Oh brother, why did I have to finish this chapter during an unfortunate time like this especially after seeing The Last Of Us 2's sorry excuse of a 'story'? Goddammit.

Editorial Note:

The Battle of Beacon was one of the most infamous events in modern history with its aftermath still being felt to this day, one which I was able to witness with my very own eyes. It especially had an impact on Jaune and it remains one of the darkest moments of his life. While he was able to prevail at other times, this was one of the times where he felt truly helpless.

As shown by the end of the previous chapter, Jaune was captured and spent the first half of the event unconscious. So to continue the proceedings in a manner that cannot be provided with Jaune's writing alone, we will begin this chapter with an excerpt from Ruby's old diary followed by two other extracts relating to the incident. These are a few of the many stories told during that shocking night.

The Red Rose Diaries: Sudden Chaos

I thought that what Yang did would be the worst thing that could happen this week. That gave us too much trouble that I didn't want to think that something worse was going to happen.

We didn't want to keep worrying about Yang and that she kinda put us in trouble, and neither did she. So we tried to move on with our lives as we tried to think about other things. To be honest, I don't even care about being disqualified, I just want Yang to be okay and that she might hopefully prove her innocence if she's telling me that truth that she didn't do what we saw.

Even after what happened, the tournament kept ongoing. The tournament was still going so I went with Team JNPR when I went back for the next match. Blake and Weiss felt like they've seen enough action and decided to stay at Beacon. A lot of people in the arena looked pretty angry when they saw me because I was Yang's sister, but at least Jaune and his team were there. I know going there wasn't exactly the best idea, but I still wanted to show some support to Pyrrha, Penny, and Sun during the finals. It was the least I could do as their friend.

That was when I realized that Penny and Pyrrha might get matched. Because Penny was a robot trying to keep her secret safe, she won't go well against Pyrrha's semblance. So a few minutes before the rounds start again, I told Pyrrha not to use her semblance in case she and Penny get picked together. Thankfully, she told me that she already knew and that I shouldn't worry about it. Not sure how she knew about it but it was a good call since Pyrrha and Penny really did get matched together.

The fight was pretty fun to watch. Those two put on quite a show by challenging each other's skill and speed and it was amazing. But just when I thought that I didn't have to worry anymore, Penny suddenly became more aggressive, using techniques that were too dangerous for a friendly match. I looked at one of the screens and saw that her eyes were glowing red like Yang with her semblance activated, which was something I never saw her do before. I knew there was something wrong but I didn't know what to do. I wasn't sure if Penny was really trying harder to beat Pyrrha or if something was making her more violent than she should.

Penny kept using her floating array of swords [1] faster and harder at Pyrrha. I was scared because that would be enough to force Pyrrha into using her semblance on her. Thankfully, Pyrrha was fast enough to dodge and block every single one of them. It didn't look like Penny was giving up. She made a circle with her swords that were bigger than the one she used last time. She was already going too far but this was when things got worse and worse. I remember that they were strong enough to cut through Bullheads and this one would have been strong enough to kill Pyrrha even with her aura.

When Penny started firing large lasers with her swords, Pyrrha did her best to dodge them. The lasers were so powerful that they left big scrapes on the floor. I knew she wasn't supposed to use it like this, it had gotten so bad that the professors didn't know what was happening anymore. General Ironwood even came down with some soldiers and he tried telling Penny to stop and that she was going too far.

It became obvious that this wasn't a normal match anymore. When Penny finally stopped shooting, we hoped that all of this would be over. Soldiers went into the stage and surrounded her while she kept standing there with her eyes still glowing red.

Suddenly, all the screens around the coliseum started glowing red as well while it showed a logo of a black chess piece. And then we all heard a woman's voice talking over the speakers.

She sounded familiar…

=o=

1. Floating Array is actually the name of Penny's swords. I presumed that Ruby must have asked Penny about her blades at some point.

Archived Audio Transcript: Cinder's Fall Speech at the Vytal Tournament

Note: This feed was broadcasted to every device connected to the CCTs in the midst of an escalating match between Pyrrha Nikos and Penny Polendina during the final round of 40th Biennal Vytal Tournament in the Amity Coliseum. A woman who was later identified as a Mistrali-Born criminal by the name of Cinder Fall transmitted a message that would infamously incite one of the most catastrophic Grimm outbreaks in modern history.

Fall was able to gain access and seize control of the Beacon Tower's system a couple of months prior to the tournament. The Atlesian Central Command was also hijacked by the White Fang's Valish cell collaborating with Fall after they seized control of the AMV Polaris using the same technology that was used to take over the CCT Tower.

When the message was being broadcasted, the feed presented a symbol depicting a black queen chess piece in front of a bright red background as Fall kept her identity concealed.

The message is what followed:

"Citizens of Remnant. You may be confused by this sudden interruption, but rest assured that I am here to enlighten you. What you are about to witness will change how you view the kingdoms and the academies that claim to protect you forever. As all of you know, we live in a world filled with conflict and constant threat and the kingdoms are regarded to be the beacon of hope and civilization with the Huntsmen acting their sword and shield, so much so that the Academies wield more power than most armies, and one particular among them even controls both of them.

But what if I told you that you can't even trust your so-called protectors? What if I told you that they have been hiding a lot of secrets from your backs? What if I told you that the heroes you look up to were nothing more than instruments for the kingdoms to keep power over you? Let me show you why.

For those who were watching the match in the tournament; if the signs you already saw haven't alarmed you yet, then this will certainly will."

(Video feed cuts to a camera showing Penny Polendina in Amity Arena. Her eyes were glowing red and she began speaking in a synthetic voice while being controlled by the hijacked Atlesian Central Control.)

"Salutations. I am an Advanced Synthetic Humanoid designated as PN-1 under the codename 'Penny', created by Pietro Polendina under the commission of the Atlesian Military. My mission is to secure the interests of the Kingdom of Atlas above all else."

(Following this, her voice became deeper and slightly distorted)

"I purely exist to serve Atlas. I am not a real girl. I never was and I will never be one."

(Penny Polendina's red eyes glowed brighter while the blades behind her multiplied. The feed then returned to displaying the Black Symbol in the red background.)

"Atlas' Academy's star athlete turned out to be nothing more than a machine posing as a young girl. Who would have thought? And what other is creating this sort of technology? I'm sure that you have guessed it by now. It begs to ask why would they need a machine replicating a young Huntress when it would barely make a difference to the Grimm? Aren't the many Huntsmen they treat and train like soldiers or the many other machines they are using to occupy Vale enough for them? Whatever it may be, this is what happens when you lend too much trust and power over those who claim to be our guardians, but are nothing more than mere men who believe they are above you.

Atlas isn't only to blame, I might even say that Ozpin is worse. He may not appear much aside from being a simple headmaster, but little did all of you know that he has more sovereignty over Vale than its council ever did. This is a man who ruthlessly sends his students to missions that are too dangerous for them; a man who would exploit the system for his gain; and a man whose student just recently dismembered a downed opponent. What's peculiar about the said student is that she also happened to be one to be a part of a particular event involving a stolen Paladin in Vale's highway that cost innocent lives. I could go on, but I'm sure you get the idea.

I can tell you that neither Vacuo nor Mistral are any better. Anyone who lives there knows why. The Huntsmen who we are propagated to revere as heroes risking their lives for a better world are nothing more than the councils' tools for their own ends. You can try holding out for your heroes, but you can't always count on them. In the end, they are just people, and that makes them just as fragile as you."

It has been eighty years since The Great War ended and this is the 40th festival where we celebrate that peace, and you have been celebrating it for too long that you are forgetting how it can be easily tarnished. Tensions between the kingdoms are ever-increasing and The White Fang is going rampant on the streets because faunus are still being mistreated even after their emancipation following the war. And this is what they give us? I'd say they have gone too far enough. Let me show them the consequences of their actions."

(During this period, the virus that the White Fang planted on Atlesian Central Control took effect on the Atlesian Androids, making them shift allegiances as symbolized by their lights turning red.)

"For all their corruption; for all their deceit; and for all those who suffered because of their actions. This is my message to them.

Open your eyes, or I'll have to open them for you."

(The footage flickered then flickered, a symbol depicting a wheel with eight arrows can be seen in a brief flash. Afterward, all television broadcasts in Vale were put to an immediate halt.)

The White Fang Reports: The Day We're Waiting For

Finally, after months of planning and preparing for this moment, the time has finally come. This was the day where we cut a major string in the putter of the human-dominated powers of this world known as the Huntsmen Academies, and bring the faunus people closer to what they deserve while exposing the dangers of Atlesian imperialism.

Well, that's what Adam told us. I wasn't allowed to question it. Not that I had any reason to.

The operation began once the human rogues who we were forced to call our allies have successfully manufactured an incident that caused enough hysteria among the populations. It caused the Atlesian Military to further tighten their security especially after one of our initiates successfully firebombed the embassy.

The next step took place before and during the singles match between Pyrrha Nikos and Penny Polendina, the Atlesians' top-secret war machine disguised as a human girl. The assault on the AMV Polaris was led by Adam Taurus, accompanied by his elite team of White Fang veterans, consisting of Ilia Amitola, Trifa Riahi, and Yuma Hito. Meanwhile, our human allies will be in Amity Coliseum to perform their tasks, which includes capturing the Valish Defanger. One of our skilled bullhead pilots, Rory Baron was assigned to transport our allies from the coliseum and into Beacon after they subdued the Defanger. Neopolitan was then taken to the AMV Polaris to aid Adam's team and reunite with Torchwick.

Despite strict security and being well-manned with soldiers, Adam's team was able to successfully dispatch the ship's personnel and hijack the AMV Polaris with our spies and sleeper agents that were infiltrating the ship before the operation began. They planted the virus provided to us from our human associates to seize the ship's system and take control of it.

We freed our brothers and the other faunus prisoners imprisoned in the ship, along with Torchwick whose legs were still crippled, thankfully we had a wheelchair prepared. The other human we released was none other than Dr. Merlot of Merlot Industries himself as requested by our associates.

All the other human prisoners remain in their cells; they could have died when the ship crashed for all we care. Baron arrived shortly with Neopolitan, reassuring us that she fulfilled her task in disposing of the Defanger for the time being. She put herself in charge of pushing Torchwick's wheelchair as she reunited with him. The faunus prisoners were recruited and later escaped via bullhead along with our imprisoned members.

Once the Vytal Tournament Finals resumed with a match between Pyrrha Nikos and the Atlas War Machine they dubbed as 'Penny' at full swing. The virus was able to make the War Machine more aggressive. Pyrrha Nikos, however, kept fighting on, nonetheless, the android's aggression was enough to alert the audience that the fascist general of Atlas called the Polaris and asked what was going on.

We then used the system to broadcast our allies' message on every CCT Channel. When we got the cue, we made the War Machine show her true nature to the world and got the Atlas' robots to throw at the Atlesian Military code while making them defect to our cause.

After the message, Grimm Threat level spontaneously increased as they were able to overwhelm the Kingdom's defenses and began attacking the city of Vale and the Amity Coliseum. Taking advantage of the circumstance, we were able to dispatch the other ships at the fleet while avoiding the Grimm that was indirectly aiding us. The hacked Atlesian Knights made it easier to clear out the Atlesians from the fleet.

The Beta Team was then deployed in Beacon to help our human allies in their objective to destroy the academy. They have already released the contained Grimm in the Academy using the same virus that hacked the CCT with their restrainers deactivated. Shortly after, Adam left the Polaris to aid the Beta Team, saying that he had to deal with some personal matters in Beacon while telling us to continue in helping our allies in crippling two kingdoms at once.

We have never accomplished something this big, and it was only the beginning.

Red Rose Diaries: Sudden Chaos (cont)

I couldn't forget how chilling it was hearing that woman go on a tirade about the Huntsmen and the Kingdoms even if I didn't believe her. That was all I could say about it. After she finished talking, a loud alarm emitted saying that there was a high-level Grimm attack coming.

The robots from Atlas glowing red and started shooting everyone. Penny also attacked all the soldiers near her while everyone was panicking. And as if things weren't bad enough, a Nevermore was trying to break the safety barrier above the arena. General Ironwood even went as far as to shoot her but his shots were blocked by one of the blades. Penny tried to hit the general with a laser but he was able to avoid it.

It was terrible. People were getting killed left and right and a good friend of mine was out of control. I thought I needed to do something so I zoomed in front of her. I admit that I didn't think this through, I thought that making her see a good friend might get her to calm down but I guess that it didn't work that way. When she saw me she started shooting her lasers from the tip of her blades. She kept firing at me as I kept dodging while trying to tell her that this wasn't her.

I didn't want to give up. I wanted her to stop, but I didn't want to fight her either. She hurled all of her blades when I was running out of aura to keep using my speed. Pyrrha jumped to my front and blew the blades away with her magnetism. The wires attached to her blades curled up to her body and they were strong enough to rip her apart when they pulled her away. The only thing I could say after that is that her red eyes faded to grey while her torn body lay on the ground. She was… gone.

It hurts me to write this. I didn't want to believe when I saw it and I never cried this much since Mom died. Penny was one of the closest friends I had along with my Team and Team JNPR. I was too busy mourning for Penny to notice that people were calling my name and that the Nevermore finally broke in.

Pyrrha grabbed me before we both were pushed away by the Nevermore's impact after it landed and that was when I snapped out of it. After Pyrrha let go of me, she used her weapon's rifle mode to shoot at the Nevermore. It tried to fly up but the rocket lockers landed on the Nevermore and pinned it down. Everyone went and grabbed their weapons and finished off the Nevermore.

After that, I took this moment to breathe and fathom everything that just happened. I looked around and saw all of the robots were destroyed but there were also many dead bodies of innocent people on the ground. Pyrrha looked upset at the fact that she just killed Penny and was very sorry. I don't blame her, she didn't want this either and she didn't know what else she could have done. I just wished things happened differently.

We realize that the woman behind all of this is still out there so we have to focus on making sure no more innocents get hurt. It's what the Penny I knew would have wanted, her death would have been all for nothing if we didn't get to the bottom of this.

I also noticed that Jaune was gone. The last saw him sitting with me when the match was on. Nora and Ren don't know where he is either and Pyrrha was getting worried. No one else knows either, not even the teachers. We figured that he must be out there somewhere, after all, he always does act ahead of us. But when we tried to call him, he wasn't answering. For all we knew, he could be in trouble and that he has to help find and help him.

Grimm were still trying to attack the arena, so I borrowed Sun's scroll to get my locker that was storing my Crescent Rose. When we were about to hold the stage and fight, the Professors stepped in and told us that we should go and that they'll take care of things there.

We fought our way to the Coliseum's docks. There were a few soldiers fighting robots on the way so we helped them. It didn't take much sweat since there were plenty of us. The soldiers thanked us and led us to the docks where we met General Ironwood helping some civilians evacuate.

The General said that the Grimm were attacking Vale and Beacon and the White Fang had taken over half of the Atlesian Fleet. He told us we can help defend the kingdom and the academy but he also said that it's okay if we chose to leave. Nora kinda caused a scene by yelling at the General and demanded answers about Penny and the robots, but Ren told her to calm down and that they'll have to discuss it later.

Naturally, because Beacon was like a second home to us, many of us took a ship to Beacon so we could help clear the Grimm out from there. When we looked outside the ship's window, we saw jets and ships fighting in the sky. They were mostly Atlesian models so I couldn't imagine how hard it was to tell which was which.

The other thing I couldn't stop thinking on the way was Jaune. I hoped he was alright wherever he might be.

Chapter 14

Cinders and Ashes

"Remnant upon remnant. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust."

-Anonymous

My eyes slowly opened after what felt like an hour or two of being knocked out. I shook off the remaining effects of the sedatives that were swirling my mind before checking my surroundings and realizing that I was in a dimly lit room with nothing apart from a single window and a floor covered with a thick and large carpet. When I tried to move, I found out that my arms were tied back and my legs were restrained to a wooden chair.

There wasn't much to see outside of the window aside from another building, though it made it clear that I wasn't in the coliseum anymore. Some screams and what sounded like roars of Grimm could be heard outside the window. There was little doubt that my captives have something to do with this. Remembering what happened before I was knocked out, I knew that I was in a position that wasn't good. I tried to struggle out of it with all the strength I could muster but the binds were too tight that it hurts trying to break it, aura be damned.

Thinking for a way to get out of this, I was able to remember a military trick my dad taught me when I was training in case something like this happens. He taught me how to untie different types of knots with either my hands or mouth, depending on the situation. I never thought I would make use of them because I always made sure to never get captured but it looked like I'm going to need to use them. At least the White Fang took the cuffs off when they threw me in a cell.

When I was about to try it out, I heard a familiar voice approaching me. I had to stay still and wait until the coast was clear enough for me to try to make my escape.

"Look who's finally awake." The voice sounded like it belonged to Mercury. I looked up and saw that my thoughts weren't wrong. The most surprising thing was that he was walking as if Yang never broke his leg for the entire world to see. The fact that he was approaching me with a malicious grin after his teammate kidnapped me made it clear enough that Yang really was innocent after all.

He was accompanying his team leader, Cinder along with his other teammate, Emerald. Nico—r whatever her actual name was—the four-foot butcher who knocked me unconscious was nowhere to be seen. That was the only good news.

Cinder was wearing a different outfit, a dark red mini-dress that kept her shoulders exposed with golden motifs. She smiled at me menacingly. Her looks that I once found to be alluring were now intimidating. "Hello again, Jaune Arc. The Defender of Podunk, The Valish Defanger, and more recently The Hero of Beacon. I'm sure you already know who we are so I don't think we have to introduce ourselves."

I could only give her an exasperated glare before going straight to the point since I didn't know what else to say and I wasn't in a mood on making snide quips after being knocked out by a pint-sized murderer that would have certainly killed me if her team didn't want to take me alive for whatever reason. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to tell you how much a nuisance you have been," she began. There was some sort of dissonance with the same hush voice I've always been familiar with during her tirade. "You have no idea how many times I have to revise my plans thanks to your intrusions. The White Fang's operations would have been smoother if it wasn't for your hindering, and if that wasn't enough, you've been going after the drugs I've been trying to supply as well. I'm honestly impressed, no one else has given me this much trouble before."

"So you're telling me that you're working with the White Fang?" I asked. Judging by the fact that they were collaborating with a common criminal like Torchwick, it wasn't that surprising. What did surprise me is that she was also the one providing the drugs to Junior's gang. I wasn't aware that she had something to do with that. Thinking about the letter I saw back at the club, it all made sense now.

"I'm not working for the White Fang, they are working for me," she answered with a smirk. "They are nothing more than means to an end; their hatred against humanity made them perfect for the frontlines."

"So you're the employers Torchwick mentioned, are you?" I queried, remembering what he told me back after his caper with the train. Ever since that day, I was curious about who they are and I always feared that I would meet them like this.

"That's correct, my dear. You have quite the nerve to break his leg like that. A certain associate of mine wasn't happy about that. Fortunately for you, she's too busy with something else important to return the favor on his behalf," she answered. It was still chilling knowing that she's there somewhere and she's holding a grudge against me. "Anyway, you sure do know how to thwart months' worth of planning, it makes me wonder how are you able to do it."

"Trust me, I'm about as curious as you," I scoffed while being technically honest about it.

She gave an amused look. "Whatever it might be. The Arc blood does run on you. Ozpin sure knows how to pick his pawns. Which reminds me, does the words 'relic' or 'maiden' ring a bell?"

I looked at her confused, not knowing what she meant by those words. "What?"

She raised her tone. "Do you know anything about Maidens? The Relics? Or The Ruinous Powers?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. Really!" I anxiously cried out.

Cinder leaned to me with a glare. "You're telling me that Ozpin told you nothing?"

"No, he kept me in the dark with a lot of things," I explained whilst catching my breath before remembering something that could relate to what she was talking about. It was the only thing I could think of and it might be the only chance I get to ask about it. "But… what about the name Salem?"

That seemed to have caught their attention as I noticed all of their eyes widen. Cinder stepped closer. "Did he tell you that?"

"No, it was Dr. Merlot. I've been wanting to ask Ozpin about her," I admitted since I didn't have a reason to lie and I didn't think that they have any connection.

"What else do you know about her?" she asked further.

"Nothing, just the name and something about chaos."

She kept glaring at me for a few more moments before chuckling. "I understand now. Don't worry about her, you'll soon find out who she is one way or the other," She smiled sinisterly. "Whether you're more than just Ozpin's pawn or not, you truly have been quite the hero the public praises you as. Just like your daddy," She said before narrowed her amber eyes as she shifted them toward mine. "But I don't want any heroes."

I gulped, feeling my heart rapidly beat as she stared me down. "Now that I have you where I wanted, I don't have to worry about you anymore. Having you spice up some things was fun, I admit, but I think you've already done more than enough. Today is my big day, and I don't want you ruining it. I should thank Emerald and Neo for their semblance."

"What are you planning to do?" I asked as it was becoming obvious that they were planning something big enough to get rid of me first.

"Get what I deserve. And I'm not going to let anyone stop me. Not you, not Ozpin, nor any of your friends. "

Hearing that made me sick in the stomach. Capturing me was one thing, but planning on harming my friends was something I could not withstand. "Keep them out of this. Look, do what you want with me but let my friends go!"

She shook her head with an amused grin. "This isn't about you. You're not what I want, you were just in the way. Same goes for your friends. And one of them is already gone."

"What?!" My eyes widened in shock. I wanted to believe she was bluffing, but given how serious she sounded, she unfortunately wasn't. Someone I knew was already dead and I couldn't do anything but feel terrible about it.

"And she won't be the last. Don't worry about your partner. From what I've seen, she's not dead. Not yet anyway."

"Don't you dare try anything to her!" I yelled as I instinctively tried to lunge toward her, only to be stopped by the tight ropes that I was still tied to.

"And what are you going to do about it?" she asked, looking at me smugly.

I kept trying to struggle out from my binds until I gave up and stared down the floor. "Why are you doing this?!"

"Because life is simply unfair, sometimes you have to make sacrifices to get what you want. My father told me that; he was the only person I ever believed in," she answered.

"Is this what you want then?" I asked, looking back up with a scowl.

"To show the world how it feels to be miserable? Yes," she said coldly. I once again found myself in a loss for words. I always knew whoever behind all this was ruthless, but I didn't expect them to be this sadistic.

"Oh look at the time," she said as she checked her scroll. "You know, the wisest thing for me to do is to kill you, right here right now as swift as possible." She pulled out one of her dark swords and used it to slowly graze my jaw while I could only sit still and feel myself shiver. "But after everything you've done, that would have been too kind for me. I want you to hear the screams of death and destruction of what you've been trying to protect as you burn with it. Slowly and painfully."

Cinder stared at me for a few more seconds before putting away her blade. "It's a shame that I have very important matters to attend to because I would love to watch you suffer." She leaned forward to peck my cheek. "I'll see you in hell, handsome."

The room's door opened to an illuminating hallway. She turned away, showing that she had a tattoo depicting what appeared to be a crest of some kind with a split in the middle forming a heart on the back of her torso. [1] Emerald followed her out while I remained repulsed from her unwanted kiss.

Meanwhile, Mercury approached me as he held my scroll. "By the way, you have some nice songs here. I didn't know you were into dad rock," he remarked as he waved it in front of me. "Don't worry, I'll be taking good care of your scroll."

Music and some pictures aside, I thankfully didn't have that much important stuff stored in my scroll. It wouldn't have bothered me much if it wasn't for the fact that he now has access to my contacts and private messages. I had to look for another scroll to log in and block access from that device before it was too late.

Mercury followed Emerald as he left the room. Cinder stood at the doorway and pulled out an ignited fire dust and tossed it on the carpet. She gave me one last wink and closed the door.

The carpet burned and the fire steadily grew as it slowly drew near me. With my captives gone, I tried using every trick, every method I learned to untie the binds but I later found out that the knot was something beyond I've learned as if they anticipated me trying to break out. I stubbornly persisted with the best as I could, but it only left me being too tired and sore.

There wasn't much I could do. Being trapped in an empty room with nothing but a raging fire was spreading around me. My only option was to scream for help. I don't know where I was so I couldn't tell if someone could hear me or not. I kept crying for help until I ran short of air. With the flames almost reaching me, I closed my eyes, believing there was no hope left and that I was about to perish unceremoniously.

I braced myself into being burned as my life was about to flash before me. That is when I suddenly heard drumming footsteps coming close. My eyes gaped as I noticed the door being pounded a few times before it was kicked open. A sound of a fire extinguisher slowly followed as its agents put out the flames. I was unable to see who was rescuing me until the smoke faded after the room was extinguished while my sights cleared. I saw that it was Cardin and his team, of all people who rescued me.

"C-Cardin?" I groggily said to my surprise, still feeling a bit weak from almost suffocating from the fire. I never thought I'd be glad to see them again. How ironic that they once indirectly put me into a situation like this before and now they're getting me out from one.

"Don't worry, Jauney-boy, you'll get out of this," Cardin said before turning to his team. "Get him out of there!"

Russel went ahead and used his daggers to cut off my binds. In the middle of it, a loud hiss was suddenly heard outside the building, making everyone in the room freeze upon hearing it. After a few seconds of wondering that was, Sky was able to realize it. "Oh no," he muttered.

I turned to the window and saw a black head of a King Taijitu looking at us. I didn't know how it got there but all I know is that the amounts of negative energy in me were enough to grab its attention.

It shoved one of its own heads toward the window, breaking it and the wall surrounding it. Russel teammates pulled me away as he went forward and bashed its head with his mace. The giant snake's head knocked back and hissed in pain as Russel sliced the remaining ropes tying me. "C'mon let's go!" He yelled.

Team CRDL and I ran out of the room before it was able to bite any of us. We rushed downstairs until we were out of the building. As I glanced back, I discovered that I was held in an abandoned residential building somewhere in the north of Beacon and that the King Taijitsu's other half saw that we were running and went on to chase us.

We all stopped and turned back to face the Katie. [2] Team CRDL readied their weapons while I checked my pockets, only to see that they were still empty. Without a scroll, I couldn't summon my locker to get my weapons. That was when I thought of an idea.

Cardin told me to run as he and his team went on to engage the King Taijitu. I would have taken his word but I wasn't sure if I should go unarmed especially if there are more Grimm on the way. And I still wanted to ask some questions and return the favor.

Team CRDL split themselves into two, with each half dealing with one half of the Katie. Cardin and Russel with the white half; Dove and Sky with the black half. Cardin was pushing against the white head while Russel slashed the body. Dove and Sky were shooting at its black head, getting it agitated that it went toward the two. Dove dived away while Sky tried to swing his weapon at its head, only for it to go around him and have him tied up with its body. Sky yelled for help as Dove switched to his sword. He leaped toward the black head. Unfortunately, it swung its head at him, making him fly toward a nearby building.

I scanned the snake's black head. There was a crack on its bony covering from Cardin's attack earlier. Only a single thud would do to put it out of action. Taking a deep breath before putting my plan into motion. "Cardin, toss me your scroll!"

He did not argue and threw his scroll at me while continuing to ward off the white one's strikes. I caught the scroll in the air and immediately accessed into Beacon's locker application.

"Keep that one busy! I got an idea," I told Cardin. He nodded in acknowledgment as I typed my locker's launch code. Taking one last gulp, I thought of every bad memory I could think of, from certain childhood tragedies, acts of betrayals to my recent capture to draw in as much negative energy in me as possible.

It got the attention of both of the Katie's halves, distracting the white one and giving Cardin an opening as he swung his mace to its nostrils. The black one forgot about Sky and slowly slanted toward me as I marked the locker's landing location near the front of me and activated its launch.

I stepped back and tensely stared down the black Katie while encircled red dots glared above its head. It roared toward me, with its venom almost reaching right before my locker fell above it. The other half's head screeched in pain and Sky was able to get out of the Katie's body.

Panting as I looked at my locker pinning down the white snakehead before it opened, I grabbed my weapons and placed my holster and my shield on my belt. With my sword and gun ready, I aimed at the other half's head and fired. The lasers were sharp enough to scrape the side of its mouth and I could tell that we were close to killing it.

Russel kept slicing the white half's body behind it while Dove recovered from his crash and sliced through the Katie's jaw. Sky thrust his halberd's toward its neck, making it drop to the ground. Finally, Cardin stepped in and dropped his mace at its head, unleashing an explosion on impact for further damage.

The King Taijitsu lied dead and his body vaporized into black particles. Sky jumped out of it and took a look at the results of our efforts. "Woah."

Glad that's taken care of. Gods, I really hate snakes.

"That's only one of them," Cardin reminded his teammates as he rested his mace on his shoulder. "We can't call it a win until we know that every Grimm in here is gone."

I looked up and noticed a significant amount of military aircraft and Grimm flying in the sky. Smoke was coming out from the courtyard where all the gunfire and explosions were heard. How did it all come to this? I asked myself. The last thing I remembered was that I was watching Pyrrha and Penny's match when I saw Weiss calling me. That was when I was ambushed by the Neapolitan Butcher before waking up to this. Since I was in the clear for the moment, it was a good time to start asking questions. "Mind telling me what happened here?"

"I don't know. It all happened so fast," Cardin tried to answer, sounding almost as confused as I was. "All I could say is that the tournament was interrupted, and then all hell broke loose with the Grimm somehow passing the kingdom's defenses and the White Fang releasing the Grimm into the school!"

So that's what happened when I was passed out. I didn't know what else to say. All I could think about was Cinder believing that I was that much of a threat for her to capture me first as if I could somehow stop this from happening. Thinking about my capture prompted me to ask how did Cardin and his team know that I was trapped and saved me in time "How did you find me?"

"Well, it all started when we were watching the match between Pyrrha and that Penny girl when Mr. Shorty here looking for the bathroom after drinking up all our root-beer when he saw a Bullhead landing on the place that nobody goes," Russel explained, gesturing toward Dove as he looked somewhat offended. "Being that curious he decided to check to see what was up and saw you being carried inside by those exchange students from Haven."

"The most surprising thing I saw is that the Mercury guy could suddenly stand and walk again after seeing his let get shot by Xiao Long a couple of hours ago. After seeing that, I knew something was wrong." Dove added.

"When he got back to tell us what he saw, the match was heating up and then a woman's voice came up on every device connected to the CCT," Russel continued. "The woman talking over it sounded like that raven-haired chick if I heard right."

"Yeah and after that, Grimm alert levels suddenly went up and when we got out to check what Dove saw, the Bullhead flew away."

It's Cinder alright. All evidence pointed toward her team being behind all of this. She's also working with—no—she's behind the White Fang." I asserted.

"You can't be serious," Sky remarked.

"Yeah, I know. The worst part is that I'm not even kidding," I said as I went to check the updates on Cardin's scroll, that was when I saw that the Grimm Threat Level was dangerously high, with the bar glowing red. I knew Cinder was bad news but I didn't know she was way worse than I imagined, causing havoc within this scale. I had to check on my team and see if they're okay. "I'm going to make a call. Is that okay with you?" I asked Cardin.

Cardin nodded, "Go ahead."

I dialed in Pyrrha's number and waited for her call. To my relief, she was able to answer after a few seconds, indicating that she was alright for the time being. There was a hint of worry when in her voice, however. "Hello?"

"Pyrrha! It's me. I just wanted to let you know I'm okay." I said, sounding somewhat ecstatic on hearing her voice again.

"Jaune…?" she paused for a moment. "Oh, thank gods."

"Jaune! We were just wondering when we might hear from you again." I heard Ruby exclaim as her voice comes closer to Pyrrha's scroll.

Nora followed suit and I assumed that Ren was listening closely too. "I knew you'd be alright, Fearless Leader!"

I felt better knowing that everyone was okay. Still, we were in a rough situation and Pyrrha sounded distressed after I suddenly disappeared from the coliseum. "Where are you right now? I was getting worried."

"I'm at Beacon. Look, I'm really sorry for disappearing and making you worry. I got jumped and I had to break out. Are you okay? I heard that the outbreak began during your match."

"I'm alright," she answered before her tone shifted into sorrow as she hesitated. "I can't say the same for Penny though."

"Penny?"

"Jaune, have you heard of what happened?"

"No, I didn't. I was out when things went down."

Pyrrha took a short moment of silence before she explained, "She's… she's a robot. She was a robot all along."

"And she's gone..." Ruby added. She was audibly tearing up, and I could only feel sorry for her. I know how it felt like losing a friend before your eyes. I stood there remaining speechless while realizing she was the casualty Cinder mentioned.

"And she was a machine all along! Those darn Atlesians have a lot to answer for!" Nora yelled, clearly enraged over robots. I couldn't imagine how she would have reacted to that prior to this but that wasn't important.

"Jaune, you mentioned that you were captured," Pyrrha brought up. "Who were they and what did they do to you?"

"It was Cinder and her team. Nico turned out to be the Neapolitan Butcher and knocked me out. They took me to Beacon and even tried burning me. Luckily I made it out." I explained, summarizing what happened to me for the past hour. "She made it clear to me that she's behind this. Not only that, but she's working with the White Fang as well."

"So that's why she always felt like she's up to somethin'!" Nora remarked.

"I knew that voice from the announcement sounded familiar," Ruby added.

It took a moment for Pyrrha to process all of that, something which I couldn't blame her for, it was a lot to take in. "I couldn't believe it, why would they do this?"

"Trust me, I've been asking the same thing. I don't know where they are or what they're doing right now, but we need to find the Headmaster. He'll know what to do."

"Okay,' she said, still sounding apprehensive. "We're heading to Beacon now. Meet us at the courtyard, everyone should be there."

Ren took his turn to speak. "And watch out for the Atlesian machines. It appears that they are hacked to shoot at any Huntsmen and soldiers on sight. Best of luck."

Even Atlas' robots are a problem? I initially felt dubious given Ren and Nora's irrational fear against anything with an A.I. but I was willing to take his warning just in case. If Cinder was able to hack the CCT channels then it was plausible for her to hack the robots as well. "Alright, thanks for the tip."

"Take care, Jaune. See you when we get there!" Ruby chirped.

"Please be careful, Jaune. I don't want this day to get any worse," Pyrrha told me.

"I will," I replied before the call ended.

"Ready to head out?" Cardin asked after I handed him his scroll back.

"Yeah," I nodded as I looked around the apocalyptic scene for another moment. There were a lot of things I feared that might happen when I first went to Beacon, but I never expected something like this. I didn't even know what to expect anymore. "I still can't believe this is happening."

"We can't believe it either. I never thought I would see Vale like this. The Kingdoms have always made sure their walls are impeccable," Sky chimed in.

"It was a matter of time until the Grimm would eventually break in but this is too much," Dove added.

"The others are making their way to Beacon right now. They'll be waiting for us at the courtyard," I stated.

"Alright, let's head there now," Cardin said as he was about to proceed to the courtyard.

"Wait a minute," I told him as he and his team stopped to hear what I had to say. "I just wanted to say thanks. I couldn't imagine what would have happened if you guys didn't come."

It was still astounding to me that Cardin and his team would go as far as to help me out like this. I know that Cardin has mellowed out on me and that Sky never had anything against me in the first place but this was a far cry from the same team that tormented me in the earlier days of Beacon, especially when Russel and Dove made it apparent that they still hated my guts a couple of days ago.

"Anytime, pal." Cardin patted my shoulder. "Besides, I owe you a lot. I hope this helps in making it up for us."

I gave him a grateful smile before finally moving on. "We better get going."

All four of them nodded as they accompanied me out of Beacon's dilapidated area, dispatching a few minor Grimm on the way so that we may regroup with the others and figure out how we could sort this mess out.

=o=

1. That tattoo depicts the Fall family symbol. Records state that Cinder gave herself that very tattoo using the Maiden's power after taking half of it from Amber.

2. A shortened nickname for the King Taijitu typically used by Huntsmen and most militaries as an informal codename, playing with its initials 'KT'.

When we reached the central campus, we were stopped by an entire squad of Atlesian Knights pointing their guns at us from a corner. Their eyes were glowing red as if to make it obvious that they're not there to serve and protect us.

Looks like Ren wasn't kidding. Drawing our weapons, I was about to lead the charge when Cardin stepped in front of me. "We'll take care of this! Go! You have a day to save."

"Don't worry about us, we can handle a bunch of fancy tin-cans!" Dove said.

I hesitated for a brief second before complying. There wasn't much time for me to lose. "Got it." I withdrew from the group and proceeded to the courtyard myself. Before leaving I turned back for a quick moment to tell them one more thing. "Oh and Cardin. Thanks again. I won't forget this."

Cardin and his team gave me a friendly smile. "Good luck out there, Bunny Jacket!" Russel said before lunging themselves toward the robots, followed by sounds of gunfire and the smashing of metal.

I made my way through a path full of debris, flames, and destroyed robot parts. There were some Grimm and small squads of AKs I had to deal with, but I had yet to meet any White Fang members even though they were reportedly in Beacon and were responsible for breaking out Grimm that were contained in the academy. The only ones I did find were either unconscious, if not dead bodies that I have little use of aside from looting. I didn't think about the White Fang much since I had worse things to be concerned over and I already know who I should truly watch out for.

Eventually, I reached the courtyard where I saw my team, Ruby, Weiss, and were fighting alongside other teams against Grimm and rouge robots alike. Some of them were badly injured and stayed behind cover while the rest engaged the hostiles.

While the Grimm and AKs were eventually disposed of without much difficulty, they were struggling against the two giant mechs—or, the Atlesian Paladins to be specific. I don't think these were the same Paladin models from the ones the White Fang had stolen since these are black and white instead of dull gray and they don't seem to be controlled by pilots. [1]

Weiss tried launching herself toward one of the Paladins with her glyph. Unfortunately, it swatted her out. I instinctively stepped in as soon as I saw her landing near me. Those trust exercises of catching a heavy Nora finally paid off as I was able to catch Weiss without falling over this time.

"Jaune?" Weiss looked surprised as she found out I was carrying her.

Without another word, I let her go. Ruby rushed toward us to check on her partner. "Weiss!" she exclaimed before noticing me "Jaune, you're here!"

There wasn't much time for discussion; afterward, we glanced back at the battle as the others tried hitting the Paladins the best they could while doing their best to deflect their attacks. I looked for Pyrrha and found that she was trying to slash the torso of one of the Paladins. The Paladin retaliated by throwing a punch at her but she was able to block it with her shield.

The Paladins were strong enough that the other one managed to push back Yatsuhashi and knocked both Ren and Nora back. Pyrrha hurried toward them and took both of them back to safety as the two Paladins were drawing near the line everyone was trying to hold.

Next thing I know, Velvet was walking toward the two Paladins much to our confusion. "What does she think she's doing? She's going to get hurt!" Weiss remarked.

Velvet seemed to have heard Weiss since she glanced toward us and gave us a reassuring wink. She faced the two mechs and summoned what appears to be a holographic copy of a very familiar weapon.

"Wait," Ruby leaned in and narrowed her eyes. "Is that—!"

Yes, it is. A holographic copy of Ruby's scythe. I have never seen Velvet fight before so this was quite a surprise for me and she happened to be more impressive than I thought.

Velvet leaped into the air, dodging an energy blast from one of the Paladins' guns. She used the holographic scythe to slash it before she landed. I turned to Weiss to see her dumbfounded. When she landed, the holographic scythe disappeared but another weapon formed in her grasp. It was a copy of Weiss' rapier, she was even holding it with her left hand. [2] She pushed the Paladin back with wind dust when it was trying to throw a punch before slashing at it repeatedly then changing her hologram to resemble Yang's gauntlets. She used them to fire shotgun shells at the mech (even sounding like the real thing). The Paladin began spinning with its fist forward, this prompted Velvet to change her weapon into a copy of Blake's, using the weapon's rope to look at the fist and used it to swing around the rotating Paladin, tangling its legs until it loses balance.

The second Paladin was closing near Velvet, who slashed off its arm as she turned back towards it before throwing the katana's sheath towards its torso. Velvet's hologram changed into that of Coco's minigun firing at the Paladin until it comes close to her again, making Velvet use Sun's staff to counter its punch before climbing to the Paladin's top and slammed it with Nora's hammer, knocking off one of its parts. Velvet's holograms began forming Penny's backpack behind her as floating blades came out from it. She jumped off from the Paladin and used the blades to slice off each one of its legs before using them to fire a beam that would finish it off.

Velvet panted as she noticed the other Paladin getting back up and trying to strike her down. She avoided its swing as she summoned copies of my sword and pistol. She fired at the Paladin while storming toward it, scraping the bottom of its torso as she passed in between its legs and cutting one of its wires. She continued firing on its back. The Paladin turned around and tried throwing its fist at her again. Velvet jumped above its arm before lunging toward the Paladin. She stabbed its head with the sword before climbing above it and began shooting its top until electrical sparks were coming out of the Paladin as it crumbled down. Velvet leaped off the Paladin before it finally blew to smithereens.

It was astonishing to witness, not only she used copies of my weapons and mimicked how I used them but she did what I would have done as well. Granted, they were basic but those were things Huntsmen usually discard in favor of something flashier.

Velvet walked away as she noticeably made heavy breaths, fainting in front of Coco who promptly grabbed her after she collapsed. What she did must have cost plenty of aura but it was worth it seeing as how it was able to put two metal giants down.

With the coast clear, I put my attention on my team. Pyrrha was looking after Ren and Nora who were resting on a bench as they were recharging both of their auras from their recent blow.

"Pyrrha!" I called as I approached them. She heard my voice and was overjoyed when she saw me.

"Oh, Jaune, there you are!" She gave me a quick hug. It was something we both needed after everything that just happened in those couple of hours of being separated. "Thank goodness you're still alright."

"Yeah, they tried to burn me," I replied. "You can thank Cardin and his team for saving my butt."

"Team CRDL saved you?" Ren asked as he rose a brow.

"I couldn't believe it either," I replied with a sigh as I looked around, observing the injured students and the destruction around them. It was staggering to think that we were still celebrating the festival without much trepidation before all of this. "It feels like I woke up a nightmare."

"I know that feeling," Pyrrha regretfully chimed in. "The academies had always tried to prepare us for this but everything about this is all too much and too sudden for us to bear."

With nothing much to say, I sighed as I took a minute to contemplate before turning at my two teammates sitting on the bench. "Are you two alright?"

"Don't worry about us, we've been through worse than this," Ren replied before Nora followed, still full of vigor though not without showing hints of weariness either because of her injuries, the current situation, or both.

"Trust me, I'm not through with these hunks of junks yet!"

Speaking of hunks of junks, I remembered that not only Penny was mentioned to be a robot, but was killed shortly after I was unconscious. I turned to see Ruby and Weiss walking near us, the former was still lacking the bright smile she always wore just to show how bad things have become.

"Ruby, I'm sorry about Penny," I consoled.

"She didn't deserve this," she sobbed, it was the only thing she could say while her partner gave her looks of remorse. Everyone else sympathized with her as well, except for Nora.

"I beg to differ," she callously snorted, grabbing all of our attention as the others were shocked by her remark. Most knew her as that one eccentric girl who is about as dangerous as she needs to and this was one of the last things they expected from her. "Serves it right for sneaking in and pretending to be human. Atlas had such the nerve for creating a travesty like her!"

"Nora…" Ren sighed. He doesn't seem like he's happy with how she's acting even though he shares the same view of robots as her.

Nora stood as she continued. "Open your eyes and look around you. This is what happens if you allow these plastic abominations to go rampant!"

Ruby was understandably repulsed. "I don't know why you hate robots so much but even though she wasn't a real girl she was still a real friend! What makes you think you have the right to say she deserved this?!" she retorted without even raising her voice.

"Oh, boo-hoo. Call it whatever you like, it's not changing the fact that 'she' is a mockery of a human being created by Atlas as a weapon who probably acts like your friend to continue infiltrating us!"

I often tried to ignore Nora's hatred for robots, dismissing it as one of her many quirks, but this was uncalled for and it was getting out of hand. I had to step in before it escalated. "Nora!" I yelled. "Now is not the time for this. I don't care if you still object to the whatever questionable ethics robotics have, we need to stick together if we are to make this through and you're not helping if you're just starting fights! Whatever this crap is all about, save it for later! "

Ren stepped in to back me up. "He's right, Nora. As much as I have nothing but disdain against Atlas and their machines, we have worse things to worry about right now." Good to know that he was still in his senses even though he shares the same beliefs as her.

Nora obediently backed off. Although she and Ruby would continue to scowl at each other, this unneeded quarrel was defused before it got too heated. We already had enough problems as it is.

Yang eventually arrived in the scene, the tag on her ankle was noticeably absent, not that it mattered much. [3]

"Ruby!" she approached her sister, holding both of her shoulders. It was convenient that she arrived after bickering with Nora is over. Being too familiar with temper, I doubt that she'd make her situation better. "Good to see that you're okay!" She glanced around to find out that her partner was missing. "Where's Blake?"

"She went after an Alpha and some members of the White Fang." Weiss pointed to the direction that leads towards the cafeteria.

"I'm going after her," she declared before immediately heading out. "Take care of yourselves."

"This reminds me," Pyrrha said. "Where do you think Cinder and her team are right now?"

I went into thought only to find nothing as the details of her plan that she gave me were vague aside from trying to get me killed. There was no doubt that she was seeking to destroy Beacon. So when I asked myself what I would do if I was in her position, I finally found one particular place I would target, especially after noticing the tall behind us. "I don't know. But if Cinder really is trying to destroy Beacon, then she must be heading to—"

"The Beacon Tower," Professor Ozpin interjected as he stepped in. All eyes then fell on him. "Cinder Fall is very likely targeting the Beacon Tower. If we were to put a stop on her then we must go in there and protect what she is after."

Coco overheard the conversation when she was putting an inert Velvet on a nearby bench. "Wait, what does Fall have to do with this? Are you telling me she's—?" She contemplated for a moment, staring at us for confirmation. Straight looks and a few faint nods were enough to convince her. "That bitch. First my shades, and now this. If I ever get my hands on her I'm going to—!"

"Be careful, Miss Adel. The current condition of the kingdom is enough to prove that Fall is a very dangerous individual even for someone as lethally talented as yourself. I advise you not to take that risk. I cannot have my students fighting battles they have no chance of winning," Ozpin stated before turning to Pyrrha. "Miss Nikos, the time has come, I'm afraid."

Pyrrha noticeably responded with worry. "Oh no…"

"What is it?" I inquired.

"We do not have much time, Pyrrha," Ozpin urged, ignoring my question before glancing at me. "Mr. Arc. If you would like to help, you may come as well."

I had no better option than to comply. It was the only way for me to get answers and I had to look after Pyrrha.

"Whatever this is, we're coming too!" Nora insisted.

Ozpin shook his head. "No, both of you are going to stay with your classmates and help everyone get to safety!"

"But—"

"This is not up for debate, Miss Valkyrie!" Ozpin exclaimed, getting her to step back and frown.

Ren held her shoulder. Knowing her, she'd listen to me. It was one way to keep her compliant while cheering her up. "Just listen to the headmaster and help the others. You still have more robots to kill. You know that we'll be fine, right?" I told her.

Her face brightened, giving me one last salute before she and Ren reunited with the others.

Before we left, Ozpin faced everybody who was present at the courtyard. Many of them were demanding answers about what was happening and what they should do as they cried out instinctively. The clamoring eventually faded as Ozpin stared them down for a short moment before he spoke.

"Students. I'll keep this brief as usual. As you know, Vale is currently under siege by those who threaten our peaceful way of life. We are doing everything we can to put an end to it and we need each of your cooperation. Now I am certain that you have plenty of questions, but I need you to gather as many survivors as you can and evacuate to the docks while we try to prevent this increasingly dire situation from worsening. Always remain vigilant as the instigators of this outbreak will not stop until there is nothing left in this Kingdom to save. This is the moment you have all been preparing for; to become Huntsmen and Huntresses. You all heard stories of heroes and monsters and now you are part of it. Good luck, and may all of you live long enough to tell this tale."

That was good enough. While there were some questions he did not answer, he at least was able to reassure them that he was trying to sort this mess out and he finally told us what needed to be done.

Ozpin walked away as he led me and Pyrrha to the Beacon Tower. As much as I wanted to evacuate out of Beacon with everyone else, this was the only way for me to get answers, and I had to look over Pyrrha and make sure she was alright. I wouldn't call myself a caring partner if I refuse to help.

When I was about to walk the stairs toward its entrance, I suddenly heard loud stomping coming from a distance. Turning my head back, I saw another rogue Paladin entering the courtyard.

"Great, more of these things!" Neptune exclaimed.

"And I'm not going easy on them this time," Nora said as she loaded customized EMP grenades that Ren crafted the other day in case we face more robotic adversaries on her weapon. Begs to ask why she didn't use them earlier.

"They will be fine, Mr. Arc!" Ozpin shouted as he stood at the Tower's doorway. "Let us make haste!"

Since there wasn't a good reason for me to disagree and since I didn't want to fight one of those Paladins myself, I turned back toward the tower's entrance, but not before I heard Ruby calling me. "Wait, Jaune!"

I looked at Ruby, standing beside her partner and fellow classmates as they were facing the incoming Paladin. "Please stay safe!" she shouted as she gave me a thumbs up with her free hand.

I gave her a nod of acknowledgment before catching up with Pyrrha and Ozpin. Everyone was counting on whatever the headmaster is planning to do to end this disaster. Little was I aware of how much sacrifice it would cost for him to do so.

=o=

1. They are actually finished versions of the same model released shortly before the beginning of the Vytal Festival only with a few additional features. The prototypes from earlier chapters were unpainted and the auto-pilot was not yet implemented when they were stolen.

2. Velvet is ambidextrous, which makes it more convenient for her to handle different types of weapons and mimic different fighting styles.

3. She tore it off before leaving the room as noted in one of General Ironwood's reports. Doing this normally triggers an alarm to the Atlesian system but since the White Fang had taken control of it and given the situation then, it was far from a priority.

The elevator ride to the tower's lowest level was almost silent with the only sound being made apart from the elevator running were our audible breaths. I felt my heart pound rapidly, not knowing what to expect from Ozpin's plan and his ulterior motives, but he was still our best lead in stopping Cinder. I just wanted this to be over soon.

When the door's elevator opened, I was greeted with a long hallway, sparsely lit by green candles hanging on the wall. "What is this place?" I asked, looking around after we rushed out from the elevator.

"It's a type of vault," Pyrrha answered, indicating that this wasn't the first time she visited this place.

"You've been here before?" I asked her. She doesn't seem like she wanted to answer, instead, she just looked forward and continued to run through the large passageway. So many questions were roaming in my head; What would this school need to hide? Was this why Pyrrha acted strange the past few days? What Ozpin is planning to do?

More questions were raised when we reached the end of the hallway. I saw what I could only describe as some kind of machine that was linked to two pods, one of them containing a mysterious woman about our age while the other pod was empty.

"Jaune—" Pyrrha said as if she was trying to give me some sort of explanation before Ozpin called her.

"Pyrrha, get to the pods!"

She frowned apologetically before complying. By that point, I got too sick and tired of being kept in the dark for too long. "Professor, what is going on?"

The ground shook, causing all three of us to look up before Ozpin replied. "Believe me, Jaune, as much as I would be delighted to explain everything to you, we do not have much time. You will figure it out eventually. For now, I need you to stand guard here!"

I grumbled at him before I pulled out my weapons and watched over the hallway. There was nothing else I could do aside from eavesdropping on Ozpin and Pyrrha as I guard them.

"What do we do now?" Pyrrha asked.

"We do nothing," Ozpin answered as he opened the empty pod. I was tempted to look back and ask him what he meant by that before he continued. "You, Miss Nikos, have a choice to make."

After a brief moment, I heard her enter the pod before it closed with her inside it.

The ground shook once again, making it clear that things were becoming worse out there and that we needed to hurry. Whatever Ozpin has in store, it better be worth it, I thought.

"Are you ready?" Ozpin asked. "I… I need to hear you say it."

"Yes," Pyrrha answered after another moment of hesitation.

"Thank you, Miss Nikos."

With that, Ozpin activated the machine with Pyrrha lying inside one of the two pods. I tried to focus on guarding the hallway when I suddenly heard Pyrrha screaming inside her pod.

"Pyrrha!" I yelled as I turned back to check on her. Both she and the other girl's energy glowed gold along with the tubes that were attached to the machine. Being too concerned for her welfare that I was unable to maintain my self-control to hold my ground, I moved near to take a closer look at her while glancing at the other girl to see her lose her remaining strength.

"I'm… so sorry," Ozpin murmured.

I felt my senses itch a second later. I quickly turned back to the hallway and saw Cinder walking toward us with a bow and an arrow. I tried moving as fast as I could, aiming my pistol toward her and rapidly firing as many shots as possible, hoping that one of them hit her.

Unfortunately, she was able to avoid the lasers by throwing herself to the wall on her left and then jumping from it before hurling an arrow toward the girl inside the other tube while on midair. The arrow was able to pierce through the glass and land on the girl's chest.

The machine started to beep as the girl in the pod drew her final breath. The candles in the hallways were suddenly extinguished, leaving us in a dimly lit room. The glowing energy that was being transferred to Pyrrha from the other girl through the machine then flew to Cinder.

After absorbing the energy, Cinder's amber eyes began to flicker with flames while the rest of her body was now glowing orange. She floated to the air with bright orange particles whirling around her. Even with little clue I had at that moment, it was very clear that this was far from anything good.

I raised my gun and repeatedly opened fire at her again, only for it to be deflected by the swirls of thick flames in front of her. "I knew I should have killed you when I had the chance. You never cease to be an annoyance," Cinder said to me, hovering in the air. "No matter, killing you with my new powers will be satisfying."

Ozpin stepped in, confronting her as he gripped his cane. "Over my dead body."

Pyrrha broke out of her pod, throwing herself outside before Ozpin held her back. "Both of you, get out of here! Find Glynda, Qrow, and Ironwood, and bring them here as soon as you can! This tower cannot fall!"

"I can help!" Pyrrha insisted.

"You will only get in the way! Now hurry, I will hold her off for as long as I can!" Ozpin said to both of us before hurling himself into Cinder, assaulting her with rapid strikes with her cane while buying enough time for us to escape. Cinder fought back with nothing but fire in her hands, throwing fireballs at Ozpin every time she sprung back.

Pyrrha and I tentatively complied in his order and sprinted toward the elevator, not wanting to waste the opportunity he gave us to evade a dangerous woman who now possesses unpredictable power. While I may have trouble trusting him especially after finding out what he hid from me, he was the only one who knew about the powers that Cinder wielded, and it would have been foolish for me not to listen to him.

The elevator opened. Pyrrha got in first while I took one last glance at Ozpin battling Cinder. He was struggling to push his cane against her before he noticed me standing in front of the elevator. "Just… run!" He yelled across the room as he continued to push.

Those were the last words I heard from him that night. Cinder was able to shove him back, forcing Ozpin to slither the floor to maintain balance. She decided to turn back and summon a barrage of fireballs flying toward us. I quickly got in the elevator and pushed the button that would take us back to the tower's ground floor, closing the elevator door before the fireballs could hit us.

For all my life, I have been running away from many things I never wanted to face, sometimes even going as far as attempting to abandon people that needed my help. But not like this…

The courtyard was empty by the time we ran out from the tower, save for several robot parts scattered on the floor, along with a few lockers that landed.

Remembering what Ozpin told us, we needed to contact the other higher staff members and tell them to get to the tower before it was too late. It was the only remaining thing we could do to help.

"Pyrrha, I don't have my scroll with me. You think you can call Miss Goodwitch and—" I noticed that she was contemplating back at the tower. "Pyrrha?"

I called her name again and it was able to get her attention this time. "What was all of that?" I asked, needing to know what is with all that power that Cinder took from the girl in the vault, what was Ozpin intending to do with it and why was she involved.

She glanced down and tried to answer, "I…"

We suddenly heard an eruption coming from the tower. The sound of something launching toward the top of the building is what followed. It was undoubtedly Cinder using her newfound powers to lift herself upward. This also meant one thing: Ozpin was defeated.

"This… This can't be happening," I muttered. I wasn't exactly sure if he was dead or if he's bleeding out down there, the only thing I know is that we should focus and follow his instructions and to make sure his sacrifice doesn't go in vain.

"Jaune, you must get out of here!" Pyrrha suddenly said as she handed me her scroll. "Here, take my scroll! Call anyone you need, just get to Vale and get help!"

My eyes widened in shock. "What? Don't tell me you're going to—"

"I have to do this," she asserted. "There is no time, she needs to be stopped. Something tells me she's not just after the Fall Maiden's powers. Who knows what would happen if we just let her get what she's after in that tower?"

"Are you serious right now? You already saw how powerful she is! Pyrrha, Ozpin could be dead! I'm not letting you throw your own life away!"

"But what else do you think I'm supposed to do? I can't just let her go rampant and do nothing about it."

"We just have to do what Ozpin told us, call the professors and let them figure it out. They're probably the only ones who know how to deal with this," I pointed out. "Come on, we need to get out of here."

She shook her head the second I tried leading her out of the courtyard. "No, they won't be able to make it until it's too late. Someone needs to hold her off. This is the moment I have been training for after all those championships I took to prove myself. I'm doing this because I know I can."

That statement only irritated me. She was only coming off as reckless and I wasn't taking the chance of her getting killed on her first real defeat. "Pyrrha, too many people are dying and I don't want you to become one of them. I'm not going to bet your life on this. If Ozpin couldn't stop her then what makes you think you could?! Is it because you've never lost before, is that it?!" I almost yelled.

Afterward, I saw her staring at me in shock. I didn't realize I was going too far until I felt like I upset her. I wanted to protect her and this was the only way I could do it. "Pyrrha, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

Before I could notice it, she pulled me into a tight and comforting embrace before she eventually moved to my lips to give me a chaste, yet passionate kiss, mitigating me from my worries for a brief

period. If only it wasn't so short-lived.

She sobbed after letting go of my lips. "You believe in me, don't you?"

"Pyrrha…" I muttered, not knowing what to answer. "Please don't do this."

"I'm sorry, Jaune," she pressed her forehead toward mine. "But Ozpin chose me for a reason. This is my destiny and I have to follow it."

"Pyrrha, please!" I begged, sniveling as I held both her shoulders. "I don't want to lose you! What if you die?! What if you couldn't hold her off?!"

"I have to," she wept. "This is what I was afraid of, that because of this, we might never see each other again."

It pained me to hear her say that. "Don't say that! This doesn't have to end that way! We still have a life ahead of us together."

"Maybe. But even if I lived… Even if I were able to inherit the maiden's powers, could we still have a life together?" she asked.

I looked up and stared at her, puzzled by her remark. I did think that it had something to do with the powers Cinder took from that girl in the pod but I was still confused about it. "Pyrrha, what are you talking about?"

"You'll understand," she sighed. "I have made my decision. You need to find the professors while I confront her. We're running out of time," she said before taking another deep breath. "I wish it didn't have to come down to this."

"Pyrrha…" I uttered, I simply didn't want to let her go.

"No matter what happens, always remember that I'm grateful for everything you did to me. I cherish our moments together. I love you and I always will."

The next thing I felt was her polarity grabbing my armor. That was before she hurled me as far away from the courtyard as possible. "Pyrrha!"

My back hit the wall near outside the academy's amphitheater area while my aura protected me from being seriously injured. She was well aware that I would land unharmed.

I panted before I fell from the wall and landed on my feet. I kept looking forward and watched her enter the tower. The ground shook once again and I heard a roar from the sky before looking up and seeing some kind of Grimm dragon closing into the tower. It was four times bigger than a Nevermore and it was dropping black liquid to the ground that spawned Grimm. The dragon perched on one of the towers' arch, making another screech before climbing to the top.

This was not good, I thought. Pyrrha wouldn't be able to handle both of them at once. I knew I had to do something. The tower was only a hundred yards away from where I landed on a straight path. So I decided to head there as soon as possible. I wasn't entirely sure if I should help her fight off Cinder or get her out of there, but one way or the other, I was determined to make sure she gets out alive.

I unsheathed my sword while my other hand still holding Pyrrha's scroll when she gave it to me, As stormed the tower I searched through the contacts only to find out that it had none of the professors' numbers and the emergency call for the teachers was unavailable, so I quickly tried to call my teammates.

Since I dialed Ren's scroll, I didn't expect Ruby would be the one to answer. "Jaune, are you still okay?"

"Ruby? Where's Ren and Nora?"

"They're both tired and hurt from all the robots they fought so I'm calling for them. Where are you right now?"

I glossed over that last question and went straight to the point. "Listen, you need to find Miss Goodwitch, General Ironwood, and Qrow and tell them to get to Beacon Tower as soon as possible!"

"What's happening?"

"Pyrrha is going after Cinder at the top of the tower, she doesn't stand a chance!" I said, slashing and killing a few Grimm along the way.

"What?!"

"There's no time to explain everything! You need to find them now!"

"What about you?"

That's what I was worried about myself. On any other day, I would have taken this chance to get away and live but I just couldn't bring myself to do that anymore, not when the person I love is in great danger. For once in my life, I found putting my life on the line to save someone selflessly. Maybe this was time to be the hero that everyone sees me as. I frankly could care less about myself anymore, I had to do this for Pyrrha. As much as I was afraid that it might not go well, I had to try. I can't be a coward this time.

"I don't know what will happen to me, but I have to save Pyrrha!"

"Jaune…"

"Don't worry about me, just please hurry!"

"Jaune—!" I cut off the call as I finally arrived at the tower's entrance. I had enough faith in Ruby to know that she'll get the professors in time, I only have to hope for the best.

I barged into the lobby and immediately went straight to the nearest elevator to discover that one of them has its doors torn open leading into nothing but its shaft without any cabs. So my only other option was to use the other elevator which appeared to be functional.

In a state of panic, I repeatedly pressed the button to call the elevator at a rapid pace, desperately hoping that it would arrive as fast as possible. "Come on, come on! Please Gods!"

Suddenly the ground shook once again as I heard something collapse above the tower. The next thing I heard was the elevator cab dropping down as it fell past me while the doors remained shut, it eventually crashed to the last level with a loud thud.

"Dammit!" I slammed the door in frustration.

Not wanting to give up, I scanned the tower for another way to get to the top of the tower. I could use the stairs but it was very impractical and it would be too late before I'd be able to get halfway up. As I was about to lose hope, I was able to remember about the scattered lockers outside the tower and it gave me an idea.

Cardin was able to trap me inside mine before, proving that it was spacious enough for me to fit in. So I thought that maybe it could launch itself to its destination while I'm inside it. I wasn't fully sure about it though, I never saw anyone else try it nor do if I'm positive that it would work but this was a risk I'm willing to take.

I ran outside and discovered that the tower's roof knocked over to the ground, along with the CCT's transmitter. While it did make me more worried, I had to keep moving. I scoped out the several landed lockers on the courtyard before remembering that I didn't have any access to any of them. However, I was still able to use Pyrrha's scroll to summon mine, all I had to do was put in my locker's launch code.

My locker shortly arrived after I summoned it, smashing into the pavement in front of the tower's exit. Its doors automatically opened and I wasted no time hurling myself inside it. I began to recall how it was like to be trapped into these things again and it was ironic that I'm putting myself into this willingly this time.

I took one deep breath before setting the locker's destination and initiating its launch. The locker doors closed in front of me as it began blasting off to the air.

The ride was very brief, only lasting less than seconds before it dropped to the top of the tower, it was nonetheless stimulating and very nauseating as I had to spend the rest of the duration screaming while firmly gripping on the locker's handle, and when the locker landed forcefully to its spot, I had to suffer the impact that would have crippled me without my aura. This is what I was willing to go through to save Pyrrha's life.

I lurched out after the locker opened, revealing myself to Cinder and Pyrrha who both turned to me. I looked around and saw that the roof was destroyed. "Pyrrha…" I said after quickly recovering from the after-effects of my lockers collision.

She was kneeling in pain before Cinder who was holding a black bow. Pyrrha's aura was noticeably flickering and seeing this made me more worried for her. I had to make sure she gets out of there before Cinder harms her any further.

"Jaune?" she breathed out.

"Pyrrha…" I stepped closer with the Crocea Mors at hand. "I've come to get you out of here."

"Jaune, you need to leave! She will destroy you!"

"Not without you! I am not leaving you behind!"

"So you finally decided to show up." Cinder smirked, walking toward me as her bow faded away and flames ignited on both of her palms, "I suppose this saves me the trouble of having to hunt you down when I'm done."

I drew my pistol and fired at her only for her to go around to my side, leaving a trail of fire before she expelled a stream of flames toward me. I was able to pull out and expand my shield and block it. It was clear that shooting her wasn't cutting it and that I should keep defenses with her flames.

Keeping my shield raised, I stormed toward her as I held my sword up. She stepped to her left and she cast an exploding fireball that pushed me away as I lost balance. She then summoned a trail of flames toward me and used it to hurl me to the air. Shards of glass formed from the trail before they flew toward me. When I landed back to the ground, I lost a significant amount of my aura.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha cried out.

Hearing her voice only made me more determined in getting her out of here. Sad to say, it was never enough to turn the tide of the fight. When I tried standing back up, I noticed her casting a large fireball above me. I rolled out of there before it dropped.

Cinder continued to shoot fireballs at me. I ran around, avoiding them as I blocked some with my shield before attempting to attack her again. Unfortunately, she dodged every single one of my strikes before she jumped back and blasted a large stream of fire that I tried to deflect with my shield. The fire grew more intense with each passing second and eventually it became too much for me to handle as it was able to push me back to the floor.

She was too fast, too powerful. I was facing a threat with powers that were too unfamiliar and I didn't have anything to use to my advantage. In the end, I could barely even stand up against her.

"Stop! Do whatever you want with me just let him go!" Pyrrha begged as she watched from the side.

"No! Pyrrha, get out while you still can!" I yelled trying to get back up before getting hit by another fireball.

My aura put the flames out but I could feel that it was running scarce. Nonetheless, even with my fleeting strength, I was still fixed on holding myself against Cinder until I knew that Pyrrha was safe. Die if I have to.

I pushed myself up, gripping my sword furiously as I tried to muster all my pent-up rage for the sake of my partner. I stormed toward Cinder, screaming at the top of my lungs and I kept swinging my sword on her. But despite all my efforts, I could barely fight back. She was still avoiding them swiftly and was even able to grab the blade of my sword and swiped it away from me.

Cinder then cast a fire swirling rapidly around her, attacking me with it before she engulfed herself with a bursting flame and blasted me away. For the first time in a long while, I feel all of my aura get depleted after the last of it was shattered by one of the debris back collided against it.

My eyes opened. I was sitting behind the debris I landed on and my shield was lying on the floor a few feet away. I felt very sore, barely being able to move without hurting myself. I saw Cinder sneering in front of me and I still had enough vigor to draw my pistol from my holster and aim it at her, but Cinder was able to notice it before I could squeeze the trigger and threw a fireball on my left arm, knocking my pistol off my hand and disarming me once more while I felt my hand burn.

"What's the matter? Am I not making you angry enough? After everything I heard about you, you're a disappointment. Such a shame, I expected you to give me a challenge like your partner did. Oh well, at least you're no longer a threat." She dropped my sword for a moment before a black bow formed on her hand again. She used it to aim at me and shot an arrow at my shoulder, making me scream in pain.

"NO!" Pyrrha cried. "That's enough! Please… stop!"

Cinder chuckled, picking up my sword as she continued to deride me. "What did you think was going to happen? Did you honestly believe you can stop me? Pathetic. Oh Arcs, always trying to be heroes. In the end, you're nothing but Ozpin's glorified lap dogs. Yes, that's what you are, a dog. A poor little puppy thinking he could be more than just that, and you'll die like one."

I looked at Pyrrha lying on the ground on the side as I tried to reach out my arm to her. "P-Pyrrha…" I could see tears coming out of her eyes.

Cinder grabbed my shield with her free hand, collapsing it to its sheath form before she gripped it hard enough to crush it into two halves. I'm sorry, Mom, I guess I couldn't protect your shield the same way it protected me for all these months.

She threw both of the pieces away as if it was nothing and then took time to examine my sword that she was holding with her other hand. "The Crocea Mors. The sword that was once the sword of kings. I never thought it would be so easy to kill an Arc so let's make this a little more poetic, shall we?"

Cinder began approaching me with malicious intent. As she went close enough, she thrust my sword toward my torso. I closed my eyes before I heard something pierce in front of me… and it wasn't my stomach.

My eyes dilated in horror after I opened them to witness Pyrrha standing in front me, impaled by my own sword as Cinder wielded it. At the moment, my breath paused and I could hear my heart pounding rapidly like never before.

"So you choose to die like this instead." Cinder frowned, staring at Pyrrha for a few moments before smirking once more. "So be it."

She pulled my sword from Pyrrha's chest. I saw that red glowing particles of her aura were coming out from her stab wound before she collapsed to my lap. Her dying eyes looked at me at my own as she was drawing her last breaths. "Jaune…"

"No…! Pyrrha…!" I whimpered, my tears were dropping into her body while particles of her aura continued emitting from her stab wound.

"I… love… you…" she placed a hand on my cheek, doing her best to give me one last smile.

Cinder walked in and touched Pyrrha's head as she held her crown. Pyrrha's body flashed, glowing orange the second before she was disintegrated. I felt her weight on my lap disappear after her particles emitted to the sky.

"Pyrrha. No... No-no-no-no! Please don't do this to me. I can't —!" I puffed as I tried reaching for the embers of her body as they flew away, only to grimace as I felt the pain from the arrow that was pierced to my shoulder. After that, she was just gone. Her body disappeared. The only thing left from her was her crown which was at the hands of Cinder. "Don't leave me…"

I was in a desperate state of denial. I couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it. I was begging that this was all just a cruel nightmare and that I needed to wake up. But sadly, it wasn't. The woman I loved. The woman I trained with. The woman I fought with. The woman who stuck with me through this past year… was dead. Killed by my own weapon no less... because she was trying to protect me… and I failed to protect her.

"Pyrrha…" I muttered as I watched the last embers fade away before I heard Cinder talk once again.

"Oh, young love. Such a tragedy. Don't worry, I'll make sure that you'll be joining your partner shortly," Cinder said as she inspected Pyrrha's crown before looking back at me. "I remember her asking me something before you came in; She asked if I believe in destiny. Well, let me tell you. Yes, I do believe in destiny. I do believe it is waiting for me right here. And it appears she found hers too."

I could feel my blood boil just by hearing her voice alone, but I was too weak, too broken to do anything. I was essentially stuck sitting there. As much as I wanted to make her pay, there was nothing I could do. Even if I did have enough strength to retaliate, let alone stop her, it won't bring Pyrrha back.

"What about you?" she asked, staring at me before she shook her head chuckling. "Why am I even asking you? I don't think it matters at all. You are already hailed as a hero like your forefathers, so at least you'll die being known as one. That is, until everyone eventually forgets about you."

The Grimm Dragon flew in and stood behind Cinder. Snarling at me as it felt all of my misery. Though it felt like it was also sensing something else on the tower that I couldn't wrap my head around. Not that it mattered to me. By that point, I lost all hope and I was more or less waiting for Cinder to just end it all. I wasn't even bothered by the thought of dying anymore.

"Have nothing to say? Fine, let's get this over with," she said as she continued holding my sword. "This is only the end of the beginning, be thankful you don't have to witness the rest."

She lifted my chin and put the blade on my throat. I was still speechless, not being able to make my final words. The only thing I could do was accept my fate and reflect on my life. After everything I've been through, it all came down to this. I've not only failed myself but I failed everyone. My friends, my family, everyone who looked up to me. I was going to die as something I am not, something which I always tried to avoid ever since the beginning. I never wanted this.

"Good night, white knight."

I braced myself for my own demise, preparing for the Crocea's Mors blade slice through my throat as I drew my last breath. That was when I suddenly heard a familiar voice cry.

"NOOOOO!"

What followed was a bright light that suddenly flashed before my very eyes as Cinder and the Grimm dragon both screamed in agony. At that point, I no longer felt my sword on my throat but I felt my consciousness fade after the white light blinded my vision.

"Ruby…?"