Heya there everyone!

How has the quarantine treated you? I hope better that we all hoped and wished. I know its been a while but I'm back again! I know I had said that the previous chapter was my longest, BUT! I have once again over done myself. I will no longer say that this is by far my longest chapter because who knows? Maybe chapter 13 will be even longer xD

I am also SUPER happy because TWCR finally reaches 50k views, I never expected so much. So in spite of that I thank you all from the bottom of my soul and heart! You guys are the absolute best! thanks to everyone who has followed/Favorited and reviewed this story so far! I love you all and I will keep on doing my hardest and my best on this story :3

And as always a BIG shout-out to my beta and friend Shiloh, who has accompanied me through this ride. Thanks for all you've done so far :D

BUT! Enough rambling...

Here is Chapter 12: Vytal Festival Pt.3: Beginning of the Fall

Hope you like/love it! :D

As always I'll see you at the bottom! Enjoy!

End?... No… the end is but the beginning… a path may begin at is end… a story begins with a goal… and many legends start at their end… So… let us begin… this legend that starts with an ending…

The afternoon before the day of Sora's match.

Pyrrha walked through the gardens of the school after her team informed her they were planning to take a break from their meal together. When the news of Sora battling a professional Huntsmen – Ruby and Yang's uncle of all people – surfaced, she became interested in seeing the match. She wanted to ask him how he knew Qrow as well as what he did to somehow have the man agree on the match after hearing that exhibition matches were not something he regularly did. She was unable to do so when Sora ran off saying he had things to do. They wanted to have dinner together, but in the end only her team and team RWBY shared the mealtime together.

Ruby and her team had already chosen their representatives for the second part of the match: the doubles round. Pyrrha had yet to talk with her team about figuring out whom should be the representatives for the match, though she had a feeling it was going to be herself and Nora. She sighed and somberly smiled, thinking to herself as she was looking around, 'I have to do something about Jaune's self-confidence.'

In one of her pockets laid the fragment of the lucky charm she still carried and had to find its owner. However, the challenge was figuring out how she was supposed to look for someone whom she didn't even have a clue on what he looked like. To add on to her problem, it wasn't as if she could just go on asking anyone and everyone if they were missing a fragment of a charm.

'If only I could talk to that man again…' she pondered until she abruptly stopped as an idea occurred to her.

Maybe she could. She had his Keyblade, so it could be possible that he could hear her through the weapon. Without a moment to waste, Pyrrha dashed into the woods where she usually went to go for a run and traveled deep inside. The sun set as its last rays of light basked the forest with a golden orange light.

Once she was sure no one was around and went deep enough for no one to see or hear her, she called upon the Keyblade to her hand. She smiled at the blade and placed her left hand on her chin, pondering what she should do next.

"Uhm…hello?" she asked the weapon.

No answer was given to her, so she spoke a little louder. "Cloaked hooded man? Can you hear me?"

The same thing happened: no answer. This time she shouted out to the weapon, "I need to ask you a few things! How can I find the one who's supposed to teach me?"

Despite Pyrrha's attempt to shout out loud enough for the stranger to hear her, she was only met with silence. All she could do was look around again to make sure no one heard her.

"Gods...I'm in the middle of the forest talking to a mystical and ancient weapon that I can summon out of thin air. I have officially lost it."

She sighed in defeat after waiting for some time.

"This is embarrassing..." she told herself as she dispersed the Keyblade and began her walk back as it was turning dark; she needed to return to the dorms for a shower and some rest. After taking several steps, her ears suddenly picked up the sound of leaves crackling and a few snapping fallen branches behind her. Out of instinct, the young Amazon woman leapt and turned while in mid-air, throwing her hand back to summon the Keyblade again rather than reach for her lance. Her eyes darted through her surrounds to find the source of the sounds, though rather than seeing a Grimm, she saw the man whom she called out to earlier clapping his hands.

"Well, well, well! I have to say, THAT was a splendid reaction!" the mysterious man praised to her. She sighed in relief and glanced at her hand to see the weapon she unconsciously summoned. She didn't have any intention to summon it, though her facial expression more than hinted the man her confusion as he replied while walking a bit closer to her, "The Keyblade sensed your distress and your need to arm yourself; it reacted to your calling. You did wish to arm yourself, did you not?"

Pyrrha nodded. "I thought I wouldn't be able to see you again."

"You weren't supposed to see me again. The fact that I'm here is because I am aware there were a few things I didn't tell you. After all, I did give you a weapon and left you to fend for yourself, so for that I do apologize. I will come to check on you every now and then."

She smiled at his apology and eased her stance before replying, "You're not as bad as you seemed in that place."

"Yes. That's what happens to a man when he is trapped in a place for a long time..." he said softly.

'Trapped?' Pyrrha asked herself in confusion. Before she could get the chance to ask what he meant by that statement, the man interrupted her train of thought. "Enough about me, though. I believe you have some questions you want to ask me? I don't have that much time."

"Hm? Oh, right! I was wondering if you know who the person I'm supposed to find looks like? Though it's better if you could tell me his name to make this a lot easier." She smiled at him.

The man sighed and shook his head. "Pyrrha, I have already interfered enough. I'm sorry to say this, but that is something I can't tell you."

Pyrrha's smile fell. "What?! Why not? I mean, you already gave me this." She stated as she took out the fragment of the charm from her pocket before continuing, "What more trouble could it bring if you gave me a hint?!"

The man smiled. "I see you carry it with you."

Pyrrha nodded. "Yes, but there are too many people here. It's the Vytal Festival for the Gods' sake! I know you said it was a 'him',but do you have any idea how many hims there are in this festival?!"

The man released a light chuckle. "I know the task seems daunting, but this is something you have to find out for yourself, Pyrrha. I can't help you anymore than I already have."

Pyrrha lowered her head and silently cursed, making the man deflate and groan a bit. "Geez…I thought you had more imagination. Here, take this."

He reached into his pocket and took out a small chain necklace which he passed it to her.

"What's this for?" she asked as she was taking it.

"I cannot give you all the answers, Pyrrha. Use this instead." He poked her forehead at the end of that statement and turned to leave while Pyrrha rubbed her forehead. He made a few steps until he suddenly stopped and turned around to look back at her and say, "Though next time, I'll let you know in advance: Calling out to someone in the forest is well…a bit strange." He continued his walk after making that statement, leaving behind an extremely flushed Pyrrha who looked at the necklace with interest.

An idea suddenly occurred to her. She took out the fragment of the luck charm and clipped it onto the necklace before wearing it around her neck. If the person who lost it sees the fragment around her neck, he will recognize it immediately.

"Thank you!" she shouted in gratitude at his retreating form and ran out of the forest.

The hooded man stopped and turned to watch her head out of the forest. He couldn't help but momentarily smile before disappearing.

"Good luck, Pyrrha. I'm counting on you."

xTxTxTxTxTx

Ruby was very worried. She was excited, but worried nonetheless. She knew that her uncle and Sora were having a match, but she didn't expect it to become an exhibition match, meaning that any plans her uncle had of holding back went out the window. If there was one thing she knew about her uncle when it came to battling in front of people, it would be that he loved looking good.

"Sis, you need to calm down!" Yang said beside her. They just returned to their dorm after having dinner with team JNPR. Ruby sent messages to Sora, though there were some that he had yet to reply back.

"He still hasn't answered the texts I sent him! What if he got lost?! What if he got whisked away to another town by some low-down criminals?! Or what if-!" Yang grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Rubs, Rubs! I think it's nice that you worry about him, but maybe he's just resting or probably asleep right now." Yang told her while trying to calm her down.

"Yang's right, Ruby. You're overreacting a bit. I know he looks kind of dumb, but I don't think he's that stupid enough to just let himself be coaxed into a bad situation. Get lost, yes, but not the prior." Weiss said as she got out of the shower rubbing her hair hard with a towel.

"I know Professor Goodwitch asked us to watch over him. But we also have to give him his space, remember?" Yang added. Ruby sighed in defeat.

"Alright, yeah. I'll wait 'til tomorrow to wish him good luck. But I want to get there early so that we can get some good seats!" she said determinedly as she saw her sister beat her to the bathroom.

"I'm with you there, sis! It's not every day that our uncle accepts a mock battle!" she responded in anticipation as she closed the door.

"He doesn't?" Weiss asked her.

Ruby shook her head and explained, "Though he might easily get riled up, my uncle doesn't like doing matches that often. It's mostly because he can't hold back. The few times I've seen him do his matches are with some ace operatives, professional Huntsmen, and surprisingly your sister Winter."

Weiss remembered the conversation she heard between Winter and Qrow. "Do you know what they were like when they were in school? My sister and your uncle, I mean?"

Ruby shook her head again. "I only know they were in different teams. I don't know much about my mom either when she was here. My dad and uncle tend to keep that to themselves. I've tried asking, but they keep telling me I'll learn in due time."

Weiss sat down on their shared desk. "Doesn't that bother you a bit? Not knowing much about your mom?"

Ruby could only shrug. "I know she loved me and my sister a lot. One day I will learn what her life here was like, but I don't want to rush things at the moment."

Weiss let up after that before Ruby asked with a smug grin on her face, "So, now are we besties? You are asking me about my family now."

Weiss rolled her eyes and took out some notes. "Pfft. You wish."

Ruby chuckled and shouted in excitement, "Oh yeah! We're besties!" She turned to Blake who was in her pajamas reading on her usual spot.

"Hey Blake! Did you finish eyeing my diary?" she asked her friend who suddenly had an increased interest in her book.

"Uhm...NO!" the cat faunus responded a bit too strongly. Ruby looked surprised, and so did Weiss.

"I-I mean…no, I haven't finished looking at it. It's just that you drew so much in your journal and we've been a bit occupied lately, so I wanted a to have a good look at them all, you know?" she spoke nervously.

"Oookaay…well when you do finish, could you please be sure to put it in my pillow. I want it as evidence when we tell Sora about it." said Ruby as she heard Yang get out of the shower and walked away to pick up her towel.

Blake sweated a little and released a silent sigh of relief; she just evaded a bullet. They had yet to finish copying Ruby's dream diary, though it needed to be finished soon in order to avoid any suspicion that something was amiss.

"YANG! You used up all the hot water! AGAIN!" she heard Ruby shout in annoyance through the bathroom door. Blake cracked a smile; she had to be certain that they had a way to counter everything that could come. If not for her, then for her new friends who accepted her whole heartedly…

xTxTxTxTxTx

Winter left Sora's room after doing one final check to be sure he was going to be okay and wandered to the gardens in front of his dorm.

"How is he?" asked a rough voice behind her. She immediately turned to see Qrow standing a few feet from her and sighed in relief before answering, "He'll be okay, just a bit roughed up and still out cold. The nurse said he should be awake before tomorrow."

Qrow nodded and looked at her directly in the eyes before asking the big question, "Why did you tell him?"

"If you're talking about why I told General Ironwood about Sora, then the answer should be obvious: It is my job to report to him anything that happens in my stay here." She determinedly stated while maintaining their staring competition.

Qrow chuckled. "Is that all you are? Just a tool for him to use and dispose of whenever he wants?" He began walking towards her.

"I'll have you know that in many occasions I have corrected some of his decisions and given him proper assessments on some instances that have been brought up!" she defended.

"Sounds like a tool to me…" he retorted to her as he stopped a few inches from her.

"What do you want, Qrow?" she tiredly asked; she was beginning to feel exhausted from their chats turning into arguments.

"I just want to know who you are? Are you Winter? Or are you just James' military enforcer?" he asked honestly.

"I have always been myself, and I have self-dedicated to ensure that the mission is gone without trouble. I also consider myself as a friend to the General than just his-"

Qrow interrupted her with a loud laugh. "A friend?! Of that robot?! I never thought I'd see the day!"

Winter glared at him. "Unlike you, Branwen, some of us are able to make decent friends without having to get drunk to hold a simple conversation!"

Qrow somberly smiled. "So, who's the friend? The military you? Or the real you?"

Winter went cold from his words before responding to his question, "I don't think you know the real me, Qrow. It's best that you know this may be the only side of me."

"Oh I know you are lying, Ice Queen. Though if you had told me that before Sora got here, I would have believed you." Winter just stared at him.

"Even if you haven't noticed it, I've seen your true side slip more than once with him." Qrow said in a soft tone.

Winter scoffed. "I don't know what you are talking about…"

"I'm only going to say this once, Winter. If you really care about him, then forget your mission and genuinely care for him!" Qrow shouted in frustration.

Winter felt her blood run cold. "Wha-?"

"Oh, you don't think I figured it out?!" He began.

"The big bad Ice Queen, softening up for a total stranger and offering to get close to him without having to tell her! Oh please…" he said as he took out his liquor and took a big gulp, making Winter grimace in disgust.

"Qrow, are you-" Winter was once again interrupted.

"Deny it!" he demanded as he was pointing his finger at her.

"Deny that getting close to him wasn't a mission! That it came from the heart! Just deny it, Winter! Please?!" Qrow begged her.

"You're drunk…" she stated in disgust as she tried to get away from him.

"Do it and I'll leave you alone." he said.

Winter looked at him. "I…It…I-" As hard as she tried, the words couldn't come out.

"See…?" he scoffed sadly. "That's what you've become, Winter. Just another one of James' robots that only follows orders." He took another swig of his liquor.

Winter said nothing and found that she could no longer look at him in the eyes.

"But I know you care about him, in a way." He surprised her with that statement.

She managed to look up at him in the eyes again. "For a moment back there, I saw the Winter I've forgotten…the Winter, who had been…" He stopped and looked away with slight sorrow in his eyes.

Winter only stood there stunned; she didn't expect Qrow to say all of this. "Just, please Winter…I don't want to see him hurt. He's starting to look up to you…so please, don't blow it…" he simply requested before walking away.

If he had stayed a little longer, he would have seen the single lonesome tear rolling down from Winter's eye…

xTxTxTxTxTx

During Sora's battle

The battle instantly heated up just as it had started; blows were being covered and evaded at a speed that Blake dared say she envied. She was fast, but not as fast as those two who were in the arena battling. She heard Yang's explanation on how her uncle never went all out on mock battles, yet here the man was going all out on a boy who many except for them didn't know of.

Her eyes tried to follow the boy as his speed started to pick up. 'He's not just fast, he's smart…' she thought to herself as she watched Sora use the stage to his advantage as well as Qrow when the old man tried to keep him in the urban area. Somehow the boy moved out of there after noticing his disadvantage.

When Sora dual-wielded she couldn't help but be stunned; only a few people could master such an advance fighting style. Those who did normally had to sacrifice their defense in exchange for high offense, though this wasn't the case for Sora as he not only seemed to get stronger, but his defense was also close to being impenetrable.

When Qrow managed to take one of his blades and slam Sora onto a tree, she honestly thought it was the end. To her surprise and horror, though, he suddenly appeared next to Qrow's side. His speed skyrocketed suddenly, and his blade transformed into a gun – one that resembled her own.

'Twelve rounds. After that, he's toast.'

She watched as Sora evadedthe bullets rather than block them, but she never lost count of the bullets. She continued counting to the point when Qrow brought Sora back to the Urban part of the arena. Blake knew what the old man was planning to do; a small smile grew on her face.

'He won't be able to dodge that in time…' the cat faunus thought to herself as she heard Ruby worriedly shout out, "He can't dodge it! He's too exhausted!"

Just when Sora shot his final bullet, it happened. Though most people but her couldn't notice it, a final blast came from the gun that was unnaturally many times stronger than the normal dust bullet. Blake's eyes grew wide and her heart began to race as her mind went through some of the stories she read back home.

After the bell rung and watched dust cloud clear, she could honestly say that she was a scared to see that level of combat skill from the young boy; she expected less to be honest. What she witnessed, more than anything, made her strengthen her resolve even more.

Out in another castle, a certain empress watched the battle with the most stoic expression she ever had to muster. Salem had seen it all, and she knew that final blast had not been a dust bullet; those do not have that kind of power. She sighed and turned to look at her scientist.

"Get Tyrian and Cinder on the line begin the plan." she simply commanded.

Watts gave her a concerning look before politely responding, "Will all due respect, your majesty, I suggest-"

Before he could complete his sentence, a loud slam from the armchair of the seat that the queen sat upon could be heard echoing across the entire chamber, shaking him to the core to be silent. Salem formed a tight fist that rested on the armchair, and though she wasn't facing him, the scientist could sense the anger and irritation oozing from her.

"Watts…" Salem began in a calm, threatening tone.

"I won't repeat myself again. Get them on the line and give them the order to begin. I also need you to activate your virus. NOW!" she demanded in a firm but horrific tone that echoed throughout the entire room.

"O-of course, right away!" Watts stuttered in fear and ran out of the room to call his colleagues.

As he left, Salem's livid glare gradually relaxed and reverted back to her stoic expression. She turned her head back to the screen to see the boy dropping his weapon to the side as they declared it a draw.

"As I suspected…you are one of them. This time, you won't escape me. Not again."

Present time

Amity Colosseum 12:12 PM

People were running…

They were screaming and pushing each other onto the floor, shoving onto one another, onto the wall, anywhere to get out of their way…

The teams and Huntsmen near the area shouted orders to try to calm the people, but to no avail. Only a few tried and failed on their attempts to remain calm, though it all came to deaf ears for a certain red-headed girl…

'It's happening…!' Pyrrha thought to herself in horror as she felt her legs grow weak...

Her eyes grew wide as she watched the images of the people in the city running from the robots.

'I'm too late…!'

It was becoming difficult to breathe. Her hand rested on her chest, wishing she hadn't worn her chest plate because in that moment she wanted nothing more than to rip it off her so she could breathe.

Jaune was shouting orders at them, or at least she thought he was. From the corner of her eye she could make out that he was telling something to Nora and Ren, but she could not hear – or rather did not want to. She wanted this to be a dream, a nightmare, or something that she could wake up from.

She gasped for air, taking in big heaves, but it didn't seem to help. Her hand traveled to the top of her chest plant and yanked on it, trying desperately to remove it.

She was sweating cold, shivering. She slowly went on her knees and hugged herself as she closed her eyes. Images of what the hooded man showed her came down in full force like a waterfall; she shut her eyes tighter to see if she could blind them.

She wanted to scream…

She wanted to breathe…

She wanted to be woken up…

She didn't want to know…

She wanted to forget everything she saw…

She wanted to-

"-rha! Pyrrha!"

Her eyes snapped open and looked up to see her teammates staring at her with concerned expressions on her faces. Nora had her arms around her; she had been shaking her to see if she could snap out of her stupor.

"Hey, are you okay?" Nora asked her with a concerned look on her face as she placed her hand on her forehead.

"You're sweating as if it were summer, honey…" She took her hand and saw that there was a bit of blood on the nails and on her arms. Pyrrha didn't realize she hugged herself a bit too tightly.

The young Amazon woman yanked her hand away and got up a bit too fast for comfort.

"I'm fine…" she muttered as she looked away from them while wiping the blood from her arms.

"You sure don't look fine…" her friend said to her.

Jaune walked closer and tried to place his hand on her shoulder. "Pyrrha, are you-"

"I said I'm fine!" she shouted irritably at them and slapped Jaune's hand away. A stunned expression grew on her team's faces from the sudden outburst; she had never done that before.

Pyrrha immediately felt guilty the moment she realized what she had done. "I'm sorry…I'm okay, really. Someone pushed me and I fell down is all. You were saying, Jaune?"

She could tell from their expressions that they weren't buying her excuse one bit, though they decided it best not to push the matter any further for the moment.

"I was telling Nora and Ren to head out and help the evacuation so that the civilians don't get hurt while you and I could go see if we can get on a ship and head down to Vale to help out in the city."

Pyrrha nodded in agreement to his plan. "I think it's a good idea, but we should see what team RWBY is going to do. We can meet up with them and see if they're heading down there as well so that we can go together."

"Alright, let's head down to the arena. I'm sure Ruby will want to ask her uncle what she and the others can do to help. I'll text her just in case." Jaune said as he signaled them to move out. From his line if sight he could make out Yang and Blake heading towards the landing bay while Weiss and Ruby were heading down to the arena. After a certain point they cut their distance and immediately caught up with them.

Ruby and Weiss ran down to the arena along with Pyrrha and Jaune. "What happened?!" Jaune asked as they tried to evade the people.

Weiss could only shrug and respond, "I don't know, but it looks like the city's defenses are overwhelmed by the White Fang! And don't get me started with the robots!"

"We have to get to Uncle Qrow! He may have an idea where to go and how to help out!" Ruby ordered.

Down in the arena, Sora watched in horror as the people pushed each other out of the way to be the first ones to get on a ship and escape. "The transmissions aren't working, but we had more ships stationed here just in case!" Qrow said beside him.

Sora looked at him with a shocked expression as he asked him in terror, "You were expecting this?!"

Qrow somberly nodded. "We told you, kid. Things aren't well here. We knew they were going to make their move while our minds were set on something else. I just didn't think that it would be this soon…!"

Sora's fist grew; he knew why Qrow was frustrated. They just had a battle which both of them went all out on. Qrow was going to be aura-less for quite a while, and he was also tired. As for Sora, his shield was down. If he wanted to help out, he would have to do so without it and face the fact that he can't rely on his magic to heal any wounds that would come to pass.

"Who was that guy in the comms?!" Sora asked him.

A serious face grew on Qrow. "Someone who means trouble. They must be after the Fall Maiden. We have to get out of here and regroup with Oz and Glynda. I'm sure they're on their way to where she's at." Sora nodded and ran to retrieve his blade laying on the side of the arena housed with trees.

"Uncle Qrow!" They heard Ruby cry out.

They turned to see Jaune, Pyrrha, Ruby and Weiss heading towards them.

Qrow looked at them sternly. "Why the hell haven't you guys gotten out of here?!"

"We want to help!" Ruby stated stubbornly, and the rest nodded in agreement.

"So, do we!" Jaune added as he did his best to look unfazed by what was happening.

Sora came back with Trinity in its Claymore mode. "Hey guys! Pyrrha, are you okay?" he asked with concern in his voice as he looked at Pyrrha who was quite pale and only watching the people in the stands.

"Y-Yes, just a little off…" she responded with slight uncertainty in her answer while not looking at him. She didn't want to give out the fact that she was anything but okay. She had seen this happen…

Qrow released a long sigh. "I hate it when Oz is right..." he muttered to himself. He turned to see all the teens in front of him, except for Pyrrha, looking at him with anticipation for orders.

"Alright! Follow me! I had an extra ship nearby for use just in case of emergency." He led the way to the docking bay.

xTxTxTxTxTx

Roman strolled on the empty streets with a smile plastered on his face. He placed everything the way that the Queen and Cinder instructed him to do. All that's left now was to have Beacon fall by making the citizens despair so much that a catastrophe would happen, or so that was what the documents Watts sent him instructed.

So far he didn't see a Grimm come into the city limits, but he was more than certain that it wouldn't be long until that happens. After all, people were dying, and there were those who didn't care if others had to die in their place so long as they could survive.

'Just like animals…' he thought to himself amusingly.

He kept on walking and saw some aircrafts coming down from the Amity Colosseum.

"Whelp, might as well have some fun while I'm at it! Hey mutt!" he shouted to a White Fang member.

"Sir!" the man responded while saluting him.

"Get me a rocket launcher or an anti-air weapon!" One of the members ran to a truck that housed the weapons and retrieved a rocket launcher before handing it over to Roman.

He took it with a smile and aimed at one of the Atlesian ships that were heading towards the city rather than away from it like the other ships.

'I hope no one important is in there~!' he smugly thought as he pulled the trigger.

xTxTxTxTxTx

Sora could say that he was not too used to being in ships. While it is true that he was accustomed to flying in the Gummi ship and literally flew with Peter Pan and Tinkerbell back in Neverland, he was not used to being in something that flew for him. Because of this fact, it was a bit difficult for him to maintain his balance on it.

'Just think of it as Jack's Black Pearl, and everything will be alright…' he thought to himself.

The ship took off from the colosseum and was currently headed for Beacon. They watched in horror as part of the city was engulfed in flame, but as much as they wanted to help the people down there, Qrow was very adamant that they head towards the school. Sora knew why, though he assumed the others didn't know yet.

"Can you remind me why we heading towards the school rather than heading towards the city to help the citizens?!" Weiss asked the man incredulously as he was having a conversation with someone through the ship's comms.

Qrow finished the call and came up to them. "Like I told you before, there is something in there that we have to be certain the enemy does NOT get their hands on!" he firmly responded to the heiress.

"Can you at least tell us what it is?" Jaune asked him as he was also growing a bit annoyed. Whatever this thing was, it apparently was way more important than the lives of the citizens of Vale.

Qrow couldn't help but heavily sigh. As much as he wanted to tell them what was really going on, he certainly knew he did not have the time to explain it all. "Let's just say that if they do get to it…it'll be the beginning of the end."

The serious face he made from that last part of the statement in a grim tone spiked their curiosity even more, but it also told them that it was something very serious.

"Is everything going to be okay uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked the man, voicing the question no one dared to speak up on.

Qrow closed his eyes and could only shake his head slowly. "I really don't know, kiddo..."

They all fell silent and Sora took the time to observe their expressions. Compared to how they were when he first met them, he could see their facial expressions were mixed with uncertainty, anticipation and fear. He knew those feelings all too well and wondered if it was strange that he was the only one not completely fazed by what was happening.

He may have been shaken up when he witnessed the level of destruction come upon the city and the school, but it paled in comparison to watching a world crumbling and being swallowed into darkness in front of his eyes. What was worse, though, was that the second time he witnessed it, he knew he was at fault for allowing it to happen.

Sora could only sigh in sorrow and continue staring at his new friends until his eyes wandered onto Pyrrha. The red-headed woman looked pale, appearing as if she was living her worst nightmare. He became concerned about her, but he also couldn't help but feel confused about something. He heard that she was a renown warrior in this world, so she must have high level combat abilities and experience in battling, so why was she in such a poor state? Just as he was about to voice his thoughts, he noticed something hanging from her neck. His eyes grew wide and he abruptly got on his feet, surprising everyone.

"Sora?" Ruby asked with concern in her tone as she watched him looking at Pyrrha with a shaken expression and wide eyes. Pyrrha also noticed his behavior and looked at the boy with wonder.

"Pyrrha…?" he began with a shaken voice.

"Yes?" she asked as Sora took a cautious step towards her until he brought his hand up and pointed at her. She frowned from the uncertainty of why he was pointing at her. However, when followed his finger to see where it was pointing at, her heart suddenly raced a mile a minute. Her hand cautiously traveled to the necklace where the fragment of the charm was currently placed on.

"T-That's…where did you find that?!" he asked her as he watched her clutch the necklace.

"I-Is it yours?" she asked in tone that sounded like she was almost afraid to hear his answer. After he gave her a simple nod, a grin suddenly grew on her complexion that completely changed the outline she was under just a few moments ago. There were so many things she wanted to ask him, but more importantly, she had to ask for his help. She had to tell him what was to come if he didn't.

Just as she got up the ship turned suddenly and then shook violently followed by an explosion. "WE'VE BEEN HIT!" the pilot called to them from the cabin. The ship shook violently again before it began to descend rapidly. "WE'VE LOST CONTROL OF AN AIRWING!"

All of them held on to what they could reach as the ship's descent began to accelerate. A second small explosion could be heard and Sora saw through the window that the wing had completely fallen off. Another explosion followed and the ramp gave in, bursting open for the violent air to enter the cabin. Everyone held on even tighter to what they could reach.

"Okay, kids! Listen up!" Qrow shouted through the sound of the ship's engine and wind.

They all turned to the man with fear in their eyes. "There are only a few parachutes that we can use, and some are behind you, Ruby! Place one on and hold on to Weiss. And just in case that you two feel your Aura would not withstand the hit you pull on it do you understand!?" he commanded to his niece who nodded at him.

"Pass one to Pyrrha so she can place it onto Jaune!" Both women did as they were told and, without letting go, strapped on the parachutes.

He then turned to Sora who was holding onto one of the handles from the roof of the ship. 'Damn it! He's too far! If I throw him one, either he might let go by accident or it may get swept off by the wind!' he thought to himself as he was figuring out a solution, though he was running out of time.

"Alright, everyone! You're all gonna have to trust me on this one!"

They all looked at him. "When I say let go, you let go!" All of them stared at him as if he had gone mad, but they knew that the situation called for drastic measures.

"Are you friking kidding me?!" Weiss yelled at the man.

"We're high in the sky and you want us to let go?!" she screamed at him as if he had lost his mind. Qrow just nodded, and with his eyes pleaded her that she did as she was told.

"Just hold on to Ruby and don't let go!" Qrow said to her.

Using his free hand, Qrow held on to two parachutes that were near him and he locked eyes with Sora. He nodded at the boy who nodded back and took a deep breath.

"READY?!" he yelled out to them. The ship had begun to spin out of control in the air.

"NOW! LET GO!" Pyrrha and Jaune let go and flew out of the ship while Ruby followed after them hanging on tight to Weiss who didn't stop screaming. Sora let go and Qrow timed it so that he could grab hold of the boy. He managed to get a grip on him and felt the winds and the sun greet them violently as they began their free fall. Given as the ship was spinning, they were flown off into different directions at an alarming speed. Qrow was battling with Sora as he was trying to get the parachute on him. "I can take care of the rest, Qrow! Just put yours on!"

Qrow gritted his teeth but reluctantly nodded at him. He didn't want to let the boy go, but he had no choice since he needed to place his on as well. Once again, he cursed his luck. 'This had to happen right after our match, didn't it?!' he inwardly cursed.

Just as he was about to let Sora go to work on putting his own parachute on, he heard a loud explosion from above. The entire ship exploded into oblivion, and parts of it were now heading towards them; Qrow only had a moment to react. Using his legs, he pushed hard against Sora to get him out of the way and as far away from the blast radius as possible. Shards of the ship passed by him and he strapped the parachute on.

Once he was low enough, he pulled on it and began his slow decent. However, his luck – as always – had it bad for him. Some of the shards ripped holes through his parachute.

"Shit!" he cursed in panic.

He could see the ground getting closer now, but he didn't like the speed of his fall. "Well this is gonna hurt like hell!" he shouted as he targeted the parachute at a building and hoped his aim was accurate. He felt himself hit a window and roll onto the floor of the building. Before he lost consciousness, he just hoped that his rough landing was the only one out of the four.

xTxTxTxTxTx

1:12 PM

A ship successfully landed on the grounds of Beacon and two teachers could be seen climbing off. As Winter got off the ship with Professor Ozpin, she used her scroll once again to see if she could contact General Ironwood, but the call still couldn't connect.

"Winter, I sent Glynda in advance on another craft towards the maiden! She should already be there by now! I have to head to my office to see if I can get contact for any help from the outside through my private comms! You search for James! I need to know what caused the robots to rebel and if there's a way to shut them down!" he commanded her.

She nodded. "Of course, Professor! Should I leave any troops with you?" she asked as a few Atlesian soldiers got off the ship.

"I'll be alright, don't worry about me! Just head towards Vale and help out with the evacuation!" Ozpin simply commanded as he ran towards his office. Winter watched him leave and ordered the soldiers to follow her as they got on a vehicle to begin their movement towards the city.

Once he was out of the elevator, Ozpin ran towards his table and pressed a button on it. "Glynda, how is the movement going?"

Glynda answered immediately, "It's not easy, Professor, but we're almost finished moving her out of the chamber! Where are we going to take her from here?" she asked.

"Take her to the nearest ship! Be sure to have a handful of trusted personnel accompany you! I already sent the coordinates from a private scroll to the driver! When you arrive, just call through here. If I don't answer, just leave a message!" he ordered in a softer tone.

"How do you know they will find her if she stays here?" she asked him.

"I know because she does not gamble, Glynda! She acts according to facts and evidence only!" After that last statement, he cut the line. He checked the feed on his table and saw that his private communications were still online. He sent out messages to some teams to give them specific orders on where to lead the citizens and what streets to avoid so that they could evacuate in time. After sending his messages he got up and began to leave.

As he walked to the elevator, he heard a voice that he never expected to hear in this host's lifetime again. "Hello there, old friend."

He abruptly stopped and turned to see a cloaked hooded man standing beside a pillar with his arms crossed in front of him. "It can't be…! How is it possible?!" Ozpin asked in shock.

"Well you should tell your students not to touch things if they don't know what they do or how they work…" the stranger nonchalantly responded to him.

Ozpin sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose. "So I was right. That place they found…" He saw the man nod.

"Yes, and unfortunately things have sped up Ozpin. Normally I would not interfere, but certain circumstances have led me to take some…disturbing actions..." said the man as he went to sit on Ozpin's chair.

Ozpin looks at the man with confusion and uneasiness in his expression. "What do you mean sped up?"

"Though your conversations with a certain special boy have also certainly helped out in that regard." the enigmatic man continued as he began to watch the feeds that Ozpin was currently observing.

Ozpin frowned. "Sora?" he simply asked him.

"You did a fine job keeping that secret from him, Oz. Oh, and don't give me that expression. I know very well that from the moment he spoke to you, you understood everything." He kept on talking without turning to Ozpin.

Ozpin took a deep breath before calmly replying to him, "I had to be sure he was who he stated to be..."

"Your secrets will be the end of you one day, Oz. You could save him a lot of time and spare his suffering if you just tell him the truth, my friend." The man stopped fidgeting with the table.

"What's going to happen?" Ozpin asked the man despite knowing fully well how all of this was going to play out.

"You will know in due time, my friend…" the enigmatic stranger simply answered.

Ozpin took a moment to evaluate the man. He would have enjoyed the conversations he had with him as well as the subtle hints that he would throw at him in some regards, but now was not the time for any of that. His school and the city were in danger while he was talking to the ghosts of his past.

Ozpin shook his head in frustration. "I do not have time for your games or your riddles! I have a city and a school to save! If you won't help, then I'll go by myself!" he responded in agitation as he turned to leave towards the elevator until he ran into an invisible wall.

"I do apologize, my friend, but I cannot afford to let you leave. You will remain here." The man said as he got up to look out the window and see Grimm coming into the school limits. Roars could be heard from a distance and Ozpin ran towards the window to watch in horror as the forest shook violently and the birds were frantically fleeing.

Ozpin reached to the comms. "James!" he shouted to him, only to hear nothing but static come through.

"James!" he asked once again, but nothing still came through.

"I am sorry to say that your communications have been cut off. James' robots have been compromised as you can see." the man told him.

Ozpin turned to warily watch the man that was in the room with him. "My teams can take care of them. It was a good thing that he didn't bring the whole fleet with him."

The hooded man pressed a button from the table and brought up a feed that showed some extra ships coming into the city limits. Ozpin looked at the scene in horror. "What is the meaning of this?! I told James-" A thought suddenly occurred to him. 'He placed some on standby near the city!' With a frustrated scream he slammed his fist down onto the crystal table.

Ozpin's grip on his cane tightened and green magic began to swirl from it. With a determined shout, he turned and slammed the cane down onto the invisible wall that was keeping him trapped. A big crack could be seen forming in the air. Ozpin brought another hit to it, causing a larger one to appear. He brought the cane to his side once again preparing for what he would have to face until he felt something jab his side.

He got slammed to the ground with a hard kick and saw that his attacker was the very same man who was in the room with him. "And here I thought you lost your touch!" the man said in amusement as Ozpin brought his cane to the man's face.

The stranger simply dodged it and placed his free hand on Ozpin's chest, releasing a surge of electric magic that depleted his aura in an instant. Once that was settled, he punched Ozpin hard in the gut, knocking all the air out of him.

Ozpin fell to his knees coughing while the enigmatic figure circled around him and asked, "How long has it been since you have last battled, Oz?"

"When was the last time the magic ran through your veins? You are not ready to face me..." he continued as he kneeled down until he was face to face with Ozpin.

"Many hosts ago…you might have been ready, but not this time my dear friend. I am truly sorry about this." The man brought his hand up ready to knock the old wizard out.

"Why are you here?" Ozpin managed to ask him.

"Though I cannot tell you in detail, you will remain here…until Beacon falls…or is saved…" With those last words, the man brought his hand down knocking Ozpin out while noticing his face form an honest to Gods frightened expression. The man carried the wizard and set him on his chair, though before leaving, he fortified the invisible wall all around the room so that even if the school fell…this room would remain intact.

Once he was done with what he needed to do, he smiled at Ozpin before leaving in a cloud of black smoke…

xTxTxTxTxTx

3:35 PM

The first thing he felt was excruciating pain from his side. He slowly awakened and was greeted by the ringing in his ears that gradually subsided. Sora brought a hand to his head to see if holding it in place would lessen the pain, though sad to say it didn't work. He unstrapped the parachute and sat up despite the pain that spread throughout his body.

He reached for his belt to check if the blade in its compact form was still strapped to it and released a sigh of relief after feeling the metallic side of his weapon. He begrudgingly got on his feet to observe his surroundings before remembering his rough landing by crashing into a building that was on fire. Despite the small multiple wounds and some burnt marks seared on his body, he was grateful to be still alive and well.

"How long was I out?" he asked himself aloud until he heard a scream outside the fallen building.

His eyes shot up and he gripped on Trinity to release the blade in its full form before jumping out of the rubble. He saw a mother holding her young child close to her from a creature that Sora swore felt too familiar for comfort. A beast in black fur with a white face that seemed as if it was part of its bone was on all fours in front of the mother and her child.

"A Heartless?!" Then he remembered the images he saw in the school. No…these weren't Heartless, these were…

The creature raised its claw up ready to slash at the woman until Sora blocked the blow with his weapon and pushed the creature back. He spun around and jumped to the skies before bringing the blade down to slice the creature in half.

"Grimm…" Sora grimly said as he watched the creature dissipate into black dust. He turned to see the woman with her eyes closed and trembling.

"Are you okay?" he asked the woman who jumped upon hearing his voice.

She cautiously opened her eyes and looked at Sora analyzing her. "Yes…thank you. Are you a Huntsman?" she asked him.

"Oh no, I-" Then she gasped and recognized him from the transmission of his battle.

"Oh! You're Sora! The Lone Ranger who battled against Qrow Branwen!" she said as she rose to her feet while holding her little child.

Sora slightly blushed from the nickname he unwillingly earned. "Ah, yeah…that's me!"

The woman smiled kindly at him. "Thank you, young man. I thought that was the end for us…" she said as she cuddled her child closely.

A siren could be heard and a truck stopped nearby. Sora watched as some soldiers came out and dispersed into the streets. One of the soldiers noticed the two and came up to them.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes, thanks to this young man!" said the woman while mentioning Sora.

"It was nothing." Sora smiled.

"Perfect! If you will follow me, I'll take you to the evacuation area." the soldier told them.

Sora shook his head. "You go on. I have somewhere else I need to be. Take care!" And with that, he ran off to the streets.

"HEY!" the soldier yelled back at him.

"Ah, youth…" the woman said as she began to follow the soldier to safety.

As Sora ran through the city, he could see smoke rising and fire consuming the buildings. He only hoped that no one was left inside; as much as he wanted to help the citizens, his priority was getting to Beacon. He overheard the call he had with Winter that Ozpin was in danger. Whoever was behind this wanted to get to one of the maidens that was currently in the school as he remembered his past conversations with them.

He skidded to a halt as he noticed some masked people whom he recognized as the White Fang throwing grenades to the buildings. He divided his blade into dual mode and changed one of them into its gun form to shoot the grenades thrown midway in the air, making them explode without hitting their targets.

The members of the terrorist group turned to see the person responsible for those shots, though before they had a chance to react, Sora sprinted to them and instantly knocked them out using the dull side of his blade. Once they were out cold, he tied them up with their own jackets. He turned to see that the building they were assaulting was Raymond's store. His eyes widened in horror and he ran inside. Upon entering he saw a Grimm Beowulf, which the creature looked back to meet his doom as Sora brought on his blades crossing them in an X to cut the creature down.

He looked around to see that the place was in ruins.

"Raymond!" he called out.

No sound came and he desperately looked around the store searching for any signs that the man was still alive. He then felt a sword on his shoulder close to his neck. "Don't move! Slowly turn around and drop your blades!"

Sora placed his blades on the table in front of him and slowly turned around to face the man he had been looking for just a few moments ago currently pointing a sword at his neck.

"Raymond! You're okay!" he happily said to the older man.

"Mr. Sora?" Raymond asked as he lowered his blade.

Upon confirming that it was him the man hugged the boy. "Oh thank the Gods you are alright! I was on my way to the truck we have on back; I came back for supplies. My wife is waiting for me there. We're leaving towards the evacuation point!" he explained to him.

Sora turned to grab his blades and united them once again. The older man smiled at the weapon. "I have to say, Mr. Sora, you gave us quite a show with your expertise. And what a fine weapon you came up with."

Sora slightly blushed at his comment. "Yeah…but you're the one who made it, so thanks for making it spot on! I love it!" Sora said with a smile.

Raymond laughed at the boy. "Come on, boy! We need to get out of the city. We don't know what happened. I'm not sure why you came down here, but we must leave the city. It's becoming a battleground." he said to Sora as he began to walk towards the back of the store.

Upon seeing that Sora was not following him, Raymond turned and saw Sora giving him a somber smile and shake his head. "I can't go with you, Raymond. I still have things I need do and people I have to help." he said with a confident expression.

The older man couldn't help but sigh. "Kids these days…" he simply said in defeat and took out a pack of first aid along with a water bottle from the backpack he was carrying.

"Here, take these with you. I don't know if we will see each other again, but I pray we will meet again soon." The older man hugged Sora and gave him a nod as he left the store.

Sora tended to his wounds from the free fall and crash landing of the ship and drank some water. He took out his scroll and looked at the map to see that the campus was close by. He was almost there; he just had to cross through the main square and he would arrive to his destination in less than 10 minutes.

'I just hope I get there in time…' he thought as he ran out of the store.

He smiled as he saw some Grimm blocking his way and eliminated them without losing his speed while not stopping to make sure they were exterminated.

'I guess some things stay the same…' He smiled after thinking that statement to himself as it brought back some memories and ran at full speed towards the school.

"I hope the others are okay!"

xTxTxTxTxTx

4:09 PM

Cinder currently walked through the streets engulfed in flames to head down towards the first ship that left the arena. For the moment her destination was Beacon since that's where the current intel of the Fall Maiden's location was. They read through the reports from Ironwood's files that the maiden was in a chamber deep within the school.

"I'm guessing they wanted to keep her close by…" she muttered to herself.

"Are we not going to keep track of that maniac?" Emerald asked her as she walked beside her, mentioning to Tyrian who ran off in a certain direction of the city.

"If my assumptions are correct, they'll want to keep the child in a safe location to give him a chance to recover after the match. I'm sure Ozpin and Qrow will want to keep him close by." Cinder answered her.

"However, you do make a point. It would be troublesome if that man found the boy by himself and took all the glory." Cinder stopped in her tracks and turned to her followers.

"Mercury, you follow him. If he finds out where he is, contact us and give us your location." She ordered him.

Mercury grumbled. "Does it have to be me?" Cinder gave him a glare that told him everything he needed to know.

"Alright, alright." he said in defeat as he ran off to where he saw Tyrian run off to.

"Good. Now Emerald…" She turned to the other woman. "I need you to transmit everything that is happening in the city. I want everyone to see what is going to happen to the world. That it will all begin with the fall of Beacon." A wicked smile formed in her expression as she took out her scroll to see a notification on new information that had been transmitted through the network they hacked.

"And you?" Emerald asked her.

"I have a ship to catch." Cinder answered as she turned her scroll to show the young woman a message sent from Glynda's scroll.

The maiden has been secured on the ship. We will be evacuating from the grounds near the dorms, Professor Ozpin. I will await 10 minutes for you…I wish you arrive on time.

"What about Roman?" Emerald asked her.

Cinder looked up to glance at Emerald in the eyes. "What about him?"

"You know that he wants out after all this is over. Are we really going to let him leave after all of this just like that? Let him take his lollipop girl and just disappear just with all of the information he has on us?"

Cinder sighed before giving her answer, "Did it ever occur to you that she thought about the same thing?"

Emerald raised her eyebrows. "You mean she already planned something out?"

"Emerald, one thing I do know about her is that once you are with her, there is no in-between. Roman served his purpose well. He dried out Vale of their Dust and robbed shipments of the Schnee company and Atlas military force. However, she has no further use for him." Cinder said with a smile.

"Let's just say that accidents in a city full of Grimm are a…common occurrence." Cinder turned and walked away to leave the last statement as that.

"I've also heard from a certain source that the White Fang members are not quite happy with the way he treats them, so it wouldn't be odd if one of them were to do something irrevocably crazy, wouldn't you say?" she commented as she left Emerald with a surprised expression.

'I'm never going against these women…' she thought to herself fearfully as she shook her head and felt a chill run down her spine before taking out her camera to record the live feed.

Unbeknownst to them, a certain bystander overheard everything they said. A woman in a brown shirt and black pants came out of an ally, her once brown eyes reverting into pink and brown.

She took out her scroll and wrote a message to her dear friend and ally: Where are you? We need to talk. We have a problem.

She closed her scroll and took off into the shadows, rage brewing inside her. They could take anything they wanted, even the boy. But they would not take the only thing precious to her…

xTxTxTxTxTx

Roman exited out of the car he rode to reach to the warehouse where he kept all his belongings. He came back only to take what's important and burn the rest. As he walked in, he noticed many strange signs. He remembered leaving some cargo, yet the whole warehouse was empty. He also left some White Fang members behind to safeguard the place and ensure no one got too close to find them.

He cautiously walked through and kept his tight grip on the cane. As he approached closer to the office where he was stationed in, he heard his scroll ring. He stopped and took it out to see that it was a message from Neo.

"I knew something wasn't right…" he said as he read the message.

He entered the office in a hurry and just as he opened the door, he heard a click.

"SHI-!"

*BOOM*

An explosion came out of the warehouse and the flames spread out, setting off multiple explosions. A certain figure could be seen flying out of the window towards the water. The warehouse caved in and the White Fang members who watched the scenario take place picked up a radio.

"Sir, he got away! He's heading towards the city! Should we follow suit?" he asked the person on the other side.

"No, I'll take care of him. Keep on doing your part of the plan." The voice came through.

"Yes sir!" the White Fang member said as he mentioned the others to follow him towards the other direction.

Roman swam out of the water and, without looking back, ran into the city. He noticed a Beowulf take an interest in him and charge at him. Roman turned to his side and dodged the slash of the beast to bring his cane to the creature's torso.

The Beowulf got pushed to the side and regained its stance, only to be blown towards a building by a dust bullet. Roman had his cane pointed at the beast and shot again to confirm it was slain. He took a deep breath before stating nonchalantly, "Should have known they were gonna try to get rid of me. This always tends to happen in this business."

He winced and gripped his side before looking down to notice some claw marks. Blood was dripping out, but not by much to be serious. "Damn thing got me good, so did the mutts…" He took out his scroll, though only to realize that the blast had taken its toll on it.

"Now gotta find a way to contact Neo." He looked around some houses to see if he could find an abandoned scroll somewhere.

All the same he was trying to evade the White Fang members and Grimm as much as he possibly could. "With this wound I could maybe take some out, but not a pack..." he said to himself as he ducked in an abandoned building to avoid a few terrorist members passing by.

He released a grim chuckle as he towards another building and told himself, "To think that all I wanted was to live a nice life with her. Away from all this fighting and death…"

Just as he rounded a corner to a mall, he saw that the parking lot was exceptionally quiet, and Roman knew that in a city filled with Grimm that was not a good sign. He walked slowly as he kept an eye on his surroundings, "If I can just get in there, I should be able to get a scroll to contact Neo and get some help as well."

Just as he made his close approach to the mall, he heard a growl nearby and immediately turned to see a pack of Beowolf Grimm a few feet away. Roman cursed his dumb luck and thought through all possibilities to outrun them, but with his wound those ideas went out the window. He prepared his stance and gripped his Melodic Cudgel. "Well might as well go out with a bang, right?"

The Grimm ran at him, but just as he braced himself to meet them, they abruptly turned to dust in midair. Roman was left stunned and confused by the occurrence until he brought his field of vision down and see the man responsible for "saving" him.

"Well, well. I never thought I'd meet you in person." Roman said to the man who was a few yards away from him.

"You are going to wish you never did…" the man threatened as he began to approach him.

"I'm guessing the bomb was your idea?"

The man scoffed. "No, that was just the idea of some of my men who had a soft spot for you. A quick painless death. I was against it, of course."

"Of course you were." The man stopped a few feet away from Roman.

"So, care to tell me why I'm suddenly disposable? Or are we just gonna get down to business, Adam Taurus?" Roman asked as he watched Adam grip his katana.

xTxTxTxTxTx

4:27 PM

Blake and Yang left the colosseum after ensuring most of the civilians escaped from there in one piece. They left the rest of them to the police and army whom have arrived.

"Duck!" Blake yelled to Yang as she shot a Grimm that was aiming at her back.

"Thanks!" Yang told her as she uppercut an Ursa and blasted its head away with her Ember Celica.

They took care of the few Grimm and the Atlesian Knights that were cornering some citizens and instructed them to follow the road towards the shelter that would take care of them and evacuate them out of the city.

"Any news on Rubs and the rest?" Yang asked Blake as they ran towards Beacon.

Blake shook her head. "Last I heard from them, they were heading towards the school." she said as she blasted the head of a robot.

Yang jumped into a group of White Fang members and slammed her fist to the ground causing a shockwave to make them lose their footing. Blake followed up using her ribbon to tie them up and then proceed to knock them out.

"This is a mess! How did all these guys get here so fast? And those robots. Weren't those supposed to be good robots?" Yang asked.

Blake looked grim at the mention of the White Fang members. "I don't know, Yang. But they are hurting a lot of innocent people. We have to do what we can and save as many as possible while we're on our way to Ruby and team JNPR."

Just as they were about to be assaulted by a group of robots, a woman in white with glyphs dashed in sight, slicing the robots without breaking a sweat. She sheathed her rapier and turned at the two young women with a frown upon seeing them.

"Winter!" Yang shouted in relief to see that the woman was okay.

"I will ask this once and only once. What in heaven's name are you two doing down here rather than on the evacuation ship as planned?" Winter asked them with a stern expression.

Blake and Yang winced from her tone and Yang smiled sheepishly as she answered, "Well, you see…" Yang explained that Ruby planned on going with Qrow to help the people down in the city to evacuate while they stayed in the colosseum to help the Huntsmen take out the robots that were close by as well as the Grimm that began to appear.

"And just before we lost contact, Rubs told me that they were headed towards the school with Weiss and my uncle. I don't know why, but that's all she told me. Haven't been able to get in contact her since then." Yang finished her explanation.

Winter sighed in disbelief before saying, "Honestly, your team has a bad habit of getting into some very troublesome situations." She knew why Qrow was headed towards the school, though she uncertain if he told the girls the reason. If anything, it was definitely going to be dangerous heading to the school.

"Listen, I have to head towards the CCT tower. General Ironwood's ship is stationed there, and I need to go there to shut down the robots." Winter explained to them as a small platoon of army men came behind her.

"And you want us to help? Alright!" Yang said as she fist pumped.

"No." Winter simply stated as Yang deflated.

"We received an S.O.S from a place nearby. Apparently some people were surrounded near a mall by a pack of Grimm. Only, and I repeat only, if there are not too many, I need you girls to go and help them out. I would go there myself, but it would sidetrack me from my current mission. The longer we allow the robots to run rampant, the more innocent people will get hurt." Winter explained.

"Can you girls be able to do this? I have heard from Weiss that you are all somewhat accustomed to…these types of situations." she asked the girls who simply smiled.

"Just tell us where and we'll be there!" Yang responded to her.

"I'm sure Ruby and the rest are fine with their uncle helping them." Blake added.

Winter smiled at them. "Okay. Here are the coordinates, head there fast. And please…be safe." she said to them as she began to run off into another direction.

"So…shall we?" Yang asked Blake.

Blake laughed. "By all means. Lead the way." And with that, they headed off towards the mall that would eventually lead them to their most dire encounter. It is where two men currently fought for their lives.

xTxTxTxTxTx

4:46 PM

Pyrrha slowly awoke from her slumber after hearing many people shuffle by her. She could tell that she was currently in a big building that housed many people who were being treated.

'What happened?' she asked herself until the memories of the current events hit her like a brick. She brought her hand to her mouth to keep herself from throwing up.

'That's right, its begun! But…' She brought her hand down and felt the necklace.

'That's right! Sora! I found him! Where is he?!' She got up from her makeshift bed that the nurses gave her. Both her head and her left arm were wrapped up. She figured that she might have gotten some scratches.

"Pyrrha!" She heard someone call her name from one side of the building she was in. She turned to see Ruby waving her over and ran to her friend to see that she was in a similar state as well.

"What happened to us? How did we get here?" Pyrrha asked her.

Ruby motioned her to follow her. "Apparently we landed a few meters away from each other. Jaune was the one who brought you here said that mid-flight down you lost your grip on him when he pulled the parachute. You fell pretty hard to the ground, though it was a good thing your aura protected you."

"What about you and Weiss? And where is Jaune?" she asked her as she was led to an infirmary.

"Weiss got hit pretty hard on the head in the landing and just woke up like you. You guys have been out for quite a while, you know." Ruby took her in front of a bed just like hers where Weiss was resting.

"She's just sleeping right now. She ate a bit and then went to sleep right away. Jaune is handling some of the Grimm that appeared nearby. I wanted to help, but I'm still kinda groggy from the fall. Not to mention that my aura is recovering still. Guess I should have opened my parachute, huh?" she commented with a timid smile.

Pyrrha smiled upon learning that all of her friends were okay. She brought out her scroll, thankful that it didn't get lost from the fall, and sent a text to Nora and Ren to make sure they were okay. She sent one to Sora as well to make sure that he was alright and asked him where he was.

"I've been trying to call him and Uncle Qrow for a while. It looks like long distance calls don't work right now." Ruby said as she saw who Pyrrha was trying to call.

"I see…" Pyrrha simply responded. There was an awkward silence for a moment until Ruby spoke up.

"So…that pendent is Sora's, huh?"

Pyrrha nodded. "It appears so."

Ruby stayed silent for a while. She wanted to ask her where and how she got it. She wanted to know if Pyrrha knew Sora from somewhere and why she looked so happy to find out it belonged to him. Though before she even had a chance to speak up her questions, Pyrrha spoke up first.

"I'm going to check on the status of our surroundings to see if there is anything I can help with." she said as she left the infirmary leaving Ruby alone with her thoughts.

"Ah, I need my notebook." Ruby simply said.

Pyrrha navigated through the civilians and reached to an office where the military were currently stationed. She came in and walked to the person who was barking out orders. "Hello there, I'm a student from Beacon. My name-"

"Is Pyrrha Nikos, I know. My daughter is quite a fan of yours." the man said to her, which made her blush.

"O-Oh, I see. I just wanted to ask if there was anything I could help out with." Just as the man was about to answer an incoming transmission interrupted them.

"MAYDAY! MAYDAY! CAN ANYONE HEAR US?!" Everyone dropped what they were doing and gave the transmission their attention. The man gripped onto the comms.

"This is Lieutenant Brome! What's your condition?!" the man responded.

"THIS IS GLYNDA GOODWHITCH REQUESTING A SHIP FOR IMMEDIATE EVAC! WE ARE CURRENTLY TRANSPORTING A VERY IMPORTANT CARGO THAT THE ENEMY WANTS! WE HAVE TO GET IT OUT OF HERE BUT OUR SHIP IS FALLING AND FAST!" Lieutenant Brome turned to a woman who was beside Pyrrha.

"Do we have any available ships nearby?" A military woman nodded and handed him the coordinates.

"I'll send you the coordinates to a nearby ship! Try to crash land there as close as you can!" the Lieutenant instructed.

"REQUESTING BACK UP AS WELL! EN…EGA… FI…" The signal went dead after that.

"Professor Goodwitch, come in! Can you hear me?!" Nothing but static came in.

"Damn it! How many men do we have available?!" the bulky man asked.

"Not much, sir! Maybe three or four, but-"

"I'll go!" Pyrrha interrupted her.

The Lieutenant turned to look at her with a serious face. "Are you certain, young lady? This isn't like your class, it's the real deal." he said to her.

She simply smiled and replied with a face that sent a shiver down the man's spine. "I've seen worse."

He chuckled before saying, "Alright! Here are the coordinates where the ship should crash. Find them and help them evacuate. Then once you've accomplished that head back. I don't know what they are transporting but for the assistant of Professor Ozpin to be requesting it herself it must be serious stuff. My team will escort you there. Good luck, and come back alive. I don't want to explain to my daughter I sent the Amazon woman she admires to her death."

Pyrrha beamed at him and headed out with the team. As they ran towards the coordinates she saw Jaune fighting against some Ursas and Griffons alongside with some of the army members. She was glad to see that the young man had gained some confidence and sent him a text mentioning that she would be back to explain the situation.

As they arrived to the crash site, Pyrrha could see that a battle taking place as woman was fighting off – or rather swatting away – the members of the army as if they were ants. Pyrrha watched in shock as the men who came with her went out to help the wounded. Pyrrha then located Professor Goodwitch who was currently leading a small team pushing what looked like a coffin towards the new ship.

The woman whom had been battling a few moments ago ignored the men who arrived and simply followed Professor Goodwitch.

"She's going after the Professor!" Pyrrha warned them, but they were too occupied helping their comrades. Pyrrha cursed and ran ahead of them while clutching the pendent hanging from her neck. She saw the woman in red go after Professor Goodwitch, knowing it was obvious that she was after her. The woman knocked down a ship from the sky, and witnessing such level of power made her certain that this would not be an easy fight. Some Grimm began to run towards her from the ruined buildings, though she slayed them with ease while keeping her pace.

After taking a turn she could see that Professor Goodwitch was currently engaging the woman in the red dress. As the woman threw herself at her teacher, Pyrrha used her semblance to build a wall in- between them to separate the two.

"GO!" she yelled to her teacher.

The professor nodded and commanded the group behind her – along with what seemed like a coffin – to move out into the Atlesian escape ship.

"NO!" Pyrrha heard the woman scream.

In that moment she jumped and sent what looked like a fire ball onto the wall destroying it. She raced after the teacher, only to be met with a shield slamming her side and onto a nearby concrete wall.

The woman looked up and saw who was responsible for letting her target escape and frowned to see the Amazon woman standing in front of her blocking her way.

"If you want to get to them, you'll have to get through me first!"

Pyrrha looked at the woman closely and immediately recognized her from the tournament. If she remembered correctly, her name was Cinder. In that moment, a new memory came back to her that she had seen in the cave.

'That dress…!' Pyrrha thought and felt a cold sweat run down the back of her neck. Out of instinct, she brought her palm up to her chest. She remembered the feeling back there – in that memory – of being impaled by an arrow that was drawn from a woman in a red dress…

Pyrrha looked at Cinder in the eyes. Yes…she was more than certain that this was the woman who would take her life; the woman who was destined to kill her. Her heart began race a mile a minute, her breathing was becoming ragged. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. She could not lose her composure in front of her. With a shaking arm she lifted her lance and pointed it at Cinder.

"Leave and don't ever come back! I don't wish to hurt you!" she commanded to the woman in a firm tone.

Cinder simply laughed and responded, "My dear…if you move aside, then I'll let you off with some broken bones." She was irritated, but she did not have time to lose. She had to catch up with Glynda and the Fall Maiden. If they left on that ship, she would be certain that she won't catch them on time. 'And the damn wyvern hasn't even awoken yet!'

They both stared hard at each other and stood on their ground without so much as flinching until they were interrupted by the sound of a ship getting ready to take off. Cinder's eyes widened in panic, and in an instant, she sent a fire ball at Pyrrha who managed to block it with her shield and throw her lance at the woman. Using her semblance, Cinder brought upon her Midnight blades and slashed the lance to the side.

She began to sprint towards Pyrrha who used a bench as momentum to jump to the skies and come down at her with her shield. Cinder moved out of the way in time and brought her blade to Pyrrha, meeting her shield. Pyrrha called upon her lance to block Cinder's other blade and pushed her shield using her semblance, making Cinder summersault backwards. Upon her straight landing she shot a few glass arrows at Pyrrha and the Huntress-in-training blocked some of them with her shield and others with her semblance by using the remains of some robots to take the hits for her.

Cinder summoned fire magic on her feet to create a charged momentum and blast off towards Pyrrha. The Amazon woman was caught by surprise and placed the shield in front of her to take the hit, only to be met with a force that shook her to one knee. Cinder then shot a fire blast at point-blank range on her shield. Pyrrha could feel the heat surrounding her as well as on her shield as it was beginning to heat up.

She quickly looked around the courtyard and spotted an Atlesian Knight in the ground. Using her polarity semblance, she pulled it to her, though Cinder smiled as she knew she was going to make that move. At the right moment, she jumped out of the way to have the Knight slam into Pyrrha and cause the young woman to fly back a few feet, although she instantly got up and called her lance. She jabbed at Cinder who effortlessly evaded the attack and brought up her blade. Pyrrha blocked the blow and broke her crystal blade with her shield followed by slamming the side of the shield onto Cinder's exposed abdomen.

Cinder screamed in pain but withstood the hit. She shoved Pyrrha's shield away with her free hand, but Pyrrha used this momentum to twist Cinder's arm around her back and have her drop her other blade. Pyrrha brought the lance to her neck, and Cinder froze upon feeling the sharp side of the weapon on her tender skin.

"Now do you give up?" Pyrrha asked the woman.

Cinder simply sighed and shook her head. "I wonder what Ozpin has been teaching his students?" she began as she slowly turned her hand that was pinned to her back.

Pyrrha brought her lance even closer to her neck.

"Why?" she asked out of curiosity.

Cinder deviously smiled. "Because…you should always go for the kill!" she shouted and blasted Pyrrha away with a fire blast, sending her a few feet back.

'It will all converge...' Pyrrha was distracted by a familiar sentence that a certain man had told her; fear began to creep into her heart.

Cinder regained her stance and ran towards Pyrrha, knocking her lance out of her hand followed by throwing a series of punches to her face and sides. Pyrrha became too groggy from the blast to block the incoming blows successfully. She then received a strong kick that was powered by fire onto her chest, causing her chest plate to crack and fly across only to have her back hit a lamp post and then scrunch in pain.

She tried to call upon her Keyblade, but the weapon wouldn't respond to her. As much as she willed for it to appear, nothing appeared in her hand.

'Why?!' she asked herself.

'Even if you don't go to the tower you will still die…' Again, the voice came to her mind. She was shaking now.

She rolled to the side and dodged another blow from Cinder, but the woman did not allow her get up. She closed their distance in an instant and grabbed Pyrrha by the neck. The Amazon's eyes widened in fear as she desperately tried to get out of her grasp. She tried once again to call the weapon to her aid, but nothing happened. It was as if the blade was rejecting her just like that time when she had first tried to pull it out. She concentrated and used her semblance to bring her lance to her hand. Upon doing so, she brought her lance down, though Cinder caught the weapon and held it by the pole area. The point of the lance was merely inches away from her face.

Cinder began to release heat from her hand onto the lance and building pressure in Pyrrha's neck. Pyrrha let go of the lance and brought a metallic piece from a ship to Cinder's side, surprising the woman. Cinder released her and dodged the rubble in time, but Pyrrha met her with her own series of punches to the face.

Cinder was slammed to the ground and Pyrrha once again brought her lance to her neck, this time going in for the kill. Cinder grabbed it in the last second, preventing the blade from reaching her neck. Both women were at a standstill as blood came out from their mouths and some wounds, struggling with the lance; one to save her own life and the other to end her life.

But in that moment Pyrrha heard a cracking sound and saw how her lance broke into three parts from Cinder's hands. Cinder took the moment of Pyrrha's stupor and used her remaining strength to call upon half of the Fall Maiden's power within her to blast at Pyrrha with all of the fire force she could muster. She heard the young woman scream and rose from the ground to see the Amazon lying on the ground struggling to get up.

'What's the point if it will all happen again?! What was the point of showing me!?' she mentally screamed at herself while begging the Keyblade to appear.

Cinder saw a red aura surround her entire being and smiled; Pyrrha had run out of her aura. She stood up straight and looked around. She hissed in anger upon seeing that Glynda had escaped and developed a burning desire to take out her frustrations on this woman. She brought her hand up and sent more balls of fire to Pyrrha who only screamed in pain upon feeling the fire on her skin.

Burnt marks appeared around her body, and her clothes were beginning to look charcoaled. When the onslaught stopped, she looked to see Cinder staring at her with disgust. She tried to get up, but failed and fell back on her knees. In that moment, their current positions were disturbingly familiar to Pyrrha, and she couldn't help but release a sad laugh. She tried for the last time to summon the Keyblade, only to be met with emptiness.

'I guess I wasn't worthy in the end…' she thought to herself in defeat.

Pyrrha watched as Cinder created a glass bow with dust. 'I remember I said something to her. What was it…?' she asked herself as Cinder created an arrow.

'Ah, I remember now…' she weakly thought.

Pyrrha looked up to see the woman in the eye and mustered up the most serious expression she could make before asking her, "Do you believe in destiny?"

Cinder looked surprised by the question, but took a breath and pulled the arrow back as she aimed it at the woman's chest. She looked at her in the eyes and simply replied with a sneery smirk, "Yes."

Cinder released the arrow and Pyrrha watched slowly as the arrow came towards her chest. A single tear rolled down from both of her eyes. 'I'm sorry, everyone. I'm sorry I was so weak…I'm sorry...' Those were her final thoughts as she felt the arrow pierce deep within her chest, and then it all went dark…

xTxTxTxTxTx

Out in a tower watching everything take place a hooded man smiled, he held a Keyblade in his hand and smiled at it "Now, shall we begin?" and the gears in the Keyblade began to turn…

Ozpin's Death: Evaded

Penny's Death:?

Pyrrha's Death: …...

Fall of Beacon: Commenced…

SO! How was it? I hope you liked it, and I added the time frames because I didn't want anyone to get lost on the matter of things coming at the same time. Chapter 13 will also cover some things that are happening around the same time as some of the events of this chapter.

It took me a long and hard time to write this chapter, so I really hope you liked it :D

As always feel free to leave your love in the reviews section, or PM if that's what you wish.

I wish you the best of day/night/afternoon be it in the time zone you are reading this...

I'll see you in the next chapter. Thanks for reading...

Kudoos... Darman700... OUT!