A massive fist slammed into Weiss's chest, interrupting her jump. She felt her ribs crack, and she was thrown backwards, tumbling along the ground. She attempted to use the momentum to roll into a crouching position. The pain in her side, from one of many hits she'd taken, distracted her. She stumbled and collapsed. Ruby looked towards her partner, then turned her attention back to Slate. The massive bear of a man charged her, swinging his fists, he Aura still glowing, forming an impenetrable shield. Ruby used her Speed to dash backwards, and fired a shot into Slate's knee. He stumbled but didn't fall as she expected. As he closed the distance between them, he swung at Ruby with a wild haymaker, too imprecise and uncontrolled to have any hope of landing. Ruby dodged under his fist, hopped up on Slate's back, wrapped Crescent's blade around his neck and fired. She cycled the action rapidly, firing off three shots in rapid succession. The recoil forcing the blade against Slate's neck was enough to decapitate an Ursa, yet the two of them were only pushed backwards. Slate grunted in irritation, reached up and grabbed Crescent's blade, and pulled. Ruby's training had taught her never to let go of her weapon, but this proved to be a mistake in this case. She was pulled right over Slate's shoulder along with Crescent, and Slate swung the weapon down hard, slamming Ruby into the ground.

Ruby struggled to get up. Slate slammed his foot down on her chest and held it there. He wrenched Crescent out of her hands and tossed it away. He was struck by a few blasts from Myrtenaster, but he ignored them as if they were nothing more than a gust of wind. Reaching down, he grabbed Ruby by the throat, moved his foot away, and then lifted her off the ground. He held her at arm's length and looked her up and down in disgust.

"Just a stupid little girl playing with weapons too big for her," He said, sounding disappointed.

He clasped his other hand around her head. Weiss cried out in horror, and ran forward, but she wouldn't make it in time, and even if she could, there was nothing she could do to stop Slate snapping Ruby's neck. Slate twisted slowly, adding more pressure. He grinned savagely as Ruby cried out in pain. Suddenly, there was the thunderous sound of an impact as something very heavy struck the back of Slate's head. It was a small black case, covered in studs, and swung through the air with great force. Slate was dazed by the blow, and lost grip of Ruby as he stumbled forward. She slipped from his hands and crumpled to the ground, barely conscious. As Slate stumbled away, Weiss saw Coco Adel standing behind him. She looked extremely unhappy, and out of breath. Slate shook his head, steadies himself, and lunged a hand at her. He had just enough time to look past her in surprise before Velvet Scarlatina flew over her shoulder and kicked him in the face. Velvet flipped backwards and landed next to Coco, who was transforming her weapon into its Gatling gun form.

"Oh, you f-" Slate managed to get out, before Coco opened up on him. The barrage of bullets struck him in the head and chest, and he desperately used his arms to shield himself. He planted his feet down solidly, but the force of the impacts sent him sliding backwards along the ground. His Aura glowed, absorbing the shots, but the Dust Crystals set in the flesh of his torso were glowing even brighter, even giving off smoke. While Coco continued to fire, Weiss ran to Ruby and wrapped her arms around her. With her last ounce of strength, Ruby grabbed Weiss and they were both teleported a short distance away in a burst of rose petals. As soon as they reappeared, Ruby passed out, her head hanging back, giving Weiss a view of her severely bruised neck. Tears in her eyes, Weiss lifted up Ruby's head and placed her forehead against her partner's.

Coco's weapon finally ran out of ammo, having pumped a few hundred rounds into Slate. Slate slumped to his knees, breathing heavily. With a sharp cracking sound, one of the Dust crystals in his chest, a green Wind Crystal, blew to pieces, sending a wave of energy reverberating through the Dust tattoos and other crystals nearby.

Weiss looked up at Coco, who was collapsing the Gatling gun back into its case, looking ready to beat Slate to death with it.

"Thank you," Weiss said, squeezing Ruby tightly.

"Enough of our people have died today." Coco said.

Ochre paced back and forth in front of Blake. He tossed the scrap metal shiv into the air and caught it, spun it around in his fingers, tossed it upwards again. Blake concentrated on strengthening her Aura, trying to close her wounds, get herself back into fighting shape. It was hopeless. Her leg was busted and she was bleeding badly. Ochre examined his improvised weapon, then placed his thumb over the tip and pushed down. Blake felt a sharp burst of pain in her own thumb, but it was barely noticeable over the pain wracking her body.

"What?" Ochre asked, "Nothing to say?"

Blake snapped her eyes open, looking up at Marcus. They were glowing with impossible black light. Her hair whipped about wildly in phantom wind. Marcus's entire body was suddenly struck with extreme pain. He stumbled backwards, and slumped into a crouch, gripping his body. He screamed in agony. Blake screamed with him, feeling the same pain he felt. She didn't care if she was killed too. She would use her new Semblance to blow him to pieces. She channelled the energy at him, slowly letting the power tear him apart. She saw the blood vessels in his left eye pop, and the veins of his forehead burst open, before both wounds spontaneously disappeared. Blake's vision was suddenly clouded with blood. She ignored it. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Yang, on her knees next to Blake. Her long golden hair was blowing about, and her eyes were full of terror. She was mouthing something.

Blake! Stop! Please!

Fighting to reign the power in was nearly impossible. Both times Blake had used it before, she hadn't stopped until everyone threatening her was dead. For a moment Blake thought she wouldn't be able to stop; that her rage, fuelled by pain and despair, would destroy her along with Marcus Ochre. Dying in order to kill this monster wasn't the worst thing she could think of, but if he survived, she would be leaving her friends in danger. And still, there was Jack. She couldn't let him get out of this alive. Gritting her teeth hard, and squeezing her fists until her knuckles were white, Blake fought to contain the Semblance. After a few agonizing seconds that felt like hours, the light disappeared from her eyes, and her hair fell flat.

Ochre stood up straight, looking his body up and down. He was breathing heavily and sweating. He looked over to Blake.

"Shame," He said, "I actually thought that might have worked. Tell me, do you have to concentrate to let that out, or do you just stop holding it in?"

Ochre walked over to her and crouched down, so that they were at eye level. He smiled.

"I've been waiting for a chance to meet, Belladonna," Ochre said, "Nice of you to come running before I was even finished with that punk Arc."

"He's going to kill you," Blake said, "No matter what you do to me, he's going to kill you."

The sound of an explosion came from up the cliff. It sounded like one of the giant transport ships had been brought down.

"That's the sound of your friends losing," Blake said, "You've thrown all your forces into this attack, and you failed."

"Oh, please," Ochre scoffed, "Like taking over Beacon was ever going to work. I don't care about Jack's war, and I knew all those slack-jawed redneck dipshits were getting themselves killed. But still, it presented a good opportunity to get to you."

"What do you want from me?" Blake demanded.

Ochre jammed the scrap metal blade into his belt, and stepped closer to Blake. He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her head around. Blake cried in protest, but was unable to resist. Ochre parted her hair, getting a good look at the two scars on her scalp, where her ears had been.

"Never really agreed with Jack about cutting ears off," Ochre said, "Makes you look too... human."

He let go of Blake's hair and stepped back. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

"Hope you don't mind if I smoke," He said, placing a cigarette in his mouth.

He withdrew a lighter and lit the cigarette. Blake felt a burning in her lungs and began coughing.

"Did you know Jack thought you were still White Fang?" Ochre asked, with absurd casualness, "Thought you were infiltrating Beacon."

Blake looked up at him, furious, "That's what this was all about?!"

"Stupid, right?" Ochre chuckled, "I knew you'd turned on 'em from the moment we started watching you."

"Then why do you want to kill me?" Blake asked. She could feel her Aura working to fix the damage to her leg. She felt she'd be able to stand soon. She'd have to start coming up with a plan soon.

"Let me tell you something," Ochre said, "What the White Fang are now, those mindless savages, acting violently like wounded animals, killing and destroying with no goal-"

"We weren't supposed to be like-" Blake began.

"Shut up. I have more respect for them now than I ever did when they were playing the "peaceful protester" routine. At least now they're being honest with themselves. They're animals, and no amount of pretending is gonna change that. They were always going to act according to their nature."

"Never wanted violence," Blake said, still choking from the cigarette, "I wanted peaceful change, equality out of mutual respect, not fear or violence."

"Oh, give me a break," Ochre said, "Yeah, I've heard that whole spiel before. Always with the talk about peace, and equality, and all of that shit. You're talking like you're something you're not. Heh. My mother was just like that."

Blake's eyes widened, she stared up at Ochre in confusion.

"What?" He asked, "You didn't know?"

Crouching down in front of Blake again, he titled his head towards her. He pulled his hair back, exposing his scalp, so Blake could see the two scars just above his forehead. Blake stared at them, trying to speak but unable to form words. Eventually, she hung her head, feeling tears welling in her eyes.

"See what I mean?" Ochre said, "It makes us look too human."

Slate fought his way up to his feet, and charged Coco. He threw all his weight into a wild flying punch, which Coco dodged easily. He fought to change his direction mid-sprint, wasting momentum. Coco dodged between each wild swing with ease, waited for a precise opening, and swung her weapon with all her strength. The black case slammed into the back side of Slate's knee, causing his leg to give way. He dropped to his knees, and barely had time to get his bearings before Coco roundhouse kicked him in the head. He tumbled backwards, but hadn't hit the ground before he was fighting to get up again. As he began lifting his weight off the pavement, Velvet came in from the side and kicked him squarely in the ribs. He fell back down, and made a weak effort to grab at Velvet as she dodged away. As Slate struggled up to his hands and knees, Coco and Velvet stood side by side, preparing for his next attack.

Slate suddenly raised one arm and punched the pavement. The asphalt beneath his fist shattered to pieces. Coco and Velvet glanced at each other in confusion. Without warning, Slate grabbed a chunk of asphalt and whipped it at Coco. The makeshift projectile struck her in the chest, with enough for to knock the air from her lungs and send her stumbling backwards. Slate followed the throw immediately with a charge. Velvet dashed forward and leaped into a spinning kick. Slate batted her aside, barely slowing down. He clotheslined Coco while she was still stunned, knocking her to the ground. He raised one foot high, then brought it down on Coco's chest. Coco gasped and wheezed. Slate raised his foot again and brought it down on Coco's head, knocking her unconscious. Grinning in satisfaction, Slate reached down towards her, intent on finishing her. He was interrupted by Velvet suddenly landing on his shoulders. He looked around in surprise as Velvet dropped down into a piggyback position, then locked her legs around his neck. She squeezed tightly, fighting desperately to cut off his oxygen. As they struggled, Slate was hit in the chest by a blast of Dust. Weiss had rejoined the fight, firing Myrtenaster one-handed while supporting Ruby on her other arm. Slate began wheezing and seemed about to collapse.

Suddenly, he took hold of Velvet's right leg with both hands. Taking hold of her ankle with one hand, and foot with the other, he twisted. Velvet screamed as her bones cracked. Slate pulled her down off his shoulders, slamming her down on the ground. With sudden speed, he grabbed Coco, raised her over his head, and threw her at Weiss. Weiss was about to dodge when she realized the, unconscious, Coco didn't have her Aura up. She shoved Ruby to one side as gently as she could and caught Coco. The impact sent them both flying backwards, with Weiss bearing the brunt of the impact when they hit the ground. Ruby struggled up to a crouch, looked back at Coco and Weiss, then turned to Slate. Slate stumbled over to Velvet, looking like he was finally starting to be worn down by all the damage. He reached down, grabbed Velvet's shoulder, and pulled her up into a kneeling position.

"Come here, freak," He grunted, grabbing her by the head with one massive hand and grabbing one of her ears with the other, "Show you what happens when you mess with-"

A cloud of rose petals exploded into existence directly in front of them. Slate was stunned for a moment, not just by the sudden appearance of Ruby, but by a stabbing pain in his chest. He looked down and saw Ruby's arm outstretched towards him, her hand stuck deep into his chest. Her fingers were wrapped around a crystal. Slate thrust an arm towards Ruby. She ripped the crystal out of his flesh and vanished again. The second he uselessly grabbed at the air, She reappeared, thrusting her hand into him again and ripping another crystal out. He swung wildly with his outstretched arm. Ruby ducked under it, stabbed her hand into his side and used Speed to jump away. She reappeared a few meters away. The rapid use of Speed when she barely had the strength to stand had left her haggard, breathing heavily, and on the verge of collapse. She held out her arms and opened her hands, revealing three blood-covered crystals, all deep green. Slate doubled over and looked down at his chest. The remaining crystals and his tattoos were glowing red hot.

"Weiss, you know more about Dust tech than me," Ruby said, panting, "He was using Wind crystals to regulate the flow of energy from the Fire crystals, right?"

Slate's entire body burst into flame. As his skin charred, the crystals in his chest exploded one by one, blowing massive holes in his torso.

"Yeah, looks like it." Weiss said. She was standing over Coco, checking her for injury.

"Yup," Ruby said.

Ruby let the crystals drop from her hands and walked over to Crescent Rose, still laying where Slate had tossed it. She picked it up, checked it over, then walked back towards Slate. Slate had dropped to knees, fire continuing to consume his body. Incredibly, he was still trying to stand back up. Ruby swung Crescent about, switching it to rifle-mode. She levelled it at Slate's head. Slate raised one burning arm, hand open and outstretched.

"W- wait..." Slate stammered, "Please..."

Ruby lowered the rifle slightly, and looked around. Beacon Academy's ship dock was covered in burning wrecks of vehicles, and dead bodies. She recognized more than a few of them. There was still more fighting going on. At least a couple dozen Guardians were still fighting, still hurting her friends. She turned back to Slate and raised the rifle back up. She fired point-blank between Slate's eyes. The top half of his head was blown off. His skull was turned into a shattered, burning ruin. His body slumped backwards, crumpling to the ground, still burning. Ruby turned away from him. She saw Velvet trying to stand, and reached out, helping to pull her to her feet. Velvet limped, but was able to remain standing. She looked over to Weiss. She was crouched next to Coco, who was conscious again, sitting up but looking dazed.

"We still have work to do." Ruby said.

"We can barely stand, Ruby," Weiss said.

Ruby looked around. She suddenly remembered Blake running off to help Jaune against Marcus Ochre. Her eyes scanned the area where she'd seen them fighting, but saw nothing.

"We have to go find Blake," Ruby said.

"So, when my parents were dead, he took me in," Ochre said, pacing back and forth in front of Blake again, "He must have been thinking of killing me, too, but he was softer, then. Not as much of a gigantic asshole, but... too soft. Naive. He kept me alive, took off my ears, raised me properly. I was young, just a kid, and already my mother's ideas about equality were messing with my head. Jack taught me to accept what I really was. Taught me not to believe any of that White Fang bullshit. Taught me to respect my superiors."

Ochre looked down at Blake. Blake looked up at him, through the blood and tears that clouded her vision.

"Guess he could have tried a little harder with that last one," He said. He gave Blake a lighthearted grin that seemed completely genuine. It was a jarring sight amidst the blood and debris and destruction around them.

"Why did you leave the White Fang, Belladonna?" Ochre asked, suddenly stone-faced, "Just when they started embracing who they really were, you ran away. Did playing the part of some holier-than-thou, might-makes-right fairy tale hero just make the violence easier to stomach? Were you afraid of killing, or was the justification just not good enough? I know who I am, Belladonna. Why don't you?!"

Blake hung her head. She covered her eyes with her hands. She fought to suppress a sob.

"Wow," Ochre said, shaking his head, "Do you find it hard to fight when you're constantly crying all the time?"

"I know you." Blake whispered.

"W-what?" Ochre asked, suddenly confused.

"Little Marcus Ochre, with the cute little puppy ears. You came to the rallies with your mother," Blake said.

"Shut up." Marcus said, sounding nervous, "Shut your mouth, or I'll take your tongue."

"You told me, you wanted Humans and Faunus to get along," Blake said, staring up at him, "because your best friend's mother wouldn't let him come to your birthday party."

"I was just a stupid fucking kid!" Ochre shouted, "That's not who I am anymore!"

"You're just another good thing that Jack destroyed," Blake cried.

"I've had enough of this," Marcus said, raising the shiv to his throat, "Time to die."

Blake squinted her eyes shut. She thought of Yang. From above, some distance away but getting closer, she heard the rumble of an engine. She opened her eyes and saw that Marcus had been distracted, looking in the direction of the sound. She turned her head and saw a Bullhead swooping in from above. She saw an opening and realized she had to take it. Without even knowing for sure if she could stand, she bolted upwards, grabbing Marcus's wrist. She twisted his arm around, grabbed the shiv, and wrenched it from his grip. She tossed it away, spun Marcus around, and kicked him in the small of his back, sending him sprawling. She bolted for the edge of the building, where the Bullhead was coming down into a hover. Through the open side-door she saw Weiss and Ruby, looking like they'd been through a Hell of a fight. Blake ran for the ship, limping, but moving fast enough that she could make the jump.

Marcus struggled to his feet, and ran for the shiv. As he dove for it, Ruby raised Crescent, and fired. The bullet struck the shiv, sending it skittering along the roof. Marcus scrambled for it, this time blocking Ruby's view of the weapon with his body. He grabbed the blade, now even more mangled by the bullet, and stabbed it into his calf. At that precise moment, Blake had been preparing to push off the edge of the roof to land in the Bullhead. Her leg gave way under her, and she failed to jump. She flew off the edge of the roof, not nearly high enough. She saw the ground beneath her, and knew she didn't have the strength or the Aura to land correctly. Suddenly, a large white glyph appeared beneath her. She twisted, landed on the glyph, and pushed up, flying back up towards the Bullhead. Weiss was lying on the floor of the ship, reaching down out the door. Blake and Weiss's hands met each other, and clasped together. Weiss cried out in protest as Blake's weight pulled down on her arm, but she held. Pulling upwards with all her strength, she helped Blake climb up into the Bullhead.

"Go, go! We have to get away from him!" Blake shouted, before she was even fully in the door.

The Bullhead's engines roared, and the ship rose up above the rooftops, climbing back towards the clifftop above. Blake glanced out the door, down towards the roof they'd crashed into. Marcus stood there, staring after her. She shook her head and redirected her gaze towards the cliffs.

"What happened down there?" Weiss asked, "You couldn't kill him?"

"We'll deal with him later," Blake said, "We need to get back up there."

"One of the transports flew off while we were coming to get you," Ruby said, "The big one. Left a lot of their forces behind."

"Then Jack got away," Blake said, "Fine. We'll kill him later, too."

"First we have to deal with the rest of the Guardians," Weiss said, "They're not giving up, even if they were left behind."

"Leave them to me." Blake said. There was something cold in her voice. Something frightening.

The Bullhead rose over the clifftop and Beacon came into view. There were indeed still Guardians everywhere, fighting to the death. The sight of them filled Blake with a renewed rage. She could feel her anger burning within her, boiling over. She squeezed her eyes shut. Her hair began to blow about in a phantom wind.

"Blake!" Weiss said, "Blake, no!"

"I can't stop it this time, Yang!" Blake yelled, causing Ruby and Weiss to stare at her in shock, "They don't get to hurt anybody else! I'm finishing this!"

The Bullhead swung in low, and Blake leapt out. She landed gracefully, as if her leg were completely unharmed. She snapped her eyes open, once more revealing that strange black light. As the Bullhead lowered further, Weiss hopped out and landed next to Blake. She reached out to grab Blake's shoulder, but was suddenly thrown backwards off her feet as if hit by a strong gust of wind. She felt that same pain in her gut that she'd felt at Freeman's, when Blake had unleashed the Semblance for the second time. The wave of force spread over the entire battlefield. It knocked all the students and the few teachers present off their feet, but did considerably worse to the Guardians. Limbs were blown off of bodies, heads burst, and bodies convulsed as hearts exploded within chests. Every single Guardian took a single, instantly lethal hit. Students who'd been fighting for their lives suddenly found themselves staring down at the bodies of their opponents. There was a moment of complete, deadening silence, as everybody on the battlefield turned and looked to Blake.

The light had disappeared from her eyes, and she stood, for a moment, teetering back and forth. She stumbled, then turned her head to Weiss.

"I'm... learning to control it," She whispered, "Learning to-"

She suddenly collapsed. Weiss just managed to catch her before her head struck the ground. Ruby crouched down next to them, looking at Blake. Weiss and Ruby looked at each other, then looked towards everybody else. They were staring down at the dozens of people Blake had just killed with a thought. Weiss looked down at Blake, and made a decision. She shifted Blake's body and pulled up the back of her shirt. She could see the scar on Blake's lower back, where she'd been stabbed. She thought she could see the faintest glow coming from beneath the surface.

"Ruby," Weiss said, "Help me turn her over."