Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit story for entertainment purposes only. "RWBY" is the property of director and animator Monty Oum (RIP) and production company Rooster Teeth, and "Die Hard" is the property of director John McTiernan, production companies Gordon Company and Silver Pictures, and distributed by 20th Century Fox.
Authors Reminder: Since this adaptation is nearly finished, I'll be drawing plans for the next movie. As a means of support in my decision, I'd like to ask reviewers to send a list of no more than five live action films to me via PM. I'll compile them together and decide on which film is suggested the most.
Dew Gayl's interview with Dr. Oobleck on Atlas-TV News was shown on a monitor in Cardin's news van.
"War is the last resort of diplomacy, then couldn't we just as well say that terrorism has an equal claim on being that, too?"
Cardin himself was watching until Octavia blocked the screen with a folder.
"You got something?" Cardin asked. "Tell me you got something."
"Just Arcs name, badge number, employment record, vital statistics and his family's home address. Right here in Mantle," Octavia smugly replied.
Cardin exhaled in excitement, eager for his interview.
"He better not mess with my kids!" Pyrrha snarled with maternal rage, knowing her counterparts children were at home.
Everyone was taken aback by Pyrrhas uncharacteristic aggression.
"Whoa! Now Pyrrhas going mama bear," Coco said.
Back on the 30th floor, Tuskon watched over the hostages. The elevator chimed and opened. Adam and Karl stepped out. Adam threw the bag of detonators over to Tock.
"Go to work," Adam ordered.
"You got it," Tock replied.
"Now it's only a matter of time until Adam's plan comes to fruition," Ironwood said grimly.
Pyrrha and Nora, the latter lying on a couch, watched as Karl angrily approached a drink table and smashed the bottles with the butt of his rifle in a fit of rage.
"Monty, that man looks really pissed," Nora said nervously to Pyrrha.
Pyrrha smiled in realization. "He's still alive," she said with relief.
"What?" Nora asked.
Pyrrha lightly shook her head. "Only Jaune can drive somebody that crazy."
"Awww, that just means she loves him," Nora cooed.
"A wife knows her husband better than anyone," Glynda said in agreement.
"I've heard plenty of wives say the same about their husbands," Qrow said sadly, remembering Summer and Raven.
Back on the 32nd floor, Jaune dragged himself on his back into a rest room. He left a trail of blood from the glass shards embedded in his left foot.
Everyone winced or groaned at Jaunes wound.
"That's gotta hurt like hell," Qrow, grateful he never accidentally stepped on a broken liquor bottle after waking up with a hangover.
"Reminds me of when I stepped on a tack when I was two," Ruby recalled from her childhood. "Only that's ten times worse."
"I remember that time," Yang said sadly, recalling how he comforted a crying Ruby after the accident.
Down at the vault room, Ilia had finished her work. A monitor displayed the words "ELECTROMAGNETIC SEAL ENGAGED – NO LOCAL ACCESS".
"Adam," Ilia said into her headset. "You'd better heat up that miracle, because we just broke through on number 6, and the electromagnetic came down like a fucking anvil."
"Really?" Adam answered. "Have a look at what our friends outside are doing and I'll be right up."
"Looks like we're about to see the next phase of Adam's plan," Winter pointed out with a hint of worry.
In the 32nd floor restroom, Jaune leaned against a mirror while sitting on a counter with the sink running. He panted in pain from his wounds.
"Hey Jaune," Ren said on his walkie talkie. "Jaune Arc, you still with us?"
Jaune picked up his walkie-talkie. "Yeah. But all things being equal, I'd rather be in Vale."
"Anybody would if they were in his shoes," Neptune said.
"Or lack thereof," Sun corrected.
Jaune sat up straight, his eyes squeezed shut. "Chalk up two more bad guys," he said to Ren.
"Well, the boys down here will be glad to hear that," Ren replied. "You know, we got a pool going on you."
"What kind of odds am I getting?" Jaune asked, wincing as he examined the glass shards in his bloodied foot propped on the counter.
"With the fair amount of blood he's losing, he's bound to feel weakened and fatigued," Oobleck observed.
"I guess now I care about glass," Jaune quipped, recalling his earlier quote.
Yang giggled. "Nice one, Vomit Boy," She complimented. "Your counterpart is rubbing off on you."
"You don't want to know," Ren answered.
"Put me down for twenty. I'm good for it," Jaune groaned as he prepared to remove the glass from his foot.
Ren laughed down in the construction yard.
"Hey pal. You got flat feet?" Jaune asked.
Ren looked puzzled. "What the hell are you talking about, man?"
"Something had to get you off the street," Jaune replied as he held up a freshly removed chunk of glass from his foot.
"What's the matter?" Ren asked. "You don't think jockeying papers across a desk is a noble effort for a cop?"
"He's still law enforcement. Everyone has a noble role to play while on the force," Penny defended Ren's counterpart.
"Yeah. Besides, he must have had a good reason to take a desk job," Nora added.
Jaune tossed the shard of glass into the sink. "No," he gasped painfully in response.
Ren pursed his lips. "I had an accident," He replied, his smile faltering a bit.
"With the way you drive, I can see why."
"What did you do?" Jaune asked as he dug another piece of glass from his foot. "Run over your captain's foot with the car?"
That prompted a few laughs from the audience.
"I wonder if Jaune ever did that to Ozpin back in Vale," Qrow chuckled, earning a glare from Ozpin and Glynda.
"Watch yourself, Branwen," Glynda warned sternly.
Ren paused as his smile vanished. "I shot a kid," he replied simply.
The entire audience gasped in shock, especially Ren and Nora.
"He—he what?" Nora stammered, scarcely believing what she heard.
Ren was speechless. His mouth was agape.
Jaune was stunned, momentarily forgetting about his bleeding foot, then continued to treat his wounds as he listened to Rens sad story.
"He was thirteen years old. It was dark. I couldn't see him. He had a ray gun that looked real enough."
"That's terrible," Glynda said, putting a hand to her chest.
"He was younger than Ruby," Yang said softly.
"It must have been heart wrenching for Ren. And the child's family," Weiss said with remorse.
Nora put a comforting hand over Ren's, the latter smiling gratefully.
"You know when you're a rookie. They can teach you everything about being a cop except how to learn to live with making a mistake," Ren explained grimly. "Anyway, I just couldn't bring myself to draw my gun on anybody again."
"I can't imagine living with that kind of guilt," Ruby said, unsure if she could ever pick up Crescent Rose again if she killed an innocent child by mistake.
"Me neither. Even if it was an accident," Jaune added.
"Oum forbid, if I made a mistake like that, I'd retire from the force," Qrow said, sipping his flask slowly.
"No matter who you are and how well you're trained, all beginners make mistakes. And some are far greater than others," Ironwood lamented, sadly reminiscing about his own past errors that cost lives.
Jaune looked at the ceiling in shock, finished with removing the glass.
Ren stared remorsefully at the ground.
"I'm sorry, pal," Jaune said softly over the radio.
"Hey, man, how could you know?" Ren asked.
"I feel like shit anyway," Jaune replied tiredly.
"Well, then this won't matter," Ren said. "The MPD is not calling the shots down here anymore."
"For better or worse," Winter said, dreading Adam's plan that involved the Ace-Ops.
Jaune paused. "The Ace-Ops?" he guessed correctly.
"You got it," Ren confirmed.
Cordovin and a group of Ace-Op agents climbed up the hill towards Schnee Plaza.
Ilia watched the agents on a monitor alongside Adam. Mata stood nearby.
"Okay, those are the city engineers," Ilia pointed out. "They're going into the street circuits. And those guys in the suits. I don't know who they are."
"That's the Ace-Ops," Adam answered. "They're ordering the others to cut the building's power. Regular as clockwork."
"Or a time lock," Ilia said, understanding what Adam meant.
"Precisely. The circuits that cannot be cut are cut automatically in response to a terrorist incident. You asked for miracles, Ilia? I give you I give you the Ace-Ops."
"Oh no. They're doing exactly what Adam wants them to. Without power, the final lock on the vault will be disabled," Penny said, realizing her theory was correct.
"That's right. Ilia said earlier that the circuits couldn't be cut locally," Ruby added.
"So, Adam tricks the Ace-Ops into thinking they're White Fang, knowing they'd cut the power as standard anti-terrorism procedure," Winter summarized, shaking her head at Adam's cunning.
"Clever bastard," Blake said reluctantly.
Down below, Special Agent Big Jonson was arguing with a utility worker in a manhole with Cordovin standing nearby.
"I said, I want the friggin' building shut down!" Big Jonson yelled.
"I got a problem here – " the worker replied.
"I don't care what your problem is!" Big Jonson interrupted. "I don't give two shits! I want the building out! Dark! D-A-R-K!"
"They're being played just like Cordovin," Ironwood said angrily.
"The news report saying Adam was expelled from the White Fang should have tipped them off that Adam wasn't really a terrorist," Oobleck reminded, sipping his coffee.
"You don't understand!" the utility supervisor said. "You can't do it from here!'
"Yeah, you could -" the worker retorted.
"It can't be done from here."
"I could just – I've got the radio," the worker tried to explain.
"We can't do it from here, I'm telling you. It's got to be done from downtown. They've got to take down a whole city grid. We're talking ten square blocks!" the supervisor insisted to Big Jonson, the latter smoking a cigarette.
"Ten blocks!?" Cordovin exclaimed. "Jonson, that's crazy! It's Christmas Eve, man! There's thousands of people-"
"Even Cordovin is against the idea," Sun pointed out, somewhat surprised by the woman's concern.
"At least she has some standards," Port added, drinking another diet soda.
"You have to go wider," Little Jonson said, interrupting Cordovin.
"Look, the Mayor will have my ass," Cordovin pleaded, but was still ignored.
"I need authorization for that," the second utility worker.
"Authorization? How about the Atlas fucking Council?" Big Jonson threatened while prodding the supervisor.
"I had a feeling he'd pull that card. Using his connection to the government to get his way," Blake snarled.
The supervisor didn't say a word, clearly intimidated by Big Jonson's appeal to authority.
Big Jonson then knelt to the worker. "Lose the grid, or you lose your job," He threatened.
"I'm liking these Ace-Op guys about as much as Cordovin," Ruby said, angered by Big Jonson's strongarming.
"I can understand he's only following procedure to defeat the terrorists. But he could use less intimidation," Winter said disapprovingly.
The worker finally gave in. He ducked into the manhole, came back up with a large radio, and grabbed the microphone to call his headquarters.
"Yeah, Central?"
"Yeah?" Central replied.
"Yeah, this is Walt, down at Schnee Plaza. Say, listen: would it be possible for you to turn off Grid 2-12?"
"Are you crazy?"
"Maybe I should call Mayor Ironwood on this, you know?" Cordovin pondered out loud.
"I'm the mayor of Mantle in this universe?" Ironwood asked, puzzled by his lack of a military role.
"Even so, the Atlas council would have more authority than you, unfortunately," Winter noted with a frown.
"Hey, no shit. It's my ass on this," Walt said on the radio. "I got a big problem down here. Shut it down. Shut it down, now!"
The lights at Schnee Tower dimmed out as the power was cut.
Jaune was still tending to his wounds when the lights in the restroom went out.
"Emergency Lighting Activated," an automated voice said.
"At least the building has emergency lighting in case of power failure," Penny said.
"All large buildings have systems like that," Weiss confirmed, having witnessed similar systems at the SDC HQ in Atlas city.
A battery-operated lamp re-lit the room. Jaune looked around in alarm before picking up his walkie talkie.
"Ren? Ren? Talk to me. What's going on here?"
"Ask the ACE-OPS," Ren replied. "They've got the Universal Terrorists' Playbook, and they're running it, step-by-step."
"And Adam took full advantage of it. They practically gave him the bearer bonds," Qrow said.
On the monitor Ilia was observing, the graphic image of the Schnee vault displayed the electromagnetic seal shutting down.
"It's gonna go!" Ilia exclaimed. "Yes!"
The Vault door finally opened with alarms going off. Ilia and Adam both stared in awe with their mouths agape and light from inside the vault on their faces. Classic opera music played as if to emphasize their triumph.
"Merry Christmas!" Ilia said with a triumphant grin.
"Now it's all up to Jaune to stop them now," Pyrrha said.
"Much easier said than done, given his condition," Velvet said, knowing Jaune was tired and wounded from his previous battle.
Outside, Cordovin followed the two Jonson agents back down the hill from Schnee Plaza. The Ace-Op agents were laughing but Cordovin looked very unsure.
"Those bastards are probably pissing their pants right now!" Big Jonson bragged.
"The mayor's going to have my ass!" Cordovin groaned with apprehension.
"You're damn right, I would," Ironwood growled.
"Arrogant fools," Glynda muttered, referring to Big Jonson and Little Jonson.
"If anything, they're pissing themselves with excitement with all that money in front of them," Yang said as she sipped a soda.
Ilia gleefully entered the vault and began to open box after box on the shelves, each one containing millions in bearer bonds.
Mata admired some antique Atlesian armor from the Great War. Mata laughed as he tipped over a bronze figure of Nicholas Schnee on a shelf. Then he spotted an antique painting leaning against a nearby wall.
Ilia continued to open the boxes full of bearer bonds.
"Those thieving degenerates!" Weiss snarled at the terrorists for plundering her families wealth and disrespecting a figure of her beloved grandfather.
Cardin's news van sped up a hill, with Schnee Plaza shining in the distance behind them.
Big Jonson and Little Jonson returned to the MPD staging area. Ren was leaning on a patrol car
"Well, what are we going to do now?" Ren asked Agent Little Jonson. "Arrest them for not paying their electric bill?"
Nora giggled. "You and Jaune both have a lot of quips," she said to Ren.
"I'll say," Yang agreed, still taking a mental note of all the jokes and one-liners.
"We've shut them down. We let them sweat for a while, then we give them Bullheads," Little Jonson explained, eating a potato chip.
"Right up the ass," Big Jonson added.
Big Jonson pulled out a brick cell phone. "This is Agent Jonson. No, the other one," se said.
Yang snickered. "Called it," she said.
"They're co-workers must get a kick out of that," Sun added with a grin.
"I want that air support ready to lift off in five minutes. Damn right, fully armed," Big Jonson ordered.
Ren shot Big Jonson a look of suspicion.
"We're on the way," says Big Jonson.
"Wait a second, did he say armed?" Ruby asked.
"He did. Adam requested transports, not gunships," Blake confirmed.
"The Ace-Ops are up to something. And it doesn't sound good," Penny said.
In the vault, Ilia hummed as she spun through a stack of $100,000 bearer bonds. She giggled and gave Adam a smile, which he returned.
Adam picked up his walkie talkie. "I wish to talk to the Ace-Ops," He requested.
Big Jonson answered Adam's call. "This is Special Agent Jonson of the Ace-Ops," he said. "The Atlas Council has arranged for the return of your comrades. Bullheads are on route, as you requested."
"I hear you," Adam replied. "We'll be ready."
Big Jonson hung up the phone and turned to Little Jonson. "By the time they figure out what hit 'em, they'll be in body bags," he said smugly.
"He thinks he's tricking Adam, but it's clearly the other way around," Blake said.
"They're as in over their heads as Cordovin," Jaune added.
"When they touch down," says Adam to Ilia, "we'll blow the roof, they'll spend a month sifting through the rubble, and by the time they figure out what went wrong, we'll be sitting on a beach in Kuo Kuana earning twenty percent."
"So, they break into Schnee Plaza, trick the Ace-Ops into cutting the power to open the vault, steal the bearer bonds, fake their deaths, and escape to Menagerie," Penny summarized Adam's plan.
"I hate to admit it, but it's a brilliant plan. Only Mr. Arc can stop them now," Ozpin said.
"He has to, or Nora and the hostages are done for," Ren said, fearing for Nora's life.
Meanwhile, back on the 32nd floor, Jaune placed his bandaged foot on the floor, now covered with blood-stained newspapers. He groaned in pain.
"He's wounded now. Not a savory condition to be fighting in," Oobleck stated, noticing the amount of blood Jaune had lost.
"He has no other options. The clock is ticking fast now that the vault is open," Ren said.
"And I have a feeling Cardin's going to worsen the situation," Pyrrha added, noticing the reporter's news van leaving Schnee Plaza.
"Pal," he said into his walkie-talkie, "Yo, pal, you got a minute?"
"I'm here, Jaune," Ren answered.
"Listen, man," Jaune said slowly, drowsy from blood loss. "I'm starting to get a bad feeling up here. I want you to do something for me. Um…I want you to find my wife. Don't ask how. By then, you'll know how. Uh…I want you to tell her something. I want you to tell her that-"
"He's not sure he's going to survive this," Jaune said gravely.
"Tell her it took me a while to figure out," he said. "uh, what a jerk I've been, but um, that, uh, when things started to pan out for her, I should've been more supportive and, uh, I just should have been behind her more."
"He's a better husband than my father ever was to my mother," Weiss admitted sadly.
"Admitting your mistakes is always important in any marriage," Glynda noted.
Ren listened, gazing up at Schnee Plaza sympathetically.
Jaune paused before continuing.
"Tell her, that, uh, that she is the best thing that ever happened to a bum like me. She's heard me say 'I love you' a thousand times — she never heard me say, 'I'm sorry.' I want you to tell her that, Ren. I want you to tell her that, uh – Jaune said that he was sorry."
"Awwwww," The entire female audience cooed, touched by Jaune's words.
"That is so sweet of him," Velvet commented.
"It reminds me of talks between me and Tai Yang about Summer," Qrow said in sorrow, remembering how Tai Yang told him Summer was the best thing that ever happened to him, especially after her death.
"When Jaune rescues Pyrrha, my money says they'll patch things up," Nora predicted with a smile.
"Okay? You got that, man?" Jaune asked.
"Yeah, I got it, Jaune."
"But you can tell her that yourself. You just watch your ass, and you'll make it out of there, you hear me?" Ren said reassuringly.
"Well, I guess that's up to the Man Upstairs," Jaune said, limping towards the door.
"Please be careful Jaune," Pyrrha whispered.
Jaune paused, pondering something from earlier.
"Jaune? Jaune?" Ren said on the walkie-talkie.
"What the fuck were you doing upstairs, Adam?" Jaune asked himself.
"Jaune!" Adam said worriedly.
"No, Ren, listen," Jaune replied, "Listen, just lay off for a while. I gotta go check on something."
"Hopefully Jaune will discover the explosives in time to warn the police," Ruby said.
"I doubt it'll do any good. They haven't listened to a word he's said," Blake reminded.
Ren wondered with concern on what Jaune's next move was.
Meanwhile, at the Arc residence in the Mantle suburbs, Cardin Winchester was harassing Velvet as she blocked him from entering the house.
"Just one minute!" Cardin, "That's all I'm asking is one minute."
"No, sir," Velvet refused. "I can't do that."
"Just to speak with—" Cardin tried again.
"No!" Velvet cut Cardin off assertively.
"That a girl, bun-bun. Don't let that asshole push you around," Coco complimented her teammate.
"I wouldn't let that scumbag anywhere near Thetis and J.J.," Velvet said defiantly.
"Alright, alright, get back," Winchester ordered his camera crew as he leaned in close to Velvet.
"Look, you let me in right now, or I call the INS. Understand?" Cardin threatened in a low voice.
"What's the INS?" Ruby asked Gold-Sith worriedly.
"Immigration and Naturalization Service. It's a government agency that deals with immigration and deportation in Atlas. They are infamous for discrimination against Faunus"
"That son of a bitch!" Coco snarled, gripping the armrests of her seat.
"That's definitely something Cardin would do to accomplish his goals. At least in the past," Blake said angrily, glaring at the screen.
Velvets eyes widened a bit, clearly intimidated by the threat.
"Look. This is the last time these kids are gonna have to speak to their parents," Cardin said softly.
Jaune rolled his eyes. "Like you care," He sneered at his former bully.
"I'm sorry," Velvet apologized to Jaune and Pyrrha, her ears drooping sadly.
"It's okay, Velvet," Pyrrha said reassuringly.
"All right?" Cardin asked.
Velvet nodded. "All right," She said submissively and stepped aside.
Cardin and his news crew entered the house.
On the 35th floor, Jaune limped back to where he met Adam earlier. He stopped between the two HVAC units.
"What were you doing, Adam?" He asked aloud, climbing between the condensers. "What were you doing?"
Jaune looked up and spotted the yellow wiring. He grabbed a nearby pipe and pulled himself up. Atop the condensers were rows of explosive dust and a beeping remote-control detonator.
"Mother of Monty!" Jaune said with wide eyes.
Jaune jumped back down, taking out his walkie-talkie.
"Ren! Ren! Listen to me!" Jaune shouted frantically. "It's a double cross! The whole roof of the buildings wired to—"
Jaune was suddenly interrupted by a gun barrel pressing into his cheek from behind. It was Karl.
"Oh no. It's him again," Ruby said, recognizing the rifle immediately.
"I feel an epic fight coming up," Yang anticipated, eating some popcorn.
"Jaune? Jaune?" Ren asked over the walkie talkie.
Back at the MPD staging area, Ren was talking into his radio.
"Jaune, come in!" Ren said, getting no answer. He turned to another officer beside him. "Did you get all that?"
"No," The officer replied. "Something about a double-cross."
Ren looked up at the sky. "Tell me about it," He said angrily as he spotted a pair of bullheads approaching.
"They're already on the move," Winter observed.
Still holding Jaune at gunpoint, Karl took his walkie-talkie.
"We're both professionals. This is personal," Karl said, before stomping the walkie-talkie to pieces.
Jaune groaned before slapping Karl's gun away and hitting him with a right hook. Next, he grabbed Karl by his shirt collar and shoved him into a stack of barrels.
"Kick his ass, Jaune!" Nora cheered.
"Yeah! You can take him!" Yang added.
"Go Jaune! Go!" Ruby shouted.
Jaune unleashed a flurry of blows to Karl's chest and face, until the latter blocked one and knocked Jaune off his feet with a single blow. Jaune tried to get up, but Karl knocked him back down with a kick to his chin.
"Jeez! That guy's tough," Sun said.
"Karl's not gonna go down easy," Neptune commented, drinking a soda.
The two bullheads were coming closer to Schnee Plaza. On the 30th floor, Tuskon spotted them.
"They're coming!" Tuskon called out.
Tuskon ran to Pyrrha's office where Adam was sitting. The portable TV on the desk displayed the news.
"Bullheads are coming," Tuskon informed Adam.
"Okay," Adam confirmed, grabbing his walkie-talkie from the desk. "Time to gather your flock, Miss Nikos."
"Your mom and dad are very important people," Cardin's voice came from the TV.
Adam stood up, but then he paused when he noticed a stricken look on Pyrrha's face. Then he listened to Cardin Winchesters report on the TV behind him.
"Oh no…" Pyrrha whispered, her face matching that of her onscreen counterpart.
"Cardin, you idiot!" Coco growled at the screen.
"I knew he was going to mess things up," Qrow said with a frown.
"They're very brave people," Cardin continued. "So, is there something you would like to say to them if they're watching?"
Adam spun around, realizing Pyrrha was reacting to the news report. On the TV, Cardin was interviewing Thetis Arc.
"Come home," Thetis pleaded into a microphone.
"Oh, poor Thetis," Velvet cooed sympathetically for the little girl.
"She may never see her parents again because of that opportunistic bastard," Weiss hissed at the screen.
Pyrrha's expression had turned to horror by now. Adam looked to her, then behind him at the row of family photos. He flipped over the overturned one, showing Jaune, Pyrrha, and their children.
"Mrs. Arc," Adam said coldly, removing his pistol from his jacket. "How nice to make your acquaintance."
"Oum-Damn you, Cardin," Jaune muttered angrily.
"I hope that slimeball gets his comeuppance," Pyrrha added with venom in her voice.
"He just made things go from bad to worse," Ozpin said.
Adam fired his gun into the air, prompting panicked screams from the hostages. Adam fired his gun again as he stepped out of Pyrrhas office.
"On your feet, everyone!" Adam ordered loudly before turning to Tock. "Lock them up there and come right back!"
"Move! Come on! Move!" Tock shouted as she herded the hostages towards the stairwell.
Pyrrha tried to make a break for it, but Adam quickly seized her by the arm.
Jaune stared at the scene with anger and worry, hoping his counterpart could rescue Pyrrha in time.
Meanwhile, back on the 35th floor, Jaune was already bruised and bloodied. Karl delivered a kick that sent him sprawling.
Jaune spotted his dropped pistol nearby. He tried to crawl to it, but Karl kicked him again, knocking him away. Karl delivered two more kicks to Jaunes face, sending him tumbling backwards onto a stack of pipes.
"He's got Jaune on the ropes," Yang said, wincing at Jaune's beatdown.
"Hang in there, Jaune," Pyrrha said softly.
"Don't let him beat you, Jaune!" Ruby shouted.
"Get up! Pyrrha needs you!" Neptune urged.
Karl then leapt onto Jaune, but the latter knocked him off, got up, and grabbed Karl's head. He began smashing it repeatedly onto the pipes.
"You should have heard your brother squeal when I broke his fucking neck!" Jaune shouted as he rained down a few punches onto Karl.
Several audience members were surprised by Jaune mocking Tony.
"Well, that's a little below the belt," Jaune criticized his counterpart.
"I'll say. Hardly befitting of a hero," Sun agreed.
Outside, the two bullheads, now carrying Jonson and Jonson, swerved across Glacier Avenue towards Schnee Plaza.
"What do you figure the breakage?" Little Jonson asked Big Jonson.
"Figure we take out the terrorists," Jonson replied, putting on a baseball cap then placed a headset over the cap.
"Lose 20 to 25% of the hostages. Tops," Big Jonson added casually.
"I can live with that," Little Jonson replied simply before leaning towards the pilot. "Get this thing on the deck! They're expecting transports, not gunships.
"What did he say?!" Yang shouted with outrage, her eyes turning red with fury.
"I can't believe it. They're willing to risk innocent lives to take out Adam," Ruby said, shocked by the Ace-Ops ruthlessness.
"Disgraceful. They only care about killing the terrorists, not rescuing the hostages," Ironwood growled, having nothing but contempt for such soldiers.
"The real Ace-Ops would never show such casual disregard for civilians," Winter added, also glaring at the screen with disdain.
The pilot complied, and the two bullheads flew low, skimming along Glacier Avenue just above the streetlight.
Meanwhile, Tock, SMG in hand, was forcing the hostages up the stairs towards the helipad on the roof.
"Move it! Come on!" Tock shouted as she chased the hostages up the stairs. "Move it! Go! Move it! Go!"
"Jaune has to hurry. The hostages are almost on the roof," Weiss said worriedly.
"If he takes too long dealing with Karl, they'll all be killed when Adam blows up the roof," Winter said, knowing Jaune was almost out of time.
"Including Nora," Ren whispered fretfully.
Back down at the vault, Ilia was placing the bearer bonds into backpacks. Adam entered holding Pyrrha by the arm.
"Ilia, a little bonus for us," Adam said before turning to Pyrrha. "Sit down."
Pyrrha didn't comply, staring defiantly at Adam.
"Sit down!" Adam ordered again, roughly shoving Pyrrha to the floor.
"Hey!" Pyrrha shouted.
"Hey!" Jaune and Pyrrha chorused angrily.
"A policeman's wife might come in handy," Adam said, ecstatic that he had captured Pyrrha.
Adam took out his walkie-talkie. "Arc, I have some news for you," Adam said smugly, but received no answer. "Arc?"
"He's a bit busy right now," Blake deadpanned.
Jaune managed to knock Karl to the floor. Unfortunately, Karl spotted Jaunes dropped handgun nearby. He grabbed it as Jaune turned to flee towards a nearby door. Karl fired, hitting Jaune in the shoulder.
Jaune cried out in pain from the shoulder wound as he barged through the door, narrowly dodging more gunfire from Karl as the bullets struck the door.
Some audience members gasped at seeing Jaune getting shot. Pyrrha, Nora, and Ruby were especially shocked.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha cried out, putting a hand over her mouth.
"He's been hit!" Ruby added, her eyes widening.
"Hang in there, fearless leader!" Nora said, hoping Jaune's wound wasn't too serious.
On the roof, Tock was finishing up with herding the hostages onto the helipad. Nora was among them.
"Hurry, Jaune. Hurry," Ren said urgently under his breath.
Karl burst through the door Jaune fled through, gun still in hand. He walked alongside a large electrical panel. However, Jaune was hiding on the other side of the panel from an elevated position. He kicked Karl in the face, disarming him, then jumped onto him. The two men fell onto a trolley, which rolled across the room as they struggled.
"Motherfucker! I'll kill you!" Jaune yelled.
"Nice surprise attack, Jaune," Sun commented.
"Vomit boys still in the fight!" Yang cheered.
"Yeah! He's can still win!" Ruby shouted.
"He's quite hardy, considering he has a bullet wound in his shoulder," Port commented with a nod. "Reminds me of past injuries I've shrugged off in the midst of battle."
Back in the vault, Ilia was fiddling with a radio. It beeped.
"Armed," she said before turning to Adam. "The truck?"
"The truck," Adam confirmed as he loaded more bearer bonds into a bag.
Pyrrha sat slumped against a nearby wall, burning a hole into Adams back.
"After all your posturing. All your little speeches. Your nothing but a common thief," Pyrrha sneered.
"You tell him, P-Money," Yang said with a smile.
"I couldn't have said it better myself," Weiss agreed with Pyrrha's counterpart.
Adam wheeled about, getting into Pyrrha's face. "I am an exceptional thief, Mrs. Arc," He growled in correction. "And since I'm moving up to kidnapping, you should be more polite."
Adam returned to collecting the bearer bonds, leaving Pyrrha alone. She didn't look very intimidated.
"You really know how to push his buttons," Jaune said, admiring Pyrrha's defiance.
"Maybe it'll make him fumble and give Jaune a chance to stop him," Oobleck said, remembering Karl's anger caused him to slip up earlier.
Meanwhile, Karl had knocked Jaune off him. He jump kicked Jaune in the face, sending him falling back onto the metal stairway leading to the roof. Karl then tried to karate chop Jaune, but Jaune blocked the attack and head-butted Karl.
"You motherfucker!" Jaune yelled as he placed Karl in a headlock and dragged him up the stairs. "I'm going to fucking kill you, cook you, and fucking eat you!"
"Damn! Vomit boy is vicious!" Yang commented with wide eyes.
"Indeed. I hope he didn't mean that literally," Penny said, visibly disturbed by Jaunes cannibalistic threat.
"Don't worry, Penny, he didn't mean it literally. It's just angry words," Winter explained to calm down the robot.
Jaune continued to struggle with Karl, punching repeatedly in the face. Karl broke out of the headlock, grabbed Jaune by the hair, and pushed his head up by the chin to try and break his neck.
Thinking fast, Jaune grabbed a nearby chain hanging from the ceiling and wrapped it around Karl's neck. Finally, he pushed Karl over the stairway railing, grabbed the other end of the chain, and slid down the railing. Karl was pulled across the room by the chain, slammed into a concrete wall, and he finally went limp as he dangled in the air.
Many audience members clapped or cheered for Jaune's victory over Karl. Jaune himself smiled for his counterpart.
"Great job, Jaune! You did it!" Ruby cheered.
"Atta boy, Jaune!" Neptune said.
"You finally got him!" Yang said, raising her soda to Jaune.
"That was rather brutal, Mr. Arc," Glynda scolded lightly. "But I suppose it had to be done."
Jaune quickly picked up the handgun that Karl dropped and checked the magazine. Next, he exited the stairwell, leaving Karl hanging from the chain, seemingly dead.