chapter 24: calamity

— fuck". Biju/Talking Beast.

—"because I did it" The character thought.

— "How are you?" Biju/Summon/Beast Thoughts.

— "I fell in love with." , character speaking.

This fanfic is bigust for fun, I don't own any characters from Naruto or the rwby series. I hope you enjoy reading this story I created

Alarms were ringing throughout the kingdom, announcing an imminent attack. The soldiers struggled to stop the onslaught of the enemy, the Grimm, who stopped at nothing. They didn't care if any of them fell, they just kept attacking without mercy or loyalty. There was no way to reason with them, only destroy them or die.

Only a few minutes had passed since the start of the attack and the only ones who had reacted in time were the Atlas soldiers and their robots and paladins. They were trying to contain the invasion, offering good support, but it was not enough. Sooner or later they would run out of ammunition or strength and the Grimm would enter the kingdom and wipe out everyone. Some had already managed to infiltrate, but were neutralized by the soldiers, but not before causing some casualties.

—"Sir, we're running out of bullets! We have to reload!"

,Well, bring more!"

—"Sir, we cannot abandon our position, we would leave a gap through which they could enter! We are already few!"

Everyone was overwhelmed by the situation. This invasion had been a total surprise. Recently, according to the reports of the general and the director himself, there were no Grimm near the kingdom. They had all been eliminated after the White Fang attack. That had reassured the citizens, the soldiers and the hunters. It meant that the festival could go ahead without incident, as planned. But in an instant, when that anonymous call was heard in Amity Stadium, the Grimm appeared out of nowhere.

Where had they hidden? How was it possible that they had not been detected? The problem wasn't just that. The problem was that, according to recent reports, more Grimm were approaching at high speed. They came in all shapes and sizes and it was downright terrifying.

The Atlas soldiers were afraid. They knew that the situation was not going to improve. Soon those Grimm would be impossible to repel, even for hunters.

—"¡Mister!".

—"Call the general. This is very serious." Said a senior commander who was close to that platoon. In the distance he could see how a dark fog was approaching the kingdom. But it wasn't a mist, it was a mob of Grimm. There were so many that they seemed simply like smoke.

—"Yes sir". A soldier said with fear looking towards that cloud.

Another scream was heard in the distance. Another Grimm had passed by and had just killed a soldier along with a family: a woman, a child, and an adult man.

—"Curse". The soldier lamented.

—"Cover that gap! Don't let any more come in!" He shouted the order and another soldier replaced the fallen one and killed as many Grimm as he could.

—"This doesn't make sense. How the hell are we going to stop this?"

Ruby felt completely devastated. She had seen Mercury Black walking through the hallways leading to the combat arena, but that was impossible. The guy had just been seriously injured by his sister, but there he was, as if nothing had happened. Something didn't add up. Mercury started running and Ruby followed him, she didn't know why he was doing it, but she had to find out what the idiot was up to. However, when she was about to catch up with him, an incident occurred. There was a cry of pain, a cry she recognized instantly. It was a scream of horror, as if it were a shock.

He walked slowly and headed towards the sand, letting Mercury escape. And there she could see Pyrrha on her knees, surrounded by scattered metal debris. She could make out an arm of hers, with sparks and liquid coming out of it.

And he recognized a face. She was the strange girl he had bumped into that day in Vale. But why was she in that state? .

I was trying to process it.

—"Penny?" ,she said softly, advancing towards the combat arena.

Everyone in the Amity stadium ran away, except for a few. And those were the students who were still watching the scene.

Why the hell weren't they moving? Not even Naruto took a step, but he had his eyes closed. He was having a conversation with his tenant.

— "Damn, so more Grimm are coming, Kurama ?"

—" Yes, I can feel their negativity. I can't tell you exactly how many there are, but I will tell you that many are coming. Do you remember the great horde of Grimm you fought that day? "

—" Yes, I remember. I was about to die."

—" Well, let's say it's maybe four times bigger."

— "Fucking shit ," Naruto sighed. — " Well, I guess the secrecy is over . "

—" Yessss, it was good while it lasted. Finish them off, boy."

Naruto slowly opened his eyes and proceeded to slowly raise his hands in a cross sign. —" Well, I guess it was time to reveal the secrets. I didn't want it to be this way. In fact, I didn't want them to find out at all... But who cares. It's better now than ever."

—"Kage..."

And when he was about to say the word, the roof of the stadium collapsed. A Grimm entered. He was a death stalker, a very big one actually. He landed against the fighting arena near Pyrrha, but she still didn't react.

Slightly surprised, Naruto prepared to jump towards where Pyrrha was, but he didn't have to. Ruby walked right up to the Grimm and proceeded to threaten him with Penny's sword. She yelled loudly for him to stay away, but the Grimm did not feel intimidated. Naruto simply watched the scene and smiled. It seems that Ruby, despite her state of shock, still had something to do. And it was to protect Pyrrha.

—"Well, let's finish this," Naruto took the handle of his sword. This weapon was never used in Amity's tournament since it was forged by him. It would only be wielded against someone and no one else. But now the festival has been cancelled.

Suddenly a sound was also heard, a whistle. And the roof was completely destroyed by countless lockers falling on top of the Grimm. The beast collided heavily on the ground.

The lockers were opened and all the students' weapons were displayed.

—"Wow, that was an entrance," Naruto said. —"Well, why don't we join the party?"

The students armed themselves and attacked the flying Grimm mercilessly. They completely annihilated him. Naruto didn't have to intervene, he just jumped from his position. As he fell, he made a crack in the ground in the shape of his shoes. He approached Pyrrha, who was shocked.

—"There is no time for this," Naruto told him, touching his shoulder gently. She looked at him.—"Are you okay?"

—"Naruto," she murmured, with her eyes open and about to cry.

Then they heard firm, strong footsteps. It was Jaune, walking incredibly towards them. Pyrrha got a little scared and backed away. She had just killed a person, even if it was synthetic, that person was a partner of this blonde boy.

He approached the redhead with a blank, hard expression, but smiled sadly and held out her hands with Pyrrha's weapons.

—"What?" she asked, confused.

—"Don't be confused... Listen, we don't have time for revenge. I can't take care of this right now. Vale is being invaded."

She was still surprised and with her mouth open.

—"Don't look at me like that. We don't have time for this. Take your weapons and face the Grimm. That's what they trained you for, the blonde told him, his lips trembling but firm.—"... Then... then I will be able to cry."

Jaune turned and looked at Naruto. —"The Grimm are attacking, Naruto. But I guess you already know that."

—"Yes, many are coming. We have to act quickly," Naruto responded.

—"We have to protect the civilians and take them to the bullheads to get them away from here," said Jaune.

—"The robots and paladins will be in the front, a group of soldiers and hunters will provide support in the rear," said Naruto.

—"Did you hear it, general?" Jaune asked.

—"《It's the most optimal》".

—"With the attack teams we will buy the time necessary for the evacuation groups to get everyone to safety," said Jaune, with a hard look. His expression had changed. He no longer seemed like the clueless and clumsy boy that appeared at first glance, but rather an experienced and brave soldier.

—"《We will take you to the nearest town》".

—"Okay, it won't be able to be saved, but at least we can save the citizens. We will need all the help we can get. Now we have to get out of this stadium as soon as possible," said Naruto.

He also had a serious countenance, but unlike the blonde Atlas, he had a touch of battle lust. Everyone in the stadium looked at Naruto and Jaune, they were fascinated by that scene. They saw the two men who had everything under control. They were a little confused with what they could do, they only thought about attacking the Grimm, but when they saw Naruto and Jaune planning and taking action against the situation they couldn't help but admire them.

—"We'll take a bullhead and finish off all these beasts, Jaune," Naruto said, smiling at his blonde friend. —"Can you keep up with me?"

Jaune smiled back at Naruto. —"The question is whether you can follow mine."

—"What injustice! Why do I have to do everything myself? Well, I know that the boss is not free or anything, he is not lazy, but he could send me instead. I am sure that all that ,The work he does is more about partying and doing politics, he's just persuading people and I'm here doing the hard work,...how angry!"

—"I have to face the White Fang, deal with Cinder, fulfill Roman's favor and above all make sure that all the chaos remains chaotic,...it's a very strange thing to say."

A figure walked through a thick forest at night, in that forest a lot of Grimm passed by where he was, when they saw him they attacked him, but it was of no use to them, he killed them in an instant.

He also watched the sky as flying Grimm headed straight for the kingdom and Beacon Academy.

—"Wow, this is really impressive, they have shined, they have shined. I don't understand how Cinder brought so many Grimm,...it takes more than a simple murder of a robot girl in a stadium to raise panic in the world." public and the so much negativity in the air.

The figure touched his chin with his finger,—"this is a lot of Grimm, to have absolute control of these beasts this queen of the Grimm must be very powerful. Should I worry about her?"

The figure shrugged and brushed it off. A Grimm jumped at him, but in an instant he reached up and grabbed him by the neck.

—"Really, kid? You guys should have some sense of self-preservation for being stupid beasts. That queen of yours should give you a warning, I don't know, like just: Hey, only attack when you're in the kingdom, don't attack just any stupid guy." to appear on the road because it is not her mission. Something like that. That lady needs to give more specific orders.

The subject's hand tightened and killed the beast. The masked man looked at his hand and saw how that trail that could have been blood spread into the air and disappeared.

—"The truth is that their physiology is very interesting indeed. It's incredible that they don't leave a trace once they die. Those pits must have an interesting compound. I wonder who the hell created them. There is always an origin in everything."

The figure continued walking and every time a Grimm appeared he killed them.

The man entered a clearing in the forest. He was beautiful, illuminated by the light of the shattered moon.

—"This clearing would be an ideal place to camp with friends." The man stopped an ursa's claw with his hand and tore it like cardboard. Then he pointed his finger at the head of the enormous animal. An electric shock charred it and tore it to pieces.

—"Yes, I think you're right, friend."

The man walked to the center of the clearing and pulled out a three-pronged kunai. —"I hope you've practiced, boss, because if not this will be a waste of time. The truth is that I don't feel like doing the job alone. It won't turn out well if he participates in the fight, actively of course."

He stabbed the three-pronged kunai into the ground and waited patiently. She waited and waited, but nothing happened. This was very strange, it shouldn't take a moment, not even a second for something to happen.

—"What the fuck, are you serious?" The man got frustrated. —"What the hell? Are you serious? He's supposed to be here already, about five minutes ago."

And suddenly a blinding light appeared and disappeared in an instant, as if it had been a flash of lightning. And the silhouette of a man in a black robe was seen.

The man was standing, with a lost look. He raised his head and looked at the moon. He took the first step with his left leg, but stumbled and fell to his knees. He staggered as if he were drunk, but he wasn't. He touched his head as if it hurt him. He tried to get up again but fell to his knees again and grabbed his head with both hands. He was pulling out his hair.

The person who had summoned him was very concerned about the person summoned.

—"Boss!", the clone shouted in alarm when he saw the man who had just appeared with a flash. The newcomer doubled over and vomited.

—"Wow. What's wrong with you? Is it because of the trip? It's not cool at all for you, boss," the clone said sarcastically.

The man who turns out to be Sasuke responds by making an obscene gesture with his hand.

The man wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and sat up with difficulty. —"For... kami, this shouldn't happen. Is it a side effect of the hiraishin? It's stupid. This wasn't happening to Naruto when I saw it," the black-clad man complained.

—"Maybe it's because you don't master the fundamentals of this technique and you were just imitating them. And well, you have no idea how to do this technique correctly," the clone reproached him.

—"Maybe you're right, damn it... Don't you have water?"

—"Sorry, I don't have water," the clone responded.

The man sighed and stood up. He looked around and saw the kunai stuck in the ground.

—"Shit, how's the situation going?" Sasuke asked.

—"Well, as it should go, in chaos."

—"Is that good or bad?" Sasuke was confused.

—"It's good chaos, everything is going according to plan."

—"Cinder's plan you mean," Sasuke said as he put on his hood and took out a white mask from his robe and placed it on his face.

—"Her plan is actually incredibly simple. And here I was thinking it was something more complicated, like usurping the power of Vale's higher-ups, or killing the director, or… I don't know, putting a puppet in director position to control all of Beacon. But no... I guess simple works," the clone said.

—"Well, I guess my job ends here boss. Can I dissipate?"

—"Yes you can, I will need all the energy possible in case I run into him."

—"Understood," and the clone vanished in a cloud of smoke. The man was left alone in the clearing.

—"The view is completely desolate," he murmured as he saw the landscape dark and sinister due to the swarm of Grimm.

The man took a deep breath and sighed. His hand began to shake, despite the things that were happening and that he could prevent, he was not going to lift a finger to save the kingdom or any life in it. He didn't have to, because he was the enemy and he had to help in this. His job and his mission was to destroy the kingdom. And although he repeated it many times, the truth was that he was doubting and fearing.

He knew that what he was doing was an illusion, a lie he had told himself to justify his actions. There was nothing possible in this cruel and corrupt world. There was only war, hatred and suffering. And he was part of that, he was the cause of that. a murderer, a monster.

He prepared to continue on his way, but first he looked one last time at the kunai that he had left behind, an important weapon that could help him in battle, but it doesn't matter, he had 2 of those.

That kunai represented more than a simple technique to kill people, that kunai and that technique was made with the sole purpose of getting closer to the person you love the most, so that when she needs help you are there for her, it was created by the fourth Hokage for the love of his life, but this day she will be used for the end of a kingdom.

He bowed, then walked slowly towards Vale, leaving the clearing empty and silent.

—"If it were another way... if humanity and the fauns understood each other, if only they united to fight against the true enemy before them. I would not have to do this. When the world knows pain it will be able understand each other and there will be… there will be peace Delilah."

—"Stay in formation! Don't get discouraged or give up! This is not to fight them, it's to protect everyone! If everyone survives, this victory is assured! The kingdom will collapse, but it can be rebuilt as long as there are citizens! Now don't stop, keep going!"

This is how Jaune shouted to a platoon of soldiers who formed a human shield, while the robots and Atlas paladins attacked the Grimm. The swarm was immense, but they contained them while they evacuated the citizens.

He activated his intercom. —"Naruto, how's the East side going?"

—"《We have them under control, the formation will not let any Grimm pass》".

—"Okay, keep it that way." She then opened another line. —"Krill Specialist, how's the South side going?"

—"《We have them under control, sir... b-but the truth is that we should... maybe》".

—"We are not retreating! We have to be here long enough to evacuate everyone, do you hear me?"

—""Yes sir"". The specialist said with fear.

They will wonder why a specialist is taking orders from a simple soldier, who is a hunter student and who hasn't even graduated, hasn't intimidated them or anything. The answer has more to do with the fact that in times of peace it can be said that none of the specialists who are active in the kingdom of Atlas has experienced anything resembling an invasion, not even Jaune.

But he was recognized as a great hero, and it could also be said that he has faced something very much like a horde of Grimm on one of his many quests. Once he stepped out and descended from the Amity stadium, he proceeded to take command, regardless of everyone's complaints. Furthermore, the soldiers accepted him willingly and decided to follow him, because unlike the other leaders of Atlas, Jaune always stayed at the front with them to fight.

Jaune opened another line of communication. —"Flynt, Neon, how is the evacuation going?"

Time was crucial, they couldn't delay for long. —"《We're on it!》," Flynt shouted. —"《There are too many citizens》".

—"《The bullheads can't keep up with us》," Neon shouted. —"《《It will take longer, please hold on》".

—"Understood". Jaune said and cut the communication line. He could see Grimm after Grimm arriving. No matter how many they killed, they kept coming.

Jaune gritted his teeth and raised his hand and pointed at the Grimm. —"We will not give you an inch of land! Fight with everything you have! For Atlas! For Remnant! For our friends!"

The soldiers shouted loudly and charged at the Grimm with more courage. Jaune knew it was a hopeless fight, but he wasn't going to give up. He had a commitment to honor. He had to stop Cinder. He had to protect the world.

But above all, he had to survive. Because he was Jaune Arc and he never gave up.

—" This is getting harder than I thought, the formation won't last much longer. It would be great if there were only ground-based Grimm, but the damn monsters also attack through the air . "

A large ursa managed to sneak in and advanced towards the center of the kingdom to catch any prey. Jaune was not going to allow it, he closed his fist and a powerful blow hit the great beast's chest and sent it flying back into the crowd.

Jaune in a moment of courage or madness walked forward and stood next to the paladins and robots, everyone watched that action in amazement, why the hell did their leader go forward?

Jaune then smiled towards the large army of Grimm, —"LISTEN TO ME YOU DAMN MORONS! DO YOU REALLY THINK YOU HAVE SUCCEEDED?! NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU ATTACK ANY HUMAN POPULATION OR FAUNA! WE WILL RELIEVE OURSELVES!" THIS WON'T STAY LIKE THIS! ONCE I FINISH EVACUATING THE CITIZENS OF VALE I WILL BE BACK FOR YOU!"

He turned and walked back towards the other soldiers, all of them looking at Jaune's actions in admiration. And suddenly an explosion was heard in the center of Vale, Jaune opened his eyes, how was it possible? No Grimm managed to pass the formation, of course some passed before he arrived, but they were annihilated by himself and Naruto, and the other hunters and students.

—"Why the hell are there explosions over there?" he received a call from the intercom and it was Naruto.

—"《Jaune, damn it. This got complicated》".

—"What happened Naruto?!" Jaune yelled.

—"《White Fang, they are attacking!》".

—"The White Fang? Seriously? Right now? In the middle of this chaos? Okay, Naruto, I want you to go and finish him off..."

¡pumm!💥

A fire dust projectile hit Jaune's shoulder, sending him flying. He fell to the ground, but got up and remained on his knees.

His gaze darkened with anger, then he looked up and saw members of the White Fang who began shooting at their soldiers and also shooting at the robots and paladins.

The blonde gritted his teeth in fury and stood up.—" These guys are crazy!" he thought as he dodged a flurry of bullets. —" They don't care about anything but their hatred! "

—"Damn idiots, how dare you...? How do you think of doing this, in the middle of what is happening?", he muttered angrily.

—"Do not think that I will be benevolent towards you."

The roar of metal clashing against metal echoed throughout the battlefield, along with the screams of people and shots of dust.

Everything had become complicated in an instant. Everything was going well, the formation held firm, the Grimm could not pass, it was a perfectly balanced formation. But the White Fang began to attack and not only in the formation to let the Grimm in, but also in the center of Vale, assaulting anyone who crossed its path.

Naruto had to react quickly. He couldn't kill the idiots because everyone would see it, but he could hurt them a lot, he made them suffer while he fought all of them and annihilated any Grimm.

—" Hey brat, I thought you weren't going to hold back anymore. Kill the idiots here, use clones and finish them all off."

Naruto dodged a dust bullet and then threw a shuriken at the White Fang member, making him fall down in pain.

— "I thought about it many times, but I prefer to keep it that way . "

—" Really? Because I don't understand the truth. Why do you just keep your abilities hidden? You could just end all of this. Maybe maybe save the kingdom."

—" I thought about it too. The problem with showing everything I do is that there will be too many questions and frankly I prefer to save myself that trouble. Plus the paranoia of having someone like me can cause problems."

Naruto blocked a fist that went directly to his face with his hand and then twisted the subject's hand and with his free hand punched him in the face, breaking the White Fang member's mask.

—"Well, I won't kill you, but a Grimm can surely eat you." He turned around and continued attacking the others.

—" I understand, but that also means that you don't give it your all and put an end to this. What do you care if they rebel against you? Finish them off, no problem. Any bug that gets in the way, you're going to annihilate, "No one can stop you in this world."

—" Sasuke could do it ." Naruto said remembering his other self.

—" I know, he is the only one who can and the fool doesn't stop. While you are here fighting with a shuriken and only a rasengan, tell me, is there a reason why you are limiting yourself so much? Because it irritates me to see you like this, hold on to these human standards. . "

—" It's very simple Kurama. Because if I reveal that I have techniques like that and that no one in the world has seen, then there will be questions. Questions that will lead to saying: Hey Naruto, who are you really? Nobody does what you do. And then when I refuse to answer that, they will demand and insist. At some point they will connect the dots and realize that I do the same thing as Sasuke, the idiot who just caused all this." Naruto said pointing with his hands at the entire kingdom in chaos.

—"So what? What do you care about what they think or say? What do you care if they hate you or fear you? You are stronger than all of them put together. You are the only one who can put an end to this madness. You are the only one who can stand up to Sasuke and defeat him. Why do you care so much about what insignificant humans think"

— "Because I am human too, Kurama. Because I also have friends here. Because I also want to live in peace and harmony. I care what she thinks of me . "

The 9-tailed fox snorted in amusement. —" Idiot, if I were you I wouldn't even worry."

—" Yes ,' Naruto sighed. —" But you're not, and it does worry me."

From the sky a large shadow loomed over Naruto, it was incredibly large.

—"Wow, so this is the big battleship of Atlas... not bad, but it's a little strange, the enemy was on the other side, but this battleship was heading straight for Beacon."

—"What the hell is going on? He should be here attacking the enemy, why is he going in that direction?" .

Then he watched as a bullhead heading straight for that battleship exploded. Naruto looked at him with a calculating look.

—"Something's not right, Kurama."

—" Don't tell me, boy, to your left."

Naruto dodged a claw from an ursa and with his kunai attacked directly at the jugular of the great beast, killing it instantly.

—" Why don't you use your sword? " Kurama asked.

— "The time has not come yet Kurama, not yet ."

Naruto continued advancing towards the battleship, dodging and eliminating the Grimm creatures that crossed his path. He had a feeling that something bad was going to happen and he wanted to find out.

—" Do you think Sasuke is behind this? " Kurama asked.

—" I don't know, but it wouldn't surprise me." Naruto said angrily.

—" And what are you going to do when you find him? Are you going to continue holding back or are you going to use all your power ."

— "That depends on him, Kurama. If he wants to fight seriously, I will too. But if he wants to talk and reason, I am also willing to listen to him ." Naruto said with determination.

—" You are too soft, boy. He does not deserve compassion, He only deserves your anger and your punishment." Kurama said with contempt.,—" did you forget what he did to Ruby? ".

— "No, I haven't forgotten... haaaaah, I want to think that there is something in his history that makes him act like this. Maybe it's because he is exactly like me that I want him to redeem himself," Naruto said wistfully.

—You're a fool, boy. Maybe he has openly told you that he has nothing against you, but people like him know how to hide his intentions very well. He just wants to destroy you and everything you care about . Kurama said sternly.

Naruto didn't respond.

—"Flynn!" Neon shouted to his companion, — 'A bullhead has arrived, go up to the others.'

—"Understood, very good, go upstairs and please climb up, it will take you far from here."

The citizens nodded to the Atlas student and went up. —"This is going to take a long time. We don't have enough bullheads and the White Fang is also attacking."

Neon and Flynn and a large group of students, as well as Atlas soldiers and some Atlas robots and paladins were at Beacon Academy. They evacuated most of the people from Vale and brought them to this academy, as it was a very safe place. That should have been it, but in an instant the White Fang appeared and attacked. This was completely discouraging. The students had no choice but to face the faunus. They could simply finish them off by killing them, but they held back so as not to cause more casualties than there were already. But they were many and numerous, and most of the students and the other soldiers were back in Vale, holding back the Grimm horde.

The sound of propellers was heard. They were two bullheads that were arriving. They did this, it was a little complicated because of the shortage. They made round trips to bring more citizens and drop them off at the nearest town. It was a little slow but it was the best they had.

—"Damn, how did something like this happen at this festival? This obviously wasn't random. You've already had time to plan and to think it was Cinder... Jaune must be devastated... and Penny," Neon said. .

What they and none of the hunters did not realize was that something was being orchestrated in the darkness, right under their noses. An Atletian robot that was defending the citizens, that was making a perimeter flashed red and then turned around. He quickly pointed his gun at a woman and shot her.

All the students watched in silence. That robot had just killed a citizen. But that was not all. Soon the other robots also targeted the citizens. Then Neon and the other students proceeded to get in the way, attacking the robots.

Flynt couldn't believe what he was witnessing. Suddenly a shadow covered him. Above him an Atlecian paladin was pointing his weapons at him. —"What's going on here? ".

The paladin fired a volley of bullets at Flynt, who was barely able to dodge them with his saxophone. Neon saw the scene and launched himself towards the paladin with his skate, hitting him with his glow stick.

—"Flynt! Are you okay?" Neon asked worriedly.

—"Yes, yes, I'm fine," Flynt responded as he stood up,—"But those robots are crazy. What did they do to them?" .

—"I don't know, but we have to stop them before they kill more people," said Neon.

Roman Torchwick sighed in front of a screen on Atlas's battleship. It was a very clever move to have him caught right there. Cinder had planned it somehow. He was a key piece for the future attack that was going to be carried out on Vale, so the general did not risk putting him in a simple Vale prison. He led him directly to his most powerful weapon, which was very convenient for him. He escaped thanks to the help of his accomplice Neo, freed himself, killed all the soldiers on that large ship and took control of it.

But it was not enough to have seized the battleship. He still had something to do, something that her boss had asked him to do, and even if she didn't like it, she had to do it. From her pocket he took out her scroll, she looked at it with displeasure and frowned.

He inserted the device into a slot in front of him and a program loaded. All the screens flashed red and returned to their original color in an instant. — "It's done, he muttered to himself."

—"《I hope the work is already done, Román》", the voice was completely serene, as if it already knew that he was going to call at that moment.

—"The virus is loaded. I now have full access to all Atlas devices."

—"《...Very good... very good. I want you to program them to attack》".

—"Okay," Roman pressed the buttons on the battleship's control panel. This particular ship had access to all of Atlas' machinery that came to Vale for the festival,—"Programmed to attack the hunters and students."

—"《No》", Cinder spoke again, interrupting what she was going to do.— "《Román, I want you to attack everyone》".

—"Cinder, they are civilians".

—"《Didn't you hear me, Román? Attack everyone》".

—"...Understood", Román programmed it that way. The Atlesian weapons were going to attack everyone, without distinction of gender or race.

—"It's done, Cinder," Roman sighed and then simply looked at the screens. He watched as all the paladins turned against his original purpose: to protect the people. —"They are attacking now."

—"...《Excellent work, Román》".

—"You know the agreement," Cinder, Roman put on a serious face.—"Your Grimm will not attack them and you will not go against them."

—"《Calm down, Roman. Your nieces will be safe. I won't attack them and neither will the Grimm. I can't say the same about the paladins, but they will be smart enough to avoid the problem. I'm a woman of my word."

—"That... relieves me," Román did not believe him. They were empty words from a criminal who had blackmailed him. And the call was cut off.

—"Neo," Román pronounced his name, the name of his faithful companion who appeared next to him.— "I think we have already crossed the line, hehe. I never believed I would be able to do all this. I have done many bad things, But getting to this point... I'm really already condemned, hehehehe," Román laughed sadly.

He looked his partner in the eyes. The little girl looked at him.— "Can I ask you one last favor? You know, before all this is over."

The girl took a few steps back. He didn't like the tone with which he spoke.—"It is very likely that I will not get out of this alive. And even if I survive, I don't think I will have the courage to continue... It is very possible that I will turn myself in to the authorities and most likely is that they execute me."

The girl was scared. "No."

—"Don't worry, I prefer it that way. It's about time... I've been dead for a long time, I just kept going for them, but they'll be better off without me... Them," his voice broke, on the verge of crying. , but he remained firm.— "They don't even remember me anymore, I made sure of that."

The girl shook her head. "No". She wanted to tell him that it wasn't true, that her nieces loved him, that she loved him. She wanted to hug him and comfort him. She wanted to escape that hell with him.

Roma took something out of his pocket and gave it to Neo. —"When this is all over, please give this to Rubí. Hehe, of course, I don't want you to go meet her and give it to her, just leave it nearby. That's all."

The silence was sepulchral and sad.

—"You know, for a moment I thought about asking you to take Yang and Rubí, make them unconscious and take them out of here, directly to Patch, but I know you won't go more than 100 meters from my side," Roman laughed amused. —"It's a little frustrating that after all these years I could never get you to obey me. Those moments when you listened to me were very rare."

Neo moved her hands trying to say something to Román, but he was too fast, she was very nervous. She didn't want Román to do that crazy thing. What would she do if he left?

—"Neo, I can't escape this, enough is enough. The years we spent together were entertaining, but even I have a huge weight on my conscience... that's enough."

Neo tried to speak. For a moment he considered knocking out Román and escaping from there, but he wasn't going to accept it. If she did that, there was a big chance that he would hate her forever and he refrained from doing so.

Roman smiled. He sat in the pilot's seat. —"This seat is very comfortable. You can go... ah, one more thing Neo: make sure Ruby and Yang are okay."

Neo didn't move, he was still there, with the object that Román gave him. —"Neo, please, it's time for you to go," Neo meekly nodded his head and disappeared.

Roman's features were droopy. He was sad and very lonely on that battleship full of bodies. He felt very alone and above all disappointed in himself. In the end that's how he was going to end up.

—"Woman of your word, right Cinder? It's a shame I don't really believe anything in you."

Roman took his parchment and dialed a number. He waited for the call to connect and there he was.

—"《Hello Roman》".

Everything had fallen apart and chaos reigned for an unknown cause. General Ironman had a suspicion that something was not right and he was not wrong.

—"Damn, Roman!" Qrow exclaimed angrily, "How did you think of putting him on your damn battleship, James? We should have locked him up in a prison in Vale."

—"A Vale prison would not have been enough to stop Roman," James responded. — "He is very clever and he always manages to escape."

—"Enough arguing!" Glynda intervened, putting herself between James and Qrow. —"This is getting out of hand. We can't waste time fighting. We have to attack and protect civilians."

—"You're right, Glynda," James admitted with a sigh,— "This is useless. What do we do now?"

A huge wave of Grimm was approaching them. They prepared to fight, but in an instant they were all destroyed by a silhouette that passed in front of them. She was very fast, almost invisible.

—"That was really fast," Qrow said in amazement.—"Who was that guy? I only know two people who move that fast: Naruto Uzumaki or Jaune Arc."

—"Yes, it's most likely," agreed Glynda, who threw her riding crop at an approaching Grimm and sent it flying. — "Those two boys are truly exceptional. I hope they make a difference in this invasion, but the kingdom It's lost right now."

—"I was very surprised that your little soldier has taken command of his superiors," Qrow commented, referring to Jaune.

—"Jaune has always been an exceptional soldier from day one. He has a brilliant and very insightful mind. He may seem clumsy at first glance, and he is, but when the time comes he takes matters into his own hands and is always at the forefront." "I couldn't ask for a better soldier," James said proudly.

Naruto was running at full speed towards the battleship, eliminating any Grimm that crossed his path. He felt like he had to get there, Kurama had told him that he only detected a human presence throughout the vehicle, which was strange. The ship was heading to Beacon, and Naruto couldn't let anything bad happen.

But in his run, he stopped when he saw his teammates: Ren and Nora, who were fighting against the Grimm. Naruto noticed something strange about them, and approached them worried.

—"¡Ren, Nora!".

—"Naruto," Nora answered, while crushing an ursa with her hammer. Ren also used his weapons to kill enemies.

—"Where is Pyrrha?" Naruto asked.

—"Pyrrha... well... she..." Nora hesitated. — "Pyrrha asked us not to give you her location."

—"Nora", Naruto became serious. —"Where is Pyrrha?"

—"S-she said not to tell you..."

Naruto stared at her. — "...she's with Ozpin, right?"

Nora didn't respond, but her eyes gave it away.

—"Curse!" Naruto got angry and scared Ren and Nora. — "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Naruto apologized and took the scroll out of him. He dialed Pyrrha's number, but she didn't answer. He tried several times, but nothing. He kept the scroll from him in frustration.

—"Well, I guess the time has come," said Naruto, as he took out a three-pronged kunai and prepared to do something. Ren and Nora looked at him curiously.

5 days ago, Naruto had done something secretly from his friends. While everyone was sleeping he had used his ink for seals and made a small mark on the back of each of them. It was so small that he barely noticed it, but it had taken him a lot of work to make it. Especially with the girls, since he had to lift their clothes. Naruto had resisted the shame and desire to do something else. That mark was a kind of insurance in case one of them did something dangerous or went somewhere he shouldn't be.

—"Naruto, what are you going to do?" Ren asked.

—"I'm going to bring Pyrrha back, that fool. Ozpin is just using her, I don't know what for, but it can't be any good."

—"Don't do it, Naruto," Ren said with a firm voice. — "We don't have time for that. Look around you," he pointed everywhere. —"Everything is in chaos, you can't just leave, we need all the help we can get."

—"She needs help too," Naruto said, concentrating. He had done this technique almost a thousand times, but never at such a distance. He had to locate the seal.

—"She is a great hunter in training and one of the best," Ren insisted. —"She can take care of herself."

—" she..

—"She can take care of herself Naruto," Ren silenced him.

Naruto at all times did not stop trying to locate the seal, he had a lot on his mind, he had to go with Pyrrha, he knew that something bad was going to happen, he sighed and simply proceeded to follow them.

In the deserted corridors of Beacon, only the hurried footsteps of Ozpin and Pyrrha could be heard. The sound of the invasion was terrible and terrifying, but inside only silence reigned. They were both heading towards an elevator.

— "I hope Mr. Uzumaki understands. I'll talk to him later," Ozpin murmured, pressing a button on the elevator.

Pyrrha didn't say anything. She had accepted the proposal that Ozpin had made to her earlier, which she had rejected due to Naruto's intervention. Now, faced with the surprise and devastating attack of the Grimm, she had gone to find Ozpin to volunteer. She wanted to receive the power to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands, into the hands of the one who had left Amber in that critical state.

Ozpin didn't ask him any questions. He simply took her to the nearest elevator. There was no time to lose. The person who had attacked Amber and her accomplice were surely on their way to Beacon to take down her target. We had to act quickly.

The elevator descended in silence. Neither of them spoke. Ozpin held his staff in his hands. The director was thinking about the consequences of what he was going to do. On the one hand, there was the benefit: by transferring power to Pyrrha, Amber's attacker would not gain the maiden's full power. On the other hand, there was the cost: he had involved an innocent and kind girl in a cruel and merciless destiny: a life of persecution where she would never have peace or tranquility. But he also had to explain to Pyrrha some details she hadn't told him about the process of transferring the maiden's power.

When the elevator reached its destination, they entered a cold, dark room. It was a bunker beneath Beacon, where Amber, the Dying Maiden, was connected to a huge machine. She was in a coma, dying and succumbing. Her fate was inevitable: she would die.

Ozpin approached the capsule where Amber lay and touched the glass with his hand, observing the young woman with regret. She didn't deserve that fate, but life was cruel. You could never predict what was going to happen, and unfortunately for her, her life did not have a happy ending nor a good existence. She only hoped that at some point she had enjoyed moments of happiness and companionship, but she would never know that. He only consoled himself by thinking that she was once happy. He removed his hand from the glass and looked at Pyrrha.

—"You understand the implications of accepting this, right?" Ozpin asked seriously.

— "I understand it," Director Ozpin, and I am willing to accept it, the redhead responded firmly.

She looked down and observed the cold floor of that place.

— "The Grimm have invaded Beacon, they have attacked Vale and are exterminating all the citizens. If this power of the maiden that you mention to me is as incredible as it says, then it is an opportunity to finish them off and save as many people as possible." possible".

—"You know that if you accept this power, the one who hurt Amber will come for you," said Ozpin.

—"I know it and I am willing to face her and anyone if necessary."

Ozpin, with a calm look but a tight heart, continued:

—"You know what it means to confront her, right?"

—" ...Yes... An inevitable end... A death of one of the two."

—"...Not only that, Pyrrha." Ozpin looked into her eyes and asked sincerely:

— "Are you sure you want to do this?" Ozpin asked again, he didn't want the girl to have doubts about the decision he was making.

— "Yes, I'm sure, let's do it."

—"...There's something else you should know. Something I didn't tell you before. Something that might change your decision.",Ozpin walked around Pyrrha and turned his back to her.—"This isn't just passing on Amber's power to you only."

—"It's a transfer of power," Pyrrha said.

—"No, it is more like a transfer of essence itself, since the power of the maiden is not given to you naturally, then I will have to force Amber's power towards you, which also implies bringing a certain part of her towards you, "Pyrrha."

Ozpin tapped the floor with his cane, he was actually a little afraid of what he was going to say, which means saying this to Pyrrha, because it is likely that she will have doubts and escape.

—"It's just not 100% certain that when you acquire Amber's power it will be you."

—"What do you mean, director?" She was doubtful what that implied.

— "Amber will die completely OR she could live in you, is what I mean. And I don't mean sharing consciousness or anything like that, I mean that everything in your soul will intertwine there, mix. It's a high possibility and very theoretical, but it is very likely that when you come out of that machine it will not be you who uses your body but Amber, Or maybe you will not even be Amber or yourself, but another new person..."

Pyrrha interrupted him,—"or maybe it's just me that's still me," Pyrrha said seriously.

Ozpin opened his eyes, it seemed that everything he said did not dampen this girl's spirit,— "Yes, it could be that too."

–"Then there is no need to talk anymore, Take me and give me that power, I will do what is necessary, I will continue to be me despite everything," she said without hesitation.

—"Naruto is going to kill me after this," Ozpin said jokingly, although with a certain truth in it, he would suffer some good blows once the transfer of power from the maiden was completed.

— "I know, I will explain everything to you and you will understand, This moment is critical and we need all the possible cards to stop the invasion, at least the time necessary to save the greatest number of people. I will fulfill my duty as a hunter."

Ozpin nodded and walked over to the machine where Amber was connected. The young maiden was unconscious and she was barely breathing. Her face showed an expression of pain and suffering. Ozpin felt a pang of guilt for what he was going to do. He knew it was necessary to save the world, but he also knew it was unfair to both girls.

—"Pyrrha, come here," Ozpin said, pointing to the other side of the machine. There was another capsule just like the one Amber is in.

— "It's okay," Pyrrha said, walking towards him. Before she got there, she stopped and looked at Amber. He felt a mixture of compassion and admiration for her. She was a hero who had sacrificed everything to protect the maiden's power. Pyrrha wondered if she could measure up to her.

—"Thank you, Amber," Pyrrha said quietly. She then enters the machine that will allow her to obtain the power of the maiden.

—"Are you ready?" Ozpin asked, activating the machine.

—"Yes," Pyrrha answered, closing her eyes.

— "May the gods bless you, Pyrrha," Ozpin said, pressing the button.

The machine began to hum and emit lights. Amber's power began to flow into Pyrrha. The two girls felt an unbearable pain in their souls. It was as if they were tearing apart and fusing together at the same time. Their memories, their feelings, their personalities intermingled into a single essence. They didn't know who they were or where they were. They only knew that they were suffering.

Ozpin watched the process with anguish. He hoped everything would go well. He hoped Pyrrha would survive and keep her identity. He hoped Amber would find peace. He hoped the world would be saved.

But I didn't know if that was possible.

Esmeralda watched with desolation the chaos they had caused. Although she used to enjoy spreading terror, something inside her stirred with guilt. Because? She didn't know.

—"So much death," he murmured regretfully, trying to hide it.

—"Yes, well, who's hungry?" Mercury asked nonchalantly.

Esmeralda looked at him with disgust. He was an idiot who had no feelings for anyone but himself. He worked for Cinder for two reasons: because she would kill him if she didn't and because she had incredible power. Cinder was someone she didn't want to face. If you were on her side, you could win something.

The three were on the roof of a house, contemplating the disaster that they themselves had caused.

—"Well, Cinder, what do we have to do?" Mercury asked, searching for her boss with her eyes. She was surprised to see that he was not next to her. Then she heard a voice from below.

—"What are you doing there? Move," Cinder ordered from the streets destroyed by the Grimm. The two young men looked at each other and jumped down, following their employer.

She walked calmly through the mess. Curiously, no Grimm attacked them and no hunter stopped them. They were too busy fighting the beasts and did not recognize the culprit of all this. They didn't realize that it was her who was walking in front of them. At some point they came to some empty streets that had been razed by the Grimm. Cinder had used her ability to control them and order them to pass by. It was a very peculiar skill that she had been taught by her teacher.

In the distance they saw a bullhead come down and land on the ground. Cinder smiled mischievously. There was her means of transportation to get to Beacon.

When she planned the attack she knew that some people would realize it was her and look for her. She couldn't risk getting caught so quickly, so she sent a signal from Vale for the Grimm to arrive and distract the hunters and soldiers. She would take advantage of the time and confusion to seek the maiden's power and fulfill her goal.

He waited in his base giving specific orders to the White Fang, waiting for the Grimm to weaken the kingdom's defenses and above all waiting for Roman to have control of Atlas' battleship and thus be able to take over all of the kingdom's weapons and attack the citizens. . All of this was meticulously planned, there would be no failures, nothing could go wrong... The only thing she could reproach herself for was not being able to control the stupid actions of her henchwoman. She would punish Mercury very harshly for doing such a foolish thing to not stay at the base and go to Amity Stadium to simply witness the chaos. He was an asshole.

—"Hello, friend, how are you? Enjoying your nap?" , Mercury said with a malicious smile as she kicked a body lying on the ground. —"Rest my friend, a long night awaits you."

—"Could you show a little more respect, idiot?" Esmeralda snapped at her partner.

—"For what? He's dead, he didn't feel it, he doesn't even know what's happening. He went to a better place." Mercury put his hands together as if he were going to pray and looked at the sky.—"Rest in peace, Dude, you deserve it," he mocked.

—"Idiot", Esmeralda hated this behavior of Mercury, he was a despicable cynic who enjoyed hurting people. But what other choice did she have? He was her companion and she had to endure him by order of her mistress. She wasn't going to disobey the person she loved.

—"Hurry up, I'm not in the mood to listen to your petty arguments," Cinder said with venom in her voice. They obeyed instantly and continued walking.

—"I guess this gives me an extra bonus, right, boss?" ,Mercury spoke to Cinder with a smile. —"I mean, I did a good job. I'm an excellent actor. Maybe a few days of vacation, maybe..."

A loud, thunderous sound interrupted his words. An inch from his foot, a sword stabbed into the ground. He was so close that she brushed his thigh. The sword was embedded in the earth, near his metallic boot-covered foot. That alerted him quite a bit and he was on guard, as were the others.

Cinder stared at the sword intently. He recognized her, she was unmistakable among all of them. She looked up at the roof of a house. The moon shone beautifully behind a silhouette. From the position of the light hitting the figure's back it gave the impression that a dark shadow was watching them, like a hunter and his prey.

—"Who the hell are you?!",Mercury shouted in fury. That weapon was about to hit him.

—"Mercury, Esmerald," Cinder spoke. —"Be on your guard." The figure looked at them silently and then jumped from the top of the house. When she touched the ground, she made the earth shake.

They saw it better. He was the immortal hero they talked so much about: Jaune. He had a serious and distant look, with suppressed fury. — "Who knew I would be the first to find them? I guess today is my lucky day... Or maybe not," he spoke very calmly.

Jaune didn't bother to look at Cinder's two henchmen. He only had eyes for her, for the girl's amber eyes. She felt a knot in her heart. How was it possible that she was responsible for all this chaos? She didn't understand it.

Jaune seemed to ignore Mercury and Emerald, he didn't consider them a threat. He looked around, as if he were contemplating the landscape, the bleak landscape of desolation and destruction. —"This would have been a good place to bring a date... What a shame."

Cinder remained silent, without saying a word. She was a little, how should I put it?, 'nervous'. The last thing she wanted was to meet Jaune, she didn't feel able to face him, but she had no choice. And honestly, she didn't want to hurt him. She saw the situation and it was complicated. The image of Jaune was devastating. He wore his armor worn and dirty, pieces of clothing were missing from his body from the multiple shots he had received from the White Fang, his pants were torn and his hair was disheveled, his gaze was empty and fragile, and blood stains adorned certain parts. of his clothes and his body. Furthermore, his face had a large blood splatter, but there was no visible wound on him. So the blood was not the blonde warrior's.

—"Mercury, Emerald, stay alert," Cinder whispered behind her minions.

Jaune smiled slightly reluctantly, like he was tired, like he didn't want to be there. He slowly walked towards the group with slow, dismissive steps.

—"Back there the situation is very ugly. Do you know what I had to do? The White Fang suddenly attacked in the middle of all that chaos, they took advantage of the situation. For what? I don't know what they want, everything is complicated and I already had enough problems without them coming and making it worse. They didn't care about the people at all... So I had to make the painful decision to finish them off permanently. They didn't leave me many options, many times I told them to leave. They gave up but they were very stubborn... So I resolved the situation as quickly as possible..." Jaune sighed. —"Of course, there were always more coming and I took care of them along the way, but I never expected to find the cause of the problem." so soon. So it was a big surprise to see you Cinder. I would ask you why you're doing this, but frankly you're not going to tell me."

Jaune stopped a step away from Cinder's group, very close to Emerald and Mercury who were tense. But Mercury smiled confidently, he knew Jaune's strength, but he had Emerald with him. So they had a good chance of winning.

—"What are you saying?" Emerald asked in confusion.

—"What's wrong with you? Don't you remember?"; Jaune mocked sarcastically. —"We celebrated together your triumphs in the tournament...we sang and danced, Maybe Cinder was the tie that united us, but... I thought there was something between my team and you, but it turns out that you have been lying to me all this time.I would have accepted any other lie or excuse, like they didn't really want to be part of my team or be my friends, but this is totally devastating. How could they do this, do you know how many lives they have taken?" .

Jaune's voice rose with anger, he didn't raise his voice but his fury was evident. —"Peace in this world is already fragile, but you are only causing death. Why do you have so much hatred inside you? I don't understand.

Emerald looked away for a moment, you could say that somehow Jaune's words affected her but she quickly looked away. Mercury simply smiled arrogantly.

—"Don't be naive, Jaune. This is bigger than you or us. We are following a plan, a destiny. Cinder is our leader and we are her faithful followers. We don't have to explain ourselves to anyone, much less you. So —"Stop whining, you have no chance against this, Jaune. You don't know anything. So you better shut up and prepare to die." Mercury said coldly.

In the blink of an eye, without Mercury being able to react, Jaune's hand covered his mouth with such force that he could feel that it was almost breaking his jaw. Mercury grabbed Jaune's hand with both hands to try to free himself but it seemed useless.

—"I don't remember giving you permission to talk, trash," you could feel the fury in Jaune, he looked at Mercury as if he were an insect crushed on the ground, just by moving his arm to the left, Mercury's body flew like a rag and hit a house, that hurt, Mercury's aura flickered, he got up and complained of pain, he felt all that, it was a very strong blow.

At that moment Esmeralda and Cinder moved a few meters away and gave him space, they looked at Jaune and he took his sword and pointed it at Cinder.

—"Cinder Fall, by authority of the kingdom of Atlas you are under arrest, any opposition or resistance will be met with lethal force."

Cinder frowned and looked at Jaune with contempt. —"What have you thought to address me like that? You are just an insignificant brat, without talent or power. You are no match for me or my plans. You are getting involved in something that does not concern you."

Jaune was not intimidated by Cinder's words. —"I don't care what you say or what you plan. You are...", Jaune's will faltered for a second but he recovered it,—"a criminal, a murderer, a traitor. You have caused a lot of harm and suffering to this world and the people I love. I'm not going to let you continue doing what you want. I'm going to stop you here and now.

—"Emerald", Cinder ordered her to attack, Esmeralda obeyed and Mercury also joined the battle against Jaune.

Cinder just stared, why didn't she run away? She could have done so now that she had the chance to leave and just do what she had to do, but no, somehow she didn't have the courage to leave. She wanted to see because there was a high possibility that her henchmen would hurt Jaune, she was only left to make sure Jaune was incapacitated and nothing more.

Jaune defended himself as best he could, using his shield and his sword to block his enemies' blows. But they were fast and skillful, and managed to land several hits.

The battle became more and more complicated, but Jaune did not give up. He had learned from Naruto to analyze his opponent down to the smallest detail, and that allowed him to discover something strange. Mercury's pants were intact, when he had made a cut at the beginning. Then he realized something wasn't right.

Jaune moved a little away from his attackers, and said:

—"I see, a damn illusion or alteration of perception... hehehe, who knew that one of your crazy stories would be useful to me."

With that, he took a knife from his pocket and stabbed it into his shoulder. Cinder was shocked to see that act of self-harm. What did Jaune mean by that? At that moment, the Mercury that was going to hit Jaune disappeared, as if it had been an illusion.

—"Okay, so I wasn't really fighting with you, you idiots. I'm tired of playing," second door opened.

Jaune activated his ability that allowed him to amplify his aura and physical capacity to the limit, ignoring his injuries. He felt an increase in strength and endurance. He now alone had to face Emerald, the one responsible for the illusions. But before,

In one swift movement Jaune disappeared from sight as if he had teleported. To the untrained eye that might have been so, but Cinder saw it. She moved at high speed and got next to Mercury. The idiot could barely feel it and he turned his head to look back and see only a fist going directly to his face. He couldn't dodge it and that was going to hurt. The fist impacted and made a strong jolt. Mercury's body fell to the ground, cracking the earth. His aura flickered and he was unconscious in an instant.

—"You're lucky that I only hit you with one blow, because if it were up to me I would have already killed you. But you have to answer questions and face justice," Jaune directed his gaze at Emerald.

Emerald couldn't believe what had happened. She had used her Semblance to create a false image of Mercury, to distract Jaune. But he had managed to see through her trick, and now he was angrier than ever.

Emerald took out her weapons, sickle-shaped pistols that she could use to both shoot and slash. She prepared to fight Jaune, but he was already on her.

Jaune attacked with his sword, looking for a weak point in Emerald's defense. She tried to block his blow with her sickles, but felt a strong impact that made her flinch. Jaune had used her shield to push her hard.

Emerald recovered and fired several bullets at Jaune. He dodged them with agility, and continued advancing towards her. Emerald tried to create another illusion, but this time it didn't work. Jaune had learned to ignore what she saw, and trust her other senses.

Jaune managed to get close enough to Emerald to hit her in the stomach with his shield. She doubled over in pain, and dropped one of her weapons. Jaune took the opportunity to snatch it away, and used it to cut off Emerald's arm.

Emerald screamed in pain and rage, and dropped her other weapon. Jaune took it as well, and pointed them at her.

—"Surrender," he ordered,—"I don't want to kill you, but I will if necessary."

Emerald glared at him, but knew there was no way out. She was injured and unarmed, and Jaune had the advantage over her.

—"Okay," he said in a weak voice, —"I give up."

Jaune lowered his weapons, and threw them to the ground. He then looked at Cinder, who was still watching the scene.

— "And what are you waiting for?" he asked her, — "Are you going to continue standing there or are you going to come and fight?"

Cinder didn't respond. She just looked at him with a mix of anger and curiosity. How did she feel about him? Why couldn't she let him go? She remembered the day she met him, She felt something she had never felt before, a spark of warmth in her cold heart. But now she betrayed him and made him suffer. She hated herself for it, but she wanted it too. She wanted to have him by her side, but she knew he hated her. She was confused and tormented by his feelings.

—"Jaune..." she whispered, not knowing what to say.

Jaune heard her, and felt a stab of pain in his chest. He also remembered the day he met her, and how he fell in love with her. He thought she was different, that she was special. But then he made this whole mess. He felt betrayed and hurt. He hated her for it, but he loved her too. He wanted to forget her, but he knew he couldn't. He was angry and hurt by her feelings.

—"Cinder...", he said, not knowing what to do.

The two stared at each other, not daring to move. There was a tension between them, a mixture of hate and love, of resentment and regret, of desire and fear. They didn't know what was going to happen between them, or what they wanted to happen. They only knew that they were destined to confront each other, but also to love each other.

Jaune Arc let go of his sword a little, but he didn't let it fall in that situation. He felt exhausted and weak, as if his strength was lacking. He had imagined this scene many times, thinking that he would have the courage to face Cinder, but now he realized that was not the case. In his head it was easier to fantasize about the scene. It's true what they say: it's easier said than done.

—"You know?" Jaune said with a soft and gentle voice. — "You could have escaped when I was fighting with them. Why didn't you?" Her tone changed when he spoke to her, it no longer sounded angry, but sweet and velvety. She couldn't help it. —"Why did you stay? Do you want to confront me so much?"

—"You know you don't," Cinder answered in a whisper, with pain in her voice.— "I never... I never wanted to face you."

—"And yet you are still here. Why?" Jaune asked curiously.

—"I... I..." Cinder hesitated, knowing that she would sound a little idiotic for what she was going to say, but it was what she felt. I had to lie.— "I was just morbid to see you, I was so curious how a stupid idiot who, even knowing who the main culprits of the situation are and although he knows very well what his enemies are capable of, comes and confronts us alone without asking for reinforcements. I was curious and it would give me great pleasure to see you defeated... w-that's why I stayed, just for that," he formed an evil smile. It was the best he could do, but Jaune saw right through her.

—"You finished?" , she said boredly.— "That smile could fool anyone, but not me. I know you. I've known you for a long time. We were friends once."

—"I didn't want them to hurt you," Cinder said.

Jaune scoffed at that.

—"Please. Are you telling me that you caused a damn invasion of the kingdom of Vale? I'm sensing that you are responsible for the damn weaponry of the Atlas army attacking the citizens and I am more than sure that you are the one responsible for the White Fang also attacking his own kind and all the citizens of the kingdom of Vale. And you're telling me that despite all that you care about me?

—"Yes," Cinder said dryly, her gaze and features becoming serious and determined.

Jaune smiled kindly at the girl, the first and only woman he had loved so far. No one would fill that place in his heart, no matter how many people tried. And she was very embarrassed to say it, but there weren't many. In fact, it was just her.

—"Please, turn yourself in. I can help you. I know you didn't cause this," he lied to himself,—"I know someone else ordered it. I know they are making you do it. Please, turn yourself in. I will protect you. Can we solve this please."

Cinder laughed dryly.

—"I caused this. I enjoy it. I hate people. I hate that they are happy... those stupid people have everything solved, while I had to suffer my whole life."

—"Cinder, please, you're not like that. I know you. I know you don't want to do this. Please order whoever you gave the order to control Atlas' weapons to stop all this. I know you can. Still There is time to fix it. I will talk to the general. I know he will listen to me and we can collaborate together.

—"Damn it, Jaune! Are you that blind?!" she shouted angrily. Cinder's hands caught fire and she shot a flame at Jaune, who dodged it with speed.

Jaune charged with his sword towards Cinder and they began to fight, a battle in which he couldn't give 100% for fear of hurting her and Cinder, despite everything she said and her attitudes, didn't want to hurt Jaune. They held each other back, but at some point she had to stop.

The flames and the sound of metal and glass formed by Cinder echoed through the air and Emerald just watched. She was hurt and focused on helping her partner, even though she didn't want to.

—"Stop it! I don't want to fight you, Cinder!" Jaune shouted.

—"Well, I don't think you have a choice, Jaune," Cinder replied.

Cinder hit him in the side and hit him with a right hand to the jaw, then gave him a flash of fire. Jaune covered himself with her shield and then disappeared in a burst of speed and delivered a blow to Cinder's back, who bounced off the ground but quickly recovered. A simple blow like that wouldn't hurt her. She was much stronger than any hunter. She had the maiden's power, or half of it.

—"Stop it! You're not like that, stop doing this! I know it hurts you to do this, please," Jaune pleaded.

—"You don't...don't talk like you know me, Jaune!" she shouted with more fury. —"You don't know me! You separated from me! You abandoned me!"

—"Of course not!" Jaune exclaimed and they faced each other again. — "If there had been another way, he would have taken you with me. You know very well that he had no choice. He was just a child!"

—"I know!" Cinder responded, throwing flames at him, I know you were a child, b-but still... why did you leave me alone? I-I was so scared, you abandoned me in that house. They mistreated me every day." Little by little Cinder's tears began to flow and Jaune cried too. He remembered those days.

A punch hit Jaune in the jaw and sent him crashing into a house. He recovered again and continued attacking Cinder. Every hit he dealt to Cinder hurt more than the hits he took.

—"Cinder, please, I don't want to continue like this. I don't want to hurt you," said Jaune.

—"You have no choice," Cinder said and punched Jaune that made him double over and then kicked him again in the jaw making space. Again Jaune began to attack Cinder. He managed to land many blows on her, but it hurt him a lot to hurt this woman, her dear friend.

—"You, the beloved hero of Atlas! Since I met you, you had everything! A beautiful family! A warm place to return to! And... I... I had nothing! Why You just won't let me? I did this because I like it! I hate seeing people happy! I hate that everyone has what I never had!"

Jaune punched him in the gut and then attacked with his sword. In contrast, Cinder counterattacked with a glass sword and the two struggled.

The fight continued for a few more minutes, until both were exhausted and injured. Neither wanted to surrender or kill the other, but they couldn't stop fighting either. It was a hopeless situation, a tragedy with no happy ending.

—"You're not like that! Enough of this please."

—"Stop fooling yourself Jaune! I'm like that! I changed a long time ago!"

—"It's not true!", the two increase their strength in their respective weapons.

—"You don't know me! You never knew me!"

—"I know you," Jaune's voice was soft but full of pain,—"I know who you are, I saw it from day one, why do you think I keep fighting here with you?"

—"65...64... 63...62, I can't take it anymore , " a child laments, his arms were burning, at some point he felt like they were going to break, they were going to fracture.

—"If you can't do this you will have to forget about training, you have to continue otherwise there is no point in training as a hunter."

—"Could you open my aura,...father,...like the other children in training," Jaune asked in a weak voice.

—"And what will make things easier for you? Not yet. If I'm going to train you, it's not going to be like other children who open their auras and then start training. No, of course not. If you're not able to endure this, then forget it," Nicolas Arc replied harshly.

—"Father, I am very sure of what you are trying to do. I have enough training, but you are demanding too much of me," Jaune protested.

—"Are you complaining?" Nicolas asked in a threatening tone.

—"No father... of course not," Jaune responded quickly,—"56."

—"Give up now, Jaune," said Nicolas Arc.

—"55," Jaune counted.

—"Give up now, Jaune. You don't have the material to be a hunter. You can't. Why do you keep insisting?" Nicolas insisted.

—"54," Jaune continued counting.

—"Give up already! Do you have any idea what life awaits you as a hunter?" Nicolas asked.

—"53," Jaune continued.

—"Do you think you will be a hero like the stories your grandfather told?" Nicolas mocked.

—"52," Jaune continued.

—"Please, the only thing you will find will be disappointments and misfortunes," Nicolas said.

—"51," Jaune continued.

Jaune felt like his muscles were already at their limit. He was going to give up. He no longer felt anything. This was every day since he started training with his father. From the first day he told him that enough was enough, that he did not have the courage or the skills to be a hunter, that it was not worth the time to train him. Why was he doing it? Why did he say those things to her? His father... Why didn't she believe in him? But he didn't care. He continued and continued insisting. He didn't give up. But he felt that little by little his soul could no longer give any more. His father's words were reaching him.

Many times he cried with helplessness at night because those words really hurt him, but he continued to insist. She believed that she could do it like the stories her grandfather told her. He believed in him, but he is long gone. She no longer had that support, neither from him nor from anyone in his family. Actually he's not even his mother. But she didn't care. She would continue to insist. It was his dream.

—"49... 48... 47... 46... 45... 44", Jaune counted with difficulty.

—"Seriously, Jaune, enough," Nicolas said impatiently.

—"43," Jaune answered with determination.

He ignored him and continued doing the push-ups.

—"I don't understand you. How many times do I have to tell you? And it's not just me who says it, everyone says it. You have other aptitudes. Why do you insist on following this path? Was it because of your grandfather? He's no longer here. I don't care. you owe nothing. You don't have to follow a path that was entrusted to you," Nicolas reasoned.

Jaune didn't pay attention, he just continued doing what he had to do: keep training. But every time he got towards the end he got tougher. His muscles were screaming at her to stop. His mind was failing and his body was failing. He did not hear the footsteps approaching him.

It was Cinder, a little Cinder from a distant time. She had been watching him train for a long time. She was curious from day one. She always watched him train and the same thing always happened to her: she heard Jaune's father's words and they bothered her. How could someone treat her son like that? She didn't understand it. But who knows? She was always treated the same way. But why did such a good soul like Jaune, a boy who was always willing to help, have to suffer so much? What was wrong with him wanting to fulfill his dreams? So she unconsciously approached the young boy and as soon as she reached him the first thing she said was:

—"What are you doing? You're almost there. You're not going to give up now, are you?" Cinder encouraged him with a beautiful smile.

Jaune felt the pain in his muscles briefly disappear. He felt that the weight of the world was no longer on him and he continued doing what he had to do: keep training. But he also felt something else: a spark of hope in his heart. Someone believed in him. Someone was smiling at him. Someone was speaking sweetly to him. Someone he didn't know, but who made him feel good.

—"42," Jaune said with a smile.

—"Come on! It's almost there!" , she continued to encourage him even though she didn't have to, — "Come on, come on!" He went on and on without stopping.

He went on and on

—"10".

—"Enough, Jaune," Nicolas said,— "Enough, you won't prove anything. Do you think being a hunter is easy? The path is tattered and very complicated, I say this from my own experience."

Jaune didn't pay attention, he just continued.

—"6".

—"Come on! Don't listen to him!" However, Cinder just continued encouraging him.

—"Enough! I seriously don't understand your stubbornness, why are you like that?"

—'Don't pay attention to him Jaune!", she shouted louder, interfering with Jaune's father's shout,—"Just continue! Right now."

—"3".

—"Come on!" , he shouted more.

—"2".

-"Just One More!".

—"1".

Jaune collapsed to the ground, exhausted. His hands were burning, but he paid no attention to the pain. He only had eyes for the girl who cheered him up. He had longed for those words from his family for a long time, but he only heard them from this girl he barely knew. What motivated her to do it? He didn't know it, but he couldn't take his eyes off her. When had she become so beautiful?

Jaune's father watched him with a disapproving grimace. —"Tomorrow you get up early, you don't have time to rest if you want to be a hunter... I've told you a thousand times, Jaune, but you're not worthy or fit for this," Nicolas said, turning around and walking through the snow. cold towards the inn where they were staying. —"You yourself know that you don't have what it takes... You just refuse to accept it."

—"How dare you," the girl's words echoed in Nicolas Arc's ears and he stopped.

—"You don't know anything, girl. Don't meddle in this."

—"How can you talk like that about your own son? Why don't you support him?" She raised the tone of her voice. — "He is fighting to fulfill his dream! Why don't you encourage him? He strives every day! I know it! But you only tell him how useless and how insignificant he is! ".

—"You have no idea how difficult the life of a hunter is," Nicolas replied. —"Nights without eating, not knowing if you will return home... I am just giving sensible advice to my son so that he can abandon that life and live happily."

—"What difference does it make if that awaits him! It's his dream! And he's willing to follow it and work hard for it! Why don't you support him?" Cinder replied. —"You talk to me about how difficult life is, hahaha... Don't make me laugh. I know what that's like," she clenched her fists and clenched her teeth in frustration. — —"You're a terrible father! ...And I don't care if Jaune gets upset!" She shouted angrily at Nicolas's impassive face. It seemed like the pain Jaune felt, she felt.

Nicolas Arc ignored Cinder and continued on his way, which made the girl even more angry.

—"Jaune will make it! No matter how many times you humiliate him, he will make it! He will be the greatest hero who ever lived! I know it! I've seen it! He has never given up and he won't. He will do it now! He will become the best hunter of all!" .

Tears began to flow from her. Why was she crying? She didn't make sense. Jaune could only look in amazement at this girl who defended him.

—"You will see him in the future! You will see that he will not give up! He will be a great hunter and I will be there to see him! And if he does not have the courage to tell you to your face, I will go to him myself." your house and I will beat you up! Did you hear me?!"

Jaune could only watch the argument, she kept yelling at her father, at some point she stopped listening, she was only focused on the girl.

Without realizing it, tears were coming out of his eyes like waterfalls and he couldn't contain them, this girl was defending him when she shouldn't have.

-
—"That's the kind of person you are, Cinder!" Jaune struggled with his sword and so did Cinder, little by little she felt her strength fading because of the words.

—"L-Leave me, that's not me, not anymore."

—"Of course you are, you haven't changed anything, you're just deceiving yourself."

—"Jaune, I can't do it, this is my destiny. I will never...I will never feel weak again."

— "Third door," Jaune managed to open the third door with a strong push that made Cinder retreat. She stood up quickly, but her look was a mixture of sadness, defeat, seriousness, and determination. She didn't want to hurt Jaune, the only one who could stand up to her with her maiden power, but she also didn't want to give up her destiny to cause chaos and destruction. It was her friend...maybe...

So he made a difficult decision. He had a card up his sleeve that he would only use in an emergency, but he needed to distract Jaune long enough to escape. So he used his special ability, granted by his master, to wake up the terrible creature that was sleeping on the top of the mountains. He concentrated and sent his will towards the monster that stirred in his slumber. He would soon return to strike terror into the land, as he had done in the past.

Jaune watched with curiosity and suspicion at Cinder, who had stopped attacking and closed her eyes. What was she up to? Had she given up? No, he knew she was careful and cunning. Cinder was doing something dangerous, something that required a lot of concentration.

—"I don't know what you intend to do, Cinder," Jaune said, frowning,—"but the games are over."

Cinder opened her eyes slowly and looked at Jaune tenderly. Her eyes were beautiful, he thought.

—"Jaune, please surrender," she begged him. —"I'm not going to stop. I'm going to fulfill my destiny. I will never feel humiliated again. There will be no one or nothing more powerful than me."

Jaune pointed his sword at Cinder, ready to attack.

—"Then I'll have to stop you before you do something like this again."

—"I'm sorry," Cinder murmured.

Far away on Mountain Glenn, inside a hill, red eyes opened. The hill shook with the roars and blows of the creature trying to get out. Little by little, the rock cracked under the monster's claws. The sound and tremor spread throughout the abandoned city and reached the kingdom of Vale. Jaune heard them too.

The blows were getting stronger and the tremors more noticeable. Hunters and citizens felt fear under their feet. The Grimm felt it too and looked up at the moon. The beast locked in the hill was awakening. He was big, strong and invincible. The top of the hill split and a gigantic dark black hand emerged.

Jaune looked towards the horizon, where he could clearly see the silhouette of the mountain. From there emanated an overwhelming darkness, the presence of the creature that little by little was tearing the hill into pieces. The beast emerged as if it were a curious child, observing the night landscape, the broken moon, the starry sky. He flapped his wings and raised a cloud of dust, driven by a primal instinct to destroy, decimate and annihilate humanity and any similar life form.

It let out a deafening roar, which made the citizens and hunters tremble as they watched this creature in astonishment. They had never seen anything like it, they had only heard about it in history books, a living legend, an ancient monster. The creature sniffed the environment, sensing the negativity, despair, fear and death that loomed over them. And I enjoyed it.

He opened his wings and rose into the air, as if announcing the arrival of the end of the world. She headed towards the kingdom with the intention of devastating it.

Jaune watched as that creature approached the kingdom, and then looked back at Cinder, his eyes filled with pain. He watched as she smiled cruelly. Had he lost the woman he loved forever? Was there nothing left of the kindness and joy that once characterized that girl? She didn't want to believe it.

—"What a pity, what a pity. Events are not working in your favor, Jaune Arc. What are you going to do? Are you going to face me? Fight against me? Or are you going to face the beast that brings with it the destruction of Vale? Decide once and for all." Cinder smiled.—"What are you going to do? Hero."

Cinder was ruthless, she put Jaune in a difficult situation. What should she choose? He wanted to stop Cinder for her own reasons, but before that he was a soldier and he had to save people. With a heavy heart and full of sorrow, he turned and ran towards the great beast.

Cinder sighed in relief, she had to go too, she had to get the maiden's power.

—"I'm sorry Jaune, you don't know how sorry I am."

Ruby Rose stared in amazement at the creature before her eyes. It was hard to believe that something like this existed and that she had to face it. Something inside her seemed familiar, as if she had heard of it before. Her silver eyes sparkled slightly, and she remembered a story her uncle had told her when she was a child, a story about her mother. But why couldn't she remember her uncle's face in that memory of hers?

—'Uncle! ,Uncle!" Ruby Rose shouted impatiently, as she moved restlessly in her room. She shared the room with her sister, and her uncle was sitting at a desk doing her schoolwork. But Ruby was capricious and didn't care. she wanted to do it, so she begged her uncle to do it for her and he agreed.

—"Ruby, I'm doing your homework, the least you can do is try to make less noise," he told her.

—"But I'm bored," she complained, pouting.

—"Ruby, listen to me, we'll do something later, okay?"

—"But if dad comes, you're going to leave. I want to play now."

—"If we play now, I won't be able to do your homework, Ruby. So I can't do both."

—"Boring," she murmured, resigned. She looked out the window, it was snowing that day. It was that time of year.

—"Tell me something, uncle," he asked.

—"Yeah?" He answered, without looking away from the notebook.

—"In that story you told me..."

—"What story?"

—"The one about the giant lizard, where you and my mother fought together. Could you tell it to me again? I like that story."

—"...Well, to be honest with you, Ruby," he sighed, —"we didn't kill the lizard."

Little Ruby opened her eyes and looked at her uncle.

—"Seriously?"

—"Do you think I would kill a Grimm like that? Your mother was skilled, but not enough to take on a creature like that. It's not easy."

—"So what happened?"

—"Well... the only thing we could do," he lied, —"was... erm... lock him up. We made him sleep on the top of a mountain."

—"I do not create you."

—"Believe it, little one. We put him to sleep and lock him up. He won't wake up."

"Seriously?"

—"Well, it will wake up one day," he said.— "That's inevitable. Someday that creature will wake up."

Ruby Rose remembered those words, as she watched the beast approaching the kingdom.

—"That creature," she whispered, repeating the same words from her memory, —"has sharp claws, a body dark as night, and white bone armor. It will bring death and despair. Because she is a creature of legend, unstoppable. He is a dragon."

I hope you liked the chapter, sorry for the spelling errors and write me in the comments any ideas that I could add to this story

I clarify, that many things could not make sense, so any advice is appreciated.

I clarify that I will take certain liberties with some characters and it will not be 100% faithful to the original canon.

Thank you for reading.