With a small groan from the male, Akito began to wake back up after taking his nap. Waking up in the medical bed, the male still could only see out of his left eye, simply because the right side of his face was still bandaged up.

???: "Bout time you woke up." The male sighed but chuckled as he turned his head to see Dante, standing there at the door, his arms crossed.

Akito: "Hey there."

Dante: "How are you feeling?"

Akito: "Better for sure." he said as he sat up straight and stretched his arms, with a slight groan. The white haired man released a small sigh. However... "I think I saw her..." This statement confused the male as he tilted his head

Dante: "Saw who?"

Akito: "I don't really know how to put it but... I'm pretty sure I saw my actual Mom, the one Oz-Dad said died a long time ago." the man's eyes widened in surprise from this. "I believe it was an illusion... I'm even more confident about it because of what Yang did... But the fact that I saw her of all people at the most random of times... Something doesn't feel right at all..." There was silence for a brief moment before Dante suddenly leaned off of the wall, his eyes narrowing.

Dante: "You strong enough to stand, kid?"

Akito: "I'm confident I can still fight."

Dante: "Good. Go find your sisters, friends and your girl, now. I feel like something's going to happen and you and that Nikos girl may need to go to the vault soon." Akito's eye widened but he quickly regained his composure and nodded his head.

He could feel it too... The rising tension in the air from the tournament and that sinking feeling growing more and more prominent.

>Chapter 28: The Fall of Beacon<

Ruby and Ace stood in front of Mercury, just as the announcement of the next match was made, which ended up being Penny against Ruby. The argent eyed girl seemed to be frozen in complete horror at the mere thought of the match happening, considering she knew Penny's secret while Ace didn't know what that was about, but was still frustrated by everything. Ruby tried to reach for Crescent Rose but realized she didn't have it. So, she pulled out her scroll and tried to call for help but with a quick shot from his boots, Mercury destroyed it.

Mercury: "Let's just keep this between us friends, shall we?" With him gritting his teeth, Ace opened a portal to the Null Zone, where his weapon, Liberator, flew out and into his hand.

Ace: "Ruby! Do everything you can to stop the match! I'll handle Mercury!"

Ruby: "Got it!" She nodded before she quickly turned around and began to dash away.

Mercury: "Oh no you don't!" He began to chase after her, but Ace quickly got in the way, throwing a kick and forcing the silver-haired male to block and be pushed back. He stood between the male and his sister as she had activated her Petal Burst to dash away. Ace began approaching, with an angry expression on his face as he gripped Liberator's handle.

Ace: "This is for Yang, asshole." With a yell, he charged towards Mercury, who quickly began firing off Air Dust Shots from his boots at him, which he proceeded to deflect with Liberator.

With him firing a shot from Liberator at the ground, he leaped into the air and slammed down on Mercury, the silver-haired male grunting as he parried with him raising his leg. They proceeded to trade blows rapidly, Mercury's kicks coming fast and hard and forcing Ace into a more defensive position. Mercury quickly dropped down, landing on his hands and performing a breakdance kick that the blue-haired male managed to barely dodge before he gritted his teeth. He watched the silver-haired male charge at him but suddenly, things around them turned to black and white, causing Mercury to look around in confusion as the silver on his outfit was glowing.

Mercury: "What the hell!?" he was experiencing the Null Zone for the first time.

Ace: "Welcome to my world, fucker!"

At speeds Mercury had never witnessed before, Ace blasted himself towards Mercury and instantly began his assault, which was twice as fast and aggressive, much more than the silver-haired kicker was expecting from the male. He spun around like a buzzsaw, Liberator's blade connecting and causing the male's aura to shimmer violently before he quickly ended it my pointing the blunt muzzle end of Liberator to his chest and pressing the trigger, shooting out a shotgun-styled blast and sending Mercury flying back, while breaking his aura. Deactivating his Semblance, Ace glared down at him.

Ace: "And fuck you too." With him holstering Liberator on his back, Ace quickly began to make a break back to find Ruby. However, as he was running, he heard sudden gasps of horror from everyone in the arena, along with the sounds of something ripping apart. It triggered him to run faster and faster while gritting his teeth. "C'mon, faster damnit!"

When he came bursting out of the door, he finally found his sister, who was on her knees, with a look of disbelief and horror. Ace was about to ask about what happened, until he saw it. In the center of the arena, Pyrrha was standing in front of... what was left of Penny, who was brutally ripped to pieces, displaying a graphic scene of Mechanical Gore. This had also revealed to the entire world that Penny wasn't a real human being. Rather, she was an android.

Port: "No!"

Ruby: "Penny..." He looked down at his sister and took a deep breath. Crouching down, Ace was about to touch his sister's shoulder in a sign of comfort, but instead, she had turned around and lunged into him, burying her head into his chest and crying her eyes out. Ace was a bit taken aback but closed his eyes and embraced his sister gently, letting her get it all out right then and there.

Oobleck: "Broadcast! What are you doing!? Kill the feed!"

Broadcast: "Something's wrong! We don't have control over the cameras! We can't even stop the broadcast!"

Oobleck: "What!? How is that possible!?"

Suddenly, the screens changed to bright red with a black queen emblem as a woman's voice began speaking, one that instantly caught Ace's attention as he had recognized this voice. It was none other than the woman that was with Emerald, Jet and Mercury during their entire stay here.

Cinder: "This is not a tragedy. This was not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim you to be our guardians, but are, in reality, nothing more than men."

Ace: "Cinder..."

Cinder: "Our Academies' Headmasters wield more power than most armies, and one was audacious enough to control both. They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have here? First, we had one girl, striking down a helpless, former member of the White Fang who was just trying to find his own piece in the world. And now he may never even see out of that right eye ever again."

In their teams' shared dorm room, Yang and Setsuna were watching this on the former's scroll, with Yang looking away out of sheer guilt while Setsuna growled out of frustration and anger.

Setsuna: "Cinder, you bitch...!"

Cinder: "And now we have one nation's attempt at a synthetic army mercilessly torn apart by another's star pupil. What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference."

Saria and Maya were crying their eyes out for the loss of their friend as Lapis held them in a comforting hug while Ironwood stood next to them, clenching his fists out of anger and frustration.

Cinder: "And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First a dismemberment, now this? Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy, yet I have witnessed neither. Perhaps Ozpin felt as though defeating Atlas in the Tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded the streets. Or perhaps this was his message to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied and unsuspecting Kingdom with armed forces."

Ozpin, who was standing in his office watching the feed of the broadcast, clutched onto his coffee mug.

Cinder: "Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong, but I know the existence of peace is fragile and the leaders of our Kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves. As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you the situation there is... equally undesirable."

Akito, although his right eye was still bandaged up, had activated Exia and was flying through the dark skies towards the fairgrounds, with him watching the broadcast on Exia's interface. He gritted his teeth and quickly began to speed up.

Akito (Exia): "Damn it all!"

Cinder: "Our Kingdoms are on the brink of war, yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark. So I ask you, when the first shots are fired... who do you think you can trust?"

The screens in the colosseum suddenly turned to static before a loud siren began to blade throughout the area, followed by the announcement...

Announcement: "ALERT! INCOMING GRIMM ATTACK. THREAT LEVEL: NINE. PLEASE SEEK SHELTER IN A CALM AND ORDERLY MANNER."

Quickly, Ironwood's voice began to sound through the entire stereo system as everyone began to panic and make a break for the colosseum's exits.

Ironwood: "Ladies and Gentlemen, please! There is no need for panic."

However, as if to spite him, a Giant Nevermore landed on the aerial Hard-light barrier of the Colosseum. Ozpin, in his office, gripped his cane tightly as Qrow, Dante and Glynda entered his office.

Qrow: "Oz!"

Ozpin: "Get to the city! NOW!" The three shared a glance with each other before rushing towards the elevator. Then Ironwood began calling Ozpin.

Ironwood: "Ozpin... the girl... I-I can explain!"

Ozpin: "You brought your army to my Kingdom, James. Use it!" he commanded. The general quickly regained his composure and nodded before ending the call.

In the fairgrounds, Blake, Akira, Weiss and the four-maiden sisters were surrounded by pure carnage and chaos, as people were running from multiple Grimm that had managed to invade while multiple Atlesian Knights were doing their best to combat them. It was a dark and terrifying scene, with Akira gritting his teeth out of frustration.

Spring: "T-There's so many of them..."

Autumn: "How could we have let this happen!? We played right into their fucking hands! Damn it all!"

As he was flying through the air, Akito quickly began to make a group call with not only Setsuna and Team RWBY, but with Ace and Team MYLC as well. There instantly, everyone's faces, minus Ruby and Saria's, appeared on the side of Exia's interface.

Akito (Exia): "Guys!"

Setsuna: "Akito! You're awake!" She said with a tone of desperate relief. He gave a small nod of confirmation along with a smile; however, he did notice that Yang looked like she wanted to say something.

Akito (Exia): "Yang, we'll talk later about our situation. But right now, we have something more important to deal with." He spoke. The blonde was a bit surprised but nodded with a firm expression.

Weiss: "You guys just saw what happened right!?"

Ace: "Yeah, we saw it all right. Where is everyone right now!?"

Lapis: "I'm in the colosseum with Maya and Saria right now. How about you guys?"

Blake: "We're still in the fairgrounds. Akira's with us. And Akito, your sisters are here too."

Akito (Exia): "Good. I'm on my way over there as we speak."

Yang: "Setsuna, Zwei and I are currently running through the dorms. Where's Ruby???"

Ace: "She's with me. But she's not looking too hot after seeing Penny get destroyed like that." He said, causing the blonde to grit her teeth. "She'll be fine Yang. She just needs a minute to process everything."

Yang: "Right." She nodded.

Winter: "Big bro!" Her face appeared in Blake's feed. "We're gonna be moving towards the Docks. Can you meet us there?"

Akito (Exia): "Will do! But also, you four prepare yourselves. We may need to meet up with Pyrrha soon for the thing." The four sisters looked at each other before nodding. "Alright, here's the plan! We're gonna group up to the best of our ability! Yang, Setsu, come find us! Ace, you and Ruby group up with Lapis and his team up there. Pyrrha and the rest of JNPR should be up there too. Meet up with them as well and any of our other friends! We're going to do what we've been trained to do; kill Grimm and save lives! No one else is dying tonight!"

Everyone: "Right!"

With that, the group call was cut. Akito let out a small sigh, but he realized how he ended up sounding like a real leader, like how Sienna told him that he'd become back then when he was still a part of the White Fang. He chuckled before Exia blasted its way towards the Docks, all the while shooting down any Grimm that tried to attack it all the while multiple Weapon Lockers were soaring through the air. Back within the Colosseum, the Giant Nevermore was still trying to break through the barrier.

Sun: "A Nevermore!?"

Coco: "How did it get past the Kingdom's defenses!?"

Ren: "It wasn't alone." As multiple people ran past Ruby and Ace, the Nevermore continued to stomp and peck at the Barrier.

Announcement: "SAFETY BARRIERS FAILING."

The Colosseum shook as Pyrrha just remained where she was, kneeling and looking at Penny in horror as Jaune tried to call out to her.

Jaune: "Pyrrha! Pyrrha, that thing's going to break in! You've gotta move!" The red head didn't respond and just kept looking at Pyrrha. Jaune looked up to see the Nevermore flying up into the air and charging toward the barrier, so he jumped over the wall and began bolting towards Pyrrha.

Nora: "Jaune!" The Nevermore finally broke through the barrier and landed in front of Pyrrha, knocking both her and Jaune back.

Jaune: "Pyrrha! Please snap out of it!"

Before the Nevermore had a chance to snack on Pyrrha however, a red blur rushed in front of her, stabbing one of Penny's swords into the chest of the Nevermore; it was Ruby and her expression displayed not one of cheerfulness or happiness... but determination.

Pyrrha: "Ruby...?"

Ruby: "LEAVE HER ALONE!"

The Nevermore screeched and tried to charge them but suddenly, multiple lockers landed on it and pinned it to the ground. When they all settled, they opened to reveal the weapons of the tournament combatants. They all stood on the Nevermore, holding their Weapons, Teams ABRN, BRNZ, CFVYY, FNKI, SSSN and Saria and Lapis. As Ace began running towards the center, The Nevermore slowly began to get up, triggering Nora to jump into the air and slammed its head with Magnhild, with the blue-haired male firing a couple of shots at the overgrown bird. Retrieving her Fox's Eye sniper, Saria instantly activated her Semblance, Tether and quickly fired two special bullets, both hitting the Nevermore's wings and then bouncing off and hitting the ground, forcing the Nevermore's wings down and preventing it from attempting to fly. Then Arslan grabbed Yatsuhashi and jumped into the air while Sage and Lapis also leaped into the air, the latter converting his Staff of Akua into Nagantaka form. He quickly dived down and stabbed his weapon right into the Nevermore's back, causing it to screech out in pain. Immediately after however, Arslan then threw Yatsuhashi at the Nevermore as Sage began descending; the two great swords wielders spinning their swords as they beheaded the Nevermore. Pyrrha had mustered up the courage to look at Ruby.

Pyrrha: "Ruby I..." She struggled to talk as she looked at the piece of Penny's cloth, with tears falling from her eyes. "I'm so sorry..."

Ruby: "Me too... But it wasn't your fault."

Jaune: "She's right." he began to walk over to the red head while holding onto her weapons, Miló and Akoúo. "Whoever was on that microphone... they're the ones that did this. And we have to make sure they don't take anyone else."

Pyrrha slowly stood and hesitantly reached for her weapons but gained a look of determination before taking them. They then looked at the Huntsmen and Huntresses in training that had assembled in the center of the Arena before the moment was ruined by the screeches of more Grimm, more specifically...

Ren: "Griffons."

Neptune: "Anyone got a plan of attack?"

Before any of the Griffons that showed up had a chance to even move, they were suddenly engulfed and vaporized by a massive golden beam of energy. Everyone looked surprised, but turned around to see Maya, with Wing Zero on and the barrels of the Twin Buster Rifle smoking.

Saria: "Maya!"

Maya (Wing Zero): "We'll take the fight to them!" She exclaimed, Wing Zero's eyes and search eye both glowing brightly, she then looked at Ruby as she held up her scroll. "Catch, Ruby!"

Wing Zero tossed the scroll towards the argent-eyed girl, who caught it and nodded. She immediately called in her Crescent Rose, which arrived via rocket propelled locker. Before she could get to it though, a Griffon landed on it and was about to attack but it was suddenly shot off. The students turned around to see Professor Port and Oobleck, both with their weapons in hand.

Port: "Students I think it would be best for you to leave."

Ruby: "But we did a-"

Oobleck: "Ms. Rose! This day will surely go down in Remnant's history. I'd prefer it if my students could live to tell about it." Ruby hesitated for a while before nodding and striking a pose with Crescent Rose, while pointing at the exit.

Ruby: "Let's go!" Everyone began to run past Ruby as Velvet quickly snapped a picture of her.

Yakumo: "C'mon, Velv!" He called out to her, causing her to look towards him and nod before running after him and the rest of their team. Ace ran up to Ruby and smiled.

Ace: "You really look like a true leader now, Rubes." The silver-eyed female smiled at him and scratched the back of her head. "Let's go."

Ruby: "Right!" The two siblings instantly followed after the others. Soon, they all ended up in the docking bay of Amity, where they saw Ironwood, who had just put a bullet in a Beowolf's head.

Maya (Wing Zero): "General!" He turned and looked towards the students as they all stopped in front of him.

Ruby: "What's going on!?"

Ironwood: "Grimm are crawling all over the city. They White Fang's invaded Beacon and to make matters worse, some... vagabond has seized one of my ships. Until we regain command, the skies are out of our control. So, I'm..." He interrupted himself by shooting another Beowolf that was creeping behind them. "...going to take it back."

Jaune: "What should we do?"

Ironwood: "You have two choices. Defend your Kingdom and your school... or save yourselves. No one will fault you if you leave. Let's move out." He quickly boarded his ship, which instantly took off. The students took some time to ponder his words but eventually, all came to a conclusion.

Sun: "I mean... come on!"

Lapis: "We already made our choice the moment we picked up our weapons in arms against the invading Grimm." They all nodded in agreement.

Jaune: "Then let's take a ship to Beacon." Soon, they all boarded an airbus that began to make its way down towards the battlefield on the ground. However, as they were moving, everyone's eyes widened as out of the window, they saw a dark red blur fly past General's ship, causing it to suddenly go up in flames and begin to plummet to the ground.

Maya (Wing Zero): "GENERAL!!!" She quickly ran to the edge of the ship.

Saria: "Maya!"

Maya (Wing Zero): "You guys head down! I'm going to find him!" She ordered and without waiting for a response, she jumped out of the ship and began to instantly fly towards the crash site. Meanwhile back on the ship, Ruby instantly ran towards the back of the ship as well.

Ace: "Ruby!" he called out to her and quickly chased after her. Using her Semblance of Petal Burst, she leaped back onto Amity, with her brother following closely behind. As he got inside, he saw her running towards a Locker. "Rubes, what are you doing!?"

Ruby: "If the general's down, someone HAS to stop that rogue ship!" She exclaimed. The blue-haired male knew better than to argue with her when she had her mind set on something. So, he sighed.

Ace: "Then let's go together. Besides, two Huntsmen are better than one, right?" he smirked at her as she looked in surprise but quickly grinned and nodded. The two hooked their weapons onto the locker as Ruby punched in the code. With a nod to each other, they both shot up into the night sky.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Meanwhile in the city, Qrow, Dante and Glynda were fighting through the Grimm with the help of the Atlesian Knights but suddenly, the knights' visors turned red, and they turned on them.

Glynda: "What!?"

Dante: "Tch... Damn you and your shitty security system, James!" He cursed in frustration.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

With Blake, Weiss, Akira and the four-maiden sisters, they had managed to make their way to the courtyang in front of the school, where all the Atlesian Knights that were stationed there, suddenly turned to face them, their visors glowing bright red. Upon seeing the danger, Akira instantly got in front of the girls.

Akira: "Look out!" Just as the knights were about to fire on them, multiple pink beams shot down on them, destroying them. They all looked up and saw none other than Gundam Exia landing before them.

Spring: "Big Bro!"

Akito (Exia): "I made it just in time." he said but soon, they were quickly surrounded by more Atlesian Knights.

Weiss: "Why are they turning on us!?"

Blake: "I don't know!"

Akira: "Instead of wondering why, just fucking fight!" He scolded and charged forwards, his scythe, Harvester in hand as with a wide swing, he instantly cut through multiple of the Atlesian Knights.

Blake and Weiss nodded and soon joined him in the battle while Akito looked back to his sisters, who all nodded and quickly retreated back into his mindscape. The four were destroying multiple Atlesian Knights, all the while they were running towards the school, where they began to see Atlesian Soldiers fending off against both the Knights and the Grimm. However, as Akito looked up, his eyes widened as he saw a familiar figure flying about and seemingly heading towards a certain direction. It was the Eclipse Gundam.

Akito (Exia): "Shit. Mio's here too!?"

Summer: "What!?"

Blake: "If she's here then that means..." She trailed off, with a look of horror on her face. Akito gritted his teeth under Exia's helmet before coming up with a plan.

Akito (Exia): "We'll split up. Weiss, Blake, Akira, head towards the school and group with the others. I'm going after the Eclipse."

Weiss: "Right!" She said with Akira merely nodding.

Blake: "I'll handle the Grimm and head towards the cafeteria." She added on, with Akito looking at her, Exia's helmet suddenly retracting to reveal his face to her.

Akito: "Be careful." She smiled up at him.

Blake: "You too." he leaned down and pecked her lips before Exia's helmet reformed around his head and he quickly took off into the skies, after the Eclipse. Weiss, Akira and Blake quickly began to run towards the school before splitting off as well. As she got closer and closer to the cafeteria, taking out multiple Grimm along the way, her eyes would suddenly begin to widen as her fears came to life... "N-No..." The one that she was hoping wouldn't be there... had arrived.

Blake: "Adam...?" The bull Faunus looked towards her and smiled.

(Adam Taurus)

Adam: "Hello, my darling."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Wing Zero was flying towards Ironwood's ship crash site, with Maya having a worried expression on her face. Wing Zero's radar suddenly began to beep rapidly as the armored Blonde quickly stopped dead in her tracks and raised her shield, blocking a sudden strike that sent her tumbling down. She however managed to quickly stop herself in midair and look up at her attacker. However, her eyes suddenly widened as she saw who or... what it was.

Maya (Wing Zero): "I-Impossible..." Sporting a dark red and black color scheme, the armored figure held a large Beam Saber in its right hand while mounted on the left arm was a shield with a long whip-like spike protruding from it. And on its back, similar to Wing Zero, it also had wings. It had to have been... "A-A Gundam...? B-But how...?" Soon, a male's voice rang out from the Gundam. Jet's voice.

Jet (???): "So... it's finally time for us to get in on the action huh?" His Gundam's eyes glowed a similar Green to Wing Zero's. "Yeah... Let's go, Epyon!"

(Jet Noroi-Gundam Epyon)

In an instant, the Epyon blasted down towards Wing Zero, who instantly raised its Wing Shield as it blocked a strike from its Beam Saber. Maya grunted as she was being pushed back slightly by the black and red Gundam, its physical strength proving to be quite formidable, even for her.

Maya (Wing Zero): "Why are you doing this!?"

Jet (Epyon): "Why? That's a good question indeed. All I know is that me and my allies have been tasked to do this. But I assure you, this isn't personal."

Maya yelped as she was kicked back. She quickly aimed her Twin Buster Rifle at the Epyon, however, was surprised as it launched its Heat Rod from its shield, which wrapped around the entire weapon. As she was frozen in place, Wing Zero's radar began to go off again as she looked to her left. Her eyes widened even more as she spotted the Eclipse Gundam, quickly approaching, with both Beam Rifles in hand, but just before it could collide with her, Exia appeared in front of her and slashed at the Eclipse, forcing it to fall back while Epyon also did.

Maya (Wing Zero): "Akito! You're awake!" She said in complete surprise but relief.

Jet (Epyon): "Tch... I thought he was supposed to remain in bed." He grumbled in annoyance. The Meister of the Eclipse however, had said nothing at first before she finally spoke.

Mio (Eclipse): "I thought I had told you to run away from here, Big Bro. Why are you still here?" Akito merely scoffed.

Akito (Exia): "If you thought I would run away, then you severely underestimate the type of man your brother is." The Exia pointed Alpha towards the Eclipse. "There's no way I'm running away, not while so many innocent lives remain here! Whether they're Human or Faunus, I'll fight!" Mio was silent for a moment before she clenched onto her weapons, holstering them as she pulled her Beam Sabers from them.

Mio (Eclipse): "You... idiot brother!" With the Eclipse's eyes glowing, it blasted its way forwards, with the Epyon not far behind. All Akito did was look back at Maya, who nodded. The Exia and Wing Zero then both charged towards the opposing Gundams together as a glorious battle for the skies began.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Yang and Setsuna had gotten out of the Dorms and were making their way towards the courtyard of the entire school with Zwei by their side, all the while taking out Grimm along the way. However, they suddenly stopped as the entire area shook violently. Even Qrow, Glynda and Dante in the city felt it and looked towards a tall mountain in Vale. The entire terrestrial formation suddenly began to crack before shattering, releasing a massive Wyvern Grimm. It roared out in sheer aggression, reacting to the massive amounts of negative emotion in the area before it began to fly towards the school.

_____________________________________

Next Chapter: The Maidens

Ozpin: "Akito, make your way to the Vault now! Ms. Nikos will be there too!" His transmission to his son ended quickly as Akito's eyes widened. Then his expression returned to one of determination.

Akito (Exia): "You girls ready?"

Autumn: "Always ready."

Spring: "We'll be right here with ya, big bro!"

Summer: "Let's head over to our father and help him out."

Winter: "And let's help out Pyrrha too." The male smirked as he turned towards the direction of Beacon Tower.

Aktio (Exia): "Then let's move!" he said, with Exia's eyes glowing brightly as it blasted off towards Beacon Tower, leaving behind after images as its Trans-Am was increasing its speed.