A/N: In which Vacuo ain't havin' any of Cinder's shit.

Also! Screw that episode!

Here's another idea that didn't quite make it due to a lack of positive reception in testing. Still, I wanted folks to at least see it.

Maybe its a tease of something that's coming. Maybe not. Haven't decided yet.

Cheers~!

"Vacuo sends its regards, bitch."

~?

Eye for an Eye

"Nothing personal, kid."

Three words. A simply series of syllables, yet they sealed Cinder's fate.

She never saw the assassin in the sandstorm, indeed she didn't realize Neo and Watts were already dead until it was too late. She never saw them fall. Never heard their death rattles as someone slit their throats. Never felt the knife until it came for her, slamming through the back of her shoulder like so much meat. Everything became a blur after that. Cold steel slashed through muscle and bone and then she was running, screaming, fighting for her very life.

This wasn't happening. It shouldn't be happening. It couldn't be happening. She was strong. She was mighty. She was invincible. She was a Maiden! She had fought and clawed and BLED for this power, and now that it was finally hers? There was no rousing triumph here. No last minute save. Only ignoble defeat.

Vacuo was supposed to be a weak kingdom! What was this?!

Wind slashed across her face, tearing a fresh scar across her already ruined visage. Flames flared from her feet and she shot upward, only to cry out in pain as a giant golden hand caught her and slammed her down to the dunes. She scrambled outright, but not quickly enough. A dagger slammed into her back. Her aura failed her again, unable to protect her from what should have been a glancing blow. The wound bled freely, yet another injury added to countless others.

A horrid keening sound filled the air. It was her only warning before death rained from above.

She flung herself away as a Rasenshuriken annihilated the space she'd just occupied.

"You know, there's just something poetic about coming out of retirement to deal with a cheeky little shit." Merry blue eyes burned with mirth in the whirling storm and for a moment she glimpsed the bastard's face, tanned whiskered cheeks against windswept hair before he vanished again. "I was content to let the younger generation deal with ya, but really, if you're just gonna cheat, what's the point?"

"Raargh!" Molten glass chased him as he danced backward.

She couldn't get near him. Couldn't even come close. His attacks ignored all aura. Worse, he'd vanished into the storm again.

"SHOW YOURSELF!" she raged and flung a fireball at the first shadow she saw. "Coward! Fight like a man!"

"Why would I do that?" his voice floated to her on the air. "You didn't show those girls any mercy. You fought like the coward you are." His knife kissed the back of an ankle, driving her to one knee. "From shadows." She cried out and swiped at him with her Grimm arm, only to taste empty air. "Shoe's on the other foot now, eh?"

Clenched knuckles barreled into her throat, and she stumbled back with a croak.

"How does it feel, Fall? To be deconstructed?" His knife parted the flames she flung at him and hacked into her face, ruining her nose before he darted away. "To be the victim?"

"You won't get away with this! Salem will-

Her words piqued into a scream as another knife hooked into her, tearing into her waist. Her blade swung on the shadow in the storm, only to shatter inexplicably.

"Ah, yes. Salem." someone clapped behind her and she whirled, finding only bloodied sand. "Who is currently...oh, that's right! Currently not here. Don't you worry. She's next." Tan fingers poked her spine and she flailed back like a drunken crab. His voice chased her still. "I may not be able to kill an immortal, but I'm sure once Oscar and I put our heads together, we can figure something out. We can always entomb her, bury her so deep that nothing will ever find her. Or maybe send her into space? That's always been a favorite."

He couldn't keep this up forever. Sooner or later, he'd slip up. He had to!

"This storm isn't your doing!" The wind shrieked in her ears, nearly deafening her as she raged at him. "Where is she?!"

"Who, the new Summer Maiden?" Laughter reached her, low and throaty reached her on the wind. "Far, far away from you. This storm is her doing, you know. Blake's quite cross with you after all you've done. She leaped at the chance to avenge her partner. Thankfully, Yang will live. You, however...

A shadow appeared behind her.

...you're already dead."

"What?!"

Flailing on her good leg, the Fall Maiden pivoted, summoning forth a fresh pair of shortswords to ward him away. They availed her naught. A bandaged fist smashed through the blazing blades like so much glass and tore into her stomach, burying itself at the wrist. Cinder doubled over, lone eye bulging. A fist caught her in her ruined face. Her shoulder. Chest, throat. One after another they came, ripping through heir aura as if it weren't even there. Yet another now. Another still. Another.

Her entire body shuddered beneath the barrage, convulsing as he tore her apart.

Cinder stumbled back, visible eye wide as the flames within guttered out.

Here at last, she felt a flicker of fear. "Please, mercy...!"

"Nope." a hammerfist smashed her down to the sands. "There is no mercy. Not for someone like you. You've hurt too many people and killed even more." he nudged her with a boot, forcing her to roll over, gasping onto her back. "You've razed three kingdoms to the ground. Vacuo was ready for you." he stomped down then, pinning her in place, denying her power with his very existence. "There's a bounty on your head, millions of lien strong now. And I aim to collect."

She gurgled wetly as he ground his boot into her wounds.

"As to who I am...well." he chortled softly. "The name of a quirky old geezer won't mean anything to you, so why should I give my name to some dead woman? They call people like me when dogs like you need to be put down." he leaned in, blue eyes alight with anger. "And that's what you are. Cinder Fall. A mad dog. A spoiled child. A bloody migraine. A mere footnote in history."

He raised a kunai high, its honed edge glistening in the waning light.

Then he paused.

"Oh, right. I nearly forgot. There was one last thing the client wanted me to say before I brought them your head. Ahem!"

He paused, coughed once into his fist, and smiled. "Vacuo sends its regards, bitch."

In a final desperate burst, Cinder pushed the last of her Aura to the fore. His knife flashed down, pushing it aside like so much air. She tried to ward it away with her remaining arm. He hacked it off at the wrist and came in for a second stroke. She barely even saw the flash of that tapered tip as it caressed her neck. Her lone eye widened. No, no, no! Not like this! She wasn't meant to die like-

Cinder screamed once. A short, sharp, shrill sound.

Blood sprayed across the dunes of Vacuo.

And then there was silence.

A/N: What say you? Should this have been a story? Yay? Nay? Speak up!

Eh, more of a quick drabble than anything.

Aaaand there we go.

So...in the Immortal Words of Atlas...

...Review...Would You Kindly?

Have some previews!

(Previews!)

"C'mon, shake my hand." he grinned back at her. "Won't you shake a poor sinner's hand?"

Neo regarded the offered palm like a poisonous asp. Did she dare?

"Don't you want revenge? I'll tell you where Cinder is."

R&R~!