Third Person P.O.V.
"WEISS!!!"
Charugna smirks as Pyrrha quickly gets up and runs past her as Oscar watches Pyrrha approach and pick up the unconscious Weiss from his position. He then looks over to the unconscious Ruby. Angered, he smacks Lionheart with The Long Memory, causing him to fall down the stairs and into Hazel, who remains unfazed as Lionheart falls to the ground. Oscar quickly runs over to Ruby, with Nora joining him.
"Ruby, get up! Get up!! We need you!"
Hazel picks up Lionheart by his collar, lifting him off the floor.
"You're lettin' that boy make a fool of you." Lionheart points at Oscar.
"That's not just a boy! It's Ozpin." Hazel's eyes widen when he says that. "He's already reincarnated!"
Hazel drops Lionheart and looks over to Oscar, who is still trying to nudge Ruby to wake her up. He then notices The Long Memory being held in the young farm boy's hand.
"Ozpin?"
Suddenly, the usual calm demeanor of Hazel slowly turns infuriated. Ruby stirs for a bit.
"Ruby! You--"
"OZPIN!!!!"
Oscar looks up. Ozpin panics in Oscar's mind.
"Oh no..."
"You thought you could hide from ME?!!" Hazel rips his coat off, and then grabs a pair of lightning Dust crystals from a couple of pouches on his legs. "You'll pay for what you did! You'll die over and over again!!"
He stabs the lightning Dust into his arms, with his blood vessels turning yellow and popping out from his skin as well as having some lightning coat them. His eyes glow yellow, and he lets out an intimidating roar. Oscar slowly backs away, holding his cane up cautiously.
"D-do we fight?" Ozpin is afraid.
"No, run!"
Hazel leaps forward to charge into Oscar, but Qrow gets him out of the way in time. Qrow transforms Harbinger into its scythe form while Charugna watches. Raven and Vernal walk to her sides.
"Ozpin is here?!" Raven raises an eyebrow.
"Is that a problem?"
"Absolutely, but right now we got the upper hand. Let's not waste it." Lionheart is on his knees when Cinder's voice gets his attention. "Cowardly Lion! Open the path to the vault!"
Lionheart gets back up and approaches the statue in the room. He takes out his pocket watch and places it in a small niche on the statue. The hands on the watch gradually spin faster and the statue lowers. Yang watches the situation in front of her. She looks to Pyrrha and M/N as they tend to Weiss and then looks over to Nora who is still trying to wake Ruby up. Nora looks to Yang.
"Stop them! We've got your team covered!"
Yang lingers a bit before heeding Nora's advice, but she gets kicked to the ground by Mercury. He is then joined by Emerald.
"You wanna get to them? You're going to have to get through all of us."
Emerald uses her Semblance to create multiple copies of Mercury, which surround Yang. Meanwhile, Pyrrha uses her hands to apply pressure on Weiss's wound, while M/N holds her wrist checking her pulse.
"M/N, talk to me!" M/N sadly shakes her head.
"This is bad."
Pyrrha's eyes widen in horror.
"No, no, no, no, not again! Weiss, c'mon, please!!"
Meanwhile, Vernal steps onto the platform leading down to the vault. Charugna turns to Lionheart.
"Make sure they leave Ruby Rose alive. This won't take long."
Charugna steps onto the platform. Raven looks back a bit as she hears Yang fighting vainly, shaking her head before she steps on the platform too. The platform then lowers down. Oscar is then shown dodging out of the way as Hazel slams his fist into the ground.
"Oscar."
"No!"
Oscar dodges another attack from Hazel.
"Oscar!"
"I told you, no!"
Oscar gets punched back by Hazel several feet into a column.
"Please, let me take over! I can handle him!"
"You told me I needed to fight for myself! So I will."
"This is not your fight!"
"What does that mean? Why is he so upset with us?" Hazel growls.
"He didn't tell you my tale, did he, boy? I thought you looked familiar, to think that evil was inside you when our paths first crossed. Your blood won't be on my hands, it'll be on his."
Qrow jumps in the way to block Hazel's attack, but he slams his fist into the ground, the shockwave knocking both him and Oscar back. They both get back up as Qrow engages Hazel. Qrow dodges a punch then slashes at Hazel, who blocks the sword with one arm.
Oscar asks, "What was he talking about?"
"Tell him, Ozpin! Tell him how you KILLED HER!!"
"Her?"
"Gretchen Rainart was Hazel's sister. Despite her brother's wishes, she enrolled at Beacon Academy to become a Huntress and tragically lost her life on a training mission. Hazel... holds me responsible. Please, let me fight. I know Hazel. He's wounded in a way that cannot be healed."
"You know now!" Hazel tosses Qrow aside. "You can forgive me for what I'm about to do."
He approaches Oscar menacingly.
"Did she know?" Hazel stops in place at his inquiry. "Did she know the risk of being a Huntress?"
"She was only a child! She wasn't ready!!"
"She made a choice! A choice to put others before herself!" Oscar holds his cane up defensively. "So do I."
Hazel just glares at him.
"Then you've chosen death!"
Oscar glares back, determined.
"I'm sorry."
"What?"
Oscar's eyes glow and his body falls to the ground as Ozpin takes over him. Ozpin looks up, and Hazel looks back at him, enraged.
"OzzzzPIIIIIIIIN!!!!"
Meanwhile, Pyrrha and M/N continue tending to Weiss. M/N lets tears flow.
"She's hardly breathing. I... I don't know what we can do..."
The both of them look down to Weiss as she struggles to breathe, before suddenly stopping.
"No, it wasn't supposed to be like this! Please! We can't lose anyone else..."
Pyrrha closes her eyes on the verge of tears and Coco tosses two crystals, one brown and green, to M/N as she catches them.
"Plant and Earth Dust. Cauterize the wound with Fire Dust, then crush the Plant and Earth Dust over the wound. That should speed up healing."
Pyrrha crushes a Fire Dust crystal over the wound and Coco lessens the effects so Weiss doesn't catch on fire. As the bleeding stops, Pyrrha in her determination takes both Plant and Earth Dust crystals and crushes them in her hands and lets the powder fall over Weiss's abdomen. The Dust starts to absorb as Coco uses her Semblance to increase the potency of the Dust.
A shimmering green aura starts to coat over Weiss's body and Weiss gasps for breath again as Pyrrha hugs her and cries.
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Meanwhile, Charugna, Raven, and Vernal are riding the platform down to the vault. Charugna places her hands behind her back as she turns to Vernal.
"Are you nervous, girl? The first Maiden in - why, I'm not sure anyone knows how many years - is about to open a vault. I would say it's quite an exciting time. Don't you feel honored?"
"No, I'm not concerned with any of this. All I care about is my tribe - my family. This is a burden, not an honor." Charugna giggles.
"You've conditioned her quite well, Raven." Charugna drops her smile. "Don't think I don't know your trick, Branwen."
As the three continue to ride down the platform, they see the vault under Haven Academy - a massive cavern with a large tree that has glowing orange flowers. The platform reaches the bottom, and the gate protecting the vault is lowered into the ground.
Charugna hums.
"Hm, it's certainly grander than Beacon's. I wonder what the extra effort was for." Raven grits her teeth.
"Can we please not linger?"
"After you."
Vernal steps off the platform first, followed by Charugna, and then Raven, the latter putting her mask back on.
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Back above ground, Hazel and Ozpin fight each other intensely, Ozpin dodges several blows as one punch hits a column. Lionheart tries to intervene by launching another attack from Stalwart, but is stopped by a gunshot from Qrow. The two of them begin to fight each other, with Qrow swinging Harbinger at him. Then following up with a kick before blocking several of Lionheart's projectiles.
Hazel tries to smash Ozpin with his fists, but Ozpin is too fast for him. Nimbly jumping around while striking the man several times. Using Hazel like a springboard to launch himself away, their fight moves back over to the terrace. Ozpin kicks off a wall dodging fists and electric blasts, striking Hazel's face then jabs him several times in the chest. Eventually, Ozpin manages to roll under him and knock Hazel down on all fours with a hit to the legs. Ozpin then twirls his cane and prepares to deliver the finishing blow, but Hazel roars and smashes his fists into the ground, creating another lightning shockwave.
Meanwhile, Weiss starts to gasp and breathes normally again as the green aura coating her continues to glow and M/N forms hand symbols as she uses Kuji-kiri and places her hands on Weiss.
Pyrrha asks, "Huh? Wha- what's happening?"
"Weiss!" Nora helps Ruby up on her feet, who then quickly runs over to her teammate's side. "What happened? What's going on?!"
M/N smiles.
"I think she's going to be okay! She seems to be stabilizing."
With Weiss breathing again, Ruby and Coco smile, relieved that their friend's life is not endangered anymore. Ruby then hears her sister struggling, she looks over her shoulder to see Yang getting knocked back by Mercury. Yang charges forward, but Mercury's form disappears as a result of another one of Emerald's Semblance hallucinations. Emerald then creates an image of Raven, which Yang is hesitant to attack.
Yang then blocks another attack from Mercury, but his next series of hits manage to knock her down again. Ruby then looks over to Oscar fighting Hazel, with the latter's attack becoming too wild and unpredictable for the young boy. Oscar is then hit by one of Lionheart's projectiles and holds his shoulder in pain. Hazel is about to punch at Oscar again, but Qrow pushes Oscar out of the way and takes the blow in his back, launching him upwards. Ruby then lifts M/N's hands up to see that Weiss's wound has closed. Ruby smiles.
"Whatever you're doing, don't stop!" M/N nods.
"I won't."
"Good. Oscar needs help."
Coco activates Gianduja's assault shotgun form.
"I'm on it."
"M/N and Weiss still need cover!"
Nora approaches Coco's side holding Magnhild.
"No one's gonna touch 'em." Ruby nods.
"Okay, make it happen."
Ruby stands back up, transforming Crescent Rose into its scythe form and flips over. She lands to her sister's side, knocking Emerald back. Emerald's Semblance copies of Mercury then disappear, reforming back into the main Mercury.
Yang stands back up.
"Thanks, sis. You okay?"
"No, I'm angry."
Ruby proceeds forward as Pyrrha jumps up to Mercury and knocks him down with a shield bash.
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Back down in the vault, Vernal, Charugna, and Raven walk towards the Relic chamber. Suddenly, a symbol on the ground glows bright, as well as the circle enclosed around it. Similar circles with symbols in them also glow leading up to the Relic chamber's door. The tree's flowers then glow even more, and it's petals gently fall and float around the vault. One petal falls into Vernal's hand. Charugna chuckles.
"Having fun?"
Vernal glares back at Charugna as the petal in her hand dissolves into particles. Raven looks to Vernal.
"Vernal, stay focused."
"Oh, come now, Raven, let her enjoy this. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience."
Vernal asks, "How does this work?"
"Once the Spring Maiden places her hand on the door, it will open. For you - and only you. Then I will walk into the vault, and retrieve the Relic. No one else. Is that clear?"
"Yes." Raven sighs.
"It doesn't matter to us. Let's get this over with." Charugna holds her hand out.
"Alright then. Vernal, when you're ready."
Vernal approaches the door. While she does so, Raven slowly reaches for the hilt of Omen, but stops when Charugna speaks.
"You know, I've heard so many stories about you, Raven. They say you're a cunning leader, that you're strong, that you're clever." Vernal hovers her fingertips close to the door. Charugna glances back at Raven. "It's a shame that they're wrong."
Charugna suddenly launches out a blue, frost-like projectile from her hand.
"VERNAL!!" Charugna chuckles.
"Funny how your mentality works. Not caring about your own daughter, but 'caring' about someone you use as a pawn."
Raven reaches out, but she is already encased in ice by Charugna's attack. Vernal spins around and draws her weapons, but her body suddenly jolts as something stabs her stomach. She looks down and notices an elongated Grimm hand coming from Cinder's left arm, its' claws piercing her torso. Charugna looks from Raven back to Vernal.
"It's nothing personal, dear. You're just not worthy of such power. But I am." Vernal screams in agony as Charugna grabs her by the throat and burns her gut, then throws her to the ground, struggling to release Charugna's hand. The ice coating Raven is cracking. "So I will take... what is mine..."
Vernal's struggles begin to weaken, her grip on Charugna's arm loosening. Charugna smirks as she looks down on Vernal's body.
"You must take me for a fool, Bird Bitch. I know she's not the Spring Maiden. You are."
Charugna hears ice shatter from behind her and spins around, to see that Raven has broken free. A bluish aura glows around her body. She takes her mask off and drops it.
"You're right!! I am!!"
Raven opens her eyes, the telltale flames of a Maiden glowing around them as Charugna smirks.
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Nora holds Magnhild up defensively protecting Pyrrha, who is protecting Weiss as she stirs.
"You guys doing okay?"
Pyrrha nods with tears of joy.
"Sure are!"
Suddenly, Weiss opens up her eyes, stirring.
"M/N?"
Nora smiles before standing guard again. Meanwhile, Coco is taking on Hazel, who punches the former back into the wall. Hazel then launches an electrical charge from his lightning-Dust enhanced arm, but Coco flips cartwheels back.
Nora reaches out to Coco.
"Coco!" Coco holds her hand out.
"Step away from him! I've got this!"
Coco smirks as she focuses her Semblance on Hazel's Dust on his arm and the Dust glows brighter and brighter.
"No!"
Coco clenches her hand and the Dust explodes on Hazel, electrocuting him as he stumbles.
Weiss groggily asks, "Pyrrha... what's happening?" Pyrrha sighs.
"You took a heavy hit, you need to stay with me while the others fight."
"That's..." Weiss sighs "... annoying." Pyrrha smirks.
"Heh, good to have you back, Weiss."
Meanwhile, Qrow gets knocked back into the wall and then falls to the ground next to Coco, who's firing her gatling gun at Hazel. Oscar uses the Long Memory to block flaming rocks being fired from Stalwart. Nora takes Hazel and throws him outside onto Haven Academy's quad. Adam and White Fang soldiers look on.
A White Fang Soldier turns to Adam.
"What's going on in there?" Hazel holds his head.
"None of your concern..."
Adam and his followers stare in amazement as they watch Hazel get back up. He then takes out a pair of Burn Dust crystals and stabs them into his arms. He lets out another roar as Ruby watches from inside the building. She then looks back to her friends and allies, all of them looking tired and worn out from the battle they've endured.
Adam turns to his followers.
"Stay focused! Our friends are almost done here."
Adam and his followers get back to work, but then they hear a voice call out to him.
"ADAM!!"
They all look up and see Blake standing proudly on top of the roof of a nearby building. Cinder nods as Neo fires a flare dart into the sky to alert more to their location.
Adam growls.
"Blake?" Hazel's eyes widen.
"Who is that?"
Blake yells, "Stand down!"
The White Fang soldiers aim their firearms at her.
"Wait!" Adam puts his hands up as the White Fang soldiers stand down, before laughing evilly. "To think that I went through so much trouble to find you, only to have you deliver yourself to me."
"This isn't what's right for the Faunus! Stop what you're doing and we can end this peacefully."
"You're wrong, Blake, and you can't stop us."
"No, I can't. Not by myself."
"That's why she didn't come alone!"
Adam and his followers turn to the left in surprise, seeing Velvet standing in front of a massive legion of Faunus all armed with blunt weaponry, their shields bearing the old White Fang symbol.
Adam panics.
"What?!"
A White Fang Solider looks around as they ask, "Who's there?"
They then turn to the right, and see Ghira leading another massive legion of Faunus.
"Your brothers and sisters."
One of the White Fang Soldiers lowers his weapon, recognizing one of the Faunus in the crowd.
"M-Mata?"
Mata is in the crowd holding a club and shield as he pleads, "Please... stop this..."
Adam and his followers look all around them assessing the situation.
"Make no mistake, brothers! These are our enemies! And we will not let them ruin--"
Suddenly, Adam is interrupted when a Mistral airship shines its searchlight down on Adam and his group. The Mistral police captain is seen on the airship with Y/N and Kali as Y/N glares down with predatory eyes. Adam scowls at Y/N.
"You!" Y/N flicks his Jingasa.
"Convenient to see you again, Adam. I have quite the score to settle with you."
The Mistral Police Captain announces over the P.A.
"Adam Taurus, this is the Mistral Police Force! Lower your weapons and surrender peacefully."
More Mistral airships arrive.
Back inside, Ruby knocks Emerald back a few feet. Emerald then hears the sounds of the Mistral airships as their searchlights shine through the windows. Everyone stops what they are doing. Weiss leans up as Pyrrha continues watching her and M/N continues using Kuji-kiri on her.
"What's happening?" M/N smiles.
"I'm not sure. How are you feeling?" Weiss sits back up.
"Better. Much better. Keep it up."
Back outside, Blake lands to the ground from the roof.
"How?! How did you do this?!!"
"Adam, it's over."
Adam looks around as the crowds of Menagerie Faunus get closer to him and his group. He then pulls out a detonator.
"Then it's over for all of us." A female White Fang solider reaches out to Adam.
"Hey wait!"
Adam's followers hold up their arms as they brace for the impending explosion. Adam presses the button, but nothing happens.
"Huh?"
He presses the detonator button a few more times, nothing happens. Y/N laughs from the ship.
"Hahahaha!" A White Fang soldier scowls at Adam.
"What are you doing? Trying to get us all killed?!"
Suddenly, Adam grabs his collar, enraged.
"I am making humanity pay for WHAT THEY'VE DONE!!"
Adam lets go and pushes the White Fang soldier back when Blake speaks.
"We sent someone over to confirm your explosives, and once we did, she disarmed them."
Ilia walks out from around the tower, dropping her black camouflage as she holds the wires in her hand that disabled the bombs. Adam seethes, realizing that the situation is no longer in his favor. He turns to Hazel.
"What do we do?!" Hazel cracks his knuckles.
"This... is your business. Not mine. Fix it."
Adam just glares back at him before turning to Blake.
"I told you, Adam. It's over..."
Adam, not having any of it, yells out in frustration and charges forward toward Blake. He takes out Wilt from Blush to slash at her, but Blake uses her Semblance to get out of the way and she knocks him down by balling her fists together and hitting his back. Adam falls to the ground on his knees, before yelling out to his followers.
"KILL THEM!!!"
And thus, the battle between both Faunus groups begin. The White Fang soldiers draw their weapons and attempt to fire at the Mistral airships. Y/N jumps down and whips two with his tail, knocking them down.
A Faunus with a club battles one soldier, while Ilia fights two more with Lightning Lash.
Y/N punches a soldier before tail-whipping a second, nearby a horned Faunus strikes her opponent and drives them back.
Hazel observes the situation in front of him but is then impaled by a white, glowing stinger. He is then pulled back inside the building and sits up to see that Weiss is back on her feet, although trembling, with a summoned Queen Lancer flying above her. As she prepares to fight again, she gasps as she notices Blake entering the building with Y/N by her side. Yang and Ruby look back as well and gasp when they see Y/N and Blake. Blake's eyes widen as she sees all of her teammates in the same place.
"Yang? Ruby? Weiss?"
Yang stares back at her in disbelief, before her sister snaps her out of her trance.
"Yang! Go!"
She points in the direction of the vault entrance. Yang runs forward. Emerald and Mercury try to stop her.
"No!"
Emerald tries to stop Yang, but fails to and falls to the ground. Mercury grabs her prosthetic arm. Yang's eyes briefly turn red before turning back to normal. She detaches her arm and continues forward, causing Mercury to lose his balance for a bit. She jumps down the hole leading to the vault. Emerald and Mercury attempt to give chase, but they are stopped by an ice wall that suddenly appears in front of them. They turn around and see Weiss with her Queen Lancer summon as she prepares to fight the both of them. Pyrrha watches from her position and smiles. Ruby then turns back around to look at Blake, and both nod at each other as the Cat Faunus goes back outside to join the battle. Y/N smiles.
"I'll come back to heal Weiss fully. Just give us some time."
Pyrrha nods and Y/N runs out.
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Back down in the vault, Charugna smirks.
"Vernal was a decoy the whole time. The last Spring Maiden must've trusted you a great deal before she died. That was a mistake."
Raven growls and shoots Omen out of her hilt, and the two Maidens begin their battle against each other. They strike at each other with a flurry of vicious sword strikes. The two eventually clash, with Raven scowling at Charugna as her weapon shatters.
"You turned yourself into a monster just for power." Charugna conjures up another weapon while glaring.
"Look who's talking."
The two proceed forward to clash again. During their bout, Raven quickly switches between the various colored blades in her hilt to counter Charugna's various weapons that she conjures. As their battle intensifies, Charugna conjures a giant flaming sword while Raven uses her Maiden powers to create a massive ice sword. Their clash creates a massive shockwave that shakes the cavern, with the combatants above ground also feeling the tremors.
Due to their battle, the giant stalactites hanging from above start to drop. Both Maidens jump back to dodge out of the way. As Raven prepares for her next strike, Charugna jumps forward and grabs Raven's neck. As Charugna slowly drains her powers, Raven notices something and smirks. She sends out a frost-like attack from her palm and freezes Charugna's feet in place as more boulders from the cave in crash down on her.
Raven, now free from her grip, does a massive leap into the air and lands on top of one of the falling stalactites. She looks down and notices Charugna survived the cave in, using her purple fire powers to fly up to her. The two fight their way around the falling stalactites. Eventually, the stalactites land back on the ground, and both Maidens are on their knees, panting in exhaustion while their Auras shimmer as they are about to break.
Raven stands back up.
"Had enough yet? If you were stronger or more clever, then maybe... you'd remember to watch your back!"
Charugna glares at her, wondering what Raven is talking about, but then gasps as she looks behind her. She notices the dying Vernal aiming one of her weapons at her and fires. Charugna blocks the attack, but Raven quickly dashes up behind her and before she lands a devastating lightning attack on her face, Charugna sidesteps and smirks. Charugna backs up and intentionally drops over the edge of the vault's walkway and above the abyss. She stares back up at smirking.
Charugna falls down into the dark depths of the abyss, fading from view. Raven looks down as she watches her enemy continue plunging, before deactivating her Maiden powers and sighing.
Raven says solemnly, "Thank you, Vernal."
Raven sadly looks over to the now-deceased Vernal, whose eyes remain open on her lifeless body. Raven walks over to Vernal's corpse and gently closes her eyes. Raven then proceeds to the Relic chamber's doorway. She activates her Maiden powers again and begins the process to unlock the chamber. Eventually, the door opens up, and on the other side, a massive desert is shown with a path leading to the Relic of Knowledge, which rests on a stone pedestal.
Just as she's about to enter the chamber, Raven hears the sound of Ember Celica and turns around to glare at Yang landing behind her. Yang is does a three-point landing pose and stands back up to face Raven.