Note: Couldn't leave you hanging too long. Enjoy.

The rose petals scattered, and so did the Huntresses. They spilled against the metal floor, desperately trying to catch their breath. The debris blocked the entrance to the former chamber and left the area covered in a thin layer of brown dust. Coco tried to rise to her feet, but the world spun and she was forced back to her knees before she puked. It was her first time within Ruby's Semblance, and hopefully her last.

She looked around at her defeated allies. Penny was starting to regain consciousness, her eyelids flickering. Her severed leg was nowhere to be seen. Ruby had failed to grab it before she flew them to safety. Weiss was slow to rise as well, trembling slightly. The attack on her chains left her woozy. Ruby lay flat on her back, staring blankly up at the ceiling. Coco watched the rapid rise and fall of her chest in silence. Everything that had transpired in a blur hit her more clearly.

Yatsu's leg. Fox and Velvet: gone. Yang…

Coco stumbled to her feet. She coughed out dust and spoke the first words that came to her mind.

"What the fuck was that?"

She was met with dead silence. No one even looked her in the eyes. Frustrated, Coco threw down her briefcase, then her beret, and then ripped the sunglasses from her face. She callously tossed them beneath her feet as well.

"Hey! What was that thing? Anyone?" she asked louder, hoping to stir the others to life. "Come on! No one has anything to say about the giant robot insect monster thing that just attacked us?"

Weiss grunted, shaking her head. "Coco… not now."

"Yes, now!" Coco said angrily. "We are trapped a hundred meters underground, we don't know what we're doing, and half my friends are dead. I'd like an explanation or at least a plan! Like… shit, guys!" Coco ran her fingers through her hair. How the hell had this all gone wrong so quickly? They found Penny. They could have gotten out if that thing hadn't attacked. Now, she was separated from her team, not sure if she would ever see them again. She figured someone would be able to explain something to her, or maybe provide some comfort. It came eventually, though not from either member of Team RWBY, who seemed unwilling to confront the reality of their situation.

"I call it a Maiden," Penny said suddenly. Her consciousness flipped back on like a lightbulb, and she dragged herself over to the closest wall, scooting along her back. "It's the Vault's ancient defense system. I assumed it was indestructible, though I demonstrated otherwise. Hopefully, the landslide was able to kill it, or at least incapacitate it for the time being."

Penny pressed her back against the wall. A thin blade emerged from the bottom of her wrist, and without thinking, she jammed it into the wall beside her. Coco, arms hanging loosely by her side and head cocked, grunted at her. "What are you doing?"

The android sliced a square into the metal plating of the wall, breaking through the thin metal. She removed a panel and let it fall to the side. Behind, wires flowed across the surface, hooked to various ports and gizmos that Coco did not understand. "That attack drained most of my resources," Penny explained. Her hand transformed again. The blade retracted and her fingers spread apart, revealing thin, rubbery cords that hooked their way inside the wall. "I need a recharge."

Penny attached herself to the Vault's power structure, and with a loud click, she was in. She relaxed as the energy flowed back into her body. It would take several minutes to fully recover, but soon, she would be combat-ready once again. Coco, unfortunately, wasn't interested in waiting.

"Well, I'm glad you get to just plug yourself back in," she grumbled. "Do you think maybe, next time, you can tell us about the invincible monster roaming the halls before you ask us to help you?"

Penny shook her head. "I didn't—"

Weiss snapped at her. "Penny."

Penny went quiet, but it was already too late. Coco's head whipped back and forth between the two, the sentence fragment doing more than enough to let her piece everything together. She balled her hands into fists and felt a rage overtake her.

"Are… are you fucking kidding me?"

This seriously was not happening to them.

"We got lured here… on a false signal?"

Weiss closed her eyes. She had to act fast to save this team, to save Ruby, but her mind wasn't working right. She had just seen her teammate crushed in front of her, seen her powers fail so spectacularly in trying to save her. She was supposed to be the chosen one, the one able to open Vaults and unlock minds, to save the world from the Grimm. She couldn't even save her friend. "Coco, please, we…"

Coco had enough. She had so fucking had enough. She didn't let anything stop her, not Weiss, not her morality or common sense or pointless concept of friendship. She marched over to Ruby, blistering red, incapable of thinking anything other than the most horrible punishments she could inflict on the girl who led them to their deaths. Ruby didn't have time to react. She didn't even see Coco coming. Coco grabbed her forcefully by the collar of her cape and hoisted her to her feet. Weiss gasped in horror as Coco threw Ruby against the wall, pinning the young Huntress against the cruel metal. Coco leaned in close, spitting with every word, unable and unwilling to hold herself back. The calm, cool, and collected warrior was long gone.

"Did you lead us here to a fucking trap?" Coco screamed. "I gave up everything—everything—to help you, and you fell for a fake fucking message!"

Weiss felt her own tears coming on. "Coco, please…"

"You didn't have a gameplan for this, huh?" Coco accused Ruby, who couldn't even look her in the eye. "All your fucking brains and all that talk of how smart you are, you had nothing to prepare for this? You're so fucking gullible you walked headfirst into a trap, and you just had to take my whole team down with you!"

Weiss stood up, screaming back. "She tried her best!"

"Her best is getting us all killed!" Coco snapped. She shook Ruby violently. "They trusted you. Everyone here decided to put their faith in you, because you acted like you had everything figured out. And now they're the ones paying for it! My friends are paying for it!" Coco shook Ruby again, met with no answer. "Come on! Fucking say something!"

Ruby was quivering, and no matter how hard Coco threatened her, what insults she spewed, she wasn't able to respond. Everything overwhelmed her, mewling, cowering mess. Tears streamed openly down her face like waterfalls. She didn't fight back. She didn't defend herself. It was only when the last flame inside her died out and everything became too much to withstand that she finally whimpered something under her breath, pathetic, desperate, and weak.

"I'm… I'm sorry…"

And Coco froze, the words hitting her like a shotgun blast to the heart.

What… what the hell was she doing?

Ruby was a child… a child who had the burdens of the world forced upon her shoulders. For all of her political maneuvering, her grand strategies, and sweeping agendas, her poise and her pride, she was still an inexperienced sixteen-year-old girl in way over her head. She was stuck here in this hell with them, probably terrified, thinking she would never see the sunlight again, believing, knowing that she had let everybody down. She had tried to lead them through an impossible war, and now, her sister was dead.

Her sister… crushed right before her very eyes. Coco saw within Ruby all of heartbreak and loss, and the anger faded away, replaced by a horrible grief that threatened to drown her. Ruby deserved to be screamed at and punished. Coco warned her that if she failed, she would put a bullet in her skull. But to give this poor girl required a monstrousness that Coco Adel wasn't capable of.

She released Ruby from her grasp, and the young Huntress slumped against the wall. Weiss raced to catch her, cradling Ruby in her arms as Coco backed away in shame. Ruby tucked herself into Weiss's neck as she sobbed openly, letting out all of the emotions she had been trying to hide away for weeks. Weiss held her steady, trying to be the support that Ruby often was for her. The grief didn't settle any better, but she had to be strong, just for the moment. She would mourn Yang when they escaped… if they escaped. Coco walked over to the further wall, unable to face up to what she had just done. She pounded her fist against the metal and gasped in pain.

They remained still for what felt like ages, processing their loss in their own way. Coco wondered if she could get revenge if somehow, she might unearth the Maiden merely to break open its grotesque metal head. It was what Yang would have done, and that felt right. A final, vicious kill in her honor. But even in her fantasies, she thought of Yatsu, maybe bleeding out on the Vault floor. Fox and Velvet… surely they were alive, but where had they gone? Would they ever find them in this terrible maze, or was there another Maiden out there, ready to gut them? The longer she thought about the friends, the more she wanted to puke. She slowly convinced herself of one awful truth: she was never going to escape this Vault. They were trapped, and even if she crawled out, and somehow made it through that exit, a piece of her would always remain.

"Um… is anyone going to get that?"

Penny's question came out of nowhere. What had felt like hours was only a few minutes, and their grief had distracted them from the silence of the Vault. Neither Coco, Weiss, nor Ruby had heard the ringtone until Penny pointed it out. Coco spun and located the source: Ruby's Scroll, which had fallen out of its holster. She recognized the face on the screen, and for a second, she dared to feel hope again. Coco raced toward the Scroll and snatched it, her fingers fumbling with the screen as she hurriedly tried to answer. She turned on the speaker and pulled it close to her face, screaming into it.

"Nora! Is that you?"

From the other side, she heard a loud sigh of relief. "Ruby! Oh, thank goodness, you picked up! You sound different."

"It's Coco, dumbass," Coco said. The sheer joy of hearing from one of her friends caused her to laugh suddenly. "Ruby's… Ruby's here though. She's right here."

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Nora shouted. Coco heard some rustling, and another voice quickly made its way over the speaker.

"Coco? It's Pyrrha. Is Jaune with you?"

Coco sighed. "No. Sorry."

"Dammit," Pyrrha hissed. She sounded heartbroken, though Nora wrangled back control before Coco could question her.

"Who else is with you?"

"It's me, Weiss, Ruby, and Penny," Coco explained. "We're all okay."

"And the others?"

"They got knocked down one of the other corridors, I think. I didn't see what happened to Jaune."

"Okay. I can try to call them after this. I'm shocked we get a signal down here. Thank God for Close Scroll Communication Software, huh?"

"Nora, listen…" Coco said, trying to take command of the situation as she had done so many times in the past. "Is everyone in your party okay?"

"I mean… not really. Yatsu is still bleeding. Pyrrha's freaking out pretty bad. Yang's all busted up, but Ren is trying to help her—"

Ruby suddenly shot to her feet. The life returned to her, and with wide eyes, she scrambled across the room. Weiss tried to hold her back, concerned, but the words had inspired something within her as well. Did they hear that correctly? Ruby suddenly grabbed onto the Scroll, leaning into Coco's grasp. Her screams were frantic, teetering on the edge of joy and despair.

"Y-Yang?" she cried. "Yang's… she's f-fine?"

Nora hesitated. Ruby waited breathlessly for an answer. She needed to know. She didn't think it was possible for Yang to have survived, but her sister was the strongest, toughest person she knew. If anyone could continue to fight, it would be her. Please. She just needed to hear she was okay.

"Well…" Nora said slowly. "I don't think I'd call her… fine…"

Two shattered humeri.

Two cracked femurs.

Ten broken ribs.

Cracked sternum.

Two dislocated shoulders.

Fractured collarbone.

God only knew how many broken vertebrae.

That was Ren's assessment, and Nora was forced to believe him. She watched Ren gently hover his hands over Yang's chest, trying to stimulate Aura movement within her. Yang twitched, her breaths staggered, and blood pooled out of her mouth. Something inside her was punctured, likely one or both of her lungs, pierced by her broken ribs. There could have been other organs burst inside of her that she didn't know about. Yang weaved in and out of consciousness, and though Nora was glad she was awake, she could tell it was tormenting her. Every time she breathed, she choked down a sob as the air filled her chest, increasing the pressure on her broken body. Her legs flicked with tiny sparks of life, which Nora took as something of a good sign. She wasn't paralyzed, though whatever feeling Yang had in her legs must have been like a million needles. Nora was afraid to move her, lest she permanently injure something she did not mean to.

She felt bad for Yatsu as well. With Ren's focus elsewhere, and Pyrrha lost inside her own mind worrying about Jaune, she was forced to help him with one hand as she spoke with Coco and Ruby. She was no medical expert. Quite the opposite. Her expertise was breaking things. Applying pressure to Yatsu's leg was the most she could do, her fingernails stained red as she helped him reapply his dressing.

"Yang is in really bad shape," Ren explained. "Fluid is filling up her lungs, and she's bleeding internally. We need to get her medical attention now."

"Ren is doing what he can," Nora explained into her Scroll. "But Aura boosting isn't the same as a healing Semblance. He can only charge up what's already there, and her reserves are draining fast. We need to get her a massive Aura infusion, and a surgeon, and… well, lots of stuff."

Nora heard Ruby breathing heavily into the Scroll. She couldn't imagine what that kid was going through. She never had any siblings growing up. Hell, she barely knew anyone as a kid before Ren. She didn't know how she'd process almost losing someone that close to her.

"Okay… okay…" Ruby said steadily, trying to calm herself. "You guys are close to the entrance, right?"

"Yeah. We got knocked the way we came in," said Nora. "You want us to head right there?"

"Yes," Ruby stated. "You need to get Yang out of here. That's your number one priority."

"And Yatsu, too," Coco reminded them. "You there, big guy?"

Yatsu grunted in pain. "Yes, Coco. I'm here. I'm all right."

"Haven't forgotten about you, man. You're a tough dude, just be strong. You'll make it."

Yatsu nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

Pyrrha suddenly interrupted them as she paced around the room. "The others are still out there. We can't just leave them."

"I'm sure Jaune's okay," Nora promised her, though truthfully, she had no idea what happened to her teammate. She was blasted far away as the chamber collapsed, and with only Pyrrha's story to go upon, it sounded like something awful may have happened to their inexperienced friend.

"Look, Velvet, Fox, and Blake are all smart," Coco reminded them. "I'm sure they're planning a route back to the entrance. We just need to make sure we meet them there."

"We can all rendezvous at the front of the Vault," Ruby confirmed. "How fast can you make it there?"

"I mean… not too fast," Nora said, dejected. "I don't think we should be moving Yang around all that much."

"We don't have a choice," Ren sighed. Yang fidgeted underneath his fingertips. His Semblance might have been the only thing keeping her breathing. He wished he could do more, but he wasn't even sure where to direct most of her Aura. There was just so much…

Nora sighed. "Okie dokie," she announced to everyone. "Confirming the plan. We'll take our wounded back to the entrance, and get them out of the Vault. Hopefully, we meet the others there. If not, we come back for them."

"Hey, that sounds like a plan to me," Coco said. "The sooner we get out of this place, the better. I'll make the call to Velvet if I can and get them on the same page."

"Let's not waste any more time. Yang is counting on you—so am I," Ruby said passionately. "Good luck."

"You, too."

Nora hung up the call and stood up. She scratched her head as she looked down at the seven-foot giant she needed to lug across three chambers. "Are you able to walk?"

"Not… really…" Yatsu sighed.

"Pyrrha, can you help support Yatsu?"

Pyrrha almost didn't hear her. She suddenly stopped in her tracks, as if pulled back to reality from some other world. Her face was blank as she swallowed down whatever sadness was within her.

"Yes," she said slowly. "Of course."

Nora nodded, leaving Yatsu in her care as she went to tend to Yang. She tried to focus on the task in front of her. Jaune was totally fine. He had to be. There was no way he let himself die down here and break Pyrrha's heart. Yeah. Yang needed her help. Focus on that. Keep focusing on that, and don't think of the worst. Nora knelt beside Yang and did her best to smile.

"Hey, Yang," she said, trying to sound encouraging. "Your sister knows you're gonna be okay. I'm going to get you outta here. All right?"

Yang didn't respond. Frankly, Nora didn't know if she could hear her. Keeping with her positive attitude, she liked to think Yang would smile if she could. Now, the real question… just how the hell was she going to move this woman?

Ruby walked away as Coco put down her Scroll. She ran her fingers through her hair and tried to still her beating heart, though she knew it was pointless. She should have been horrified, stunned. Yang was severely injured, ruptured and broken, and bleeding out where she couldn't help her. But she was alive. Ruby thought she had lost her sister forever, but now, she had a chance to save her. That chance alone was enough to drag her from the depths of her despair and imbue her with the energy to keep going. If she could save Yang, she could salvage this. It wouldn't make up for the harm she caused everyone, and it wouldn't undo her mistakes, but doing something good for someone else could at least allow her to live with herself.

"Okay, everyone, here's the plan," Ruby announced. "We circle around the perimeter and meet up with Nora's team. Weiss, once we're there, you help bring Yang up to the surface, and I can coordinate anyone who is willing to lead a rescue team for anyone who doesn't make it."

"R-Right," Weiss nodded. Her head was still killing her, but Ruby's words were inspiring. The turnaround was so sudden that Weiss wasn't sure it could last, but she didn't want it to stop. Seeing Ruby full of hope—however false it might be—was enough to keep her going.

"We should go through the center," Penny stated.

"There's less chambers if we go around," said Ruby. "Only, what… two more before the entrance?"

"And the shortest path between two points is a straight line," Penny reminded her. "Additionally, we might encounter our missing friends by cutting through the middle."

"Penny… we can talk about the Grail after Yang is safe," Ruby said firmly, cutting through Penny's protests.

"I did not say anything about the Grail."

"But you were thinking it, and that's no longer a priority," Ruby explained. "I'm getting us out of here. That's final."

Penny pursed her lips. How interesting that Ruby changed her mind the moment Yang's life was endangered. Surely, Ruby hadn't forgotten the consequences of what would happen if she returned without the Grail. It was a harsh reminder of where she lay on the food chain—but also, a note for future opportunities.

"Understood," Penny said bluntly.

"Do you need help walking?"

"Give me another minute, and I can use my propulsion engines."

"Gotcha. Coco, see if you can call Velvet."

"Already on it," Coco said. She pulled up Velvet's contact information—unlike her, Ruby didn't keep anyone under fancy nicknames—and called. She waited for Velvet to pick up.

And waited.

And waited…

Blake groaned as her eyes fluttered open. She clutched her head, coughing out the dirt that filled her lungs.

"Blake? Blake, wake up."

Was she dead? Please, let her be dead.

"Come on. Get up."

Blake saw a hand reach out to her from the darkness. Everything was black, blacker than usual. All light from the chamber behind her had been snuffed out by debris. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the lack of light. When she looked up, she saw Velvet's concerned face.

She snapped.

"Get off me."

She swatted Velvet's hand away. She helped herself, pushing herself up with the chunks of rock by the collapsed entrance.

"Oh, good. At least she's normal."

Blake dusted herself off and looked around. Velvet had backed away from her defeated and humiliated, while Fox stood idly by with his arms crossed. Blake checked the room behind her. The rubble wall was made of mostly loose stone and metal fragments. The road ahead of her was black. Everything suddenly flashed before her eyes. Their defeat by the Maiden. Yang—

"Yang!" Blake screamed with horror. She turned toward the rubble and nearly began clawing her way back into the chamber. She remembered at the last moment: Yang wasn't with them anymore. She had been discarded, tossed away like she was nothing. She thought she would cry, but instead, she was just filled with a blistering rage. She slammed her knuckles into the closest wall. "Goddammit!"

It was her fault. She wasn't strong enough to keep Yang safe. She was right fucking there, and she couldn't do a goddamn thing. How pathetic was she? She was the weakest member of her team. A constant liability. They were forced to depend on her, and she couldn't provide for them. She was an utter failure, and all that grief boiled into a self-hatred that easily consumed her.

"Blake, it's going to be okay," Velvet tried to comfort her, but the Faunus bared her teeth and growled at her.

"Shut the fuck up!"

"Look, maybe she's—"

"I said…" Blake's claws extended from her fingertips, and she slashed them wildly. "Shut up!"

Velvet fell backward, barely missed by the sharp claws. Fox immediately stepped between them, waving his arms frantically.

"Whoa, whoa! Easy!" he cried. "Killing each other ain't going to help anything!" Blake snarled at him, keeping her claws aimed in his direction. Maybe he had a point, but it sure felt like killing him would make her feel better. Velvet caught her breath on the floor, realizing that she was trapped with the woman who hated her guts more than anyone else in the world. It would probably be a good idea to fix that.

"Blake, I—"

"Say another word, I cut your fucking throat open," Blake warned. Velvet's lips zipped close.

"Okay, we are separated from the rest of our team. Let's try to focus on reuniting with them, okay? Okay?" Fox pleaded, trying his best to act as peacemaker. He knew he wasn't cut out for this role, but he didn't have any other choice. He tried to think of a strategy, something he had never once been good at. "Maybe… maybe we can contact the others and see if they are okay, too. I didn't bring my Scroll with me. Velvet, you got yours?"

Velvet nodded. "Y-Yes. It's in my—" Velvet suddenly realized how much lighter she was. She looked around in a panic. "Oh no…"

Her satchel. Her grenades. Her camera. Her Scroll. The impact from the Maiden had sent it sailing off her torso, and now it was buried under ten thousand tons of earth. Blake checked her back pocket as well, and sure enough, her Scroll had been dislodged at some point during her fight with the Maiden. That was what she deserved for being such a shit teammate, she supposed.

"Great. Fucking great," she mumbled.

"Okay, so, uh… no Scrolls then," Fox said nervously. "So we… I don't know… maybe try to go back to the entrance?"

"Should we wait here instead?" Velvet asked. "Maybe… the others are searching for us? We should stay where we are, right?"

"But what if that thing comes back? We should get as far away from this chamber as possible."

"Do you really think that's possible?"

"I'm not sure…"

Fox and Velvet went back and forth on the merits of their respective plans, and Blake just stood there, numb to everything but her self-loathing. She was alone, trapped here with fucking Velvet Scarlatina and the other other member of Team CFVY. She couldn't call her friends. Yang was probably dead. She might as well have been dead also because she was certain that this was as close as she could get to a literal hell. She actually wasn't sure how the situation could possibly be worse.

Then, from the rubble, she heard a faint, muffled voice.

"Um… hello? Is someone there? I need help…"

The others heard it, too, and recognized it instantly. Velvet was quick to act, springing up to her feet and racing toward the rubble.

"Jaune!" she cried. She anxiously began tearing at the rubble, tossing aside stone after stone and scraping threw the dirt with her bare hands. Sometimes, the unsteady dirt would give way, easing her path. She worked tirelessly to scrape through the much, and Blake watched her in stunned silence for a solid minute. Eventually, after a small mound of rocks had been tossed aside, the three could see scraggly blond hair sticking out from the rubble.

Honestly, Jaune wasn't sure how he had survived either. He shoved Pyrrha out of the way of the falling debris, and then narrowly avoided it himself. He would credit dumb luck rather than his innate skill for what happened next. He had found himself surrounded by falling rocks on all sides and made a break for the closest corridor. Realizing he wouldn't have made it in time, he dove beneath a large, hanging chunk of metal, and with his shield as additional support, he was able to survive in a large pocket of air, safe from harm. It was, by all accounts, a very un-Jaune-like miracle. He smiled sheepishly at Velvet from his spot in the rubble, and Velvet hastily freed him from his dirt prison.

Blake just stared at him, her eyes full of malice. That was all the affirmation she needed.

This was hell.