A/N: PLEASE READ THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE, WOULD YOU KINDLY?

Had to split this chapter into halves due to all the chaos.

Now, then. I imagine you have questions. I have the answers. Thought I made things clear already, but hey, I don't mind saying it again.

Naruto's body is something of a paper mache flame thrower in this story. Of course it is. He's holding back a mad goddess; one who is slowly overtaking him. Remember what was said before? He uses too much chakra. Kaguya gets out. Kaguya gets out? WORLD. ENDS. He can't go around throwing Tailed Beast Bombs like he used to. He can still fight of course, he just has to pick and choose his battle wisely, lest he risk unleashing the Rabbit Goddess upon the world.

And now he's got a pair of killers after him. Oh, dear.

Furthermore! A few folks have asked why Raven sided with Salem to avoid death. Once again! It was outright STATED that she never knew what our boy was a walking nuke. Had she been privy to that ? She would've chosen him over Salem. Alas, that bridge has been burned. Salem terrifies Raven...and there's nowhere left for poor birdie to run now that Salem's got her claws into her. She's been beaten and broken nearly to the point of no return, hence why she's been given a Relic to fight with.

Salem knows Raven won't run.

Based on the information she's received, Salem believes Naruto is just a powerful being that can be destroyed. How wrong she is...

As ever, reviews are my lifeblood. Without them, I wither and die. Furthermore, I own no quotes, memes, or themes. Once more, the chapter title is a lyric. From where, you ask?

You've made your Choice now, Cinder. And the world will live with it.

Kudos if you know this source of this lil' modified quote.

Because...now...NOW THE BLOODBATH BEGINS.

And what is a bloodbath without Neo?

"I finally get it. Thank you. I made the mistake of treating you people like...people. But now I know better. You're not people. You're madmen. Monsters. Animals. Criminals and cravens and cowards who want to drag the world under for their own gain. But I...I understand what the world wants. What it world needs people in charge who are willing to put animals like you down. That's right. I've finally bought what you've been selling. Isn't that wonderful?

"M-Monster...

"Monster? No, no, no. I am a goddess. Tell me, how does it feel, child? To be deconstructed? To be the victim? To watch your dreams die? Don't look away now. This is what you wanted. Look at me. I want to watch the light leave your eyes."

~Kaguya.

Murder! Unkindness! Conspiracy!

Neo wanted to cry.

She was a good fighter. One of the best. She'd butchered countless huntsmen and huntresses, slaughtered any and all who'd dared oppose her...until Roman. Born and raised on the streets, she had spent years honing her craft. And today? Today she fought like it; today she turned into a whirling dervish of white and pink and brown that showed no mercy to her opponent. Twisting, slashing, raging, she flung herself her opponent with singular focus and fury. Hush danced in her hands, her thin bladed parasol striking at heels, legs and throat alike.

"Ohoho~! Aren't you an angry one?!"

Anyone else would have perished a long time ago...anyone, save Tyrian Callows.

"Shut! Up!" she wanted to shout the words, would have, if she had a voice. Blondie -Naruto!- had offered to give that back to her as well, but she'd waffled until it was too late. Now it didn't matter. No matter how much she might have wanted to rant and rave, screaming would do her no good here.

She.

Just.

Didn't.

Have it.

Loathe as Neo was to admit her failing, Tyrian was better than her. Not by much, but enough to count, and in a fight like this, that was all that mattered. He fought like a man possessed, slipping through her guard, seeing through her illusions, his blades biting through her aura as though it were naught but butter. To make matters worse, that tail of his had already nicked her more than once. Rage was a hell of an anesthetic, but she could feel her body growing more and ore sluggish with each passing moment. If this didn't end soon, her life would.

That damned tail!

That ghastly metal abomination was an absolute menace; blocking her blows, deflecting her blade, tripping up her feet! Had it been flesh, she would've hacked right through it. Seemed someone had already done the deed a long time ago, hence the metal prosthetic. If she ever met the party responsible for that, she'd kill 'em. But for now? She fought.

Feinting left, she dove right instead, caught one of the Tyrian's blades and swayed under the second, ears ringing as gunfire barked perilously close to her head. Yet again that infuriating tail flicked out at her, but this time she managed to chamber a kick into his side before the ghastly appendage could reach her. Hush flicked out, carving an angry red trench against the madman's stomach as she rammed it through his kidney. By all rights, it should have dropped him.

Like a puppet dancing on its master's strings, the lunatic jerked around and backhanded her to the ground.

"Such a vicious little thing." he cooed, dancing over her like some fool jester. "How would you like to serve my queen? Salem would just adore you~!"

Neo hissed out a soundless breath and launched herself at him again. She didn't know who this "Salem" was, and frankly, she didn't much care. She'd seen what Blondie could do. Blondie had made her a deal; promised to bring Roman back and she knew he could, because he'd kept his promises. She'd seen him do it.

She wanted her Dum-Dum back.

She'd do ANYTHING to have him back.

But that wasn't going to happen; not at this rate. Because she just couldn't kill this idiot!

Whenever she scored a hit he only laughed and fought all the harder. She'd carved countless cuts into his body, even blinded him in his right eye, and still he kept coming, the psychopath! And that meant something coming from her! He cared not for his wounds, nor the tattered state of his clothes, or even his battered weapons.

He

Just.

Kept.

Coming!

He dove at her again and again and again, even as his Aura faltered and hers began to break. He didn't stop. You couldn't fight someone like this. Not for long. Your only option was to kill them quickly. Ambush them, get the drop on them, slit their throat while they were asleep. That wasn't an option here. Tyrian was focused on her with a fierce intensity, one she couldn't escape.

How long had she been fighting? It felt like hours. Could've been minutes. She didn't know.

No one was coming to help her; not with the village on fire. There would be no salvation here, no last minute rescue, no hero to save the day. Metal-Legs was already down for the count thanks to the Scientist, little miss Fire-Bitch had vanished to gods knew where, taking Emerald with her, and Neo hadn't seen hide nor hair of the Bloody Woman From The Train nor any sign of Blondie since their brawl began.

But she could hear them.

All the world shook while they fought, blasting great gaping holes in the earth, flinging explosions through the tree, warping reality itself. Even the skies weren't safe anymore; for the once starry night had grown dark with storm clouds, wreathed now by peals of thunder and ghastly lightning as they flung thunderbolts at one another. It felt like the world was ending. Hers certainly was.

When one such bolt past perilously close to them, Neo leaped away in a desperate attempt to create some much-needed distance between her and her opponent.

Tyrian seized the opportunity like the rabid dog he was and dove through the fire and the flames of the explosion that followed. He cared not for his wounds, or the blackened blistered skin it left him. Eyes spinning, ears ringing, Neo saw him too late. He pounced on her, bearing her down with his weight and smashing her to the ground. She realized her peril immediately and kicked out with a pointed heel, to no avail. Strong arms wrested Hush out of her grasp and sent it sailing away into the chaos.

"No, no, no!" the lunatic purred, bending double to press his forehead against hers. "You're not getting away this time, little rat."

Neo's mismatching eyes blazed with fire and she headbutted him. Hard. Tyrian jerked back with a how, clutching at his ruined noise. Blood sluiced between his fingers and Neo grinned at him as she clamored free from his prying grasp. She might've lost her weapon but she was going to make him pay for every inch he gained in this fight. With a slow, sauntering step, she both found and reached down to reclaim her weapon once more. The madman glared at her as she sketched a saucy little bow.

"You little bitch!"

This time there was no mercy when Tyrian flew at her. Too fast. Far faster than he should have been. Strong arms tore at her, knocked her down again, carving a deep red gash in her right thigh. She saw the mad glint in his eyes and fought all the harder for it, thrashing and flailing like a wildcat. When that failed she reared back and spat in his face.

"How rude!" he merely laughed at her, holdin gher down. Finally, a reaction, albeit not the one she'd wanted. "Oh, well!" A cruel grin splint his face from ear to ear. "I suppose I'll just have to teach you some manners then...by carving them into you!"

She flung up her arms and clawed at his face, to no avail.

Ripping and tearing, hacking and swearing, he savaged her aura with everything he had; it was all she could do to defend herself. She'd never hated someone so much. Not the Fire Bitch, not Salem, not even Little Red herself garnered this much spite in her heart.

His gun unloaded into her stomach and her Aura shattered. Tyrian kept firing, filling her belly with lead.

Neo couldn't speak, but she could still gasp as blood flooded her mouth. She staggered, stumbled, fell to her knees.

"Sorry, does it hurt?" the madman cackled as he loomed over her. "Looks like it does."

Neo gurgled wordlessly, thoughts in disarray. No. Not like this. She couldn't...!

Sneering, he arced his tail back. "Any last words?"

"I can think of one."

A pale hand flew out of the dark, seized Tyrian by the back of his braid, and yanked like a crane, ripping the feral faunus from his feet. Now it was Tyrian's turn to shriek in pain as he found himself hauled through the air, and more importantly, away from Neo. Through bloodshot eyes, the dying girl glimpsed Naruto's bloodied visage; saw the snarling sapphire orb clenched his off hand.

He smashed it against Tyrian's chest. "Die."

Borne away by the Rasengan, he crashed back into the woods and was soon lost from view.

"Sorry, did that hurt?" the whiskered warrior croaked into the silence, voice harsh and mocking. "Looks like it did."

Then he turned to Neo. Saw her wounds.

"You're alright, little bird." the sage muttered the words softly, little more than a whisper as he knelt and laid a hand on her ruined stomach. "You're going to be alright."

Was she? It felt like she was dying.

"No! You're not going to die. I won't allow it. I refuse to let you die here." as though reading her very thoughts, he snarled and pressed another hand to hers. "Just...give me a moment. Hold still, now." he coughed, a deep rattling thing that seemed to shake his entire body. "You'll be right as rain once I'm done."

She frowned back at him and raised a trembling finger.

"Bad girl." Naruto clucked, shaking his head. "Where's your faith?"

Neo sucked in a sharp breath as a sudden surge of vitality surged through her ruined body; burgeoned by that otherworldly life-force, time seemed to flow in reverse. Her wounds didn't so much close as they did cease to exist altogether. It felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water on her and she shivered as she bounded upright.

Only then did she truly see her savior. Yikes. Blondie had seen better days.

Raven had hacked off one of his left ears and left a deep cut across his chest. Neither were healing. She assumed that fancy new sword of hers- the Relic of Destruction!- was likely to blame for both. He was fighting a war on three fronts, one with Raven, another with Tyrian, and a third against the very monster within his very body. He was being burned up by it. Consumed. The more power he used, the worse it became. Like a paper mache flame thrower, so too was he tearing himself apart.

Neo poked his arm.

"M' fine." he slurred the words drunkenly. Nope. Not fine. Not at all.

Mangled laughter rose to meet her thoughts. "Fools! I am blessed by my goddess! You cannot kill me!"

Naruto blew out a soft, angry breath. Neo pushed herself up under his arm, helped him to his feet, and together, they turned to face Tyrian.

For it was Tyrian who staggered forward out of the dark, Tyrian, whose body hunched and twisted at an unnatural angle. Tyrian, looking every bit the madman he was. Even scorched and scarred as he was, still he came forward. Neo's stomach revolted at what she saw there. Violently. Did he not feel pain? Those wounds were horrid. He was missing an arm. Yet still he staggered toward them, crazed as ever, unafraid. What kind of faith did he have that made him this determined? Just what was he? Something in her shrank away from his demented giggle.

"Is that so?" Naruto stepped forward and Neo glimpsed the streaks of white spreading through his blond mane. "Let's test that, shall we?"

He was losing himself. If that thing got out, everyone was going to have a bad time.

When he stepped forward, Raven leaped out of a portal to cut him off.

"Finally saw through my clone did you?"

"Trickster."

"If you say so." Naruto grinned. It was a cold, cruel smile that didn't belong to him. "Playtime is over, children. Salem's sent you to your deaths."

"Heresy! Lies! Tricks!" Tyrian all but frothed at the mouth. "The power of Salem protects me, false god!"

"Salem?" blue eyes burned white. "She's no god. I'll devour her once this is done."

Oh, dear. That sounded entirely too much like Kaguya.

"NEVER!"

Unfortunately the insult worked a little too well; Tyrian howled past her and flung himself at Naruto, who turned and drove a crushing boot into the madman's chest. Even then, Tyrian Callows didn't die. He simply tumbled with the blow and lashed out, burying his metallic stinger deep in the blond's ribs. Anyone else would have dropped on the spot.

Naruto merely grunted.

Heedless of the venom in his veins, the blond turned and flung the faunus against a tree. Another bloodied boot crunched against his ribs, ripped an arm free, and sent him slamming through the bark to dig a deep furrow against the earth. In the same moment the Branwen woman dove at him, sword at the ready. Neo launched herself at her in a moment of wild recklessness, knowing she stood no chance. She didn't have to. Raven looked away -at her!- for only a moment, but a moment was all Naruto needed.

He tore a bloody trench in her face for it and hurled her away, fingers flicking through strange motions as she flew.

Now to be fair, Neo couldn't rightly understand the language he spoke, nor the shape of his hands just then, but she couldn't deny the result. Because a pillar of earth absolutely erupted under the Spring Maiden and cannoned into her chest. Neo grinned at the vicious crack of bone as Raven hurtled away into the darkness. Good. She hoped he'd broken something important. She hoped it hurt. Judging by the shriek that followed, it certainly did.

"Go." Naruto forced the word out through gritted teeth, drawing an exasperated look from her. "They're not going to stop. Get the others out of here."

Neo stomped her heels and shook her head. Leave him? Like this? No! Never! He'd die! And if he was dead, no one could bring Roman back. She wanted Roman. Needed Roman. Without him...!

Blue eyes blazed white.

"GO!"

Was it just her, or had the ground vibrated just now? Self-preservation won over greed. Nope. Nope nope nope. Not dealing with this. Blondie wanted her to get?

Neo got.

Abruptly she paused, spun back and kissed his cheek, then grabbed his face for good measure. Mismatching eyes bored into flickering blue as she pinched his whiskered visage. Though she lacked the words to speak, her glare conveyed all the meaning she needed. She knew a suicidal fool when she saw one. This...well...his look wasn't that, but it was close. Dangerously so. She didn't like it. She wanted to slap it out of him.

"I'm not going to die." his smile wasn't a lie, but neither could it be called a truth. "I'll just be...away for awhile. Look after them, will you?"

She flung herself away into the darkness with a huff. Only then did Naruto sink to a knee.

In that moment, he let go.

"Well, I really stepped in this time...

"Any last requests, false god?" Tyrian crept in.

A slow, shuddering breath greeted his arrogance. "...ay."

The faunus tilted his head and leaned closer. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

The dead man grinned up at him; but that didn't make any sense. Dead man told no tales. Dead man didn't move. Dead men certainly didn't grin when they were pumped full of poison.

"I said...I have a request." Naruto croaked, wiping a thin line of blood from his jaw. "Yes, there is one thing you can do for me...

A fist shot out and caught the man's stinger before he could strike, and slammed its owner to the ground in a single seamless movement.

Raven lunged at him from a nearby portal and the blond backhanded her through a tree with nary a backward glance. He didn't care for her, he'd chosen his victim and there would be no escape.

...pray." a dark shadow loomed over Tyrian as a boot came down on his back. The faunus growled and tried to wriggle loose, tried to flee, tried to scurry away even as it crushed down on his spine, but he couldn't. There was no escape here; because the bastard still had hold of his tail. "That's just about the only thing you can do while you're still alive, Tyrian." there was something wrong with his voice, as if another were speaking with him, through him. Odd. Concerning at the very least...wait. Why were his eyes white? Why was he laughing? Why-gack?!

Twin horns sprouted from his head with a sickening crack as tan flesh turned pale.

"Ahhh, and there it is. The fear. I'd almost forgotten what it smelled like. No, no, no, don't pray to me." he drawled, at last seeing his bowel-loosening terror. "I won't be listening." that shaggy blond hair seemed to burn white as he stepped back into the shadows, dragging the struggling Faunus with him. "No, I want you to pray to your goddess. Pray to Salem. Call for her. Beg. Plead. Squeal for her to save you. You have ten seconds."

The sounds that came forth from the dark after that...no creature should have made those sounds.

Raven heard them all.

And with each passing second, her heart plummeted.

What had she done? What had she unleashed? What was this creature? She hadn't been told about this! No one had warned her!

Then said creature turned on Raven, and her fear bloomed into mind-numbing terror. She couldn't move. Couldn't think. Couldn't even begin to breathe.

"A fascinating sword." the being within Naruto's body hummed as it gazed at the weapon clutched white-knuckled in her hand. "I think I'll keep it once I've killed you."

She blinked, and Raven's right arm ceased to be. It did not fall from her shoulder; it simply ceased to exist altogether. Were it not for the blood, the pain, or the Relic of Destruction even now tumbling from her nerveless fingers, she would've thought it never existed at all. She skittered backward and that...thing followed after her with slow, gliding steps.

"I finally understand." the goddess hummed, lifting a hand to her lips to conceal the smile spreading there. "Thank you. I made the mistake of treating you people like...people. But now I know better. You're not people." She snapped her fingers and Raven fought down a flinch. "You're madmen. Monsters. Animals. Criminals and cravens and cowards who want to drag the world under for their own gain. But I...I understand what the world wants."

Raven cried out and tried to crawl away; the goddess merely grabbed her by the hair and pulled her back.

"This world needs people in charge who are willing to put animals like you down." she continued, holding her aloft. "That's right. I've finally bought what you've been selling. Isn't that wonderful?

"I...no...I didn't mean to...

"How does it feel, child of man?" Kaguya purred, pale fingers trailing over her face. "How does it feel to be deconstructed?" she tilted her head back, fingers gliding across her throat. "To be the victim? To watch your dreams wither and die? By all means, tell me. Let me savor your final moments."

Raven never had a chance to answer.

Even as she struggled to form the words, someone struck her.

She never had the final blow.

Even as Raven stumbled away, she failed to see the shadow descend on her from above. By the time she noticed, it was too late.

The sword took Raven from behind, piercing her low in the back to rip through her rips and find her lungs. With an awful wrench, it drove upward to reach the wounded Maiden's heart. It was a quick death. A painless one, far better than what Kaguya would've granted her. She couldn't look away, couldn't turn her thoughts away. She could only turn her head back and gaze into the eyes of her killer.

"You should've watched your back."

Cinder Fall gazed serenely down at her, a cold smile on her lips.

Then she ripped her blade fee and Raven Branwen knew only oblivion.

A/N: PLEASE. READ. THIS. Else, you might be horribly confused. Wouldn't want that, would we?"

I'm sorry, Raven. It killed me to do this to the poor birdie; though she's one of my favorite characters to write in RWBY, she was never going to survive this fight. Simply put, without outside factors, Raven is not a good person. She's cold, cruel, willing to betray everyone around her at the drop of the hat, and paranoid beyond belief. It takes a lot to break through to someone like that, and you'd have to get to her early on to do so. Though we saw Yang get through to her in canon, Raven still fled the moment she could.

Simply put, there was simply no feasible way to save Raven in this story. She was always destined to die here, and ugh, it hurts admitting that.

But in death, she death served one final purpose. Cinder's back baby! If not quite the Maiden she wanted to be.

Will this satisfy her? That's the question, isn't it? She's thrown her lot in with Naruto, but...

As ever, reviews keep this old man alive during this dark and crazy time. I ain't joking.

Seriously, we're all locked away anyways these days, its all that sustains me.

So in the Immortal Words of Atlas... Review...Would You Kindly?

And enjoy these previews! Remember those hints?

Yes? No? Hope you paid attention. Because!

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

PLOT DETAILS AHOY!

YE BE WARNED!

Read at your own risk!

(Preview)

Kaguya stood among the ashes, eyes wide and blinking. And the goddess laughed.

SLAP.

Kaguya's head snapped backward as Cinder's palm cracked across the god's face.

Pale eyes narrowed to hooded slits. "You dare?"

Cinder wanted to weep. Instead she slapped her again. She knew she stood no chance against this creature. Raven had been stronger than her, armed with a Relic, and she'd still lost.

"Give him back."

"I think not. He's lost to you.

Her face twitched, but she mastered it.

"He's not, is he?" a cruel smile bloomed upon her lips. "You're lying."

R&R~!