Remnant of a Shinobi

by AuraofChakra

During the final battle between Naruto and Sasuke, things don't go so smoothly. Sent off to another world, Naruto is ready for a new adventure. What awaits him in this new world where people not only have to deal with each other, but a race of creatures that solely exist to destroy humanity?

24. Chapter 24 - The Battle for Haven

Chapter 24 – The Battle for Haven

It is the middle of the night in Haven and our group is fast asleep after another day of training. Or, most of them are. Yang turned over and her arm landed on just the sheet. She thought this was odd since the bed is not that wide. She definitely should have felt Naruto there. She then opened her eyes to see he was not in the bed.

After blinking a few times and her eyes adjusted to the dark, Yang sat up in the bed. She looked towards the bathroom to see if that is where Naruto was. The bathroom door was open and the light was off, so he could not have been in there. Yang then got out of the bed and made her way to the living room. She saw no sign of him and said, "Where the heck did he run off to?"

Yang then felt a big tremor. The others clearly felt it too as Yang heard them all start groaning. She then told them, "I'll go check it out!" She then seen a rising dust cloud coming from the woods. She left the living quarters and went to check it out.

On the way, Yang noticed knocked over trees and small craters. She thought to herself, "We weren't training in this section." She kept going and eventually came upon the biggest crater she has ever seen. In the middle of that crater, she could see Naruto standing there. He was hunched over, sweaty, and panting.

"I…I finally got it…" Naruto commented to himself.

"It took a lot of work, but its new power is unreal" Kurama commented as well. Naruto kept panting as he looked at his cybernetic arm and smiled.

After getting past how big the crater is, Yang called out, "Hey! Whiskers!"

Naruto turned around, quite surprised to see Yang there. He then responded, "What are you doing out here?"

"You're the one standing in a crater looking exhausted" Yang pointed out. "If anything I'm the one who should be asking that question!"

Naruto walked up to her and said, "Just working on something, ya know."

"Okay…gonna tell me what it is?" Yang asked him.

"Nope! It's a secret" Naruto responded with a grin.

Yang knocked his shoulder with her fist and exclaimed, "Oh come on!"

Naruto laughed and then asked, "Seriously, why are you out here?"

"I woke up and you were gone. So I went looking for you" Yang answered.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and said, "Hope I didn't have you worried."

Yang shook her head and said, "Worried? No. Curious? Yes."

Naruto laughed again and said, "I'll head back now."

"You better wipe yourself off first" Yang told him. "I don't wanna sleep next to you when you're all sweaty."

A little embarrassed, Naruto asked, "Well, what about when we first got here?" It was right after their battle on the mountain with the Super Grimm while Qrow was poisoned.

"That was different" Yang answers. "We were both dirty at the time and were so tired we could barely see straight."

Naruto was quiet until he relented and said, "Yeah, okay." They then headed back to their room.

---

It is early morning in Mistral and the ship from Menagerie has finally reached the shore. Before the ship is properly docked, Sun jumps off the ship. Blake was watching him and said, "That's a familiar sight."

Sun turned around to face her and said, "You really think so?"

"All you need is a banana and a couple policemen telling you to get down. Then it'll be just like the day we met" Blake informed him. Sun was quiet as he held up a banana he grabbed for the trip to Haven. Blake could not help but giggle at this.

As the ship was secured, the rest of the new White Fang disembarked from the ship. Ghira turned around and told them, "We have half an hour for you all to gather whatever supplies you'll need for the trip. Once we start, we won't be stopping until we reach Haven."

"Understood" replied Yuma, the bat Faunus. He and the other members of the new White Fang as well as some extra people from Menagerie got to work.

Blake walked over to Sun and asked him, "You ready to head back to your school?"

Sun thought about it and replied, "You know, it's weird. I was technically at Beacon longer than I was at Haven."

Blake, after some thought, remembered that Sun arrived in Vale a few weeks before the end of the first semester. She then said, "I guess this homecoming is long overdue."

Sun scoffed and said, "The first thing I do when getting back to school is fight off a bunch of terrorists. I better be getting extra credit."

Blake shook her head with a smile. That smile lowered as she knew this light-hearted temperament had to end once they made their way to Haven. She then thought of her team and the better times they had at Beacon. A particular memory entered her head. One between the incident at the docks and the midterms.

[FLASHBACK]

Blake is on the bench on the Beacon courtyard reading her book "The Man With Two Souls." After the craziness of the past few weeks, including the essay about why she was not supposed to be at the docks, she finally had some time to catch up on her reading. She reached the end of her book and took a deep breath. She felt a connection to the character in the book. Her conflict has been between who she was as a member of the White Fang and who she is now as a Huntress-in-training and member of Team RWBY. Despite her only having one soul, to her it felt like a conflict between two separate people.

As Blake is lost in her own mind, she is brought back to reality as she heard a voice call out, "Hey Blake." She looked and seen the one who called out to her was Yang. Yang then asked, "What are you doing?"

"Just a little lost in thought" Blake answered.

Yang smirked and said, "With what's been going on lately you could be thinking of anything."

Blake nodded and said, "You're not wrong."

Yang proceeded to sit on the bench as she said, "Hope I'm not bugging you."

"No, you're fine" Blake reassured her. Blake then asked, "What were you up to today?"

Yang leaned back and said, "Just enjoying having those punishment papers finally out of the way."

Blake shook her head and responded, "It was unfortunate you got stuck with two of them."

"Big time!" Yang exclaimed. "Luckily Pyrrha's notes came clutch."

Blake gave a slight giggle as she said, "Sun might have made the right move not following us home."

Yang smirked and asked, "So what's the deal with him?"

Confused, Blake asked, "What do you mean?"

"You were with a boy while the rest of us were out looking for you" Yang told her. Yang then dawned an even bigger grin as she raised her hands and said, "I'm just saying…"

Blakes eyes widened at Yang's implication and quickly said, "I was just looking for the White Fang!"

Yang started laughing as she said, "I was just teasing."

Now embarrassed, Blake signed and said, "I haven't thought about things like dating in a while."

"Well, that's a shame" Yang commented. "That guy's clearly into you."

Trying to turn the tables, Blake said, "What about you? You have plenty of admirers too but you're still single."

"I worked my butt off to get here, that comes first" Yang responded. "Besides, most of those admirers are pretty lame."

"I guess that's true" Blake acknowledged. She then had a thought and asked, "What about Naruto?"

"Whiskers? What about him?" Yang asked in confusion.

"I definitely wouldn't say he's lame" Blake pointed out.

"Okay, that's true" Yang acknowledged.

"And you two get along really well" Blake further pointed out.

Yang gave Blake a perplexed look as she asked, "Are you trying to set me and Whiskers up?"

"Of course not. Just wondering if you thought about it" Blake told her partner.

Yang shrugged and said, "I won't lie, the thought crossed my mind a time or two."

Wanting her to elaborate, Blake responded, "And…?"

"I mean, I can see it. But I haven't put much thought into it" Yang informed Blake. "Especially since we finally just got our team all back on the same page."

Blake looked ashamed and said, "I'm sorry…"

Yang pointed a finger at Blake and said, "Oh no, don't you dare start that again. Or else."

Now concerned, Blake asked, "Or else what?"

Yang dawned a devious expression as she said, "Or else I'll tell Ruby you're being all gloomy again and then you'll be stuck doing cheer up activities with her."

Blake then imagined Ruby dragging her to a pet store and fish markets. Blake then told Yang, "I'll stop…"

Yang snickered and then said, "Speaking of Ruby." Blake looked over in the same direction and seen Ruby walking with Weiss.

"I'm telling you, the cane has to have some secret power!" Ruby told Weiss as they were walking.

"As far as I can tell, Ozpin's can is just a collapsible cane" Weiss responded.

Ruby looked at Weiss and asked, "You really believe that?"

"Not all weapons are really complex" Weiss answered. "Just look at Jaune."

After a couple seconds of silence, Ruby said, "Okay, you got a point." She then seen Blake and Yang on the bench. She walked over and asked them, "What are you guys doing?"

Blake looked at Yang with pleading eyes. Yang tried really hard not to snicker and replied to Ruby, "Nothing much." Blake is very relieved.

"Then we should think of something to do!" Ruby exclaimed.

Weiss has now approached as well and said, "I think we should too. Especially since we finally don't have anymore homework."

"Did you have something in mind?" Blake asked.

Ruby was getting hyped up as she said, "Something fun! Something exciting! Something we've never done before!"

"And that would be…?" Yang expressed, waiting for the answer.

Ruby calmed down her excitement as she said, "I have no idea." This caused both Yang and Blake to giggle.

"How about for once we just stay in, eat junk food, and watch a movie" Weiss suggested.

"That could work" Yang said in agreement.

"I like that idea" Blake said in agreement as well.

"That's perfect!" Ruby exclaimed. "Especially with the delivery I got coming."

Yang and Blake looked confused as Yang asked, "What delivery?"

Ruby then looked past Yang and said, "There it is right now."

They all looked to see Naruto with a defeated expression carrying two bags filled with packs of cookies. He handed then to Ruby and said, "Here's your damn cookies…"

Now Blake and Yang were more confused as Blake asked, "What's happening here?"

"I lost a bet…" Naruto said as he grumbled.

"Really? What was the bet?" Yang asked full of curiosity.

Naruto sighed before he explained, "I saw Ruby looked so bored in Port's class that I bet she couldn't make it through without falling asleep."

"And then I told him that he owes me a dozen packs of cookies if I won" Ruby further explained.

"Naruto was about to back out when cookies became involved" Weiss added. She then crossed her arms and said, "But then I called him a coward."

"Oof, couldn't take that one, huh?" Yang asked as she looked at Naruto.

"And now my noodle budget's short…" Naruto complained.

Weiss rolled her eyes and said, "I'll never understand your noodle obsession."

Naruto's gaze snapped to Weiss as he pointed at her and said, "Hey! Nothing goes down as good as a bowl of ramen after a big day!"

As the whole of Team RWBY shook their heads, Ruby told Naruto, "No offense, but you really do sound like an addict."

Naruto looked absolutely shocked as he shouted, "Not you of all people!" This made everyone laugh. Blake then continued to smile as she watched the bickering continue.

[FLASHBACK END]

We transition back to modern day with Blake having that same smile. Kali seen this and asked, "Blake? What's on your mind?"

"Just reliving a good memory" Blake told her mother. She then looked and could see all the others are packed up and ready to go. She stood up and told them all, "Alright everyone. It's time to go save Haven." They all shouted in agreement before heading off.

---

It is 9:30am at Haven and our group are all awake to get some training in. They know the meeting with Lionhart is tonight and none of them know what to expect. They want to be ready.

Ruby is currently working on her Vacuum Bullets technique. She is trying to increase the number of projectiles she can expel at a time. Yesterday she was at four. She has ten more minutes before she has to pair off with Naruto to work on hand to hand combat training. Then they are ending her training session with maintaining wind Chakra on her Crescent Rose.

Jaune is practicing with his Semblance. Unlike everyone else, he just recently got his Semblance, so he wants to make sure it does not fail him should the need arise. Pyrrha is the one acting as Jaune's test subject for his Semblance. He has amped her Aura a few times and now his own Aura is on fumes. Luckily, he has Chakra so he is not exhausted yet. However, this has led to disappointment with Jaune.

"No matter how much I try, I can't seem to apply my Semblance to my Chakra" Jaune complained.

"It's the same issue Weiss has" Pyrrha told him. "You simply can't force an Aura ability to work on Chakra."

"The medics in my world could do that to a degree" Naruto told them. "I also had the ability to share a special Chakra with people. I can't do it now, but the point is that what Jaune is attempting to do isn't impossible. But it's gonna take a lot of work, ya know."

Jaune smirked as he said, "Hard work doesn't scare me."

This also made Pyrrha smile. She thought, "Jaune really does seem more sure of himself after that "talk" with Naruto."

"That being said, you don't have the Aura to keep practicing your Semblance" Naruto told Jaune. He then made a Shadow Clone and said, "Jaune, we're gonna work on Chakra control. If you ever want to somehow pull off what the medics in my world did, you gotta be an absolute master of it, ya know."

"Got it" Jaune says as he pairs off with the clone.

The Naruto that is still with Pyrrha says, "We're gonna start your wind Chakra training."

Pyrrha was surprised as she asked, "Are you sure I'm ready?"

"Absolutely!" Naruto answered. "Besides, I just want you to learn to channel it into your weapon for now."

"Is it that important?" Pyrrha asked with curiosity.

"It's really important" Naruto answered. "Did you see me throw my kunai for Ruby the other day?"

"I did. It was incredible" Pyrrha answered.

"Wind Chakra drastically increases the cutting force of a weapon" Naruto informed her. "And you use a sword and spear so…"

"Oh, I see now" Pyrrha told him. "Then I'm ready to get to work!"

Weiss has been working on her summoning. Her work on her Chakra control has developed her summoning skills. She has managed to summon a Beowolf and an Ursa. However, she has been trying her best to summon her Arma Geigas Knight and then summon her Queen Lancer without the Knight disappearing. She has not had much luck in that department.

"It's like trying to look in two directions as the same time!" Weiss shouted in frustration. The Naruto clone watching her heard this and started to laugh. Weiss looked at him and said, "I don't see what's so funny…"

The clone stopped laughing and said, "Sorry, it's just that I got a solution for your problem. But it's risky."

"I'm listening" Weiss said, clearly open to any help.

The clone then made another clone and the looked in two different directions as he quoted Kakashi, "I'm looking to the right." Then the other clone said, "While looking to the left."

Weiss' eyes widened as she said, "Wait, so you're saying—"

"That if two large summonings require too much attention for one Weiss, then we need two Weiss…Weisses…you know what I mean" the clone told her.

Weiss nods but then said, "But aren't you the one who was hesitant about teaching us that cloning technique?"

"I still am" the clone told her. "The main issue isn't usually one clone, but the multi-shadow clone technique. But I think you're responsible enough to just stick to one." Weiss nods in agreement and the clone said, "It's the only thing I can think of to help."

"Oh trust me, it will" Weiss told him.

Ren has been refining his water control along with his basic Chakra control. His maneuverability is even greater now. The other clone that was with Weiss has now walked over to Ren. The clone said, "I finally came up with the perfect technique for you."

Curious, Ren asked, "And that is?"

"It's called the Hidden Mist Jutsu" the clone informed him.

"What kind of ability is that?" Ren asked.

"It's just what it sounds like" The clone responded.

"I don't see how that's perfect for me" Ren retorted.

"It'll obstruct the vision of your opponents" The clone informed him.

"Won't that obstruct my vision too?" Ren reasonably asked.

"It will, but you'll get used to it ya know" The clone answered.

"I still don't see how it's perfect for me" Ren stated.

The clone raised a finger like he was giving a lecture, "With the mist messing with the Grimm's vision, and your Semblance hiding your emotions, the Grimm will have a real hard time keeping track of you."

It now clicked for Ren and he said, "Okay…now that you put it like that I'll give this my all." The clone has a proud smile now that his idea is not being rejected.

To no surprise, Nora is practicing with her lightning and with how much her Aura can absorb. The only thing Naruto has been helping her with is her Chakra control in hopes of eventually teaching her Body Flicker.

Finally, we arrive at Yang. She has been practicing her fire Chakra manipulation in as many ways as she can. Why? Because today is the day she attempts to learn the Fire Cloak. As Naruto approached and asked, "You ready?"

Yang was a little nervous. She is really good with her fire, but she is still attempting something that has not been done before. She then told him, "As ready as I'll ever be."

"Alright, let's move to a little more free space" Naruto told her. They did so and he then turned around to tell her, "To make the Fire Cloak you need to coat your whole body in fire Chakra. And I mean the whole thing."

Surprisingly, Yang did not say a thing. She took a wide stance and then a deep breath. She coated her fists in fire Chakra like she usually does and then started spreading it across her arms. She then said, "So far so good."

"Keep going" Naruto told her.

Yang coated her shoulders is fire Chakra before trying to do the same with her torso. At this point the Chakra coating her arms fizzles out and she says, "Damn it…"

"Hey, you can't expect to get it immediately" Naruto tells her. He then thought out loud, "I wonder if you should start with the torso and go from there?"

"Really? Why?" Yang asked.

"It was just a thought, but since that's where the Chakra is pooled it might be easier to start from there" Naruto answered.

"Huh, it does make sense" Yang commented.

They then heard the sounds of grunting relatively close by. They looked over to see Oscar sparring with one of Naruto's clones. Oscar knows he does not have special powers from Chakra, but he and Ozpin know that what makes Naruto such an amazing fighter is not his exceptional speed and strength. After all, even though he did not have access to his Chakra at Beacon, he was still the best combatant in his class due to his training and experience. Experience that both Oscar and Ozpin hoped would benefit Oscar.

Oscar did a leaping downward swing from his cane. Naruto weaved back and Oscar followed up his swing with a couple of cane thrusts. Naruto blocked the first thrust and parried the second. After the parry, Oscar stepped back.

"Your reactions are getting quicker" Naruto said, complimenting Oscar.

"You really think so?" Oscar asked.

"Oh yeah, especially considering you knew to back away in time" Naruto told him.

"It's weird, but it's starting to feel natural to me" Oscar confessed.

"My skills and muscle memory are steadily waking up in you" Ozpin told Oscar from within. "Although I don't recall a time when they awakened this quickly."

"Then maybe you were right about the benefits of sparring with Naruto" Ozpin internally responded.

"Let's take a five-minute break and then we'll get back to it" the Naruto clone told Oscar.

Oscar nodded as he, Yang, and their respective Naruto's seen Ruby get sent flying out of some trees. She slides on her back and then rolls onto a knee. The real Naruto then walked out of those same trees and said, "Come on Ruby! I know you can do better than that ya know!" Ruby then rushed in and threw a right straight punch which Naruto blocked. She followed up with to more straights and followed up with a leaping rising knee. Naruto blocked both punches and weaved back from the knee.

Ozpin was absolutely stunned as he watched from within Oscar. He couldn't help but ask, "Is this really the same Ruby who was helpless without her weapon?" Oscar was shocked to hear Ruby was bad at something in terms of combat.

Yang started cheering Ruby on as she yelled, "Nail him sis!"

The clone by Yang said, "You're rooting for someone to hit me."

"Don't worry, I know" Yang told him with a smirk. This caused the clone to laugh.

Naruto then spun Ruby around and restrained her before asking, "What are you gonna do now?"

Ruby was kicking her feet to get free but was having no luck. She thought about what to do, but she could not think of anything. She then told Naruto, "I'm stuck…"

"Can you reach my hands?" Naruto asked her. Ruby gave it a try and was able to. Naruto then let her go and told her, "Remember, wind Chakra will cut, even if it's a small one."

Ruby's eyes widened and she said, "Oh that makes a lot of sense! …Can we practice with Crescent Rose now?"

Naruto just smirked and said, "Sure."

Yang then asked the clone with her, "How much longer do we have?"

"We have a couple hours left for practice and then a couple more for rest" The clone told her. "We don't wanna be too tired for whatever Lionhart has planned."

Yang nodded and said, "Okay" before she went back to attempting the Fire Cloak starting with her torso. She made the tiger sign before coating her torso in flames and she said, "I'll make these couple hours count."

---

Sitting on an outcropping in the Evernight is Tyrian. He is disheveled as his hair is in a mess, he has self-inflicted bruises and scratches all over his arms, and his eyes are strained and has bags under them from lack of sleep. Salem saying she was disappointed in him clearly did some damage.

While sitting there, he stares out at the ever-growing Super Grimm army. The number of Commander Grimm stands at 314. However, this does not count the 186 that have already been sent out to take command of the Grimm population of different areas, thus making the total count 500 Commander Grimm. Then there are 100 Master Grimm that are still in the Evernight while another 50 have headed out. They have spread themselves out to be called upon when needed. This makes the current number of Super Grimm at their disposal 650. Keep in mind this is only counting pure Super Grimm as there are more Grimm being mutated upon finding the Chakra Dust.

Not counted among all those Super Grimm is the one who birthed them all, the Nine-Tails Grimm. It is currently laying down as Salem, master of all Grimm, makes her approach. From Tyrian's perspective, it looks as though a black sea is parting as Salem makes her way forward.

Having made her way to the Grimm Nine-Tails, she placed her hand upon it and said, "As long as I have you, I shall never know helplessness again. You will bring an end to the will of the Gods. As such, you need a name. Hench forth, you shall be called Théfon."

Observing this, Tyrian thought, "That name roughly translates to "God Killer." A fitting name given its purpose."

The newly dubbed Théfon raised its head and Salem floated herself up to meet it. She then walked onto Théfon's head before turning around to face her legion. She said to her Super Grimm army, "Soon it will be your turn to play. And then, this world will truly belong to us." Then all the Super Grimm, except for Théfon, all roared in unison and sent tremors all throughout the Evernight.

As Tyrian observed this incredible scene before him, his normal urge to cackle with glee was subdued by the disgust he feels for himself. He could not take it anymore and ran into the castle in a desperate search for something. He searched the meeting hall but did not find what he was looking for. He then headed into Watts' lab and began searching around.

Then Watts, who had just recently returned, seen Tyrian searching his lab and asked him, "What do you think you're doing in here?"

Tyrian then rushed to Watts in a fraction of a second and grabbed him by his coat. Tyrian then desperately asked, "You have more of the special Dust! Don't you?!"

Very uncomfortable, Watts exclaimed, "Unhand me you lunatic!"

Instead of letting Watts go, Tyrian got even closer to Watt's face and pleaded, "I NEED IT! PLEASE!"

Seeing how desperate Tyrian is, Watts informed him, "I only have the raw material in my lab. You can't handle that." Tyrian's face gained a blank look as if something broke. He let go of Watts and Watts started backing away, having no clue what was going to happen next. Tears began streaming from Tyrian's eyes as he began to have another mental breakdown. Seeing his lab was in danger, Watts said, "I think our master has some of the refined material in her throne room." Tyrian then ran off causing Watts to say, "This will probably end poorly…"

Tyrian arrived at the throne room and seen the same ornate bowl that Salem had the Chakra Dust in before. He looked inside and seen there were still 5 vials of it. He grabbed one and consumed its contents just like the Grimm do. Watts had arrived just in time to see this and told Tyrian, "You just made a grave mistake…"

Tyrian then fell to the ground and began to convulse. Blood started streaming out of his nose, eyes, and ears. A pain like he has never felt before rushed through him as he let out a scream that could be heard even outside of the castle.

Salem heard this and returned to the castle. She heard the screaming get louder as she approached the throne room. She seen Watts staring into the room and asked, "What's happening?"

Watts motioned inside and told her, "The fool only has himself to blame."

Salem walked into the room to see a bloody Tyrian as he convulsed by an empty Chakra Dust vial. She then told Tyrian, "You are such a fool. Killing yourself is no way to make yourself useful to me."

"With such a level of pain, his body will shut down soon" Watts commented. Then a few seconds later, Tyrian stopped moving.

Salem sighed and told Watts, "Remove him." She then sat on her throne.

Clearly annoyed, Watts approached Tyrian and said, "Of all the nonsensical…" As Watts reached for Tyrian's legs, the air pressure got heavier and confused Watts. He was then knocked off his feet by a sudden burst of air pressure coming from Tyrian. Tyrian then rose to his knees and lifted up his head to reveal they were glowing blue. He then gained a Chakra cloak and gained a euphoric expression before letting out a maniacal laugh.

Salem sat in her thrown in awe of this development. Both her and Watts thought Tyrian was dead, but now he is up and brimming with power. She then told Watts, "Take Tyrian to your lab. We have a new development on our hands."

---

Raven is sitting inside of her tent and is trying to push any doubt out of her mind. She knows her and her tribe stand no chance against Salem and her endless Grimm. She knew this before they started evolving into something even more terrifying. She also knows this is far from the first morally negative thing she has done for her tribe.

However, what she will be doing today is unlike anything she has done before. She will not be looting supply ships or kidnapping people for ransoms. No, today she will be helping the most dangerous person in Remnant become even more dangerous. At least, only if she is unable to sneak off with the relic in the chaos. And in that chaos, she will be committing outright murder. Not of just anyone, but her own family.

Killing her brother is one thing. But despite what she has told everyone, killing her daughter weighs heavy on her. She has told herself that she will do anything for her tribe, but can she really go this far? That is what she keeps asking herself. She looked at her sword sheathe, Omen. Her gaze then drifted to the exit of her tent. She knows that once she leaves this tent there is no more room for doubt.

Vernal then entered the tent and told Raven, "We need to go. It's time to meet up with Salem's people." Raven made sure to hide her conflicted expression from Vernal. She then took a deep breath, grabbed Omen, and walked out of the tent. As Raven passed her, Vernal asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine" Raven answered. She then walked to the outskirts of the camp with Vernal. The rest of the camp was watching them go. Raven turned around and told them, "You all need to be ready. As soon as we get back you need to be ready to move."

"We will be chief!" One of the tribesmen stated. The rest of the camp shared the same sentiment.

Raven and Vernal then left the camp. They traveled for a couple hours without speaking as neither had anything left to say on the matter. They then finally came upon Cinder, Hazel, Emerald, Mercury, Torchwick, and Neo with Haven behind them in the distance. Raven looked at Hazel and said, "Unless Watts went on an extreme workout, it seems you brought a replacement."

"You still have your clever remarks" Cinder commented. "This is Hazel, another member of our master's inner circle."

"A pleasure" Hazel said greeting Raven and Vernal. He also gave them a respectful bow of his head.

Raven looked upon the group and asked, "Is this everyone?"

Torchwick scoffed at this and said, "Not even close."

Cinder held her hand out towards the trees and beckoned towards them before saying, "Come on out." Then several Commander Grimm stepped out of the forest along with the groups of Grimm they had taken lead of. The large Super Manticore then stepped toward Cinder, and she proceeded to pet it.

Raven and Vernal looked horrified and they stepped back. They looked at the fierce glowing blue eyes of the Super Grimm around them. The same blue eyes of the monster that attacked their camp a couple months ago. A Razor-wing unlike any they had seen before. More than half of the tribe was lost in that attack.

Seeing the fear on their faces, Cinder looked at Raven and Vernal before telling them, "The Grimm won't attack as long as you don't betray us."

Raven collected herself and asked, "I was asking if this is all the people."

"Well maybe you should have specified" Mercury told Raven with a cocky smirk. Raven then shot him a glare.

"Our last associate is a little further ahead" Cinder informed Raven. She then started walking towards Haven with her cohorts and the Grimm following.

Raven and Vernal started following as well and Mercury recalled Raven saying no one should be afraid of him. He decided to comment, "Sure seem afraid now." Vernal got visibly upset and went to punch Mercury, but Raven caught Vernal's hand and shook her head. Vernal reluctantly backed down. They then arrived at the campus where Adam was waiting with his sect of the White Fang.

"Raven, meet Adam Taurus. Rising star of the White Fang" Cinder said, introducing them.

"I'm surprised that Sienna Kahn is sanctioning this" Raven commented.

"It seems you're quite out of the loop" Adam told Raven. "I'm afraid Sienna is dead."

Raven looked genuinely surprised as she asked, "And a kid like you is in charge now?"

"The White Fang needed a new direction" Adam told her without hesitation.

"Now that introductions are done…" Cinder said to gain their attention. She then asked Adam, "Are the White Fang ready to strike?"

"We are" Adam answered. "We'll strike as soon as the sun sets."

"Good" Cinder said, pleased at the answer.

Hazel then walked up to the Commander Grimm and told them, "Spread out to the outskirts of the campus and be ready to attack." They began to move out.

Cinder then pointed to the large Super Manticore and said, "Except you" she then pointed to a Super Boarbatusk and said, "you," she finally pointed to a Super Ursa and said, "and you. You'll be coming with us." The rest of the Grimm spread out around the campus.

Vernal then looked at Raven with a face that said "We're in over our heads." Raven kept a stoic face to try and tell her everything was alright. It worked, but on the inside Raven was feeling the same way.

Cinder then led her group to the main school building. Once inside the main hall, she told the Manticore, "Wait with the other two outside and stay hidden." The three Super Grimm then did so. "They can't get inside the building without breaking through and that would be an obvious sign of a trap."

Raven then said in her own mind, "They probably have a good idea that this is a trap anyway."

They then proceeded up the stairs where Lionhart's office is. He is sitting in his chair riddled with anxiety much like Raven was. He knows his betrayal has led to the deaths of people. But now he knows who is going to die. And worse, he knows most of them are kids. It is taking everything he has to not have a breakdown. Cinder then walked into the room with the others. Lionhart noticed them, but he did not say a word.

"It's time Leo" Cinder told the ashamed headmaster. Lionhart simply nodded and called Qrow.

---

Our gang at Haven is currently resting up after their earlier training session. Naruto is sitting on the couch facing the TV. There is a game show on where people need to answer questions correctly or fall into a tank of cold water. He was still a little shocked at how many different shows there are.

Yang was searching through the kitchen cabinets. She has had a craving for something she has not had in a while. Unfortunately, she has had little luck finding what she needs. She then complained, "I can't find any tequila or strawberry juice…"

Weiss gave Yang a questioning look and said, "You shouldn't expect to find alcohol in a school building."

"Besides what's in Uncle Qrow's flask" Ruby commented.

"I'm not sharing" Qrow quickly stated.

Yang then went and sat next to Naruto on the couch with a disappointed face. She said, "I just wanted a Strawberry Sunrise…"

Naruto looked at Yang and asked, "You mentioned that a lot before. Is it really just tequila and strawberry juice?"

"It's got orange juice and grenadine too" Qrow answered. "It's a spin on a Tequila Sunrise."

"All we had back in my world was sake" Naruto told them.

"That's good stuff too" Qrow commented.

Yang gave Naruto a perplexed look and asked, "You guys really only had sake?"

Naruto shrugged and said, "At least in my village."

"Your village was likely plentiful in rice since that's where sake comes from" Ren stated, adding his two cents.

"Wow, you're spot on!" Naruto told Ren. "One of the small countries bordering mine was the Land of Rice Patties ya know."

"I guess that adds up" Yang commented.

"We didn't grow rice on our farm, but I heard it's really hard work" Oscar told them.

They all looked at Oscar and Naruto said, "I forgot you were a farm hand with how quick you've started becoming a warrior ya know." Oscar became embarrassed.

"Maybe we should put him through a gauntlet" Jaune said earnestly. Now everyone stared at him and he explained, "Hey, it sure helped me a lot."

"He is right about that" Pyrrha said, backing up the idea.

Oscar's eyes went wide at the suggestion and responded, "I'd rather not!" This caused laughter amongst the room. The laughter then quieted down when Qrow's scroll started ringing.

Qrow answered, "Hey Leo. Everything all set?"

"It is. I'd like to invite all of you to come to the school" Lionhart said on the other end.

"We'll be right there" Qrow said before hanging up.

Naruto stood up from the couch and said, "Okay guys, we've been training our butts off. We'll be ready for whatever we face!"

Ruby looked to Weiss and Yang as she asked, "You guys ready?"

Weiss with Myrtenaster in hand said, "Yes."

Yang finished putting on her Ember Celica and said, "Let's do this."

Jaune then looked to his team and said, "I know you guys are ready."

"Oh yeah! I'm ready to smash stuff!" Nora exclaimed as Ren and Pyrrha stood up with confident expressions.

From within Oscar, Ozpin asks him, "Do you feel ready?"

"Not at all…" Oscar internally replied.

"That means you're smart" Ozpin told him. "Just keep your guard up and leave most of the fighting to the others."

"Don't worry, I will" Oscar told Ozpin.

"Let's head out" Qrow told the group. He then led them out of the building and the sun was starting to set. As they headed to the school building, the group's unease and anxiety rose.

"It's way too quiet. That's never a good sign…" Naruto commented.

"Yeah…even the staff seem to be gone" Qrow commented, agreeing with Naruto.

"I know it's a bad sign, but it's probably for the best" Ruby told them.

"Ruby's right" Pyrrha stated in agreement. "We wouldn't want a bunch of casualties like there was at Beacon."

Jaune then looked at Pyrrha and said jokingly, "And no rocket lockers to send me away in." Pyrrha laughed nervously. She knew Jaune was joking, but she was still a little ashamed of doing that.

They were now right outside the school building. Naruto told them, "Everybody gets your guards up." They all did and walked into the building. At first glance, it seemed empty and quiet. Naruto then muttered, "I'm already getting bad vibes, ya know…"

"An empty school building is an eerie setting" Pyrrha commented.

Qrow was looking up and said, "Not completely empty." The others looked up as well to see Lionhart on the second floor watching them. Qrow then said to Lionhart, "Okay Leo. We're here, where's that party you said the council sent you?"

"They're here…" Lionhart reluctantly responded. That is when Cinder, Hazel, Torchwick, Neo, Emerald, Mercury, Raven, and Vernal walked in from another room.

They were all surprised, but Pyrrha quickly eyed Cinder down. However, Ruby was the first to address them as she sternly said, "Cinder…"

"It looks like none of you are happy to see us" Cinder mockingly said. "And after all we went through."

Naruto then walked to the front of the group and said, "There's a lot of people I'd rather not see." Upon seeing Naruto, Cinder's confident expression turned to one of disbelief. Ever since Tyrian said Naruto is alive, she had been telling herself that Tyrian had to be wrong. But now here he is, looking her in the eye. Naruto then shifted his gaze to Torchwick and said, "Okay, I did NOT think you were still alive."

"I knocked him off a ship in the sky!" Ruby exclaimed upon seeing Torchwick. "I can't believe he's alive either!"

Torchwick looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel as he said, "I'm gonna delight in killing you both today!" Neo patted his shoulders to try and calm him down.

Qrow looked back up to Lionhart and told him, "I had a feeling you betrayed us, but I was really hoping I was just being paranoid."

"You're a headmaster. How could you do this?!" Jaune asked Lionhart.

"I'm sorry children, but there is no standing against Salem" Lionhart tells them all.

"So, you never had any faith in us, huh?" Naruto stated upon hearing Lionhart.

As Oscar looked up at Lionhart, he asked Ozpin, "Hey, you okay?"

Ozpin sighed and said, "He isn't the first to change sides for self-preservation. But it still hurts when someone you trust betrays you."

While these conversations were happening, Yang was glaring at Raven. Nora noticed this and asked, "So what's their deal?"

Weiss informed the rest of the group, "That's Raven, Yang's mom."

Hearing that Yang's mom is here, Ruby looked at Raven and commented, "She really does look a lot like Yang." This gained Raven's attention. Ruby stepped forward and said to Raven, "I don't know why you're helping Salem. But…look how far we've come! And I'm sure if we stand together, we can beat her." She then held out her hand.

Raven looked at Ruby's hand and with contempt in her voice said, "You sound just like your mother." She then placed her hand on her blade.

Seeing that Raven readied herself to attack Ruby, Yang rushed forward to attack Raven. However, Naruto held her back. Yang turned to him and asked, "What are you doing?!"

Instead of answering Yang, Naruto said to Raven, "You make it sound like Ruby sounding like her mom is a bad thing."

Raven narrowed her eyes and said, "It is. That naivety gets you killed."

Hearing that, Ruby couldn't help but think, "Is…is that really why my mom died?"

Naruto had a skeptical face as he said, "I don't buy it."

Still with a contemptible face, Raven asked, "What are you talking about?"

"I don't buy this cynical act of yours" Naruto answered.

Raven crossed her arms and said, "You think I'm putting on an act?"

Mercury now rolled his eyes and said, "For Gods' sake, I'm tired of this speech."

Jaune then looked at Mercury and said, "Shut up."

Mercury scoffed and replied, "Is the guy who's nothing but a burden to his team telling me to shut up?"

Not caring about Mercury's insult, Jaune responded, "That's right." This now made Mercury annoyed.

This made Naruto smirk before he told Raven, "I noticed how you haven't been able to look Yang in the eye, ya know."

Genuinely surprised Naruto caught that, Raven asked, "What's your point?"

"If you really didn't care, Yang's judgmental gaze wouldn't bother you" Naruto pointed out. Raven was stunned and had no response.

Seeing this, Vernal asked her chief, "Raven? You okay?"

Before Raven could answer, Naruto said, "And if nothing else, I just can't believe you're really as cold and heartless as you're pretending."

Now again questioning herself, Raven asked, "And why's that?"

"Because you're Yang's mom" Naruto told her. Upon hearing this, Raven looked down and gripped her fists tightly. She even started biting her lip in frustration. She was mad at herself for feeling conflicted again despite saying she would not. Yang was now also feeling conflicted. Naruto looked at Yang and said, "You're mad and you should be. But can you really say you hate her?"

Yang looked at her conflicted mother and sighed before she said, "No…" This brought a smile to Naruto and Ruby's faces.

Cinder now seen the conflict on Raven's face and grabbed Raven's arm gaining her attention. As Raven looked at the annoyed Cinder, Cinder said to her, "Maybe you need to be reminded of how this deal works. If you and your tribe want to survive, you'll do what we say, we'll kill these brats, and you'll get us that relic."

Seeing Cinder try to manipulate Raven angers Yang. She then rushed over to them and threw a punch. Cinder was caught off guard, but Hazel got in the way and blocked Yang's punch before knocking her back. Yang then muttered, "That guy was like hitting a steel wall…"

Hazel looked at the arm he used to block Yang's punch and said, "I've never felt such a strong punch before. Tyrian might be right about them." Hearing the collision between Hazel and Yang, the large Super Manticore, Super Ursa, and Super Borbatusk bust in through the walls on the other side of the building. Hazel then told his cohorts, "The White Fang should have begun their assault by now. We should get started."

Seeing the Super Grimm, Naruto says, "Looks like talk time's over. Let's go everyone!" His friends all yelled in affirmation. Cinder then started launching fireballs at their group making them all scatter. Mercury then ran at Naruto and Naruto told him, "You didn't learn your lesson, did you?"

Mercury did a leaping reverse roundhouse as he yelled, "This isn't last time!"

Before the kick got any closer to Naruto, Jaune blocked the kick and said, "You're right. This isn't last time." Mercury narrowed his eyes and threw two kicks and followed up with a rising knee towards Jaune's jaw. Jaune easily dodges both kicks before swatting Mercury away with his shield and Mercury almost gets embedded in the wall.

Mercury flashed back to his fight with Naruto and said, "This can't be happening…"

The enemy group all looked surprised at Jaune's strength. Naruto on the other hand patted Jaune on the shoulder and asked them, "Why you all look so surprised?"

Cinder shakes her surprised face and says, "You kids might have gotten stronger, but nothing's changed."

"Oh we'll see about that!" Ruby shouted before she rushed Cinder. But, before she can reach Cinder, Torchwick cuts her off with a shot from his cane. Ruby exclaimed, "Whoa!" as she managed to stop herself in time and turned her attention to Torchwick.

Torchwick started a cocky strut as he said, "Now little Red, I don't appreciate being ignored. Especially when we have unfinished business."

"I don't have time for you!" Ruby exclaimed. She then used her new level of speed and power to attack Torchwick with her scythe, fully expecting him to get overwhelmed. However, he managed to block each of her strikes and even managed to trip her up with his cane. She managed to stay on her feet, but her face was one of astonishment.

"What's the matter little Red? Expected that to go differently?" Torchwick taunted.

Ruby then thought to herself, "This doesn't make any sense. How is he able to keep up with me now that I have Chakra?"

Weiss was fighting Neo and Emerald and was not struggling at all. Neo came down with a strike from her parasol and Weiss perfectly parried it with her rapier. Before Weiss could follow up, Emerald tried to strike with her ballistic chain sickles, Thief's Respite. However, Weiss weaved back from Emerald's slash and then in a quick and fluid motion spun around and landed a quick slash on Emerald's back. Emerald dropped down in pain and held the wound on her back. Weiss did not put much force behind the attack as she is trying to assess her opponents' strength. Despite how much stronger she has gotten, she does not want to overexert herself.

While Neo was preparing her next assault, Emerald looked over to Mercury and asked, "Are you ever gonna get up?"

Mercury stumbled to his feet and shook the cobwebs before telling Emerald, "Shut up…" He then walked towards Weiss.

Weiss narrowed her eyes and took her stance before she told Mercury, "You should have stayed down."

Naruto is currently engaging the large Super Manticore. He ducked a swipe and then dashed away from another. The Manticore was about to strike again, but Naruto quickly nailed it in the jaw with a strike from Orange Spark. The Super Manticore became disoriented before Naruto kicked it under the jaw making it rear up. He then leaped up to be level with the Grimm's face before punching it onto its back.

Cinder was watching this and was stunned at how poorly her forces were doing in this battle so far. She was certain Naruto was dead, but now here he is embarrassing one of her hand-picked Super Grimm. Full of anger, she launched multiple fireballs at him. Naruto could tell they were coming, but Yang intercepted them and blocked each one. She then told Cinder, "You've got a lot of nerve…" Naruto now had a smile on his face.

Cinder was shocked Yang neutralized her fire. Yang then ignited her fist which threw off Cinder even more. Cinder then gathered fire in her hand again and launched a stream of it at Yang while shouting, "A brat's flame won't stand up to mine!"

As Yang got hit, Yang shouted, "I'll show you what this brat's flame can do!" She then burst out of Cinder's flame stream and punched Cinder with a flame clad fist to the side of her head. This sent Cinder tumbling away.

Cinder's Aura took a decent hit and she got to her knees unable to believe what just happened. She then readied more fire while Yang wielded the signs for the Fireball Jutsu which threw the members of the enemy group witnessing this off. Cinder then shouted, "I won't stand for this mockery!" She then unleashed a wall of flame.

Yang internally shouted, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" She unleashed a large fireball that clashed with Cinder's fire and started overwhelming it. Cinder's eye widened as she then used the full force of her Maiden powers to reinforce her fire blast. She evens out the struggle before Yang then fired her own fire stream from her mouth to keep her fireball going. The struggle made the building start to shake, the walls started getting singed, and the paintings started to melt.

Oscar was watching this in awe and Ozpin said, "If I wasn't seeing it myself, I might not believe it. This Chakra really has made someone as young as Yang equal in power to a Maiden. Possibly greater."

The fireballs explode and send everyone flying back. The explosion also destroyed the stairs to the second floor as well as the statue blocking the secret opening to get to the vault. Hazel is the first to his feet and he tells Cinder, "Take the Maiden and get the Relic. I'll stall them here."

Seeing the power their foes are wielding, Cinder simply said, "Right…" She then headed off. Raven was astonished at her daughter's power, but she is still in fear of Salem, so she followed Cinder. Vernal could not believe what she had just witnessed and found herself unable to speak.

Yang seen them heading off and shouted, "Get back here!" She then ran to pursue them. Hazel got in her way and Yang tried to punch him away. Hazel once again blocked her punch and was about to retaliate when Naruto rushed in and kicked Hazel back.

Naruto looked at Yang and told her, "Go after them!"

Yang smiled and told Naruto, "I'll be back." She then ran after Cinder, Raven, and Vernal.

Jaune reinforced his legs and shield with Chakra to stop the rushing Super Boarbatusk. Pyrrha then staggered the Boarbatusk with her shield before she and Jaune both knocked it over with shield bashes. Jaune then looked at Pyrrha who was looking to where Cinder went. Jaune then told her, "Go."

Surprised, Pyrrha asked, "Are you sure?"

"I know you need this" Jaune told her. "Don't worry about these things. We got this handled." He then turned to Ren and Nora and said, "Right?"

Ren sliced the Super Ursa's shoulder before Nora sent it flying back with her hammer. Nora then looked to Pyrrha and said, "Pyrrha, go kick Cinder's butt!" Pyrrha smiled and nodded as she ran off. Jaune, Ren, and Nora then stood next to each other as the three Super Grimm had gotten back to their feet.

Lionhart had seen that the exploding fireballs destroyed the stairs. He decided that this gave him a good opportunity to run. However, he then seen Qrow standing in his way. Before Lionhart could say anything, Qrow knocked him over the railing and he landed on the floor where the battle was taking place. As he was getting up, he seen Oscar standing over him. Lionhart asked, "Who are you?"

"Your betrayal really hurt" Oscar told him.

Lionhart looked confused until his eyes widened and he said, "Ozpin?"

---

While the Haven team entered the school, the destruction of Haven by the White Fang and the Grimm had begun. Adam told his followers, "Plant more explosives by the foundation of the administration building." As his followers did so, Adam watched a Sphinx Grimm fly and claw through part of a building.

Approaching Haven, Blake and the forces of Menagerie see the same Sphinx. Blake then said, "It's already started."

"And it looks like we're gonna have to deal with the Grimm during this attack too" Sun observed.

"We should expect to run into those Super Grimm as well" Ghira commented. He then looked to his new White Fang and those who just came to help from Menagerie. He told them, "The danger we are walking into is very real. This is the last chance for anyone to back out."

Yuma stepped up and said, "Everyone here is committed to this."

Ghira nodded and told them, "The time has come to take the White Fang back!" They all yelled in unison and ran to Haven. Upon arriving, they see that part of the campus is more infested with Grimm than White Fang. Ghira looked to Yuma and said, "Take half our forces and try to subdue the Grimm over there!"

"We won't let you down sir" Yuma told his Chieftain. He then told those around him, "Come on, let's bring them down!" He then attacked the Grimm with his portion of their forces.

"Everyone else follow me!" Blake told the rest. She then led them towards the part of the campus where the bulk of the White Fang were. They then engaged the White Fang in battle.

One of the members of Adam's White Fang yelled out, "Down with the Chief!" as he jumped at Ghira with a sword.

Ghira snatched that member by the head and through him into another member of Adam's sect. More of them surround Ghira and he told them, "Stand down. This won't end well for you."

Adam then approached and told Ghira, "You should be dead."

Ghira looked at Adam with contempt and said, "Corsac and Fennec tried their best. Many died that night that shouldn't have."

"All necessary sacrifices for progress" Adam retorted. "Your death is even more necessary."

Ghira then looked at the ones surrounding him and said, "Adam Taurus may be beyond saving. But it isn't too late for all of you."

"The only one who needs saving…" Adam started to say as he drew his blade and attacked Ghira. "Is you!"

Blake intercepted Adam's attack and the members of the New White Fang disarmed the members of Adam's sect surrounding Ghira. Blake then told Adam, "You've caused enough mayhem!"

Not seeing Blake as a threat, Adam told her, "Hello, darling. Which of your loved ones will I be maiming today? You will learn your lesson eventually."

Blake got angry and knocked Adam back before she said, "That is never…going to happen again."

"Stop your bluffing. We both know you can't stop me" Adam said, taunting her.

"This isn't Beacon. I'm not scared of you anymore" Blake responds.

Adam gripped his blade and said, "You should be." He then went to strike her. Blake readied herself before using her Semblance to leave a copy to take the strike and she quickly struck Adam in the back with her blade and sliced it open. Normally Adam's Aura would have blunted it and he also could have dodged the strike. However, Adam believed Blake to be no threat, so he was completely off guard.

"I'm stronger than I was when I followed you" Blake explained to Adam. "This would have happened at Beacon, but I was still scared of you. But never again."

Sun had taken out two members of Adam's White Fang and is dealing with a third. That member shoots at Sun who hopped to the side to avoid it. Sun then configured his weapon, Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang, into its segmented mode before swinging it and one end clobbers the White Fang member before opening fire on him. Then they all hear multiple deep roars coming from inside the school building.

"They're already in the school?!" Blake shouted with concern.

Adam got to his feet and said, "Not just in the school…" Then a Super Griffon landed next to him, but it did not attack.

"Not again…" Ghira muttered. The forces of Menagerie were all stricken with fear seeing the Super Griffon.

Adam grinned seeing this and asked, "Where did all your confidence go?"

Blake noticed the Super Griffon is not attacking Adam. She asked, "Why isn't attacking you like it did Fennec?"

Adam pulled out a small black hair ornament that belonged to Salem. He then tells Blake, "A piece from their master. A gift along with the Super Griffon at Menagerie. Whoever holds this has the same pull over the Grimm as their master's inner circle. Unfortunately for Fennec, we only have the one."

Blake narrowed her eyes and told her allies, "We have to get the ornament!"

"You're welcome to try" Adam tells her as members of his White Fang form a defensive line in front of him and the Super Griffon roars.

Blake looked at Sun and told him, "Sun, you have the best chance of getting that ornament. We'll keep the Super Grimm distracted."

"Okay, but you guys better be careful" Sun responded.

"We will" Blake told him. She then went and stood next to her father.

Kali then walked up and said, "Need any help?"

"Of course we do" Blake told her mother. "But why are you here? You were with the other group."

"About that…" Kali said as Yuma came in with the other group.

"For some reason the Grimm started heading this way" Yuma explained.

Ghira then looked and seen that the Grimm have started guarding Adam. He then said with annoyance, "Of course they are…"

Adam seen Yuma and said, "Yuma? You traitor…" He then seen multiple of his former followers and said, "You're all traitors!"

"We just finally woke up to the havoc and destruction your ways led us to" Yuma responds.

Now angered, Adam shouted, "The White Fang don't need people like you!"

Ghira looked to Yuma and said, "Yuma, we need the black ornament in Adam's possession. I want you to help Sun get it from him."

"I will" Yuma said and he then looked at Sun.

Sun looked back at Yuma and said, "Let's do this."

Adam started walking away and told his forces, "Take…them…down."

Adam's forces then engaged the forces of Menagerie. At first the clash seems relatively even, but then the Super Griffon makes its move by pinning down Ghira's personal guard. It gripped its talons on the guard making him yell in pain. That is when Trifa, the spider Faunus, wrapped up the Super Griffon in silk. The Super Griffon looked at Trifa with an annoyed expression. This momentary distraction allowed Ghira to slam into the Super Griffon and move it just enough to where it was no longer pinning the guard.

Blake took the opportunity to pull the guard away from the Super Griffon. The guard said, "I'm sorry, it's supposed to be my job to protect your family…"

"You're here as a member of the New White Fang!" Blake tells the guard. "It's not your job to protect my family, it's everyone's job to protect each other!" She then drew her blade, ready to face the Super Griffon.

The guard felt inspired by Blake's words and got back to his feet. Ghira then told Blake, "That was well said."

Blake could not respond as the Super Griffon then attacked her. She just managed to duck the thrusting tail which made her flashback to Ilia as that is what killed her. Blake then went to strike the Super Griffon and it was about to meet her strike with its own. But Ghira grabs its tail and pulled it back, but only a little. This threw off the Super Griffon's timing and allowed Blake to cut its left foreleg. It goes to strike her with its right set of talons, but Blake used her Semblance to take the hit and back off. At the same time, the guard struck the Griffon on the head with his polearm. The Griffon is not really damaged, but it still looks at everyone with anger.

"Everyone get down!" The guard yelled to everyone. But before many could react, the Super Griffon spun around swinging its tail and they got hit. Ghira, who was still holding the tail, got sent flying away.

As Ghira crashed down, he found a member of Adam's White Fang about to shoot him as the member shouted, "Death to the Chieftain!" The member aimed his rifle, but Kali shot him as she brought actual weapons this time.

"No one is hurting my family while I'm around!" Kali shouted.

Ghira smiled as he got up and said, "It's almost like old times."

This made Kali smile as well, but then she asked, "Where's Blake?"

As a normal Ursa charged at Ghira, he wrestled it down and said, "She's facing down that Super Grimm and we need to get over to her quickly!"

Blake just managed to avoid a volley of feathers fired from the Super Griffon. She is about to get struck by a Lancer, but Trifa takes it down. They share a nod, but then have to defend themselves from attacking members of Adam's White Fang. Blake was able to knock the member attacking her back, but then the Sphinx from before attacks her. Luckily, Ghira arrived in time to pull Blake away before she was hit and Kali shot the Sphinx to gain its attention.

"Are you alright?" Ghira asked his daughter.

"I'm okay dad" Blake responded. They then heard the Super Griffon roar and she said, "Sun better get that ornament soon…"

Sun and Yuma were trying to get to Adam, but Grimm keep getting in the way. They then seen Adam head into the hospital. Sun then told Yuma, "Go after him while I lead the Grimm away!" Yuma nodded and jumped off a Beowolf before starting to glide over the Grimm blockade. Sun knocked that Beowolf over before yelling, "Come and get me you bunch of ugly freaks!" He then ran and the Grimm gave chase. Sun ran into the office supply building.

As Grimm started to pile into the building, Sun ran up the stairs to the second floor. The Grimm followed and Sun threw a cabinet at them as they are coming up. He thought, "As long as they can only come up the one way I should be able to hold them up for a bit." Unfortunately, this does not pan out as smaller Nevermore Grimm crashed through the window. Sun says, "Hey, that's cheating!" as he swungs around his staff in its segmented form to deal with the small swarm. This momentary distraction allowed the other Grimm to get up the stairs and flood the room.

"Oh come on!" Sun exclaimed. He then just managed to duck the swing from an Ursa and back off. He looked out the broken window and seen the Sphinx looking up and getting ready to take flight. Sun then said, "Don't got much choice…" Then, as the Grimm behind him are about to strike, Sun leaped out the window. He landed on the Sphinx and rolled off of it before running towards the hospital.

At the hospital, Yuma jumped back from one of Adam's slashes. Adam had a poorly secured bandage over his back wound. More importantly, he was able to get to the pain killers so he is not distracted by Blake's strike. Yuma has been defending every way he can such as launching food carts and baiting attacks, but that has been all he can do. He knows he is no match for Adam.

"It should be obvious you picked the losing side" Adam told Yuma.

"That may be, but I can look myself in the mirror" Yuma responded. "Can you do the same?" Adam got unreasonably angry at this and swung his blade at Yuma. Yuma again tried to avoid it, but Adam caught him on the arm and left a nasty cut. Adam then did a follow up thrust.

Sun then came in and swung at Adam. This momentary distraction allowed Yuma to dodge the thrust. Sun asked Yuma, "So how are things going in here?"

Yuma held his cut arm and said, "It could be going a lot better."

"We're running out of time" Sun stated. He then told Adam, "You're outnumbered! Hand over the ornament!"

"I'm outnumbered, but for how long?" Adam responded. They then heard the sounds of Grimm breaking into the hospital.

"Okay, we need to get that ornament quick" Sun stated. He then rushed Adam and swung his staff. Adam parried the swing and followed up with a horizontal slash aimed at Sun's throat. Sun ducked Adam's slash and pivoted back. He then tried to hit Adam in his left leg and then the right side of his head with his staff. Adam parried both strikes, so Sun transitioned into using his segmented mode hoping to get something in. Unfortunately, Adam is on guard against Sun and is not getting overwhelmed at all. He successfully parried each strike from Sun and sheathed his blade.

Sun knows of Adam's Semblance thanks to Blake so he jumped back and activated his own Semblance making two Aura clones to attack Adam. Adam is annoyed and decides to save his Semblance for later so he fights the clones normally.

As Adam fights the clones, Yuma is putting his skills as one of Adam's former assassins to work. He is sneaking around and is now behind Adam. He knew if he struck right now, there is a good chance Adam could stop him. He needs to wait for the right moment.

Adam struck down one of the clones and then struck at the other one. The clone managed to dodge it and Yuma gave a sign to Sun to have the clone attack. Sun did so and Adam prepared to counterattack. The clone got destroyed, but at the same time Yuma leaped from his hiding spot and tackled Adam and took him by surprise. Sun then ran up and kicked Adam in the head to disorient him.

Yuma searched Adam's pockets and took the ornament and said, "I got it!"

"Yes! Go stop the Grimm!" Sun told Yuma.

As Yuma ran off with the ornament, Adam shouted, "Nooo!" He then threw Sun off of him and went to pursue Yuma. Sun cut him off and swung his staff. Now that Adam is facing the real Sun, he used his Semblance to enhance his strike and sent Sun's staff flying. Adam then followed up with a rising slash. Sun guarded up, but he got knocked into another room of the hospital which allowed Adam to run after Yuma.

Yuma was running as fast as he could towards where he left Blake and Ghira. In the meantime, Blake managed to cut down a Lancer, but she is starting to breathe heavy. Kali managed to disarm a member of Adam's White Fang before she knocked that member out with their own weapon. Ghira was on one knee with a wounded arm and bleeding from his forehead. The Super Griffon was approaching and Ghira let out a growl. The Griffon pounced and pinned Ghira down.

"DAD!" Blake shouted out in concern.

Yuma arrived in time to see this and shouted, "STOP!" The Super Griffon did so as Yuma held up the ornament and told all the Grimm, "Back up!" The Grimm all do so which frees Ghira.

Blake and Kali run over to check on Ghira. Ghira tells them, "I'm alright…"

Blake then seen Adam behind Yuma and shouted, "Look out!" Yuma turned around just in time for Adam to run him through. It was not through the heart, but still a critical injury causing Yuma to drop the ornament.

Adam caught the ornament and told the Grimm, "Attack!" He then withdrew his blade from Yuma who collapsed.

"Adam!" Blake shouted as she swung her blade at him.

Adam clashed blades with her and said, "I won't be underestimating you this time." Blake swung her blade upwards and followed up with a thrust and downward slash. He dodged the rising slash as well as the thrust before he parried the downward slash and did a horizontal slash of his own. Blake managed to duck the slash, but then Adam pivoted and slashed at Blake as he turned. Blake used her Semblance to take the hit and then tried to hit Adam in the back again. Unfortunately, Adam was not taken by surprise this time and he parried her strike before kicking her.

Blake was now on one knee and trying not to show that she is tired. Adam looked out as his opposition was starting to fall to the Grimm and he had a satisfied smile. He then told her, "This is all too familiar."

Blake got angry, but before she could respond, Sun attacked Adam from the side. Adam jumped back from the attack and Sun asked Blake, "You okay?"

Blake then got back to her feet and said, "I'm okay."

"I'm getting sick of seeing your face" Adam told Sun with annoyance in his voice.

"That's your problem" Sun retorted.

"You're just going to have to get used to Sun sticking around" Blake told Adam. "And I'm glad he is." This made Sun smile. Adam became quite annoyed and cut down a member of the New White Fang that tried to attack him. Sun then smacked down a Beowolf with his staff and Blake finished it off with her blade. They then stared Adam down.

Sun and Blake rushed down Adam who has his blade at the ready. Sun attempted three swings of his staff which Adam parried. Sun then hopped to the side and Blake stepped up to continue where Sun left off by slashing at Adam's left shoulder. Adam managed to weave the strike and attempted a rising counter slash which Blake weaved in turn. She then continued her assault with a dashing thrust and Adam sidestepped to avoid it. Blake followed his movement with her blade, but Adam blocked her blade and then went to grab her. Blake used her Semblance and backed away.

Sun reentered the fight having segmented his staff and fired at Adam. Adam blocked the bullet and Sun swung his segmented staff. Adam was not throw off by the maneuver, but Sun, now having fought Adam, is better able to keep up with him. However, Adam used his Semblance and overwhelmed Sun again. He is about to strike Sun, but Blake throws her weapon in its Kusarigama state and is catches Adam's blade.

"What are you doing?!" Adam asked her.

"She opened you up!" Sun answered as he hit Adam in the head with his segmented staff. He then shot Adam as Blake pulled her weapon back to her and then cut through Adam, shattering his Aura.

Adam fell over and coughed up some blood. He then said, "This can't be happening…" Blake went to grab the ornament from him, but Adam desperately swung his blade, making her hop back.

"You can't fight anymore! It's over!" Blake shouted at Adam.

"Like hell it is…" Adam responded. Personifying spite, he took out the ornament and smashed it.

Sun looked shocked and said, "Wha? Why would you…?"

With blood dripping down his mouth, Adam told them, "It's not over if you can't stop the Grimm…" They all then heard multiple deep roars, making them all panic.

Now approaching the battle are two Super Beowolves, a Super Ursa, two more Super Griffons, and coming in from the sky is their Master Grimm, a pure Super Giant Nevermore. The Nevermore landed on the hospital and let out a cry.

Ghira looked overwhelmed and said, "This has to be a nightmare..." Kali held his hand, just as overwhelmed as he is. The forces of Menagerie see all the Super Grimm along with at least fifty normal Grimm and give into despair.

Sun seen this and asked Blake, "What should we do?"

Blake did not want to give up, but she saw no way out and said, "I don't know…" Now the Super Griffon they had been fighting stalked them. It was about to pounce, but they all hear the sound of a wall being crashed through and then something slammed into the Super Griffon at high speed and sent them both through a storage building. Blake looked towards where the object came from and seen a single large hole in the building. Blake asked, "What was that?"

---

Cinder, Raven, and Vernal are approaching the lowest level of the school. As they get closer to the vault, doubt creeps up on the faces of Raven and Vernal. Vernal told Raven, "Maybe we shouldn't do this."

"We already committed to this" Raven told her.

"I know…" Vernal responded. "But you seen what they were doing up there. Maybe with their help we could find a way out of this."

Cinder overheard this and told Vernal, "Keep your mouth shut. All you need to do is grab the relic and then you can go."

Getting sick of Cinder's attitude, Vernal says, "Go to hell."

Cinder then got ready to strike Vernal, but Raven got in the way and said, "We're following through with the agreement." Cinder backed off and kept moving. Raven then turned to Vernal and said, "Head back to camp and get everyone moving."

"What? There's no way I'm leaving you with her" Vernal objected.

"Just go!" Raven said sternly. "I'll find you all later." Vernal was hesitant, but she did what she was told and started running away.

Cinder seen this and brought out her Grimm arm as she said, "The Spring Maiden doesn't get to leave!"

Raven caught the arm and said, "Vernal isn't the Spring Maiden." Her eyes then trailed with the Maiden's flame and she said, "I am."

Cinder narrowed her eye and said, "You deceived us."

"It makes things easier if people don't know" Raven informed her. "But things have gotten out of control."

Not wanting to fight another Maiden that is on guard, Cinder said, "Then the deal still stands." Raven knew to be wary of Cinder, but her fear of Salem made her nod and continue with Cinder.

As Vernal was running, she came across Yang who was still in pursuit. Yang seen her and asked, "Where's my mom?"

"She's down that way with Cinder" Vernal said as she motioned in their direction. She then looked at Yang and said, "Maybe you make her to stop."

Yang looked toward where she needs to go and said, "Thanks." Vernal gave Yang a nod.

Pyrrha then came around the corner and spotted Yang before she said, "Good, I managed to catch up."

Yang looked at Pyrrha with surprise as she asked, "What are you doing here?"

Pyrrha looked very serious as she said, "Stopping Cinder is the whole reason I started this journey."

Yang smiled and said, "Then we should get to it." Then she and Pyrrha ran off towards the vault while Vernal headed back up.

Raven and Cinder came to a hall and at the end of it was the underground chamber with the entrance to the vault. The chamber is a huge cavern with a giant platform with glowing blue circles in three spots along the path to the dimensional gateway. There are large rock outcroppings on the platform along with trees lit by their orange glowing flowers.

As they approached the giant platform, Raven noticed Cinder started slowing down. Raven told her, "I don't trust you to be behind me."

Cinder, who had a feeling Raven was too clever for that to work, walked ahead of Raven and said, "That paranoia isn't healthy."

Raven followed and said, "It's the only reason I'm still alive."

As Raven and Cinder were about to reach the dimensional gate, Yang and Pyrrha arrived and Yang shouted, "Stop!"

Shocked to hear Yang's voice, Raven turned around and asked, "Why are you here?"

"To stop you from helping the bad guys, obviously" Yang answered. Raven just shook her head at this response.

Cinder saw Pyrrha eyeing her down and asked, "Are you really trying to do this again?"

Pyrrha looked determined as she said, "I failed to stop you once. I won't fail again."

Cinder stepped towards Pyrrha and Yang as she said, "I'll take care of the brats." She saw Pyrrha as no threat, but she looked cautiously at Yang due to their earlier skirmish.

Pyrrha noticed Cinder watching Yang and took the opportunity to rush her down. Cinder was caught by surprise as Pyrrha slashed at her and Cinder barely managed to avoid it. Pyrrha then said, "That mother and daughter have some things they need to hash out. You'll have to settle for just me." Cinder looked at Pyrrha with annoyance on her face as the Maiden flame trailed her eye. Pyrrha stanced up in response.

Raven and Yang were still staring at each other as Raven told her, "You shouldn't be here."

Instead of responding to that, Yang crossed her arms and said, "You're still here while Vernal took off. There's no way Cinder would let the Fall Maiden get away." Raven looked to the side, frustrated she had been found out. Yang then walked towards her mother and asked, "What are you gonna do?"

"Take the Relic and leave" Raven answered. "A nice bargaining chip."

"You know Salem can't be reasoned with" Yang told her mother. "Give the Relic to me instead."

Raven looked surprised at her daughter's suggestion. Cinder shouted to Raven, "Don't you even think about it!" Cinder then blocked Pyrrha's sword strike with her hands since she was able to do that easily in their last fight. Unlike last time, Cinder's hands got sliced up and she yelled out in pain. Pyrrha followed up with sword thrust and Cinder jumped back. Her hands start to heal, but not fast enough so she used fire to close the wounds.

After some thought, Raven looked at her daughter and said, "No."

Yang was displeased at this and asked, "And why not?"

"Because this is the only chance my tribe and I have to survive" Raven answered.

"We can help you!" Yang yelled in frustration.

"Like a kid like you could help" Raven said dismissively. She then grabbed her sheath and said, "You want to convince me you can handle this? Prove it."

Yang looked determined as she slammed her fists together and said, "Gladly…"

Raven used ice Dust to draw an ice blade from her sheath and she swung at Yang. Yang hopped back to avoid it, but Raven got to her much quicker than she expected and launched two horizontal slashes. But even caught off guard, Yang was able to weave back from the first slash and duck the second. She then retaliated with a punch aimed at Raven's stomach which Raven managed to dodge and swing her blade at Yang again. Yang avoided the slash by dashing to Raven's side and throwing a punch with such speed that Raven barely got her sword in the way in time. However, Raven was not prepared from the force behind the punch and got sent flying off her feet. She got back to her feet and stared at Yang in shock before activating her Maiden powers.

Yang readied herself and said, "That's more like it."

Cinder manifested two obsidian blades and knows she will need the boost from the Maiden's powers to deal with Pyrrha who has gotten the best of her twice already in this fight. Cinder rushed at Pyrrha with increased speed and did a cross slash with her blades. Pyrrha blocked the slash with her shield and then jumped up before coming back down with a slash from her sword. Cinder managed to sidestep the slash before they both clashed blades.

"How did your strength increase so drastically?" Cinder asked in a serious tone as opposed to her usual overconfident one.

Pyrrha did not answer and instead tried to kick Cinder. Cinder dashed back to avoid the kick and then launched multiple fireballs at Pyrrha. Pyrrha started dashing around to avoid the fireballs. She has yet to learn any distance techniques from Naruto, so she will have to rely on what she has. She dropped her weapons to weave the signs and internally exclaim, "Earth Style: Mud Wall!" Pyrrha placed her hands on the ground and a thick wall of ground rose up to block the fireballs.

Cinder was stunned at what she was looking at. She thought, "I know her Semblance is polarity. So how can she control the land itself without the Maiden's power?!" She then recalled Hazel and Tyrian's new powers and said internally, "They were granted their powers by our master. So where did her power come from?"

Raven also caught a glimpse of the Mud Wall and was surprised. Yang dashed to Raven's side while she was looking away and threw a quick left hook. Raven just managed to duck down from the hook and dash away again before looking at Yang. Yang said, "I don't appreciate you taking me lightly enough to look away."

"It was just a glimpse" Raven responded. She then switched Omen to lightning and resheathed her blade to change it to a lightning Dust blade. She then used her Maiden powers to add to the electrical power of the blade as she swung it and sent a flying lightning slash at high speed.

Caught off guard by the speed of the attack, Yang had to guard up from the attack and got knocked off her feet. Raven then launched another flying lightning slash and this time Yang was able to dodge it. Raven launched another which Yang again dodged. Raven dashed to another spot before launching another flying lightning slash and then dashing to another spot again and launching another. She kept this pattern up of launching slashes from all different directions.

Yang dodges the first few before igniting her fists and punching a few. The flying slashes had some decent impact so Yang had to dodge in tandem with her punching a few away. She then thought, "She's trying to see how long I can keep this up. I'll give mom this much, she knows what she's doing with those powers…"

Back with Pyrrha, she was still behind her wall and configured her sword into rifle mode. She then thought to herself, "Chakra enhances our Dust, so maybe it can do the same to a bullet." She then stepped to the side of her wall while infusing her rifle with Chakra. She fired at Cinder and the velocity of the bullet was greatly increased to the point that Cinder barely had the time to dodge it. This made Pyrrha smirk as she rushed Cinder while firing more bullets from her rifle.

Cinder was able to handle these bullets now that she is on guard, but her ire has increased even further now. She told Pyrrha, "I'm sick or your little tricks!"

Pyrrha, who had closed the distance, changed her rifle back to sword mode and slashed at Cinder's torso before getting behind her and slashing at her back. Cinder blocked both slashes with her blades and then rushed Pyrrha with a dashing double slash. Pyrrha blocked both slashes and then got into a quick series of strike exchanges with Cinder. Neither of them landed a hit, but Pyrrha started reinforcing her sword and shield with Chakra which was making Cinder's blades start to crack. Due to the intensity of the exchanges, Cinder did not notice this. Pyrrha then put everything she could muster into a downward slash that shattered Cinder's blades.

Cinder was in disbelief and her widened eye expressed as such. Due to this, Pyrrha was able to slash Cinder across the torso and then swung at her neck. Cinder ducked the slash to her neck and backed away while trying to make two more blades. Pyrrha kept up her assault with a dashing thrust followed a spinning horizontal slash. Cinder managed to avoid them, but this delayed her manifesting her blades. She then finally manifested her blades and blocked Pyrrha's next strike, but she was getting overwhelmed which left her easy prey when Pyrrha broke her guard with a rising shield bash. Pyrrha then landed another slash and kicked Cinder away. Cinder's Aura was waning and was no longer able to prevent Pyrrha's attacks from doing noticeable damage.

Cinder felt a wound had opened on her stomach and touched it with her hand. She then looked at that hand and it had blood on it. Cinder was in disbelief as she said, "This can't be happening to me…I'm a Maiden!"

Despite having the advantage now, Pyrrha could feel how much this fight was taking out of her. However, she showed no signs of waning as she approached Cinder and said, "So was Amber."

Outraged, Cinder yelled as she made a burst of fire then exploded from her position. Pyrrha was not expecting that so she was sent flying back. Cinder then followed up with multiple fireballs and Pyrrha configured her sword back into rifle mode and fired Chakra enhanced bullets at the fireballs. Unfortunately for Pyrrha, the enhancement was not enough to overcome the fireballs causing them to hit her. The impact knocked Pyrrha over the edge of the platform and she began to plumet.

Yang seen this causing her to shout in concern, "Pyrrha?! NO!"

Raven got behind Yang and said, "Now who's not paying attention?" She struck Yang in the back with her blade causing Yang to fall on her knees. Yang then glared back at her mother.

Cinder started walking over to Raven and Yang and said, "That was a little too eventful."

Yang gripped her fists in anger before she punched the ground and made a crater which made both Raven and Cinder back off. Yang then got back to her feet with her hair lit up and her eyes red. She slammed her fists together and yelled, "Come on then!" Raven remained focused while Cinder had regained her cocky smile. Cinder was confident that even with Yang's new powers, there was no way she could take on two Maidens.

As Pyrrha continued to fall she said, "I'm not done yet!" She managed to get to the side of the platform and infused her hand and both feet with Chakra and grabbed the side of the platform. She slid a little before coming to a stop. She then looked back up and could hear the battle still going on up top. She said, "I'm coming Yang" before she then sprinted up the wall.

Yang was fending off Raven and Cinder as best she could, but she was getting overwhelmed. She dodged Raven's blade, which Raven had switched to using a fire blade, and kicked at Raven's side in retaliation. Raven blocked the kick, but her guard was almost broken as she was not expecting the amount of force Yang's Semblance added. Cinder launched fireballs from the air and Yang dodged each one. Yang then jumped at Cinder and punched through one of her fireballs. Yang was about to clobber Cinder, but Cinder put up a wind barrier that knocked Yang back down.

Yang ignited her fist and readied one of her projectiles and aggressively yelled, "Let's see how your stupid barrier handles this!" But before she could launch it, Raven parried Yang's strike so the projectile got launched elsewhere. In fact, it hit the ceiling and exploded which caused large rocks to start falling. The three of them started dodging the rocks until Cinder made her blades again and rushed Yang. She struck at Yang three times with her blades and Yang blocked then all.

Raven then came in and did a dashing slash. Yang guarded up, but she was sent tumbling back. One of the large rocks then fell on her, but she punched it apart. Concern was visible on Yang's face. Fighting Naruto had prepared her to fight multiple strong opponents, but this was getting out of hand.

They all then heard the voice of Pyrrha shouts, "CINDEERRRR!"

Cinder looked in the direction the voice came from and said, "Can't be…" Pyrrha then configured her sword into spear mode and jumped back up before throwing her spear at Cinder. Cinder dodged the spear before Pyrrha brought it back with her Semblance and stood next to Yang.

Yang took a moment to breathe before she said to Pyrrha, "Glad to see you're still in the fight."

"I'm sorry" Pyrrha told Yang genuinely. "You shouldn't have had to hold them both off."

"You can make it up to me by kicking Cinder's butt" Yang told Pyrrha with a smile. Pyrrha smiled in turn and nodded.

Another stare down was initiated between these four and Cinder was quite annoyed. She then told Pyrrha, "This time when I put you down, you'll stay down."

"I won't go down then" Pyrrha told Cinder as she took her stance. Cinder then made more fireballs and launched them at Pyrrha. Pyrrha dashed away and at the same time Raven dashed towards Yang and swung her blade. Yang met Raven's blade with her fist as they stared into each other's eyes.

Pyrrha and Cinder got into another exchange and it seemed relatively even. Pyrrha is physically superior normally, but the Maiden's power was making up the difference. Of course, Pyrrha was not reinforcing her weapons with Chakra this time as she does not have a lot left. She wants to save it for when she needs it. Cinder took to the air and came down with a spinning slash. Pyrrha side stepped it, but Cinder quickly dashed at her with another cross slash. Pyrrha managed to perfectly block the strike where the blades crossed with her shield. She then did a rising slash that broke Cinder's guard and followed up with two downward slashes. Cinder weaved the first slash and hopped back form he second. They then both rushed past each other with dashing slashes. Pyrrha got the better of the exchange as a cut opened on Cinder's face.

Feeling the cut on her face, Cinder shouted, "That's it!" She then rose into the air and made her wind barrier. Pyrrha leaped at the barrier and tried to shove her spear through it, but the spinning winds knocked Pyrrha back down. Cinder then made her obsidian bow and took aim before launching her arrow through the barrier.

Pyrrha managed to dodge the arrow. Now seeing that Cinder can fire arrows through the barrier, but her own attacks won't penetrate, Pyrrha muttered, "This is going to be a problem…"

Back with Yang, her and Raven were still pushing against each other until Yang kicked her back. She then told her mother, "I can see in your eyes that you don't wanna do this! So why can't you just believe in me?!"

"Because believing in others gets you killed!" Raven shouted back. "Just look at Summer!"

Yang's eyes widened at Raven mentioning Summer again. Yang asked, "Do…you know how she died?" Yang and Ruby never got closure on the matter.

"I don't know that much" Raven answered. "I just know her trust in others couldn't save her."

Her eyes softening a little, Yang asked, "Is that when your mistrust of everybody started?"

Instead of answering, Raven pointed her blade towards Yang and said, "You sure are asking a lot of questions considering last time you couldn't stand the sight of me."

Yang's eyes were no longer red as she responded, "Like Whiskers said, you're my mom. You can't be all bad." Raven's eyes widened at that response and felt her hand start to quiver. She then closed her eyes and refocused. She sheathed her blade again and switched to ice before she rushed towards Yang. Yang put her guard up and muttered, "Round two…"

Raven struck at Yang with her ice Dust blade and Yang met the strike with her fist. Yang followed up with two hooks and a high kick. Raven was able to dodge these well due to her experience with Taiyang. However, Yang kept up the assault with multiple punch and kick combinations. Raven managed to block most of them, but they kept getting faster until Yang finally landed a kick to Raven's side. Yang followed it up with a spinning backfist that knocked Raven to the ground. Yang went to stomp on Raven, but Raven rolled out of the way in time and got back to her feet.

Raven then covered her ice Dust blade in some kind of frost using her Maiden powers and launched a flying ice slash. Yang ducked the slash, but Raven went back to her previous tactic of launching elemental slashes from different directions. As Yang was dodging, she shouted, "I won't get trapped by this again!" She ignited her fists and slammed them together creating a fiery blast wave that destroyed all the ice slashes and made it rain small shiny small icicles.

Raven was in shock of what she just saw. Yang then Body Flickered over to Raven and her eyes could not track the movement. Due to this, Raven was unguarded and Yang punched Raven square in the nose which sent her flying. Raven then slammed against the door to the dimensional gate before falling to the ground with a bloody nose. Her vision was blurry as she got up. As her vision stabilized, she looked to see Yang wielding hand signs. She does not know the signs, but she remembered Yang making them when she used that fireball on Cinder. So Raven then surrounded herself in some kind icy-blue orb and crystalline ice started forming around her.

Yang made the tiger sign and launched a large fireball. Raven made the crystalline ice form into a large, elegant ice blade. An Ice Excalibur if you will. She then grabbed that blade and focused. As Yang's fireball approached, Raven cut into the fireball with her new blade. The collision caused the whole chamber and even the building above to shake. Raven then exerted all her power and cut the fireball in half. As the embers floated in the air, Raven reformed the parts of the Ice Excalibur that had partially melted.

Returning to Pyrrha, she was dodging Cinders arrows, but that was all she could seem to do. None of her attacks were able to get past Cinder's wind barrier. That is when the thought occurred to her, "It's a wind barrier. As the old saying goes, fight fire with fire. Or in this case…" She then took a defensive stance with her shield in front of her and concentrated. She then recalled Naruto tell her, "To make wind Chakra, you need to picture two spinning blades edging against each other." As she envisioned this, her spear started to become clad in wind Chakra. She then blocked the incoming arrows with her shield before throwing her spear with all her might.

Cinder smirked expecting this to be futile. The spear then pierced through the wind barrier and right into Cinder's shoulder. This shattered her Aura and caused her to fall out of the air. Cinder screamed in pain as panic set in. Pyrrha began to approach and was breathing heavily. Cinder got to her feet and started to run, but Pyrrha used her Semblance to keep her spear still and prevent Cinder's escape. Cinder then yelled, "Stay back!"

Pyrrha then gritted her teeth in anger. She said, "You made us believe you were our friend. You caused to much destruction…" Tears were now in Pyrrha's eyes as she shouted in sorrow and rage, "You made me kill an innocent girl!" She then ripped her spear out of Cinder's shoulder causing Cinder to once again scream in pain. Pyrrha then continued, "You ruined so many people's lives. And now you feel the fear that they felt." As Cinder once again tried to flee, Pyrrha threw her spear again. Cinder just managed to avoid it, but she was now on the edge of the platform. As she tried to balance herself, she seen Pyrrha rush in and kick her off. As she fell, Cinder's scream echoed through the area. Pyrrha then dropped to her hands and knees, exhausted both physically and emotionally.

Back to the other duel, Raven slashed her Ice Excalibur at Yang and Yang jumped over the slash. Yang then threw three ignited haymakers in response. Raven parried each punch and then thrusted her blade. Yang side stepped the thrust and retaliated with a leaping reverse roundhouse kick. Raven ducked the kick before doing a spinning slash. Yang jumped back before launching three of her ignited projectiles. Raven managed to dash away from two of them before cutting the third one. The explosions destabilized the structure of the cavern and it starts to collapse.

Yang seen this and told her mother, "We need to end this!"

"You're right" Raven said as she reforged her Ice Excalibur one more time.

Pyrrha looked at the collapsing cavern and was doing her best to stay alive in her current state. She told Yang, "I know you can do this."

Raven seen Yang wielding different hand seals than before and readied herself. Yang then made the tiger seal and exclaimed, "Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!" She then unleashed the mass of concentrated flame at Raven.

Raven's eyes widened as she was terrified. She cut into the burst of flame with her Ice Excalibur and struggled against it. She got pushed further and further back until her Ice Excalibur shattered. She closed her eyes, expecting to be engulfed in the tremendous flame. She then opened her eyes and seen that the bursting flame was gone and Yang was walking towards her. Raven then dropped to her knees.

Yang stopped in front of Raven and offered her hand. Raven looked up at her in shock and Yang told her, "I'm not asking you to trust Ozpin. I'm not even asking you to fight with us. I'm just asking you to believe in me."

Raven accepted her daughter's hand and was helped back to her feet. Still full of conflict, Raven said, "I'll…I'll be right back…" She then then walked over to the dimensional gate and opened the door. She entered the gateway and came upon what seemed like a vast desert. Right in front of her were three stone platforms around the Relic of Knowledge. The Relic seems rather unimpressive looking as it is just a gold ornamented lamp with a blue sphere in the middle. Raven then walked forward and retrieved the relic. After she did, the dimension seemingly started to collapse. Raven took that as a good sign to get out of there.

Raven came out of the dimension and back to the platform she was on before. She sees Yang and walks over to her before handing her the Relic. As Yang took the Relic, she commented, "All that trouble for this thing?" Yang then looked at her still conflicted mother and asked, "What'll you do now?"

"I don't know…" Raven answered honestly. "I don't remember the last time I felt this lost."

Speaking from experience, Yang told her, "When you feel lost you need to be with the people you can count on the most."

Disappointment and a little shame in her eyes, Raven said, "I don't have anyone like that."

"You used to" Yang said as she pulled out a picture of Team STRQ. Raven observed herself smiling in the picture and she cannot recall the last time she smiled like that.

A tremor occurred, but this time from the battle above. Pyrrha, who was at the exit to go back to the school, shouted at Yang and Raven, "We need to leave!"

Yang and Raven started running across the platform, but the platform started to collapse under them. Raven pushed Yang to Pyrrha as she herself fell. As Pyrrha pulled Yang into the doorway, Yang called out, "MOM!" More rocks then fell from above.

As she seen this, Pyrrha said, "I'm so sorry Yang…"

Yang had a sorrowful expression…but then a raven flew up and out of a hole made in the ceiling. Yang now smiled as she grabbed the Relic and told Pyrrha, "We should get going. This battle isn't over."

---

Returning to where we left things in the school, Lionhart was staring at Oscar in shock as asked, "Ozpin? Is it really you?"

"Why did you do it?" Oscar asked.

Lionhart sighed before he shook his head and answered, "No matter how much Ozpin tries we both know Salem can't be stopped. And I don't want to die a pointless death like so many before me."

Clearly agitated by that answer, Qrow said, "You got a lot of nerve calling our comrade's deaths pointless."

Not appreciating Qrow's tone, Lionhart breaks his normally warm hearted demeanor as he shouts back, "We lose more to the Grimm every day! What have the fallen really achieved?"

Not having a good response, Oscar lets Ozpin take over to which he said, "We're still here and still fighting. That is what the fallen have accomplished."

Lionhart now stood back up and looked Ozpin in the eye before telling him in a judgmental tone, "That's easy to say for a man who can't truly die. Isn't it, Ozpin?"

Hazel got knocked back by Naruto as he heard Lionhart call that child Ozpin. He looked over with anger filled eyes as he muttered, "Ozpin?" He then headed over to Ozpin, Qrow, and Lionhart.

Naruto dashed in front of Hazel and said, "We're not done yet, ya know."

"Get out of my way or I'll have to hurt you" Hazel told Naruto with aggression in his voice.

"You clearly don't know me very well if you think I'm backing down" Naruto responded. Hazel then tried to snatch up Naruto, but Naruto smacked Hazel's arm away before kicking Hazel in the gut and then clocking Hazel in the jaw with a right hook. Hazel was stunned from the hook and then Naruto knocked Hazel off his feet with a palm strike. Despite Naruto clearly getting the better of Hazel, he can't help but think, "Jeez, that felt like hitting a brick wall!"

On the other hand, Hazel was thinking to himself, "Tyrian was definitely right about this kid. It's time to stop playing around." He then took out a shard of Chakra Dust in its raw state.

Naruto guarded up and asked, "What are you planning to do with that?" Hazel then dropped his Aura and jammed the Chakra Dust into his shoulder. Naruto then loudly asked, "Are you nuts?!"

Hazel's Chakra flow then went up drastically and his eyes started to glow blue. He then increased in height and bulk causing his shirt to shred apart. He then let out a distorted yell. The Super Grimm in the school then roar and gain their own Chakra cloaks. Seeing this, Naruto said, "He's just like the Super Grimm…how can he handle that?"

"His Semblance lets him not feel pain" Ozpin explained. "But that wouldn't allow his body to handle the strain. He must have been subjecting himself to this for months until his body finally acclimated."

Hazel then leaped at Naruto and threw a punch. Naruto jumped back to avoid it, but Hazel's fist impacted the ground and collapsed the floor into a crater. This shook the building's foundation. Jaune, Nora, and Ren were fighting the three evolved Super Grimm when this happened and were all tripped up.

The Super Boarbatusk then charged at them and Jaune acted quickly by forming the seals and putting his hands down before exclaiming, "Earth Style: Mud Wall!" The Boarbatsuk busted through the wall, but its momentum was cut off enough for Nora to knock it into the air with her hammer.

"That was quick thinking!" Ren complimented Jaune as he got to the other side of the wall and cut the unsuspecting Super Ursa.

The Super Manticore went to swipe at Ren, but Jaune slashed its head. The cut was not a big one, but it was noticeable. Jaune then said, "Why did these things have to evolve?"

Nora stood with her hammer ready as she said, "That just makes them more fun to hit!"

Ruby was still clashing with Torchwick and she asked him, "How'd you get so much stronger?"

Torchwick side stepped Ruby's swing and said, "I could be asking you the same thing!" Ruby then dashed to the side and fired off a couple of shots. She did not want to use her Vacuum Bullets yet. Torchwick blocked the bullets before aiming his cane at Ruby. She then saw his eyes glow blue along with parts of his left side under his coat.

"What the heck are you…?" Ruby asked. Torchwick smiled as he then fired a shot from his cane. Ruby managed to dodge, but the explosive shot hit the wall and let off an explosion almost as big as one of Yang's flame enhanced projectiles. Ruby looked back at Roman and asked, "How did you do that?!"

"Like I'm about to tell you!" Torchwick replied.

Qrow looked at the multiple holes, broken floor, and destroyed staircase before he said, "We're not saving this school."

"As long as we win today, it can be rebuilt" Ozpin told him. "We won't let this become another Beacon."

Weiss was currently taking apart Neo, Emerald, and Mercury. Neo has received the least amount of hits which is why she is still standing. However, Neo's impressive skill is not enough to close the gap between her and the Chakra enhanced Weiss. Mercury and Emerald have been trying to be effective back up, but nothing has worked.

"I'll ask you again to leave" Weiss told them. "It's difficult to not land any fatal blows."

"Are you looking down on us?!" Mercury asked, clearly insulted. Weiss rolled her eyes which only infuriated Mercury more.

"Calm down" Emerald told Mercury. "I don't know how the heiress got this strong, but we're gonna need to be smart about this." She then looked as Neo and asked, "Can you distract her?"

Neo nodded before she approached Weiss. She attacked and Weiss easily blocked her strikes. Neo then baited Weiss to attack and Weiss did. Neo used her illusionary Semblance to make Weiss think she just shattered a bunch of glass. This confused Weiss which allowed Emerald to use her own illusionary Semblance to make a Goliath spear next to Weiss and look like it was about to stomp on her. As Weiss got out of the illusion's way, Mercury landed a clean kick to the side of Weiss' head. Emerald followed up by cutting Weiss in the back and then Neo, who unsheathed her blade, thrusted it into Weiss.

Weiss tumbled back. As she got up to one knee, she had anger in her eyes as she glared at Emerald and said, "That day. The one making us see things that weren't there. That was you."

Emerald kept her guard up and said, "So what?" Weiss recalled the incidents with Yang and Pyrrha and stood back up before weaving hand signs. Emerald's eyes widened and said, "She's doing that thing with her hands, get ready!"

Weiss then unleashed a Water Bomb that made them all scatter. As the floor was flooded, Weiss dashed to Emerald and ran her shoulder through. Emerald yelled in pain and Weiss pulled her Rapier out in time to dodge Mercury's double roundhouse kick. Weiss then coated her blade in Chakra and with one swing cut one of Mercury's mechanical legs off.

Mercury fell to the floor and shouted, "You obnoxious bitch!" Seeing this, Neo dropped her weapon before putting her hands up and backing away. Weiss narrowed her eyes before walking off of the large puddle they were all on. She then switches her rapier to lightning Dust and sticks the tip of her blade in the puddle before shocking her three opponents into unconsciousness. She knew not to add Chakra to the Dust as they would probably not survive.

Jaune was holding off the evolved Super Manticore. He has landed a number of cuts, but now the Manticore has gotten used to Jaune's attacks, which is making it harder for him to deal meaningful damage. Jaune dodged two swipes and counter swung. The Manticore reared up to avoid the counter swing and then slammed its paws back down to cause a tremor. Jaune jumped up to avoid the tremor and came down while reinforcing his shield with earth Chakra. The Manticore met Jaune's shield with its horn and the horn started cracking under the force. It managed to knock Jaune back before the horn broke completely and then it stared at Jaune before releasing a fire breath.

"Oh man!" Jaune shouted as he guarded up with his shield. As the flames approached, Ren leaped up and unleashes his Water Bomb Jutsu against the flame. The two attacks were even and canceled out creating steam.

During this clash, The Super Ursa went to strike Ren, but Jaune got in its way and cut it across the torso. It then stumbled into a hammer swing from Nora. Jaune then yelled to Nora, "Look out!"

Nora turned around to meet the charging Super Boarbatusk with her hammer while shouting, "Back off little pig!"

Over with Naruto, he just managed to dodge another punch from Hazel and then jumped above Hazel's attempt to grab him. Naruto did a double swing from his dual staffs while airborne, but Hazel managed to block the swing and they started punching against each other. Despite Hazel's size and strength increase, he was not outright overpowering Naruto, so they knocked each other back.

Torchwick noticed Naruto was now a decent distance from Hazel and said, "Finally…" He then fired one of his enhanced explosive shots at Naruto.

Ruby rushed Torchwick to stop him from firing a second one as she asked, "Why are you targeting him?!"

Torchwick backed up and responded, "Because I hate him! Obviously!"

Naruto dodged the shot fired at him by Torchwick, but this left him open for Hazel to rush in and punch Naruto with all he had. Naruto guarded up, but he got sent flying through the several walls of the school while shouting, "Damn iiiiiiit!" This caught everyone's attention.

Hazel turned towards Qrow and Ozpin and in a distorted voice said, "Your bodyguard isn't here anymore!" He then charged towards them.

Qrow and Ozpin readied themselves as Qrow said, "This is bad…"

As Hazel was about to charge into them, Weiss' Queen Lancer summon slammed into him. Hazel then sent the summon flying back, but now Weiss was standing in between Hazel and Ozpin. Hazel angrily said, "Get out of my way…"

"He's right, you shouldn't risk your life for me!" Ozpin told her.

"It's what a Huntress does" Weiss responded with conviction.

"She's right" Qrow told Ozpin. "Besides, we got something else to take care of." He then looked over at Lionhart trying to escape.

Ozpin then internally asked Oscar, "Do you think you can handle this?"

"I can" Oscar responded. Ozpin handed back control. Oscar and Qrow then chased Lionhart out of the building. When they came outside, they seen multiple campus buildings had been lit on fire and Grimm were all throughout the campus. Oscar said in a solum tone, "This is awful…"

"Come on kid, we can't let Leo get away" Qrow told him.

Oscar made himself focus as he said, "You're right." He then ran after Lionhart with Qrow.

Back inside the school, Hazel slammed his fist down on Weiss. She held up her rapier to block, but the force of Hazel's attack made her legs buckle and she fell to her knees. She made her Queen Lancer attack Hazel from the side, but Hazel punched it and sent it flying. Nora managed to duck the flying summon as it flew at her, but then the Super Boarbatusk rushed her down. She slammed her hammer into the charging Grimm, but she was not able to do a proper swing and was overpowered and sent tumbling towards Hazel.

Hazel looked at Nora and got ready to attack her, but Ren ran in and sliced Hazel with his blades infused with Chakra. Hazel bled a little but was hardly phased. Unfortunately, this left Jaune to fend off the three evolved Super Grimm by himself. Jaune dove out of the way of the charging Super Boarbatusk. He then raised his shield to block the Super Manticore slamming its claws down on him. The weight and force is almost too much for Jaune and leaves him defenseless. The Super Ursa then went to swipe at Jaune, but Weiss nailed it with one of her dashing thrusts. She then slashed at the Manticore to get it off of Jaune.

Jaune got back to his feet and said, "Thanks Weiss, I was in real trouble there…"

Weiss stood at his back and said, "We were trained for this, but it still feels a bit overwhelming."

"That's true, but we'll pull through" Jaune responded.

Weiss smirked and said, "You really are different now."

Ruby has picked up the pace against Torchwick, much to his annoyance. She then backed off and fired an ice bullet which Torchwick was not expecting. When he blocks the bullet with his cane, the cane and part of his arm get frozen over. He complained, "You gotta be kidding me!" Ruby smirked and then rushed in to strike. However, Torchwick's arm began to glow again and the ice shattered making his cane fly at Ruby. She just managed to avoid it and looked back at Roman just in time to see him swing some kind of blade at her. She managed to guard up at the last second, but Torchwick's strike knocked her down and he then kicked Crescent Rose away.

Ruby then thought, "Wait a minute, since when does he have a blade?" She then got a good look at Torchwick and her eyes widened in shock. Torchwick was standing there with his left sleeve blown away. His eyes were glowing again, but now it can be seen that his left arm is cybernetic. Coming from where his left hand was is a Dust generated blade. But not just any Dust, it was clearly Chakra Dust. Ruby exclaimed, "You're a cyborg?!" This of course caught everyone's attention for a second.

Weiss sent two Lancer summons at the Super Boarbatusk and said, "They must have someone incredibly gifted to pull that off."

A little concerned about this, Jaune said, "Who knows what they could pull off now?"

Ruby looked at Torchwick and asked, "What happened?"

"The good doctor had to make a few changes for me to be useful" Torchwick answered with some annoyance in his voice. "My injuries would have taken a year or more to heal normally…after a certain someone knocked me off a ship!"

Ruby nervously laughed before she asked, "Are…are you willing to accept an apology?"

Torchwick narrowed his eyes before he bluntly said, "No." He then went to strike her, but then the building shook from the battle below them and Torchwick asked, "What the hell is going on down there?!" Ruby then took the opportunity to grab Crescent Rose, but Torchwick jumped at her. Ruby rolled to the side and wielded some hand signs. Torchwick went to strike again, but Ruby exclaimed, "Wind Style: Vacuum Bullets!" She then unleashed a short volley of eight wind bullets.

Torchwick guarded his face, but he does not expect much from the attack since he is now bullet proof even without his Aura. His ignorance backfires as the wind bullets caused real damage and knocked him over. This allowed Ruby to get up and retrieve her scythe. Torchwick got back up angry and grabbed his cane with is other hand before telling Ruby, "I will kill you today."

Ruby took her stance and said, "We'll just see about that."

Dealing with Hazel, Ren managed to jump away from his punch, but he was quicker than Ren thought as he grabbed Ren's leg. Hazel was about to slam Ren down, but Nora knocked Hazel back a little with her hammer. It was only a stagger, but it gave Ren enough of an opening to slice Hazel's hand to loosen his grip and allowed Ren to get out of Hazel's grasp.

Hazel looked at his hand and then told them, "You shouldn't be putting your lives on the line for Ozpin."

Ren shook his head and responded, "You just don't get it." Hazel was not visibly confused.

"Just because we're on the same side as Ozpin doesn't mean we're fighting for him" Nora followed up. "We're in this fight because it's the right thing to do!" Hazel narrowed his eyes as he was unsatisfied with this answer.

They then hear from the holes Naruto went through, "You're damn right, Nora!" Ren and Nora then looked as Naruto came flying back through the holes and drop kicked Hazel off his feet.

"Where have you been?" Ren asked Naruto.

"That guy knocked me through the other side of the building!" Naruto answered. "And now the Grimm have flooded the campus and I had to make my way through them first, ya know."

"Uh oh, that's not good" Nora stated, talking about the Grimm.

"That's a major issue" Ren stated in agreement.

"Once we settle things here we can go take care of the other Grimm" Naruto told them. He then rushed toward Weiss and Jaune and slammed into the Super Manticore.

Weiss and Jaune noticed him and Weiss said, "Took you long enough."

"Oh shut up!" Naruto responded. Jaune shook his head, but he was smiling. The Super Manticore breathed fire at them and Weiss made a defensive ice Dust barrier that she enhanced with Chakra. Jaune then made another Mud Wall to give them some breathing room. Naruto looked at his Orange Spark and got an idea before asking Weiss, "Can other people add to your glyphs?"

The Super Ursa finished climbing over the Mud Wall and dropped down on them. They all dodged before Naruto kicked it in the jaw, Weiss stabbed it from the left, and Jaune did the same from the right. The Ursa then fell over now on its last legs and Weiss told Naruto, "I have no idea."

The other two Super Grimm have now gone around the Mud Wall and Naruto told Weiss, "I've got an idea! Got any spare ice Dust?"

"Nothing I can spare, but I think Ruby might" Weiss answered.

"Then I'll be right back!" Naruto told Weiss and Jaune. He then ran past the Super Manticore and dodged its attempt to swipe at him.

Jaune then jumped on top of the Super Manticore and jammed his sword into the top of its head making it fall over. He went to follow up, but the Manticore shook its head, so Jaune jumped off. Jaune then told the Manticore, "You need to worry about me, not him."

Ruby and Torchwick have been clashing at a hectic pace and Roman's new Chakra Dust blade has been chipping away at Crescent Rose. They were about to clash again, but Naruto got between them and smacked Torchwick back with Orange Spark. Torchwick managed to guard up so he did not receive direct damage. Naruto then got a good look at Roman and said, "What the hell?"

"I know! I wasn't expecting the cyborg thing either!" Ruby exclaimed. "Wait, what are you doing over here"

"I need some ice Dust" Naruto informed her.

Ruby grabbed one of her cartridges and tossed it to Naruto while she said, "Here ya go!"

Naruto caught the cartridge and said, "Thanks! Oh, and when I tell you to, run over to me and Weiss."

Ruby was confused, but she said, "Uh, okay," Naruto then ran off. Roman aimed his cane at Naruto and was about to fire, but Ruby rushed to him and swung her blade making him move back.

Naruto got the ice Dust vial out of the cartridge and loaded it into Orange Spark before telling Weiss, "Make the biggest ice glyph that you can!"

Weiss just managed to avoid the Super Boarbatusk before she made the ice glyph and said, "Your idea better work!"

"Everybody get inside the glyph!" Naruto shouted. His friends started making their way over.

"What are we doing?" Ruby asked.

"Naruto got a crazy idea" Jaune told her.

As soon as Ruby, Ren, and Nora made it inside the Glyph, Naruto shouted, "Hope this works!" He then infused the ice Dust with Chakra and unleashes a Dust Overdrive inside the glyph. The Overdrive combined with the glyph and unleashed a massive ice wave that froze over the three Super Grimm, Hazel, Torchwick, the unconscious Mercury, Neo, and Emerald, then the rest of the school building itself.

Ren was the first to speak as he said, "Wasn't expecting that…"

"Neither did I…" Weiss followed up. She then looked at Naruto.

"This was way more than I expected" Naruto told them. Torchwick, Hazel, the Super Boarbatusk, and the Super Manticore then started to break out and Naruto shouted, "Hit 'em now!" He then covered his fist in his Ascended Aura and nailed the Super Boarbatausk, finishing it off. Weiss finished off the barely alive Super Ursa and Jaune finished off the Manticore. Ruby struck Torchwick landing a mean cut on his torso. His Aura was still active but the damage got through. Ren sliced Hazel across his face while Nora sent him flying with her hammer.

Torchwick started getting up and saw he and Hazel were the only ones on their side left standing. He looked at Hazel and asked, "Now what?"

Hazel wiped the blood from his face and said, "We still have a job to do." He then ran at the group.

At the same time Nora charged up her Semblance and ran at Hazel saying, "I'm sick of dealing with you!" The others backed away. Nora then activated her Semblance while also activating her hammer's charge while enhancing it with lightning Chakra. Hazel punched at her, but she overwhelmed his strike with her hammer and sent Hazel flying out of the school. Hazel continues to fly through the air until he slammed into a Super Griffon and they both went through a storage building.

"I'm calling that The Queen's Hammer!" Nora exclaimed.

Jaune and Ren recalled Nora referring to herself as a queen multiple times and commented, "That fits."

Blake walked up from outside the building and looked at the group through the hole Nora just made. She then called out, "Weiss? Ruby?!" All those inside the building looked and seen Blake. As shocked as they all were, Ruby and Weiss were even more so and ran over to her.

"What are you guys–" Blake started to say, but Ruby cut her off with a hug and then Weiss did the same.

Naruto, Ren, Weiss, and Jaune then exited the building too as Naruto said, "That's the last thing I was expecting tonight, ya know."

Sun was running over to Blake and started to ask, "What's going…" He then saw them all and he was too surprised to finish his question.

Naruto spotted Sun and said, "I'll be damned!" He then help out his fist.

Sun smiled before giving Naruto a fist bump and he said, "I'm glad to see you guys. Really glad."

After the hug ended, Ruby asked Blake, "What are you guys doing here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing" Blake responded.

"Trying to save Haven" Weiss said casually.

"Us too actually" Blake informed them.

"Us?" Naruto question. He then seen the Forces of Menagerie and they are pretty beaten down.

"We knew the White Fang were gonna attack tonight" Blake informs them. She then looked around and hesitantly asked, "Is…Yang with you guys?"

"She's taking care of her mom and Cinder with Pyrrha" Naruto answered.

Completely thrown off, Blake starts to say, "Her mom–" She is then cut off by the scream of one of her comrades as the Grimm continue to attack. Her and Sun run back over with haste. Yuma was trying to protect a fallen comrade, but he was already wounded by Adam and the Sphinx easily pinned him down. However, the Sphinx then sensed something and headed to the storage building Hazel crashed through. Yuma decided it would be a bad idea to go after it.

Kali was doing her best to back up the wounded Ghira. She asked him, "Are you gonna be okay?"

Ghira tried to put on a tough act as he said, "I'm fine…" Kali could tell he was lying. Then eight Beowolves attacked them. Kali managed to shoot one down and smack away another. Ghira knocked two away as well, but the others knocked him over.

"Dad!" Blake shouted as she and Sun arrived and took out the other Beowolves. Unfortunately, the Beowolves got their damage in on Ghira. Starting to panic, Blake pleaded, "Dad! Please, you have to hang on!"

"Blake! Watch out!" Sun shouted. Blake was about to be attacked by a couple Lancers and a normal Griffon.

Kali pushed Blake out of the way and was about to get attacked instead. Blake flashed back to Ilia's death and shouted, "MOM!"

But, before Kali got hit, Ruby cut down the three Grimm in the blink of an eye. She then sniped a couple more Grimm before she wiped her brow and said, "Phew! That was a close one." She then turned toward Blake and offered her hand to help Blake up.

Blake took Ruby's hand and got up. Still with a little leftover panic in her voice, Blake told Ruby, " Thank you…thank you for saving my mom."

"Your mom?" Ruby responded. She then looked at Kali and seen the obvious resemblance. She then shouted, "Oh my Gods! Blake's mom! It's great to meet you!"

Kali just smiled and said, "You must be Ruby."

"Oh! She told you about me?" Ruby responded. "I hope good things!"

Ghira slowly sat up, clearly wounded, and said, "Blake's description was quite accurate…"

"He doesn't look too good…" Ruby commented about Ghira.

As more Grimm attacked, Weiss cut them off literally before she told Ruby, "We're still in the middle of a battle." Ruby rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment and giggled.

Adam was looking Ruby and Weiss and said out loud, "What is going on here?" He then seen the others approach Blake too. He glared at Naruto and shouted in surprise, "You?!"

Naruto's face became filled with anger upon seeing Adam. He then took a breath and said, "Looks like you got a new mask."

Adam readied his blade and said, "I'm going to cut your throat…"

"You must have not gotten your ass kicked hard enough last time" Naruto responded.

Jaune walked up to Ghira and seen his injuries. Jaune kneeled down and told Ghira, "Just stay still." He then placed his hand in Ghira's shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Ghira asked. He then felt his wounds healing.

Blake was amazed at what she was seeing. She then asked, "Is that your Semblance?"

"That's right" Jaune answered. "It let's me transfer my Aura to people."

Yang and Pyrrha were now exiting the underground passage and back into the school. Yang was still carrying the Relic. As she seen the hole filled frozen building, she cannot help but ask, "What did we miss?"

"A lot evidently" Pyrrha responded. They then heard a commotion outside and headed out as well. They then seen the campus broken, on fire, and surrounded by Grimm. A sight that reminded them of the Fall of Beacon and Pyrrha said, "Not again…"

"Hey! We still haven't lost yet!" Yang told Pyrrha before motioning to people still fighting.

Naruto spotted them and shouted, "Hey! Over here!"

Yang and Pyrrha then ran over and Adam spotted Yang. He remembered her and thought, "If I can cripple her again, they'll all be demoralized, and the Grimm can gain the advantage." He ran in to attack, but Yang caught his blade with her cybernetic arm and Adam could not believe it. Yang looked at Adam and recalled what he did to her. However, she does not let her anger overcome her. She simply headbutts Adam, shattering his mask again, and knocking him flat.

Blake was standing there struggling to speak. She finally called out, "Yang?" Yang's eyes widened as she turned around and spotted Blake. They both stared at each other for a few seconds before Yang started walking over. Riddled with shame and regret, Blake started to say, "Yang I–"

Yang put a hand on Blake's shoulder and said, "We'll talk after this. I promise. But we still got a battle to fight."

As everyone that could see this interaction smiled, they heard the cry of the Super Giant Nevermore. They all then looked over to see it along with the two Super Beowolves, a Super Ursa, and two Super Griffons. "That isn't good" Pyrrha commented.

Over with Hazel, he is not unconscious, but he is knocked for a loop. As he came to, he noticed that some of his Dust crystals are on the ground and he has lost his boost. He picks them up, but before he can grab the last one, the Sphinx ingests it and starts to mutate. Hazel then said, "It's probably for the best." He then jammed one arm with a shard of Chakra Dust and a shard of fire Dust. He then jammed the other arm a shard of Chakra Dust and a shard of lightning Dust into his other arm. His mutation starts as well and he is even bigger than before. His one arm is channeling a constant stream of lightning and his other arm is channeling fire. Then he and the now Super Sphinx let out a roar causing all the other Grimm to roar as well.

The Forces of Menagerie were all now terrified, even Blake and Sun. However, Naruto showed no hesitation as he said, "Jaune, Pyrrha, follow me." He then starts walking behind Menagerie's forces.

Jaune and Pyrrha follow as Jaune asked, "What are we doing?"

"Making a spot for the wounded" Naruto answered.

"Oh, I understand" Pyrrha stated. Jaune was still confused until he realized that he, Pyrrha, and Naruto are the ones who can make Mud Walls. They then made a three-sided mock shelter for the wounded.

Absolutely shocked, Blake could not help but ask, "How did they do that?"

Yang shook her head as she said, "It's gonna be a really long talk after this."

"All those that are too injured to fight get in the shelter!" Naruto told them all. As they did, Naruto made four clones to guard them.

Yang then handed the Relic to one of the clones and said, "I'm gonna need both my fists for this."

The clone inspected the Relic and commented, "All the fuss over this thing?"

Yang smirked as she said, "I said the same thing." She then headed back to the line up.

Ruby had the biggest smile on her face as she said, "I wasn't expecting it, but Team RWBY is back!" Weiss, Blake, and even Yang all smiled at this. Weiss then summoned her Arma Gigas Knight.

Blakes eyes went wide and asked, "How…how is she…?"

"We'll work on catching you up tomorrow or so" Naruto told her. "For now just do your best." Blake could not be more confused.

Jaune smirked and said, "Looks like Team JNPR is still the top Huntsman Shinobi team." His team all gained confident expressions.

"Oh shut up!" Ruby told Jaune.

"Enjoy being at the top now while you can" Weiss told the other team.

"We'll win out soon enough!" Yang said confidently.

Still confused, Blake questioned, "Huntsman Shinobi?"

Naruto just laughed at Blake's confusion. He then walked to the front of their gathered forces and told them, "This isn't gonna be the Fall of Haven, ya know!" He then pointed Orange Spark at the enemy forces and shouted, "Today's gonna be our victory!"

---

Lionhart was still running as fast as he could. He was desperately trying to get away from this nightmare. Unfortunately for him, his escape has been anything but easy. Despite being on Salem's side, he is not a member of her inner circle, nor does he have one of Salem's hair ornaments like Adam did. This meant that any Grimm he came across treated him like any other person. In fact, due to his cowardly nature, he might as well have been covered in Grimm marinade.

Lionhart made it to the edge of the campus and felt some relief. He took a moment to catch his breath. Then as he turned around to take one last look at his school, he seen it lit up from the flames. The responsibility he chose to take on as a headmaster changed his previous feeling of relief to one of shame. He knows what he did was wrong, but he also knows that they never stood a chance. He turned back around and headed into the forest.

Oscar and Qrow were trying to make their way through the Grimm to catch Lionhart. Qrow managed to cut down a normal Manticore and a Lancer. Oscar, though still new to this, managed to bring down a Beowolf and even an Ursa. However, there were still quite a few to go. Qrow then told Oscar, "Go on ahead. I'll catch up."

"What? Are you sure?" Oscar said in surprise.

"I'll be fine, but we can't let Lionhart get away with this" Qrow responded. Oscar then nodded and ran off. Qrow then attacked another Beowolf to keep the Grimm's attention on him. He then hoisted his sword onto his shoulder and told the Grimm, "We're gonna spend some quality time together."

Oscar was getting closer to the edge of the campus. He felt the light of the flame lit campus at his back as he ran into the dark forest. He could not help but feel a sense of dread as this happened. He then heard the voice of Ozpin tell him, "You can do this."

"Right" Oscar replied simply. As he kept running, he seen Lionhart shamefully walking. Oscar then called out, "Lionhart!"

Lionhart's eyes widened, and he turned around. He then yelled at what he assumed to be Ozpin, "Just let me go!"

As Oscar got closer, he slowed to a walk and yelled, "You can't expect to get away with betraying everyone!"

Lionhart noticed the change in demeanor and lack of echo coming from Oscar's voice. He then said, "You must be the host."

Oscar's eyes narrowed at the remark and he said, "My name is Oscar."

"Alright Oscar…" Lionhart said, acknowledging Oscar's name. "Why are you here?"

"Because I need to be" Oscar answered.

Lionhart shook his head and said, "You're here because your predecessors failed. Just as the one before you and the one before that. Oscar, you come from a long line of failure."

Oscar became upset and said, "Don't you talk about my friends and comrades like that!"

"I gave no insult young man" Lionhart calmly responded. "Your predecessors were all extraordinary amongst Huntsmen. But as extraordinary as they were, it meant nothing. Salem can't be stopped." Oscar had no response for this and just looked down.

Lionhart then turned around and kept walking. That was when the Oracle Grimm floated out from the darkness and called out, "Leonardo."

Oscar looked at the Oracle Grimm and asked, "Who's voice is that?"

"That is Salem's voice…" Ozpin informed him.

"You-your grace!" Lionhart groveled. "W-what do you want?"

"I came to see how the assignment was going" Salem answered from the Grimm. "And what do I find? You running away. And from a child no less."

"Th-that isn't just a child! He's Ozpin's new vessel!" Lionhart informed her. This made Salem go quiet. Concerned, Lionhart said, "Your grace?" The Oracle Grimm then strangled Lionhart.

"What are you doing?!" Oscar yelled out in shock.

The Oracle Grimm then floated to Oscar while dragging Lionhart and Salem asked, "What is your name, child?"

With fear in his voice, Oscar told her, "It's Oscar…"

"Well, I suppose the name fits" Salem commented, "You must have been born under an unlucky star to be wrapped up in all of this." Oscar was feeling overwhelmed, so Ozpin took over. Seeing the shimmer of green, Salem said, "Hello my dear. What brings you to this conversation?"

"Oscar has been through enough tonight" Ozpin answered.

"I see you're pretending to care again" Salem told him dismissively.

"I always cared regardless of what you think" Ozpin retorted.

The Oracle Grimm dropped Lionhart's lifeless corpse as Salem said, "Having such a young and untrained vessel on the battlefield is reckless. Perhaps you're losing your sense of rationality."

Ozpin placed a hand on his cane as he replied, "Things are complicated these days. Especially with your new Grimm."

"With them under my control, there is no point in trying to resist anymore" Salem told him matter-of-factly. "This time won't end any better than any of the others."

"I have to disagree" Ozpin said defiantly. He then pictured Team RWBY, Team JNPR, and then Naruto ahead of them as he said, "The spark of change is more alive than ever before. This time will be different."

Salem was silent for a few seconds and said, "I see more hope in your eyes than I have seen in many of your lifetimes. Something really must have changed for you. But you are right about one thing. This time will be different. This time the cycle comes to an end."

Ozpin shook his head and said, "Are you still so intent on having the Gods kill us all just for things to finally end?"

Salem chuckled and said, "Plans have changed on that front."

Genuinely surprised, Ozpin asked, "What are you talking about?"

At her castle, Salem stood up from her throne and looked outside her window at her Grimm army with Théfon at the center of it. She then said, "We both have our secret weapons, my dear." She then waved her hand and the Oracle Grimm attacked.

Ozpin managed to dodge the first few tentacle attacks before he grabbed his cane and parried the others. He then jumped back and readied himself for more. As the Oracle Grimm closed in, Qrow came down from the air and cut it down. Qrow then looked at the dead body of Lionhart with a melancholy expression and said, "There's not enough of us for this to keep happening…"

"I wish this could have ended differently too…" Ozpin told him.

Qrow signed and said, "I'm heading back. There's still plenty of Grimm to clear out."

"I'll be heading back as well" Ozpin stated. They then headed back to the school.

---

We pick up where we left off with Naruto shouting, "Today's gonna be out victory!" The Huntsmen Shinobi and Forces of Menagerie let out a war cry before they and the Grimm led by Hazel clashed.

One of the Super Beowolves leaped at Nora who managed to duck down making it fly past her. Nora then jumped at one of the Super Griffons and swung her hammer. The Griffon guarded up with its talon and then knocked Nora back a little. She was a little tired from her last fight, but she was stil raring to go.

The Super Beowolf that leaped past Nora then went to attack Pyrrha, but Jaune intercepted it and blocked the strike. Jaune told the Beowolf, "You'll have to deal with me first." This made Pyrrha crack a smile as Jaune sliced the Super Beowold across the snout causing it to back off and regroup.

Pyrrha then noticed the other Super Griffon take flight. She threw her spear at it which it managed to dodge. However, it lost track of her as she knocked over a regular Ursa and kicked away a couple regular Boarbatusks. She then jumped into the air where the Super Griffon was before she hit it in the head with her shield and knocked it out of the air. She then landed and squared off with the Super Griffon as it roared at her.

The Super Sphinx roared and ran towards Sun. Sun has just brought down a Boarbatusk when he noticed the Sphinx. It was still annoyed by Sun's antics earlier and targeted him because of it. As the Sphinx was about to strike with its paw, Sun was unable to get away and Blake called out in concern, "Sun! Get out of there!"

Yang managed to get in the way and block the massive paw of the Super Sphinx. She then told Sun, "You might wanna stay back."

"Yang?! How are you doing that?!" Blake asked, absolutely flabbergasted at Yang's strength. Sun took the opportunity to get up and out of the way.

While Yang held the Super Sphinx in place, Ruby jumped up and landed a nasty slash on the Sphinx's mask before Yang followed up with an uppercut that knocked it onto its back. Ruby then told Blake, "Long story!" She then rushed towards the Super Ursa.

Sun and Blake were stunned at Ruby's strength as well. They could see that all their estranged friends were matching strength with the Super Grimm causing Sun to ask, "What did we miss?"

"Clearly a lot…" Blake answered, still overwhelmed.

Ghira slashed a regular Ursa across the belly with his claws and told Blake and Sun, "There are still plenty of Grimm to take care of."

"Dad's right" Blake acknowledged. "It'll be our job to keep as many Grimm out of our friend's fights as possible."

Sun nodded and said, "I can work with that."

Weiss was currently clashing with the other Super Beowolf. She ducked under its swipe and then thrusted her blade. The Beowolf was able to weave her attack, but just barely. It was not able to weave her follow up low slash that cut its leg. As it stumbled, Weiss made three glyphs that she jumped off of to land three consecutive thrusts knocking the Beowolf off its feet.

Ren is currently running up the administration building the Super Giant Nevermore is currently perched on. The Nevermore sensed Ren coming and spread its wings, getting ready to take flight. Ren noticed this and kicked a hole in the building for him to fit through. Once inside, Ren activated his Semblance to hide his emotions from the Grimm. He then headed up another floor before climbing out a window and started running up the building again.

Having lost track of Ren, the Super Nevermore started to take flight. However, Ren reached the top of the building and cut the Nevermore with his blades infused with Chakra. This caused the Nevermore to fall as it had not stabilized in the air yet. It crashed into the building it was perched on and the building collapsed causing dust and debris to get kicked up. Ren landed on the ground, Semblance still active, and started sneak attacked Grimm with his visage obscured by the dust in the air.

Naruto and Hazel were staring at each other when the Super Nevermore impacted the ground. Hazel looked at this as Naruto said, "Now that's what I like to see, Ren!"

Hazel looked back at Naruto and said, "A Master Grimm will hardly be phased by something like that. Your friend doesn't stand a chance."

"Master Grimm? The hell is that?" Naruto questioned.

"It doesn't mean anything to you" Hazel said firmly.

"Whatever. But you better not underestimate my friends, ya know!" Naruto told Hazel as he rushed Hazel in dual staff mode and kicked at Hazel's jaw. Hazel blocked the kick, but Naruto followed up with a double swing from Orange Spark. Hazel guarded up so Naruto dropped down and kicked Hazel dead center. Hazel staggered a little from the impact, but quickly punched at Naruto with his lightning charged first. Naruto was not expecting such a quick retaliation, so he had to guard against the attack, and it knocked him down. Hazel then raised his fists and slammed them down on Naruto. This caused a large impactful explosion of fire and lightning that made a large crater where the impact was.

Yang seen this and yelled out, "Naruto!" This caught the others attention, and they all grew concerned. Yang then seen Hazel walk out of the crater and her eyes turned red with anger. The Super Sphinx breathed its fire at her and she dashed away from it. It tried to follow her movements with its flame, but Ren then ran in and did a rising double slash with his blades to the Sphinx. This stopped the flame.

Yang approached Hazel and ignited her fist. Hazel met her fist with his own fire charged fist and the collision caused an impactful shockwave along with bursts of fire swirling around them. They both yelled putting more power behind their fists, but Hazel started to win the struggle and brought Yang to a knee. She refused to give in and pushed Hazel back just enough for her to get back to her feet. Then their colliding fists caused an explosion that knocked Yang back. She was stunned for just a second, but that second was long enough for Hazel to close the distance and throw a punch from his lightning charged fist. Yang did not have enough time to guard up, so all she could to was tense her body and close her eyes. But, before Hazel's first could make contact, he got sent flying by a kick to the side of his head from Naruto.

Yang opened her eyes to see Naruto scuffed up from the fire and lightning and he was bleeding a little from the mouth. That being said he was standing upright so Yang asked, "You okay?"

Naruto spat some blood on the ground and said, "I'm fine. But that blast sent Orange Spark flying away."

Yang smirked and said, "Not like you need it."

Hazel was back on his feet and he glared at Naruto as he said, "I thought I put you down already."

Naruto slammed his fist into his hand before he said, "It's gonna take a lot more than that, ya know!" Hazel then let out another roar and readied himself for more. The Super Nevermore flapped its wings to blow away all the dust in the air. It then let out a cry making the other Super Grimm do the same and they gained Chakra cloaks.

Looking on in horror at the already impossibly strong Super Grimm becoming stronger, Blake asked, "How did that just happen?"

"I got no idea…" Sun said with similar levels of astonishment.

"These things always seem to have more tricks since even you two are surprised" Kali commented.

"Something seems odd" Ghira mentioned.

"What are you talking about?" Kali questioned her husband.

Ghira pointed and said, "One of them didn't power up." Blake, Sun, and Kali then looked over and seen the Super Sphinx, still locked in combat with Ren, did not get a Chakra cloak.

"You're right, that is odd" Blake stated.

Qrow and Ozpin had returned just in time to see the now evolved Super Grimm. Qrow said sarcastically, "Just what we needed…"

"This is my first time seeing one in person" Ozpin stated.

Blake seen them and called out, "Hey! Over here!"

Qrow and Ozpin were surprised and they headed over. Ozpin then asked, "Why are you here?"

Sun had a perplexed expression as he said, "Dude, we don't even know who you are."

"Enough. Introductions can wait" Ghira told them. They were all in agreement.

Meanwhile, Torchwick had gotten Neo, Emerald, and Mercury out of the ice and leaned them up against the wall of another building. Neo started to wake up and seen Torchwick walking away. He seen her and said, "You rest up. I have a brat to go take out." As he walked off, Neo reached out as if to try and stop him.

The now evolved Super Grimm initiated their attack. The evolved Super Giant Nevermore flew right at Naruto. Yang's eyes widened before she instinctually Body Flickered into the Giant Nevermore's path and punched it with an ignited fist. She then yelled, "You're never getting near him again!"

Naruto rushed Hazel, but this time he knew what he was in for. Hazel punched at Naruto with his fire charged fist, but Naruto dodged the punch and kneed Hazel in the gut and followed up with a haymaker to Hazel's chest. Hazel staggered back and Naruto made four Shadow Clones. They all rushed Hazel and Hazel managed to grab one and throw it away. Another clone kicked at Hazel and he guarded up in response. While Hazel guarded against the one clone's kick, the other two clones slid in and kicked Hazel under his guard knocking him into the air.

The clone Hazel threw away met Hazel in the air, but Hazel anticipated the attack and caught the clone's kick. Hazel then threw the clone down to the other three clones and came down while unleashing devastating strike. The clones were destroyed in another explosion of fire and lightning, but the real Naruto then ran in with his fist clad in his Ascended Aura. He punched Hazel in the jaw and sent him flying, taking out multiple Grimm in the process.

Hazel started to get up, but he lost balance due to his brain getting shaken. Naruto then made the bird sign and exclaimed, "Ascended Wind Style: Giant Air Bullet!" He then fired an Air Bullet the size of the school building. It nailed Hazel, a bunch of Grimm, and took out several campus buildings.

Upon seeing this, Sun dropped his staff and said, "I'm so out of my league here…" None of the others in the Menagerie group could even speak from how shocked they were.

Jaune chuckled and said, "They're just like how the rest of us were during the fight on the mountain." The evolved Super Beowolf then leaped at Jaune and slashed its claw at him with even further increased speed. Jaune braced with his shield and managed to use the Beowolf's momentum to make it keep going. It landed on its feet and then rushed back at Jaune. Jaune rushed the Beowolf as well and clashed his blade with its claw. They then exchanged a series of strikes, neither landing a clean hit.

Jaune then jumped up and reinforced his shield with earth Chakra and clashed his shield with the Super Beowolf's claw. The added force to Jaune's shield overwhelmed the Beowolf and knocked it off balance. Upon landing back on the ground, Jaune landed a slash on the Super Beowolf before following up with a shield bash and finishing the combo spinning horizontal slash. The Beowolf was reeling from these hits and tried to counter swing. Jaune weaved the swing and went to attack again, but…

"Jaune! Look out!" Pyrha yelled to him. Jaune looked around just in time to see some high speed feathers come at him. He raised his shield in time to block them, but he got knocked back. The Super Griffons were now flying around the Super Beowolf. Pyrrha and Nora then stood next to Jaune and Pyrrha said, "They got away from us."

"Maybe they knew the Beowolf needed help?" Nora guessed.

"Maybe, but now they made a mistake" Jaune commented. He then relaxed his shoulders a little as he said, "There's no chance those things working together could ever stand up to our teamwork." Pyrrha and Nora dawned confident smiles as he said this.

The Super Beowolf then rushed at Jaune, but Nora hit it into the air with an uppercut swing from her hammer and Pyrrha jumped up before she slashed it back down with her blade. As the Beowolf's body was about to land, Jaune thrusted his sword into it and sent it tumbling back. The Beowolf was now struggling to get up, so the Super Griffons circled around and launched a feather barrage.

Jaune and Pyrrha weaved their respective signs and exclaimed, "Earth Style: Mud Wall!" They then produced a thick two-layer Mud Wall that they and Nora got behind. The feathers partially penetrated the first wall, but not the second. Jaune then asked, "Either of you got a way to knock those Griffons out of the air?"

Nora shook her head and said, "I spent most of my training learning to self-augment my Semblance, so I didn't learn any techniques. And those things are too fast for my grenades."

Pyrrha switched her Miló to rifle mode told them, "Charka can augment the velocity of bullets. It's not as powerful of an amplification as it is for Dust, but it might be enough to stagger those Super Griffons out of the air."

Jaune nodded before he looked at Nora and said, "You and me will go draw their attention." He then looked at Pyrrha and said, "You stay behind the wall. When you see the Griffons look away, shoot them out of the air."

"Right" Pyrrha said affirmatively.

"Got it!" Nora exclaimed, ready to go. She and Jaune then ran out from behind the Mud Walls. Jaune seen a regular Boarbatusk coming. Instead of striking it down, he guarded up as it slammed into him. He only slid back a little as he then lifted the Grimm off its feet. As it squealed, he chucked the Boarbatusk at one of the Super Griffons. The Super Griffon dodged, but now its attention was fixated on Jaune who brought his weapons back out and readied himself.

Nora was in the process of gaining the attention of her Super Griffon. Luckily for her, this was much easier for her as all she had to do was fire off a couple of her grenades at it. Now that both Griffons were distracted, Pyrrha was ready to bring them down. She then seen six Grimm start to approach, but Sun and a couple members of the New White Fang cut them off.

"These Grimm won't get past us!" Sun exclaimed.

Seeing that her back was now covered, Pyrrha went back to watching the Super Griffons. They circled around for another strafing run and she imbued her rifle with Chakra before taking aim. Right before the Griffons were about to fire their feathers, Pyrrha shot them out of the air with her Chakra amped rifle and they crashed into the ground.

"I got you now!" Nora shouted as she jumped up and added Chakra to her hammer before slamming it down on one of the Super Griffon's heads and crushed it, finishing it off.

Jaune was about to strike the other Super Griffon, but the Super Beowolf he was fighting before struck at him. As Jaune blocked the Beowolf's strike, he said, "This mutt is getting on my last nerve…" Jaune then quickly decapitated the weakened Super Grimm. The Super Griffon had now gotten back to its feet and was about to strike Jaune, but Ren ran up and kicked the Griffon in the side and knocked it back.

Jaune seen Ren and said, "Oh hey, Thanks Ren. So you beat that Sphinx?"

Ren looked to the side and said, "About that…" The Super Sphinx then jumped up and pounced at them. Jaune got his shield up but was knocked back. It then unleashed a flame breath that put the evolved Super Manticore to shame. Ren then weaved his signs and exclaimed, "Water Style: Water Bomb!" He then unleashed a sizable volume of water at the Sphinx's flame. It held off the flame for a few seconds, but it was not enough. But before the flame could hit Ren, a Mud Wall rose in front of him.

Ren looked to see it was made by Pyrrha who shouted, "Move!" She was pretty tired after her fight with Cinder. She had maybe ten minutes of recovery time when her and Yang were leaving the underground chamber and then had to go right to fighting Super Grimm. Now she was even more tired after using multiple Jutsu.

Ren moved away from the Super Sphinx's flame as it started breaking through the Mud Wall. As he approached Pyrrha he said, "Thanks."

Pyrrha stood up while trying to catch her breath and said, "Anytime."

Jaune and Nora joined them and now Team JNPR stood across from a Super Griffon and a Super Sphinx. Jaune said, "Two down, two to go."

Ruby was fighting the Super Ursa as it slammed its claw down. She managed to hop back to avoid the claw. She knew she gave her ice Dust to Naruto, so she loaded up her sniper with fire Dust as she said, "You guys didn't like it too much when Yang lit you guys up." She waited for the Ursa to strike again and used her Semblance to avoid it. Even her Semblance has gotten a boost thanks to her new natural speed from her Chakra enhanced body. She then shot the Ursa in the back with a fire bullet enhanced by Chakra and the Ursa staggered forward. She went to follow up with a slash from her scythe, but she got blasted out of the air by an explosive shot and went tumbling away as her Scythe went in another direction.

Weiss seen this and called out, "Ruby!" She then looked around to see where the shot came from and spotted Torchwick walking towards Ruby. She then seen a King Taijitu approaching the downed Ruby as well, so Weiss made her Knight strike down the Grimm. Weiss then ducked the strike from the Super Beowolf she was fighting and slashed it across the torso before stabbing it in the same spot. The Beowolf staggered back quite wounded, and she went to try and stop Torchwick. Unfortunately, the Super Ursa Ruby was fighting now pounced on Weiss. As Weiss struggled to get the heavy Grimm off of her, it struck her in the head which disoriented her and drew a little blood.

Blake saw this and shouted, "Weiss? NO!" She then ran over and the Super Beowolf tried to cut her off, but she used her Semblance to take the hit and keep going. She slashed at the Super Ursa which did not phase it, but the Ursa did glance at her. This distracted the Ursa long enough for Weiss to push it back enough for her to get out from under it and slash its arm; causing it to roar angrily. Weiss then stood next to Blake.

Blake looked at the blood dripping from Weiss' head and asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but I'm worried about Ruby. Torchwick's after her" Weiss informed Blake.

Blake looked quite surprised and asked, "Why is he here?"

"He's got a serious vendetta against Ruby" Weiss answered. The Super Ursa and heavily wounded Super Beowolf now stood against them. Weiss then told Blake, "You might want to get back."

Blake's eyes narrowed as she said, "Running away isn't something I do anymore. Besides, I'm not alone."

Weiss looked as Ghira, Kali, and Sun approached to back up Blake. Weiss smiled as she said, "The Beowolf's all yours."

"You got it" Blake acknowledged as he, Sun, Ghira, and Kali made ready to fight the Super Beowolf.

Ruby got back to her feet and that is when she was again attacked by Torchiwck. She managed to weave the swing from his cane and then looked around for Crescent Rose. She spotted it over by a few Grimm and went to retrieve it, but Torchwick then stood in her way. She then told Torchwick, "You don't have to do this!"

"Oh can it with the "you can do better" speeches" Torchwick retorted, clearly not wanting to hear it.

Ruby looked disappointed as she asked, "Are you really here just for revenge?"

Torchwick was annoyed as he shouted, "Yes!" He fired another explosive shot and Ruby jumped to avoid it. She then landed and launched a volley of Vacuum Bullets. Torchwick was the one to jump away this time.

Ruby took the opportunity to try and retrieve her scythe as she said, "Almost there…!" But then a regular Alpha Beowolf clawed at her and she weaved to the side before kicking it away. Torchwick then closed the distance and tried to hook her with his cane. When she ducked, Roman dropped his cane and put Ruby in a Full Nelson.

"I've got you now Little Red!" Torchwick shouted.

Ruby tried to pull herself free but to no avail. She then remembered her lesson earlier that day with Naruto. She focused wind Chakra into her right hand and reached up before grabbing Torchwick's wrist. She cut it with the wind Chakra causing Torchwick to yelp in pain and let her go. Upon getting free, Ruby kicked him in the stomach. Torchwick hunched over in pain and then tried to grab her again. She swatted Torchwick's hand away before landing two swift body blows and kicking Torchwick off his feet with a reverse roundhouse. She then reclaimed Crescent Rose.

Torchwick got back up and asked with venom in his voice, "When the hell did you get those skills?!"

"I couldn't lead my team if I kept such a glaring weakness" Ruby answered. Torchwick got annoyed and configured his hand into a Chakra Dust blade again.

Yang was in a fierce fight with the evolved Super Giant Nevermore. Driven by what happened the last time a Super Giant Nevermore showed up, Yang held nothing back as she unleashed a volley of her flame enhanced projectiles. Unfortunately, this Super Nevermore was quite a bit more powerful than the last one, but she was not deterred. The Super Nevermore was able to gracefully avoid the explosive fireballs and then fired multiple giant high-speed feathers in retaliation.

Yang jumped out of the way and launched her last volley of projectiles. The Nevermore weaved the projectiles and came right at her. Yang then yelled at it, "Come on!" She then jumped at it with an ignited fist and they clashed. Neither truly overpowered the other, so they skirted by each other. Upon landing, Yang launched a Fireball Jutsu. The Nevermore got hit, but it then flew into the air angry and launched a wind gust.

Yang ran quickly to avoid the brunt of it, but several Grimm and Faunus were sent flying. Yang's expression showed she was upset about this, and then ran towards the empty school building hoping to draw it to her. However, instead of following her to the school building, it flew right at the Haven CCT tower. Yang's eyes widened as she muttered, "Oh you clever little…" What she did not know was that this Nevermore had received orders to destroy the tower if things became difficult by Cinder. Yang launched another fireball before running up the tower. The Nevermore avoided the fireball and Yang got to the top of the tower. She stared up at the Super Nevermore and wondered how much she had left. Just like Pyrrha, she had a big fight against a Maiden and went straight to fighting Super Grimm without much rest.

As the Nevermore flew at Yang, it added a spin to its strike, almost like a drill. Yang met it with an ignited fist, but it was not enough and she was knocked over. It then launched giant feathers at her and she got out of the way just in time. However, the feathers shot straight through the tower and now it was hardly standing. Yang then said, "I gotta end this soon…"

Team JNPR engaged the Super Griffon and Super Sphinx as Ren opened fire on the Super Griffon, hoping to at least distract it. Pyrrha then told Ren, "Chakra can enhance our bullets too."

Ren then smirked and said, "Good to know." He then infused Stormflower with Chakra and fired again. While it still did not fully pierce the Super Griffon's hide, it did receive damage and was noticeably flinching. Pyrrha then took the opportunity to run in and cut off the Griffon's tail with her weapon in sword mode. The Griffon swiped its talons at her in anger and she dodge rolled away.

"We won't be dealing with anymore tail attacks" Pyrrha stated. She then seen Jaune get knocked back by the Super Sphinx and she asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but even without being evolved, this Super Sphinx is still stronger than the other Super Grimm" Jaune informed her. He then glanced at the intense battle between Yang and the Super Giant Nevermore and said, "Well except that one."

Nora jumped back from the Super Sphinx's paw slam and said, "Doesn't matter! Nothing can beat our team!"

Jaune smiled and said, "Nora's right." He then took a deep breath to think and said , "Pyrrha and I will hold off the Sphinx since our shields give us the most defense. Ren, Nora, you go take care of the Griffon and then come back. I got a plan to beat this thing."

"Got it!" Nora yelled as she leaped at the Super Griffon. The Griffon tried to swipe her out of the air, but Nora had the wherewithal to direct her hammer swing at the Griffon's talons and strike it. The talons made an audible crunch sound.

As the Griffon cried out from the pain, Ren did a leaping kick to the Griffon's beak and disoriented it long enough for him to get on its back and shove his blades into the Griffon's eyes. As the Griffon flailed in pain, Ren pulled back and forced the it to rear up which allowed Nora to unleash another mighty uppercut swing and knock the Griffon into the air. Still with his blades in the Griffon's eyes, Ren pulled down and forced himself and the Griffon to slam back down to the ground. Ren then ripped his blades out upon landing and the Super Griffon was slayed.

"We should go" Ren stated before he and Nora ran over to back up Jaune and Pyrrha.

The Super Sphinx pounces at Pyrrha, but she predicted this and dove under the Sphinx mid-pounce. Jaune then met the Sphinx upon its landing with a slash to its paw. It winced from the cut and quickly swiped at Jaune. The shield dented and he flew back, but he flipped in mid-air and shoved his sword into the ground, so he did not fly back as far. He was about to get swarmed by regular Grimm, but they were intercepted by Qrow and Ozpin.

"We'll keep the small fry off your back" Qrow told Jaune.

"Thanks. I owe you guys" Jaune told Qrow and Ozpin as he headed back towards the Super Sphinx.

As Ozpin was about to engage the Grimm, Oscar said, "Please, let me fight!"

Surprised, Ozpin internally asked, "Are you sure?"

"I know I froze up against the floating Grimm. But I promise I won't freeze up this time!" Oscar told Ozpin. "I need to prove that I'm not helpless."

After listening to Oscar, Ozpin told him, "Alright then." He then relinquished control back to Oscar.

Qrow noticed the change and asked, "What are you doing, kid?"

As a Beowolf pounced at them, Oscar cracked it in the jaw wish his cane and then knocked it back with a thrust. He then said, "Doing my part."

Back with the Super Sphinx, Jaune and Pyrrha had their shields up and were holding the Super Grimm back as it had charged at them. Ren and Nora then jumped at it from both sides and struck the Sphinx, making it back off. Nora then asked Jaune, "So what's the plan?"

"Listen up" Jaune announced before telling them the plan.

"I like it!" Nora exclaimed, supporting the plan.

"I'm up for it" Ren stated, also agreeing to the plan.

Jaune then looked at Pyrrha and asked, "Think you have enough to pull this off?"

Pyrrha gripped her weapons tightly and with a look of determination answered, "I know I do." She then ran at the Super Sphinx and swung her sword, gaining its attention. She put no effort into the swing and instead ran in another direction. She then threw her shield at the Sphinx to keep its attention on her. It then pounced at her and she dove under it again. Annoyed at falling for the same trick twice, the Sphinx ran after her as she ran towards Ren and Jaune.

Seeing them all grouped up, the Sphinx decided to unleash its flame breath. As Pyrrha ran past Ren, Ren and Jaune weaved their respective signs and Jaune made a Mud Wall under Ren and Ren fired his Water Bomb at the flame. The flame overcame the water and started cracking the wall, but the flame was now weakened, and steam was created.

Nora then attacked the Super Sphinx from the side, but it remembered she did that earlier, so it blocked her attack. However, Nora had a devious smile which confused the Sphinx. Then Pyrrha leaped into the air with her weapon in spear mode and coated it in wind Chakra. She double gripped her spear as she ran the Sphinx through from above, causing it to collapse to the ground.

Nora then charged her Semblance with all she could handle at the moment and activated it. She then charged her hammer with the last of her Chakra before she hit the Sphinx with a Queen's Hammer and sent it flying away. As it flew at Ren and Jaune, they both cut it as it flew by and finished it off.

As the Super Sphinx's lifeless body tumbled and started to decay, two Chakra energy strands were released, just like with the mutated Super Nevermore. One of those strands went into Qrow and he fell to his knees in pain. He asked, "The hell is going on?"

Oscar seen him fall to his knees and ran over before asking, "Are you okay?"

"I feel like my insides are exploding…" Qrow replied.

Watching this go on, Ozpin said, "He may have just gotten Chakra."

"What should we do?" Oscar internally asked.

"All we can do is defend him until he can move again" Ozpin answered.

Meanwhile, Blake swung her blade at the injured Super Beowolf. The Beowolf blocked her strike and tried to bite her, but she used her Semblance to take the hit and that is when Sun hit the Beowolf with his segmented staff. The Super Beowolf would normally shrug a hit like that off, but Weiss did quite the number on it so it was more susceptible. Blake and Sun then jumped back and readied themselves.

The Super Beowolf went to persue them, but Ghira slammed into it and knocked it over. As it got up, Ghira landed 3 slashes with his claws onto its back. It went to attack Ghira in retaliation and that is when Kali tried to stab in in the back with a dagger. The Beowolf blocked her attempt, but she dropped the dagger and jumped back before firing her pistol at it. As the Beowolf got angry, Ghira spun it around and got into what seemed like a contest of strength with it. Even beaten and injured, the Super Beowolf was still too strong for Ghira to overpower. But he didn't have to overpower it.

"NOW!" Ghira shouted. Blake and Sun then jumped over Ghira and at the Super Beowolf. It tried to strike them out of the air, but Ghira refused to let go of the claws even though his hands bled. Sun and Blake landed on the Beowolf with Sun hitting it with his staff in its eyes while Blake shoved her blade into its neck, and it fell over. Ghira held it down while Blake shoved her blade further in its neck and finally put an end to the Super Beowolf.

Sun was catching his breath as he said, "We actually beat it…"

Blake was also catching her breath, but then she seen the second Chakra stream go into Sun and he fell over in pain. She ran over to him and said, "Sun! Just try to relax! It doesn't last too long. Fifteen minutes maybe."

"Fifteen minutes?!" Sun shouted. Blake just nervously shrugged.

Weiss was starting to breathe heavy from all the fighting. However, it has not affected her focus as she made a series of glyphs around the Super Ursa. She did a dashing thrust into the Ursa and then quickly hopped to another glyph and did it again. She did a number of these until the Ursa parried her strike and knocked her off her feet. It charged at her, but she rolled away before changing her rapier to use the last of her wind Dust and make a glyph. She charged the Dust with Chakra a released and enhanced wind gust from her glyph that knocked the Ursa off balance. She then jumped into the air with her rapier coated in chakra and landed a slash across the Super Grimm's torso. The Ursa roared in both pain and anger but it stayed upright.

Weiss hopped back and said, "I'm so fed up with this." She then summoned her Arma Gigas Knight one last time. She made it attack the Super Ursa, but the Ursa blocked the blade. She then rushed in and cut the Ursa again, but not as deep this time. This left the Ursa vulnerable to the Knight's slash as it got cut again. Then Weiss and her Gigas both jumped back. The Ursa was staggered so the Gigas rushed in and cut the Ursa one last time before it vanished. Weiss then ran in and stabbed the Ursa through and finished the job. She dropped to a knee now completely out of breath. She wanted to go help Blake or Ruby, but she is on fumes.

Ruby has been clashing with Torchwick and his Chakra Dust blade which has been doing a number on Crescent Rose. She looked at her scythe which had been riddled with cuts. A few more and it may no longer be functional. Torchwick looked at her and said, "Your scythe isn't looking too good there. I'm gonna enjoy breaking it!"

Ruby looked at her Crescent Rose and then closed her eyes to concentrate. Her scythe then got coated in wind Chakra and she opened her eyes again. Torchwick looked at this with curiosity and asked, "What's that?"

Ruby readied herself for another exchange and said, "We may have the same power coursing through us, but unlike you I know how to use it!"

"Same power?" Torchwick questioned. He did not care for the conversation and fired another Chakra enhanced explosive shot. Ruby cut through it with her wind Chakra enhanced scythe. Torchwick was shocked as he exclaimed, "What?!"

Ruby then rushed to Torchwick and swung her blade. Torchwick blocked it, but he noticed his blade is not cutting hers anymore. She then did a horizontal slash followed by a rising slash in quick succession. Torchwick blocked them, but each one knocked him more off balance. He went to retaliate, and Ruby struck at the same time. As they struggled against each other, Torchwick was surprised as Ruby started pushing him back. He could not believe this was happening.

"It's over!" Ruby yelled at Torchwick.

"Oh, to hell it is!" Torchwick yelled in response. Ruby kept her focus and then cut Torchwick's Chakra Dust Blade in half. Torchwick then stared at the broken blade in disbelief. He then went to attack Ruby desperately with his cane and Ruby was ready for him.

Neo managed to get in Torchwick's way before he reached Ruby. Torchwick asked, "What are you doing?" Neo expressed that she wanted to go, but Torchwick said, "Then leave, but I'm finishing this!" Neo was unsure of how else to convince him, so she slapped Torchwick. Ruby stood there in shock and Torchwick turned back to yell at her. However, he could see Neo's lip quivering and how desperate she was. Torchwick felt some of his anger go as he glared at Ruby and said, "This isn't over…" He then walked away with Neo.

As Neo and Torchwick walked off, Ruby said, "I'll be ready." She then headed over to help with the remaining Grimm.

Multiple fireballs were seen coming from the top of the CCT Tower as Yang was having to defend herself and the tower. She has had to deal with multiple of the Super Nevermore's drill dives and has come up short each time. Both of her shoulders and fists are shredded up and bloody. She was losing feeling in her real hand. She can still move it, but not very well. She made her cybernetic hand grip into a fist.

"I'll have to put everything I have into this last punch" Yang said to herself. She seen the Super Nevermore fly up for another drill dive and she shouted, "I'm not going down and neither is this tower!" The Super Nevermore then let out a cry as if to meet her challenge. She then ignited her cybernetic fist. However, she was now adding more and more to it to where her entire arm was engulfed in the flame. Despite her fire resistance, she put so much into this fist that the metal is starting to get singed along with her arm.

The Super Nevermore drill dived at her one more time and as it clashed with Yang, she went for an uppercut instead of a straight punch. It was a struggle, but this time Yang managed to win out and sent the Super Nevermore further into the air. She then jumped up and, with that same super ignited fist, punched the Super Nevermore into the frozen school building. The building collapsed onto the Super Grimm and it struggled back to its feet.

Yang then shouted to the top of her lungs, "EVERYONE GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

As people started moving, Blake asked, "What's going on?" Ruby then grabbed Blake's hand and made her start running. Blake asked, "Ruby? What's happening?"

"When Yang tells you to move, you gotta move!" Ruby answered.

Yang gathered every last bit of flame Chakra her body could still muster as she slowly weaved the signs: Snake, Dragon, Rabbit, Tiger. She exclaimed, "Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!" She unleashed the intense burst of flame. The Super Nevermore is engulfed and it cries out. She intensified the flames to the point where it was even greater than the one she used to defeat her mother. She destroyed the Super Nevermore, the school, and melted a big portion of the ground to where it resembled a crater. She then fell over, completely exhausted.

Blake and all the others from Menagerie were utterly speechless. Even those with Chakra were stunned as they Ruby said, "Wow, we still got some catching up to do."

Hazel saw this and even he was impressed. Naruto on the other hand kneed Hazel in the jaw while two of his clones punched him in the side of the head and knocked Hazel goofy. Naruto then landed an Ascended Aura enhanced uppercut to Hazel's chest that shattered multiple of Hazel's ribs and sent him flying. Naruto then said, "I already know how strong Yang is. So I wasn't surprised like you were, ya know." He then seen Hazel get up and roar, causing fire and lightning to erupt around him. This did surprise Naruto as he shouted, "How?!"

"Ozpin mentioned that guy's Semblance was to not feel pain" Kurama stated. "That explains how he can take in all that energy, but not how he can still move." As Kurama thought about it more, he hypothesized, "I think all that extra Chakra and Dust energy as acting as a stimulant and keeping him conscious." They then noticed that that the extra Chakra is slowly healing Hazel's injuries. Kurama finally said, "To keep that guy down, you'll need to break him."

Naruto then looked at his cybernetic arm and said, "I can do that." He then concentrated hard as the air pressure became really heavy and his Ascended Aura swirled in his hand. The others started sensing the buildup in energy.

"What is he doing?" Ren questioned.

Ruby looked at Naruto's hand and asked, "Hey, does that look kinda familiar?"

Naruto has now formed a Rasengan in his hand. It is the size of a giant Rasengan and is orange instead of blue. It also shined brightly like the Aura-infused Rasengan did. Naruto then shouted, "I'm ending this!" He then rushed at Hazel.

Hazel yelled as he threw a thunder charged punch and Naruto met it with his Rasengan. All rubble was blowen away and what was left of the campus started shaking. The ground beneath them started cracking. Hazel did not relent, but it didn't matter as his arm was blown back. Naruto stepped forward and shouted, "Ascended Rasengan!" He then slammed it into Hazel dead Center. It dug into Hazel and blasted him away in a rotating sphere as Hazel screamed the whole time. Hazel was sent rocketing into the forest where a large orange explosion occurs that can be seen from the campus.

All of those who were dumbfounded by Yang's display are now dumbfounded by Naruto's. Ruby ran up to him and shouted, "That was so cool! Was that the thing you used during the train attack?!"

"The updated version. Ascended Rasengan" Naruto informed her.

"That was…quite the display" Pyrrha said, trying her best to describe what she just seen.

Naruto smiled, but then looked towards the CCT Tower where Yang had just finished descending. He ran over and so did the others. Naruto spoke first asking Yang, "How ya holding up?"

"Did…we win?" Yang asked, still out of breath.

They all looked around and seen what remains of the enemy is twelve regular Grimm that the New White Fang were taking care of. Weiss then said, "I would say so."

Yang then got a big smile and said, "Then I'm doing great."

Naruto smiled and told her, "I know you don't want me to carry you, so how about you just lean on me and I'll help you walk?"

Yang leaned on Naruto and said, "No arguments here…" They then walked back towards the Forces of Menagerie with Team JNPR, Weiss, and Ruby in tow. Looking at them approach, Qrow was standing next to Oscar with a proud look on his face. Within Oscar, Ozpin also had a proud smile.

As the Forces of Menagerie also watched them approach, one of Faunus there asked, "Who are those people?"

"They're…they're my friends" Blake hesitantly answered.

"How you feeling?" Sun asked.

"Pretty nervous actually…" Blake answered honestly. "They said they were glad to see me, but now that the battle's over that might have changed." Her friends finished approaching and now her nerves were at an all time high.

"What are you doing over there?" Ruby asked Blake. "Come stand with us!"

Very surprised, Blake asked, "Are you sure?" Ruby, Weiss, and even Yang smiled at her. Yang then held her hand out and Blake covered her mouth as she was trying to hold back her tears joy. She then walked over, and her team embraced her. This brought a smile to everyone's faces, especially Kali and Ghira.

With everyone's attention gathered, Naruto said, "I know Haven's seen better days. But the tower's still standing, and we beat the Grimm, ya know. Just like I said it would be…" He then raised his fist into the air, "This is our victory!" Everyone present cheered in their victory.

The Battle for Haven has ended. Today, victory belongs to the Huntsmen.

Chapter End

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AN: I was not expecting this chapter to take as long as it did. I know I said I was going to take a few weeks off, but it ended up only being a couple days and it still took me this long. I still cannot promise a consistent schedule for these releases.

Now first off, some of you may be curious why I said things like "the boost from the Maiden's powers" even though the Maiden's power has almost always just been shown as granting elemental powers. This may just be my interpretation of course, but I rewatched the Raven vs Cinder fight in preparation for the Maidens vs Yang and Pyrrha section of this chapter. During Raven and Cinder's fight, the Maiden flame trail on their eyes was active the entire time even when they were just exchanging blades. To me this means that there is an implied stat boost when the Maiden powers are active which would explain how they were fighting at that speed. We have no confirmation one way or the other on this, so a boost from the Maiden's power made more sense to me.

I'm sure some of you are curious where I got the name Théfon for the Grimm Nine-Tails. I crammed together the Greek words Theós (which means God) and Foniás (which means killer). I'll admit it is probably not the best name out there, but it's what I was able to come up with.

The Battle for Haven might be over, but there are still things to take care of before our gang moves on. Thanks again for reading and I hope to see you all next time.