Hello everybody! I am The Burning Ruler and I am back with chapter 21 of Team BAWM! Before we get to the chapter, shout-out to my fellow writers Nightmare 6-4 and RebelKira. Make sure you check them out, and let's get this chapter underway!

Chapter 21: Fall

Team BAWM arrived at their dorm shortly afterward. Carnel opened the door, and within five seconds, Alicia and Yang were already on his bed.

"Really?" asked Falcon.

"No sense in wasting time is there?" asked Yang, looking at Carnel with a flirty smile on her face.

Carnel smiled back at her before joining Yang and Alicia.

"Alright. I'm leaving. See you guys tomorrow." Said Falcon, walking away.

"Wait for me." Said Crys, following and closing the door. "So, where to?"

"Let's head to RWBY's dorm." Said Falcon, leading the way.

Upon arriving Crys knocked on the door. Ruby opened the door.

"Hey. What's up?" asked Ruby.

"Mind if we crash here for tonight? Carnel, Yang, and Alicia are-" Ruby cut Falcon off.

"Come on in." said Ruby.

"Thanks." Said Crys.

"Hi Falcon." Said Blake, moving to the side and giving Falcon enough room to climb into her bed.

"Thanks sweetie." Said Falcon, getting in bed as Crys hopped up to Yang's bunk.

"Night everyone." said Ruby as they all fell asleep.

The next day

Falcon woke up and rubbed his eyes.

"Morning sleeping beauty." Said Blake.

"Morning. Where is everyone?" asked Falcon, noticing that no one else was in the room.

"You slept in a bit. It's almost time for the next round of the tournament." Said Blake.

"Right. I should probably shower and get something to eat and then get to the arena." Said Falcon getting up.

"Alright. I'll see you there." Said Blake.

With the others

"Hope Falcon makes it in time." Said Crys.

"He will." Said Alicia.

"I don't know. He was still sound asleep when I left." Said Ruby.

"Hopefully he shows up in time to see Carnel kill Mercury." Said Yang.

At that point Blake walked in.

"Hey kitty. Where's the songbird?" asked Carnel.

"He's probably getting food, or getting out of the shower right now." Said Blake.

"Alright. So he's on his way." Said Carnel, just as the match was announced.

"Better hurry up Falcon." Said Crys.

"Good luck babe." Said Alicia, kissing Carnel before she left.

(Hey y'all, it's your friendly neighborhood Nightmare. Taking over for a bit to write out this fight scene as Ruler said 'he worried he wouldn't do Carnel justice' so the writing format will change noticeably for a bit. Nightmare, out!)

Carnel walked into the locker room and opened his locker to retrieve his gear but stopped for a moment before he snapped his fingers and opened a Rift. "Why the fuck is you here?" His semblance asked, Carnel chuckled "I need Maximus on standby to be summoned at a moment's notice." Carnel said as he looked at a floating clipboard of inventory. "Geez, are you going to war? It's best not to show your trump card unless you need to. How about the rotary cannon instead?" The semblance asked.

"Actually, prep the Centurion." Carnel said before he walked out of the Rift. Carnel grabbed his hoodie and pulled it on before zipped up the front followed by a black molle vest that he tightened to his chest with the side straps. He swung his arms and checked his mobility before he grabbed the rest of his gear, Carnel holstered his Jericho 941 on his right hip followed by an Ithaca 37 with a fast release mount on his lower back attached to the molle vest.

He grabbed the pistol grip and slid it out of the mount with ease before he slid it back in, he snapped his fingers and pulled a locked case out of the rift before he sat it on the bench. Carnel flipped the latches up and flipped open the lid to reveal two pristine Calico M960s, he pulled the SMGs from their case and attached the 100 round drum mags to the receiver before he pulled back the bolt on either side of the guns.

He placed the SMGs onto his back at mounted to the magnets built into the back of the Kevlar vest before he grabbed his mask from the locker, he slammed the door and made his way to the arena as he pulled on his black steel mask with devil horns. He lifted the hood over his head as the lift started, the sound of the audience cheering was almost drowned out by the music overhead.

Whatever It Takes – Hollywood Undead

The sound of heavy electric guitar reverberated off the walls as the drumsticks slammed into the toms and the kickdrum slammed.

I do whatever it takes to make it

Break through anything I'm face to face with

It's true, you gon' make me lose my patience

'Cause victory is mine and I'mma take it

The lift rose to the arena as the light illuminated Carnel, the crowd watched as the man dressed in black walked out into the arena and fanned the crowd to cheer louder.

So put your hands up high

And wave 'em side to side

Now when I pull out the nine

You better wave bye bye

So take a page from my book

Roll it up and get cooked

Watch these ladies get hooked

While all these haters get shook

So put your hands up high

And wave 'em side to side

Now when I pull out the nine

You better wave bye bye

Carnel stepped in pace with the rhythm as he closed in on the arena, he looked up and saw an impatient Mercury who tapped his foot.

We gonna rise up to the top, we've been through it all

Been to fucking hell and back, our backs against the wall

Got the dove and grenade flag on display

And every fucking critic's gonna listen when we say.

The music faded out as Carnel stepped into the octagon "Finally, I can pay you back for that little stunt you pulled in the hall." Mercury said as he smirked and showed a missing tooth. "Bitch, you deserve a lot more than just a missing tooth. You're lucky I didn't have the boys take you in your sleep and then Emerald would fine your body parts in a cooler." Carnel said as he cracked his knuckles, Mercury gritted his teeth "That's alright, we got a little something planned for you, the Traveler is coming for you." Mercury said with a chuckle.

"Wow! Way to give away your plan." Carnel said as he sarcastically clapped before he looked down "Alright Ghost, go tell Diam and Red." Carnel said before his second shadow disappeared, Mercury shook his head as he gritted his teeth.

"Fighters! Take your places!" Professor Port yelled over the speakers before there seemed to be another fight for the microphone "Give it up, fatboy!" Diam yelled in the distance as he snatched the mic from Port. "Aye homie, I got it queued up for ya, just say the word." Diam yelled over the loudspeaker.

Carnel and Mercury both took their places at either end of the octagon as the platform started to float into the air and the base plate lowered to make a floating arena. "3. 2. 1. Kick his fucking ass!" Diam yelled as the siren blared.

Mercury erupted forward with a blast from the bottom of his feet and tried to strike Carnel, the mafioso dodged the thug before he shot the man in the back twice with his Jericho. Cerberus holstered his pistol as he backed up and shrugged to a now pissier Mercury, the silver haired man kicked multiple silver globs at Carnel.

Carnel leaped into the air and over the barrage before he brought his foot down into Mercury's shoulder "See, I could have brought out Honey Badger and ended this fast, but… nah, I like to play with my prey." Carnel said as he pulled out the twin Calicos. Mercury sprinted forward and attempted to throw a haymaker but Carnel squeezed the triggers and peppered the man with roughly sixteen 9mm rounds to the chest.

Mercury staggered backwards momentarily as Carnel attempted to sprint past him, but Mercury quickly extended his arm and clotheslined the devil. Carnel slammed into the ground before Mercury slammed his foot down into Carnel's chest and slowly applied pressure to his chest "Any last words before I blow a hole through your chest?" Mercury asked as Carnel struggled to free himself.

"Yeah…. You activated my trap card." Carnel said as he pulled knife from his waistline and sliced through the hydraulic line on Mercury's leg. The man immediately lost all power in the leg as hydraulic fluid sprayed and coated his pants legs.

"My word! He's hurt." Professor Port announced loudly but Diam shook his head "That's hydraulic fluid, Mercury has robotic legs." Diam explained as Carnel pushed the man off him and stood up. "Wha… how?!" Mercury asked panicked as he dragged his now disabled leg. "What? You don't remember helping the Vajo kidnap Maple? I remember… I remember vividly, I remember you scoping out her job, I remember her calling me worried that a man in black with silver hair was following her. I remember the Undead giving me a description of a man that matched… well, you. I remember them telling me that you had prosthetic legs with hydraulic cables, well… that seals the deal." Carnel said as he towered over Mercury.

"Wha… what are you gonna do?" Mercury asked in a shaky tone. "A fate worse than death." Carnel said as he snapped his fingers on his left hand and opened a lock-up vortex, he grabbed Mercury by the leg and dragged him to the vortex prison before he tossed him in. "Oh my gods! He's… gone!" Port exclaimed as the crowd muttered amongst themselves. Carnel tapped his foot while he counted, he exhaled slowly and snapped the fingers on his left hand to reopen the prison vortex.

He reached in and pulled Mercury out, the man slammed into the ground and gasped for air "Breathe normally, you'll be fine." Carnel said as he walked over and put four rounds into his chest to finish off his aura, Mercury's head fell back as he slipped unconscious. The crowd was stunned silent for what seemed like years before they all cheered wildly as the screen announced that Carnel had won.

The mafioso walked out of the octagon and into the locker room where Diam was waiting "So… it was him?" Diam asked as he leaned against the locker, Carnel nodded as he took his gear off and replaced it into the containers it came in.

"I know you wanted to open that vortex and let Leviathan have him but… we both know that it wouldn't end well… legally speaking." Diam said as he bit into an apple. "Wow, you're eating healthy? That's a shocker." Carnel said with a chuckle, Diam shook his head "Fuck you, doc said I need more fiber." Diam said as he took another bite.

"I'm just saying, last time I seen you with an apple, you made a bowl out of it." Carnel said as he pulled on his regular clothes and placed his golden 1911 into his waistline. "Hey! Don't diss fruit bowl. It came in very handy." Diam said as he defended his crafty engineering for the pot arts. "The fact you named it 'fruit bowl' is both astounding and hilarious. I'm actually impressed." Carnel said as he closed his locker and followed the dark-skinned man out of the locker room to where his team and his ladies were sat.

"Hey ladies, you miss me?" Carnel asked as he sat down between Yang and Alicia, before realizing that Falcon was still not there.

(Alright, that does it for me, gonna pass it back to Ruler. Ruler, back to you.)

"Where's songbird at?" asked Carnel.

"I wish I knew. He never showed up." Said Alicia.

"We messaged Blake, but even she has no idea where he is." Said Yang.

Carnel was about to respond when Alicia's scroll went off.

"Hang on a sec." said Alicia, answering her scroll. "It's Blake. Hey Blake. What's up?" she asked.

Carnel and Yang could hear a hysteric voice on the other end.

"Woah Blake, slow down. I didn't catch any of that. What's going on?" asked Alicia. After Blake spoke for a minute or so, Alicia's face became a mix of worried and shocked.

"We're on our way." Said Alicia, hanging up and getting up.

"What is it?" asked Carnel.

"Falcon. He's hurt. Badly. He's in the ICU!" said Alicia, causing Yang and Carnel to spring up.

"I'll let my team know." Said Yang, taking out her scroll.

"I'll call Crys." said Carnel, doing the same.

The trio took off together, heading straight to the infirmary.

When they arrived, they saw the others already there along with JNPR and Velvet.

"What's going on?" asked Ruby, confused.

"Falcon's in the ICU." Said Carnel as Alicia went to the receptionist to find out what room he was in.

"He's in room 5, past the double doors down the hall. Just so you know, he's not in great shape. He's conscious and in perfect mental health, but his physical health is… less than ideal." Said the receptionist.

"I don't care. I need to see him." said Alicia, taking off down the hall.

When the group got outside the door they could clearly hear crying, clearly Blake, and another voice which was trying to console her.

As they entered the room they saw Falcon lying down flat on a bed with one eye swollen shut, not sitting up at all with Blake sitting beside the bed in tears.

"Blake. I'm fine. I'm-" Falcon cut himself off by grunting in pain as he tried to sit up. "Son of a-"

"You look like hammered shit Falcon." Said Carnel.

Falcon looked forward to glare at Carnel. He then looked at Blake, who was still in tears.

"Great choice of words while my girlfriend is in tears Carnel." Said Falcon, angrily before Falcon shook his head. "Sorry. I know you're just trying to lighten the mood with a joke."

"Are you OK?" asked Crys.

"If by 'OK' you mean 'unable to sit up in any way, shape, or form without an excruciating amount of agony', then yes, I'm OK." Said Falcon.

"We actually mean 'Are you going to live?' when we ask if you are OK." said Crys.

"OK. Then I'm OK." Said Falcon.

"What happened?" asked Yang.

Falcon nodded and rolled slightly onto his left side before lifting his shirt to reveal a nasty gash from just under his arm almost down to his hip. It was stitched up, but it was clear that it bled heavily before it was closed. He was also heavily bruised all over his torso. Everyone was shocked into silence.

"Please tell me you beat the fuck out of that shit head Mercury." Said Falcon, looking at Carnel.

"Yeah, why?" asked Carnel.

"You think I did this to myself?" asked Falcon, gesturing to his side, before putting his shirt down and rolling back onto his back.

Carnel's face immediately took on a significantly angrier look. "I should have let Leviathan have him. Or at least used Honey Badger." Said Carnel.

"Look Carnel, as angry as I am sure you are, and believe me, I am too, you and I both know that neither of those would have worked out well." Said Falcon.

"Maybe not, but it would make me feel better." Said Carnel.

"Me too." Said Crys.

Everyone else agreed shortly afterwards.

"Alright. Hey Yang? Come here for a sec." said Falcon, waving her over.

"What's up?" asked Yang, leaning her head towards Falcon.

"Can you do me a favour? Can you get Blake out of the room? Her sitting here crying isn't good for her or me." said Falcon.

Yang nodded. "Hey Blake?" asked Yang.

"Yeah?" asked Blake before sniffling.

"Can you come with me for a sec? I need to talk to you about something." Said Yang.

"Yeah, OK." Said Blake, standing up.

"See you hun." said Falcon.

"Bye sweetie." Said Blake before holding her right hand out in the shape of a half heart.

Falcon then held his right hand out in the shape of a half heart and held his hand up to Blake's, forming a full heart. He then pulled her in closer and they kissed.

"Get well soon." said Blake, leaving with Yang.

"What was that?" asked Weiss.

"You mean the heart thing?" asked Falcon.

"Yeah. That's a good question." Said Alicia.

"Well, to simplify, Blake says that she isn't ready to say 'I love you' yet. I assume it has something to do with a former lover, but I didn't press it when she suggested this. It's basically a way to say 'I love you' without actually saying it." Said Falcon.

"That doesn't bother you at all?" asked Crys.

"Why would it?" asked Falcon.

"I mean, you can't say 'I love you' just because she isn't ready." Explained Crys.

"No. I don't mind at all. I'll wait to say it until she's ready to hear it." Said Falcon.

"Alright. Well, I guess you just want to rest for a while. So we'll head out." Said Weiss.

"Yeah. I'll see you guys when I get out." Said Falcon.

"OK. Good thing you got a tv set up here. Pyrrha's match is going to happen soon. Hopefully you'll be able to sit up well enough to watch it." Said Crys.

"I got an idea to help with that." Said Falcon.

"What might that be?" asked Weiss.

"A secret." Said Falcon.

"Alright. Well, we'll be heading out now. Get well soon." said Carnel as they all left the room.

After they all left Falcon began his idea. He pushed the button on the side of his bed that would force him to sit up, but only for a second before wincing in pain. He waited for the pain to subside before continuing, and wincing again. He continued this pattern for a little over a half hour, at which point he was sitting up enough to see the tv, so he could watch Pyrrha's match.

"Wonder who she's fighting?" Falcon asked himself, just before Penny was shown as her opponent.

"Oh. Polarity and metal. Hope this turns out ok." Said Falcon, worried.

The fight started and match seemed surprisingly even. However, Pyrrha seemed somewhat distracted for a reason Falcon couldn't see. That match only lasted for about two minutes before Falcon saw something strange. Penny pulled her swords back behind her. There were only eight, but Pyrrha's face changed as if there were hundreds, if not thousands of swords pointing at her.

Penny threw the swords at Pyrrha, who unleashed her semblance at full force, causing Penny's swords to be shot behind her. Falcon was confused by the look on Penny's face, until he saw a small section of her arm crumple slightly, the same then happened with her stomach.

Just as his look of confusion was subsiding, it was replaced with one of horror as Penny was ripped apart, her swords fell to the ground, and she died.

"What the hell?" asked Falcon. He heard Oobleck try to cut the live feed, but couldn't, before the entire screen went red and a black queen chess piece was displayed. Not long after, a woman's voice started speaking.

"This is not a tragedy. This was not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians but are in reality nothing more than men. Our academies' headmasters wield more power than most armies, and one was audacious enough to control both.

They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have here? One nation's attempt at a synthetic army mercilessly torn apart by another's star pupil. What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference. And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First, a maiming, now this? Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy, yet I have witnessed neither.

Perhaps Ozpin felt as though defeating Atlas in the tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded its streets. Or perhaps this was his message to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied an unsuspecting kingdom with armed forces. Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong, but I know that the existence of peace is fragile, and the leaders of our kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves. As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you the situation there is equally undesirable.

Our kingdom's are at the brink of war, yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark. So, I ask you, when the first shots are fired, who do you think you can trust?" said the female voice, before the screen returned to normal.

He saw all the people in the arena panicking, and knew that was going to attract Grim. He thought he was safe until he heard a siren go off at the school.

"What is that?" he asked a nurse who had just entered the room.

"There are grim in the school." Said the nurse.

Falcon immediately tried to get up out of his bed. Thought it was clear he was in a tremendous amount of pain, he pulled himself up.

"Bandage me up." He said to the nurse.

"What?" she asked in response.

"Bandage me up so I can go out there and help fight." Said Falcon, lifting his shirt.

"You'll pull your stiches out and bleed out." Said the nurse.

"That's why I need the bandages. They'll staunch the flow of blood when the stiches come out." Said Falcon.

"Are you sure?" asked the nurse.

"Yes." Said Falcon. "I'm a hunter in training, and I intend to fight to the end."

"Alright." Said the nurse, bandaging up Falcon. "Then you go out there, and you fight."

Falcon nodded, grabbed his metal off the bedside table, formed a katana and sprinted out of the room as fast as his injured body could carry him.

He burst through the double doors and into the waiting room to see a handful of injured students sitting in the room, no one making any attempt to leave and fight.

"What the hell are you doing?" asked Falcon.

"We're not fit to fight. The only thing we'll accomplish by leaving is getting ourselves killed." Said one student.

"What does that matter? Aren't we here to become hunters and huntresses? This is what we have been training to do. Defend those who can't defend themselves. There are hundreds of innocent lives out there in danger, and you're telling me that you can't go to help at all? You can't be bothered to risk your lives to help defend the school and the people here? I just came out of the ICU so I could fight. If I can bring myself to risk my life and fight with an injury that put me in there, you can swallow your fears and fight as well." Said Falcon.

The students looked at each other. One student stood up and began to speak.

"He's right. This is what we've been training to do. Protect others. If we sit here and cower now, why should we be the people that others turn to for help." He said.

"Hunters and huntresses put their lives on the line every day. If we aren't willing to do so now, then why do we deserve to be here?" asked Falcon.

More students stood up. "Yeah. We have to fight. If he can pull himself out of the ICU to fight, we can pull through our injuries." One said as the remaining students stood up.

"It's time to fight. LET'S GO!" yelled Falcon running out of the infirmary with the rest of the students, weapons at the ready.

With the others

"THERE ARE GRIM IN THE SCHOOL?!" Crys yelled into her scroll, on the phone with Yang, while running to the airships with Carnel, Alicia, Ruby, Weiss and Team JNPR.

"Not just that. Someone has entered Atlas' security network and taken control of their armed forces and the Atlesian Paladins stationed at the school." Said Blake, who was with Yang.

"We're on our way, hold them off as best you can until we get there." Said Crys.

"Almost there. Let's move!" said Carnel as they arrived at the airships and boarded the first one they could get on, getting as many people on as they could.

Once the ship landed they saw grim everywhere with students fighting them and atlas guards off, with Atlesian paladins in the distance, as a Dragon Grim seemingly hatched out of a mountain far from Beacon.

"Damn guys, it isn't going to be easy." Said Alicia, drawing her mace.

"It never is." said Crys, taking out her axe.

The trio took off, trying to find Yang and Blake. They cut down all the grim they passed by before arriving in the courtyard to see their friends, minus Blake, Ruby, Pyrrha and Jaune watching Velvet using a copy of everyone's weapons and mimicking their actions perfectly.

"Your girl's got moves, Crys." said Carnel.

However, after a very impressive display, she was punched by an Atlesian paladin.

"NO!" yelled Crys, running to her side as everyone started shooting the paladin. The Atlesian paladin advanced on them, just as Weiss interposed herself, planning to block with her rapier, seemingly unaware of the massive arm holding a sword behind her, seemingly being summoned from a glyph. The large sword blocked the attack from the paladin and then cut it in half. Velvet then took a picture of Weiss and the large sword.

Everyone thought the Paladins were gone, before another one showed up in the distance.

"You have got to be kidding me." said Sun.

The paladin charged for them, but seemed to freeze in place. Its arms then seemed to bend behind it and twist. Its legs then seemed to twist around each other. After the paladin had been immobilized, it seemed to flatten slightly from the top, before crumpling all the way and exploding. Behind the fire, a silhouette appeared. Once the fire died out, the group saw Falcon standing there, holding his side and wearing a smug grin.

"Sorry I'm late. What'd I miss?" asked Falcon.

"What are you doing here you absolute maniac?" asked Crys.

"I'm doing what I've been training to do for years. Protect my friends and the innocent people of Remnant." Said Falcon. "But Alicia, I need your help with something."

"What is it?" asked Alicia.

Falcon lifted his shirt to show that his bandages were completely soaked through. "I need you to cauterize this. Heat up my sword and press it into my side." He said, holding his sword out to Alicia.

"Ok." Said Alicia, knowing Falcon would bleed out if she didn't. She heated up the sword to be red hot and looked at Falcon who nodded, before pressing the burning metal into his side. Falcon began to scream in pain until his wound was sealed, when he blacked out.

"Shit!" yelled Carnel, checking Falcon's neck for a pulse, and sighing when he felt one. "He blacked out from the pain."

Yang went up to Weiss. "Have you heard from Ruby?" she asked.

Weiss could only manage to shake her head slightly.

"What about Blake?" Yang asked.

Weiss pointed in the direction Blake had run in. "She went after an alpha, and some members of the White Fang." Said Weiss.

"You look for Ruby, I'll meet up with Blake." Said Yang before running off. After Yang had been gone for a few minutes, Falcon regained consciousness.

"What happened?" asked Falcon.

"You blacked out after Alicia cauterized your wound." Said Crys.

"OK." He said before looking around. "Where are Yang and Blake? Pyrrha, Jaune and Ruby are gone too? Where is everyone?"

"We have no idea where Jaune, Pyrrha, or Ruby are, but Blake went after an alpha and some White Fang members, and Yang went to help her." Said Carnel.

"OK. At least they should be OK." Said Falcon.

"More than you can say about you." Said a man's voice.

Falcon turned to see who said it, to see his father walking towards him.

"You…" said Falcon.

"How about we finish what we started in Vale?" asked his father.

"Agreed. Don't think you're going to get to run away this time." Said Falcon, drawing his katana, as his father did the same. Falcon winced in pain, and his father took notice.

"Hm. You're hurting. You aren't going to last long." Said Falcon's father.

"This won't take long." Said Falcon.

Falcon immediately lunged at his father and cut him across his torso before his father could react. He then pistol whipped him across the face with his revolver. Falcon's father wiped the blood off his face before slashing back at Falcon. Falcon dodged the swipe, but caught a hard punch to his injured side.

"ARGH!" Falcon let out a sound of pain as Alicia moved in to help.

"NO! Stay back! He's mine." Said Falcon.

Falcon's rage was starting to show in his eyes. Alicia nodded and stayed back.

Falcon's father laughed at him when he got to his feet. Falcon barley dodged, but fell to the ground afterwards. "Pathetic." Said Falcon's father as he shoved Falcon to the ground and started kicking his injured side. However after a few kicks Falcon smirked. He grabbed his father's foot and drew his revolver. Falcon's father realized a second too late, that Falcon was planning this, but by that point Falcon had his revolver, loaded with a fire round, pressed against his knee. Afterwards, Falcon fired, blowing out his father's knee.

Falcon got to his feet and fired three more fire rounds. One into his father's uninjured knee, and one into each of his elbows, immobilizing his father.

"Ah, how I've waited for this moment. Time for revenge." Said Falcon, pointing his revolver at his father's head.

However, Falcon seemed to hesitate. He knew he wanted to kill his father, but for some reason, he couldn't pull the trigger.

"What's wrong Falcon?" asked Crys.

Falcon lowered his gun and tucked it back into his waistline.

"I thought you wanted revenge?" asked Crys, confused as to why Falcon lowered his gun.

"An eye for and eye and the world goes blind. I'll leave him for the grim." Said Falcon.

"Quick question." Said Carnel.

"Shoot." Said Falcon.

"How did you get through his aura so fast?" asked Carnel.

"Easy. He doesn't have his aura unlocked." Said Falcon. "He never unlocked it, because he's never tried to. He isn't a huntsman, he's just a mercenary for hire. Aura isn't necessary for that line of work."

"I see." Said Carnel. This was when Velvet interrupted.

"Hey Crys? Can we talk for a second? In private?" asked Velvet with a sad look in her eyes.

Crys turned to face Velvet, saw her expression, seemed to nod in understanding, and walked a short distance away with her.

Falcon looked in their direction but couldn't hear what was being said. After a short while, Crys came back to the group while Velvet headed for the airships.

"Crys? Was that… what I think it was?" asked Carnel.

"We broke up. She's heading to shade academy in Vacuo, I decided to stick with my team." Said Crys, wiping a tear from her face.

"Really?" asked Alicia.

"You forget. Team BAWM sticks together, no matter what." said Crys.

"Where are Blake and Yang? They've been gone for a while now." asked Falcon.

"Yeah. They should be back by now." Said Crys.

"They've gotta be in trouble. They'd be back by now if they weren't." said Falcon.

"What do we do?" asked Carnel.

Falcon looked to his teammates. "You three, get to the airships as fast as you can. Alicia, take them to our house."

"What about you?" asked Alicia.

"I'm going to help Yang and Blake." Said Falcon.

"You can't! You're exhausted! You can barely remain standing, much less fight." Said Crys.

"I don't care. I have to try. Go!" said Falcon.

"At least let one of us come wi-" Falcon cut off Alicia.

"DAMMIT! THAT'S AN ORDER!" yelled Falcon.

Carnel nodded. "Come on girls. You better be right behind us!" he yelled as he ran off with Crys and Alicia.

"I will be." Said Falcon, mostly to himself, before he took off in the direction Blake and Yang ran off in.

Once he got there, he saw Yang unconscious on the ground with Blake in front of her. A member of the White Fang was in front of her and had his sword ready to swing. Falcon drew his katana and ran in. He arrived just in time to block the White Fang member's sword.

"FALCON!" yelled Blake.

"RUN! I'll hold him off!" yelled Falcon.

"But-" Falcon cut off Blake.

"JUST GO!" yelled Falcon.

Blake nodded and carried Yang off with her as Falcon turned his attention to the White Fang member.

"So, you're Blake's new boyfriend?" he asked.

"Yeah that's right. Who are you?" asked Falcon swinging his sword at the member, who blocked as they entered a blade lock.

"Name's Adam. I'm Blake's ex-boyfriend, and the guy she'll come running back to. See, Blake may think she loves you, but she doesn't. She only loves me. She'll never really love you. I'm the only one she'll ever love." Said Adam, smirking.

His words seemed to light a fire under Falcon who became more frenzied and began slicing at Adam with more force than he thought he was capable of. Adam was still blocking all of Falcon's attacks with little effort. After a little more, Adam slammed the hilt of his sword into Falcon's temple. He then stomped on Falcon's leg, breaking it and causing the bone to stick out.

"You really thought you could beat me?" asked Adam.

However, Falcon just laughed. "I was never trying to beat you Adam. I was STALLING! NOW!" Falcon yelled.

Adam turned around and immediately took up a stance. However, nothing happened. He turned back around to see Falcon limping away with his metal formed into a crutch.

"Coward." Said Adam, before he began walking towards where Blake had run off to. Falcon made it back to the courtyard just before he collapsed.

The group looked at his leg. "Oh my god!" said Weiss.

"Don't worry about it." Said Falcon. He looked at his leg and saw the bone. He nodded and grabbed his leg and re-set the bone. "Where's Blake?" asked Falcon.

"I thought she went after you?" asked Weiss.

"No. She didn't. She ran off." Said Sun.

"She just… left?" asked Falcon.

"Afraid so. You need to get out of here." Said Sun.

"Right." Said Falcon, standing up on unsteady legs, still using the crutch. "Fight as hard as you can." Said Falcon before heading to the airships. He rested his leg on the ride to Vale and upon arriving in Vale' after about a ten minute long flight, he limped towards his house as fast as he could, blood leaking from his leg. Once he arrived, he knocked on the door and it was answered by Crys, who was in tears and had tears stains on her shoulder. She immediately wrapped Falcon in a tight hug. "Thank the gods you're Ok." Said Crys.

"More or less." Said Falcon, gesturing to his leg.

This was when his mother showed up with a roll of bandages and wrapped up Falcon's leg.

"What happened?" asked Falcon as he walked in after Crys let him go. He looked around the room to see Alicia in tears, and Carnel missing.

"Where's Carnel hiding at?" asked Falcon with a smile, but his smile dropped when he saw Crys' face fall.

"Crys?" asked Falcon.

Silence.

"CRYS!?" he asked louder.

Still silence.

"No. No, fuck no. He can't be…" Falcon trailed off, while shaking his head.

Crys nodded. "Carnel's… gone." Said Crys.

Falcon collapsed into a chair. "But… how? When?" asked Falcon.

Crys nodded. '"It happened after we started heading towards the airships."

There we are. Chapter 21 down. Ending on a cliffhanger. What happened to Carnel? Find out on the next chapter of Team BAWM! Remember to leave a review of what you thought and I hope to see you all next time!