(Haven Academy)
Silently, Cinder, Raven, and Vernal ride the elevator as it descends towards the Vault. Cinder is lost in thought, pondering over what just happened to Y/N back in the grand hall.
Cinder: ("What the hell was that?! One moment he's on the floor completely unconscious and then the next, he's summoned those things out of nowhere! Did... did it came from his power... that sword...? Ugh, no matter, once I get the things I came here for, I'll deal with him and the silver-eyed girl later.")
Composing herself, the one-eyed Fall Maiden glances over to Vernal as she speaks up, breaking the silence.
Cinder: "You should be more assertive with your power. Because you'll be the first maiden to open a vault in decades. You should set a good example for all the other maidens. After all, you're making history."
The bandit girl just gives a deadpan look to her as she quickly replies.
Vernal: "I'm not doing this for any other reason beyond protecting my tribe, my family."
She looks to Raven, who has her arms crossed as she continues.
Vernal: "This is a burden, not an honor."
Both mother and daughter share a knowing look as Cinder chuckles and joyfully comments to Raven.
Cinder: "You trained her quite well, Raven."
Raven doesn't respond as the three continue to ride down the elevator until a moment later, the lift finally reaches the bottom. They then 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.
Cinder: "Hm, it's certainly grander than Beacon's. I wonder what the extra effort was for."
Raven: "Can we please not linger?"
Cinder: "Hm, after you."
Vernal steps off the platform first, followed by Cinder, and then Raven, the latter putting her back on.
(Meanwhile)
Back in the grand hall and near the front of the elevator, the red-eyed Y/N, Ruby, and Yang are being pressed away by Emerald and Mercury. Nearby, Qrow, Roman, and Neo are facing off against Hazel and Lionheart. Both Y/N and Yang are exchanging fists and kicks with Mercury.
Y/N #1: "To think I saw you and Emerald as friends."
Mercury just snickers at that.
Mercury: "Heh, suck, doesn't it?"
Enraged, Y/N use Ruby's semblance to dash over to him. Mercury prepares to kick him away only for the black tornado split into three and goes behind, morphing back into one much to Mercury's surprise. Now standing behind him, Y/N slash him with Grimm Slayer and Yang follow this up by punching him in the chest, flinging him a few meters away. Mercury tries to recover from this only to see the red-eyed Y/N extend his hand and summon a few red glyphs around him. Mercury tries to move out of the way only to see that there's a black glyph underneath him, keeping his legs in place.
Mercury: "What?"
With him distracted, Yang charges in, landing blow after blow at Mercury who could only now block with his arms the best he can. The red-eyed Yang leaps out of the way as Y/N charge in with Grimm Slayer, turning into a black tornado once more. Before Mercury can react, Y/N slash Mercury and swiftly ricochet from the red glyphs to bounce off to continue his numerous speedy strikes. All Mercury can do is try to block the attacks and even try to land a hit, but it was useless as the moment Y/N unsummon those red glyphs and back away, Yang leaps into the air by Y/N's glyph. Before Mercury can block it, Yang punch him squarely in the face, sending him flying and before he hit a wall, Y/N summon a red glyph which shoot out an ethereal dust projectile straight at him. Mercury is then hit with this projectile, which slams him to a wall, cracking upon impact.
Yang: "Sucks, doesn't it?"
Y/N couldn't help but smile upon seeing the bruised Mercury being back up in the corner and pushed back like that. Almost like... he's enjoying this. He quickly shakes it off and focus on the battle at hand.
During this, Ruby is taking on Emerald as Ruby swings her scythe at her, while Emerald blocks every strike. As her guilt grows and sanity beginning to fracture, Emerald speaks to Ruby.
Emerald: "P-Please, just surrender. None of you have a chance at winning. Once Cinder has her sights set on something, she always get it. Y-You're too kind to get involved for any of this."
Making Emerald back away with another swing from her scythe, Ruby replies back.
Ruby: "What about Y/N? My friends?"
Emerald: "Well... I..."
Ruby: "Everything you and your group has done, hurting the people I care about. All those innocent lives that were killed. I can't just stand by and do nothing."
Pained by her conscience and Ruby's remark, Emerald yells out.
Emerald: "Then you can die like the rest!"
The green-haired girl goes to shoot her pistols but, Ruby blocks the gunshots with her scythe as she charges after her, ready to swing her weapon at her. Emerald tries to move out of the way only to find a black glyph underneath her feet and trapping her in place.
Emerald: "W-What?"
Before she has time to process, a red glyph appears above her as it shoots out a few ethereal dust projectiles at her, making her wince out in pain.
Emerald: "Auugh!!"
After that, Emerald tries to barely block Ruby's attack as Ruby continues her numerous strikes. In the corner of Emerald's eyes, she finds the red-eyed Y/N, walking over to her with Grimm Slayer in hand, staring daggers at her.
Y/N #1: "You're the reason Pyrrha killed Penny. You and your fucking group started the Fall of Beacon. Now, it's payback."
As he said this, Ruby leaps away, landing beside Y/N as she looks at the trapped Emerald, who's trying to recover from the various attacks inflicted upon her. Without glancing at him, Ruby speaks up, addressing to the red-eyed Y/N.
Ruby: "Yang?"
Y/N #1: "Said she can deal with Mercury, and I should help you out."
Ruby: "I see... Rose of Thorns?"
Y/N #1: "Rose of Thorns."
Before the trapped Emerald has time to react, Y/N and Ruby turn into spiral tornadoes, closing the distance to her as the two surround her and strike her in every direction. All Emerald could do is block every strike and gunshot and try to attack back as all she could see is red and black rose petals falling around her.
Emerald: ("Damn it. What do I do? What the hell do I do!?")
Nearby, Lionheart is deflecting and blocking Qrow's strikes as the huntsman angrily glare at the headmaster.
Qrow: "How could you, Leo? Are you that much of a coward that you would sell us all like that? How many lives, huntsmen or not, had to die to keep yourself safe?"
Soon enough, the two collide their weapons together as Lionheart retorts back.
Lionheart: "You have never met 'her,' you never seen 'her,' what 'she' can do. You have no idea what we've all been up against."
The huntsman refutes this as he kicks Leo away, making him slide away several feet away.
Qrow: "We know who we are fighting against all along, but I never thought I'd have to add a friend like you to that list. Besides, Y/N has already encounter Salem and survived."
Lionheart: "I'm sorry, Qrow. But if what you said is true, I can only pity Mr. L/N for getting involved in this and you fail as his mentor to prevent that encounter."
As he said this, Leo start shooting a bunch of lightning dusts at Qrow, which Qrow evades, zig-zagging his way over to Leo as he continues to swing his longsword as the headmaster goes to block his attack once more.
Close by, Roman and Neo are in the middle of fighting against the angered Hazel as he swings his arms around, charged up by dusts. Of course, Roman and Neo dodges his attacks, and with the help of Neo's semblance, they can land a bunch of hits on Hazel, striking him on his back, chest, and even try getting rid of the dust crystals from his biceps. However, their continuous attacks are always interrupted by Hazel swinging his arms to back them away from him. Neo goes to attack Hazel with Hush's hidden blade until she's shot from behind by Leo's lightning dust shot to assist Hazel before continuing his fight with Qrow. This gives Hazel enough time to punch Neo, sending her a few meters away, knocking her out cold as Hazel approaches the shocked Roman.
Roman: "Neo!"
Seeing this in the corner of his eye, the red-eyed Y/N summons a red glyph to block Hazel's path to Roman and another red glyph over the unconscious Neo and begins shooting multiple ice shards to attack Hazel to hurt and distract him.
Roman: "T-Thanks!"
Y/N #1: "Don't mention it!"
Seeing Neo's unconscious body, Hazel going to get him, and in a moment of desperation, Roman calls out to Ozpin.
Roman: "Okay! Fine! Just beat this guy!"
And with that, Roman relinquish control to Ozpin as Y/N's red glyphs vanish as Y/N turns his attention to his fight against Emerald and Mercury.
Ozpin: "Thank you, Roman."
Hazel charges at Ozpin, who just put on a fighting stance. 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. With the two busy, Ozpin and Hazel engage each other again. Hazel tries to smash him with his fists, but Ozpin manage to barely evade it, 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, pushing Ozpin away as Hazel goes to punch him in the chest, making him hit a wall. As he recovers from this, Ozpin spots the charging Hazel as he punches him once more, cracking the wall behind him. Hazel follows this up grabbing him by the arm and punching his face, flinging him in the middle of the grand hall.
Ozpin: ("Okay, this is going to be more difficult than I thought.")
Back down in Haven's Vault, Vernal, Cinder, 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 its petals gently fall and float around the vault. One glowing petal falls into Vernal's hand as she smiles warmly.
Cinder: "Having fun?"
Vernal glares back at Cinder as the petal in her hand dissolves into particles.
Raven: "Vernal, stay focused."
Cinder: "Oh, come now, Raven, let her enjoy this. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience."
Vernal: "How does this work?"
Cinder: "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?"
Vernal: "R-Right."
Raven: "It doesn't matter to us. Let's get this over with."
Cinder: "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 Cinder speaks up.
Cinder: "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. Cinder glances back at Raven.
Cinder: "It's a shame that they're wrong."
Cinder suddenly launches out a blue, frost-like projectile from her hand.
Raven: "Vernal!!"
Raven reaches out, but she is already encased in ice by Cinder'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, breaking her aura entirely. Cinder looks from Raven back to Vernal, approaching the bandit girl.
Cinder: "It's nothing personal, dear. You're just not worthy of such power..."
She then impales her claws deeper into Vernal as she continues.
Cinder: "But I am."
Cinder twists her Grimm arm, and Vernal screams in agony as she is thrown to the ground, struggling to remove the claws from her stomach. The ice coating Raven begins cracking as Raven struggles to break free.
Cinder: "So, I will take... what is mine..."
Vernal's struggles begin to weaken, her grip on Cinder's Grimm arm loosening. Cinder smirks as she looks down on Vernal's body, but then realizes that something is wrong.
Cinder: "Wha-what is this? Where's the power?! Where is it!?"
Cinder hears ice shatter from behind her and spins around, to see that Raven has broken free as a bluish aura glows around her body.
Raven: "You won't find it, because Vernal isn't the Spring Maiden!"
Before continuing, Raven takes her mask off and drops it, opening her eyes with the flames of a Maiden glowing around them, looking at Cinder with visibly rage at seeing Vernal gravely wounded.
Raven: "I am!"