Chapter 22. Fall from Grace

Ben 10 belongs to Man of Action Studios and Cartoon Network

Monster Hunter belongs to Capcom

RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum

I only own my OC and Ultimate forms

Dedicated to Braedey95 and CorJayNelson

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Opening - Ben 10 Ultimate Alien Theme

https://youtu.be/cxUbzV__dUI

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Pyrrha sat across from Ozpin at his clockwork themed desk, the sun setting at his back while Qrow leaned against a pillar at the back of the room. "Well, it comes to no surprise that they've chosen you to move on to the final round of the Tournament. Your performance was exemplary." Ozpin said to Pyrrha.

Pyrrha nods. "Thank you, Professor Ozpin, but I wouldn't have made it this far without my teammates." She humbly replied.

"Personally, I think it's the other way around." Qrow spoke up from the back of the room.

Pyrrha turned towards him. "I'm sorry, but I don't believe we've been introduced." Pyrrha said as she rose from her seat.

"Name's Qrow." He replied.

"Qrow is a trusted colleague of mine." Ozpin adds reassuring Pyrrha.

Pyrrha looks at Qrow for another moment before turning to address the headmaster. "Professor, if you don't mind me asking, why have you called me here?"

"Please take a seat. " Ozpin asked Pyrrha quickly returned back to her chair as Ozpin leaned back casually putting his fingers to his lips. " What is your favorite fairytale?" he asked

"I'm sorry?" Pyrrha said in confusion.

"Fairy tales, Stories from your childhood. Surely you must remember some of them?" Ozpin asked.

Pyrrha grew quiet for a moment, still confused by the headmaster's question. "Well, there's the tale of two brothers; the shallow sea; the girl in the tower-"

"What about the story of the Four Seasons?" Ozpin inquires.

"Well of course" Pyrrha replied with some nostalgia as she begins her narration. " A callous old man, who refuses to leave his home, is visited by four traveling sisters. The first understands his reclusive nature and urges him to use his time in solitude to reflect and meditate. The second brings him fruits and flowers tending to his crops and revitalizing his garden. The third warms the man's heart, convincing him to step outside and embrace the world around him. And the fourth and final sister begs him to look at all he has, and be thankful. In return for their kindness, the man grants the maidens incredible powers so that they may help others all over the world. They graciously accept and promise to share their gifts with the people of remnant 'til the end of days. Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall; the four maidens. My mother loves that story." Pyrrha said bringing the story to a close.

"Would you believe me if I told you that stories been around since I was a boy?" Ozpin said in a joking manner.

"You're not that old, professor." Pyrrha replied with the same enthusiasm.

"Well, would you believe me if I told you it was true." Ozpin said, taking on a serious tone.

There was a moment of silence before Pyrrha let out an uneasy chuckle. "I... beg your pardon."

"What If I were to tell you that there were four Maidens existing in this world that could wield such tremendous power without Dust?" Ozpin explained.

"You mean...like a Semblance?" Pyrrha asked tentatively.

Ozpin leaned forward on his desk. "...Like magic."

"I-"

"Yeah, first time hearing it's pretty crazy." Qrow spoke up.

"You're serious?" Pyrrha asked.

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Ozpin replied.

"No." Pyrrha replied, her eyes falling to the floor after a moment she looked up at Ozpin. "Why-Why are you telling me this?"

Ozpin turned his gaze over to Qrow who simply nodded in response. "We're telling you, Pyrrha Nikos. Because we believe you are next in line to receive the Fall Maiden's powers."

"We..." Pyrrha asked, suddenly the elevator door's slid open, revealing Glynda and Ironwood.

"Sorry we're late." Ironwood said.

As they both came in, Pyrrha asked, "Wait, what is this, who are you?"

"We're still the same teachers and headmasters you met when you arrived at Beacon." Glynda said trying to calm the girl

"Except, we got a little part-time job." Qrow said

"We are the protectors of this world." Ironwood said.

"And we need your help" Ozpin said.

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Pyrrha stood in the center of the elevator as they descended into the depth of Beacon Academy, looking up at those around her she asked, "Where are we going?"

"The Vault, under the school." Ozpin replied.

As the elevator doors opened, Pyrrha followed close behind the four. Glynda stopped just outside the elevator turning back to the obviously nervous girl as she caught up to them. "I'm sure you have questions." Glynda said.

"Maybe one or two." Pyrrha replied.

As they continued on through the almost never-ending corridor, Pyrrha asked, "I still don't understand. You said I was next in line to receive the Maidens power. But what do you mean by that?"

"The maidens have existed for thousands of years, but much like nature, the seasons change. No two summers are alike." Glynda answered.  When a Maiden dies, her power leaves her body and seeks out a new host. Ensuring the seasons are never lost and that no individual can hold onto the powers forever." She explained.

"So how does the power choose?" Pyrrha asked.

"Through a series of stupid and convoluted rules." Qrow answered.

"Qrow!" Glynda yelled, sending a glare the man's way.

"Hey, don't get mad because I'm right." Qrow replied.

"At first," Glynda began to explain "The only thing that was certain was that the powers were specifically passed on to young woman, but as time went on, it was discovered that the selection process was more..... intimate."

"Intimate?" Pyrrha asked.

"As we understand it now when a Maiden dies, the one who was in her final thoughts is the first candidate to receive her powers." Glynda answered

"Unless it's a dude or some old hag, then the power foes to someone random and our job gets a lot harder." Qrow added.

"Why are you telling me all of this now?" Pyrrha asked "Why not wait until I've graduated."

"Honestly. We've run out of time." Qrow answered "I'm sure I don't have to tell you things are getting a lot scarier out in the world. Tensions are growing high, Grimm are growing stronger, more prevalent, and it's not going to be much longer before this peace we've all been enjoying so much goes out the window."

"You're not talking about war?" Pyrrha said.

"Not a war between nations." Ironwood replied.

"We can fill you in on the details once we know you're with us." Qrow said looking back at Pyrrha "For now, all you need to know is that one of the Maidens were attacked and for the first time in history, part of her power was stolen."

Pyrrha followed behind them in silence reaching the end of the hall, two pods sat alongside a large computer terminal connected with various wires. And piping inside one of the pods sat a young woman with dark brown shoulder length hair and tanned skin with scaring spreading across her face like a spider web.

"Is that..." Pyrrha said mournfully.

Ozpin sighed. "The current fall Maiden, Amber"

"She's... still alive." Pyrrha said in shock.

Ironwood sighed and replied, "For now. We're using state-of-the-art Atlas technology to keep her stable, but there is a lot about this situation that is..... unprecedented."

"What do you mean?" Pyrrha asked.

Ironwood sighed turning towards the champion. "Well, we don't know what will happen if-when she passes."

"Won't her power just transfer to the next host?" Pyrrha asked.

"Look who's been listening," Qrow remarked turning to speak to Ozpin. "She is smart."

"Under normal circumstances, yes." Ironwood continued. "This is a delicate situation It's not uncommon for the last thought of the slain to be that of their attackers, and to make matters worse, no one has ever seen the power split like this before. For all we know it will seek out its other half."

"Her assailant." Pyrrha realized.

"And that would not bode well for any of us." Ozpin said.

Silence soon followed after a moment Pyrrha approached Ambers pod staring up at the woman who clung to life, turning back to them "If all of this is true why keep it a secret? If this girl is so important, if-if we're truly on the brink of war, why not tell anyone?"

"From what we understand, it used to be common knowledge." Glynda answered.

"Excuse me?" Pyrrha began.

"How do you think legends and fairytales get started? Even the craziest ones came from somewhere." Qrow said before taking a drink from his flask.

"Our group was founded in order to protect both mankind and the maidens." Glynda began. "Those hungry for power hunted them with the hope of inheriting their strength."

"And as you can imagine, the kind of people who succeeded weren't exactly the kind of people you'd want with unimaginable power." Qrow added.

"And so this brotherhood chose to remove the maidens from the public eye, allowing their existence to fade away into legends." Ironwood began.

"The things we're telling you goes against hundreds of years of human history and religion" Glynda explained.

"No one would want to believe us. It would cause an uproar." Ironwood said

Ozpin then spoke up "It would cause panic and we all know what that would bring clawing to our kingdoms walls, which is why we would like to-"

"I'll do it" Pyrrha interrupted " If you believe this would help humanity, then I will become your Fall Maiden." Silence followed as all eyes turned to Pyrrha after a few moments she spoke up again "That's what you wanted, isn't it?"

"It is" Ozpin began as he stepped towards Pyrrha "But I'm afraid it's not that simple. Given ambers condition, you won't be able to inherit her powers " He then gestured to Ironwood "General ironwood believes he has a solution."

ironwood nodded and began "For the past few years, Atlas has been studying Aura from a more scientific standpoint. How it works; what it's made of; how it can be used. We've made significant strides and we believe we've found a way to capture it."

"Capture it and cram it into something else... or in your case..." Qrow cut in

A look of horror came to Pyrrha's face as she tried to find the words "That's...-

"Classified" Ironwood said narrowing his eyes at Qrow

"-Wrong" Pyrrha said.

"The feelings mutual," Glynda said, "But desperate times called for desperate measures."

"And these are desperate times" Ironwood continued " We can't transfer Ambers powers to you, Miss Nikos, but we can give you what those powers are bound too"

"Her Aura," Pyrrha said

"Her life would become intertwined with yours, the question is" Ozpin said

"What's that going to do to you?" Qrow followed up.

The room fell into silence as Pyrrha mulled over such implications what it would mean for her... would she even be the same person, Ozpin spoke up breaking Pyrrha's train of thought " You have an important decision before you, Miss Nikos. There's no guarantee this will work and there will be no telling if you'll be the same person if it does. I advise you take time to think on this matter. But understand before the Vytal festival is over, we will need your answer."

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"And now! For the moment you've all been waiting for! The one on one finals!" Peter Port announced over the mike. The crowd once again clapped and cheered.

Yang, Sun, Mercury, Penny and Pyrrha were one of the students aligned on the stage.

Jack, despite being very far from her, he could feel Pyrrha's tenseness.

"Barty! Why won't you explain the rules?" Peter asked his fellow spectator next to him.

"Ah! It's quite simple Peter, instead of a bracket system, each round of the finals will be randomly determined immediately before the match takes place." Oobleck responded, fixing his glasses.

"Much like any good hunt there will be zero time to prepare!" Peter announced.

"Ahh yes! Yes! Now we'll see who our first match will be!" Oobleck pointed at the screens around the colosseum, as the roster begin to spin.

Finally after a while as the roster spun, the names on the screen appeared. "Yang Xiao Long and Mercury Black!" Port announced.

"BREAK A LEG SIS!" Ruby screamed as she cheered for her sister,

"YOU GO YANG! THAT'S MY GIRL!" Zack also cheered. Jack and Emma rolled their eyes at ther friend's antics, but otherwise smiled.

"Would all other combatants please leave the stage!" Peter said, as the rest of the students left the stage, leaving Mercury and Yang left. Yang turned towards Mercury, both slowly walked towards the other, as the stage began to form a pentagon. Spotlights hovered up into the air, and shone down on the two young combatants.

"You better not go easy on me." Yang grinned, as she placed a hand on her hips.

"Heh, you wish." Mercury chuckled, as both then faced the crowd then back to each other.

"3,"

Both of them readied their fighting stance.

"2,"

Both slowly approached the other.

"1!"

"FIGHT!"

Yang swung her arm back, as Mercury jumped back, and turned his torso to face her. As Yang swung her arm to the front, Mercury brought up his legs, Yang's fist colliding with Mercury's feet, causing a shockwave. Yang was slightly pushed back, as Mercury then sprinted towards her, sending a kick, to which Yang dodged by jumping above him and fired at him as she landed on the ground. Mercury sidestepped, and threw a punch at Yang which she blocked, she threw a punch at him. Mercury dodged this, Mercury swung his leg at her, while Yang fired at him with her gauntlets. Both was pushed back, Yang stood up, and fired several shots at him. Mercury jumped from side to side, dodging the flames that were being shot at him. He dashed up, and attempted kick her from above. Yang brought her arms up, and blocked his attack. Yang pushed him out, and shot him, Mercury ducked avoiding the flaming bullet and did a roundhouse on Yang, causing her to flip, but quickly landed on her two feet. She fired behind her, accelerating her towards Mercury.

She threw punches and bullets at him, to which Mercury tried to block with his arms. He managed to push her back, and attempted to do a hook kick at her, Yang immediately jumped out of the way, Mercury's heel colliding with the ground beneath them instead. Mercury then attempted to sweep off Yang's foot, but Yang slammed her fist to the ground, causing him to lose his grip. Mercury picked himself up, doing roundhouse kicks and a back kick, Yang parried his attacks. Mercury then swung his foot up, and attempted to land an axe kick on her. Yang dodged the attack by a hair. She did a summersault to the side, as Mercury raised his foot to land a kick on her once again. Yang dodged his attack, and the two exchanged kicks, hooks, and punches. Mercury then jumped up, performing another roundhouse and a series of kicks at her. Yang blocked these attacks, as Mercury landed on his feet and dashed at her. Yang landed a jab and an uppercut at him and fired her Celica Embers, knocking the air out of his lungs.

Mercury landed face first on the ground. Yang fired a series of bullets at him, Mercury backflipped his way out of range, but eventually lost his footing and fell out of the edge of the ring. Mercury bent his knees, and with his feet fired his way back up to the ring. He landed right in front of Yang, to which he threw kicks at her once more. Yang blocking his axe kicks and stomps with either her arms or knees. She fired at him once more, Mercury jettisoned her arm to the side, and swung his at her, Yang ducked while Mercury side kicked her, pushing Yang back. With his feet, he raised it and white beamed bullets shot out of it. Yang jumped out of the way, avoiding the white ray. Mercury fired series of white bullets around him, Yang dodging each bullet as it flew at her. Mercury continued this action as a series of flying bullets circled around him, he then dashed at Yang, doing a crescent kick and an axe kick at her, pinning her to the ground. The series of bullets then flew straight directly at her, hitting her whilst on the ground.

The crowd cheered, as Mercury thought that he had won the fight. Sweeping off the dust of his shoulder with his hand, and smirked at the crowd. When suddenly, a sweep of air swept by, Yang was still up. Mercury turned to her. Yang got up, and brought her fists together in front of her, her eyes fiery red.

"HAAAAA!" She dashed at him, firing her gauntlets as she landed a punch at Mercury. Mercury swung his legs at her, attempting land a hit with his kicks. Yang ducked and sidestepped and throwing her rear hand at him, doing cross punches and a hook at him. She continued this action, firing her Celica Embers while landing a punch at him. Mercury was dazed, and finally, Yang swung her fist back, and swung it forward at him, uppercutting him. The air was once again knocked out of his lungs, and Yang finished the job with a jab, sending him to the ground, wincing in pain. The alarm rang, signaling that the fight was over, Mercury's aura has dropped, and is eliminated from the match.

"What a way to kick off the finals!" Peter exclaimed over the speakers, the crowd cheered. Yang closed her, taking in a deep breath, and exhaled. Her fiery red eyes returned to her lively purple ones. She grinned, and pumped her fist to the air.

"Yang Xiao Long wins!" Oobleck announced over the microphone.

Zack smiled, Yang had won the match.

"YOU DID IT SIS!" Ruby screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Way to go Yang!" Blake added.

Yang then swept the sweat of her forehead. "Better luck next time." She told Mercury as she was about to leave the stage, when suddenly, he got up.

"There's not gonna be a next time Blondie!" Mercury got up, anger was clear in his voice. Mercury went straight at Yang, about to land a kick on her when Yang attack back, punching his leg.

The crowd gasped and threw a range of "boos!" at the ring.

"Hm?" Jack narrowed his brows, confused.

"MY WORD!" Oobleck exclaimed and looked over to the ring once more with wide eyes.

"Cut the cameras!" Peter turned to his back.

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Withing Mountain Gleen, two Goliaths turn their heads toward the city of Vale, the negative emotions growing strong. In a building, a pack of Beowolves also stared at the city.

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"Hmm?" Bagan said as he sensed the negative energy coming from the Amity Colesseum in outer space.

"What is it Bagan?" Queen Ghidorah asked.

"I sensed something happening from that strange, floating building. Negative emotions such as shock, anger and fear. Whatever it is, it's causing mass panic." Bagan grinned maliciously. "And we will use that to our advantage." That prompted Queen Ghidorah to smirk.

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"My leg, MY LEG!" Mercury groaned, as he held onto his legs.

Yang frowned. "That's what you get you little-" But was cut off when armed robots surrounded her.

"What the hell? What's going on?" Goku questioned as he saw cyborgs surrounding Yang.

"Yang Xiao Long! STAND DOWN!" An Atlas soldier ordered, as the robots drew their guns and pointed at her. "What? WHY?" Yang questioned, clearly confused with the situation around her.

"MERCURY!" Emerald called, running towards Mercury and knelt beside him.

"Why'd she do that? WHY'D SHE ATTACK ME?" Mercury yelled, his hands gripped his knees, as Emerald scowled at Yang.

Then the screen showed something else. Yang circling the crouched-down Mercury until the footage cuts to him just standing there and her suddenly shooting him in the leg. The sound of something breaking rings out, and Mercury screams and falls over in pain.

She looked around her, the crowds booing at her.

"I don't... Understand." She muttered.

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