Oh how did he ever get into this mess?

Looking out the thin windows of the Beacon Tower reception, Jaune Arc saw smoke and fire under the dark sky, now more and more crowded with flying Grimm.

On the ground, more Grimm and Atlas Paladins and Knights tore up the buildings, each other and innocent bystanders.

Staying here, waiting, filled him with dread and anger.

He was so weak.

He looked at his teammates, still recovering from their previous fight. At least Nora continued to act chipper and happy somewhat while Ren seemed exhausted.

And Pyrrha-

-right. Pyrrha wasn't there. She had killed Penny and left through a portal.

That train of thought made him dizzy. Had he gone insane? Was this some kind of crazy nightmare?

The ground shook, and that reminded him that this was reality.

"What was that? More Grimm? Can't we get a break!?" Nora complained, hopping off the desk she had been waiting on, hammer in hand.

"No, it's not Grimm," Ren stated. Both he and Nora looked out one of the windows. In the sky, Atlas airships were exploding mid air or crashing down.

"Oh no…" Nora said, covering her mouth. "How many people remain in Beacon? And the evacuation? Should we go check? Help evacuate?" Her words came out at lightning speed.

Maybe the evacuation needed more help. They should be there, helping.

Jaune looked back at the elevator. About half an hour had passed since Cinder and Yang had gone up to get Ozpin.

"I know it's hard," Ren placed a hand on Nora's shoulder as he spoke. "But without Ozpin, things will be worse. We need his guidance."

Nora looked away, before staring at Jaune. "What should we do Jaune?"

He looked back at the elevator, then to the exit.

He was way in over his head. "Ren's right. We need Ozpin. Or Cinder, or… someone."

Nora's expression fell, and she opened her mouth to say something else before closing it again.

Jaune looked back at the elevator once again.

"Maybe… we should check what's taking them so long?" He asked then, walking to the door.

Nora and Ren looked at each other before nodding.

Jaune tried a few times to touch the buttons, but the two elevators were out and one showed it was stopped, but not at what floor.

"Dang. What's wrong?" He said, hitting the panel slightly. "Can you get the doors open Nora?"

She smiled, pulling out her Grenade Launcher.

"Wait," Ren raised a hand. "What's the plan here?"

"We'll see what's wrong, and maybe use some maintenance ladders… or something," Jaune said.

"I-" Before Ren could object further, Nora went ahead and blew up the doors.

As the dust cleared, Jaune approached the shaft, and noticed then, that not only did it go up, it also went down a long way. Looking up, he saw that the elevator cable extended to the top, out of sight.

"Uuuh… was there always a basement here?" He asked his team, his voice echoing.

"I never heard of one," Ren answered.

Jaune looked down, illuminating with his scroll. The shaft that went down seemed to be separated from the main one by some sort of door, which had been left open.

"Ok… looks like we're going down…"

He definitely was getting way too much into this mess.

Cinder walked down the hallway with tense steps.

The air was as stale as the last time she was in the area.

The Fall maiden waited, slumbering peacefully while people died on the surface.

Though once she got close enough to give her another look, she noticed a deep scar on the left side of her face, darkening her skin while black, crack-shaped injuries scurried about.

As Ozpin began to operate the machine, Cinder had a single thought.

'This must be a mercy for her.'

"Miss Cinder, into the tube please," at Ozpin's command, Cinder approached the open canister.

This was it. Her destiny. Become the Fall maiden and Beacon's most powerful huntsman.

With this she would crush Pyrrha and her little invasion.

And still, she was nervous.

She looked at Yang, who stood a safe distance away, confused.

Would Cinder be able to come back to her?

She shook her head. It didn't matter.

With a deep breath, she climbed onto the canister, which closed its door as soon as she laid down, muffling the outer world.

Through the glass opening, she saw Yang take one last look at her before turning around and raising her fists, ready to defend.

The machine whirred to life.

Cinder took another breath.

You won't exactly be yourself anymore

Those words ate at her mind as the machine became warm, and it felt like something was grasping at every part of her being.

She wouldn't let that happen. She was Cinder.

She was Cinder.

She needed something more.

Cinder the huntress.

Cinder Rose, the huntress.

She repeated that name as the heat increased.

And then, it felt like something pierced her.

From the right side of her being, something was being shoved in her, being forcibly grafted into her innards.

Cinder tensed.

It burned.

Her mind was assaulted by foreign memories that made no sense, by emotions and thoughts and ideas that belonged to someone else and yet, they soon started to feel familiar.

More burning.

She tensed more, clenching her fists, doing her best to not arch her back.

She felt… fuzzy.

She felt…

Who was she again?

Amber?

No. She was Cinder Rose.

Amber.

Cinder.

The Fall Maiden.

Cinder Rose.

Fall Maiden.

Cinder Rose. Fall Maiden. Cinder Rose. Fall Maiden. Fall maiden. Fall. Cinder. Fall. Cinder. Fall.

Cinder Fall?

Was that-

-she screamed as something pierced her chest and returned her back to reality.

A siren blared in the background.

Grasping at her chest, she found no injury.

But once she looked out the window she knew what had happened.

Pyrrha had thrown a spear, a red portal closing behind her, and shattered Amber's tube.

"No!" She screamed, slamming her fists against the canister.

Pyrrha said something, before closing her eyes as if feeling something. The champion's eyes then began bursting with flames as she rose above the ground. Yang raised her fists, retreating a bit.

She wouldn't be able to fight her, Pyrrha was going to kill her.

Cinder slammed harder against the tube, but it didn't budge.

Still, it was metal and glass, so she placed her hands and focused on using her semblance. Energy from her Aura transferred to the metal, heating it up and making it hot red.

With a final push, she made a hole out of the tube, using the remains to form a metal lance that she threw at Pyrrha.

"Sis!" Yang shouted, running to her side.

Cinder glanced at Yang before looking back to Pyrrha.

The lance had stopped in midair, inches from Pyrrha's heart. The champion maintained her closed eyes.

"That power is mine!" Cinder shouted.

"It was never yours to begin with," Pyrrha replied, opening her eyes and dropping the spear to the ground. "And even if it were, you would not know how to use it."

Cinder grit her teeth.

How strong was she to make such statements?

No matter. They had the numbers advantage. She knew how to fight her.

Cinder looked to Ozpin, who maintained his composure, seemingly.

"Miss Cinder, miss Xiao Long. Leave immediately," he said, maintaining eye contact with Pyrrha. "Now."

Before either Cinder or Yang could object, Pyrrha raised her hand, and a bolt of blue lightning shot out of her hand.

Ozpin tried to dodge it, his movements blurring together.

And yet, the bolt arced and hit him, sending him flying into a pillar.

The headmaster lay there, smoke rising from his body.

Looking back at Pyrrha, she flexed her fingers. "I'll have to be more careful with that."

Cinder drew Midnight from her back. Ozpin was alive. He had to be.

She didn't care, but they needed the help.

Pyrrha simply stared at her, looked down on her, making her core ignite.

"Hold it!" Yang said, stepping up. Why wasn't she ready!? Cinder seethed internally but held back.

Pyrrha turned her uninterested eyes to Yang.

Yang clenched her fists and spoke her next words. "Why P-money? Why!?"

Pyrrha narrowed her eyes. "I hate that nickname."

"Oh shut up! You didn't have to do any of this. Do you realise how many people you have killed with this?" Yang shouted, spit flying out with each word.

After the outburst, Pyrrha closed her eyes for a moment as if in deep thought.

Then she opened them

"I am aware. I know very well about the consequences of my actions. Do you?" Pyrrha asked then. Yang and Cinder looked at each other with raised eyebrows before the maiden continued. "You have been good to me. So I'm giving you and Cinder a chance to walk away. This is between Ozpin and me."

Pyrrha was offering Mercy? To her?

Cinder grit her teeth.

Enough was enough. She would not let her humiliate her further.

"I will walk away… but you won't be alive to see me!" With that shout, she turned midknight into its bow form.

Pyrrha touched the ground, and a stone pillar shot out, almost instantly smacking her right in the chest, shattering her aura and flinging her against a pillar, the impact nearly making her white out, her spine and back feeling like they broke.

She fell to the ground on her knees, arms barely holding her up, bile rising to her throat as she

A frustrated shout rang out, and a red eye'd Yang swung at Pyrrha, who swatted away the strike.

Another left hook that Pyrrha stopped by freezing the hand, but Yang kept pushing and fired her weapon, shattering the ice.

Surprised, Pyrrha stepped back but Yang chased, smacking her with a barrage of her semblance fuelled strikes, ending it with a fire-dust shot that flung Pyrrha back.

Yet, after she had stopped the force pulling her back, Yang's only lasting damage was a flicker of her aura, and a frown on her face.

"Guess I was lucky you got disqualified. I would have surely underestimated you, Yang," Pyrrha said.

"You…" Yang grit her teeth, eyes and hair returning to normal as her semblance burned out. "... How?"

Pyrrha opened her mouth, but before that-

"Pyrrha?" A soft, trembling voice froze her in place.

Yang looked back, and found three people she didn't know she needed until they were there.

Jaune stood, flanked by Nora and Ren, the three of them fearfully holding their weapons.

Yang looked back at Pyrrha, who held an anguished expression on her face.

It quickly gave way to an aloof, slightly irritated mannerism. "What are you doing here Jaune?"

Jaune took a moment to respond. "Helping Ozpin."

Pyrrha sighed. "Ozpin's time is over. Now walk away, this has nothing to do with you."

"Why do it Pyrrha? Why do any of this!? It doesn't make sense!" Nora said. She seemed to be on the verge of breaking down.

Pyrrha said nothing, the words hanging in the air. "Walk. Away."

She sounded dangerous and menacing. That only caused Jaune to straighten his resolve.

"You're our friend," he said while approaching her. "Just tell us what's going-"

With a raise of her hand, flames shot out to Jaune's feet, causing him to step back and try to put his flaming shoes out. "Damnit Jaune I'm not going to ask again! This isn't your fight! Go. Home. All of you."

Silence fell again as JNR looked at each other. Cinder held her breath. She wanted to believe Jaune would be brave enough to stand up to her.

"Sorry, Pyrrha. But you're my teammate and my responsibility," he said, voice low and even as he raised his weapons and stood at Yang's side, with Ren and Nora also joining them. "We're stopping you."

Pyrrha closed her eyes, eyelids twitching before she opened them again. Her face contorted in held-back anger.

"...So be it then."

Pyrrha had no weapons, and yet she still dashed forward at a speed Cinder had never seen her achieve before, the air blowing out from such a force.

She struck Yang, flinging her backwards with a point blank lightning blast.

Cinder grit her teeth, her body still paralyzed from the shock and hitting the wall.

Pyrrha was going to kill them all, and she couldn't save them!

Turning back to the fight, she saw JNR freeze as Pyrrha looked at them with killing intent.

Jaune was first to go, pushed into a wall, the armour of his bracers contorted into cuffs by Pyrrha's semblance.

Breaking out of his stupor, Ren reacted by delivering a mix of kicks and slows that Pyrrha dodged with little effort on her part.

Nora followed next, flanking her and swinging her hammer with all her strength, and even then, the girl was holding back.

Pyrrha delivered several counter attacks, fending her two foes with ease and whittling their auras.

Frustrated, Ren delivered a swapping kick that Pyrrha jumped over, and that Nora used to smash her stomach and then hit her side to send the champion rolling through the floor.

With a nod, Ren and Nora chased after her.

Pyrrha stood up, wiping her mouth.

Her eyes flared with a crimson glow, and she closed her hand. The ground under Ren grumbled and almost swallowed him up, if not for the trainee to jump and evade the stone teeth. With another motion, Pyrrha caught his left leg, forcing him to grunt in pain.

"Ren!" Nora shouted, skidding to a halt in order to help him, only to be stopped by a wall of flames.

Pyrrha now stood on Nora's side of the fire wall.

Gritting her teeth, she shouted. "What's wrong?! No lightning for me?!"

Pyrrha narrowed her eyes, and extended her hand.

Nora's hammer was pulled forward, the trainee struggling to hold it. Then Pyrrha dashed with a gust of wind, and delivered a punch to Nora's stomach strong enough to lift her into the air, and making the girl lose all air from her lungs.

As she fell, Pyrrha grabbed her by the neck and looked deep into her eyes as she choked her, making Nora drop her hammer in order to reach for her neck.

Cinder couldn't help but look in awe at what she had missed, at what was now in the hands of her enemy.

Was that really the power of the Maidens?

"You never had what it took to be a huntress, Nora," Pyrrha said.

With widened and angry eyes, Nora kicked at the champion, so much so Pyrrha's aura flared and her neck almost bent out of shape, forcing her to drop her.

Nora scrambled to pick up Magnhild in between wheezes and began to swing at the dazed champion, sending her backwards.

Eyes widened as she stumbled, Pyrrha extended her hand, ice collecting and shaping into a thin blade.

Then, Pyrrha swung her blade below Nora's waist with a desperate look on her eyes, like a hunted animal.

A shrill scream resonated through the chamber.

Cinder's good eye widened in shock as Nora fell to the ground, blood pooling around the girl.

Cinder had to avert her gaze, her body numb and cold, a void threatening to swallow her organs.

She had to get up. She had to get up. She had to get up!

"NORA!" Another scream as Ren jumped through the wall of fire, his Aura taking most of the damage.

He caught Pyrrha off guard, swinging wildly and with utter abandon, eyes swollen with tears and rage. The champion recoiled from the strikes, and it seemed Ren had the upper hand.

Setting one foot down safely, Pyrrha balanced herself and managed to grab Ren's wrists as he tried to impale her with his blades.

"You… How could you…?!" He choked out, shaking as he used all his strength to try and kill Pyrrha.

Cinder's body finally responded, managing to get on one knee.

"Alright bitch," she muttered, grabbing Midnight from the ground and turning it into a bow. "Let's see if you can redirect this."

She knocked an arrow loaded with wind dust. It would be too fast, too strong to dodge or redirect.

However, the champion turned her eyes to her for a second and saw what was happening.

Panicking, Cinder let loose the arrow.

With a final struggle, Pyrrha opened her mouth and spewed flames on Ren's upper head, forcing him to back down as he screamed in pain. The arrow flew past, slashing off the bangs that covered her forehead.

"REN!" Jaune screamed, as his friend clutched his eyes, breathing shallowly and quickly.

She had failed again.

The void in Cinder's chest intensified, her feelings bubbling into an intense need to act, to run to her and beat her into the ground until nothing was left.

She growled, knocking another arrow, uncaring of the type.

Pyrrha looked back at her, face contorted in anger as she raised her hand. "Die," she muttered as crimson lightning cackled from her hands.

Cinder's breath stopped.

She jumped to the side, avoiding the red flash of lightning that blew up the pillar behind her.

She readied her arrow as she landed.

Pyrrha already had her hand aimed at her, more lightning surging through her.

Cinder was dead.

It was impossible to dodge at this point.

The last thing she could do was let loose the arrow, and hope to do something.

One last act of defiance.

"Heads up, P-Money!" Yang's shout forced Pyrrha to turn around, her eyes scanning the floor before darting upwards and seeing a yellow flash with a burning mane of hair strike her in the face with a resounding boom that shook the very earth.

Pyrrha flew backwards, tumbling along the stone floor before stopping dead cold.

Cinder breathed again.

Why did she have to be saved?

How unfair. After everything-

"You okay sis?!" Yang asked, breaking her out of her dark thoughts.

"I've been better," she muttered, taking Yang's offered hand.

The sisters stood, looking at Pyrrha's unmoving body with bated breath.

"Guys!" Jaune's echoing shout forced them to look back. He was still stuck to the wall. "Please… get me out of here! Nora and Ren need help!"

Cinder grit her teeth as she and Yang ran forward, quickly breaking Jaune out of his bindings.

"Ren!" Jaune shouted, running to his friend, hugging him by the shoulders. The trainee didn't look well, clutching his eyes.

"Where's… where's Nora?" Ren asked. Jaune and Cinder's eyes darted around, and found Yang at Nora's side, kneeled over a deep pool of blood.

"Just rest man," Jaune said, helping his friend lie down before rushing to Nora's side.

"A-alright."

It was a horrible scene. She couldn't stand to watch it.

"W-what do we do?" Yang asked, voice breaking.

Jaune went to Nora's side, holding her face upwards, but the girl seemed to be completely lost. "Nora? Can you hear me?"

The huntress in training barely managed out of a squeak.

"Cinder! What do we do?!" Yang cried out.

Cinder bit her lip, taking one glance at the fatally wounded girl.

"Nora… please…" Jaune muttered. "There must be… something I can do! Anything!"

"There's nothing you can do…" Cinder muttered.

The two teens looked at her in bewilderment.

"You can't be-"

"It's just how it is!" Cinder shouted back. "I hate it as well but… we can't do anything for her."

Jaune looked at Nora, before shaking his head in disbelief. "No. No! There's… I'll just give her my aura!"

"That's not how it works! Just stop," Cinder said.

Jaune didn't listen, simply putting his hands on top of his wounded friend, and making his aura glow.

"Jaune-" Yang said.

"-don't! Just-" he said, voice cracking as tears dripped from his eyes.

Cinder bit her lip harder, to the point she drew blood.

They fell into a deep silence.

Before Cinder could say anything else, a glinting sound began emanating.

Turning to the source, he saw it was Jaune, his hands enveloped in a white and gold aura that flowed into Nora.

"Jaune! It's… it's working!" Yang said, eyes wide in amazement.

"I…" Cinder rushed to the girl as well, checking the injuries.

"Her wounds are closing!" She muttered. "How the heck…?!"

"It must be his semblance! Jaune!" Yang said, grabbing his shoulders. "We found your semblance!"

Jaune didn't respond, wholly focused on healing Nora.

Cinder pursed her mouth.

A part of her was relieved, even happy that her student was alright. So much so her eyes stung.

And yet, another part wondered…

So he gets to save the people he loves? Only by wishing really hard?

She had to shake her head to get that demon out of her.

Cinder had to do something to distract herself.

"Let's check on Ozpin and keep moving. Can you carry her?" Cinder asked. Jaune nodded.

Yang looked at him with concern. "You sure Jaune? You must be-"

"I'll be fine. You help Ren," Jaune said, voice impassive as he stopped his healing and picked Nora up into his back, hands thrown around his neck as he supported her thighs.

"W-what happened?" Ren asked, agitated, as Yang helped him stand up.

"It's okay, flower guy. She'll be fine," Yang said.

Cinder looked again at Nora, lying unconscious on Jaune's back. But she seemed less pale, more placid as if sleeping.

"Now where's Ozpin?" Cinder muttered, scanning the area.

Her heart nearly stopped as she saw Pyrrha standing up.

"Oh shit," Yang said. "How the heck are you still up!"

Pyrrha did not answer, instead moving her head from side to side, feeling her jaw with her hand.

A second later, she spit out blood and a tooth.

With a hiss, Cinder shot an arrow at the champion, who simply moved her head to dodge.

"So predictable," Pyrrha said, voice booming. Cinder shot another arrow, easily dodged as well.

She turned to Yang. "Yang, go! I've got this!"

Another arrow, another dodge. Pyrrha continued her slow and steady advance.

"You really thought a punch was enough to stop me? I just didn't want Nora to die. Now, Cinder…" Pyrrha's eyes lit up, the killing intent emanating from her nearly causing the huntress' knees to buckle.

As she moved to attack, a greenish bubble surrounded her, stopping her in her tracks, as if she were frozen.

"What the-?"

"Miss Cinder! Get your students out!" The group turned to see Ozpin holding his cane, pointing the top at Pyrrha.

"Wait! We can finish-!"

"No! If you disturb it, the barrier will break. I can only buy you time. Now leave!" Ozpin shouted. He sounded desperate, and the anguish could be seen in his eyes. Cinder realised then, that he was barely holding himself together.

"You can't beat her! You're too weakened!" Cinder shouted, the outcome of just a battle clear in her mind.

Ozpin smiled at that moment. "It's alright, Miss Cinder. As long as people are saved, as long as someone remains to fight, my duties are complete. You have to carry on! All of you, and I promise we'll meet again!"

Cinder grit her teeth as she stared at his kind eyes. He was right. Yang had to live, and Cinder herself was just too weak. She would fight another day, become stronger, make Yang and Ruby stronger.

And then, Pyrrha… that bitch would die.

And so, she pursed her mouth and nodded.

"Come on! To the lift!" She said. Yang and Jaune did not question her as they… as they ran away and left Ozpin to his fate.

The doors were open, and the group ran into it with ragged breath, nearly crashing into the walls.

With a single hit, Cinder closed the doors.

They all began breathing heavily, exhaustion finally setting in after the adrenaline had left their bodies.

Cinder's mouth shook, her breaths shallow. She had been terrified. She was terrified. She felt like a child again, with no control or hope to overcome those who would do harm to her.

But now she was also powerless to protect those she cared about. So powerless she left them behind.

"I… I can't believe we left him…!" Yang said, helping Ren sit on the floor. "... We… we could have stayed, right?"

Cinder said nothing, staring at the floor.

What could she say to make her at ease? To make herself at ease?

"Sis!"

"I don't know!" Cinder screamed, voice booming. She closed her eyes, trying to control herself. "I don't know… we aren't strong enough. We just aren't."

They fell in silence. The elevator bumped and shook a little as it went up and up.

"So what now?" Jaune asked.

Cinder took a breath before looking at her students. "We get out of here, see if we can find the others."

Jaune nodded, but Yang said nothing, simply staring away.

"Yang…"

"I'm alright. Just… I couldn't- I couldn't do anything-" she said, voice cracking. Cinder felt a desperate urge to say something, anything to make her feel better.

But she had no words. Reality weighed too heavily for any platitudes to offer comfort.

They were weak. All of them. And they had failed.


Ruby gripped Crescent Rose tightly, avoiding the low ceilings and tight walls of the Atlas airship.

While Ruby simply advanced forwards through the darkened hallways, feeling the ship shake every so often, Weiss trailed behind, checking the bodies.

"He's gone too," Weiss said, feeling the person's neck, shaking her head, and then standing up again.

Ruby couldn't even bear to look at them without her stomach feeling like it was being squeezed. "How can you do that so easily?"

"It's not easy. I hate it, but that's what comes with being a huntress, right? People die," Weiss said, almost too casually.

"Huntsmen save people," Ruby said, almost a whisper.

"Are you really having this problem now? Of all times?" Weiss asked, raising her voice.

"Well, what am I supposed to do? I… never saw someone… die!" Ruby said, nearly shouting.

"Well… you're… gonna have to get used to it," Weiss said with hesitation. "Me too, I suppose."

They trailed off, but Ruby still felt something in her chest waiting to burst out. "Weiss… I should have saved them. Saved her."

"Penny?"

"Yes," Ruby said, holding back a sob. "I should have stopped all of this."

"How? You aren't a superhero," Weiss replied.

"I don't know! I should just have. I-!" Ruby interrupted herself. This wasn't good, this wasn't helpful.

She was the leader. She had to be strong.

Like Cinder. Like Yang. Like her mom.

"-I'll stop Roman. I can do just that, right?" Ruby asked, trying to give a half hearted smile.

Weiss just stared at her, pensive, before nodding. "Yeah. We've got this."

"Yeah! We'll save everyone! You'll see!" Ruby said with more enthusiasm. It wasn't a lie. She hadn't lied. She would save Beacon.

But renewed vigour, they marched into the bridge of the vessel.

Like the rest of the ship, it was chaos, with most of the crew killed or knocked out, with hooded humanoids wearing white masks handling the controls.

"White Fang again?" Weiss asked, anger rising in her voice. "Why?!"

The White Fang members didn't bother responding, instead drawing firearms or melee weapons.

Ruby whipped Crescent Rose around. These guys weren't Grimm. Did they deserve to die? They were still people, just off the wrong path.

"Ruby…" Weiss said, stepping at her side as the enemies approached.

"Knock them out," Ruby ordered, looking Weiss dead in the eye.

With a nod, they sprang into action.

Like other White Fang members, they were at best civilians trained to use aura, and fell easily to the huntresses.

Still, with the somewhat cramped space, Ruby found it difficult to swing her weapon, and nearly found herself overwhelmed. At one point, her blade did get stuck in a beam, and the attempt to dislodge it made her get hit, stumble, and continue to be hit by different sides from multiple White Fang members.

They were hurting her. They wanted to kill her. Those thoughts came into her mind as her aura struggled to keep the strikes from hurting.

Why?

What had she done wrong?

She just wanted them to stop killing people.

Then again, they almost killed Yang. They almost killed Weiss and Blake. Hurt Cinder.

KilledKileld Penny.

Something dark came inside her, her eyes hurt, and she screamed, swinging her weapon wildly, forcing them to back off or be sliced.

"Ruby! You idiot… I'll be there!" Weiss said, using her glyphs to dash up to her and take down the members of the White Fang surrounding her.

Without enemies, Ruby dropped to her knees, exhausted. Her jaw, stomach and sides hurt.

"You alright?" Weiss asked, putting her hand over her shoulder.

"Never better," Ruby said, giving her a smile. "Battle scars for later, right?"

Weiss gave her a sad smile. "Yeah. Let's get you up."

With all the members of the White Fang down, that only left one thing.

"Okay, let's set her down, take these guys in, and join the others," Ruby ordered.

"And how do you plan to fly it down?" Weiss asked. After pondering, Ruby gave an exaggerated shrug. "Ruby!"

Wiess' face was worth it.

"It can't be too hard," Ruby said then, heading towards one of the many panels with screens.

Ruby and Weiss looked at each other,then back at the panels of many letters, symbols and graphs, and continued to do nothing.

"I think… we're f'd in the a," Ruby said, dropping her shoulders.

"Indeed you are, Red!" Weiss and Ruby jumped back upon hearing Roman's voice. The villain stood, facing them dramatically from the bridge windows that gave way to the landing pad. "Forgot about me?"

Weiss and Ruby glanced at each other, then back at him. "I might have," she admitted.

This seemed to piss Roman off. "Well then, you better not have come to stop me. Otherwise, I might have to take my anger out on you."

"Unfortunately, we are. You better come with us after we land this ship, for all those people you killed," Weiss replied, pointing her sword at him.

"Oh don't be like that princess. Those people were dead anyway. Either shot by Atlas robots or eaten by Grimm. They were never going to survive," he said, pacing around as he twirled his cane.

Ruby felt her cheeks redden. "And that made it okay to shoot them down!"

"Hey," he said, shrugging. "I have a job. I have to be on the winning side, you know? Me or them. Why risk it?"

"What do you mean 'why?!' Those people did nothing to you!" Ruby shouted.

"And would do nothing for me either. The only person who matters is 'you', Red. Not others. Others are a drag, leeching and grabbing onto you, using you as support while you do everything. I have no desire for that. But I wouldn't expect someone as naive as you to understand. You have everything given to you, and are given the liberty to be as stupid as possible. You can't even hurt those animals," Roman said, motioning to the unconscious White Fang fighters.

He made no sense. Ruby knew. It angered her. It angered her how easily he could dismiss the lives of others. Her mom… countless huntsmen had given their lives. Not to leech. Not to take, but to protect. To protect from the threat of the Grimm, who, like Roman, only seemed to exist to hurt others.

Yeah. Roman was no better than a Grimm.

But maybe… no, he was still a person. He had the capacity to understand, right?

"You keep that up, and you'll end up with nothing either. You'll always be alone, a sad and pitiful existence. That's all you'll get if you only think about yourself and not others," Ruby said, nearly growling.

But Roman didn't even flinch at that. "Wrong again. I have some good friends. Friends such as… Neoooo!" Roman said, singing the last name.

From the ceiling, she fell in between Ruby and Weiss, kicking and striking with her umbrella at the huntresses, separating them.

"You aren't the only ones to get partners, red! Now let's see how much you need to be hit on the head before you understand."


A/N: As always, a million thanks for the wait and patience.