Lord of Gifts in the Forgotten Realm

by Djoklecjan

After his defeat, as the last act of defiance, Sauron strikes a deal with his former Master, and finds himself in the Forsaken World, which is set for a downfall. Will Annatar change Remnant's future for the better? Or Sauron will make it even worse? Or, perhaps, Mairon will change some of his views?

20. Chapter 14: The Road to Hell

…Is paved with good intentions

The airship from Beacon Academy made a touchdown on the landing pad, the ramps opened and students left their transport.

Today, all first and second year students in Beacon had a day off and were more than encouraged to spent that time together, to both have fun and deepen the bonds between themselves.

And so, a large crowd of students went to the exit, talking about their plans for today or about places they want to visit today, their chatter almost incomprehensible for a bystanders view.

Then, like a packs of wolves, reporters from small tabloids pounced at the students, picking up those who stood out to ask about ever sweet gossips from the Academy, often trying to push their own narrative.

"Is it true that a student from Beacon was badly injured during the training session?"

"What kind of food are you getting in the cafeteria? Because the experts recently said…"

"We heard that under the Academy there is a secret bunker holding a supercomputer that can change reality, what are your thoughts about it?"

"Are the Grimm secretly a hivemind controlled by aliens!?"

There were more unhinged questions, asking about pairs, who is dating who, which subject is the most demanding, topics reaching from conspiracy theories about shadow government holding the truth from the public to Headmaster's apparent addiction to coffee. Some unfortunate students found themselves ensnared in the web of question. Security of the airport tried their best to give the them space and remove the most persistent 'journalists' out of the airport, but they persisted, awaiting one person in particular.

"Have you seen Pyrrha Nikos among the students?" One young journalist asked his companion.

"If I saw her I would not stand here talking with you would I?"

Ahh, Pyrrha Nikos, The Invincible Girl, Mistral's National treasure, Winner of many tournaments, THE Champion. Tabloids would kill* for just a snippet on her life in Beacon. From what they heard, she had a mixed dorm with not one, but TWO boys. But both the readers and the fans were fed up with made up theories and speculations on potentials crushes and craved for a direct interview with her, or at a very least, with one of the said two boys. But they didn't see her in the crowd of students, potentially because every student stood out in his or her own right

"Did she left the airship?"

"She probably used the celebrity exit!"

"Nope, they didn't notice her too!"

"Where is she!?"

Outside the airport most of the teams scattered on the wind, going their own ways, while some reminded in a groups of three-four teams.

"Are we out yet?" Nora asked Yatsu from under a green, round hat, and Yatsu looked at Odd.

"We are clear!" He said with a wide smile, and in an instant team JNPR, surrounded by Team CFVY and LYOKO, breathe a sigh of relief.

"Thanks Coco, you helped us a lot." Coco Adel, leader of the team CFVY, waved her hand dismissively.

"That's what friends are for, but I did enjoy making clothes for you." She lowered her glasses and looked over Pyrrha, who was, for some reason, still in her disguise, which consisted of a set of glasses, brown jacket, green shirt, short black ruffled dress skirt, grey tights and the brown shoes. "When I think of it, I should have added more green to match your eyes…"

"No it's fine. Sorry." Pyrrha said and turned her head away in the embarrassment. From the bystanders viewpoint, it looked like team JNPR was just a hunters team wearing a casual clothes going to have some fun, not THE team JNPR the tabloids looked out for.

"Second stage of the mission complete, now escort the VIP's into the extraction zone." Odd said as they walked towards the bus stop, wearing the set of black glasses. "The transport will…"

"That's enough James Rond." Yumi, a third member of team lyoko said after rolling her eyes. "You attract way too much attention."

"Something we wanted to avoid I might add." Fox commented, and Velvet nodded in agreement.

"Hey, I came up with the plan so let me have some fun, right Yatsu?" Yatsu didn't answer, just left a chuckle deep in his throat.

"Wasn't Jeremy the brain of this whole 'operation'?" Nora asked after giving the glance to the Leader of team LYOKO, but Jeremy brushed it off.

"It's fine, without Odd's expertise it wouldn't work."

"Yeah, exactly!" Odd said with a large smile as they walked up to the public bus, then gave Jaune bus tickets. "It will take you directly were you wanted."

"Thanks for everything." Jaune shook hands with every member of team CFVY and LYOKO. "You guys are life savers."

"It's nothing really."

"We just wanted to help." Velvet reassured shyly, and her bunny ears fell down a little.

"I am still surprised you are going to the Industrial." Yatsu pointed out.

"Just for a moment, Jaune wants to show us something." Ren remarked.

"What is that exactly?" Ulrich asked with risen eyebrow, to which Nora quickly responded.

"It's a surprise!" she shouted with excitement, and others nodded their heads in understanding.

"Then, have fun!" Coco said, then pulled Jeremy closer. "Do I remember correctly that you wanted to buy new clothes for yourself?"

"Umm no, it's for…" He blushed a little. "…My friend." Coco gave him a knowing smile while Fox chuckled upon hearing Jeremy's flustered tone.

"Oh I am sure she will look spectacularly, no matter what you chose." Fox said and Odd couldn't help but snicker at that.

"When you are done and want to join us, just call!" Team CFVY and LYOKO walked away waving their hands while team JNPR waved back and boarded the public bus.

"Let's take the backseats!" Nora pointed at the four empty seats at the end of the bus.

"You know that these seats bounce the most right?" Ren asked, only for Nora to give him a cheerful smile.

"That's the best part! I take the one in the middle!" She run to back of the bus, Ren just rolled his eyes and walked after her.

"As excited as always, right?" Pyrrha inquired to Jaune trying to lighten up the atmosphere, but Arc just gave her an awkward smile.

"Yeah…" He said little unsure, which made Pyrrha think that she accidently messed something up.

"Sorry."

"No, No I…!" Jaune left a heavy sigh. "Wanna have a seat beside the window?" Pyrrha nodded and walked with him to the back, avoiding the eye contact.

In her head Pyrrha berated herself for this interaction. She just made things awkward between them right from the start of the day! Worse, when they should go to have fun! She hated her inability to read other people.

What Pyrrha didn't know was that the awkwardness was not her fault.

Jaune tried to speak and walk normally, but the ring in his pocket got heavier and heavier each time he thought about it, even worse, when he thought about putting it on it only grew lighter, like it wanted to be on his finger. And ever since he put it on his finger, It started to appear in his dreams! That's why he wanted to drive today to Annatar and give it back.

The bus drove from the stop and picked up speed, bouncing for the first time, much to Nora's happiness.

The Sun was still really low, so there weren't tons of cars on the streets, which made Jaune hope that they will reach Limestone really quickly.

"Hey Jaune, where are you taking us anyway?" Nora asked, and before Jaune could answer, she interrupted him. "Maybe a café!?"

"No" Jaune answered.

"Then… Oh, the Arcade! They have a really good arcade there!" Nora guessed again.

"No" Nora pouted upon hearing that.

"Teeelll Me Pleeeasee!" She begged, and Jaune almost opened his mouth to answer, but his tongue froze.

"If I tell her, I will then have to explain the ring." He thought. "They will learn that I wanted to cheat. Then, they will learn I forged the transcript." Jaune shuddered, fearing their reaction. "But if I give it back, then It will be easy to tell that I simply didn't like it…"

"I mean to lie." Jaune recoiled in disgust.

"Simply keeping them in the dark." He thought. "Besides, it's not really like I want to give the ring back." Jaune briefly glanced at his pocket while Nora poked his cheek, telling him to spill the beans. "I felt so powerful wearing it."

"Nora, give Jaune a break." Ren gently pushed Nora's hand away from Jaune's face. "It's a surprise for a reason." Nora sat back and crossed her hands in annoyance.

The bus stopped at another stop, and many different people took their seats. – There was a faunus male wearing a suit and tie, who tried to hype himself up for an interview, a human woman talking through the scroll with someone, tired man with four rowdy kids trying to keep them in check with the mixed results, and many more.

Jaune tried everything he could to shift his thoughts away from the ring, but wherever he looked, there was something that reminded him of it.

"Oh man, having four kids must be a tough one, but the ring on his finger… CRAP" He looked at the faunus preparing for the interview and tried to listen, but all he could focus on were the signets on his left hand…

He looked through the window as the bus crossed the bridge over the river, linking the industrial district with the commercial. He tried to focus on the flowing water to calm his nerves, but in the morning light the water had the color of the crystal his ring has…

Meanwhile Ren was just reading a book when Nora pulled him by his sleeve.

"Look, Armored train!" She said excitedly and Lie looked at the direction she was pointing at, and Nora gasped. "It has the Canon!"

Even from such a large distance, the armored train appeared like a behemoth keeping vigil over the city. Manned by the Wardens, an elite formation dating it's history even from before the Great War, the armored trains and their crews patrolling Vale's walls were meant to deter the Grimm, or in the worst case scenario – to slow them for long enough for a Hunters response. This one in particular dragged on the last cart a heavy, 18-inch gun, capable of flattening the entire hills with a single shot.

"What do you think, how loud this gun is when it fires?" Nora asked.

"Probably really loud." He said, feeling jealous a bit – Vale had this kind of defense while many parts of the world did not, instead relaying on a assigned hunter and the local militia.

Including his village.

He quickly buried the memory deep within and his eyes darted to something else.

Large groups of faunus were standing near the bridge beside their construction vehicles, wearing yellow suits and helmets. They talked and smoked while some worked on the road, apparently fixing the broken pipeline. But what Ren found strange was that they appeared to be nervous, and indeed, the constantly looked at their watches or at the bridge.

"Maybe they will allow us to visit one of those before the trip to Forever Fall!" Nora at first didn't notice the change in the atmosphere and still gleefully watched as the Armored train drove away, but then realized that Ren's vision narrowed at the faunus workers. "Hey, are you listening to me?"

Ren crossed gazes with one of the faunus as the bus passed by, and both stared into each other's eyes before Nora waved her hand before Ren's face.

"Heeey, what's wrong?" She asked.

"Something is not right." He replied. "I feel like something bad is going to happen." Nora just scoffed.

"Don't be so paranoid! We came to have fun, not to stress out over nothing! Relax a bit!" Nora said, and Ren left a sigh.

"You are probably right." He said, but he remained suspicious. He had this exact same feeling many times before – during the initiation when he was ambushed by the King Taijitu, when they couldn't find Jaune after Cardin bullied him at the gym, which luckily didn't end in a disaster, or…

He sat back on his seat and meditated to remain calm. Maybe Nora is right? Maybe he is overly paranoid this time? But he remained on guard.

For that feeling of impending dread manifested in him when the Beast came to his home.

As the bus drove away, One of the Faunus lifted the radio.

"Blockade squads to Roman, everything is ready, we just await for your signal."

Bus stopped at again, and father with four kids thankfully for everyone left the bus with few more people, only to be replaced by even more

There was a father and his two teenage sons carrying vegetables for a dinner, a girl and a boy who sat beside each other and chatted between each other, but Jaune couldn't focus on them, his thoughts constantly returning to the ring, who grew heavier with each bus stop closer to the forge. At that point Jaune wasn't even sure he would be able to stand up on his own.

Suddenly he heard a sigh beside him and he glanced over to Pyrrha, who was looking out of the window at the people passing by.

"Hey, umm, what are you looking at?" Jaune inquired, drawing Pyrrha out of her thoughts.

"Oh I'm sorry, I spaced out a little…" She wanted to excuse herself.

"No, no, no everything is fine! I'm just curious what were you thinking about." Jaune reassured her, and at first little surprised, Pyrrha looked away in embarrassment.

"I don't want to trouble you."

"You won't! I really wish to know." Jaune said, hoping that a conversation with a friend will take his thoughts away from the ring.

Pyrrha looked out from the window, at first little hesitant, then finally made the decision.

"I wondered how it is, to be like other people." She said after a moment. "To be… normal."

"Aren't you?" Pyrrha first looked at him surprised, then giggled a little.

"I don't mean that! I meant, how would my life look like if I wasn't the Huntress, if I didn't unlock my semblance or didn't practice to become the champion? Would I still be myself, or I would be someone else entirely?"

Jaune looked down on his feet with anxiety. He feared being normal, like most people on Remnant. First Arc to be a nobody. He was so afraid of shame he would always feel because of that.

"It almost sounded like you don't like being a champion." He remarked, surprised that of all the people he knows, Pyrrha is the one saying something like that.

"No, it's not like that!" She rose her hands in a defensive gesture. "I love being who I am! It's just…" Jaune looked her in the eyes, and Pyrrha mustered the courage to open up little more. "…There are so many things I wish I could experience."

"Can't you?" Jaune asked, clearly surprised. "But, you are the most successful person I know! You can do anything!" Pyrrha looked flustered at first, then smiled brightly.

"I'm really glad you say that, but… it's not that simple." She looked over to the father and his two sons joking around, a pair flirting with one another. "Because I am a Champion studying to become a Huntress, a "Mistral's National Star", so many people around the world look after me."

"…I think I know what you mean." Jaune thought, remembering all the letters from around the globe addressed to Pyrrha Nikos, in which people shared their experiences, their worries or just thanked Pyrrha for inspiring them. And Pyrrha not only read them all, but also wrote back. And for Jaune, who knew that his friend is really shy yet keep replying, it was amazing behavior.

"I love that I got so much support and inspired many, but because of that attention, I can't walk in the park without being spied on, and I…" Pyrrha put her head on a headrest behind." …I would like to just go outside and start walking, not being bothered by anyone, just me."

"You wish to be alone?"

"A bit." She chuckled a little. "But not in a stereotypical way. I want to feel how is it to be surrounded by people but not being seen, if you catch my drift." She tried to sound cool like Yang, but when the words left her mouth, she cringed. "Sorry." Jaune scratched his chin.

"No no, I think I understand. This kind of normal." Jaun said and thought about something. "I think We can arrange something like that."

"Huh?"

"We just have to go to a place where people will be distracted by something or someone else, so they won't notice you." Arc pondered for a second. "And there will be a concert next week I can get us a pass for it." He gave him an unsure look. "Think about it! Loud music, bright lights everywhere, people will be too distracted to notice that The Great Pyrrha Nikos is next to them!"

At first Pyrrha gave him an excited look, but then reality came back to her and she looked away in defeat.

"The tabloids will notice if someone from my team, or from Beacon buys the tickets." She pointed out, and Jaune thought about it.

"Oh, I know! I have a favor to ask from Jeremy, he can buy us tickets in such a way that no one will notice." Jaune reassured, remembering how one day leader of the team Lyoko asked him to quickly bring him some disk from their dorm to the severs? So asking him for some tickets would not be out of options. "He is like, a computer genius, you know?"

"That would be great…" Pyrrha said, still little unsure. Going to the concert with Jaune…

"Hey, don't mention it." Jaune smiled. "That what friends are for!"

"Friends… I never really had friends." Pyrrha confessed. She had fans, supporters, rivals, but never someone to who she could comfortably open up to aside from her parents. And paradoxically, she still feared opening up more to her teammates, afraid that she will make things weird and ruin everything.

"You have me, Ren and Nora." Jaune said, and Nora waved from behind while Ren just meditated in silence to clear his mind. "Besides, there are so many people who admire you for who you are."

"They don't admire me per se, just my image." Pyrrha replied.

"I admire you and I don't care about your image." Jaune said, startling Pyrrha. "I don't care if you are champion, if you are on Pete's, all I care about is you."

"You don't mean it…" Pyrrha looked away to hide her flustered face, but then, much to her surprise, Jaune took her hand.

"Listen, I am your partner, and I will always be there for you." He gently squeezed her hand. "Even if I had to fight the Dark Brother himself, I will do it for you. I promise you that."

Nora sat back on her seat, smiling to herself while Ren remained silent.

The Everpresent just rolled his shadowy eyes.

Pyrrha at first looked flustered, then started to giggle, then left a cheerful laugh that would make the cold ice melt, while Nora decided to stay quiet and let the scene play undisturbed, just grinning from ear to ear.

"What?" Jaune asked just as Pyrrha wiped the tear out of her eye.

"I met many people who offered me assistance or favors, but no one ever said something like this!"

"I meant it!"

"And I don't doubt it!" She assured him, then started to contemplate something for quite a while, long enough for the bus to pass through two more stops.

"Jaune, may I ask you something?" Pyrrha asked, and Jaune looked at her curiously. "Of course you don't have to agree!"

"Sure!" Arc said. "Please, go ahead." He further encouraged her, and Pyrrha mustered up the courage, took a breath.

"Do you…" But the abrupt explosion didn't allow her to properly finish her sentence.

The shockwave struck the bus from the sight, and nearly everyone inside fell down on the floor. Jaune didn't even register the moment his body found itself on the bus's floor, his ears humming and his vision blurred, and his thoughts in shambles.

"Did the bus exploded? No, I would be dead, or at least badly hurt if the bomb was inside the vehicle. It came from the outside. But who attacked us!?"

"…ne!" he noticed someone kneeling above him, probably Pyrrha, but his ears still rung in pain. He wanted to say something, reassure her that he is fine, but couldn't hear any words coming from his mouth.

"Pyrrha let me!" Ren knelt beside Jaune, put his hand on Arc's chest and focused.

Suddenly for Jaune, his ears stopped ringing, his body calmed down and he could think rationally again, but the headache remain.

"Thanks Ren." He uttered as Ren pulled away his hand.

"We have some bad guys outside!" Nora took a peek from the bus, and then whole team JNPR peeked out too.

Doors to the local bank were open wide, and few groups of White Fang run out of it, carrying bags full of lien to the vans just outside, some stood on guard while some threw a speakers on top of the building.

"The day will come that Faunus will take their rightful place on Remnant!" A voice came out of the speakers. "A day, when we will no longer cower under the humanity's iron boot…!"

"There at least thirty of them." Jaune noted, disregarding the voice. "Did you call your weapons?" Jaune asked after assessing the situation .

Pyrrha and Ren nodded while Nora stood up.

"I can deal with them without one!" She cracked her knuckles. "We should stop them now!"

"We can't leave the passengers!" Pyrrha argued as the people around the bus covered under the seats, trembling in either fear or frozen in confusion.

"You two, check the bus!" They heard from the outside, and Jaune knew that they don't have time to wait.

"Nora, Pyrrha, can you fight them while I and Ren will stay with the passengers?"

"You got it!" Nora gave him a thumb up, Pyrrha nodded her head, and both girls jumped out of the vehicles.

"Ren, use your semblance to calm everyone down, I will cover you!"

Without any word of complaint Ren jumped to the nearest passenger and used his semblance to calm down his mind and body while Jaune run from the seat to seat to do the same just without semblance.

"I should have listened to my instinct." Ren internally berated himself as he helped another terrified man. "We could have avoided that ambush, but I got too relaxed." He pushed his anger back into himself, deciding to deal with it later, right now he had a job to do.

---

"Put your hearts into it, double-time!" Pack leader commanded as her faunus threw another bag into the van. So far so good, they opened the vault without problems, the only complication being the early arrival of the public bus. They usually arrive fifteen minutes late, and the driver just HAD to perform his job dutifully today.

Pack leader left a sigh. Whatever, shit happens. "You two, check the bus!" She ordered two fangers, and they approached the vehicle. Roman prohibited killing, so if they accidently wounded someone really badly, then they will help and then run away. Little strange, but who is she to question orders?

As fangers approached, two girls suddenly jumped out from the vehicle and kicked the two fangs sent to investigate.

"Surprise!" Nora picked the fallen foe by the leg and then threw him at the two closest fangers, knocking them out.

Pyrrha charged the nearest fang, knocked the sword out of his hand with her right, while her left hand struck him right in the chest.

Faunus tumbled on the ground like a bowling ball, and slammed directly into four fangers carrying a large stash of lien. They dropped it, which caused the money inside to burst into the air, then fly away with the wind.

"What the… GET THEM!" Pack leader shouted, faunus rallied and charged at the pair.

"That's for spoiling our day off!" Nora slammed her fist against the fanger's jaw, throwing him into the air, then turned to another one swinging a hammer at her. She leant back to avoid the swing, then delivered the devastating headbutt into faunus's stomach. "That's for spoiling Jaune's surprise!" Staggered faunus fell to the ground gasping for air, but another foe lunged his spear at Nora, only for her to grab it's tip.

"And that's for spoiling Pyrrha moment!" She swung the spear and faunus holding it, tossing him right into the pick-up truck.

"What?" Pyrrha muttered surprised, then hid her face in her left hand in embarrassment, and a fang wanted to capitalize on her supposed distraction with a swift uppercut, the only reward for his effort being a quick, powerful jab to the face.

"What moment?" Oblivious Jaune briefly thought about it as he walked towards the terrified man.

"What is happening?! Why is it happening!?" Man muttered as the sounds of the fight outside mixed with the now constant sound of heavy guns firing into the sky. "Did the doomsday come?!"

"Calm down sir, everything will be fine!" Jaune tried to reassure him as the white fanger bounced off the bus. "Just stay low and everything will be fine." He put his hand on the man's arm while Ren used his semblance to calm down another person.

With a sound of a powerful paunch, an unfortunate fanger flew through one of the bus windows, passed above Jaune, and left through the opposite one.

"Nora, can you please kick them in the other direction!?" Jaune poked his head from the window.

"It was Pyrrha this time!"

"Sorry!"

Pack leader couldn't believe her eyes – not only it looked like a regular citizens beat her men and women, they also treat it as some sort of game!? What are they, some martial artists? Or the Hunters… No, hunters look entirely different.

Something in the back of her brain urged her to cut her losses and run, but the rest of her mind told her to finally join the fight.

"Pin her down!" She pointed her finger at Nora and two tall fangers leapt forward, trying to tackle Nora to the ground. One of them missed entirely, but other took a hold of her arm.

"Ohh, wanna arm wrestle, do you!? Here ya go!" With that said, she started to repeatedly slam the fanger around, lifting him like he weighed less than a plastic bag. But as she repeatedly smashed the fanger against the ground, she remained in place, like the pack leader wanted.

"Man, your technique really sucks!"

"Nora look out!" Pyrrha warned as she dealt with another fanger, and redhead only had time to look at the opposing end of the barrel.

Pack leader released a storm of stun bullets, and electrical currents coursed through Nora's body.

"And stay down!" Leader taunted with triumphant smile, only for it to shift into shock as Nora started to laugh.

"Nice one, but I don't think so!" Valkyrie commended, her eyes sparkling with pink lightning. "Try again!"

Pack leader took the step back in disbelief. Impossible, human should lay on the ground screaming in pain, not absorb it like…

"Hunters!" She screamed in the sudden realization. "RUN!"

"Oh no you don't!" Nora jumped at them and started swinging her fists, tossing fangers left and right.

"Just drive man!" Faunus screamed to the driver of the van while few more panicked fangers jumped into the vehicle, and the driver put his foot on the throttle, but before they could move, the metal-shattering paunch broke through the engine and stopped the vehicle.

Fangers looked directly at Pyrrha, her fist still deep in the engine after her strike split it in two.

"I give you two options." She announced, staring at them. "You can either lay down your arms and surrender…"

"…Or we will beat you up!" Nora ended the sentence, carrying the pack leader under her arm. "Please, go with option two."

Fangers quickly calculated their chances of winning this fight (which equaled zero), quickly left their vehicle, dropped down their weapons and lied on the ground, much to Nora's disappointment.

From the bank, few security guards stumbled outside.

"Thank the Brothers you arrived!" Senior guard said to Pyrrha and Nora as the other guards handcuffed the fangs. "Without you…"

"Can you tell us what is going on?" Jaune quickly run to the group while Ren escorted the civilians to the bank.

"I don't know." Senior guard replied as they heard another series of tracers tearing through the sky. "They just attacked out of nowhere, broke into the vault and tried to run before you arrived."

With a loud whistle, JNPR's lockers made a landfall, smashing into the asphalt, and while the rest of the team wasted no time getting their weapons, Jaune looked back at the senior guard.

"Barricade the bank, lock the fangs in the vault and wait for the police to arrive."

"Aren't you going to stay with us?" Guard asked.

"I think you are not the only one who was attacked…" Jaune wanted to explain before his scroll beeped, he picked it up. A message from Ruby.

"But..." Guard tried to argue further, but Ren stepped in.

"Listen, if we stay here, we will leave countless more in danger." He said, and put his hand on the guard's shoulder. "Build barricades, keep your stun guns loaded and keep the civilians safe, alright?"

Old guard, at first on the verge of panic, calmed down and started to think rationally again, and he had to begrudgingly agree.

"I understand." He replied, his resolve rebuilt. "We won't allow any of those stinking terrorists into the bank again!"

Ren nodded with appreciation as the guard run back to the bank, taking back control of the building.

"What's the plan?" Pyrrha asked as she walked to Jaune holding his sword and shield.

"I suggest going after one of these guns!" Nora said as the nearby mobile flak fired its twin guns.

"I think they are heavily guarded."

"More the merrier!"

"Wait!" Jaune said, focusing his team's attention on him. "Ruby just wrote to me that Fangs are probably going to use the highway to escape."

"The highway?" Ren thought out loud. "They can either drive towards the gate…"

"…Which would mean fighting the Wardens." Nora shook her head.

"Or towards the harbor!" Both Jaune and Pyrrha got the same conclusion.

"Then we must get to the port as fast as possible!" Nora smiled at a mere thought of a proper fight, and prepared her hammer.

"We can also try to intercept them on the highway." Ren countered, and Jaune thought about both proposals.

If they get to the harbor, they will probably face the entire Fang all on their own, which could mean that they might be able to stop whatever plan they have prepared, but he didn't know how many fangs are involved, but from what it looks like, there were far too many for them to take head on. Not to mention that they have to get to the port first, and the White Fang probably prepared some nasty traps along the way.

"We will attack them on the highway." He decided, then looked at the overpass above the highway some distance away. "At their most vulnerable point."

His teammates nodded and all four quickly run to prepare their ambush, while the Everpresent remained silent. It was not known for being patient, but it was cunning in its own right.

And it sensed that the opportunity will present itself soon enough.

---

Annatar put Penny's unconscious body on the guest's bed, while few people peeked from behind the doorframe.

"Out." He ordered without even turning his head, Smith's whole attention focused on his unconscious friend, and humans left without saying a word.

Penny's unresponsive state worried Annatar to no end, which in turn worried him even more.

Technically he could learn how the robot possessing a soul behaves. He should test the theory if her 'shutting down' means that her soul leaves the metallic body to later return. Or is still there, just dormant? If so, does she dream? He could answer so many questions.

But instead, he was worried. Something he didn't expect.

"She is just an experiment." He tried to reassure himself, but these words, for some reason, felt shallow, without real meaning.

He carefully, like a surgeon, touched Penny's forehead with his pointing finger, and he focused his power. He wanted to make sure…

"Your light is still there." He said with great relief and retracted his finger. "You are still here."

But her body was overheated, like a furnace, not hot enough to melt her frame, but what if it does break something within? Without more thinking, he run to the window, opened it wide and commanded the wind to breeze the fresh, cold air into the room, then turned off every machine that could potentially increase the temperature.

Only when he made sure that her body will cool off, he sat on the chair and thought about what happened.

He saw Penny disarming the assailants with praiseworthy precision without dealing any lasting damage, but then, from seemingly out of nowhere, a blade struck the young faunus, shattering his spine.

Does that caused her to went into hibernation? Her dealing a devastating wound? Annatar recounted the conversations with her, how she defended that obstacle called the governor, how she argued with him about kindness, then helped not only him, but few other people from the bottom of her heart.

"Her actually nearly killing someone could have an impact on her mind." Sauron noted to himself. "Someone as naïve, who thinks everyone is a good person… what were the last words she told me?"

"A weapon." Sauron said out loud. "So, either you possess the weapon, or are you a weapon? I suspect the latter." He looked her and chuckled. "If your creators wanted a weapon, then they shouldn't have taught you empathy." But upon saying that, much to his disbelief, he immediately regretted it, then felt an immense guilt.

He could eliminate the white fang right away, without any major losses, but he wanted to squeeze the information out of them, at all cost. And because of that, she was in this state.

His mind now raced forward, trying to explain the situation so Sauron could stop feeling this 'guilt'.

"It was an acceptable risk!"

"Was it really worth it?"

"If I got everything I wanted, then yes!"

"But I didn't, and Penny was hurt because of that."

"If she is a weapon, then she should know better!"

"But she is something more than a mere tool, isn't she?" Annatar looked over at 'sleeping' Penny. "What if she doesn't want to be a weapon?"

"Everyone in this world is born with a purpose!' Sauron snarled. "By not following the prepared path, they defy the natural order of things! If her purpose is…"

"And what was my purpose then? Didn't I stray from it ages ago?"

"That's different! He wanted me to make trinkets while the imperfect world crumbled around me! I had to act!"

"Then why can't she make her own path? Are her reasons any lesser than mine?"

"But she is…"

"Did I already forget what I told her about friendship?" With that said, Annatar just fell silent, his guilt still grasping his mind, and he couldn't push it away. He slammed his fist against his knee in anger.

"What kind of magic you used on me girl!?" Sauron accused, but when he looked at her, he quickly recomposed himself. She didn't display that kind of power, which means something else in play. But what exactly?

He was confused, for the first time in ages. And he was unsure what to do about it, just remained silent, contemplating for quite a while

But sudden knocking of the door drew him out of this state.

"Chief, it's me." He heard Nathan's voice

"I told you to leave!" He said with anger in his voice, but his new lieutenant opened the door regardless and peeked inside.

'I know, but people outside… are worried." He said, while the tiny robot Annatar created with Penny drove into the room.. "Some say fangers are not done, others say that other armed bands roam through the Clashtara and the Stonecradle…"

"Any good news?"

"Actually, yeah, Junior sent us help, quite a lot of guys, including the twins."

Annatar paid Penny one last glance before he took a deep breath. He have a job to do.

"Summon everyone to my forge." Sauron ordered and rose up from his chair. "And tell them to bring as much weapons as possible.

"We are going to prepare defenses?" Yowwick asked, but Sauron gave him a confident smile.

"Quite the opposite, for we are going for a counterattack. Now go!"

"Hell yeah Chief!" His lieutenant saluted and run, and as Sauron wanted to leave the room, something behind him caught his attention.

Robot he created tried to climb up the bed to reach Penny, but it's metallic arms were unable to pull it's body up. It fell back to the floor and before it attempted to climb again, a gentle hand lifted it up.

"I have a special task for you, little one." Mairon said as he put the robot on the bed. "Make sure she stays safe in my absence."

Robot immediately saluted and swung it's arms like it was ready to throw down hands with the devil himself. Satisfied, Sauron walked towards the door.

If the war is what the White Fang craves for, then he will gladly show them how a real war looks like.

---

The heavy truck tossed aside two cars as it made its way through the highway, and Elder couldn't help but snicker – these battering rams really do make wonders.

He peeked outside the truck to watch how his faunus are loading up what they got from the dust shops, banks, government buildings, and all other stuff. Then he paid Larian and his repurposed mining mech a glance, listening to the heavy metal played on the giant axe-guitar.

"If only Adam was here." He thought as he noticed another 'scavenger band' driving towards the column with spoils. "He would finally acknowledge me."

Most of the Vale branch of the White Fang mourned passing of Blake Belladonna, giving her high honors and shedding many tears, and although Elder seemingly grieved with them, he was barely able to hold his joy.

She was praised for even the tiniest achievements while he was 'left alone', even though he was technically second in command in Adam's cell. Members of the White Fang listened and followed her words out of admiration, while had to earn his respect through tenacity and strength. She constantly clashed with Adam ideologically, while he remained loyal, and never questioned Taurus's methods.

And, for some reason, she was clearly the leader's favorite, while the Elder remained on the sidelines. But with her gone, he finally got all he wanted. Of course, Adam still commanded him to work with that human, but White Fang in Vale listened to him, and him alone.

"Roman to all the other columns, what's your status?" He heard from the radio.

"Roman this is Elder, column four is loaded and moves to the next area." He kept things between them brief, then leant back on his seat. He didn't want to admit it, but that Torchwick's plan was not only bold, but also really effective. He didn't expect it to go that well.

He heard other convoy leaders reporting their status and made himself comfortable on his seat. He could only imagine the shocked faces of the Council, desperately trying to scramble a response, but by the time the police mobilize, they will be long gone. And the Hunters? Most of them are in the commercial, while the third years are already on missions or recover from one.

"By the Brothers, It's so easy!" He heard and Elder silently agreed.

"NO!" Roman's scream brought Elder back on his feet. "Don't say that!"

"What's wrong?"

"When you say something like this, everything WILL go wrong!" He said, irritation clear in the human's voice. "It's a basic rule dammnit!"

Elder just rolled his eyes, annoyed by the human's superstition.

---

"Here they come." Ren pointed in a distance, and both Jaune and Pyrrha peeked from behind the cover as the loud music reached their ears.

"We should jump on the big guy!" Nora pointed at the Faunus in some sort of four-armed mech, who stood on the second truck in the convoy and played ta giant axe-guitar.

"Bad idea." Pyrrha noted, aware of strength the mech's possess. "If he notices us, he could potentially push us from the trucks.

"Or if we make even a slight a miscalculation, we will fall directly under the wheels" Jaune thought to himself before making a decision.

"We are going to jump closer to the middle." He said as the convoy drove closer and closer. Fangs did not notice them yet. He briefly checked his shield and the Corcea Mors before he looked at his teammates.

"Are you ready?" He asked, and Nora eagerly nodded her head while Ren and Pyrrha only slightly, their eyes focused on the approaching convoy. "On my mark." He added as the convoy drove near, and team JNPR checked their weapons one last time before action.

"NOW!" Jaune jumped first, his team behind.

"What the…?" One of the fang's on top looked up, only to get a Jaune's boot slammed against his face.

Another surprised fanger tried to raise his gun, but Ren swoop him out of his feet then kicked him off the convoy.

"Nora smash!" Nora yelled and her hammer struck between two fangs, throwing them off the vehicle.

"Hunters!" One yelled, quickly rose his gun and fired at landing Pyrrha, but the stun bullets pinged off harmlessly from the shield.

With a loud bang, Pyrrha fired once from Milo, destroying fang's gun in a single shot, then with quick footwork Pyrrha was upon him as he was about to pull out a dagger.

With one strike from her shield she sent her foe spinning into the air.

At first surprised, White Fang already started to scramble a response, as more and more emerged from inside the trucks.

"Nora Ren, cover our backs! Pyrrha, with me!" Jaune shouted and extended his shield.

"Aye aye!" Nora turned Magnhild into the grenade launcher and fired nades at the fangers, each blast pushing more than one warrior off while Ren fired StormFlower in precise bursts, aiming to destroy fangs ranged weapons while Pyrrha and Jaune pushed forward, covering themselves with their shields.

Larian eyed the Hunter team and fully activated his repurposed mech. The drill attached to one of the metal arms spun around while two grabbing arms gnawed repeatedly, and he changed the large guitar into an axe.

He leant back and tap the front truck with the mech's metal arm to notify the Elder of the situation.

---

"What is going on?" Elder barked after the loud tapping echoed in the truck.

"We have Hunters on our back!" Was the swift response from another fang, and Elder's muscles tensed.

"But how? They all should be away…" He furiously picked up the radio.

"This is Elder, Hunter team just boarded my column, moving to kick them out." He said then put out the radio. "You-" He pointed at the three armored bodyguards with crimson masks, assigned to him by Adam. "-With me."

He walked to the wall and picked up his weapon of choice – a repurposed, heavy chainsaw. He weighed it in his right hand, then picked up the intercom.

"Spread the vehicles, attack them from multiple directions." He ordered, and crew inside the truck looked at him in disbelief.

"But Roman said we should use plan three or four against the hunters…" Elder, upon receiving the unexpected blow to his ego, gave the doubter a scornful look,

True, in a debriefing two days prior, Torchwick explained to them all eight contingencies in case of engagement. Plans from five to eight were meant to counter the police and, in the worst case scenario, bullheads. Plan three and four was meant to counter the Hunters by limiting their mobility.

"Hunters are really quick, they love to bounce back and forth in a fight, because that's how they fight against the Grimm." Roman walked before the line of fangers as the presentation played behind him. "So, in case of a fight, DO NOT spread your vehicles, they will pick you up one by one. Fight together, force them to stand and take hits. If possible, split them, and chip their aura bit by bit. Be careful though, they usually fight in team's consisting of four members and can be really coordinated…"

Elder clenched his fist in anger. He is the leader, not him. He doesn't want to be upstaged again, especially by some human.

"Roman is not here." He said coldly. "Now do as I say!"

Faunus looked at each other and nodded frantically, then relayed Elder's command.

He has at least hundred fangers, multiple packs lurking around he can call upon. He doesn't need Roman's 'contingencies' to deal with four Hunters.

Elder revved the chainsaw to check if it's functional, put it on his back and reached for the ladder.

---

"Remember the High Castle!" Fanger swung his mace, only for Nora to shatter it into pieces with Magnhild and threw him out from the truck.

"See ya!" She waved her hand, then quickly run up to Jaune and slammed her hammer against the fanger trying to attack her team leader from behind, while Jaune dueled the fang with saber.

Ren fought three fangs at once, dodging their attack and countering like a viper.

He hit first one with swift strike to the jaw, all the while dodging forward thrust aimed at his chest from the second fanger. Then with the same movement he smashed his elbow into abdomen of his third opponent. After that he rolled away from one more attack from the second faunus armed with a spear, causing it to miss and get stuck in the truck's roof. Before the tall faunus could retrieve his weapon, a bronze shield slammed against his forehead.

Pyrrha parried another spearbearer with her xiphos, tried to counter but the fang backed off, using the length of his weapon as an advantage.

He thrusted the spear at Pyrrha's throat, but she sidestepped, just when returning bronze shield struck the fanger in his stomach, sending him tumbling down onto the street while Pyrrha grabbed the shield back.

"Pyrrha, take cover!" Jaune warned, and without hesitation Pyrrha rose her shield, just in time to stop the incoming bullets.

"Show them our fangs!" One of the gunman roared and pulled the trigger.

"Tear them with our claws!" Seven more fangs fired with him, and the torrent of bullets pinged off both from Jaune's shield and from Akuo.

"When I tell you to throw Akuo, throw!" Jaune yelled to Pyrrha to make sure she heard him through all the noise, and she slightly nodded, confirming that she did. "Nora, Ren, how it's looking back there?"

"I think they have quite enough!" Nora said and fired another grenade at an unfortunate fanger's feet, while few others were struck by burst from a StormFlower.

"We switch on my mark!" He shouted and stood in place, taking the bullet storm on his shield. "Wait…"

White Fang Gunmen used some sort of modified stun guns with larger barrels, exchanging the accuracy for the firepower, and as such, they successfully pinned Him and Pyrrha, but they clearly didn't know how to use the suppressive fire – they fired all at once, so they will soon run out of ammo, giving him the window of opportunity.

"Wait…"

And, like Jaune expected, he heard eight clicks signifying lack of ammunition, all in rapid succession.

"Throw!" He yelled, and Pyrrha tossed her shield to the side, at the sound barrier.

Akuo bounced back from one sound barrier, snatched two guns from the fangers hands, bounced again from an opposing barrier and did the same few more times until all eight fangs were disarmed.

"Switch!" He yelled, and both Ren and Nora charged at the Fangs, still flabbergasted by what happened. And Jaune used a small window of relief to look at Pyrrha.

"That was amazing!" He said as Akuo returned to Pyrrha's shield. "But honestly, I thought you will throw your shield at them."

"Sorry."

"It's fine, I like when you surprise me like that!" Before Pyrrha could respond, truck under them started to move to the side.

Trucks stopped driving in a singular line and spread out, covering the entirety of the highway, while smaller vehicles, like fish around the whales, circled around in the attempt to get a clear shot.

"Move! Mooove!" Yelled Cow faunus from another truck, and four gunmen stood on the roof while he moved his mounted machinegun.

"Cover us!" Jaune said to Pyrrha and quickly jumped on the truck Nora and Ren fought on, while Pyrrha leapt across the road directly at another vehicle, giving the gunmen little time to react.

"If we stay in one place, they will certainly push the brakes!" Ren said while dodging the curved blade of the fanger.

"Then we stay on the move!" Jaune commanded after parrying the club of the fang. "To the front!"

"Roger that!" Nora laughed and used Magnhild to launch herself into the air, then landed on the next truck, impact of the hammer cracked the roof and a fanger fell from the vehicle, Ren followed just behind making across the wide gap.

"Ummm." Jaune looked at the gap between the vehicles. "Can I make this jump?" He asked himself, then briefly glanced at Pyrrha who first fired three round from Milo into the truck's engine, then effortlessly jumped on another, leaving the smoking vehicle behind. He took a deep breath.

"Here goes nothing!" He jumped across and barely made it, his lower half of the body dangled briefly above the highway before he managed to climb up.

"Do you need help Jaune?" Ren asked with clear concern on his face.

"I am slowing them down." He thought with sour as he watched his teammates beating up the fang but instead of admitting that he needs help, he smiled. "Don't worry, I will keep up. Get to the front!"

Nora nodded and jumped on another truck, Ren for a moment stayed behind to make sure Jaune was okay, then followed Nora. And when Jaune noticed another large gap between the truck's he has to jump across, he left a heavy sigh.

Meanwhile Elder, his three bodyguards and Larian observed the approaching Hunters, weapons at the ready.

"That pair is the biggest threat." Elder pointed at the girl with a hammer and the boy with two machine pistols.

"That red head over there is also giving us a headache." One of the bodyguards pointed at the girl with a shield and customizable xiphos, who demolished a small van before jumping on another truck and engaging it's crew, covering her team's flanks all on her own.

"She must be the leader." He said and looked at Larian. "Can you take her on?"

He shook his head in denial and quickly gestured with his hands.

"It's Pyrrha Nikos." And Elder frowned in surprise.

"What, are you…" Before the leader could finish, Larian nodded his head, which made Elder frown again. "Then the best chance we have is to slow her down..."

Larian stared past fighting Nora and Ren and watched how Jaune is struggling to keep up, being at least one truck behind the rest of his team. This was a surprise for a lion faunus, because he could swear that at the beginning it was the blond boy directing the rest. Not to mention all three constantly look after him. Could it be that he is a leader, not Pyrrha Nikos? Regardless of that, he is vulnerable.

"I have a plan." Larian gestured to Elder. "Try to keep these two in place and I will attack the one slacking behind." Elder snarled at the lion faunus.

"I am the one with ideas here." Leader said with anger in his voice, then looked at his bodyguards. "We will attack the two up front while Larian will engage the one behind. Now with me." Elder and his bodyguards traversed on the truck behind leaving Larian alone.

Lion faunus just sighed. Blake encouraged them to think for themselves, and praised him and others many times for taking the initiative. Elder on the other hand preferred to rule with an iron fist. At least Roman is more flexible to work with.

"…But hunter teams very often relay on their team leader." Lion faunus recounted Roman's debriefing. "If you manage to isolate him or her, a whole team might start making mistakes, or at least that won't allow them to formulate a coherent plan. So, when you identify team leader, go for it. Just be careful, team leaders are usually the best fighters of the team."

He tap the truck, and the driver looked at him.

"Drive to the right, then pump the brakes on my mark." He gestured, driver gave him a thumb up and drove to the right, maintaining his speed for now.

Nora swung her hammer in a wide arc, lightning sparks emanating from Magnhild as she catapulted the whole group of faunus away, another fang tried to sneak on her, but an accurate shot from Milo knocked him out before he could take a swing.

Meanwhile Ren dueled one particularly agile viper faunus, his daggers and StromFlower locked in a stalemate.

"That face, these eyesss!" Viper narrowed his eyes. "You must be Mistrelian!" He added in disdain, but Ren didn't answer his taunts.

He kicked the viper in the stomach, faunus stumbled back but still managed to dodge another strike, then white fanger spew venom right into Ren's left eye.

With pained expression Ren backed off, trying to remove the poison, but the viper pursued him. "I will make you bleed Mistrelian sssscum!" He said as he cut with his daggers at Ren's face, but hunter's aura protected him. "Like my forefathersss made yours at Gorgan!"

Ren' clenched his teeth. Of all of the places…

He hurled himself at the faunus, pinned him against the roof and with a single strike to the face he knocked the viper out of the fight.

"Ren look out!" He suddenly heard Nora's concerned voice, but he couldn't recover completely, as armored boot kicked him right in the stomach, he tumbled over the truck's roof.

"FOR ADAM TAURUS!" Crimson fangs charged at Lie, their heavy blades aimed to tear the boy limb by limb.

Nora wanted to shift Magnhild into a grenade launcher and fire at the enraged fangs, but a sound of the revved chainsaw alerted her, forcing her to block the blow with her weapon, chainsaw's teeth sending sparks as both weapons met.

Elder, thinking that he have a strength advantage tried to push Nora back, but the huntress held him in a standstill.

"Really? A chainsaw?" Nora smirked, and Elder frowned upon her in confusion. "That's overly edgy!" Nora pushed the Elder back, then swung her hammer at his side, but he blocked the blow with the tool.

"Hang on guys, I'm coming!" Jaune yelled to his teammates, being one truck behind them. "Pyrrha, we need you back here!"

Redhead broke another truck, tilted her head slightly and jumped on the van little in the back, then on another vehicle, trying to make her way towards Nora and Ren.

Jaune took a deep breath, then started to run to make a jump across the gap between the trucks, and as he was about to make it, he heard a sound of brakes, and soon after a metal claw struck him mid-air.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha noticed as Jaune flew back and landed on a faraway truck.

"We can handle them, go!" Ren shouted, holding his own against three armored opponents despite currently being half-blind. In a moment he ducked under the heavy sword, unleashed a flurry of blows, striking armored fang's chestplate in multiple places, after that it shattered like it was made of dirt, then backed off from the set of claws.

After a brief moment of consideration Pyrrha went after her team leader, leaving Nora and Ren against the Elder and his guards.

Meanwhile Jaune stood back up, just in time to witness that the faunus in a repurposed mining mech walked over to the truck he landed on.

"Oh no." Arc muttered as the mech swung his guitar-axe at him, He jumped to the side as the weapon slammed against the roof, but before Arc could assume more stable combat stance, spinning drill lunged forward.

Jaune barely managed to cover his body with a shield, the drill released a dozen of sparks and pushed him back.

But before Larian could strike with mech's metal claw, few precise rounds struck the engine on his back, which partially immobilized the machine.

Pyrrha shifted Milo back into xiphos and jumped on another vehicle, where group of fangs awaited her.

"Give Larian time!" Pack leader pointed at Pyrrha and faunus rushed at her without hesitation, trying to hold her, preventing her from joining up with Jaune, but they only managed to slow her down for few more seconds.

Jaune looked back, realized that he is standing on the edge and that another truck is quite a distance away, then looked at the immobilized mech before him, which still tried to grab him with its functional arms.

Without second thought he jumped to get away from danger, not realizing that he was too far away.

Seeing it, Pyrrha focused her semblance on Jaune's shield and sword, which would certainly cost her a strike from a sledge, if only faunus wielding it was a little bit faster.

Not sure how, Jaune landed on the truck's roof, and quickly climbed up on the top, while Larian frantically tried to reboot the systems and activate the subsidiary engines.

"Hold him in place!" Three fangs with metal pipes run at Arc while the fourth one started to spin his sling, Jaune managed to parry one but the second struck him in the stomach, while the third blow Arc managed to stop with his shield.

"Aurabreaker**!" Slinger warned his buddies and three faunus immediately jumped back and covered their ears while an small oval object passed right beside Jaune's right ear.

Then, the petard exploded in a flash of bright light into hundreds of small metal pieces, hitting Jaune's back and pushing him onto the truck's roof, his aura flickering around him.

Meanwhile Nora gained the upper hand against the Elder, pushing him back more and more, while Ren kicked one of the guards from the convoy, now fighting two against one.

Ren ducked under the set of claws, countered with a double kick to the chest, and crimson fang's armor shattered into bits. Faunus stumbled back, groaning in pain, but Ren didn't have time to finish the job as the opponent using double-handed cleaver renewed his assault, aiming at the Hunter's legs.

"You won't win hunters!" Elder barked while a chainsaw and the Magnhild clashed again. "Today will be marked as the White Fang's first true victory!" But Nora just rolled her eyes.

"Sheesh, You are such a killjoy!" With one spin of her hammer she pushed Elder's chainsaw aside, thrusted the head of Magnhild into his chest, throwing him off-balance, then, in a display of prowess, Nora smacked faunus's head, and white fang leader tumbled down on the truck's roof. "Less talking, more smashing!" She added as Elder rose back on his feet.

One of crimson fangs, still groaning in pain, watched the scene unfold and clenched his fist.

Adam himself told him and his companions to protect the lieutenant at all cost, even if it means a self-harm. He gave them the gift of aura, and now they dare to disgrace their leader!?

"WITNESS ME!" He roared and madly charged at Nora as she run to strike the weakened Elder, and before she could prepare, a mad faunus pounced at her, pushing both her and himself from the truck.

"Nora!" Ren didn't even wait, he just run to the edge and jumped after his partner.

---

Jaune's vision was a blur, shapes of his enemies barely distinguishable, and noise in his ears unbearable. He couldn't feel his shield in the left hand, did he dropped it?

"Wait, really now?" Slinger said in surprise. "I thought they are way tougher or faster than that!"

"No."

"Maybe he is one of those rich kids?" Another faunus wondered, looking over the fallen hunter. "With barely any talent?

"No!"

"Or maybe he cheated his way to Beacon!" Four faunus laughed as Jaune tried to stand up, but one struck him with a metal pipe to keep him down.

"They are not wrong." He thought while faunus's laughter echoed in Jaune's skull. "I am a cheater, a liar, a coward, a failure…"

"SHUT UP!" He hurled himself at a faunus who hit him, pushing him onto the roof and relentlessly punching him in the face. "I AM NOT A FAILURE!"

Another faunus tried to restrain him, but Jaune struck him square in the jaw.

The Everpresent laughed mockingly.

"I AM NOT A COWARD!" He yelled on top of his lungs as another faunus kicked him in the back, but Jaune didn't even flinch. The ring weight like a mountain.

"He went mad!" Faunus yelled in horror as Jaune swung Corcea around, while his left fist kept slamming against their comrade's face.

"Make way for a pacifier!" Another faunus said and struck Jaune's head with a metal pipe, throwing him of his buddy.

Jaune tried to raise back, but fauns stepped on him and rose the metal pipe.

"And stay down...!" He wanted to say, but a familiar shape appeared behind the assailant, and knocked the fanger of the truck.

"Pyrrha?" He thought as his vision slowly returned. "She came to help me."

"I needed to be saved." He corrected as Pyrrha fought his tormentors . "How pathetic."

Slinger tried to use another grenade, but Pyrrha was faster, kicking off the surprisingly effective sling away before knocking out the faunus with a solid backhand.

Only when she was sure that they are safe, for now at least, she run up to Jaune.

"Jaune, are you okay!? They didn't break your aura, did they?" She helped Jaune stood up and frantically checked him for any injuries, and breathe a sigh of relief. "Everything is fine…" but upon seeing Jaune's face…

He was shaking, and his face was pale like a ghost.

"I…I…I can't" He stammered.

"Jaune, what's wrong? Jaune!" Pyrrha shook him, but Arc was unresponsive.

For in his head, the Everpresent sang a song woven from Jaune's fears, twisting the memories to fit its narrative.

The first meeting with Pyrrha, when she saved him from the fall by pinning his hood to the tree. Although he was truly grateful for that save, the fact that he would die if not for her intervention remained unchanged. And what he did in turn? Led her into a den of the Deathstalker.

No matter how hard he tries, he was always behind in the Academy in nearly all of the subjects. And in combat classes, he is easily outclassed by other students. If he was just a team member it wouldn't be that big of a deal, but he was a team leader.

All he wanted was to prove himself that he can be a hero, that he can be a Hunter. And now, in a their second serious fight he ever had, he had to be saved. Again.

"Is this how my life will look like? Forever a deadweight?" Arc thought in horror. "I am Pyrrha's partner, I should stand beside her like an equal, yet all I ever did was putting her in some sort of trouble or shame..."

"Maybe father was right? Maybe I don't need to be a hero…"

"Of course not! Being a hero is my destiny." He added inside his head. "And I have the means to claim it in my right pocket…"

Meanwhile Larian activated the secondary engines, looked at the two hunters and decided it is now or never. He raised his third arm and aimed.

"With the ring, I will be a hero I ever wished to be…" He spoke, "All I have to do is take it, for without it, I am…"

"Jaune! What's going!?" Pyrrha brought her face closer, trying to shake Jaune out of this trance. "Please, speak to me!" And Jaune answered her stare, his eyes tired and sad.

"I am sorry Pyrrha." He said as his left hand reached for the right pocket. "I am a liar."

"What?" Pyrrha tried to inquire further, but both heard a loud bang, and Pyrrha looked to the side, seeing a mech's metal fist attached to a chain flying directly at them.

Before Nikos could raise her shield, Jaune, in a sudden moment of clarity, pushed her out of danger with his left hand, and so, only he was struck by the metal projectile.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha yelled as Arc fell from the convoy directly into the city below.

"…Utterly pathetic." Were His last words to Arc as the boy fell.

---

Three white fang vans drove through the street towards their next target.

"Any contact with a third group?" Pack leader asked the fanger overwatching the comms.

"Not response yet." Pack leader mumbled a curse.

"Doesn't matter…" He said, but he hushed as he noticed a group of fangers standing on the road, waving their hands to get their attention. "That's a fifth group! What are they doing here?"

Vans stopped before the fangs, and pack leader jumped out of the vehicle.

"Brothers, Sisters, what happened?"

"Leading van broke down, there was a crash…" Faunus girl sobbed while another comforted her.

"Our radio broke down, so our leader sent us to look for help while she and the rest stayed with the wounded guys." Another faunus added, and pack leader nodded.

"Alright, get into the vans, we will drive to get the rest." Pack leader ordered, and the group, with great relief walked up in groups of three to the vans, while one approached the pack leader.

"We also saw a large police patrol nearby." Pack leader stood on alert.

"Where? How many?!"

"Right down that street! As for how many…" Faunus pointed, and the pack leader followed the faunus's finger, before he heard a loud bang, and an electrical current washed over his body.

"…none."

Leader of the pack fell on his back, and in utter shock he watched how upon opening the vehicle's doors, their 'brothers' fired their stun guns inside, while others incapacitated the drivers.

"I would say it's nothing personal, but I would lie." Pack leader tilted his head to the faunus who shot him, and, still not able to grasp the situation, watched how 'fanger' picks up a scroll while crowd slowly gathered around them.

"Tell Annatar that Red Lions scored another one today."

---

"Copy that, continue the plan Chief gave you." Yowwick turned to the people gathered in the forge. "Red Lions got another band."

"Excellent, make sure they distribute the weapons between the volunteers. And move squad five to the next area" Sauron said as he worked on a thick metal poles, probably capable of stopping a goliath in place while radio operator relayed his orders.

"Well, I didn't know you were that proficient in… in this kind of activities." Doug Volta, a representative of the Stonecradle, remarked as he looked over the makeshift command center.

"I am what you would call 'a man of many talents'." Sauron said. "Is the squad nine in position?" He asked, not turning from the task at hand.

"They lay in wait Chief." Nathan confirmed after a while, and Sauron smiled in satisfaction.

"Good, tell the squad seven to move to the Cassandor's avenue when they are done." Sauron added, making Doug and Asana look at each other, not sure what to think about this whole situation.

From their perspective, the always nice, humble craftsmen started to behave like a leader of an military unit. His commands swift and precise, like he already preplanned everything, and just adjusted his orders due to the circumstance. He certainly didn't sound like he was doing something like that for the first time.

That raised even more questions about his past.

"Asana, your Red Lions perform remarkably well." Sauron said, starting Asim.

"Don't associate me with them!" She said. "They are hooligans…"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Sauron hushed her. "They answered your call to arms, which means you have a greater hold over them than you thought. Am I wrong?"

It was true, Red Lions were really violent faunus-only gang, which often directed their acts of vandalism against Atlasian shops like the Fang, and just like the fang, they also publicly disregarded Asana, calling her pacifist ways 'lame'. But it is also true that she, despite not liking them very much, often defended their members from the police both in public and in the court, especially when Vale's police department, trying to swiftly 'solve' cases, wanted to use the Red Lions as a scapegoats, even if that directly harmed her reputation.

Still, she was surprised when they came to her aid and fought off the White Fang, and then, when Annatar's men arrived and told her they prepare a counterattack, the Red Lions gladly joined forces

"Also, Volta, my fellow, are the Black Wolves going to join us?" Sauron asked, and his ally cleared his throat.

"It's not like I have a direct control over them… But their leader said that they want to 'clear' the Stonecradle first…"

"Tell them to be ready to arrive at my order." Sauron said upon finishing another tank trap. "We will need their muscle."

"I don't think I…" Sauron paid him a disappointed glance. "…I will see what I can do." Volta picked up a scroll and dialed the leader of the Black Wolves.

Black wolves were a minor gang comprised of young 'hardcore' soccer fans, who fanatically cheer for their district's team, FC Dynama, and often started a not-so-peaceful protests when their team lost a match, especially if their team lost against their greatest rival, Legia Clashtara, which leant to fierce brawls against the Red Lions, often requiring a police intervention.

Despite their behaviors, Volta didn't pressed severe charges against them, only forcing Black Wolves to 'clean up what they have destroyed'. Although it would be easier to just sent them to prison, Stonecradle representative hoped that the Black Wolves, if shown compassion, will one day grow up from such behaviors.

They didn't, but it meant little now.

An armored limo stopped before the forge, and Junior got out of the vehicle, much to Asana and Doug surprise.

"I don't know why you called me Ann, but…" He walked into the forge, and only now noticed two familiar faces. "…What these two are doing here?"

"We should be the ones asking!"

"Calm down everybody, that's not how you refer to your allies." Sauron finished another tank trap while Junior just blankly stared at him.

"A who now?" Asana asked, and with a sigh, Sauron came up to them.

"Dear friends, let me introduce to you Junior Xiong, my patron and ally." He looked at Junior. "My venerable patron, I introduce you to your new allies, Asana Asim, chosen leader of Clashtara, and Doug Volta, a representative of the Stonecradle."

"You never told us you work with a mobster!" Asim shouted, and Sauron simply rose his left eyebrow.

"Because you never asked." He remarked, genuinely surprised. "To be fair, I didn't hide it particularly well. In fact, I revealed it on my first day."

"But... But he is a criminal! A Bandit!" Doug joined up.

"An Information broker." Junior clarified.

"Call it as you want you…"

"After today, everyone's past will bear little to no meaning." Sauron silenced the argument, and all three looked at him while he took Junior under his arm. "That's why I called you to come here with haste dear patron, so you too could take a leading role in this battle."

"What?" Junior frowned, not understanding the Smith at all.

"Remember what I offered you when we first met?" Sauron asked, and Junior took his time to think.

"You promised me power…" Sauron shook his head in response.

"I told that I will help you regain your previous authority, but please tell me, is this really all you have ever wanted?" Junior shrugged his arms.

"Few more millions of lien certainly would not hurt…" Sauron hushed him with a finger.

"I am not talking about wealth, for I speak about the opportunity people like you get once upon the lifetime." He brought him to the table on which stood a radio. "A chance to leave your mark in the history of the whole Kingdom."

"Annatar, we see a large group of fangs approaching, can we?" Junior heard Melanie from the radio.

"Melanie? What are you…" Sauron put his hand on Junior's shoulder.

"Now it's a time to take charge of your men and women, but be swift." Sauron encouraged, and, after a short moment of hesitation, Junior picked up the device.

"This is Junior Xiong speaking." He heard a surprised gasp.

"Junior!? But we thought… What are your orders?"

"Take these Fangs out!" Junior commanded, and as the twins engaged the fangs, the other side of the call became a chatter of angry voices, stun shots and screams. As Junior put down the device, Sauron spoke.

"Four powerful men and a woman, although having their difference, united against the common foe, and saved the day?" They looked at Sauron with confusion. "I think it's a really good tale for so-called television, don't you agree?" His gaze darted to the side, and Junior, Asana and Doug noticed a TV-drone staring into the forge.

"Is this all just a publicity stunt!?" Junior said in surprise.

"In a way, but I prefer to call it a 'fresh start' for each and every one of us." Sauron said. "For today, new heroes shall emerge in the minds of the people of Vale."

"Annatar, darling, I am just an activist, Doug is an office worker, and Junior is a gangster." Asana remarked.

"Information broker." Faunus rolled her eyes when she heard that again.

"Call it however you like. Still, one good thing won't change a lot."

"Oh, to that I agree." Sauron said as the drone flew away. "Some will remember no matter what we shall do, disregard us or even despise us, but if we play our cards right, their voices will drown in the wave of adoration."

He could basically feel it – with each defeated white fang pack, his warriors and newfound allies got even more momentum. In this battle, they started to forge bonds stronger than any metal, while people flocked to them for either protection, or to join the fight.

He made sure that his warriors spread a word about him and his allies, so people of Vale will look at him in a new light – not only as a smith who makes wonders, but also as a leader in the time of need. A man they can look for in the time of trouble.

As a hero they always craved for.

And to cement this, he needs one final blow of the hammer.

"The day is still long my comrades." Sauron looked at the people gathered in the forge, then at the tank traps he made. "And if we want to achieve victory, we need to give it our all."

---

Nora pushed off the unconscious crimson fanger, and raised up on her feet.

"Not fair!" She shouted after the convoy.

"Nora!" Before she could react Ren was already upon her, frantically checking her. "Your aura isn't broken…"

"Of course it isn't! I'm fine!" She said but Ren put his hand on her shoulder and tried to use his semblance. "I told you I'm fine!" She shrugged his hand off and angrily looked him in the eyes, but the all-times stoic and calm Ren looked at her distraught and afraid, he barely registered what she said to him and again put his hand on her shoulder.

Nora left a sigh, realizing what is going on. Although Ren tries to stay calm in every situation, he, just like her, grows attached to people he cares about. And for him, Nora is a special case.

After the destruction of their home, they grew up together, and were closely attached to one another, but while Nora somewhat got over the loss and took the optimistic approach to life, Ren never truly did.

He tries to cope with it by meditating and keeping his cool, but the mere thought of something bad happening to Nora terrified him to no end, which is why he is so protective, often acting as her older brother, or even as a guardian. And in the occasions such as this, his mask slips a bit.

Although it often annoyed Nora, she decided to play along and allow him to be her 'capable protector', hoping it will eventually help him overcome his trauma.

Only after Ren made sure that Nora is fine, he left a sigh of relief and his stoic face returned.

"Jaune and Pyrrha are probably still fighting." He said and run up to the nearest abandoned White Fang jeep, broken by Pyrrha during the fight, he opened the front of the vehicle and started to repair the engine. "Maybe if I reroute the power…"

Nora just stared up at him and left another heavy sigh. He not only tries to be the best in everything, from cooking to fighting, but also took upon himself all of the chores in the dorm, despite Jaune and Pyrrha's protests, and even between the chores he is either meditating or studying, his only form of proper relaxation being sleep or time when she forces him to play games.

No matter how hard Nora tries to show him how life is full of colors, Ren just can't get over that day.

"Nora, You still have some lightning?" Ren called her, and Nora nodded. "Good, wait on my mark."

Ren jumped on the driver's seat while Nora's right hand sparkled with lightning.

"Three…Two…ONE!"

Ren turned on the engine and Nora channeled the lightning into the machine, and the vehicle came back to life.

"Yes!" He cheered as the engine roared, combustion dust flowing within.

"Then let's go!" Nora jumped onto the passenger seat. "We have a convoy to catch!" Ren stepped on the gas, and the vehicle started to pick up speed, starting it's chase after the White Fang.

---

Jaune opened his eyes and looked at the sky above him.

What happened? The last thing he remembered was that he fell, because a Fang launched its metal arm at him and…

"Pyrrha…" He mumbled with pained expression. His aura was probably in the red now because of the fall, for his body screeched in a great pain.

"I left her with them…" He thought again, absolutely ashamed. No, it's worse, HE put her in danger, because he was too slow to keep up with the rest.

They would have won if he was as strong as her, as fast, as…

He failed them. He ABSOLUTLY failed them as a team leader, and Pyrrha as a partner. Everything he have ever feared happened in a blink of an eye.

He clenched his teeth, trying to stop himself from screaming, not particularly from the physical pain.

"Cardin was right." He thought begrudgingly. "I am a weak link."

"Who do you think you are?" A question he (?) asked himself few times since that Smith made him…

"The ring!" He realized, let go of his sword and searched his right pocket.

It wasn't there.

He with a painful grunt, he first looked to the left, then to the right.

There it was, a ring made of white gold with a blue crystal attached laid on the sidewalk.

"But this thing will only strengthen the beast which hides inside you. It disrupts the balance. Make you lose control. Give you might that no human should possess." Smith's words rung in Jaune's head as he reached for the ring.

"Am I not in a desperate need of might?" His thoughts disregarded the warning. "With it, I will be able to return to help Pyrrha, Ren and Nora."

"My team…"

"You really want to gamble your life on it?" Smith's voice rung in Jaune's head as his fingers nearly touched the object.

"I already did that when I cheated to get to Beacon…" Arc thought with guilt.

"Scums like Cardin made it to Beacon too! Am I in any way worse than them!?"

He touched the metal, his hand recoiled in pain and fear, for it was surprisingly hot, like out of a furnace.

"And while you wear it, don't trust yourself." Jaune thought about Annatar one last time before He brushed the warning aside.

"Being a hero is my fate." He reminded Arc. "But do I have a will for it?"

"We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf now, would we?"

"Vomit-boy"

"Wolfmeat"

Jaune's jaw tightened and his hand reached for the ring again…

"Do I have what it takes to prove them wrong?"

"You are embarrassing Pyrrha, us, and the entire Academy with your incompetence. From the first day you showed nothing noteworthy."

"You don't need to be a hero son..."

He could feel the ring within his grasp, but he felt that something within him held his hand…

"Do I have what it takes to claim what is rightfully MINE!?"

Jaune finally took the Smith's gift, and it appeared to be shaking in anticipation. With it, he was powerful, capable of standing for himself, unstoppable…

"AM I ready to give it all TO BE-?"

"Don't trust yourself!"

"Jaune!"

"-A HERO!?"

Jaune took a deep breath and looked at the object in his hands „I can't fail them." Arc proclaimed, thinking about his teammates, about his friends in Beacon, about his family.

"I will be a hero like them, no matter how much it what it takes." And Jaune put the ring on his finger.

Words have power. Vampires don't come into your home if uninvited, and the devil, as much as he tempts and whispers, can't come into your soul if you keep your doors shut.

The Everpresent laughed in triumph. He got the invitation he craved for.

Jaune felt how his aura is quickly restored, how his body feels reinvigorated, his aura glowed in blue

and black…

Before Arc could react, he sunk into his own shadow.

---

Crimson fang helped Elder get on his feet.

"We won!" He said with a smile.

"This isn't over." Elder replied and looked at the truck on which Larian and Pyrrha were locked on in a fight.

"You could just order the driver to pump the brakes." Crimson fang pointed out, and earned a scornful look from Elder.

"Brothers and Sisters will see it as a betrayal." Elder remarked, conveniently not talking about all the dust stored within, then stomped few times on the roof to get driver's attention. "Slow down so I can help the lieutenant."

"Aye-aye!" Truck started to slow down, and before crimson fang looked at the leader in confusion as Elder revved up his chainsaw.

"You stay here to coordinate the fire." Elder commanded.

"Taurus ordered me to…" Elder came up close and gazed at his bodyguard.

"And I order you to stay back and coordinate fire from the other trucks." White Fang leader said with coldness in his voice. "Is that clear?"

"…Yes." Crimson fang said, reluctantly submitting to Elder's authority.

Mech swung it's axe-guitar, Pyrrha ducked down, blocked the strike from the drill with Akuo, then lunged forward and slashed mech's cockpit, it stumbled backwards and in a last ditch effort to push Pyrrha back it threw its third limb at her.

Pyrrha's heels carved a path in the vehicle's roof, but she remained standing, and held mech's arm in a steel grip. Larian tried to retract his arm, but Pyrrha ripped it from the mech's torso, then swung the severed limb like a giant mallet.

It slammed against white fang's mech, cracking the cockpit and pushing it back, but the machine remained functional, and Pyrrha prepared to toss Akuo to finish it off, but sudden fire from the left forced her to cover herself instead.

"Don't give her time to-!" Pack leader shouted, but shot from Milo destroyed his weapon and threw him of the vehicle before he could finish.

Pyrrha shot at two more fangs before bullets pinged from her back as another group fired at her, forcing her to turn towards them, fire few shots while fangs opened fire from a third direction, all the while the truck with Elder on board finally slowed down.

Just as she thought about changing position, Elder jumped on the vehicle and with a revved chainsaw charged at Nikos from behind.

Quickly reacting to a new danger Pyrrha shifted Milo into a spear, parried the first strike from the chainsaw, rolled under another and kicked faunus in his stomach.

Elder backed off from the champion, gasping for air, but before Pyrrha could press the advantage, fangs fired at her from all directions, pinning her in place once more.

"Together brothers and sisters! We can do this!" Crimson fang barked an order, and four separate groups fired at Pyrrha.

Pyrrha shot few more fangs with Milo, forcing the rest to take cover, and prepared to charge still recovering Elder, however, a recovered mech swung it's axe-guitar at her. She deflected the blow, blocked the kick, and Elder rushed at her, his chainsaw above his head.

Pyrrha clenched her teeth as both fangs attacked at the same time, forcing her into a defense, and each time she tried to retake the initiative and defeat at least one of her enemies, fangs immediately resumed the suppressive fire.

She was better individually than each and every single fang attacking her, but there were too many of them and were coordinated really well.

Milo fell on the mech's drill and shattered it into pieces, but Pyrrha was forced to retract her xihpos to block the chainsaw, kicked Elder in the knee, blocked the axe-guitar with Akuo, then took few more potshots on her back.

She sometimes faced against more than two enemies in the arena, once or twice she fought four at once, but not forty!

Chainsaw gnawed it's teeth on Akuo while Milo blocked the axe-guitar, putting Pyrrha, Larian and Elder in a standstill.

"NOW!" Elder roared, and Fangs fired at Pyrrha with all of their guns.

She could feel her aura being drained away really fast, and knew that if she don't do something fast, it will be the end.

The worst part is that she couldn't do anything.

Elder and Larian pressed her on while the Crimson fang smiled in satisfaction.

"This is it! Now, fin-" gunmen heard a bone-shattering paunch, and when they turned their heads they only saw a crimson fang flying away with a shocked expression on his face.

"What was-" Another fang questioned before Jaun emerged from his buddy's shadow and kicked him off the vehicle.

"What the…?" Elder muttered as he watched the hunter Larian supposedly defeated earlier clearing the truck's surrounding them.

Jaune was like a blur, his strikes sent at least one fang flying away, and he seemingly disappeared in the thin air, only to reemerge entirely elsewhere.

Pyrrha used this moment of distraction to overpower the chainsaw and pushed the axe to the side and throwing Elder away with a kick to his gut.

---

"It's amazing!" Jaune thought with joy as he kicked another fang so hard that he went spinning into the air. "That's how it feels like!?"

When he first sunk into his shadow, he found himself in a strange, sunless reflection of reality, where buildings, street and the sky were colorless, and the wind howled all around him. Despite that he didn't panic or got spooked, probably thanks to the ring on his finger. Instead, he started to think about it, and came to conclusion that it must be his semblance.

Everyone in Beacon has their own semblance – Ruby can burst into the cloud of rose petals, Weiss summons glyphs, Russel can become unnoticeable for your brain or something, and his was, apparently, sinking into shadows.

Just when he thought "Now how to get out from here?" Jaune noticed that the only source of light came from the shadows casted by the buildings and the vehicles, looking like colorful pools, and when he stepped on one as an experiment, it ejected him back into the 'real world', right under the building of a café, few meters away from his previous position.

As much as he wanted to experiment with his semblance, he knew he have a job to do, so he decided to run after the fang and rejoin his team, experimenting along the way.

He grabbed back Corcea Mors and used shadows of the building, broken vehicles, noise barriers to quickly traverse the city, trying to reach the convoy as fast as possible, and that's when he learnt a second thing about his semblance – time in the 'shadow realm' as he started to call it, passed slower, the fact he noticed thanks to the flock of birds flying above him – it barely moved while he walked between shadows.

Then, to sped up things, he tried to jump between the shadows, and learnt that, when leaving, he gets a short burst of speed, which he gladly used.

Then, when he finally had a convoy I sight, learnt one last thing.

"Where is he!?"Fang cried as Jaune disappeared in one shadow, only to emerge on another truck, furiously attacking it's crew.

"How is he doing!?" Surprised fanger fired at Jaune, but he dodged a burst, which hit the fang standing behind Arc, and in less than a second he lunged forward, and broke the fang's weapon with a quick slash of Corcea Mors.

"I'm as strong as Nora!" Jaune thought as with a single punch he threw the fang of the vehicle.

Stronger

"As fast as Ruby!" Arc effortlessly dodged three thrust from a short spear before he broke through faunus's guard.

Faster

"As capable as Ren!" Although still lacking in technique, Jaune has faster reflexes than the fangs attacking him, fighting and winning against six foes at once.

More

Shiver went down the fangers spines when they heard the Hunter laughing in joy. "I am a Hunter!" He cried out into the air.

MORE THAN THAT.

"Hell no!" Few remaining fangs decided to simply jump off the vehicle onto a small van driving beside, leaving a single, more dedicated fanger behind, and as a lone fang charged, screaming on top of his lungs, Jaune decided that he needs to clear the other trucks to help Pyrrha, not bother himself with every single opponent.

He jumped into the fang's shadow.

'

Dog faunus swung his hammer at a blond haired Hunter, but as fast as he appeared, he was gone, disappearing into a thin air.

White fanger stammered, wanted to curse, but then he felt something creeping on his shoulder…

"I am ashamed that I gave birth to such pathetic creature." He heard a voice of his mother, the same voice that he heard in his nightmares…

'

"What are you doing!? Fire at her!" Elder barked an order, but fangs were too focused on their new foe to follow Elder's orders.

This gave Pyrrha an opportunity to push against the mech, thanks to not being shot at, but she couldn't help herself and constantly looked over to Jaune, as she couldn't believe her own eyes.

"He was never that fast before." She noted as he easily avoided attacks from five enemies and delivered devastating counter, pushing two fangs of the truck, then disappeared in the shadow of another fang, leaving two enemies flabbergasted while the last one just stood there, unresponsive.

'

"You can fight as much as you like, it won't bring me back." Faunus quietly sobbed hearing her long dead husband's voice.

'

Larian tried to swing his axe at Pyrrha, but she blocked the strike with Milo, and threw Akuo straight at the cockpit, cracking it further.

With a growl Elder charged at Pyrrha from behind, holding his chainsaw high, and Pyrrha immediately redirected her focus on the chainsaw wielding faunus, raising Milo to block the chainsaw while Akuo returned to her hand.

But Jaune emerged out of Elder's shadow blocking his path.

"Finish the mech, this one is mine!" Jaune brushed the chainsaw aside and with a single paunch he pushed Elder back.

At first startled, Pyrrha quickly turned to recovering Larian.

Mech threw what remained of it's drill, but Pyrrha slid under it, right between the mech's legs and slashed one of its knees with Milo, cutting of the metal leg, which made the mech lose stability and fell directly on her.

Much to Larian's surprise, Huntress wasn't crushed by the mech's weight, but instead, she managed to lift it up. She spun the machine around and hurled it away like a giant boulder.

Thinking quickly, faunus fired the grappling arm at the truck he flew over, and managed to pull his badly damaged mech back on the vehicle up front.

Meanwhile Jaune dueled against the Elder, their weapons sending sparks each time they met, Elder tried to overpower the Hunter with strength, but for some bizarre reason, Arc appeared to be stronger than him.

"But earlier he was far behind the rest!" Elder thought in horror as Corcea scuffed his cheek. "Was he just holding back!?"

He swung his chainsaw at Jaune's stomach, Arc effortlessly parried that, then countered with a fist to Elder's jaw, breaking his mask in two.

"I can't lose!" Elder launched another barrage of blows, desperately trying to defeat the Hunter. "Not when I…"

"Trying again to prove yourself?" Elder heard a familiar voice behind. "Do I need to remind you how it ended before?"

In surprise he looked back, but there was no one there. Jaune used this moment of distraction to swipe Elder from his feet and sent him tumbling on the truck's roof.

"I drowned because of you!" Elder heard his younger brother's voice. "All because you wanted to prove how strong you are!"

"Stop playing your tricks hunter!" Elder got up and charged at Jaune, swinging his chainsaw with renewed vigor and fury, but Jaune parried these blows with childish ease. "Get out from my head!"

Jaune frowned upon hearing it. What is this guy talking about?

"You always blamed others for your shortcomings Brother." Elder heard Blake's voice from behind. "I wonder who do you blame for leaving your little sister back home?"

"SHUT UP!" Elder lunged furiously at Jaune, his rage and guilt overtaking his senses, but Jaune simply sidestepped, allowing Akuo to strike Elder's chest, throwing him off balance, allowing Jaune a sidekick, which once again sent faunus on his back.

Elder tried to raise on his knees, spit and briefly looked at his own shadow.

And the shadow stared back, grinning it's long teeth.

Faunus jump back in surprise, but his own shadow now felt like a leech attached to him, being real and unreal at the same time.

"What's the matter with you?" He heard and looked at approaching Jaune, watching in utter horror as Hunter's spiked shadow wrapped itself around him, all the while an immense feeling of dread grasped the Faunus's heart and soul.

Scared of your own shadow?

Elder tried to crawl back in a panic as Jaune raised his leg to kick him of the truck, but a metal arm grabbed leader's torso and pulled him away from danger.

Jaune looked after the faunus and prepared to go after him.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha called out to him, and his demeanor changed.

"Pyrrha!" He quickly run up to her. "I was so worried that they hurt you!"

"I'm fine, thanks to you." Pyrrha said, which made Juane unimaginably happy. "I see you discovered your semblance?" Jaune gave her a bright smile.

"I guess so! I still don't know how to call it though, shadow-walking sounds too basic…"

Meanwhile after grappling arm brought Elder to him, Larian jumped out of the mech's cockpit and quickly checked on his unresponsive leader, waving his hand before the leader's face, but Taurus's second in command just stared blankly.

"Elder, this is rearguard!" Larian suddenly heard a voice coming from elder's radio. "Hunters managed to break through and beeline straight for the convoy! I don't know if we can stop them!" Hearing this Larian stared into the distance.

---

"I see the convoy!" Nora said from her passenger seat while Ren threw the jeep into a

sharp turn to avoid another harpoon, while countless bullets pinged from the jeep.

Nora and Ren shared a look.

"You can go wild." He said.

"Like I need your permission." She gave him a playful wink, and moved to the back of the vehicle.

"Just stop them already!" Fang yelled to the gunner manning a machine gun.

"You know how hard is to aim with this thing on the move!?" Gunman snapped back and fired another burst, bullets passing above the jeep.

Then, the back of the jeep opened, revealing Nora holding a Magnhild.

"Is that a grenade launcher!?" Every fang in a close vicinity thought at the same time as Nora started firing grenades, sending vehicles into the air, ripping the wheels or destroying their engines, all the while laughing maniacally.

---

"Looks like they managed themselves too." Jaune remarked as he watched Ren and Nora rapidly approaching.

Pyrrha knelt on one knee, changed Milo into a gun and aimed at the white fangers going after her teammates, only for Corcea Mors to lower her gun.

"I will help them, go to the front of the convoy and stop it." Jaune ordered.

"What are you…"

"I will be back!" Jaune didn't let her finish before he jumped into her shadow.

No regrets?

Pyrrha heard something akin to a confused voice behind her, and she swiftly turned to face a newfound foe, only to find no one. She looked around, searching for the source of the mysterious voice, but when she found no one, she came to conclusion that she is probably just tired.

She shook her head to put these thoughts aside, and quickly jumped on another truck, trying to get to the battering ram as fast as possible.

Meanwhile Nora destroyed another white fang van, but soon large group of fangs on a motorbikes joined the chase, and started throwing grenades at a jeep. Nora tried to retaliate with her own projectiles, but motorbikes were too quick for her nades to land.

Another fang pulled a pin from a makeshift grenade, but before he could throw it, Jaune appeared out of thins air and kicked faunus of his vehicle, then disappeared again, and reemerged on another motorbike, slashing the tire, repeating this process again and again.

"Hell yeah! Wohoo! Go Fearless leader go!" Nora cheered as Jaune broke another vehicle. At first she was surprised seeing Jaune doing all this, but she quickly assumed that Jaune finally discovered his semblance.

And when Jaune heard her voice cheering for him, he couldn't help but laugh with joy.

---

Larian shook Elder again, trying to get him out of this trance, while a voice from the opposite side of the radio begged for orders, for anything.

"Anyone there!? Please!" Voice begged as hunters got closer and closer. Larian manned up a courage and picked up a radio.

"Laaariaaa..." He said, his voice gurgling, his throat rapidly filling with sticky phlegm. "Cooodeeee… Yeeelllliiiw..."

"Code Yellow!" Hearing his message relayed to others he fell to his knees and coughed violently, nearly choking on his saliva. But his job was not done.

He picked up his leader, put him on his back and run to the front of the truck and tapped it's roof, getting driver's attention.

"Call a supporting van at once." Larain signaled to the driver.

"I only have one, but boys inside are on the verge of breaking into tears." Driver responded, his voice trembling. "Like, I don't know man, they say that something is watching them…"

"Just tell them to drive the Leader to the 'Queen Marica' and don't look back." Larian signaled, and soon the van approached the truck from the side, opened its roof, and without wasting any more time Lion faunus tossed the Elder into the vehicle, and van quickly drove away, taking alternate path.

Faunus took a deep breath. His primary goal was to make sure that Elder will arrive to Queen Marica, now he had to make sur that at least some will make it to the port.

Faunus turned his head and briefly watched how Pyrrha Nikos puncture another truck engine with bullets, destroying it, then how she jumped on another truck and engaged the few crewmates that remained, while the convoy started to split.

With a heavy sigh he walked back to his mech, went into the cockpit and turned it back on, and using what remained of the arm-drill as a supporting leg, he got up.

"Is this how Blake felt like?" He briefly thought as he checked his axe-guitar. "Before she faced SDC alone to let Adam escape with his life?" He charged his grappling arm.

It wasn't anger, sorrow or resentment. It was grim acceptance of the inevitable.

He smiled. It's a shame, he promised that he will write a metal song about Blake Belladonna and her sacrifice after this action, but like usual, Brother Gods laugh upon our plans.

They always do.

---

"They are splitting up!" Ren shouted to Nora as the convoy before them split in two and while still a sizeable chunk of the convoy kept driving on the highway, most took an alternate path through the city.

"Forget about them!" Nora said and pointed at the convoy on the highway. "We have to join Pyrrha…"

"Go after the other half!" Jaune appeared on top of the jeep.

"But…" Ren tried to argue, but Jaune interrupted him.

"Me and Pyrrha are enough to deal with what's left, but we can't let them escape!" Jaune pointed at the convoy slowly disappearing in the city. "Trust me!"

After a brief moment of consideration, Ren reluctantly nodded his head in an agreement.

"I hope you are sure about it." He muttered under his breath and changed lanes.

"Kick their sorry butts!" Nora encouraged her team leader, and with a confident smile, Jaune vanished in the jeep's shadow while Ren and Nora chased after the escaping Fangs.

---

Annatar walked in the gathered crowd of civilians, personally overwatching the distribution of aid as more and more people flocked to Limestone, seeking protection from White Fang.

People came from all around the Industrial part of the Capital, and were an easy source of information, such as the fact that White Fang truly use some heavy weaponry to keep police at bay, or that they blocked all of the roads leading into the district, and the most astonishing news of all – that Fangs did not kill.

They beat up, rob and set fires, but didn't kill anyone, as far as people he talked to knew. That meant there was another objective in this whole ordeal.

"Here." He handed a bottle of water tired father with a young daughter, both wearing some sort of costumes.

"Thank you." Man took a bottle and handed it to his daughter.

"Were you heading to participate in a costume festival?" Annatar questioned politely, and man looked at him, his eyes tired. "I ask because your clothes are unusual."

"No, we were heading for an audition to a movie." Man said, patting his daughter's head "We finished the costumes, once again practiced lines for the roles…" Young girl stopped drinking from a bottle, gave it back to her dad without saying a word, her face giving of an empty feeling.

"…But White Fang interrupted your plans?" On that question man clenched his teeth.

"We barely managed to run away when they broke our car." Father said. "Where is the police or Hunters when you need them!?

"I am sure they are doing their best." Sauron lied. If they did their best, this whole assault would not happen in the first place. These institutions were rotten and weak.

"It's unfair…" Man muttered with sadness.

"Life is never fair." Sauron remarked with sour taste in his mouth, and walked away. "That's how he have designed it." He added in his head, thinking about the Illuvatar.

All around him scenes like this played out – his subordinates and allies distributed clothes, helped those stuck by the stun shots or by a fangers melee weapons, while the designated groups pushed the White Fang out of the area, and established a safe zone in Limestone, Clashtara and Stonecradle.

But Sauron knew that it won't last forever.

Although he ordered his men to make sure that no warning could be passed to the White Fang, he always expected the worst, and in this case, he was more than sure the Fang got the message about his activity. Their return was only a matter of 'when'.

"Hopefully, since his plan relies on shock, awe and speed, he won't retaliate against me." Sauron thought as he handed a piece of cloth to another man in need, pretending to be listening to his ramblings about the vile fangs. "But I can't underestimate Roman torchwick just yet. He is certainly prepared…"

"Chief!" He heard behind him, and looked at quickly running Yowwick carrying a radio, his face pale like a ghost. "Guys on a lookout saw a large convoy driving our way!"

"There it is."

Hearing that, panicked yelps could be heard from the gathered crowd.

"How many? From which direction?" Sauron questioned.

"At least twelve trucks, probably more, they are heading to the Brodytown!" Yowwick explained, and Sauron quickly recounted all knowledge he had about the 'Brodytown'.

"Once a small town it was integrated into the Capital hundred sixty two years ago. There once stood a vehicle factory, but was shut down five years ago, the major lookout point is a large water tower, a relic from the times when the Brodytown was still a village. For a strategic point there is the Warden's crossroad, one leading to the harbor, and the other leads to Limestone." He smirked. "You are bold, Roman Torchwick."

"We don't have much time - Gather all available men, take the metal traps I made and command our allies to converge onto the Brodytown." He ordered. "We shall make our stand there."

Yowwick simply saluted as he relayed the orders to the radio while Sauron's goons picked up the metal constructions and carried them to their vehicles.

"I heard the Fang's are coming!" Volta quickly run up to Sauron, swinging his cane above his head. "These rascals deserve a solid ass-whooping!" Sauron chuckled.

"My fellow, I really do appreciate your enthusiasm, but people need someone they can turn to in my absence."

"Are you going too?" Asim said in surprise as the first van drove away.

"White Fang attacked the city that welcomed me with open arms." He said out loud for everyone to her. "And I will gladly put myself in the harm's way for its citizens to repay this kindness."

Sauron felt how people around him stare with awe, his words resonating with their souls. He didn't even need magic.

Fallen Maia jumped into one of the vans.

"Make sure Limestone is safe, my fellows!" Annatar raised his voice for everyone to hear. "For tonight, we will celebrate our victory here!" He declared with utmost confidence as the van drove away, leaving Asim and Volta behind.

"He is something, isn't he?" Volta wrinkled his mustache, and faunus just nodded her head, while the TV-drone filmed the whole scene.

"What are we doing!?" Everyone heard and they turned towards the forge, where Junior Xiong stood on a table, his voice ringing like a polished steel.

"We are just going to leave him like this!?" Xiong continued, getting everyone's undivided attention. "While he is going to fight, we will just stay behind!?"

"What went into him?" Asana questioned, surprised by Junior's behavior, while the crowd slowly started to raise up, while the tv drones looked towards the Xiong.

"Do we have no pride?!" Junior questioned the crowd. "Fangs robbed our homes, our shops and banks, and now we let them threaten us!?"

People looked at each other, still unsure.

"Annatar said to achieve victory, we have to give our all!" Junior raised his fist into the air. "Are we seriously not going to fight!?"

Some stood up and raised their fists in support.

"He helped us all in our time of need! And this is how are we going to repay him!?"

More people stood up.

"We are people of Vale!" Junior declared, his voice boomed across the street. "We won the Great War! Will we now tremble against a new foe!?"

"No!"

"Will we let Annatar fight alone!?"

"NO!"

"THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT!" Junior roared, feeling confidence like never before.

He wasn't sure why, but through this months he felt that something is changing, and that Annatar is much more than he claims to be. He saw that today, and still not sure why Junior felt that way, he knew that today will be deciding for his future, and has to prove himself now or never.

"With me!" Junior jumped off the table. "For Annatar!"

"For Annatar!" Some in the crowd yelled back, and the rest quickly caught up.

"Annatar! Annatar! Annatar!"

---

Pyrrha pulled Milo's trigger, aiming at an exposed truck engine, but the silent clicks made her realize that she finally run out of ammo, which meant that she now had to resort to another method.

"We can still make it!" One of the fangs aimed his weapon Pyrrha while she tossed Akuo into the engine, splitting it in two, but before faunus could pull a trigger, Jaune appeared out of the shadow and sliced the gun in two.

"Oh shit!" Fangs just opted to jump from the vehicle instead of facing Arc, so he used that to run up to the front of the vehicle and strike the engine with Corcea Mors, bringing the vehicle to a violent halt.

With that vehicle done Jaune vanished in the shadow and reappeared on another truck while Pyrrha jumped on the same vehicle. Four fangs would probably hold one hunter for more than few seconds, but against two, they barely lasted one.

Jaune's gaze darted to the side as Pyrrha kicked the remaining fang of the truck, and noticed a van's harpoon aiming at them.

"Pyrrha, shield!" He shouted, and Pyrrha raised Akuo just in time to deflect the harpoon.

Jaune jumped into a shadow and emerged on top of the van.

"Holy…!" Harpoon gunner tried to stab Arc, but with a backhand Jauen tossed the knife away, then Corcea slashed the harpoon launcher.

"I will cover you, get to the battering ram!" Jaune yelled to Pyrrha, and with a nod she slammed Akuo into the truck's engine then jumped onto another vehicle while he looked around for threats to his partner.

There were one or two gunmen firing at her, so Jaune immediately blinked toward them, giving no time to react he kicked one off and backhanded second fang.

As he was about to jump into another shadow, but he heard a sound of something heavy jumping on the back of the truck, so he slowly turned back to face the mech, giving it unimpressed look.

"You don't know when to quit, do you?" Mech stabilized itself and swung his axe-guitar in response.

Just as Pyrrha was about to turn another truck into scrap she noticed in corner of her eye that Jaune was once again fighting the mech, so she focused her semblance to…

Jaune parried the blow, pushed the axe aside and tried to slice the broken cockpit, but mech blocked his strike with its functional grappling arm, Jaune bounced back, avoiding the axe.

Pyrrha blinked few times. He did it on his own… and she smiled. Jaune finally found his confidence.

As Jaune fought against the white fang mech, Pyrrha's attention returned to the large battering ram riding at the forefront, it's crew coming on top of it to defend their vehicle.

Deciding the best course of action will be to let Jaune get a win, she pounced at the fangers.

"Incoming!" One of the fangs screamed and fired a burst from his gun, but Pyrrha deflected the energy-bullets with Akuo back at the fanger, throwing him of the vehicle.

She landed low on her knees, sprung forward, tossing six fangs into the air.

Four fangs tried to attack together, but she danced around their spears and mallets, rolled forward, double kicked one fang into two of his buddies, shattered the spear with Milo, grabbed a fang by his shirt and slammed him against the truck's roof.

Meanwhile Jaune blocked the strike from an axe, and before the mech could retract it, With a single strike, Arc shattered the axe into pieces, which made Larian growl in anger and aim his grappling arm at the team leader.

When he fired it, Jaune vanished into the shadow, grappling arm tore through the roof and stuck deep within the vehicle.

Jaune reappeared slightly above the mech, his sword pointed at the engine powering the machine, and Corcea tore through it like knife through butter, which immediately cut off power from the mech.

As the mech started to fall on its back, Jaune smashed the cockpit open with his left hand, grabbed faunus inside by the throat, pulled him out and jumped on the highway.

As Jaune landed on the asphalt holding a tall faunus in his left hand he watched how the mech fell on the road right under another armored truck, the vehicle tumbled on the road, sending metal parts everywhere, while the 'juggernaut' tried to dive away, but with attached grappling arm, now acting as an anchor, he tore the vehicle in two.

With one last fang out of the way Pyrrha jumped several feet into the air, grabbed Akuo with both of her hands and spun down at the battering ram.

"Shit!" Both Drivers jumped of their vehicles as Pyrrha slammed Akuo into the front of the truck, bending the metal, shattering the modified engine and bringing the vehicle into a violent stop.

Jaune chuckled and looked at the faunus he held in his left hand, then at the Highway, filled with broken vehicles and unconscious or groaning fangs scattered around the road.

"We won." Jaune started to realize the gravity of the situation. "We won!" He almost screamed out of excitement.

They won, against the odds.

I won

He started to laugh with joy, while the faunus held by a neck struggled for breath.

"Now to finish the job." He thought, and Corcea aimed at the Faunus's stomach.

"Wait, what?"

---

They are good, gonna give them that!" Nora kept firing grenades at pursuing fangs while Ren tried to get close to the fleeing convoy, it's drivers disregarding any kind of safety precautions, just driving at full speed to get away.

Suddenly convoy seemed to make a sharp turn to the left, most of the trucks somehow made it, but one lost its adhesion while making the turn, and it tumbled straight into a cookie factory, breaking the vats full of chocolate in the process, and the dark-brown liquid started to pour over the street.

"Hang on!" Ren pushed the accelerator to the floor and spun the wheel.

The jeep performed a really sharp drift, the sound of screeching tires echoed across the Brodytown long black markings were left on the asphalt and the wave of chocolate sprayed from under the tires on the nearby buildings.

"Weeee!" Inertia pinned Nora against the jeep's opened door, and she used her position to shift Magnhild into a hammer and grab some white and dark chocolate from the road, while Ren masterfully finished the maneuver and drove down the road after the escaping convoy.

The Hunter's drift, as was Ren's maneuver later called by the locals, made nearby speedsters so jealous that they tried to copy it for months with a mixed results, which in turn reinforced the idea that the jeep was in fact possessed by a legendary demon of speed, which then inspired a movie about a young, aspiring cop infiltrating a local gang in a search for a stolen vehicle which would start a series of action movies called "The Quick and the Enraged".

But that's a story for another day.

Nora watched with a smirk how Fangs chasing them tried to perform a drift as well, but due to chocolate covering the road the entire scene devolved into a large car crash.

"We have to do this again someday!" Nora said, jumped on the passenger's seat, and started eating chocolate she managed to gather on her hammer.

"Nora do not eat it."

"What? All that action made the girl hungry you know?" Nora licked the chocolate. "Mmmm, it's really sweat, want some?" She offered, but Ren didn't turn to her, his gaze focused on the road and the convoy ahead.

"I will make you pancakes if you stop eating that." He offered, and she put her finger on her lip, thinking about it.

"Aaand?" She decided to bargin, and Ren left a sigh.

"With extra syrup."

"Deal!" She threw the chocolate from the jeep's window. "Now let's get this…"

Much to their surprise, convoy ahead violently stopped in its tracks, and from the back alleys a large group of people came out, some carrying a large metal tank traps and put them on the road while some aimed their weapons at them.

"More of them!?" Nora shouted in disbelief.

"They are not Fangs." Ren blinked few times. "These are Xiongs!"

"Are they working together?" Nora asked, but Ren shook his head as he slowed down the jeep.

"Don't think so." He stopped the jeep and left it.

"They are not fangs!" Lie and Valkyrie heard from the group.

"Join the fight, we will handle them." A feminine voice commanded, and Junior's goons charged at the White Fang convoy, leaving two identical women behind, one wearing a red dress while another wore a white.

"Malachite twins." Ren noted as the twins working for Junior approached them.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Miltiades spoke first.

"We should be the ones asking!" Nora snapped back, Magnhild at the ready while both twins immediately prepared for a confrontation.

"Calm down everyone! We are not your enemies!" Ren put his hand on Nora's hammer and pushed it down a bit. "I am Lie Ren and this is my partner, Nora Valkyrie, we are Hunters-at-training from Beacon and were chasing down the fangs."

"Well well, some of you made it after all." Miltiades remarked as the fight behind them grew in an intensity.

"You must be Miltiades and Melanie Malachite, right?" Miltiades rolled her eyes in response.

"Was it that hard to guess?" She said with sarcasm, which immediately angered Nora.

"Don't be rude sister!" Melanie scolded her twin, then gave Ren an apologetic look. "I'm sorry for my sister, one of the fang's damaged her dress during the fight." And like a confirmation Militia looked at a nasty cut on her clothes. "But it seems we actually have a common goal, here, which is stopping the Fang?"

Ren looked past the twins and watched how not only Junior goons, but also large groups of men in black shirts and facemasks charged at the fangs from one direction, slamming their bats and knuckledusters against their enemies, while faunus wearing a red masks charged from the another street, fully surrounding the fangs in the process.

"An ambush from three different gangs?" Ren thought in astonishment while Nora spoke up.

"Hell yeah we do! But it's surprising that Junior actually decided to do something nice for once." Valkyrie remarked with a fair doze of suspicion, mainly due to the fact that she is talking to daughters of none other than Lil' Miss Malachite, the Mistral's most ruthless crime boss.

"It's not Junior." Militia clarified. "This whole ambush is Annatar's idea."

"Who?" Ren tried to inquire further, but a voice spoke through Melanie's scroll.

"Melanie, Miltiades, would you kindly join the fight? Some fangs are still attempting to stage a breakout."

"Of course Ann!" Melanie replied, ended the call and gave both Nora and Ren a sheepish look. "Thanks for a chat, but…"

"…Fangs won't defeat themselves." Miltia finished and checked the claws attached to her hands. "But you are welcome to join if you wish so." Both sisters run to join the escalating brawl, leaving both hunters behind.

"I heard this name before…" Ren wondered out loud.

"Who cares now!?" Nora snapped her back into reality. "I won't let them have all of the fun!" She run straight into fight, and after leaving a heavy sigh Ren reloaded StromFlower and run to join the fray.

---

Sauron overwatched the battle from the Brodytown's water tower, his face expressionless and calm, observing how the jaws of his trap close around the fangs, slightly disappointed.

"That's all?" He thought as White Fang crumbled under the pressure. "They fight without conviction, did Torchwick really thought that they will be able to take over my domain?"

This particular group of the White Fang appeared to be demoralized, probably near a breaking point before they even got here, while his men and faunus fought harder than he predicted.

He watched how bulky black wolves smash the white fang's pitiful defense with brute strength, shattering their bats on fangers shoulders and chests and slamming their wrenches and fists, breaking bones and noses, and fangers trying to fight back were met with laughter.

They were brutes through and through – hard hitting, hard to put down.

His gaze then shifted to more agile and insidious Red lions. They lacked wolves strength, but compensated it with dirty tactics.

While many wore their lion masks and marking, those who took White Fang's clothes infiltrated their ranks and attacked from within, sowing chaos, confusion and panic among the defenders.

He then overlooked the Malachite twins single-handedly changing a potential breakout into a dead end, beating off a large group of fangs back into the trap. And on top of that, the twins were joined by…

"Well well well." Sauron watched curiously as another two members of the Fellowship joined the fight, becoming another nail in the White fang's coffin.

As the encirclement tightened, Sauron couldn't help but wonder. Fangs were taken by complete surprise, which means they didn't expect his ambush. Did he overestimated Roamn Torchwick? Or maybe these fangs weren't going to attack Limestone? Maybe it was a diversion?

Just to make sure, he looked back at his forge and everything appeared to be in order. He learnt the lesson the Returned King of Gondor gave him under the Black Gate, so he left more than enough men to protect the heart of his domain from any spies. They fooled him once, never again.

Before his thoughts shifted into another session of "How on the Flame they managed to destroy The One Ring", he noticed a truly surprising sight.

"Come on people, for Annatar!" Junior yelled, and a large crowd of civilians, armed with anything they could find, charged at the Fangs.

Although the reinforcements were unnecessary to achieve victory, the fact that Junior Xiong showed his true potential in a time of crisis and managed to rally men and women behind for a fight mattered to Sauron the most.

"It's seems that card about to be discarded found itself a new value." Sauron reevaluated his 'ally' as Junior joined the fray, his heavy bat pushing Fangs left and right.

Upon realizing that they won't be able to escape, more discipline fangs gathered around the truck in the center and formed a defensive circle, not wanting to go down without a fight, and Sauron just rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Their defeat is inevitable, they should just surrender." He thought, unamused by the Fang's final stand. "This serve no purpose other than cause further harm to my assets."

"Heroic nonsense." He growled and decided that enough is enough, he won't tolerate this any longer. This is not the Black Gate, they just waste his precious time, he still has tasks to fulfill, places to be.

He raised his hand, and prepared his voice.

Unlike under the Black Gate, there is no Wizard among the Fangs to guard their hearts, and also, their comrades dared to hurt Penny Polendina.

For that slight, they shall face his wrath.

"Deuk-pair."

---

With a single swing of Magnhild Nora knocked over three fangs like bowls, scattering them over the road like toys.

One fang attempted to lunged at Nora from behind, but Miltia's claws cut the fang's axe in two, then finished him with swift kick to the jaw.

"If we go down, then they will too!" Pack leader encouraged his faunus as they surrounded Ren and Melanie in a final attempt to break out, but Melanie's and Ren's combat styles complemented each other surprisingly well, and as they fought back to back they quickly swung the scales to their favor.

Pack leader's jaw tightened as he watched how Melanie defeated two fangs with a swift double kick while Ren deflected blows of another three fangs and then countered them with a flurry of blows. Then he noticed a group of ten fangs quickly approaching him.

"Brothers, Sisters, we can still make it!" He told them. "Just help-" His words were cut short a baseball bat to the head.

"Legia Clashtara to Najlepszy klub!" Disguised Red Lions rushed at the fangs attacking Melanie and Ren.

"No it's not! Dynama forever!" Black wolf yelled and headbutted the fang attacking Nora and Miltia.

"These were probably the last ones here!" Nora looked around for more foes, but the only ones remaining in the fight were those defending the truck in the center.

"Only they remained." Melanie said and prepared to charge alongside the others.

"Let's finish them!" Nora shouted, and eager shouts joined her.

"Wait!" Ren yelled loud enough for everyone to hear. "Maybe we can-" But as he gazed on the fangs, his eyes widened, then he feel on his knees and nearly puked.

"Ren!" Nora run up to him and stopped him from falling on the ground.

Ren's semblance, the Tranquility, allowed him to interact with emotions of others, calm people down upon physical contact, but only if he remained calm, even sense basic emotions around him, like sadness, happiness, anger.

He looked at the gathered fangs, barely holding his vomit. It felt like some sort of miasma fell on the fangs, infecting them with fear, despair, sadness, and all other emotions mixed into a dreadful storm of negativity, which consumed all of the fangs courage, strength, hope…

"ENOUGH!" Fangs dropped their weapons and raised their hands, surrendering en masse, and just when their resolve shattered into pieces, the miasma vanished as suddenly as it appeared.

As Ren took few heavy gasps to calm down, people around him looked at surrendering fangs in disbelief.

"Victory!" Someone yelled "Victory!" More people joined, and soon, everyone screamed as one.

"Victory! Victory! Victory!"

"Are you okay?" Nora asked her partner as he slowly got up, and he nodded.

"Yeah." He replied to not worry her too much, but he was more than sure that someone used a powerful semblance, on par with professor Goodwitch.

"Dynama! Legia! Victory! Annatar!" The triumphant shouts increased in their volume as more and more people joined, and all of the victorious cheers slowly merged into one, responsible for this whole victory.

"ANNATAR! ANNATAR! ANNATAR!" Whole Brodytown invoked their hero's name and those who knew where to look turned their stares at the water tower, but, much to their surprise, Annatar was no longer there.

Someone pat Nora on her shoulder, one of the black wolves grinning from ear to ear.

"Why do ya look so down!? We won!"

"I know, but…" She looked at Ren, but he managed to stand up, and gave her a happy smile.

"He is right, we won." He said, and a faunus pat his back, and at first surprised, Nora's worries vanished and her mood brighten up.

"Hell yeah we did!" Nora shouted and raised her hammer high, and people gathered around them cheered even louder.

"Victory! Annatar! Victory! Annatar!"

---

Jaune stared at the lion faunus in his hand, his mind locked in a surprised battle of wills.

"Whoa, I'm not seriously considering killing this guy, right?"

"Why should I let him live anyway?" He thought, which horrified Arc.

"Killing him is way too far!"

"Would he offer me mercy if he was in the same position?" Jaune pondered on that, Corcea in his hands shook, but he quickly snapped out of it.

"That's not what a hero should do!"

"Heroes kill monsters, and he is one!" He snarled, as Larian passed out from a lack of oxygen. "He just threatened the lives of countless people, he deserves to die!"

"It's just murder of a defenseless guy." Jaune retorted with disgust and dropped the lion faunus on the ground. "My grandfather would not…"

"How many men and women my grandfather slew during the Great War?" He retaliated, but Jaune still grabbed the ring and pulled it of his finger, then looked at it curiously.

"So that's what Annatar meant by 'lose control'." Jaune wondered out loud as he inspected the ring with his eyes and fingers.

"But I managed myself really well, didn't I?" Jaune thought about it yeah, he remained in control this whole time. Not to mention he was…

"Jaune!" He heard Pyrrha's voice, and immediately hid the ring inside his pocket.

"Pyrrha!" He said with a smile as Pyrrha run up to him. "We-"

Out of the blue, Pyrrha hug Arc tightly and spun once, twice and thrice, laughing excitedly all the way.

"You did it!" She said, sharing her enthusiasm with Jaune like she used to back in Mistral after her first won tournament, when she hugged her parents after the final fight.

She just couldn't help herself, she had to share her excitement, and their victory against the White Fang felt like she just won all ten finales all at once all over again. And, most importantly, Jaune finally found his confidence, something that made her ecstatic.

After a moment Pyrrha realized that she is hugging Jaune in the public.

"Oh my Gosh, I'm so sorry!" She let Jaune go and backed off, her cheeks bright red. "I didn't…" She hid her face in embarrassment upon seeing Jaune's dumfounded face.

"Now I screwed up, didn't I? She panicked. "Now he will think I am weird and…"

"Hey." She felt his hand on her shoulder, and looked at him between her fingers. "We did it." Jaune gave her such a sweet smile that she felt a sting in her heart. "You were amazing, as always."

In the noon light aura around Arc seemed to shine alongside his bright smile, and his eyes orbs seemed like a sea Pyrrha could drown in.

"Victory! Victory! Victory!" Both turned their heads when they heard cheers from the afar, as the police sirens grew louder and louder.

"Seems Ren and Nora won too." Jaune said, and Pyrrha nodded her head, not wanting to ruin this moment with a badly placed word, both just standing there basking in the warm light of the Remnant's sun, casting long shadows, and both felt proud of what they managed to accomplish today.

Their future seemed to shine brighter than the sun.

Meanwhile, The Everpresent crawled back into Arc's shadow. It was not the time it seemed, human still didn't give himself fully to the power the ring offered. But he wasn't particularly worried, it was an opening he wanted.

Presence smiled as it made itself comfortable in Arc's shade. The more preferable time will certainly come, all he had to do is wait for another opportunity. And knowing Jaune Arc, it will come sooner than later.

Shadow laughed. Secondborn are just so simple.

'

* Do you really think I meant that metaphorically?

** During the Great War, as people run around the battlefield with auras and overpowered semblances, those who didn't unlock their aura had to find a way to kill those who relayed on it efficently, thus, a new category of weapons was introduced onto the battlefield. These 'aurabreakers' ranged from simple grenades and explosives to more sophisticated grav grenades and cluster munitions. Due to the Treaty of Vytal and introdcution of "Hunters", development of more destructive aurabreakers was officially stopped, but rumors say that organizations such as Atlas Military still develop theirs in secrecy.

'

Authors Note

Happy Birthday! That's right, this story reached it's first year on this site!

Achievement unlocked: Survive the first year.

I had a blast writing this chapter.

Konsilio: And all the others

Thank you all for joining me on this journey! It is awesome!

But before I celebrate with a glass of wine, I will answer your reviews.

In response too Jjohn34:

Thank you for your kind words! And also, I really, and I REALLY mean it, thank you for reading this story from day one.

In response too Lisa-Katagiri and ZoyeZest:

Normally I don't report reviews, even the ones calling me Degenerate

Konsilio: You have other ways to deal with them.

But bot reviews make me sick. I believe in a freedom of speech, not in a freedom of spam.

Context: These two are 99% bots spamming the same review in other stories to scam me and you of your money. Send them to the abyss, were they belong.

Konsilio: Luckily for us, they can't scam us!
Because we are broke.

In response to Dhestrya:

ɘɔiИ

In response to deathlord9011:

Ohhh, It will be a LONG time before they meet, believe me. Not anytime soon.

"...Salem would be lesser than an ant in terms of power..." Don't underestimate the Grimm Witch, she didn't show us all of her tricks yet! Even in the original she is probably plotting how to kill Brother Gods, so maybe she has something hidden up her sleeve?

Because who said that only Sauron struck a deal with a Devil?

Thank you for your review!

In response to RedHood001:

"I love how team RWBY essentially got to see how this turn of events in their lives is parallel with the lives/tales they've learned from visiting Annatar's Forge. They get to apply the lessons they've learned from the Fallen Maia immediately, which... is honestly fortunate." - I mean, kinda? I know that it was just to conveniant for all of this to happenin in this short amount of time, but I don't think it's particulary bad!

"They managed to emerge victorious thanks to what they've learned." They managed to survive, but they got their asses handed to them, which might start a character growth, but who knows? Besides me ofc.

Konsilio: And me!

As for Blake, well she will have it ROUGH. I mean, girl made a heck ton of mistakes, and they come back to bite her in the ass.

"I remember how I found it hard to watch/read her parts in both the show and in fics where her flaws are so prevalent. It's mainly because of the frustrations I have with her character, but I know it's essential to show how she started so her turn could be rewarding." - That's why I really like her character - because she is flawed, and how is she going to improve? Will she finally face her mistakes, accept consequences of her actions? So many possibilities!

And Annatar's gifts are really subtle, Ozpin would have a hard time to pinpoint exactly what is going on. But maybe?

"You did great in showing the conflicts between Sauron and Annatar. They're the same person, but when you have a character who's known to take different appearances for the purpose of deception, there's always the thought that the false persona becomes preferable to the truth." That's a whole vibe of his character in this fic! And it will be touched upon more as the story progresses.

"I hope Penny's okay, but with her involved, I can see how Sauron would inevitably have Atlas on his doorstep." Possible cameo maybe? I don't think that James would appear out of nowhere, but another character from the season 2? She has reasons to be in Vale.
Spoiler - No, it's not Winter.

As for Ozpin and Sauron's clashing - Ozpin is... a strange case. He might think that he knows better than Sauron, but at the same time he would show extreme caution while dealing with him, due to his unknown capabilities.

"..Sauron is essentially the closest being to the Brother Gods as anyone could be..." Oh no, he is not, and I have a prepared cosmology for that.

Konsilio: Yes this fanfic has it's cosmology. In fact, if we ever write another fanfic, it will share it's cosmology.

You see, Sauron is a Maia, a powerful spirit yes, but waaaay beneath the Valar such as Morgoth or Manwe. And Valars created this world, shaped it's continents, raised a separate continent (Valinor), created living beings such as animals, ents, dwarves.

Didn't the Brothers basically do the exact same thing on Remnant?

Fun fact - When Arda was created, not all of the Ainur decided to manifest there and decided to stay by Eru's side.

"Battle for Middle Earth 2 is such a great game, especially with the Witch-King expansion. There's also Lord of the Rings Tactics on the PSP, which I didn't expect to be as fun as it was. Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War was also very fun..." Battle for Middle Earth, Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War both hold a special place in my heart. And Maybe Talion isn't canon (Just like hot babe Shelob is not canon too), but the creators never tried to make their games canon, instead they wanted to make fun games. That's what I like.

Zugor, the Flame of War, I will never forget you, you psycho.

"I love how Weiss and Sun interacted here. It's quite brilliant to show the Schnee a different team leader of Huntsmen, at least, so she could see what other teams or team leaders are like compared to her own. While I understand that not every character and every team would get much attention, it's nice to see you try and delve into the side teams like SSSN." - Not every character will get that much attention as the main cast, but I have plans for other teams, like SSSN or CFVY, and also for other minor characters, such as Ciel or Lisa Lavender. Maybe not fully fledged character arcs, but something for sure.

JNPR and RWBY are obviously the main characters (Jaune is, at least) - "Well, I want to delve into the Team JNPR more in the future, and I think I finally started to figure out something for them.

As for Jaune yeah, he currently gets a preferable treatment due to the ring, and his insecurities will play a crucial role in the future (That's all I can say without spoiling the fun).

Thanks for your review, I am doing really well and I hope you too!

In response to ultron emperor:

"This story is one of the best RWBY crossover EVER." - I saw plenty of really good ones on this site, but I am really thankful for your opinion. I still commit a lot of mistakes though.
Like in this chapter for example - The Red Lions and the Black Wolves. I should have introduced them ealier in the story for later use, but now it looks like I pulled them out of my ass. And I kinda did, because the idea for them came while writing this chapter. I could either carry on (which I did), or try to retroactively change the past chapters to make them fit, then gaslight you all into thinking that 'There were always a female Custodians"...

Oops, wrong line "They existed way before this chapters, just look here". I consider this approach to be very scummy tactic, so I will never do that.

Konsilio: Hmmm, I am pretty sure I saw exactly that in a high-budget series, but where exactly?

*Looks at 'Eregion' from the season one (Without walls) and from the season two (With walls)

Ah, there it is.

So yeah, I pulled these two groups out of my butt. I don't feel bad though - It serves as a lesson for the future.

As for Charlie Vickers's performance as Annatar/Sauron... I have nothing bad to say about him, honest. He did the best he could with the script he got, but one good actor was not enough to make this show good in my eyes.

As I said, if you like the Rings of Power, then that's fine! I don't like it though, but I respect your opinion.

In response to BrothWriter:

I don't want to sound like a broken record here, but yeah, I am aware my Grammar still needs some refining. And to my credit (I hope) I am trying my best, and I constantly return to the previous chapters to fix grammar issues.

But, like I said in response to Ultron Emperor, I won't retroactively add new plot lines.

Thanks for your review, I will do another 'Grammar sweep soon'. Stay safe!

In response to skillfulstone:

You didn't have to wait long, did you?

"Sauron was already dangerous enough when he was utterly disinterested in whatever fight he was in, but a Sauron going berserk over the presumed "loss" of arguably his first friend (or the closest thing to it) is terrifying." - I mean, we saw how he fights in the books when he is pissed or pushed into the corner.

He literally fought Gil-Galad and Elendil with his FISTS, set the Elven king ablaze and smashed Elendil to a pulp! Tolkien literally wrote (If I recall correctly) that Sauron fought like a murderer.

Dude is terryfing when he goes berserk.

But luckily for the Fang, Penny didn't die. If she did then oh boy, they would pray for a sweet release of death.

Thank you for your review! I hope you have a nice week!

In response to Valen Skata:

You almost thought I forgot about you, didn't you? I never forget

Konsilio: Except that one time...

Look, mistakes can happen to anyone! Back to the topic, I decided to respond to you last, because this response will be quite long.

"Fight horeography was good but idk why but it felt different to that from last chapter. The idea of the fight on moving trucks was clever, something took from Matrix series, but I feel that you haven't used that moving environment to it's full potential. There could be jumping between trucks and using the wind on the top of the trucks." ...

Feedback received...uploading bullshit in-story reason why that fight played differently...Upload complete.

By "It felt different to that from last chapter" you mean it as a critique, or... Because I treated that fight more as a duel, and Raged Roman was, well, a battle, maybe that's why?

"Do I understand it correctly that Yowwick is meant to be new mouth of Sauron?" Previous idea was Melanie tbf, but then I realized what it would bring... teeth

Konsilio: You do realize that in the books, Mouth of Sauron wasn't looking like that?

Well, when people think "The Mouth of Sauron", they instantly think of this guy. I, on my part, don't want to give any character this jawline, but people gonna imagine things.

"Also will you tell which teams attacked other convoys?" - Show, don't tell, that's my motto.

"Anyway thanks for fantastic chapter, I needed it after obligatory session of Rings of Power." - UFFFFF, obligatory? What kind of punishment were you receving my guy?

Yeah, I experinaced that too, "Point out the inaccuracies" or something. Let's just say that Elrond and Galadriel's kiss was unpleasant sight to behold.

"I recognised that you pushed some more OC in this chapter, they were quite good, but I fear that you will focus on them to much later." So it's time for one and (hopefully) only

AUTHORS RANT

I complelty get why are you suspicious of adding OC (People do it all the time), and to be honest with you, I was kinda forced into it, because me and Konsilio like one aspect of a storytelling very much - World-building.

Konsilio: Nuh-uh, charcter development. This is they key. World they live in is just a stage and stage only, but the characters are people we are reading about. World-building can help in developing the characters, but the world is for charcters not charcters for world. Although when I develop new story I first world-build, but I will stand for my opinion.

In short - You can make a world as cool as possible, as unique as possible, but if it's only inhabitated by main heroes and the villains, then the suspension of disbelief may fall apart. And I must say it, RWBY kinda has this problem.

All characters are either studying at Beacon, or are the villians working for Cinder, but we don't see other non-aligned groups in Vale, there are no crowds of people living there. Vale just feels... empty for me.

Not to mention the White Fang, because it looks like in the show, the Vale branch consisted only of Blake, Adam, Elder (Fun fact - A friend of mine once showed me some sort of RWBY card game and that guy with a chainsaw was named the Elder so that's him.) and an army of nameless goons. I can hardly believe that Blake belonged to an organization like this, not to mention it is something her father created.

I once mentioned it, but Yang was always described as one having tons of friends, going downtown to party and all that, but the only instance we were shown this was during the Yellow trailer. Then, during volume 1 and 2, she only interacted with her team, and with the team JNPR. So I added OC not to take a spotlight from her, but to reinforce this aspect of her character.

Or that the Beacon is the most prestigous Academy in the World, yet it have only like three first year teams, and one second year team. Or that it only employs three Professors.

So I add Side, and I mean Side characters to populate the world. In fact, I have rules set in place which I will now share:

First and Foremost, NO shipping between the OCs and the main cast. I don't want to add an OC whose one and only purpose is to romance the main character. It's just not my vibe.

Konsilio: Temporary relationships are still considered.

Highly unlikely.

Rule number two - Before I add an OC, I do a quick research if there isn't already a character I can use and if there is, then will his or her apperance make sense?

I don't have to look far for an example - Tukson fits perfectly into a category I needed, so here he is. Or the Elder (Chainsaw-man), and many more in the future.

Rule number three - OCs are there to reinforce the character, tell us something about the world, or to show us the villains, not to steal the spotlight.

Example number one - Yang wants to know more about her mother, and she is willing to go really far to obtain some information. She was noticed by Raven, but the Bandit Queen, due to reasons I can't share, don't want to confront Yang personally, and instead sends one of the mercs working for her. This gives Yang a goal (Which is to beat the crap out of Cartez to learn more about Raven) while also shows us that Raven is more involved in her daughters whereabouts.

Example number two - Jacques Schnee basically rules a Megacorp as powerful as Arasaka or British East India Company, mining and refining Dust on an Industrial scale, while he is also greatly involved with Atlasian Military. We saw that they use droids to defend their trains, but droids can be hijacked, break down due to climate, but, most importantly, droids can be ruthless, but not cruel. Sometimes you just need a guy (Or a woman) who will go there and burn the whole place down to send out a message.

Konsilio: An Enforcer

And that's where Sepp Urgan comes in. I mean, I literally hinted that the guy exists, and 'pacified' some people in Vacuo. And that aspect of the story will be touched later on in the story, to show that SDC's 'shady practices' are not just "We pay little to nothing to our faunus workers".

I have more examples, but I hope you get my point.

Rule Number Four: If our heroes are going to fight, will the fights be interesting?

Let's be honest here, beating up bunch of nameless goons after a bunch of nameless goons would quickly become stale, and I want to avoid somehing like "Suddenly, in the near last episode of the season, a previously unknown foe appears out of nowhere, talks shit, somehow beats the crap out of the main character, and then leaves to never appear again."

Oh Hi White Fang Lieutant with a chainsaw, what are you doing here?

So, I prefer to introduce a minor villains ealier on and give them somewhat unique fighting styles, so our heroes can properly throw down with someone. Not to mention a storytelling potential this gives me, as, for example, all named fangs know Blake personally.

She was their friend, maybe even their mentor. She fought and trained alongside them. And when she 'died', they mourned her like a lost family member, which then stiffened their resolve to fight against the corrupt Vytal system.

Konsilio: And just imagine how happy they will be when they find out she is still alive!

Yeah, that too.

There are some special cases like Professor Casim - I added him to 1) Show that Beacon has more teachers and 2) To pay my homage to Christopher Lee.

Or Nick Harrigan...

Konsilio: *Snickers* oh sweet sweet Peter Jackson's treatment.

You called me a degenerate my guy, so I turned you into a midget racist goblin. We are not the same.

I hope I made myself clear here.

Thank you for your honest critique, it helps me a lot, and pushes me further to improve myself.

THE END OF AUTHORS RANT

That's all the reviews for today (skillfulstone you positevly suprised me bud), so before I go to celebrate the story's anniversary, I want to once again thank you all who gave this story a chance during this year, and also thank those who will appear in the future.

It's Hell of a Ride!

Take care, have fun and never stop smiling!

DJ and Konsilio.