Just a note, I will end the book with this chapter, then pick it back up with Volumes 4-6. 

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Ozpin joined Ironwood in the specially designed spectator's booth as the next two contestants for the 1-on-1 battles came out. 

"I have guards at the ready," said Ironwood, "If even the slightest thing seems off..." 

"I hope it won't come to that," Ozpin as he poured himself a drink from his teapot. 

____________________________________

"Salutations, Pyrrha Nikos!" shouted an excited Penny, "It's an honor to finally meet you!" 

Pyrrha didn't respond. 

She looked down to her hands, remembering her conversation with Jaune. 

Pyrrha wrapped her hands around her weapons as she stood to face her foe.

____________________________________ 

"Mercury, what are you doing? You were hurt! Why..." Ruby stopped, "What's going on?"

He didn't respond. He just looked at her with a grin full of malice. 

"Fine. If you're not going to tell me..." 

She tried to get around him, but Mercury sidestepped to block her path. 

He smirked again as he crossed his arms in confidence.

____________________________________

Pyrrha underestimated Penny. 

Even though she was dodging and deflecting the oncoming attacks, Pyrrha still found herself at a disadvantage against Penny's fluid attacks. 

Between the green lasers and the blades, Pyrrha was losing ground. 

She didn't expect her signature sword and shield to be forced out of her hands. 

Pyrrha tried to use her semblance to regain her weapons, but Penny was sure to keep her advantage. 

As Pyrrha found herself defenseless, Penny prepared her final attack. 

Penny held her eight swords above her head with the intent to end the match. 

Pyrrha's eyes widened in surprise.

The swords were multiplying.  

There were hundreds of swords before her eyes. 

With no choice left in her mind, Pyrrha sent the blades back towards Penny with a magnetic shockwave. 

The strings attached to her weapon wrapped around her and pressed down on her. 

Her arms and torso crumpled like a tin can as she was torn in half. 

Pyrrha looked on in absolute horror. 

Ruby cried in sorrow at the sight of her friend. 

"Cut the feed!" yelled Oobleck, "Cut it now!" 

"This is not a tragedy. This was not an accident," a woman's voice cut out amongst the screams of the crowd, "This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians but are, in reality, nothing more than men... Our Academies' Headmasters wield more power than most armies, and one was audacious enough to control both..." 

Meanwhile, (y/n) began to walk back to Vale, an ominous mist covering his trail. 

Two Atlas soldiers on patrol stopped him but were soon killed by the Grimm that followed the mist. 

"As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you the situation there is... equally undesirable... Our Kingdoms are on the brink of war, yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark..." continued the woman, "So I ask you: When the first shots are fired... who do you think you can trust?"

Almost immediately, alarms went off, signaling a Grimm attack. 

"Alert. Incoming Grimm Attack. Threat Level: Nine." 

A giant Nevermore landed on the dome and began to break in. 

The Battle for Beacon began promptly. 

____________________________________ 

Outside the arena, multiple bullheads landed at the docks. 

The hatch opened, revealing the White Fang and their leader. 

"Bring them to their knees!" yelled the auburn-haired Faunus Leader. 

More bullheads landed, bringing with them more and more Grimm. 

____________________________________

"What is going on?!" yelled Weiss as she drove her rapier into the head of a Grimm, "Can you get in contact with Ruby and Yang?!" 

"Their signals are strong on their scrolls, but I can't find a moment to get away to call them!" responded Blake, as she shot some Grimm. 

As other hunters and huntresses began to arrive, Weiss and Blake began to press the Grimm back. 

"We can maintain this line!" said Weiss confidently, "We can stop the Grimm here!" 

Suddenly, hunters began to fall as gunshots rang out. 

Weiss put up an ice wall to protect Blake. 

"What... What is this?!" yelled Blake as she saw the White Fang amongst the Grimm. 

"They've teamed up?!" said Weiss in disbelief, "No matter! Keep fighting until help arrives!"

____________________________________

The giant Nevermore finally broke through the dome of the arena and landed to terrorize the staduimgoers. 

Before the Nevermore could take any lives, it collapsed as metal lockers were jabbed into its back. 

The contestants of the Vytal Festival all stood to the challenge of the Grimm. 

"If we all work together, we can do this!" said Ruby. 

"We can fight them!" yelled Nora.

"Well said, fellow students!" 

Port and Oobleck walked over to them. 

"We'll take it from here, children!" yelled Port. 

"We can help!" said Ren. 

"No," responded Oobleck, "Hunters and Huntresses are supposed to help the innocent. So go do that." 

The group nodded and ran out to Beacon's courtyard while Oobleck and Port prepared to fight alone.

____________________________________

Roman smiled as the door to his airborne prison cell opened. 

Neo stood there with his signature hat, tossing it to him as they made their way to the ship's control room. 

After killing everyone in their way, Neo began to work the controls. 

"Man! This is great! Using their own tech against them!" 

Roman laughed as Neo began to use her source codes, given to her by Cinder's benefactor. 

____________________________________

Ruby, Weiss, and the other hunters and huntresses fought the Grimm and the White Fang, pushing them back. 

Fellow Beacon students rushed out from the school to help and soon, it was all out war. 

Gunshots and roars burst out as Man and Monster clashed again. 

"Have you been able to get in contact with Blake and Yang?" asked Weiss, slashing away at more Grimm. 

"They were able to find each other," said Ruby as she shot into the crowd of oncoming foes, "They're somewhere around here, fighting on their own!"

"Should we help them?" 

Ruby stopped her attacks. 

She looked around to all the devastation and panic. 

She gripped her weapon tightly as she thought about Blake and Yang. 

"We have to stay and help out here!" yelled Ruby, "We have to believe in them!" 

Weiss looked back to her leader for a moment but then turned her eyes back to the battle. 

Just as they thought they had the advantage, a rouge Atlesian Paladin came out and began to fight for the enemy. 

"What's going on?!" said Weiss in disbelief, "Why are the Paladins fighting us?! They're supposed to be on our side!" 

____________________________________

(y/n) stumbled across the dormitory halls of Beacon, the sounds of the outside battle drowned out by the walls of the school. 

He stumbled like a drunk man, running into walls and muttering incoherent nonsense. 

That is until he saw her. 

Standing right there in front of him. 

He stood up straight, his eyes locked on her red eyes and white hair. 

She walked towards him until she was only about a foot away. 

She brought up a single finger and tapped his forehead. 

"Become mine. Become mine once more." 

(y/n) fell to the floor, his eyes wide open. His eyes widened as his breath became heavy and his heart began to beat. 

His body began to thrash as he twisted and contorted into unnatural body positions. 

His arms began to bend backward and his limbs locked out. 

Human. 

Grimm.

Sun. 

Moon. 

Day. 

Night. 

Light. 

Darkness. 

"Dark Times are approaching. When the time comes where innocent blood will be spilled, my true purpose will be revealed."

"Yes... Go away to a foreign land... Escape the execution of a long-awaited plan."

His thrashing stopped. 

"I'm so sorry..." 

His eyes rolled into the back of his head. 

His breathing became steady. 

He sat up. 

His hair was white. 

The sclerae of his eyes were jet black and his irises glowed an unnatural red.

He was whole with her again. 

____________________________________

Cinder watched from the rooftops of Beacon, spectating the death and destruction with a smile on her face. 

Emerald and Mercury, however, looked on with wide eyes. 

"Ah... As much as I love this, I have other business to attend to..." said Cinder. 

She left the fray and began to make her way over to Beacon. 

"It's time I fulfilled my destiny..." 

____________________________________

(y/n) walked out into Beacon's courtyard, his weapons on his hips. 

He looked around at the chaos. 

Fire and Steel and Man and Monsters clashed again and again. 

"(y/n)!" called out a fellow student, "Help us out would you?" 

He walked over and drew his pistol. 

He pulled the trigger, killing the student instantly. 

"Sorry. My bad..." 

Other students turned around at the sudden sound, shocked at (y/n)'s actions. 

"What did you do?!" cried out another student. 

(y/n) drew his sword. 

"Hurry up and come." 

He sliced an unfortunate huntsman down with his sword. 

"Boring..." 

The surrounding huntsman and huntresses charged (y/n). 

He killed them all. 

Slashing and shooting. 

He drove his blade through the stomach of a young man as he shot a poor young woman. 

Soon, only bodies and blood surrounded him. 

He ran his hands through his now white hair as the fire of the battle spread. 

(y/n) saw a huntress trying to fight an Ursa with a sword. 

A sick smile was plastered on his face as he pointed his gun at the fighting huntress. 

He pulled the trigger. 

The bullet hit her leg as she lost her balance and fell. 

The Ursa pounced on top of her and bit down. 

She cried out as sharp teeth pierced her arm. 

Bones cracked and flesh was split as the monster began to devour the girl. 

All (y/n) heard was the girl's screaming. 

He began to chuckle at the sight. 

"HAHAHA! THIS IS AMAZING!" 

He gazed at all of the fire and death. 

He loved every second of it. 

____________________________________

Weiss looked on worridly as Ruby disappeared over the top of Beacon tower. 

Reluctantly, she had agreed to launch Ruby up the tower with her glyphs while she stayed on the ground to assist the others. 

She was soon abruptly torn away from her thoughts as a bullet grazed her cheek from behind her. 

She turned around to see her attacker, but she almost couldn't believe who she saw. 

"Damn... You dodged it... To be expected of the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company..." 

"(y/n)! W-What are you doing?!" 

"(y/n)?" said the young man, "No... No... He's not here anymore." 

He pointed to his head. 

"It's just me now... Just Zero." 

He shot another bullet at Weiss, but she skillfully deflected it. 

"I don't care what your name is," said Weiss, "But if you're going to attack me, then that means that you've sided with them..."  

Weiss prepared her rapier as Zero drew his sword. 

Zero charged forward shooting wildly at Weiss, who used her glyphs to get away from the oncoming danger. 

Once he was within range, Zero's Weeping Willow clashed with Weiss' Myrtenaster. 

Zero swung his sword again, but Weiss used her glyphs to push her back. 

She drove her sword into the ground, summoning a large arm with a large sword. 

The large, white arm forced Zero to go on the defensive as he dodged the huge sword. 

He changed his sword into its rifle form and tried to shoot not the arm, but the one controlling the arm. 

Weiss used the giant sword to protect her from the rifle's bullets, but she eventually was forced to make the arm disappear. 

"It seems I still have some work to do..." said Weiss grimly as she prepared to defend against her opponent once more. 

"I had a dream once, you know..." said Zero, "I was in a clear pool of water. It was warm. Warm and Disgusting... I hated it... Once day, I reached out, desperate to end that eternal suffering. And I found something... Me... I found myself in a pool of utter darkness. Wanting to escape that place more than anything, I ate that spineless coward and became complete... 

The two stared at each other, but only for a moment. 

Zero initiated the duel once again, slashing away at Weiss, who used her glyphs to dodge and counterattack. 

Between his sword and his pistol, Weiss found herself on the offensive. 

"My, My!" taunted Zero, "You seem much better off than those huntsmen and huntresses that I killed back there!" 

Weiss grip on her weapon tightened. 

"Oh? You're still going to fight?" asked Zero, "I'm better than you are. I'll kill you if you let your guard down..." 

Suddenly, a bright silver light broke out from the top of the tower. 

For a moment, the blinding light spread out across the sky, but then it vanished almost as soon as it came. 

"W-What was that?!" said Weiss, "That came from where Ruby was..." 

Directly in front of him, Weiss heard a painful scream. 

Zero held a hand over his eyes and shot blindly as he yelled in pain. 

"Damn it! Silver eyes! Gah! It hurts!" 

Weiss took this opportunity to lunge forward and stab her opponent in the gut. 

"I'm... Sorry," muttered Weiss as she looked at her blood-stained blade. 

Zero twitched from the attack. 

"That... HURT!!!"

Red tendrils erupted from the wound. 

It wrapped around Weiss' waist and slammed her into the ground, knocking her out. 

The red tendrils eventually found their way back into Zero's body, sealing and healing the wound. 

Zero staggered away, still rubbing his eyes from the silver light. 

____________________________________

A tear landed on Blake's arm. 

Yang was crying. 

Both due to the loss of her arm and due to Blake's injury. 

She put pressure on Blake's stomach wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding. 

"Don't push yourself, kid," said Qrow. 

He wrapped another bandage around what has left of Yang's arm. 

"Yang..." muttered Blake, "I'm sorry..." 

"It's not your fault," cried Yang. 

"Not... your fault?" 

Yang turned around. 

Qrow prepared his weapon. 

With a hand over his eyes, the white-haired male staggered towards them. 

"Of course it's your fault..." 

A wide smile was plastered on his face as he lowered his hands, revealing bleeding eyes. 

"Hello, Blake..." 

He fired a bullet which Qrow quickly stopped. 

"Damn it! What are you doing here?" questioned Qrow. 

"Carrying out her will," replied Zero. 

At the mention of "her", Qrow quickly attacked Zero with his sword. 

He fired a few more shots at Qrow before guarding with his own sword. 

"Where's Ozpin? Has he abandoned you?"

"You should really learn to keep your mouth shut!" said Qrow as he pushed him back. 

After clashing over and over again, Zero staggered back and returned his sword back to its sheath. 

His hand, however, was still on the blade. 

In the blink of an eye, Qrow collapsed, small cuts appeared all over his body as he fell. 

It seems he was no match for his semblance. 

Yang charged Zero in an attempt to protect Blake, but a well-timed punch sent her back to the ground. 

"Stop this!" yelled Blake, "Why are you doing this?" 

"Why?" 

He looked as if he was trying to come up with an answer to her question. 

"Coins... Have a heads side and a tails side, do they not?" 

Blake didn't respond. 

"That sniveling coward was the heads side of the coin, per se. (y/n) was his name, wasn't it?" 

She recoiled at that name. 

"We fought over control over this vessel... Somehow, he was able to keep me at bay, but with serious side effects... He couldn't control himself like a normal person. He could barely even speak!" 

A tear began to roll down Blake's cheek. 

"S-So he was fighting you... All this time?" 

"Correct... I will admit, he had a good grasp on keeping me suppressed... But then she set me free... The coin was flipped, per se, and I was in control. Zero..." 

She shuddered at the monster that stood before her.

He brought up his pistol and aimed it at her. 

She closed her eyes, waiting for a sound of thunder. 

Nothing came. 

She opened her eyes. 

He was still standing there, still aiming his weapon. 

It was as if he was frozen in time. 

Suddenly, he jumped away, dodging a scythe attack. 

Qrow was back, brandishing his weapon. 

Zero was about to charge but stopped. 

He turned his head to the sky as if someone was calling him. 

"Today was a blast," he said, "But I must be going." 

Just as soon as he came, he was gone. 

Goodbye, (y/n). 

Hello, Zero. 

____________________________________

He stood before the giant black door. 

Red light from the hellish atmosphere poured in from the surrounding windows. 

He opened the door. 

She was waiting for him. 

"Now, Zero. Serve me..." 

"I am yours, Salem."