Yang

I heard the sounds of roaring Grimm as we sprinted down the hall. They must still be fighting. That wasn't unexpected; we hadn't been gone for long. But that was good, if they were still fighting, they were still alive.

"Hurry," I said to Weiss. "We need to help them out." Weiss didn't respond, but she sped past me a second later. Well, she's definitely hurrying.

We rounded the corner and saw Team JNPR engaged in battle with a group of Beowolves. Thankfully, they all looked okay. Pyrrha and Jaune were holding their line, beating back the monsters that got too close, while Nora and Ren were firing at them from behind the shield-bearing pair. Nora spun towards us as we ran towards them, aiming Magnhild at us, but lowered it when she saw who it was.

"We're here to help!" Weiss shouted over the din of the monsters before us. Pyrrha glanced back for an instant at the sound of Weiss' voice. Her timing was awful. Just as she looked behind her, a Beowolf slammed into her shield, knocking it aside. Jaune stepped over to cover her with his shield, but that let another Beowolf slip past him and break the line.

Weiss whipped Myrtenaster out of its sheath and lunged towards the beast. She ducked under a swipe and spun around, swinging Myrtenaster in a circle around her. Her blade sliced through the monster's hide and it fell, bleeding, to the floor.

I cocked Ember Celica and stepped forward, ready to push them back. I could my hair getting hotter. I was getting fired up. Heat began rising around me as I stood next to Weiss, a shimmering heat haze drifting through the air.

"Come on!" I yelled at the Grimm. I punched my fists together in excitement. "Bring it!" The Grimm roared in response to my challenge and charged.

Weiss and I stepped forward to meet the charge. I ducked under a Beowolf's claws and grabbed its arm with one hand. After sending a series of lightning fast jabs into its ribcage, I grabbed it with the other hand and hurled it behind me, towards Nora. She swung Magnhild in a vicious arc and sent her hammer crashing into the monster's head.

I spun back to face the charging Grimm, just as one of them swung its claws at my head. I ducked and threw a punch into its stomach, fired a Gravity shell as the blow landed and sent it crashing back through the Beowolves behind it. The gap that opened up gave us some room to breathe and space to move. Weiss and I readied ourselves again as Pyrrha and Nora lined up next to us.

Nora and I both took off down the corridor. We ran at the still disoriented Grimm and smashed into them. Nora slammed Magnhild into the nearest Beowolf, sending it smashing into the others, while I sent a series of furious punches into another's ribs. Gunshots rang out as Pyrrha began firing at the Grimm from behind us, picking them off one at a time. Either her shots took them down, or it slowed them down enough that Nora and I could finish them off.

We finished the last of them off within a few minutes. Then we stood, panting, in the remains of the slaughtered monsters.

"Well," I said, in between gasps for breath. "That was a thing."

"That was fun!" Nora cried with a smile.

"Anyway," Pyrrha said. "What're you two doing here? Where are Blake and Ruby? Are they alright?"

"They're fine." Weiss answered. "They're waiting further behind. We got far enough away that they woke up, but they need to stay there for now."

"Why?" Nora asked, looking somewhat disappointed that Ruby wasn't there to share her fun.

"Because Myrka's semblance is going to take them down again if they get too close to him," I said.

"So what's the plan?" Jaune asked. "Are we running away?"

"No," Weiss said bluntly. "We're going to take Myrka on. We don't know what he's planning but the teachers are probably in trouble and won't be coming to help us anytime soon. It's up to us to stop whatever he's planning."

"And how are we going to do that without Ruby and Blake?" Pyrrha asked. "We'll need all the help we can get."

"Well," Weiss began, in her lecturing tone. "Myrka's semblance works over an area, so if they get too close, it starts to affect them. We're not a hundred per cent sure why it affects them the way it does, but what matters is that it does, and we need to deal with it. So we need to keep Myrka occupied. Once he focusses his semblance on a particular Grimm, or group of Grimm, the area of effect narrows down, and it won't affect them anymore. So we need to attack him first, get the fight started, and then Ruby and Blake can come in."

"That sounds like a good plan." Ren said quietly.

"But that means one of us has to stay behind to go and get them. They won't know where we are or when it's started."

"I volunteer." Jaune said, raising his hand.

"Good, I was going to suggest you anyway." Weiss said. Jaune's face fell at her words, and he began to sulk quietly.

"So," I said. "We head off now, find Myrka and start the attack. Jaune runs back down the corridor until he finds Ruby and Blake and then he brings them to us. That'll give us a trump card on Myrka as well, he won't know we have backup." Everyone nodded and, after reloading our weapons, we made our way down the corridor, back to the entrance hall of Beacon.

We ran into the room, expecting to fight some Grimm. But the room was completely empty. Nothing but rubble and bodies from the earlier assaults.

"What…" I muttered. "Where is he?"

"He didn't come down the way we were, so he must have gone down the other corridor." Weiss said.

"But why would he go that way?"

"It doesn't matter, we just have to find him."

"Okay, okay. Let's go. Jaune, make sure you can remember the way back."

We ran down the corridor that Myrka had taken, desperately trying to catch up. Despite Weiss' assertion that we only needed to catch Myrka, I was still curious about where he was going. What was he planning? Did we have time to stop him? Finding him would be a lot quicker and easier if we knew where he was going. This corridor was one that ran past all the faculty offices and the infirmary. I couldn't think of anything he could want down here. Unless… he wanted something in Ozpin's office. He drew Ozpin out of the school, drove us to the opposite side of the school, just to make sure no one was near the offices when he went there.

"I think I know where he is." I said. "Let's get to Ozpin's office!" I took the lead and sped down the corridor.

My theory was pretty much confirmed when, as we turned the corner just before Ozpin's office, we were attacked by a giant Beowolf. I swore as I threw myself to the side. I should've seen that coming. I spun towards the Beowolf as soon as I got to my feet, just as Nora slammed Magnhild into its head. The heavy plate on its head cracked and it reared up in anger. Pyrrha used the gap to throw her spear into its chest. The beast began flailing madly, swinging at everyone at once.

We all stepped back to avoid the flashing claws. Nora fired a grenade at the monster's head, knocking it to the ground. Weiss leapt into the air, pouncing on it before it could recover, and stabbed Myrtenaster into its neck. Once the beast stopped struggling, she pulled her blade out, wiped it clean on the Beowolf's fur and sheathed it.

"It looks like we're close." She said as she turned towards the door to Ozpin's office.

"You think?" I muttered as we followed her.

We hesitated for a second as we reached the door. I could hear a low growling coming from the other side of the door. There were definitely Grimm in there. The only question was whether Myrka was or not.

"Oh do come in." A voice came from the other side of the door. "I'd hate to leave a guest waiting outside." Well, that answered that question. I nodded at Weiss, who reached out and slowly opened the door. I reached out as we crossed the threshold and pushed Jaune back down the corridor.

"Go!" I hissed. "Get the other two." He nodded and dashed away, quickly disappearing form sight as he ran back the way we came.

Myrka was sitting behind Ozpin's desk with two giant Beowolves standing to either side of him. He smiled as we entered, got to his feet and gave us all a deep bow. He was dressed the same way he had been yesterday, wearing a tailored suit that was white at the bottom and darkened to black at the top. His short cut, deathly white hair only made the shifting colours seem more jarring. His eyes, now that I was close enough to see them, were mesmerizing. They were the deepest, most vibrant and, quite frankly, gorgeous shade of blue I had ever seen.

"Well, I feel I have to congratulate you on making it this far." He said as stepped out from behind the desk. "I didn't think any students would be able to defeat my pets. The five of you must be quite exceptional." He sat down on top of the desk, stretching his legs out in front of him. None of us said anything. I wasn't sure if anyone knew quite how to respond. His smile widened at our silence and became a malicious sneer. "Now," he continued. "What are we to do with you? Your teachers won't be coming to help you, my associate has seen to that. So it's just me and you. And my pets of course." He laughed.

"What are you after?" I asked, forcing the words out. Someone needed to say something. He just looked disappointed.

"Really? Is that all you have to say? I was hoping you would all be more interesting than that." He said.

"Why are you here?" Weiss asked.

"What do you want?" Pyrrha asked at the same time.

"Come now, let's not play this game." He said, rolling his eyes. "'What do you want?' 'Why are you doing this?' All these questions are meaningless. Why I'm here doesn't matter, what I want is irrelevant. All you need to know is that, unless you can stop me, you're all going to die." His face twisted in a terrifying leer. Even I felt a shiver run down my spine. He wasn't kidding.

We readied our weapons, all of us preparing ourselves for the fight that was about to start. Myrka hung his head back with a laugh. He stood up and took a step towards us, crossing his arms.

"Are you that eager to die?" he asked. "I thought you'd want to delay this for as long as you could. But, if you insist…." He smiled menacingly at us once more.

The four Beowolves around him shivered, as if a tremor was running up their spines, and turned towards us. Myrka stood with his arms folded, just watching, as they advanced on the five of us. This was going to be a tough fight. We were in a small room, fighting four of these things. And we needed to focus on Myrka more than them. It was a good thing there were five of us.

"One to each Beowolf…" I muttered. "But he's mine." With that, I threw myself into battle.

I dodged my way past the Beowolves and swung a fist at Myrka. He didn't react. He didn't even blink. But, right as I was about to hit him, I saw one of the Beowolves break away from its battle with Nora and lunge at me. I swore under my breath as I threw myself backwards. The Beowolf reared up in front of Myrka, bellowing a challenge. From behind the monster, I saw Myrka round Ozpin's desk and sit back down to watch.

My rage exploded. We were fighting for our lives, trying to stop him, and he was just going to sit there? With a roar of my own, I threw myself at the Beowolf in front of me. I blocked a swipe of its flashing claws and dipped under its arm. I fired Ember Celica to send my elbow rocketing into its stomach. When it doubled over in pain, I fired again, sending a Gravity shell into its jaw. As the shell impact sent to Beowolf into the air, I spun and slammed a roundhouse kick into it. The monster flew backwards, crashing through Ozpin's desk and almost crushing Myrka beneath its weight.

He picked himself up with a smirk and brushed the dust off his suit. The Beowolf staggered to its feet, still clearly capable of fighting. These monsters were tough. Myrka leaned back on the wall, relaxing again, as the Beowolf lunged towards me. I dropped to the floor, letting it soar over me, and leapt to my feet once it passed. As I spun to face it, I saw Nora rear up behind the beast and crash Magnhild into the side of its head, slamming it into the wall.

I used the distraction to face Myrka once again. But, the same as before, as soon as I got near him, a Beowolf broke away and hit me from behind. Only a shouted warning from Pyrrha saved me. I turned my instinctive duck into a leg sweep, knocking the monster to the ground. I leapt back to my feet and tried to throw another punch at Myrka. But a third Beowolf leapt at me, and, with no time to dodge this time, it slammed me into the wall.

I grunted with effort as I pushed against the wall, lifting the Beowolf off me. I looked up and saw its gaping, tooth-filled maw coming towards my face. I couldn't lift my arms; it would slam me back into the wall if I stopped pushing. But Weiss leapt at it from behind and slashed at its exposed back. The Beowolf roared in pain and pulled away from me, turning to slash at Weiss. I slumped to the ground and took a second to gasp for breath.

But I knew we needed to keep on the attack, so I picked myself up. If we let off Myrka for too long, he'd incapacitate Ruby and Blake again. And we couldn't handle fighting in this small a room. From where I was, I could see the other four battling Beowolves, and they were struggling. We had very little room to manoeuvre here. We needed a bigger battleground. Then I saw how we could get one.

I charged at Myrka, same as I had before. His smile widened as I did. Really? You're trying again? I imagined him thinking. It only served to enrage me further. A Beowolf leapt in my path, cutting me off from Myrka. But this time, instead of fighting, I dodged past its attack and grappled it. I wrapped my arms around the Beowolf's middle and, with a roar of anger and exertion, lifted it into the air.

I continued my charge towards Myrka, barely slowing down at all. I slammed the Beowolf into Myrka and crushed him against the wall. An instant later, I felt another Beowolf crash into me from behind, raking its claws down my back. I let out a shriek of pain and fury, and let my rage explode.

Flames burst from all around me, blasting outwards with enough force to crack stone. The outer wall of Ozpin's office burst, sending rubble and shattered glass falling down to the ground outside. Myrka, the Beowolves and I soon followed, tumbling out of the gaping hole in in the wall. Flames were still burning around me, and both Beowolves pushed themselves away from me. I landed on the ground in a crouch and leapt at the still form of Myrka on the ground.

Before I could reach him though, I was hit from the side. Both Beowolves knocked me to the side, protecting their master once again. I let out another roar of frustrated anger and threw myself at the pair. I felt my flames getting hotter. The heat was rolling off me in waves. And I threw my punches harder and faster to match.

As soon as I beat them the two back, and had some space, I would throw myself at Myrka, keeping him occupied. He had picked himself up and was standing a few metres away, watching the battle intently. His suit was torn and there was blood running down the side of his face, but the look of intense concentration on his face was terrifying. He was clearly exerting all the control he could. So I did all I could to keep attacking him, to keep him distracted until Ruby and Blake could get here. Where were they?

But I was fighting two giant Beowolves. It had taken everything I had to beat one alone. So I was tiring quickly. I pushed myself harder as my flames diminished, doing all I could to keep fighting. I nearly lashed out at a flash of white that appeared in the corner of my eye, but held back when I realised, to my immense relief, that it was Weiss.

She leapt into the fray without hesitation. She lunged at Myrka, drawing one of the Beowolves away from me. I stepped back, gaining some room to breathe and looked around. Pyrrha, Ren and Nora were still fighting the other two Beowolves back inside Ozpin's office, and Ruby and Blake were nowhere to be seen. I growled in frustration at their absence and turned to block a swipe from the Beowolf I was facing.

Weiss and I spent almost as much effort keeping our battles close to Myrka as we did fighting them. We needed to keep close so that, whenever we got the chance, we could bounce away from our fight and attack Myrka. The closer we stayed, the harder he had to concentrate.

I could still feel myself tiring as the fight went on, but the Beowolf I was fighting was slowing down as well. And, from the few glances I got of his face, Myrka seemed to be wearing himself out. His face was covered in a sheen of sweat, and he was panting heavily. Using his semblance this much must be exhausting him.

Putting in another burst of effort, I crashed Ember Celica into the Beowolf's jaw. The force of the blow sent it sailing through the air. I used the lull to lunge at Myrka. I finally had an opening. He was looking at Weiss, and my Beowolf couldn't catch me now. I stepped up behind him, swinging my fist towards the back of his head.

Then, suddenly, I was flying backwards. Belatedly, I felt the pain of something slamming into me with incredible force. A Beowolf was standing behind Myrka, roaring at me. Where had that come from? The thought buzzed faintly through my head, I was too exhausted to think straight.

I heard a scream of pain as I crashed into the ground. I raised my head, craning my neck to look towards the noise. Two Beowolves were standing over Weiss. One must have taken her by surprise. Just like me. I looked up and saw the other two glaring down at me. Not attacking. Just glaring. Myrka must've been holding them back. I didn't know why. But at least I'd live a little longer. I resigned myself to my coming death and looked Myrka in the eye. I wasn't going to die looking down.

The Beowolves lifted me into the air and presented me to Myrka. He stood before me, wearing a malicious sneer.

"Well, now that you've had your fun," he said. "It appears as if it's time for you to finally die!"

The Beowolves both raised one of their claws, ready to slash down and end me. I never dropped my gaze. I stared into his eyes. Let him remember. If I'm going to die here, at least he'll know I died strong. My head was still spinning. It was getting harder to hold his gaze. I felt my eyelids beginning to droop.

I'm sorry Ruby, Blake…. Ruby? Blake? No! I forced my eyelids open. I could not die here. Myrka was the one who'd hurt Ruby, who'd hurt Blake. And he needed to pay! I began to struggle, pushing and pulling against the grip the Beowolves had me in. I screamed. Not in pain. It was a scream of defiance, of anger and of a burning desire to kill him!

Myrka's smile spread even further.

"Well now, we have some fight left, do we?" I looked at his sneer, using it to fuel my anger, my hatred, even further. My hair began to smoulder once more. I felt it growing hotter as my anger grew. Myrka only smirked even more.

"It's futile. You're beaten. You're going to die."

I strained against the Beowolves, still unable to break their grip. Then, just as they began to swing their claws at my exposed stomach, Myrka's face dropped. He had time to twist his face in confusion and mutter "What?" before a flashing spiral of crimson sped past me. Ruby!

Ruby danced past me, almost too fast for me to see, and, before any of the Grimm could get in the way, slammed the Crescent Rose into Myrka with all the force she could muster. The Beowolves dropped me and lunged at Ruby, but she back-flipped, soaring over their heads, and landed in front of me.

She hefted Crescent Rose and levelled it at Myrka, who was picking himself up off the ground.

"Yang," she whispered down at me. "You okay?" My head was starting to spin again.

"I'll be fine. Give me a minute." I just needed some time to recover, I'd be okay.

"Okay, you better get back into this soon. We can't do it without you."

"Who the hell are you!?" Myrka roared as he got to his feet. Blood was running freely down the side of his face now. But he was still standing, so his aura must have protected him from the full strength of Ruby's blow.

"I'm Ruby Rose," she replied, swinging Crescent Rose up onto her shoulder, her cape billowing out behind her. "And nobody hurts my big sister."