The following day, Pyrrha killed Penny in the arena. Just as the Courier had hoped. Ozpin contacted him when it happened, questioning why his bullet necklace hadn't worked; the Courier shrugged, said some lies, and hung up. In truth, the necklace did work, it's just that it's attuned to the Courier's luck, and therefore must cater to the Courier's wants. And the Courier wanted Pyrrha to kill Penny that day, why? So that he could have a plausible excuse to kill Cinder Fall and shove the Fall Maiden's powers into Lavs… or Johan.

Isn't he such a terrible person? Oh well, what's done is done, that girl probably will never be the same again. Boo hoo. So sad, maybe she'll run back to that Jaune boy and ask him how she should feel about murdering another student. The Courier wasn't surprised that Penny was a 'synth', as the Easterners had called them, her unnatural movement, stilted way of talking, general uneasiness. It was painfully obvious… which makes it all the better seeing her explode into pieces.

The Courier didn't like seeing children die, keyword here being 'seeing', they can die for all he cares; as long as he doesn't see it happen, he's fine with it.

He wasn't in the Announcer's box when it happened, although he wished he was, Lavs was there though, substituting for him. The Courier smirked as he watched the proceedings through his Pip-Boy, with Johan and Mint also leaning over to see as well, "Looks like they can't disable the camera feeds," Mint muttered, "Deliberate sabotage?"

"Definitely," the Courier leaned back on his chair as Cinder's message began playing for all of Remnant to hear, "Pre-recorded message, Mint, I want you to track down Mercury and Emerald and drag their ass to the courtyard," Mint nodded, the Courier threw him a bulky laser detonator, "The 'tracker' I told you to plant was a miniature bomb too, use whatever dirty tricks you want, I want them there."

"Yes, sir!" Mint rushed out of the dorm, shoving his detonator into his pockets, Johan furrowed her brows as Cinder continues to drone on and on about 'the Academies' or 'armies' or whatever, "Why's she lowkey making… sense?"

"Eh, I generally try not to listen to my enemies when I kill them," he turned to Johan, "Go to Lavs and deliver this message to her," he handed Johan a folded up note, "Protect her too, and make sure she doesn't die."

"Yes, sir!"

"Oh, and one more thing," he threw a fragmentation grenade at Johan, the pin was still in obviously, she caught it deftly, "Bring Lavs to the Beacon courtyard too if you can, we'll regroup there before we proceed with the next step."

"Understood, sir!"

With both of his very own lackeys out of the room, the Courier can now go back to his evil scheming. The message must be pre-recorded as no self-respecting terrorist willing to incite anarchy would be stupid enough to do it live. The Courier smirked, if his plan goes off without a hitch, then he'd be revered by the Faunus and the people alike as a public hero. In direct contrast, he'd lose all trust from Ozpin and his little dinner club, which he is fine with, obviously. Aside from Qrow, he didn't like anybody in that damn group.

This will incite fear, fear lures in the Grimm, and Grimm means he can go on a killing spree with no repercussions. The Courier turned off his Pip-Boy and stood up, already changed into his Stealth Suit and Duster combo as the Old Glory hangs off his back. He grinned; gain the respect and admiration of the public while losing the trust of the underground elite force of peacekeepers? Sounds like a fair trade to him…

"Alert. Incoming Grimm Attack. Threat Level: Nine. Please seek shelter in a calm and orderly manner." Looks like the Grimm are here; Ozpin still hadn't contacted him back yet. It's safe to say he's already lost the trust of the old bastard.

Grabbing his Old Glory, the Courier walked out of his dorm, out of Beacon, and into the Grimm infested streets with a smile on his face. He tuned into his favourite western music playlist, and got to work.

Ozpin gripped his cane tightly as he watched the city come under attack, his city, the same one that he helped flourish all those centuries ago, now destroyed in a snap. He gritted his teeth, Courrier, that double-crossing snake! After everything, after all that Ozpin showed him! All those moments of kindness, compassion, empathy, charity, all of it, out of the window just like that… He gave the man a place to live, delay his life sentence, completely willing to hand him all the information just like that! He was played like a damn fool!

Ozpin sighed, but all of that was because of the man's 'Semblance', not because Ozpin was a charitable person… Qrow came running in, alongside Glynda, "Oz!"

"Get to the city! Now!" Ozpin gritted out, "And find Courrier while you're at it…"

Qrow and Glynda exchanged a confused look before nodding, running back the way they came. Ozpin rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed, his Scroll then rung, Ironwood was calling, "Ozpin! Listen, the girl… I- I can explain!"

"You can explain yourself later when the Grimm is away and not slaughtering our people! So get your priorities right, James, because you brought your army here, so use it!"

Ironwood's worry turned into determination as he nodded, hanging up the Scroll call as he began directing his fleet of ships to shoot down the Nevermores, Ozpin watched as the horde of Grimm push their way deeper and deeper into the city…

He held his Scroll up to his face, deciding to give Courrier a call, see if that traitor has anything to say, "Courrier," Ozpin began, his voice deadly serious, "Would you-" "Change of plans, Ozpin, since both of us have different goals here."

"While you're up there twiddling your fingers and putting your thumbs up your ass, I'm down here fighting for your people," Courrier spat, although Ozpin could hear the smile he had on his face, "I just wanna say this one last time Ozpin; you're just so… terribly mediocre at being a protector, seeing as how your stupid little city's now up in flames. I could probably do a better job than you honestly, just sayin'. Buh-bye!"

Courrier then hung up. Ozpin needed to get to the Vault. Now!

Cinder stood atop a building with her lackeys as she stared down at the carnage below. She furrowed her brows, "Where are the White Fang?" she turned to Emerald and Mercury, who both drew back when she glared at them.

"Lady Cinder… Reports say that…" Emerald looked down at her feet, "The White Fang… the Vale sect escaped to Mistral yesterday…"

"What?" Cinder's eyes widened, turning to Mercury who's silently filming the mayhem with his Scroll, "That damn- Nevermind, Mercury, are you getting all of this?"

He just nodded, Emerald looked concernedly at him, "Good, keep the broadcast going," she grinned, but her mind was still reeling from the information that the White Fang had bailed, "Make sure you don't miss the next part…"

Cinder narrowed her eyes as she stared down at the street, the Grimm that were once there were now killed, their bodies disintegrating into ash. Normally, she would've just brushed this off as the Huntsmen fighting back but no… there were no Huntsmen that she could spot in the street, just the wide-eyed stares of the civilians as they looked on in awe at…

Cinder gritted her teeth in rage, "Courrier…" she ran out of the rooftop, she needs to complete her plan now, and fast! Emerald watched as Cinder ran off of the rooftop, she approached Mercury before wincing as he gave her a scathing glare.

"Are you alright-" "Found you!"

Both of them turned their heads towards the entrance to the rooftop, Mercury quickly stowed his Scroll and got into a fighting stance, Emerald did too. A man was standing in front of them, a katana hanging off of his sides as a shit-eating grin was plastered all over his face, his mint-coloured hair swayed in the wind as he scratched his stubble.

"You two are coming with me to see the Acting Commander," he pointed at the two confused lackeys, "Now we can do this the hard way…" the man grabbed his katana and glared at them, "Or the hard way… You don't really have a choice in the matter anyways."

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" The Courier nodded as he dropped a civilian's kid into their arms, he grimaced at their tear-stricken face but gave them a smile anyways.

The Grimm slaughter was a huge success! Streets were cleared, blocks were empty! Civilians were safe and the people saw him as a hero! The Courier dashed off into the distance, crushing a Deathstalker's head and stabbing it with its own stinger as the Courier waved to the Atlas soldiers, all of whom waved back awkwardly as they watched a strange man eviscerate a Grimm using his bare hands.

The Courier continued his rampage, biting an Ursa's head off as he carried the civilians down the rooftop of a building. Slaughtering scores upon scores of Beowolves as he reunited families and saved loved ones. Crushing the head of a Goliath by shoving his revolver into its eye socket and emptying the cylinder. Ripping a Nevermore's wing off as it tried to swoop down and eat him. Turning Boarbatusks into past as he crushed, stabbed, maimed, destroyed, killed, eviscerate, decimate, and obliterate the Grimm forces down on the ground.

The civilians thanked him with tears in their eyes, the Atlas soldiers cheered him on as he chokeslammed Deathstalkers and suplexed Ursas. It was great knowing that people admire him to this extent. He ran around the city for a while longer, helping civilians, helping soldiers, building a name for himself in an incredibly short time as he does work after work. 'Kill this Grimm for us' and 'Save my child' and 'Help us evacuate' and all that crap, repetitive, but it'll all be worth it in the end.

Walking into the scene with his Old Glory covered in Grimm particles, the Courier waved at the soldiers as he got to work, tearing off pieces of the Deathstalker's exoskeleton as he stabbed his Old Glory into its soft spots, grabbing an Ursa by its mouth and tearing it wide open, pulling the head off of a Beowolf as he crushed a Boarbatusk under his foot. The soldiers joined in with gunfire as well, pushing back the smaller Grimm while he brutally executes the bigger one, it's a win-win situation for both!

The Courier smiled a genuine smile as he patted a soldier on the back before commandeering his bullhead. Taking to the skies for his next objective, or rather, slaughter. He's sufficiently wiped out the Grimm population enough for the ground forces to clean up, now it's time he did the same for the Nevermore population as well.

He didn't need the Grimm to stick around for long, all he needed was for Cinder to send in the Grimm, kill a couple of families, make an attempt on Amber or Nikos' life, and then he can lynch her publicly with evidence to back up her crimes! A fool-proof plan! Nothing could go wrong! This represents a crossroads for him though; either he kills both Cinder and Nikos to assume the Maiden powers for himself via Lavs or Johan… or kill Cinder, revive Amber, and then kill her too for the same result…

He stood on top of the bullhead as he gave out orders for the pilot, directing the man to circle around the Vytal Colosseum as he shot at the Nevermores with his revolver. Blowing large holes in their heads and even decapitating some outright. The pilots of the other bullheads gave him thumbs up as they flew by unimpeded. No more big nasty birds in the sky anymore, just the bullhead, him, and a big Grimm dragon hanging off the side of Ozpin's little ivory tower.

"Stop the bullhead! Hover it close to the dragon Grimm thing!"

"WHAT?! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND?!"

"Do you want this thing to die or not!"

The pilot grumbled as he brought the bullhead closer to the dragon thing, just far enough so that it doesn't try to swipe at the vehicle or even notice the bullhead in the first place. The Courier was about to give the pilot another instruction before realizing that the man had already jumped out of the bullhead with a parachute on, putting the vehicle into auto-hover mode as it suspends itself in the air.

"I always wanted to try this out…" The Courier reached into his Duster and pulled out a mini-nuke, he assumed an American Football throwing stance as he lined up his shots, completely confident in the fact that no Nevermores will show up out of the blue and swallows him whole or anything like that.

But just to be sure… the Courier glanced around his surroundings, seeing that the remaining Nevermores were being wiped out by the Atlas Fleet, looks like Ironwood's little army worked out after all.

He lined up the throw again, closing one eye… and released.

It was as if the sun had been released onto Remnant's surface as the dragon Grimm thing was faced with the power of nuclear technology. The Mini-Nuke completely vaporizing half of its head as it reared back in pain. Civilians, soldiers, Huntsmen, and students alike all looked up to see a bright flash of light that blinded their vision before a loud boom echoed throughout the streets. The shockwave from the blast rocking the ground, creating a temporary earthquake as the dragon thing's claws tore through the tower, sending it plummeting to the ground.

The Courier grinned, deftly climbing back into the bullhead and flying his way back down to the ground. Thank god Arcade taught him about Vertibirds, well, it wasn't really Arcade, it was one of the Enclave Remnants. The same principle applied here, keep the vehicle upright and don't crash and die horribly, simple enough.

Heh. Enclave Remnants. Kinda funny.

On his way down though, he saw that the dragon Grimm was getting back up, the vaporized half of its face slowly healing as it roared out in pain. As more black ichor was flung off of its body as it formed more and more Grimm at the base of it, the Courier sighed, what a pain in the ass this thing was.

Oh well, at least he gets to kill more Grimm, and look more like a hero too! He also needs to pick up Johan, Lavs, and Mint as well, alongside hopefully two of Cinder's lackeys. He'll then fly them to Ozpin's office using this bullhead, there; they can record and broadcast live his killing of Vale's number one enemy, Cinder!

It feels great being the one to plan all of this shit out for the first time! He would've never gotten the chance to do this back in the Mojave!

A rumble reached the Vault as dust and pebble shook from the ceiling, Ozpin wondered why that is before shaking his head, something more important was going on here. Arc stood at guard, his sword raised as he watched the elevators closely, occasionally throwing glances at Nikos as she was raised into the air.

As Nikos screamed out in agony, Arc just gritted his teeth, putting full trust into his partner as he restrained himself from abandoning his guard. Ozpin nervously counted in his head the seconds it takes for the power to fully transfer… an arrow flew past his head and impaled Amber in the chest. The girl's eyes fluttered open, widening before her pupils rolled up to the back of her head.

Arc raised his sword, and dashed at Cinder, the Maiden power that was meant for Nikos… now being transferred to that woman, Cinder Fall. So Courrier was right after all. Arc swung his sword at Cinder, quick, practiced strikes catching the woman off-guard as she was placed on the back foot, barely holding off the boy's swings as she tore the bow in half, creating two sharp daggers.

Jaune thrusted his sword at Cinder's torso, the woman gritted her teeth as she crossed the daggers, feeling her Aura being damaged as Arc continued his assault. A slash at her wrist takes off another chunk, a thrust at her midsection another, and a strike at her sides being barely held back by the daggers.

Ozpin turned back to the computer system, inputting the command to release Nikos, the pod opened and she dropped out of it. Cinder flung a fireball at Arc, to which the boy cut the flames in half, engulfing the blade in fire as he swung it back at Cinder. Nikos watched warily as Cinder's eyes began glowing. The Maiden's power flowing into her as her muscles contract and her movement slowed. Arc, noticing this, poured all of his strength into one final thrust, the blade breaking Cinder's Aura and impaling the woman in the stomach, she spat out blood as she glared at him.

"You've been… in my way for LONG ENOUGH, boy!" she grabbed the sword by its blade, the Maiden's Aura being added onto hers as she grabbed the sharp edge with ease, Arc released the blade and kicked the hilt of it, digging the sword deeper into her stomach, Cinder laughed, grabbing the sword and throwing it at Arc. He held up his shield, the blade impacting the metal and knocking him back a fair amount.

Cinder held onto her stomach and slowly revealed the wound to Ozpin with a grin on her face, the damage was already healed! "NIKOS! TAKE ARC AND GET OUT OF HERE!"

"But I can help-" "GO! NOW!"

Nikos nodded as she quickly grabbed Arc and ran out of the hallway, using the elevator to get out of the Vault. Cinder stared down Ozpin, "So she was right all along, huh?" she chuckled, Ozpin crouched down and got into a fighting stance, "You have been hiding her down here all along! Such… arrogance!"

Cinder blasted Ozpin with fireballs and streams of flames, causing him to constantly move around to avoid the attacks. He took out his Long Memory and extended the cane into a staff, activating it and absorbing the fire that Cinder shot out. Cinder, upon seeing this, dropped down to the floor with a bang as she dashed forwards with her daggers, to which Ozpin blocked and parried each strike deftly as she swung at him.

Slowly and precisely directing her towards the elevator, Ozpin ducked under another strike before secretly calling the elevator back down, after seeing that it has reached the surface and that Nikos and Arc are safe. He backhanded Cinder in the cheek as he followed up with some more swings of the Long Memory, he staff absorbing some of the energy from each swing before he released it, knocking Cinder into the elevator doors as the kinetic energy from the staff shot out and impacted her.

Swinging the Long Memory at Cinder, the staff broke through one of her daggers, shattering the weapon in half as Ozpin pushed her into the elevator slowly with precise jabs and strikes, Cinder swatted away the staff and tried to fight back but Ozpin just released the stored energy in the staff into a burst of kinetic energy, blasting Cinder to the corners of the elevator as Ozpin entered it as well. He slammed his fist onto the buttons, sending it to his office as the two fighters squared off in a tight space.

Ozpin retracted his Long Memory into a short staff as Cinder held her dagger, he two descended upon one another again, this time in the confines of a moving elevator. Ozpin weaved and ducked under Cinder's dagger strikes, knowing that she can't afford to user the Maiden's power here unless she destroys the elevator too, Ozpin slammed his shortened staff into her stomach, causing her to reel back a bit and have her back touch the walls of the elevator.

He then continued up with a swing to her head, she ducked under it and swung her dagger at Ozpin, the sharp edge nicking off some of his Aura as he grimaced. Cinder's eyes then lit up as she grabbed the Long Memory mid-swing, setting the stick on fire as she let out a controlled burst of flames, Ozpin gritted his teeth as he felt the fire searing away at his hand, he yanked the Long Memory out of her grasp and swung the staff at her. The fire creating a trail as it slammed against her temple.

Ozpin continued with his flurry of attacks, hitting Cinder with the flaming staff while also extinguishing it. Cinder weaved under one of the swings and thrusted her dagger into Ozpin's stomach, taking away a large chunk of Aura from him as she began to fight back.

The elevator dinged and Cinder kicked him right out. Sending him to the destroyed remnants of his office as he felt the heat of the ambient air. It's like something exploded here just recently, the atmosphere around the crater-like area even felt a bit fuzzy to the touch… it's like his Aura's trying its hardest to block something out… it's a faint sensation, nothing to be too alarmed about, Ozpin glared at Cinder as she lumbered out of the elevator, an expression of pure rage and hatred on her face.

Ozpin's tower, his tower, was now nothing more than just a shell of its former self, everything was destroyed except for the elevator mechanism, the walls were melted together, like something extremely hot was released here.

Cinder glanced around as if looking for something before she shook her head, approaching Ozpin with her dagger as the Maiden's power within her began flaring up.

Pyrrha carried Jaune out of the front door of the Beacon tower as the two held onto one another; Jaune breathed out heavily as he reached into his pocket, "I think I have Ms. Goodwitch's number," he took out his Scroll and was about to dial it before he noticed Pyrrha staring at the top of the tower with a troubled expression on her face. Seeing the elevator going down and stopping for a moment before being sent up again, this time to the office instead of out to where they are currently.

Pyrrha then turned to Jaune with a pained look, Jaune's eyes widened, "No… No, no, no! Pyrrha, you don't have to do this!" he reached out and grabbed her face, forcing her to look at him, "Pyrrha, I- I can't just let you do this! You don't have to- you can't fight her! You saw how powerful she is!"

"But Ozpin-" Jaune leaned in a kissed her, stopping her from saying anything more, Pyrrha's eyes widened in surprise as she melted into the kiss, closing her eyes, savouring the moment… he then let go and rested his forehead on hers. Tears running down his cheek.

"I can't- I don't want to lose you…"

Pyrrha felt her tears fall too. She closed her eyes, gritting her teeth, "Jaune I'm…" his eyes opened, red-rimmed as he stared back at her, "I'm sorry."

"What-?" Pyrrha launched Jaune away with her Semblance, blasting him far off into the distance as she turned back and ran into the tower, shutting her eyes, trying to block out Jaune's cry of her name.

"PYRRHA!"

Did you like the Cinder vs. Ozpin elevator fight? I thought that Ozpin would at least put up some of a fight but in the show he just gets off-screened lol.

Also I can't write romance for shit lol, so just ignore if anything feels too overly cheesy or shitty for your liking.

Jaune's definitely more confident now, and the Courier's going off into the deep end.

The Courier's certainly no hero, in fact, he's a very selfish man with delusions of grandeur. Which is really fun to write!

Mint and Johan will have bigger roles to play, being the Courier's goons and all that. They're like Emerald and Mercury if they actually liked Cinder as a person and a leader.

Thanks for reading!