Omniscient POV
-----
Grimm chased a pack of civilians and cornered them at the end of the gardens, where the glorious and pristine flora of the Plant Science department was now in ruin.
Not a single plant was spared, trampled under fleeing boots and paws in pursuit alike.
The civilians gathered by the chicken coop and cried out.
Boxed in between the tall, thick hedges and the concrete walls of the adjacent buildings, all hope was lost.
There was no way out.
The Grimm blocked off the only path of escape and purposely slowed to a crawl, relishing in the delicacy of their frightful whimpers oozing sweeter than honey.
A Beowolf lunged.
Before it could sink those fangs into anyone, someone jumped out of a second floor window from the building next to them and slammed a bright pink shovel over the Beowolf's skull.
It was Professor Thumbelina Peach.
Expression void of emotion, Peach touched the tip of her shovel on the Beowolf's throat and stomped on it, cleaving its head off.
She flicked her shovel clean, transformed it into a rifle, and fired a dart.
An Ursa Minor got tagged.
Staring at the dart stuck in its leg, the bear suddenly wobbled about and convulsed, choking on the foam gushing from its maw until it tumbled over dead.
The Grimm paid heed to the danger, but Peach unloaded a swarm of darts that nailed them all, and they collapsed, dead in an instant.
Peach dug her heel into the mask of the closest Grimm.
"Look at the mess you made." She scowled and kicked harder. "Now, hurry up and decompose already. I'm out of fertilizer."
Behind her, the civilians cowered, unsure whether or not they should be happy or even more terrified.
"Don't think I've forgotten about any of you." Peach's deadly gaze targeted them over her shoulder. "Everyone here also owes me fertilizer."
More Grimm entered the gardens, but a volley of bolts punched the sides of their skulls.
Alexander and Nebula popped out of the foliage.
Peach exhaled a sad breath mixed with relief. "How long do you think this will take to fix, Alexander?"
His eyes drooped as he examined the broken gardens and approached the civilians.
"There are more of us in the plaza." Alexander sliced the lock to the chicken coop and freed the gang of clucking feathers. "We will protect you."
"Don't worry," Nebula smirked and aimed her crossbow in every direction, "I got you covered."
"Me, too." Peach brandished her rifle. "I still have plenty of nightshade darts left to takedown a whole herd of Goliaths."
The civilians shared wary looks, and without much of a choice, followed them to safety.
-----
Returning to campus from the fairgrounds, Blake and Weiss fought mobs of Grimm and androids along the way.
Nearby, an Alpha Beowolf leaped out of a burning Bullhead and chased a group of people.
Blake shared a pleading glance with Weiss.
The heiress rolled her eyes. "Be safe."
Blake nodded and pursued the Alpha while Weiss sprung over to the plaza, where armies of monsters and mechs gave a large group of students a hard time.
The Alpha Beowolf led Blake towards the destroyed dining hall up in flames.
A scream distracted her from the Alpha, and a single peek inside of a busted window drained the blood from her face.
An Atlesian soldier unloaded his entire magazine at a red haired swordsman, who deflected the bullets and absorbed the energy they produced.
Blake broke into a cold sweat, and her chest heaved for a single breath.
"N-no, it can't be." She backed away, disbelief fully submerged in her shaky pupils. "Adam?"
Adam cut down the soldier and casted his proud smile at her.
Blake's entire body seized.
"Been a while, Blake." His smile dropped. "Running away again?"
"Why are you here?" Blake bared her fangs and fought to regain control of herself. "Why do this?!"
"You and I were going to change the world, remember?" Adam raised his chin, stomped on an Atlas student laying on the floor, and victoriously held up his fist. "We were destined to light the fires of revolution."
Drawing his sword, he positioned it above the student's head.
Blake's eyes shot wide open. "Don't!"
Pleasure caressed Adam's grin. "Consider this. . . the spark."
The fetter of fear finally broke, and Blake leaped into action, shoving him and pressing their blades together.
"Good, Blake." He leaned close enough for his mask to scratch against Gambol Shroud. "I can finally ask you this face to face: do they pay well?"
Bewilderment scrunched her focus, making her momentarily ease up.
Adam swept her legs. "Seems like that's not it."
Crashing through a window, a Creep sprinted at them; Adam shot it dead with Blush, a rifle that doubled as a scabbard for his sword, Wilt.
"Can't have the Grimm steal you away from me, too," he shrugged, "now can I?"
Blake got to her knees and changed her sword into a gun, but every round she fired was easily blocked, the energy absorbed into Wilt.
"What are you talking about?!" The growing confusion further widened her scowl. "Nobody pays me anything!"
"Is that so?" Adam hummed and pursed his lips. "Then how could you betray us? Me. For them."
Blake's bow sagged.
"The SDC." Adam backhanded her to the floor and salivated venom. "The Schnee. I've seen how close you are with her."
"It's not like that!" She snarled and rubbed her cheek. "So leave her out of this!"
Adam kicked Gambol Shroud to the side and stamped the bottom of his boot to her gut, forcing a cry of pain.
"What about that First Guard?"
Aghast, Blake dug her fingernails into his calf, but Adam didn't flinch, driving his heel down harder in response.
"I swear," she struggled to find her breath, "if you do anything to Stio, I'm gonna—"
"There's nothing else you can do to hurt me, Blake." His voice deepened, anger caged within each word. "Because having to see you leave and witness our future crumble before my very eyes pained me more than you could imagine. If you stayed, this could've been our day!" The glory of the fires surrounding them fueled his motivations. "Humans will have no choice but to fear us and understand just how powerful we've become!"
"I never wanted this!" She clawed his leg. "I wanted peace. I wanted equality!"
Adam leaned down and threw his arms to the sides. "What you want is impossible!"
Blake spat back. "What you want is barbaric!"
A small laugh rolled off his tongue as he wiped his sleeve over his mask and drew his sword, long and slow.
"What's barbaric is what I'm about to do to you." He crushed her organs, and her whimper sang to his ears. "And you know very well what we do to traitors."
-----
Pain and fatigue took its toll on the students against the endless waves of androids and Grimm flooding the plaza, and to make matters worse, a pair of Atlesian Paladins joined the battle, which were top of the line models resembling nothing like the prototype Team RWBY destroyed weeks ago in Vale.
It led to a final stand.
The civilians and anyone who could no longer fight were pushed up the stairs leading to Beacon Tower, while those who could still fight formed a defensive line in front of the stairs, making as much of their shots count to buy themselves precious time.
All the while this was happening, Velvet collected herself and caught a second wind.
Despite the burdens of trepidation strapped to her legs, she got off the stairs and reentered the front lines.
Coco, who held down the trigger and let her minigun run wild, noticed Velvet pass her by, and her eyes bulged behind her shades.
"Coco." Velvet steeled herself and wandered further ahead. "I'm going to use it now."
The people who noticed voiced their concerns.
"Velvet, what are you doing?" Weiss leaned on Myrtenaster like a cane and gawked. "You know you can't take them all by yourself. You're going to get hurt! So, why?"
"Because if Leon were here," Velvet grinned, "I'm sure he'd do the same thing."
Weiss reached for her. "H-hey, wait—"
"Weiss," Coco smirked and shook her head, "just watch."
Cyan shimmered in Velvet's hand.
A hard-light replica of Crescent Rose manifested, and she activated her Semblance, giving her the ability to perfectly mimic anyone's movements.
Leaping up high above the pair of Paladins, she spun and slashed them, exactly how Ruby would.
From there, she used the photographs of the many weapons her camera captured to create those very same weapons and burned through every copy in a series of hit and run attacks, slowly breaking the Paladins down at every turn until they were reduced to scrap metal.
The harsh trumpeting shrills of an elephant ended the short lived victory, and a Goliath earthquaked into the plaza, flanked by more Grimm emerging from the falling puddles of goo.
Coco shakily fixed her shades.
Ren grimaced and tried to stand, and he would've fell over if Nora didn't catch him.
"No. . ." Neptune clutched his hair. "This isn't happening."
"Ah, come on!" Sun banged the ground with his staff. "Can someone give us a break!"
Everyone shared a collective gulp and gathered themselves for another fight.
A rumble echoed in the distance, and it grew louder and louder until Rebecca Blayze zoomed in on her ATV from the path leading to the air docks, and perched behind her was Lewis Zephyr, cutting down any Grimm they came across.
Trailing after them was Team JOOL.
"Lewis!" Rebecca went for the Goliath. "Do it!"
Lunging off, Lewis flew high-speed at the Goliath's enormous face and flicked out his katana.
Green flash.
Speed Bomb Slash.
Lewis slipped past, and the elephant split in a cloud of ash.
Rebecca ignited into her signature Burning Bullet while still on her ATV, scorching Grimm as she bashed, smashed, and ran them under her tires at high speed.
Jade hardened completely green, pummeling whatever came at her to mush, Iris was untouchable as she simply stood there and sprayed her gun, Lapis sicked an army of clay figurines on the Grimm, and Leila blew up everything with a swipe of her machetes.
Once it was finally clear, Team BLLT and Team JOOL regrouped with the exhausted students.
"Heard there were some students fighting over here." Jade jerked a finger at them. "You guys look like crap."
"We came hurrying over the moment we heard." Lewis sheathed his blade. "Good job holding out until we arrived."
Many of them teared up and broke out toothy smiles.
Alexander, Nebula, and Peach returned to the plaza with the civilians from the garden.
"I'm glad you're all here." Peach tended to the incapacitated and injured. "If you could help get us to the air docks safely, I'd be happy to share some fresh fruits and vegetables, more than you can hope to eat."
"We were planning to from the start." Rebecca's face brightened. "But if you put it that way, who am I to refuse such a sweet deal? Lewis, get moving!"
Alexander hung back and observed, taking note of the group's size, the snail's pace they were moving at, and the high chance of them being targeted by more enemies.
There were enough people capable of fending off a small assault, but it'd be a disaster if they were ambushed or surrounded on all sides.
Alexander stopped following, and with a newfound resolve lit aflame in his eyes, he stood his ground, ready for whatever wanted to show up next.
Velvet hit the brakes, and her eyes shot wide open. "Leon, what're you doing?!"
Everyone else did the same.
"Go!" Alexander raised his voice and prepared himself. "I'll cover you."
An uneasy murmur shook the crowd.
Nebula facepalmed.
Ren clutched his ribs and sucked his teeth. "We can't leave anyone behind."
"Ren!" Nora struggled to hold him upright. "You can't even stand properly!"
"If it's Alexander, then he'll be fine." Coco glowered at the Wyvern roaming the skies. "We should get moving. Because I swear, if I get any of that black goo on my clothes, I'm going to lose it."
"You're actually going to leave him behind?!" Sun leaned on his staff and gaped at everyone for having lost their minds. "You know as well as I do he won't last a second on his own."
"He's not alone." Velvet stood out. "I'm with him."
Worry kneed Team CFVY low.
"What are you saying?" Coco took off her shades and revealed the panic clouding her eyes. "You can't!"
"Coco, Yatsu, Fox." Velvet threw on a tender yet firm smile. "We got this."
Team CFVY wanted to argue, but just from looking at her, they immediately understood nothing would change her mind.
Alexander patted Velvet between the bunny ears, and she relished in it.
Weiss surveyed the crowd, and seeing how no one else wanted to step up, she let out the biggest sigh of her life.
"Count me in, too." Weiss joined Alexander and Velvet's side. "So, get out of here already and let us take care of it."
Peach glanced between them and the rest of the group with conflicted eyes. "Are you three really sure about this?"
They looked at each other and nodded in sync.
"I see." Peach's smile shined with all the pride and appreciation she had to offer. "Then we better get moving."
"I guess there's no helping it, huh." Nebula went up to Alexander and punched his arm. "Just make sure you get out here in one piece. Mom's really not going to like it if you don't."
Alexander ruffled her head and smirked. "Same as you."
Nebula blushed and puffed her cheeks.
Nobody complained anymore, and after a word of gratitude and luck, they wasted no more time making way for the air docks.
A blob of yellow suddenly bolted past the group.
"Weiss!"
Weiss, Velvet, and Alexander were taken aback at Yang rushing at them with Zwei and Teddy tucked under her arms.
Yang bounced to each of them, worry blaring from her face.
"Have any of you seen Ruby?!" She gulped and panted hard. "What about Roddy or Blake?!"
Weiss shook her head, searching the ground as if the answer to that question was somewhere there.
"I don't know about Ruby or Roderick, but," she pointed in the direction of the dining hall, "Blake went after an Alpha."
Alexander took the pets from Yang. "Hill's in Beacon Tower with Arc, Nikos, and Ozpin."
Crushing her lips into a fine line, Yang stepped towards the tower, but then she hesitated and faced the dining hall, uncertainty smudging her sights.
A scroll rang.
They checked their scrolls and looked at each other in question until Weiss gasped, the name on the screen alone shooting her full of energy.
"It's Stiofan!" The heiress hastily answered. "Where are you? Are you okay?"
"Apologies, I've been preoccupied." Stiofan's voice in the speaker lifted their spirits. "I'll hurry to your location as soon as I can."
"Stiofan," Yang shouted at the scroll, "have you seen Ruby or Blake?"
There was a delay.
"Blake's missing?" Stiofan said just loud enough for them to hear.
Yang growled and tugged on her hair. "You know what? I'm gonna go look for Blake. Weiss, you look for Ruby."
Weiss furrowed her brow. "Hey, wait—"
"Stiofan," Yang continued, "I'd really appreciate it if you helped me out, so hurry up and meet me at the dining hall."
Before anyone could say a word, Yang was gone.
"Lady Weiss," Stiofan said like a child asking permission to do something, "I, um. . ."
Weiss let out a sad yet amused sigh. "Just go."
Stiofan gave his gratitude and ended the call.
-----
The moment the elevator to The Vault opened, Ozpin exploded out, leading Pyrrha, Jaune, and Roderick down the long corridor.
Roderick and Jaune gaped all around at the academy's secret basement, and they were left speechless by Aura transfer machine and Amber's comatose body.
"Pyrrha." Ozpin typed away at the terminal and motioned her to the empty pod. "Get inside!"
"Wait." Roderick clasped Pyrrha's wrist. "What's happening?"
"I'm sorry." Pyrrha refused to look at him. "There's no time to explain, Roderick."
She pulled her arm free.
"Pyrrha," Jaune said, "will you be okay?"
A tremble of doubt stuttered her step, and the pain flashing across her face reflected in the pod window.
"Mister Arc. Mister Hill." Ozpin moved like a madman over the controls. "If you'd like to help, then stand guard."
Roderick and Jaune nodded and watched the shadows of the corridor.
Pyrrha closed her eyes and concentrated. "What do we do now?"
"We do nothing." Ozpin glanced at Pyrrha over the rim of his glasses. "You, Miss Nikos, have a choice to make."
Alexander's words replayed in her ears.
Ozpin input the final touches.
Air hissed from the pod, and the door lifted open.
"Are you ready?" he said.
She didn't hear him.
"Miss Nikos?"
Still no answer.
"Pyrrha, are you still with me?"
She flinched and nodded.
"Good." Ozpin released a heavy breath. "I. . . I need to hear you say it. We don't have much time. What is your answer?"
"Neither."
His glasses nearly fell off. "Excuse me?"
"Like I said before, I will be your Fall Maiden, but Amber can keep her powers. I don't want it."
"But," he stared, jaw slacked, "why?"
"Because," Pyrrha smiled back at Roderick and Jaune, "I already have them."
Footsteps tapped down the corridor.
Everyone looked over and searched the shadows with bated breaths and rapid hearts until Cinder emerged.
Roderick paled, and Cinder returned an endearing wave.
Jaune charged.
Ozpin reached out. "Stay back!"
A fireball hit his shield, blowing him over.
Pyrrha ripped the pod door off with her Semblance and hurled it. Cinder side stepped it, conjured a black glass bow, and let off several arrows that struck the floor around them.
The arrows burned red hot.
"Everyone," Ozpin ran for cover, "get out of the way!"
The arrows exploded, and once the smoke settled and Amber was visible, an arrow punched through the pod's window, impaling her chest.
The machine beeped at an all time high, and she went limp. Flatline.
The lights lining the Vault's walls snuffed out, and Amber's powers erupted out of the pod and entered Cinder.
A fiery light flared from her eyes and flames swirled beneath her, levitating her off the ground.
Roderick, Jaune, and Pyrrha backed away, awestruck.
"Go to Vale and find Glynda, Ironwood, or Qrow; bring them here right away." Ozpin shoved his students aside and got between them and Cinder, urgency seared to his face. "The tower cannot fall!"
As much as they wanted to stay, they obeyed and ran to the elevator.
-----
Near the dining hall, Yang ran around yelling for Blake, but no matter how many times she tried, nothing except the Grimm answered her calls.
A scream made her jump.
She blew past some Grimm and bolted over, passing the colonnades outside the dining hall, checked a shattered window, and her worst fears came true.
In the middle of the dining hall, surrounded by scattered debris and burning tables and banners dripping from the rafters, Adam pinned Blake to the floor with his foot.
Yang shrieked. "Get away from her!"
Tilting his head slightly, Adam grunted and sauntered closer to Yang before stopping, smirking as if taunting her to make the first move.
"No." Heartbreak welled in Blake's eyes. "Please."
Not too far off, Stiofan finally arrived in time to witness Yang activate her Semblance and rocket across the dining hall faster than a bullet.
However, it wasn't fast enough.
Adam's dark chuckle chilled Blake to the bone, pure horror screaming from her entire body.
The red of Adam's hair, clothes, and mask glowed bright as Yang closed in, ready to punch him with everything she had. He drew his sword and unleashed his Semblance in a single, swift stroke.
In an instant, a yellow sheen enveloped Yang's body, and Adam's sword slipped past her disintegrating Aura, biting clean through her flesh. She blacked out before she hit the ground, motionless in a growing pool of her own blood, while her severed right arm splattered next to her.
Standing by the window Yang was at a mere second ago, Stiofan's mind went blank, too stunned to even think about doing anything else.
Blake's cries shocked Stiofan back to life, and a burst of rage fueled his body. He hurled his long spear. Adam batted it back to Stiofan which he caught as he marched over.
The way Stiofan stared at Adam made Blake recoil, a vivid reminder of the cold hearted eyes he always gave her when they were still enemies in the first semester.
Blake understood.
Sniffling and wiping face, Blake went over to Yang and carried her out of there, but not before sparing Stiofan a final glimpse, leaving a trail of tears in her wake.
Adam watched Blake leave and smirked once she was finally gone. "I remember you, First Guard."
Stiofan scowled.
"Stio," he examined him head to toe, "was it?"
His glare sharpened. "Not to you."
It went deadly quiet.
The both of them walked in a circle, neither daring to look away from the other, and the cheering fires and the dining hall's broken bones creaking for a fight was nothing compared to the thump of their footsteps, distant thunder signalling the arrival of the storm.