Once again, thank you to all of you for the support :)

Review responses have been moved to the ending A/N for this particular chapter.

Next thing, I just realised that I said "oldest sister" twice in Chapter 1. So that needs a clarification. When I meant 'oldest' I mean the oldest among the sea of younger siblings Indigo has. In the current time of the story, Indigo is 29-ish in age.

(I know the current world condition isn't really good, putting it lightly. War and all that. I hope this update doesn't ruffle too many feathers. I sincerely hope for peace to come soon.)

Back in Remnant…

Indigo Arc, Cyan Arc, Jasmine Arc, and their father, Tanner Arc, sat circling a round table in their hotel room, located at the center of Vale capital. They were currently discussing the White Fang's abnormal movements, both from the Vale branch and also the entire terrorist organization as a whole.

"Based on the intel I got…" Tanner began. He pulled out several files, each a copy of the one he held in his hands. He passed them around. "The White Fang seems to be converging to Vale, en masse. You can see the data I compiled in the files."

They began to open the files. "You mean the entire Vale branch is focusing on the city proper, Dad?" Cyan asked as she opened hers. She hasn't read it, however. "What I mean is, they're moving out from small settlements and villages to the main kingdom?"

"No." her father denied. "Take a look at the copy I gave you. I mean from the entirety of Remnant itself. They're all sending in members here."

The sisters looked down at the data, showing intercepted communications between White Fang members. What their father said was true. It even went into detail about the possible true identities of the members who were moving out.

"Is this real?" Jasmine was surprised. "Even the ones from Menagerie?!"

"Unfortunately, yes." Tanner sighed. "Though Menagerie only spared around 15 people, one of them a high-ranking lieutenant. The other kingdoms' branches are lending in around 40 to 80 members. Mistral's lending the most – 85 members."

The mood was quite somber. It was no secret that ever since the events from two and a half years ago, the battle-capable members of their family had started a crusade against the Vale branch of the White Fang.

Heck, even Mom debated going back to duty for a while.

The Arc family then teamed up with Vale's anti-terrorism police force unit, even going so far as expanding the program to also include other Hunters and Huntresses from time to time. It was due to this that the amount of White Fang members in Vale had reduced drastically since two-and-a-half years ago.

Now, it looked like all of it was about to become undone.

Indigo cursed. "We need to see the bigger picture." She tried to regain her focus. "They're sending in people. Okay, okay. But why?" She growled. "Are they trying to do something big?"

Tanner nodded. "That's what I thought too. The timing's also lined up pretty well."

"The Vytal Festival." Jasmine whispered. She connected the dots. "You mean they're planning to sabotage it? Attack it while it's running?!"

Cyan hummed "Maybe, but maybe not..." she thought hard, "Remember back when they attacked our home?"

All of them nodded. Not that they liked remembering it, of course.

Cyan continued, "If I recall correctly, that's because they wanted to show their power. Flex their muscles, if you will. They wanted to spread fear across the Hunter community. But then it backfired. Hard."

"Oh, I see where you're going," Jasmine confirmed. "Looking at them now, their member count is a shadow of its former self, right? After our busts… 1,000 members to barely over 250 in two-and-a-half years is a hard blow to any organization, especially if you're operating above the law."

"So you're saying they must've learned from their lesson." Indigo smirked and leaned back in her chair. "Good for them. Maybe it won't be so easy next time."

"Exactly." Cyan confirmed. "Attacking the Vytal Festival would incur the wrath of all the kingdoms at once. They can't take that much heat and they know that. So it's either to purely cover the losses in their member count so they can continue doing normal operations…"

"Or they're working with another party, one that's ordering new shots." Indigo concluded. "And they want more people in Vale." Indigo nodded. "I see your point… especially when the White Fang's been confirmed to work with Torchwick's weird Dust-focused robberies."

"But if you're saying the Fang's expecting Torchwick to tip the tides, then he's nowhere good enough." Jasmine rebuked "He might be using the Fang, yeah, but all that Dust? Raw Dust firepower alone isn't gonna cut it, guys."

"Then there must be someone bigger than Torchwick." Indigo said. She flexed her fingers. "Whoever they are… I'll crush them without hesitation."

"…"

"…That aside," Tanner redirected. "If this is what we're settling with, then we need to start poking around." He concluded. "We can't make it too obvious, or else people will pick up that something's wrong." He laid his files and his hands on the table. "We need to think. who has the biggest stake on the Vytal Festival? If so, why might the White Fang move for them?"

Silence overcame the table as each member of the Arc family tried to think of their own possibilities. After a few minutes, Cyan spoke up.

"The Vale council?" She proposed. "The classic 'strike back at the government' tactic, maybe? Or maybe this "other party" has some grudge with the council and they want revenge."

Jasmine shook her head. "No, I don't think that'd be enough, sis." She thought hard. "Targeting the council would be way too general. And besides, politicians have a particular way of spinning tragedies to their favour. It'd be bad business for the Fang." She hummed. "But it is close…"

A few seconds passed. Then, Indigo leaned forwards, hands on the table. Her eyes narrowed. "How about the one who's in charge of Vytal Festival security?"

Jasmine's eyes blew open. "You're right." She whispered. "That person's disconnected from the council, and yet he has a lot of power. Heck, he's even got influence in other kingdoms. Not to mention the respect of both Hunters and also Huntresses…."

Tanner nodded. "I never liked that shady old man." He growled. "What game are you playing at… Ozpin?"

Silence echoed again in the room. Safe to say, everyone agreed to assume that Ozpin was very connected to what was happening.

Indigo slammed her fist on the table. She stood up while pushing her seat away. She turned around roughly and growled. "I'm going for a walk." She grabbed her sword, leaning against the wall in their room. She reached the door and slammed it open. She walked out briskly as the door closed behind her.

Cyan sighed. "I'll go after her." She calmly pushed her chair back and stood up to follow Indigo.

Moments later, Cyan found her sister standing outside the hotel's lobby. Indigo was leaning on the railings of the hotel's decorative fish pond, gaze focused on something other than the fishes. Cyan approached and stood beside her.

"So.." Cyan began. "Is team NPR still planning on entering the Vytal Festival?"

"Yeah." Indigo answered. "It's important to them. They want to prove that they can go on, that they really are one of the best."

"And how's their training going along?"

"Pretty well." Indigo responded. "Pyrrha's gotten the hang of managing both her team and also herself. Nora and Ren's grown into their roles well, Nora as the muscle and Ren as the hit-and-runner."

"Hmm…" Cyan nodded along.

They let silence come between the two of them. The sound of the pond's water, of fishes swimming along the small streams, provided a nice white noise in the background.

"…I'm proud of them." Indigo finally said, barely audible. Her eyes were soft, her tone fond. "And after skipping their first Vytal Festival… they, no, all of us want to show everyone that we still stand strong. That we're still here."

"You care for them." Cyan concluded.

Indigo chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I do." Then, Indigo's eyes narrowed in anger. She gripped the railings hard. "That's why I'm so mad that the fucking Fang's still around. Did everything we do mean nothing?!"

"Indigo…"

Indigo huffed. "I won't go on a killing spree." She said. "I won't play mass murderer against the Fang. Nobody deserves to go through what we did when we lost Jaune." The railings bent from her grip. "But make no mistake; I'll send as much of them as I can to the judge. They'll rot in prison. And if they start getting difficult…." Her voice trailed off. She chuckled humourlessly. "Heh, I don't know just what I might do…"

Indigo walked away, deciding to go into the city proper. Cyan watched on, deciding not to follow her this time.

'It's a dangerous line you're walking, Indigo… It's growing thinner every day.' Cyan thought to herself. 'Please, Indigo… for whose sake are you really fighting for?'

Back in the United Continents…

Bladewolf crept in the halls of World Marshall HQ, approximately 25 minutes ahead of Raiden's path. He was well into the military section of the building now. Now, all he had to do was relay information to Raiden about what was happening here, to get his partner ready for the coming battle. However, the halls were oddly silent. He hadn't encountered a single guard ever since sneaking past some of them in the civilian levels.

It was due to that fact that Bladewolf was tense, a lot more than usual. Other than the creepy silence, the faunus had two other concerns. The first was the change within Raiden after his fight with Monsoon. Simply put, he didn't know that Raiden had it in him. And then, even after Monsoon's fight, Raiden decided to stay with his mission, to rescue the brains…

The second concern was meeting Jaune again. After analyzing Jaune's speech to Raiden, Bladewolf managed to figure out that Jaune knew what he was doing was wrong. That it was bad. But then why did he remain loyal to World Marshall? Why stay with people that were clearly so different than him?

His thoughts were interrupted when he reached the next corridor.

It was a bloodbath.

The place was littered with bodies of World Marshall guards, all dead. Bloodstained walls surrounded Bladewolf, and from the splatter pattern, he could easily discern that it was from sword strikes.

The wolf faunus slowed his walk to the speed of a crawl and carefully readied his weapons. His HF Chainsaw spun quietly and idly, ready to properly start at a moment's notice. The knives he had on him were also burning hot, ready to be thrown.

Bladewolf continued to walk through the blood-stained halls, walking among corpses. Eventually, he reached a branch in the current path. He knew where each path led based on his memories of roaming World Marshall's halls. If he continued forwards, the clean path, then he'd continue towards the "VR Training Room" that contained the brains. But if we were to continue the bloodshed walls, then he'd go to the right, where the master server room was located.

Bladewolf made up his mind. He decided to go to the server room. With careful steps, he continued forth, weapons readied even more than before.

His eyes remained vigilant. Eventually, though, as he reached the server room, he decided to let his guard down. No one attacked him, and as he walked into the server room, he decided that no one was going to attack him in a cramped space with fragile tools such as this one. Instead, he decided to survey the room.

The room, despite the bodies outside, was surprisingly clean. Which meant that whoever killed these guards wanted something inside the server room, something they can't have destroyed.

His suspicions were answered when he stumbled upon one of the large servers in the room. Bladewolf's eyes moved slightly in surprise. A USB drive was stuck inside the server, clearly copying the files on it to the drive. The light on the drive flashed red, indicating it was still currently copying data. Bladewolf decided to wait it out.

Then, after a few minutes, the light flashed green. Bladewolf pulled the USB out, knowing that the copy job was done. He inspected the USB drive's appearance. On the current side, there was nothing of note - just a normal USB drive. But when he flipped the drive to the view its other side, he knew that the drive was for him.

On the current surface, there were etched words that he couldn't ignore.

To: Wolfy

Op. Tecumseh,

You've got three hours.

Quickly, Bladewolf plugged the drive to a port he had on the back of his left arm. He copied the files to his drives as fast as he can.

With no hesitation, he opened his CODEC and contacted Raiden.

"And…. there!" Doktor pressed enter on his keyboard, all the while talking over the CODEC with Raiden. "Are you feeling better now, my friend?"

Raiden gasped for air, leaning against a wall. "Yeah." He pushed himself off. "Thanks, Dok."

"It is no problem, Raiden. Though it is quite interesting." Doktor focused back on his helicopter flight. "So, we have managed to conclude that Jaune's nanomachines were tuned to a frequency that is very similar to your newfound power."

"You're right." Raiden said. "When I was using it, I felt stronger than ever before. Then it was gone, in an instant. After that, during my climb up this tower, it felt like it was rebuilding itself. Like it was growing back…"

"And both your nanomachines and your cyborg body, even in a cyborg body, could not sustain continued exposure to that energy." Doktor continued. "Oddly enough, based on my data, it didn't damage you when you were fighting Monsoon. It only damaged you after your fight. It seems it is a good thing that it, eh, 'depleted', shall we say, when it did; even if the energy did regrow as you climbed the tower. In short, this energy seems totally incompatible with our technology unless said technology was specifically designed and developed around it. Perhaps this is what Jaune's unique nanomachines were for, to hold them back."

Raiden hummed in thought.

Doktor continued, "What I just did now was adjust what few nanomachines I can in your body to the frequency Jaune's tablet provided. I was experimenting with on-the-fly nanomachine tuning when I was developing your body and decided to implement them as an afterthought." Doktor chuckled. "In hindsight, it seems quite to be quite the boon, no?"

Raiden grunted in confirmation. "If you hadn't done that, Dok, then I don't feel like I could control it anymore. As soon as the energy would've been fully recharged, I think it would've turned into the red glow all over again. Then the cycle continues, uncontrollable."

"Yes, yes, not to mention your body would deteriorate had you enabled it in some form of passive mode. But with my adjustments, you can now hold it back more easily. As I stated before, like in the fight with Monsoon, your body nor will it if you use it in either bursts or as a final rush, the latter of which usually taking a maximum of 10 minutes. However, you cannot use that power passively lest you risk total system shutdown. From now on, you must consciously use your nanomachines to hold that power back, every second you breathe."

"I'll get the hang of it." Raiden assured. "The positives of this come with drawbacks. Of course."

Raiden flexed his fingers. The undercurrent of power he felt back then was still there. Easy enough for him to hold back, now that Doktor had helped him. But he wasn't a fool. He knew it was like a raging current, and he was the dam. That dangerous power danced at the tip of his fingers, ready to be unleashed.

When that happened, however…he had to play it smart. He had to unleash it only on those who deserved it.

Just what was Jaune hiding?! Did he have power like this too?!

Aside from that, he decided to forgo restarting his pain inhibitors. Pain was an essential part of him. It reminded him that war wasn't a game. Of the true horrors that it showed.

"Now that I think about it, Raiden…" Doktor talked to Raiden again. "What do you think we should call this power now? We need a designation, after all?"

Raiden mulled his thoughts. He was often called Jack the Ripper. He could remember a vague memory of asking Solidus why he was given that name, in the few days before his child soldier training began. In response, Solidus had scoffed and told him that he wanted Raiden to be "A jack of all trades" in life. Of course, that went out the window when he turned into a cyborg, didn't it?

Well, this newfound power now would serve him well in battle. Increasing his senses, maximizing his power…

Raiden smirked. "Call it The Ripper."

He was interrupted when his CODEC rang again, a new number entering the call. Raiden picked it up as he walked along. "Bladewolf." He greeted. "What's up?"

"I have found vital information regarding World Marshall's plan."

"You mean for the brains?" Raiden asked. "What, you found something along the lines of where they'll be deployed once they get turned to cyborgs?"

The copy process for everything had finally finished. Bladewolf was reading over all the data as he called Raiden. Every line he read made him feel one emotion, and one emotion only. Dread.

"No…" Bladewolf muttered. "Something far worse."

A Few Minutes Later…

"They're going to WHAT?!" Boris screamed from the CODEC. Everybody from Maverick had joined the call. Raiden visibly flinched.

Kevin spoke up next, "I could…ugh…. 'get' the brains operation, but restarting the war economy?!" His eyes were wide. "That's crazy! And besides, he's just an old senator! He's got no combat experience taking this on, especially when you factor in that he's going to Neo-Pakistan right as we speak!"

Courtney pushed her glasses up. "And he's using the current political climate too…" She muttered. "He's got to have planned this for years now. There's no way it's all a coincidence."

"Question is, what're we gonna do about it?" Kevin asked. "Neo-Pakistan's all the way at the edge of the U.C. There's no way for us to get there in time!"

"What about warning them through official channels?" Raiden asked. He was quickly shot down by Boris.

"I am afraid that's not possible." Boris said sadly. "Not only would that make the U.S think that we're doing business sabotage towards World Marshall, but it would also push them to investigate the events at their HQ…"

"Which would lead to me being found out." Raiden concluded. "Damn, there's no other way?"

Courtney realized something "Wait! What about Solis, the aircraft company? They might have a solution for us."

Kevin nodded "Right! We've got contacts there, right? And they're not too far from you! Only around a half-hour flight to their base with the chopper Dok's bringing."

"More specifically, it's a contact." Boris corrected. "Specifically, yours, Raiden."

"Yeah. Sunny should help us out. Last I heard she's got this prototype plane she's building. Pretty high tech, and can cover the distance from here to Neo-Pakistan in time we can afford." Raiden muttered the next part. "Doesn't mean I'll have to like bringing her into this, though."

"We have no choice." Boris reassured him. "Then all that's left now…"

"Is to get the brains…" Kevin continued.

"Arrive at Solis…" Courtney followed the chain.

"And stop Armstrong." Raiden finished. "But first, I have to get to Sundowner."

"The VR Room's up ahead." Courtney told him, "Do your best, Raiden."

And with that, the CODEC call shut off. Raiden took a deep breath. The stakes just got much, much higher.

He could feel Ripper, flowing, roaring at him to let it be unleashed. To rage freely once again.

Raiden clenched his fist, a red glow surrounding his body for a brief moment.

No, not yet.

In due time.

The glass floor cracked when Raiden's foot hit its surface. He walked among pillars of brains. The infamous VR Training Room. He looked hatefully at Sundowner, who stood on a platform above him.

"Now, don't interrupt the students when class is still in session, Raiden!" Sundowner chuckled. "That's just impolite!"

Raiden growled.

"I believe you're familiar with the lesson plan!" Sundowner continued. "After all, it's the same regimen you went through under Solidus!"

"That's exactly why I'm here." Raiden kept his gaze on Sundowner. "So no one else has to go through what I did."

"But it's effective, don'tchu think? After all…" Sundowner opened his arms slowly at Raiden. "Just look how you turned out! And this time, it's in VR too! Plenty more cost-effective. Straight to the brain… no fuss, no muss!"

"You're torturing them, forcing them to live in a near-constant war, over and over again." Raiden growled. "It's inhumane!"

"Oh, you think so?" Sundowner smirked. "Well, that's cause you didn't know that we give their pleasure centers a jolt every time they complete an 'objective'! That objective can be killing some civilians, some P. …" Sundowner chuckled. "By the time we get 'em to their new bodies, they won't even need a fake jolt! It'll all come naturally! They won't care what others think, just like you!"

"I chose to keep fighting!" Raiden growled. "They're kids, you son of a bitch!"

"And kids… are cruel." Sundowner smiled widely. "But when people get raised, they lose touch with that cruelty. As they get older, they'll start thinkin' they got morals. That's "justice", that's "murder"! War crime this, Code of Conduct that… but kids, you can mold. Manipulate to do all kinds of atrocities!" He raised a finger in the air as if educating Raiden. "And there's nothing like a good atrocity to keep a war going."

"So that's Operation Tecumseh?!" Raiden stepped forwards, the glass cracking once again. The Ripper was slowly coming back now, his red rage flowing through his cybernetic seeps. He tried to keep calm, just a bit more. "Starting wars just for war's sake alone?!"

Sundowner sighed. "Ugh, you just don't get the bigger picture, do ya?" He approached a pillar, and a brain canister popped out. "Say you bring this place down… waltz out the rubble with all these precious brains… Heheh…" In a flash, all of the brain canisters extended from the pillars. Raiden looked around him, his hatred dissipating and instead replaced with horror and disgust. "Nothing changes, Jack…"

Raiden continued to look around him. 'Just how many are there?!'

"All the guys in charge are long gone, and we've got offices around the world." Sundowner crossed his arms.

"What the fuck…"

"We're just suppliers, Jack." Sundowner sounded smug. "We don't create the market for war."

"Then who does, if Tecumseh isn't proof enough?!" Raiden unsheathed his sword and pointed it at the warmonger. "The Patriots are gone!"

"Ah ah ah~… those guys just managed the war economy. They didn't invent it." Sundowner took a brain and its eyes from a canister. "Didja think that every battle the nations took part in was all part of some big ol' conspiracy?"

"BULLSHIT!" Sundowner raised his arms high. "War's just a part of human history! Past, present, and future! Heck, even if we didn't do Tecumseh, something else is gonna start the war. The keg's already gonna blow. So then why not start it ourselves, and get in first on the fun, huh?!"

Raiden growled. "You sick bastard."

"Heheh, and do you really think you can stop us now, when we're already over 90% in the plan?! Face it, Jack! We'll be free to wage all the wars we want. Demand for PMCs is about to skyrocket!" Sundowner opened his arms high. "Like the good old days under the Patriots!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it."

"Hah! Then if that's what you want, then let's not do it here." Sundowner turned his back on Raiden "The helipad. Follow me."

Dark clouds blocked the sun from shining on towards the helipad. Rain droplets bounced off of Raiden's metal body, falling back down to the helipad surface. Blue electricity crackled around his HF Sword, the blue glow reflected in the wet helipad surface.

Sundowner stood before him, arms by his side. His coat was still being worn, the man's signature HF Scissor Blades strapped to his side. The Desperado chief opened his palms. "How's this, Jack?" He smirked. "We can play up here without damaging the merchandise."

"I won't make this something you can play with, bastard." Raiden pointed his sword at Sundowner. "I'm going to stop your plan. Here and now."

Sundowner chuckled. "Heh. That so?" Sundowner slowly lifted his right arm. He grabbed his coat by the chest part. In one smooth move, he took it off and threw it behind him, the wind carrying it off of the skyscraper. His cyborg body was now out in the open, rain droplets bouncing against metal like Raiden's body.

"Then let me tell you this, Jack. Killing you is gonna take some time. Slow… and painful."

Raiden narrowed his eyes at Sundowner's cyborg body. There seemed to be something protruding from behind him, though it was covered by Sundowner's large frame. Some kind of special enhancement, perhaps?

His questions were answered when those protrusions moved to Sundowner's sides. The Desperado chief opened his arms wide, what Raiden recognized now as six panels adjusting themselves before assembling to cover Sundowner's right and left sides.

Ah, shields.

Two helicopters ascended behind Sundowner. Their lights shone upon Raiden. Sundowner smirked. "Like I said, Jack. Kids are cruel. And I'm very in touch… with my inner child!" Sundowner unsheathed his scissor blades in one smooth motion. He laughed out loud, his mouth soon covered by a mechanical mask.

Raiden took a step forwards. He leveled his sword to point at Sundowner from beside him, his knees bent and his stance prepared for combat. The ninja's visor closed down, clearing his vision of the obstructions from the rain.

Sundowner leveled his sword at Raiden. "You can be crueler than that, Jack!"

Sundowner cackled. His shields closed in front of him, forming a wall the size of his body. He charged at Raiden.

The charge hit Raiden dead on and the ninja skid back, trying to hold it back with all he had. Raiden yelled and firmed his footing. With a burst of The Ripper and a flashing red glow, he stopped the charge and pushed the upper portions of the wall apart. As Sundowner stepped back in surprise, Raiden used that momentary distraction and cut the upper shields' links to Sundowner's body.

"What the-?!"

Raiden continued his assault. He slashed at Sundowner, the latter moving his large blade just in time to block. The Desperado chief used his other blade to strike at Raiden. The ninja back-flipped away. He landed a few meters away and let The Ripper recede once again.

Short bursts.

Sundowner chuckled as he examined his shields. "Heh, doesn't matter. Come on!" His remaining shields formed once again. "Try and hit me!"

Raiden answered the call. He rushed forward, prepared to cut what remained of his opponent's shield. He swung down, not particularly caring where his slash ended up.

An explosion blew in front of Raiden's face as his sword struck the shields. Raiden was sent back and rolled across the helipad.

'Explosive armour…' The ninja thought as he brought himself back up. 'Can't hit the panels."

Raiden analysed Sundowner's shield links. Before he could conclude its weakness, however, Sundowner charged, HF Scissor Blades dragging across the helipad. Raiden dodged an upwards swing from Sundowner. Sundowner attacked Raiden with his other blade. The ninja tilted his body back, just enough to dodge the second strike.

Raiden swung his sword in a downwards arc. His HF Sword was interrupted by one of Sundowner's large blades. However, Raiden expected this. Instead of forcing it through, Raiden changed the grip on his sword and moved with it smoothly to behind Sundowner. Raiden kept his HF Sword ready. Predictably, Sundowner used his shields to attack his rearguard. Raiden parried the shields and swung back in retaliation. His HF Sword cut a large wound along Sundowner's back.

Sundowner stumbled forwards. Blood sprouted from his back. "You punk!" He spun to behind him and swung his Scissor Blades in one motion. Raiden jumped above them, his visor finally done analysing the shields' weak points. He cut another two links off of Sundowner's shields. They disconnected from Sundowner's body and fell apart.

Sundowner growled. "Shit!"

As the two remaining shield panels formed a pathetically small wall compared to before, Raiden dashed forward. With his visor pointing out the shield's weak points, Raiden cut right at the middle of his opponent's wall, severing the shield's connection to each other. As the shields flew to opposite sides, Raiden unleashed The Ripper once again.

The world became natural and his strength increased. His vision turned red. He felt natural once again.

With that, Raiden slashed at their links to Sundowner's body. The last of his shields fell to the ground.

Sundowner stepped back from shock while Raiden pushed forwards. He slashed at Sundowner. The Desperado chief blocked it and held the HF Sword back with his HF Scissor Blades. Sundowner pushed back with everything he had. Raiden roared, and the glow around him intensified. He pushed Sundowner's eyes widened as his blades were pushed back.

Raiden broke through. With Sundowner's arms flying to his sides, he slashed and slashed, causing several cuts across Sundowner's body. With a final yell, he threw his Sword to the sky. As it fell, he caught the sword with his foot. He kicked Sundowner with the sword attached. The Desperado chief cried out in pain as his entire body was pushed to the helipad floor.

Sundowner pushed himself up. He chuckled darkly. Then, visors closed around his eyes. He yelled as his entire body shook. He attached the two blades into one. Beneath his mask, Sundowner smirked. "I'll spilt you in two!"

The two helicopters from before fired rockets at Raiden. The ninja managed to dodge the explosions by jumping back. However, he was caught off guard when Sundowner burst through the flames, moving at a speed much faster than before. His Scissor Blades were opened wide like a lion's mouth ready to devour its prey. Raiden hastily brought his sword up and managed to stop it from closing on him. Raiden cried out as he crashed on the helipad floor.

The helicopters opened machine-gun fire on the prone Raiden. Raiden roared and jumped up, using his 'power' to full effect. He reached the first helicopter and stabbed his sword through its hull. He yelled and forcefully turned the helicopter towards its counterpart. They shot each other down. Raiden jumped from the burning wreckage as they started to fall towards the ground, landing on the helipad once again. He pointed his sword at Sundowner.

Meanwhile, Sundowner looked around. 'Where's the backup team?!' Realising they wouldn't come, he scoffed and turned back to Raiden. "That all you got, Jack!?"

Raiden chuckled darkly, a growl from his throat. "Not even close…"

"Then come on!" Sundowner charged again. "Give me your blood!"

He swung his connected Scissor Blades as at Raiden. Raiden blocked it, not moving an inch. He struck back with a spinning upwards swing. Sundowner's knees shook slightly from the force. The Desperado Chief kept swinging multiple attacks at Raiden, the weight of the now combined Scissor Blades pushing Raiden slightly back. As the last move, Sundowner slowly drew his hand back as the blades opened up. Realising this, Raiden ducked just in time as the blades closed in on him. Raiden dropped his sword and caught it with his foot. He did a sweeping kick, creating a wound on Sundowner's legs. The Desperado chief didn't even flinch. He slammed his sword on Raiden, who was vulnerable from his own attack. The blades hit Raiden straight on. The ninja was forced to the floor with the helipad cracking from the impact.

Sundowner jumped back to a pillar surrounding the helipad. With brute force, he ripped it off of its foundations and jumped back to the helipad. He grinned beneath his mask. "Battlefield acquisition, Jack!"

Raiden grit his teeth as he pushed himself up. He prepared himself as Sundowner swung the massive pillar down at him. Raiden blocked it with his sword, slightly skidding back as the 'power' helped him immensely. If he hadn't used it, he was sure that he would've taken some damage.

Sundowner swung the pillar at him again. Raiden blocked again. He scowled. 'I can't let this go on!' With that in mind, he focused himself. He took a deep breath.

Sundowner swung the pillar again. This time, it came from Raiden's side, sweeping across the entire helipad. Raiden flipped himself upwards, his chin grazing the edge of the pillar. At the same time, he brought his sword down on the pillar, cutting it in two.

As Sundowner was shocked from the loss of his improvised weapon, Raiden landed back on the ground. He roared and launched himself at the Desperado chief. Sundowner hastily blocked with his HF Sword, but with The Ripper enhancing Raiden, it wasn't enough. His guard broke and he stumbled back. Raiden seized this opportunity and slashed Sundowner across the chest. The Desperado chief screamed in pain. Raiden ignored it. He slashed again, and again, and again. In the end, Raiden jumped high and brought his sword down as he descended. The HF Sword cut across Sundowner's body, just barely cutting Sundowner's mask and visor open and creating a long slash wound from his upper chest to his lower body parts.

Sundowner stepped back as he lost his balance. "Son of a-!" He could feel the edge of the helipad coming closer and closer to him as he stumbled back. "You- got- me!" Sundowner stepped back again, this time his feet landing on thin air. Raiden saw him fall down the edge, Sundowner's arms flailing beside him.

Raiden walked carefully towards the edge.

He couldn't believe it. He slowly let The Ripper recede, even as it roared against him. No, that was enough.

Raiden peered over the edge.

Was Sundowner really-

His thoughts were interrupted when a helicopter emerged from the edge, Sundowner holding on to it's railings. "Play time's over, Jack!" He pointed his Scissor Blades at Raiden. "The fight's done!"

The helicopter fired rockets at Raiden's feet. The ground beneath him crumbled. The floor collapsed and Raiden fell down the tower.

In his descent, Raiden looked around. 'Dammit! I need a way out!' In his search, he found a rouge drone in his fall route. Raiden smirked.'That'll do.'

Raiden flipped himself to fall feet first. He angled his HF Sword down. He braced himself as he landed right on the drone, his sword impaling its core AI unit. He hacked the drone via its connection with his interface, his sword, and the drone's core AI unit. As soon as he gained control, he redirected the drone. He burst through an office window and tilted the drone upwards. With that, he began his ascent back to the helipad.

Raiden and his new drone dodged multiple debris as they fell down towards him, indicating the building's now unstable rooftop as a result of their fight. They reached the final celling, and Raiden pulled his sword away from the drone. With it, he re-enabled his The Ripper. As the glow surrounded him, Raiden slashed at the celling multiple times, creating a hole large enough for them to push through. He covered his face with his free arm. As one, Raiden and his drone burst through the ceiling.

Sundowner's eyes practically bust out of their sockets as he saw Raiden burst through the helipad. Faster than he could react, Raiden redirected his drone to fly directly to Sundowner's helicopter. As the drone flew straight at the Desperado chief, Raiden jumped away and landed on the helipad.

Sundowner saw the drone coming in slow motion. Hastily, and with no other choice, he pushed himself away from the helicopter to land back on the helipad.

However, he didn't expect Raiden to have already been waiting for him. The ninja let his sheath lower to his right hip. He sheathed his HF Sword and let it charge inside the sheath, his hand still resting on the sword's handle.

Seeing Sundowner jump, Raiden bent his knees and kept The Ripper on full force. The floor beneath him cracked. Raiden jumped at Sundowner, who was still in mid-air. With the Desperado chief's arms wide open and unable to defend, Raiden was free to strike. As he got closer and closer, he unsheathed his sword and slashed with it in one motion. The resulting attack, empowered by both the sheath and The Ripper, cut Sundowner straight through, from his right hip to his left shoulder. The two pieces drifted apart, allowing Raiden to pass through. What remained of Sundowner fell back to the helipad.

Raiden flipped in mid-air and landed back at the helipad, his back facing Sundowner. He flourished his sword to free it of any blood and put it back at its sheath. His 'power' receded for the last time. He sighed. "It's… over."

His CODEC rang. Wordlessly, Raiden answered the call. It was from Sundowner. 'Looks like he can't talk normally anymore.'

From the CODEC, Sundowner gasped. "Atta… boy… Jack…"

"What's Armstrong's real goal?!" Raiden shouted over the CODEC. "He can't possibly be in Neo-Pakistan!"

Sundowner chuckled. "You… best believe it… Jack… Heh…" Sundowner's voice became raspy. "No way you can stop us now…"

Raiden growled.

Sundowner smirked, not that Raiden could see. "I… got a call-" Sundowner coughed. "To make!"

Wordlessly, Sundowner dialled that CODEC. Raiden stayed silent, hoping for another source of intel. In time, the called CODEC number entered their conversation.

Jaune chuckled over the CODEC. "Heheh. Bit off more than you can swallow, 'Downer?"

Sundowner chuckled humourlessly. "Bastard… you betrayed us…"

Raiden's eyes widened beneath his visor. 'Jaune betrayed them?!'

"I… was supposed to have a back-up team…" Sundowner said. "They didn't come… guess you killed 'em all… didn't you?"

"Hey, they were standing in the way of the server room!" Jaune 'defended' himself. "I mean, it's not like they didn't want to kill me too when I visited them…"

Sundowner gasped. "Then I guess you'll get your wish…." He gasped for his final breaths. Not a moment later, Sundowner had died.

Jaune was still on the call.

"Raiden." Jaune said. Raiden stayed silent. Jaune took it as his signal to continue. "…Head on over to Solis. Don't use the chopper."

For the second time after the fight, Raiden was surprised. He pressed his hand to his ear. "How do you know about the chopper?" More importantly, Sunny was there! "How do you know ABOUT SOLIS?!"

Jaune chuckled. "That doesn't seem too relevant now, Raiden. What's important to know is that I-." Jaune said the next words with a smug tone. "Have already cleared a path for you in the roads. C'mon, give a guy some appreciation, would you?"

"There's no reason I shouldn't take a ride with Dok." Raiden denied the smug samurai. "Besides-"

"Don't you want to know more about your power?"

"…"

"I know you're curious, Jack¬"

Raiden steeled his resolve. "Where's the path."

"I knew you'd come through!" Jaune's cheerful voice grated his ears. "Just head down the HQ. The path to the nearest blockade should be clear, near the one you came through. There's a ride I've… acquired…. for a lack of a better word, and prepared for you. Use it to get on the highway quickly. Should take around an hour or two."

Raiden wordlessly nodded. He closed off the CODEC call.

Jaune heard the CODEC call close off. He closed his eyes. Man, Raiden sure was one serious dude.

He savoured the hot blowing winds of the badlands. A single strip of road was barren on his left side. To his front and his back were two large rocks. To his left, a lone cactus stood planted on the sand-dusted ground.

"Now…" Jaune tilted his head to his right.

There stood Bladewolf, the faunus standing upright and attentive. He had his eyes narrowed on Jaune. In response, Jaune smiled. Truly, truly smiled.

"I think we need to talk, Wolfy."

End scene!

As promised, the response to previous reviews!

To Skeletalrepublic, wow, high praise! Thank you!

To zakuzilla, :)

To Kabuto S. Inferno, you've pretty much got it spot on.

To TheJSmooth, there's still more of those two to come!

As usual, tell me what you thought in the reviews!

See you next time!