Summer: "Annd there, all done." She said, patting Blake's abdomen as she had finished up bandaging her wound. "This should be good enough to stop the bleeding until real doctors take care of you guys." She said with a gentle smile.

After saving them from Adam, Akito had brought Blake and the unconscious Setsuna and Yang to the courtyard of Beacon, where multiple students were gathering to be evacuated to the many shelters that are being set up by Glynda, Atlas Personnel and other authorities in Vale. Summer had managed to temporarily patch up the three girls with her basic medical skills. She was doing her best to remain positive despite the situation but the clear frown of sheer regret on Blake's face never left her. Her eyes never left the unconscious Yang or Setsuna as she felt bad for the fact that Adam injured them both.

Blake: "Yang... Setsuna... I'm so sorry..." She whispered as she held onto both of their hands, while quietly sniffling to herself. Summer's smile disappeared as she lightly sighed and stood up before turning to look at her brother, who was taking a seat, mainly to catch a breather as when he had used all of that Magic, he ended up exhausting himself quite a bit, showing his inexperience with it.

Akito: "How are they?"

Summer: "Physically stable... I'm not sure mentally however..." She spoke. He hummed and nodded at her.

Akito: "Well at least they're alive... That's all that matters." He said as he began to stand up but grunted as he held onto his right shoulder. That fight against Mio, despite him having on the Exia for it, her constantly putting strain on his right side due to him not being able to see from that side, resulted in his shoulder starting to have some noticeable pain in it.

Summer: "You shouldn't be moving up and about too, big bro. You've been overexerting yourself during this entire thing." She scolded.

Akito: "I'm fine Summer. Besides, we don't have time to dilly dally. We need to get to Beacon Tower and find Pyrrha. You said you can't feel Amber's life force either, right Autumn?"

Autumn: "Y-Yeah... It disappeared when we were getting cornered."

Akito: "Then I wasn't imagining things..." He mumbled as he remembered when he had entered that state of sheer focus and determination, or what Winter called, his Semblance, he felt a life force suddenly vanish. "That either means Pyrrha successfully gained her powers or failed... Either way, we need to find her fast."

Spring: "But...!"

Akito: "No buts!" He raised his voice slightly. There was silence before he sighed. He looked over to Winter, who was inspecting Gundam Exia, which was standing there, in standby mode. "How's the Exia looking?"

Winter: "Aside from the right shoulder pad being knocked off, some minor damage to the right arm and the shield being destroyed, Exia should be fine to use. However, I don't think you can use the Trans-Am for a while. You exceeded its operation limit."

Akito: "I see. That's good enough. Let's go. We're gonna find Pyrrha and hopefully... our father's with her. Hopefully everything went smoothly..." He spoke. Summer and Winter both exchanged a glance before nodding and disappearing back into their brother's mindscape. Akito began to approach Exia but paused. He turned around and looked back at Blake silently before taking in a deep breath. He approached her and gently crouched before her. "I'll be back, babe... I promise. I just have to take care of one last thing..." He said before he gently kissed the top of her head. Getting up, he turned around and began walking towards the Exia. But then...

Blake: "Don't die..." he froze for a moment. "Please..." Her tone broke his heart but all he could do was smile warmly and look back at her.

Akito: "No promises." he said and winked towards her before Exia's back opened up, allowing him to jump in. The Gundam's eyes glowed brightly before it took off into the skies and began to head towards Beacon Tower, where the massive Wyvern Grimm was circling around it.

Volume 3 Finale
>Chapter 30: The End of the Beginning<

Beacon Courtyard...

Port: "That's it, everybody on board!" He exclaimed as he and Oobleck stood in the courtyard as multiple Airbuses were landing to take in many citizens and students away from the school. Amongst them, Lapis and Saria could be seen helping with the evacuation. "This is a mandatory evacuation!"

Oobleck: "A safe zone has been established in Vale! Please, remain calm and listen to Atlas personnel!"

Ruby had finally made it to the courtyard after she and Ace had stopped Roman and Neo. When she got to the courtyard, she instantly spotted two figures, those being Weiss and Akira, the former staring at what was in front of them with wide eyes. However, upon hearing Ruby's footsteps, they both turned around.

Weiss: "Ruby!"

Ruby: "Weiss! Akira! Oh, I found you two!"

Weiss: "Where have you been!?"

Ruby: "Don't worry I'm fine! What's going on?" The answer she was given was silence and a look of sadness from Weiss. The argent-eyed girl was confused and looked to Akira for an explanation. The black-haired male just sighed.

Akira: "It's best that you see for yourself." He said before stepping out of the way.

Ruby stepped forwards before her eyes widened in shock as she bore witness to seeing her older sister, Yang lying on the ground, unconscious with her missing her right arm while Setsuna was lying next to her, her abdomen completely bandaged up and stained with blood as she too was unconscious. Zwie was letting out a few whimpers as he licked the faces of the unconscious girls. Blake laid next to them, while holding onto their hands and with tears falling down her eyes. Behind them Ren and Nora, who were both on the ground, trying to catch their breath while Maya was next to them, taking care of them. In the background, Lapis and Saria could be seen, helping out with the evacuation.

Blake: "I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry..."

Ruby: "...Yang... Setsuna..."

Sun: "Hey..." He approached them "They're going to be okay. The soldiers have a ship ready to take you guys to Vale."

Nora: "But Jaune, Pyrrha, Ace and Akito are still missing!"

Ruby: "What!?" She felt her heart sink, especially after hearing that Ace hasn't been seen since he jumped off the rogue Atlesian airship to go after Neopolitan.

Blake: "Akito..." Everyone looked towards her as her eyes were fixated on the ground. "... he brought me, Yang and Setsuna here... I don't know exactly what happened... but he said that he was heading back towards Beacon Tower, where Pyrrha supposedly is. His sisters are with him too..."

Akira: "The tower...?" He mumbled as he went into thought. *thoughts* "Surely, they're not there for... the Maiden. Is that where she's located? Or are they looking for 'The Crown'?" As he was going through his thoughts, Sun suddenly spoke up.

Sun: "Look guys, that giant Grimm keeps circling the school. Even the White Fang are pulling out! We have to go... now!"

Ren: "We're... not leaving!" He grunted as he tried to get up, but instantly fell back down to one knee, feeling the pain in his side get worse.

Maya: "Stop moving! You'll only make it worse." She scolded, as she held onto an Ice Dust Crystal. Her hand was coated in her own Aura as Ren's Aura shimmered slightly before glowing more steadily. There was silence amongst the group before Akira suddenly spoke up.

Akira: "Then we divide and conquer." Everyone looked at him. "A few of us go find our missing allies. Everyone else, stay here and help with evacuation."

Ruby: "I'll go with you." He looked towards her. "I'll find them."

Weiss: "No." They both looked at Weiss who approached them, with her Myrtenaster now in hand. "We'll find them." Ruby smiled and nodded at her.

Akira: "Alright. Maya." He looked towards his leader, who gave a thumbs up and nodded.

Maya: "I know! I'll watch over them and do everything to keep things stable here."

Akira: "Just don't overexert yourself." He said as he turned around and began to walk away. Maya seemed surprised for a moment as her teammate seemed to display genuine care for her. But she smiled and slightly giggled.

Maya: "You know me!"

Akira: "Hmph..." Was his response. "Alright, let's move."

Ruby and Weiss: "Right!" With that settled, the three quickly began to dash towards the Tower as Sun called out to them.

Sun: "Ugh, you guys better come back!" He sighed and shook his head. "Idiots..."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After escaping the Vault that Ozpin and Cinder were currently inside of, Pyrrha and Jaune stopped outside of the tower, the latter taking out his scroll.

Jaune: "Okay, I think I have Glynda's number. Oh, where is it!?" Pyrrha just silently looked back at the tower before her leader suddenly spoke back up.

Jaune: "Pyrrha... what was all that?"

Pyrrha: "I..." Cutting her off however was a muffled explosion. They quickly looked back into the tower, only to see Cinder flying straight up the elevator shaft, up to the top of the tower. If she made it out alive, that only meant one possibility. Ozpin... had lost.

Jaune: "But... Ozpin..."

Pyrrha: "There's no time..." she quickly turned to him; her expression more determined than ever. "Go! Get to Vale and get help!"

Jaune: "Huh? What are you gonna do?" There was no verbal answer from the red-haired spartan as she silently just looked back at the tower. Jaune instantly picked up on what she was hinting at and instantly began his rejection of the idea. "No... No, Pyrrha, you can't! You saw how powerful she is! Pyrrha I won't let you do-"

All of a sudden, Pyrrha had cut off Jaune by cupping his cheeks with her palms and pressing her lips against his, engaging in a soft and tender kiss, pouring all of her built up feelings into it. At first, the blonde was shocked, but he quickly melted into the kiss. After a short while, they broke it.

Pyrrha: "I'm sorry..." Activating her Semblance, she pushed Jaune into a nearby locker. Almost instantly, he began to bang his fists against the Locker's door as she began punching a code in it.

Jaune: "Hey! W-Wait! Stop! Stop! Pyrrha, please don't do this!" All she did was give him an apologetic smile before backing away as the locker immediately launched away from the school. She could faintly hear him cry out her name in desperation. It did deeply pain her to betray him like that, but she had no other choice.

With her eyes narrowing, she rushed into the tower. She stopped in the main lobby and quickly used her Polarity to force open the Elevator Doors. However, she was treated to a sight of a searing hole through the elevator's floor and ceiling, showing how Cinder burned her way right through. Assessing the situation, she figured out a plan. Avoiding the hole, she stepped into the broken-down elevator before closing her eyes and concentrating. She began to grit her teeth as she was using her Semblance of Polarity to its maximum capabilities, taking control of the entire Elevator before suddenly shooting it up to the top where she'd confront the Fall Maiden, Cinder Fall.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Weiss' scroll suddenly began to ring, causing her to take it out and look at it. Much to her surprise however, she realized that it was a call from none other than Jaune Arc.

Weiss: "It's Jaune!" The trio briefly stopped in their tracks as the heiress answered the call. "Where are you!?"

Jaune: "Weiss! Please, you have to stop her!" His voice sounded desperate and frantic.

Weiss: "What?"

Akira: "Stop who exactly?"

Jaune: "Pyrrha! She's going after that woman... at the top of the tower! She doesn't stand a chance!"

Akira: "Woman...?" He slightly fell silent before he had realized what he meant. "Cinder..." He muttered, while clenching his fists tightly.

Ruby: "Wait... Blake said Akito was heading towards the tower! You don't think he..." It seemed like the two instantly picked up on what she was saying as Weiss' eyes widened.

Weiss: "Jaune, where are you?"

Jaune: "DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME!" He suddenly yelled, taking them all by surprise. "Please... you have to save Pyrrha..." He practically begged. He sounded like he was on the verge of tears at this point.

Weiss: "We will! Are you okay?" The only response she got was a loud yell of anger and frustration, followed by a loud crunching noise, followed by the call being instantly cut. "Jaune? Jaune!" They were interrupted by the Grimm Wyvern circling around the school and continuously dropping more spawning pools of Grimm.

Akira: "We don't have much time left. We need to get to the top of the tower, fast!"

Ruby: "I have a plan!" The two looked at her, with the Heiress smiling.

Weiss: "You always do."

With that settled, the two continued on their way towards the tower, all the while killing any Grimm that got in their way. However, as they were getting closer, Akira spotted a green sparkle trail going up the side of the tower, which caused him to narrow his eyes.

Akira: "Is that...?"

Ruby: "No mistaking it..." he looked towards her as she seemed to be surprised. "That's the Exia!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Wyvern Grimm landed on a support pillar of the tower before it began to slowly climb up to the very top, where it lets out a loud roar. Through its eyes, it spotted Cinder, who was standing in the center of the Headmaster Office.

Cinder: "Shh... This is your home now."

(Play Song)

The Wyvern seemed to calm down as it made a hushed noise. Just as the woman created a flame in her palm, the sound of the elevator slamming into the top of the shaft caught her attention. When she turned around, the doors suddenly shot open and Miló went flying right towards her. Narrowly dodging the attempted surprise attack with a smirk, Cinder quickly raised both of her hands as Pyrrha kicked into her Akoúo, launching both it and herself at Cinder. Upon making contact with the Fall Maiden's arms, the redhead kicked off of her before using her Polarity to return her weapons back to her. Now the two were in a standoff, with Cinder hovering in the air thanks to the Maiden Powers while Pyrrha stood on the ground, the adrenaline rushing through her veins.

Cinder merely smirked as the Maiden Flames burst from her eyes and she instantly started off with assault by launching multiple flaming projectiles towards Pyrrha. The Redhead blocked one with Akoúo before rolling out of the way of the others, while dashing towards the Fall Maiden, however she was stalled as Cinder unleashed a concentrated beam of pure flame magic, forcing the spartan to block with her trusty shield. Seeing that she was getting nowhere here, she decided to take this head on and launched herself forwards, while pushing the beam back with her shield. As she got into range, she instantly struck with Miló but much to her surprise, Cinder caught her weapon with relative ease. She simply smirked before firing a short fire blast from her palm, striking Pyrrha in her abdomen and sending her flying back into a wall and knocking both of her weapons out of her hands.

The redhead grunted but quickly got back up, only to see Cinder blasting herself towards her at great speeds, with flames bursting out of her palms. She attempted to tackle Pyrrha through the wall, however, the redhead managed to jump up to narrowly dodge the attack and hook her arm around Cinder's, while planting her feet firmly on the wall. She then kicked off of the wall and flipped over the Fall Maiden, tossing her over her shoulder, forcing her to backflip back onto her feet.

Just as she looked towards her opponent however, Pyrrha had already regained her weapons and charged headfirst, shield bashing her before striking her twice with Miló. Pyrrha went for another swing but was cut off instantly by a fiery backflip from Cinder, stunning her briefly and sending her flying back into the air. Gritting her teeth, Pyrrha tossed Miló towards the brown-haired woman, the gun muzzle on its blunt end firing off a shot and increasing its momentum. Cinder was about to counterattack, but was interrupted as Miló struck her right arm, then Akoúo struck her left arm. She gritted her teeth but was surprised as Pyrrha suddenly tackled her into the headmaster's desk, causing it to crumble beneath them.

As the smoke cleared, Pyrrha was revealed to have the upper hand as she had Cinder in a chokehold, with her left arm around her neck and Miló inching closer to her neck, showing that she was willing to end her right here and now. Cinder, however, was gripping onto Miló's blade, keeping it out of range. However, the Wyvern suddenly roared and began to fly away from the tower, as Cinder smirked, with her Semblance, Scorching Caress to superheat up Miló gradually. Pyrrha's eyes suddenly widened as she spotted that the Wyvern was flying straight towards them, with every intent to ram into the tower. Its sight distracted her long enough for Cinder to snap Miló into multiple pieces, and elbow Pyrrha right in the gut, sending her flying back just as the Wyvern crashed into the top of the tower, taking it off completely and sending the roof crashing down to the ground.

Panting, Pyrrha was leaning against a piece of rubble. She looked around at the destroyed office and spotted her remaining weapon, her shield Akoúo. She began to crawl towards it but just as she was about to reach it, she spotted Cinder hovering before her, that smirk ever present on her face as she was getting ready to finish the job. However, she wouldn't have a chance.

All of a sudden, two beam daggers went soaring through the air and struck the Wyvern on its side, causing it to roar out in sudden pain. Both Pyrrha and Cinder were taken by surprise as they both looked around for the attacker, only to look up.

Cinder: "The Exia."

Pyrrha: "Akito!"

The blue and white Gundam suddenly burst out from behind the Wyvern, with it pointing its Alpha up into the sky. Soon, it dived down, pointing its main weapon directly at Cinder, who quickly conjured up a blade of black glass and blocked the attack. However, instantly, the Exia kicked the female back, staggering her a bit. It turned its head towards Pyrrha.

Akito (Exia): "I finally made it. Sorry for the delay, Cherryblossom." He said, his eye underneath the Exia's helmet glowing as he had activated his Semblance. As he did, he could see Pyrrha's Aura levels, which were dwindling. The redhead stared up at him before laughing lightly.

Pyrrha: "You dummy. Your timing couldn't have been any better."

Akito (Exia): "Heh." He then looked back towards Cinder, who was in the process of getting up. "So... she stole Amber's powers huh. What about father? Where is he?" The response he got was silence. When he looked back at his friend, he noticed how she lowered her head sadly and slowly shook her head. His eyes widened in shock.

Summer: "N-No..."

Winter: "Father is..."

Autumn: "Tch... Damn that bitch!" She growled out of frustration and anger as there were a few sniffles coming from Spring as she mourned the death of her father. They had only just found out that he was their true father but even then... it stung badly for them.

Akito (Exia): "I see..." he sighed deeply before he suddenly unsheathed the GN Long Blade and handed it to the female. "C'mon, we won't let her get away with this." The spartan stared at the weapon briefly before she nodded and gripped onto its handle.

Pyrrha: "Right."

Now the two stood together, side by side, with Pyrrha armed with her Akoúo and the GN Long Sword while Akito was armed with Exia and Alpha. Cinder said nothing and stared at the two before the Maiden Flames burst from her eyes and she smirked. Without needing to say anything, the two friends charged together, with Akito instantly starting the attack as he had suddenly tossed the GN Short Blade at Cinder, who backhanded it away from her, sending the short blade off the side of the tower. However, while she was distracted, Pyrrha took the chance to shield bash her, forcing Cinder to stumble back slightly. The Fall Maiden instantly followed up with two flaming projectiles, one of which Pyrrha deflected with Akoúo before she leaped over the other one, landing on the other side of Cinder, where she instantly thrusts the GN Long Blade forwards. The brown-haired female, narrowly moved her body out of the way and grabbed onto her arm, smirking down at her. However, she quickly turned around and saw Akito dropping down on her with Alpha and a GN Beam Saber in hand. She grunted and raised her other hand, grabbing Alpha blade and stopping it from striking her.

Gritting her teeth, Cinder yelled and spun around instantly, throwing Pyrrha into some rubble and Akito away from her. The Exia stopped itself in midair and blasted itself back towards Cinder. With a grunt, he struck down on her with Alpha, the female blocking with a Glass blade she conjured up. Sparks bounced around as they rapidly clashed blades against each other before coming to a blade lock.

Cinder: "So you're Ozpin's son? Pretty underwhelming if I must say."

Akito (Exia): "Tch... Keep running your mouth, you bitch!" He growled, Exia's eyes glowing brightly as he began to push back against her before spin kicking her back.

Instantly, Pyrrha was ready as she swung the GN Long Blade, to which Cinder had managed to narrowly dodge. However, as she was distracted, Akito had converted Alpha to rifle mode and fired a concentrated beam straight at the Fall Maiden. Spotting the incoming attack, Cinder quickly jumped up, dodging the beam. However, what she wasn't expecting was for Pyrrha to raise her shield and suddenly reflect the beam back up to her, striking her out of the sky. With a grunt, the brown-haired female landed back on the ground, only to realize that she was surrounded from both sides. Thus began the bombardment of attacks.

The Huntsman and Huntress in training charged her from both sides and began their reign of attacks. Each one forced Cinder to go on the defensive, blocking, parrying and dodging each attack. However, when she'd avoid one, another from the second would come. It was obvious what their plan was. To whittle her down until her Aura's near to breaking and until she's exhausted before finishing her off. Even with the Maiden Powers, she was at a disadvantage since it was no longer a 1v1 and she was up against arguably the two strongest fighters in Beacon.

Cinder decided that she needed to get out of this sandwich, so she quickly began to take to the skies, but Akito quickly followed after her. The Exia fired multiple rapid shots from the GN Vulcan on its left forearm, forcing Cinder to cross her arms and tank each shot. As she was suspended however, Pyrrha took the opportunity and threw her Akoúo straight towards them. Gritting her teeth, Cinder managed to narrowly dodge the shield throw, but she gasped as Akito had caught Akoúo and kicked it right back down, striking her in the face as Pyrrha caught her beloved weapon again. Then Pyrrha suddenly activated her Semblance of Polarity, and aimed at Akito, using her magnetism to suddenly control the Exia and drag it down, sending Akito crashing into Cinder and kneeing her right in the gut.

The Fall Maiden grunted loudly and gritted her teeth, her eyes bursting in flames as she just about had enough of this. She suddenly unleashed a massive wave of flames, pushing both of them back and away from her. Pyrrha grunted in pain as she went crashing into some rubble. As for Akito however, as he got back up, he was forced to block a sudden strike from Cinder.

Cinder: "You... are getting in my way!" She exclaimed as she made a clawing motion, forming claws of fire that collided with Exia's chest, damaging it and causing the armored male to stumble back slightly. He scoffed in annoyance.

Akito's thoughts: "Winter! How long can I use the Trans-Am for!?"

Winter: "Only for five seconds!"

Akito (Exia): "That's all I'll need!" With her yells of slight annoyance, Cinder charged the armored wolf-Faunus, ready to strike him down with one of her swords before.... "Trans-Am!"

With the system activating, Exia glowed red and narrowly dodged the attack, though its left shoulder armor was damaged in the process.

Cinder: "What!?"

She suddenly yelled as Akito had tackled her up into the sky before suddenly kicking her right in her back, sending her crashing down with a hard thud. He breathed a bit heavily as Exia's Trans-Am instantly deactivated after the 5 seconds were up, dropping its performance back down. With gritting teeth and her Aura shimmering slightly, Cinder got back up and glared up at the armored male before...

Akito (Exia): "Now, Pyrrha!"

Cinder was confused for a second, only to suddenly see multiple giant gears floating around her. She looked towards the invincible girl, who was pushing her Semblance to the max as she lifted these many gears. She was about to charge the redhead, only to be grunt as Akito, who had moved to the opposite side of Pyrrha, tossed both GN Beam Sabers at the Fall Maiden, forcing her to deflect them both. But instantly, Akito, who had obtained Pyrrha's Akoúo suddenly threw it, striking Cinder right in her legs and tripping her. Catching her weapon, Pyrrha made a swift hand gesture, slamming one of the big gears down onto Cinder and pinning her to the ground. Gradually, she began to move the other Gears, creating a sort of prison around the Fall Maiden and keeping her restricted.

Pyrrha: "Finish her, Akito!"

With the armored male aiming Alpha right at the encased Cinder, he yelled out and fired a large Beam coated in magic towards her, ready to end it all. However, unfortunately for them, a sudden burst of fiery energy occurred from the center of the gears, disrupting the attack and sending Akito and Pyrrha both flying, with the Gears hitting them both and breaking their Auras instantly.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

On the ground, Akira, Ruby and Weiss were fighting through the multiple hoards of Grimm that the Wyvern was spawning, which ended up stalling them from being able to reach the tower quick enough.

Ruby: "We gotta hurry!" Suddenly, Weiss pointed Myrtenaster towards the tower, creating a path of white Glyphs alongside its wall. She looked towards her leader.

Weiss: "You can do this."

Akira: "Go on. We'll clean up things down here." He said, to which the argent-eyed female nodded quickly. Using her Semblance, she sped up to the tower before landing on one of the white Glyphs and running up the side.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

On the top of the Tower, Akito was panting as a few sparks flew from Exia, from the damage it sustained. He suddenly looked towards Pyrrha, who had already gotten back up. She quickly tossed her shield towards Cinder. However, she created a bow and arrow and fired it, the arrow suddenly deforming and reforming back to normal around the shield and striking Pyrrha right in her Achilles heel, causing her to cry out in pain and fall to one knee.

Spring: "Pyrrha!!!"

Autumn: "Damnit, leave her alone!"

With him gritting his teeth, Akito quickly charged, the Exia blasting its way straight towards Cinder, while pointing Alpha straight at her. With a yell, he thrusts his blade forwards, only to see a smirk from Cinder as she dodged out of the way and with swift movements, caught Alpha's blade between her palms. Akito was stunned into shock while the brown-haired female merely smirked as she used her Semblance to superheat that one segment of Alpha blade. With one swift motion, Alpha was snapped in two. While Akito was shocked, he grunted suddenly as Cinder shot a beam straight at him, hitting Exia right in the right side of its face, destroying its right eye and half of its V-Fin. Akito stumbled back as Exia's interface went a bit static, before he fell to one knee while panting.

Cinder: "I'll deal with you later. But for now..." She turned around and back handed the GN Long Sword off of the tower, which was thrown at her by the immobilized Pyrrha Nikos. She began to circle her. "It's unfortunate you were promised a power that was never truly yours." She crouched before her and lifted her head up by her chin.

Akito (Exia): "Arrogant bitch..." She glanced over to him, watching him struggle to get up. "That power was never yours to begin with either." He was suddenly silenced as Cinder fired a glass arrow at him which struck Exia's left thigh, piercing the armor and causing him to grunt out in pain.

Pyrrha: "Akito!"

Cinder: "You should learn to speak when you're spoken to, Wolf of the White Fang." She said as she was slowly standing up but smirked back at Pyrrha. "Oh, but take comfort in knowing that I will use this power in ways you could never have imagined." Pyrrha glared up at her before asking a simple question.

Pyrrha: "Do you believe in destiny?" Cinder frowned at that.

Cinder: "Yes." With no more words needed to be spoken further, Cinder backed away and aimed an arrow straight at the redhead. Akito's eye widened underneath as he quickly reached out to her.

Akito: "NO!!!"

Just as Ruby made it to the top, she bore witness to the event playing out. Cinder released the arrow, causing it to strike Pyrrha right in her chest. Both Ruby and Akito, along with his sisters were all stunned into silence as Pyrrha was letting out gasps for air. Slowly, her bright emerald-green eyes slowly became dull as her pained gasps stopped. Cinder placed a hand on her and with very little effort, completely disintegrated Pyrrha's body, leaving nothing behind but her golden headpiece.

Summer: "I-Impossible..."

Spring: "P-P-Pyrrha...?"

Akito was deathly silent as multiple flashbacks played through his mind, all going back to the first time he and Setsuna met Pyrrha back in Mistral, all the way to their reunion back here and everything else. His eye was flickering through multiple different colors as they glowed, his Semblance activating.

Akito (Exia): "Y-You..." Cinder looked towards him and just smirked as she loved the sound of how broken his tone sounded. Magic bursts from Alpha's broken blade as he quickly stumbled to his feet, with a vengeful tone now. "YOU BASTARD!!!"

Autumn: "Big bro!?"

Winter: "NO DON'T DO IT!!"

He didn't listen, however. No matter how many times his sisters pleaded with him to ot do it, it was too late. Akito charged straight at Cinder at max speeds, Exia's Over-Boost Mode being activated. With a yell, he swung Alpha, the first-time forcing Cinder to block and be pushed back. The second time however, she grinned and suddenly struck him with a horizontal slash to his abdomen, tearing through Exia's armor easily, causing him to gasp in shock and pain. While he was wide open, she ended it with one more strike, a downwards slash directed at the left arm.

Akito gasped and grunted loudly in pain as Exia's left arm, along with his left arm were completely severed. He fell back, falling to one knee as he clutched the bleeding open wound, with Exia's damaged helmet soon flying off and landing on the ground next to him, revealing his bruised face, with blood running down his bandaged right eye.

Cinder: "Don't worry, Akito. I'll reunite you with your dear friend. You should be thankful." She said, with a sickly-sweet smile. She backed up and raised her palm, charging up a beam of energy. At this rate, the male couldn't do anything to escape the attack. So... he accepted his fate and closed his eyes as he waited for the beam to hit him... but it never did.

Slowly he opened his eye, only to be stunned into silence as before him, with their arms spread out protectively... was none other than Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. the four using their bodies as a shield. It clearly was hurting them, but even then... they didn't back down.

Spring: "E-E-Ehehe! Seems like we finally get to protect you f-for once, big bro!" She said, a sweet and innocent smile on her face.

Autumn: "D-Don't look at us like that. You look so uncool r-right now! Hah!" She said, in her normal taunting tone.

Summer: "Y-You're always the one protecting everyone... protecting us..." She said, her gentler smile present on her face through all the pain.

Winter: "S-So, allow us to return the favor! You're our dearest older brother after all." She said, her tone as mature and gentle as ever. Akito watched, pure shock on his face as he suddenly became startled, watching at the four girls' bodies suddenly began to glow their respective colors and multiple magic particles began to fly off of them

Akito: "Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter...!?" The four just looked at each other before putting on their best happy smiles as their bodies were gradually disintegrating, bit by bit... They all turned to look at him.

S.S.A.W: "WE LOVE YOU, BIG BRO!"

That was their final words to him, their voices becoming ethereal as they all vanished completely, only leaving behind four pieces of ornaments that they had. For Spring, it was a ring, for Summer a small hair clip, for Autumn a single earring and for Winter, a necklace. Akito felt the world around him go dark, feeling a big and empty void fill his heart.

Akito: "Spring...? Summer...? Autumn...? Winter...?" He called out to them, hoping for some kind of response... however unlike all of those times before... there was no response.

Just silence.

Ruby: "NOOOOOO!!!" Suddenly, Ruby's cries of despair were heard as Cinder quickly looked toward her, watching with wide eyes as a blinding silver light shined from her eyes, causing the Wyvern to roar in pain.

Cinder: "WHAT!?"

It wasn't over however as behind her, Akito suddenly stood up, a heavy burst of magic surrounding him and his broken blade. He was hyperventilating now. A rainbow-colored flame bursts from both of his eyes with tears streaming down his face rapidly. He said no words. He couldn't even form words at this point... it was just all anger, despair, agony and pain. With a loud yell, he charged Cinder just as Ruby's glowing eyes struck her. In an instant, everything was surrounded by a blinding white light, followed by a loud ringing noise. The ringing continued on and on and on... until just faintly, there were two voices.

Qrow and Dante.

Qrow: "It's alright, I gotcha kiddo. I gotcha..." He said, his voice sounding somber.

Dante: "Shit..." he cursed, a slight bit of frustration in his voice. "Let's get you to a doctor, wolf cub. You did enough fighting for one night..." There was silence for a while before he growled in annoyance. "I can't fucking get a signal!"

Qrow: "Forget it! With the tower destroyed, the CCT's down. It's just useless." Then a voice that hasn't been heard in a long while was heard.

Taiyang: "Communication down across the entire Kingdom... No way to contact the outside world... and Ozpin's still missing."

Qrow: "Yeah... Poor kid... He lost everything tonight..."

Dante: "Tch... Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter..." There was a brief silence.

Taiyang: "This is bad..." Qrow sighed deeply while Dante just remained silent.

Qrow: "Yeah, this is bad..."

>>Major Time Skip<<

Ruby slowly began to open her eyes only to realize that she was in her bed, in her room... in her home back at Patch. She looked around, to see her father, Taiyang sleeping in a chair but he slowly began to wake up. Upon seeing his youngest daughter awake, he jumped up in excitement.

Taiyang: "Ruby! You're awake!"

Ruby: "What... happened...?"

Taiyang: "Your Uncle Qrow found you unconscious. He got you out of there, though and got you home safe." The argent-eyed female was silent for a brief moment before gasping.

Ruby: "Wait! Yang! Ace! Are they alright!?"

Taiyang: "Uh..." He chose his words carefully. "Yang's uh... she's gonna be alright. I think she's just... I think it's just gonna take some time for her to get used to things. She's too strong to let this stop her. And as for Ace... well... he hasn't returned. And with the CCT down, no one's able to contact him. But... he's too strong to fall out there. He'll be fine." That left a bit of a bitter taste in Ruby's mouth, especially since no one has been able to contact her brother. But she did trust his ability to stay alive out there. She looked back at her father.

Ruby: "What happened to the school!? And Vale!? Were they able to clear out the Grimm!?"

Taiyang: "Things at Vale are under control, but the school... It's... it's not that simple. That thing, whatever it is, doesn't seem to be dead. Don't get me wrong, you did a number on it. But it's not disappearing. It's... kind of... frozen. I know that doesn't sound too bad but it keeps attracting more Grimm to the school." That confused Ruby.

Ruby: "I did... what?"

Taiyang: "Hm?"

Ruby: "You said I did a number on it. What do you mean?"

Taiyang: "I..." he trailed off before shaking his head. "Look that's not important right now. We can talk about it later. Things are just... kind of a mess."

Qrow: "It's always a mess." They both turned to see Qrow drinking from his flask. "Mind if we have a minute?"

Taiyang: "What? I can't stay here?"

Qrow: "Tai, please."

There was a brief silence before the blonde man sighed. He soon stood up and kissed his daughter on her forehead.

Taiyang: "I'm glad you're alright. I'll go make us some tea." He then turned to leave the room, glancing at Qrow slightly before exiting the room. The scythe wielder walked over and sat down on the chair before his niece.

Qrow: "So... how you feeling?"

Ruby: "Um... I kind of hurt... all over."

Qrow: "That makes sense, after what you did."

Ruby: "You guys keep saying that! That I did something! What are you guys talking about!?"

Qrow: "What's the last thing you remember?"

Ruby: ...I ran up the side of the tower and when I got to the top, I... *gasp* Pyrrha and Akito! Are they!?" Qrow just slowly lowered his head.

Qrow: "Pyrrha's gone..." The argent-eyed girl's eyes widened as they glistened a bit from tears waiting to come out, but she quickly followed up with another question.

Ruby: "W-What about Akito and what about Setsuna!?"

Qrow: "That girl's here as we speak. She had woken up a bit before you." A slight sigh of relief came from Ruby. At least that was some good news she could be glad to hear... "As for the kid, well..." He fell a bit silent before continuing.

Qrow: "He wasn't... doing too hot. From my knowledge, he lost quite a lot of blood during that final battle and didn't seem to be... mentally there when he woke up. His... sisters, those four girls... they... From what he managed to say, they passed on..." Ruby fell silent, her heart shattering as she heard of the demise of all four of Akito's beloved sisters, four people that she could consider close friends... even sisters. "He left quite a while ago, saying something about... 'making sure she doesn't do something stupid'. Whatever that means..."

There was silence yet again as Ruby was slowly letting out more and more sniffles, with tears falling from her eyes.

Ruby: "I... I... I got to the top... and I saw... Pyrrha... Akito... and Cinder...! And then everything went white!"

Qrow: "Do you remember anything else?"

Ruby: "I... remember... by head hurting..."

Qrow: "The night you met Ozpin, what was the first thing he said to you?"

Ruby: "I... I don't know... I think it was something about..."

Qrow: "'Silver Eyes'. That's an extremely rare trait."

Ruby: "So?"

Qrow: "You're special Ruby. And not in the "Daddy loves his special angel" kind of way. You're special the way your mom was. Remnant's full of legends and stories, some of them are true, some made up. But there's one Oz told me from a very long time ago. Back before Huntsmen, before Kingdoms, it was said that those born with Silver Eyes were destined to lead the life of a warrior. You see, the creatures of Grimm, the most fearsome monsters mankind had ever encountered, were afraid of those silver eyed warriors. They were the best of the best. It was said that even a single look form of these fighters could strike a Grimm down. Heh, it's a ridiculous story."

Ruby: "But... You think that I might be..."

Qrow: "Well, a giant monster is currently frozen on top of Beacon Tower. And here you are, safe in bed." He said as he got up and walked over to the window, before looking out of it.

Ruby: "...Wait, wait, how did you know what Ozpin said to me... the night we met?"

Qrow: "All those missions I go on... all the times I'm away in some far off place... it's been for Ozpin... But he's missing now... Something's been set in motion... With Oz gone, I'll have to pick up where he left off."

Ruby: "And what could I do? If I'm so special, then I can help right?"

Qrow: "You really wanna help? Get some rest. You're in no condition to go anywhere right now. Besides, our enemy's trail leads all the way to Haven. That'd be quite a trip for a pipsqueak like you." He then turned to leave. "Catch ya later kiddo."

With that, he left Ruby to her own thoughts. After resting up for a bit more however, she decided to go visit her sister, to see how she was holding up. When she had gotten to her room, she saw the door was wide open. Upon looking in, there was Yang, awake and sitting on her bed, looking out the window with her right arm completely bandaged up.

Ruby: "Yang?" The blonde didn't respond. Ruby turned and was about to leave her be before...

Yang: "Ruby."

Ruby looked back at Yang to see her looking at her, her normally bright and lively Iliac eyes now stained with tears, dread and despair. Ruby ran over to her sister and hugged her.

Ruby: "I'm so glad you're okay!"

Yang: "But I'm not..." The hug was broken as Ruby frowned. "It's all gone... The school... Penny... Pyrrha... Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter..."

Ruby: "Yang..." She leaned up slightly. "Where are Weiss and Blake?" There was a bit of silence before she responded.

Yang: "Weiss's father... came for her..."

Ruby: "What? What do you mean?"

Yang: "No one outside of Vale knows what happened here. Before the tower fell, the last thing people saw was Atlas attacking innocent people and Grimm destroying the city. Everyone's scared... No one knows who to trust... So Weiss' father came to take her back to Atlas, where he thinks it's safe."

Ruby: "...And what about-"

Yang: "And Blake ran!" She suddenly yelled, startling her younger sister into silence. "Sun saw her go... After we got to the city, she just... ran! And apparently Akito ran after her..."

Ruby: "But... Why!?"

Yang: "I don't know! And I don't care..."

Ruby: "If Akito went after her then there has to be a reason she-"

Yang: "No there doesn't! Sometimes bad things just happen Ruby!" The argent-eyed female fell silent and looked down.

Ruby: "So... what do we do now?"

Yang: "You can do whatever you want. Chat with Setsuna if you want to. She's in the other room. I'm gonna lie here..."

Ruby: "Yang..."

Yang: "Just leave me alone..."

The atmosphere in the room was depressing. With a tear falling from her eyes, Ruby turned around and began to slowly walk out of her sister's room. But before she left, she turned to her.

Ruby: "I love you." With that final statement, she left, leaving the blonde alone to her own thoughts.

>>Major Time Skip<<

The Winter Season had hit Patch Island, meaning a new beginning was approaching. Exiting her house was Ruby, wearing her outfit and with Crescent Rose holstered on her lower waist and a backpack on.

Jaune: "Hey." Hearing the familiar voice, she turned around with a smile to see Jaune, with his own weapon and a backpack on as well.

Ruby: "Hey Jaune. Haven's a long way to go."

Jaune: "I know. But it's the only lead we have."

Ruby: "And you're sure you want to come?" Ren and Nora approached them, with their own weapons and luggage.

Ren: "The journey will be perilous and whether we'll find answers at the end is entirely uncertain."

Nora: "But we wouldn't be here if we weren't up for it." That put a smile on the young girl's face.

Ruby: "Then let's get started."

They all began to walk away from the house before they stopped, hearing the door open and close behind them. Alarmed, they quickly turned around but were surprised to see Setsuna standing there, with a backpack on and both GN Blades that Akito had lost in the final battle, on her back.

Ruby: "Setsuna?" The white-haired wolf Faunus remained silent before she sighed.

Setsuna: "Setsuna... doesn't feel right, leaving you four to do all the heavy lifting. I want to help out too. Besides... I know that's what Akito and his sisters would have wanted."

Ruby: "But... what about Yang?" She fell silent before looking back up towards the window of Yang's room.

Setsuna: "Setsuna trusts that she'll get through this on her own. She's... strong after all." She said and held a small smile. Ruby looked towards the remaining members of Team JNPR, who all nodded in agreement and smiled towards her. Ruby smiled and looked back at her.

Ruby: "Then let's go, together."

Setsuna: "Right." She nodded with a smile.

(Play Song)

Together, the group of five set out on their own journey, their own mission. To hunt down the ones responsible for Beacon's destruction. And their first stop on their journey would be the Kingdom of Mistral, where Haven Academy is located.

"'A smaller, more honest soul'. It's true that a simple spark can ignite hope. Breathe fire into the hearts of the weary. The ability to derive strength from hope is undoubtedly mankind's greatest attribute."

Taiyang had entered Ruby's room, holding a tray of food to serve her. However, upon seeing that she was nowhere to be found and all that was left was a simple letter, he quickly dropped the tray and rushed out, past Yang's room. Speaking of the blonde, she was still sitting in her bed, looking out of the window with her dulled eyes. However, she spotted a black raven with red eyes, staring at her before flying off.

"Which is why... I will focus all of my power to snuff it out. How does it feel? Knowing that all of your time and effort has been for nothing. That your guardians have failed you. That everything you've built, will be torn down before your very eyes. Your faith in mankind was not misplaced."

Glynda Goodwitch was spotted, trying to use her Semblance of Telekinesis to repair the damage done to Vale. However due to overexertion, she failed and hunched over, while panting heavily.

"When banded together, unified by a common enemy, they are a noticeable threat. But divide them, place doubts into their minds. And any semblance of power they once had will wash away."

Hopping from rooftop to rooftop was Blake, who had paused and looked towards the ruins of Beacon in the distance, a saddened expression on her face before she quickly began to hop away.

Somewhere else in Vale, Ace was spotted, poking his head out of a run down building. He sighed deeply before turning his head around as there was Neopolitan, seated on a couch, hugging her knees as she clutched onto Roman's hat for dear life, with a look of despair on her face.

Meanwhile on an Atlesian airship was Weiss, who was staring out at the sunset in sadness. Then turned to see her father, Jacques Schnee seated next to her.

"Of course, they won't realize it at first. Like you, they'll cling to their fleeting hope. Their aspirations. But this is merely the first move."

Ruby stood in front of her mother, Summer Rose's grave, praying quietly. Afterwards, she turned to see Jaune, Ren, Nora and Setsuna standing there, waiting for her. She smiled and nodded at them before turning to face them and approaching them as they continued on their journey. Unknown to them however, watching from nearby was none other than Qrow, with Ozpin's cane in his hand. He heard footsteps and looked behind him, seeing Dante standing there. He gave a small nod to the male, which he returned.

In some forest, a familiar Wolf Faunus was seen, walking through with his broken weapon on his right arm. His left arm however, was replaced by a long, black sash. He looked around, revealing his left red eye while his right eye had an eyepatch over it. He paused, spotting two Beowolves in front of him, They quickly spotted him and began to charge at him. With a sigh, he switched his weapon to sword form, with flames bursting from the blade before he charged forwards.

Somewhere in a separate continent, that was dark with a red sky, a woman in black and with pale white, Grimm-like skin, stood on a cliff, overlooking multiple pools of Grimm.

"So you send your guardians... your huntsmen and huntresses. And when they fail and you turn to your smaller soul, know that you send her to the same, pitiful demise."

???: "This is the beginning of the end, Ozpin." She slowly turned around, revealing her glowing black and red eyes. "And I can't wait to watch you burn."

End of Volume

__________________________________

Next Arc: "Mistral"

(A/N: It's finally over... Volume 3 of Gundam Shadows has concluded. Salutes fam. o7)