she began to duck, dive, bob and weave like her life depended on it as his hands began to dart up and down, side to side, again reminding her of a conductor as each movement cut through the stone around them like a hot knife through butter. Her eyes went wide as the pieces immediately clicked together: a beautiful martial art designed for killing in as painful and cruel a manner as possible, its movements as graceful as a bird of the water.

'N-no way, this is-!?'

"South Star Waterfowl Fist…!" Ren breathed, the rest of JNPR and RWBY looking at him with surprise, all besides Nora.

"Ren, if he has that…!" She started.

"…No," Ren concluded, "He's a dabbler: he's collected basic techniques from several different killing arts. A master of none… but more than enough to deal with an exhausted Ruby."

"SHYAOOOOOOO!" Mercury howled as he hounded Ruby with picture-perfect movements, Ruby unable to bite back a cry of pain as one attack cut through her aura and an inch into her thigh. She stumbled for a split second and barely backstepped as curled fingers raked through the air and aimed to disembowel her, ripping the lower part of her shirt to rags and adding four more cuts across her exposed scar. Her flinch of fear and pain almost cost her, pointed fingers almost piercing through her skull before she just managed to slip to the side, her cheek splitting open and her ear almost sliced in half.

She used the momentum from her slip to weave into another Dempsey Roll, roaring as she loaded up a left hook and swung at full speed, only for her head to almost violently snap clean off her shoulders as Mercury countered with perfect accuracy, armoured toes hammering into Ruby's temple and spearing her on her own momentum. Her swirling aura was snuffed out like a candle, eyes rolling into her head as her body began to fall to the floor limp.

"METSU!" He cackled, curled fingers trailing aura as he moved in to decapitate Ruby.

"Met-SUCK MY NUTS!" Ruby snarled as she shot forward, aura bursting once more blood streaming from her nose and mouth as her legs wrapped around his torso and arms pinned his own outstretched one.

"Oooh, not bad!" He snickered, easily resisting Ruby's mid-air armbar and raising his hand to smash her down, "But NOT GOOD EN-!"

Just as his arm came down, she let go and Tricked behind him, an arm wrapped around his throat and her other hand around his neck, veins popping up on her head as she squeezed as hard as she could. Even as he began to choke, he let out a gurgling laugh and calmly brought his hands up, almost tenderly clasping them around the arm that was choking him… and squeezed.

Ruby screamed in pain as his fingers pierced through Beowulf's gauntlet and began to pierce through her arm, blood firing from the puncture-wounds and dripping from Beowulf's mouth before Ruby Tricked away, struggling against the need to clutch her arm as he tore into her with bone-shaking attacks. She didn't even have time to try and redirect his strikes, the sheer force and his sense of balance cancelling out even her more successful attempts.

'He isn't just stronger, his technical capabilities are even better than before! He's even throwing so much Killing Intent that I can barely predict what he's gonna do next!' She realized, gritting her teeth and lashing out with a roundhouse kick at his jaw only for him to slip under, seamlessly spinning off of his back and whipping out with his legs like a breakdancer, smashing into Ruby's ankles and sending her crashing onto her back. Ruby tried to Trick out of the way while overcharging her circuits once more, only for pain to bolt down her spine and knife through every fibre of her being, locking her in place as her body convulsed. Her vision was warping and she could feel her mouth beginning to fill with foam, only able to watch as Mercury pinned her down and stared at her with a rather bored look on his face.

'No…NONONO, PLEASE NO!' She tried to scream.

"Oh," He said simply, "That's sad, but I'm not surprised. You pushed your body and circuits too hard with that technique of yours, so it's no wonder you're having a seizure. Oh well!"

He didn't just senselessly beat into her: he systematically took her apart, elbowing her across the temple, hammering her eye-socket, almost pulverising her jaw with his knuckles. All of this while Ruby was trapped in her own body, trying to scream, fight back, do something besides writhe on the floor and listen to the screams of her friends among the crowd.

Do you want to die?

'NO! NO I DON'T WANT TO FUCKING DIE!'

Do you want to live?

'YES!' She screamed. 'I WANT TO WIN, I NEED TO WIN! I NEED TO MAKE MOM PROUD!'

Then take hold of your birth right, and another step towards becoming my Pure Vessel.

}-{

The bloodied form of Ruby Rose seemed completely still, eyes rolled up into her head as Mercury laughed joyously at the sight.

"Didn't take too long!" He cackled, revelling in the sensation of her blood caking his fists and arms, "…but let's make sure you're done for good."

He bounded high into the air, Yang and Sun pounding away at the shields and looking up in horror as he raised an open palm. A sphere of writing purple and grey aura warped into being, violently spasming before he clutched it tightly, the Unlight spearing out through the cracks in his fingers as he descended, death in his hand.

"Death's embrace awaits! Messatsu: GOSHORYU!"

Yang and Sun screamed as their fingers started to rip through the Hardlight shield far too late, watching in horror as Mercury's fist struck like a meteor, six lines of Unlight ripping through the ground of the arena to form the Mistralese symbol of heaven. Yang and Sun stared at the devastation, tears spilling down their faces as the silent crowd watched on in silent horror. Then they both began to gnash their teeth, Yang's eyes immediately burning red and black flames beginning to crawl up her hair, Sun's eyes flashing yellow as primal snarl built up in his chest, muscles immediately straining as they ripped through the shields in unison, ready to leap in and kill Mercury where he stood.

"It's okay."

They both froze as someone stood between them, small and firm hands on their shoulders to calm them down. They both slowly turned to look in shock as Ruby kept her head down, her breathing still uneven and pained and her body visibly battered.

"I told you…" She said as she lifted her head with a small smile on her face, the red tips of her hair dyed with glowing silver, her eyes now pools of haunting moonlight, "Leave it to me."

Moonlit Omen

Ruby Rose

She was gone in a flash of silver-tipped petals, appearing behind the confused Mercury, their backs turned to each other.

"I hope you didn't think it was going to be that easy," She scoffed, both of them whipping around at the same time, elbow crashing into elbow with a deafening ring, the entire arena and even the Hardlight shielding violently shaking. Mercury cackled with glee as he stared Ruby down with vibrating purple eyes, the indentation on his chest writhing with similarly coloured light. Ruby met his eyes with an almost blank look on her face before they were both thrown back, staring at each other and listening to the sound of their own breathing.

'…That's funny,' She thought as she looked at her arm and gave her body a once-over, 'I can't feel…? No. No, I can still feel the pain, it just… doesn't matter.'

"Round two!?" Mercury asked with a grin, crouching and hunching with both arms out by his side as his inky purple aura began to squirm excitedly.

"Yeah…" She said aloud as she flicked blood away from her nose and got into her stance. She was on the ball of her feet, right hand loose and low by her hip, left hand up and clenched by her jaw, Beowulf clanking into place as she started bouncing on her toes. "Let's dance."

(TWBY Continued...)

So, the first fight of the finals: you probably weren't expecting it to escalate like this huh? I'm kinda surprised at how fast I was able to blast this chapter out, but to be honest it's also in part because I've be travelling for a bit because I'll be going to my official graduation ceremony! Back to the matter at hand, You might be miffed that I've cut a good chunk of Pyrrha (and now Ruby) meeting up with Ozpin and uncovering Amber, and yes, that's on purpose as much as I didn't want to do it. I mainly don't want to rehash an old scene if I can't add anything new besides a few lines from Ruby or add a neat twist to it, so I'm saving the bigger lore-reveals for later in Vol 3. That said, what did you think of Ruby vs Mercury's round 1? Personally I REALLY enjoyed writing it, especially adding some extra spice to Mercury's fighting-style, or more accurately styles. Everyone knows or has at least heard of the Shoryuken and Hadoken from Street Fighter, but extra points if you know where the South Star Waterfowl Fist is from off the top of your head. It's a veeeery important tip to what's going on with Ren and why he knows about it as well~!

That said, hope you enjoyed, and again I can't thank you enough for the support! Love you all so much, and peace out!