20

Fall Maiden Cinder Fall

'See you later, Nemesis.'

I wake up from another nightmare of the Nightmare and control my breathing. Two weeks since I killed it. Two weeks since I got the image of it's broken and dismembered stolen body.

Two weeks since it smiled, laughed and congratulated me.

'Well done!'

As if death was meaningless.

No, it was just trying to get into my head. One last desperate grasp at victory.

I check the time.

04:04 am.

A shudder runs up my spine. 4. It's everywhere. In the big things and the small things.

Ignore it. The Nightmare was lying, trying to hurt me.

A few hours later and I walk into the bar, a front for The Gentleman's Club gang. The Nightmare was right about a lot of things, one of which is the Aura transfer device being Atlas technology. It's obvious once you think about it, the only reason I didn't was because...

I suppress a sigh.

Watts called me again yesterday, mocking me. Salem herself hasn't pushed for my return, either content that I still serve her or aware and simply waiting to see what I will do. In truth, I have not yet decided.

'You are a net.'

I know that. It makes too much sense. But the Nightmare clearly spelling it out made it all that much more real. It was so confident, so absolute, so mocking. Like I was an idiot, or a child, making a terrible mistake.

What would the Alicorn know of Salem? It was not afraid of Her, it didn't even see Her as a threat.

I am afraid of Her. What She might do to me if I disobey her.

'Do you still have her brand on your back?'

I am not a slave! Never again!

That is what I promised myself. To get strong. So nobody will ever be able to hurt me again.

'No Nemesis of mine is to be a slave.'

And that is why I can't follow Salem. Whatever lies the Alicorn may or may not have said, that must be true.

I am called into the back rooms of the bar, then down the stairs.

"So, Miss Fall. I understand you are in need of a new arm." The crime lord, Alex Rain begins.

'She will offer you a new arm, made from Grimm.'

No. She won't. I will not be a slave.

Mercury, Emerald and I have been doing missions for the gangs of Atlas's underworld. Impartial, effective, and stealthy. As risky as doing such things are, we don't want Ironwood or Ozpin to know we are in Atlas, we do need the lien.

A lot of it.

The funds I seized from Torchwick and the funds from Salem can't last forever, so we are playing rouge Huntresses.

It's been nice, in a way.

Still, I do need the Lien.

I walk in and wait. She is postponing my meeting, again, as a stupid power play.

In Vale, Roman Torchwick consolidated power after the Xiong and Spider went down, but such an upset hasn't happened here. It is one of the reasons I chose to attack it first, only a single person to apply pressure to.

That doesn't apply here. There are 3 major Gangs in Atlas. The Gentleman's Club, Black Ice and MAD. 4 (4 again) if you count the woman I am here to see.

If there was one person who represented the phrase 'Knowledge is Power', it would be Lady Tarot.

She does not have a gang, only an information network. If you need to know something, and can pay, she can tell you. So much so that there are rumours that she has a powerful divination Semblance. After all, Tarot is unlikely to be her real name.

And with how small her organisation seems to be, perhaps there is some truth to that. One person, a few bodyguards, and yet she holds an immense amount of power, rivalling the other gangs in Atlas. All while remaining neutral.

Of course she isn't actually alone, but the image she presents is powerful enough. If I had an information network as powerful as hers, using it to hide it from everyone would be one of the first things I would do. The fact that she seems to be alone is a powerful enough statement.

I am called in.

"Miss Fall, welcome back. Here is what you are looking for." Oh, and she's damm creepy, sometimes pre-emptively knowing what her client wants.

Though this isn't the first time I have come here looking for this, so much of the effect is lost.

"Thank you. Anything of particular interest?" I am not just picking up a scroll.

"James, dear sweet James, has withdrawn from the world more and more the past week. There are rumours about questioning his mental state, but I wouldn't put too much faith in them. Though, it whatever it is, it's important. Why, he has even cancelled meetings with Jacques."

That... Doesn't sound good. Ever since Ironwood came back to Atlas, he has been behaving oddly. At first I thought it was just the shock of Vytal and then the Siege, but as more time passes it becomes increasingly unlikely.

"Thank you, Lady Tarot." I pick up the scroll and skim through it before putting more Lien down, paying in advance for the same.

"Again, Miss Fall?" A mischevious smirk sits on her face. "Very well, what in particular are you looking for?"

The Maiden and the Aura transfer tech, though I can't just say that. No, now to carefully phrase my request.

The 4 members of CRYO (4, always 4) sits down in the private restaurant booth with Mercury and I. The Nightmare wasn't on Remnant for long, and she (now I'm thinking of it and her) didn't have much contact outside of Ozpin's group.

"Thank you for coming to see me." Best to be polite.

"Hey, you're paying us. Um, your not a journalist or anything, are you?" One of the Huntresses, Yolk, asks.

"No," they relax a moment, "though I do want to asks questions about her. Personal curiosity." The tension goes back up. 'Yuki'. This is the team that helped her take control of the Amberheart.

"I'm not sure I feel comfortable talking about her." Yolk shrinks a bit back.

Ah, there is something there. I was right. If the tension before didn't give it away, this certainly does.

"I am paying you." I stress and look to the team leader, Cobalt.

He shrugs, but doesn't get up to leave.

"Figures," Resin mutters, leaning back in the chair with her arms behind her head, feigning relaxation. "Mind if I eat? You're paying, right?"

"Of course." I lie easily.

"Cool." She waves down a waiter and orders. The two others do as well.

I wait a few minutes for them to finish and the waiter to leave when Cobalt starts, "So, what exactly do you want to know?"

"Let's just start with your impression of her." Understanding how much information are they willing to volunteer before I have to encourage them will help me understand where to put the pressure.

"What is there to say, Yuki was a hero." Not much.

Very well, "Was she?"

"Yeah, I mean you do know about Vale, right? Flying around, pumping out white fire onto the Grimm, healing the injured, then the white flashes of light after."

Ah, the official story, that Yuki was the one who used Silver Eyes. A deflection from Ruby Rose, no doubt, but one that a lot of people are inclined to believe.

She had far too many abilities as it was. "How do you think she did that?"

"Powerful Semblance probably." I'm not making much progress.

A change in tactics. "How about before the Siege. When you took back the Amberheart."

He's good, but he isn't the only person at the table. Everyone in the team has varying levels of reaction, his is simply the smallest. "That's... true."

I look at him with a meaningful gaze, letting his mind fill in the blanks.

It's the last member of the group, the Huntsman Ordain, that breaks. "She was sloppy."

That... Isn't what I was expecting. He continues. "Her technique wasn't just basic, it wasn't really technique at all. Like she had barely held a weapon before."

Odd. When she first woke up, her skills were on par with Ambers, if her weakness from the coma is taken into account. "Really? How little did she contribute to taking back the ship?"

"N-no."

"Ordain..." Yolk warns.

"She's dead, and nobody will believe us." He bites back before turning to me. "Sloppy, but... It was like the swords were moving on their own, like her body was just string connecting it together."

Swords? Amber used a staff.

"That's an overexaggeration." Cobalt clarifies. "But, true. Her body was always a step behind her weapons, and when her body did respond, it was... crude."

Oh. "Like she didn't know how to use her body." I mutter and realise.

"Ye-yes. That is... Exactly like that. How did-"

A knock on the dividing door interrupts Resin as their drinks arrive. Yolk downs theirs almost instantly before pouring a second to drink properly.

I wait, sipping my own wine, for them to continue. It takes a minute.

"That wasn't the worst of it," Yolk picks up, "though I didn't realise it at the time."

"Are you a Huntress?" Cobalt asks, "Or, do you know what Grimm Presence is? Killing Intent?"

Oh, I am deeply familiar with both, having been taught by Salem.

Killing Intent is a projection of your intent to kill, your hatred, out into the world and onto a target. If you hate someone enough, you can make them feel how much you want to kill them. Some cultivate it into the formal technique of Killing Intent, a skill to frighten or get an advantage in combat.

Grimm Presence is often seen as an uncontrolled Killing Intent, but in truth it's much deeper than that. The more people someone, the deeper the 'stain' and the stronger the effect. So much so that Grimm begin to prioritising other targets first.

Most of all however, is that it is uncontrollable except in rare circumstances. Tyrian actually uses his Semblance to dampen it (when he feels like it, which isn't often), though even that can't mask all of it. Salem has had centuries of practice to hone hers giving her a degree of control. Ozpin is undoubtedly the same.

And myself, to a degree. Salem taught me a technique that prevents my slowly growing Grimm Presence from radiating out, though it requires constant work to maintain and after every mission I need to intensify it. That, and the only reason the technique works is because I have been using it since just after my first kills.

Mercury hasn't actually killed all that many people, despite his training. Though the past few weeks that has been slowly changing. Teaching him Salem's technique was far more difficult that it took for me to learn it, or to teach Emerald.

"Not formally, but yes I am trained. She has Grimm Presence then?" I didn't feel it when we fought.

"No. That's the scary thing. She just... killed so easily, thoughtlessly. Laughed occasionally, but..." Cobalt drifts off. "You wouldn't get it. It was like killing was the most natural thing. You don't get like that on accident."

Resin finishes her drink and pours another before speaking. "There was a mission we did, moderate sized village, people going missing," She frowns as she recalls it. "Turned out it wasn't a Grimm, a serial killer. 16" (4 times 4) "people dead and she had a tiny Presence."

"Executed everyone we disarmed." Yolk hesitates before grabbing the bottle, abandoning pretences of not getting drunk. "And she turned and looked at me. No Grimm Presence, no killing intent, no words asking why we were fighting non-lethally. She was just confused. Confused why were weren't killing everything we came across."

Mercury whistles, "That's pretty messed up."

Coming from you? That's almost funny.

Ordain's voice is hollow as he stares at me, "You suggested that she was dragging us down? No. Yuki killed 36" (4 times 9) "people on the Amberheart. And when I saw her 4 days later during the Siege, I felt nothing."

I lean back into my chair and think over this.

Presence doesn't rise suddenly after killing someone, that's the basis of the suppression technique I know. But 4 days later? Nothing?

"Why did you ask about her powers?" Resin asks.

Ah, there is an opportunity here. Do I dare risk taking it however?

Why not, if it doesn't work, it will barely cost me anything. "Because that was not a Semblance."

Yolk snorts before downing another mouthful. "Flight, healing, Presence manipulation, elemental control, any one of those things could be a Semblance."

"Dust." Ordain defends.

"She was naked." I counter.

"Yeah, we know." Cobalt mutters. "So what? Magic?"

"Yes. Let me tell you how I met her." I don't precisely lie, I simply omit certain details.

And as I do, Resin pales more and more, breathing faster and faster.

Then she starts muttering under her breathe. "No. No, no, no."

I stop.

"Res, you okay?" Cobalt asks.

She is shaking, eyes wide, fear rolling off her. The rest of teammates look at her oddly while Cobalt offers emotional support.

Then she whispers a single word that sends chills down my spine.

"Outsider."

Cold wraps around my chest.

"Fuck." Mercury swears.

I didn't try to convince them of that. I didn't mention the name she called herself. I didn't say she came from outside our reality.

"Tell me you killed her. Please." Resin begs.

"Res, what's going on?"

"Please." She ignores him.

"Yuki is really dead." I pull out my scroll and open the image of her dismembered corpse.

Resin gasps in relief. "Thank the Brothers."

"Res?"

"It's... Yolk, give me that." She snatches the bottle out of Yolk's hands. "It's just a story, a series of books."

'Fairytales often have hints of truth in them, for once they were real.' The memory of Salem whispers in my head.

The cold tightens.

"Tell me."

"Jim Butcher's the author, um, Harry Blackstone is the series. Urban fantasy, hidden magical world, all that. Outsiders are," a mouthful of whisky drops down her throat, "beings from outside reality. Always trying to get in. Not following the laws of reality."

"Fuck." Mercury swears again.

"Res, that's a story. Why are you getting so spooked?" Is Yolk complying because Resin took the bottle, or because of something else?

I don't know, I'm desperately trying to stamp down my fear. To control my Magic. To come up with some rational explanation. Maybe she read the book and used it to try- no.

I saw her come into this world.

She knew me the moment she saw me.

Unless it was a Semblance that let her jump bodies?

Then why didn't she jump to me, take over me, steal my magic. Amber was still alive the moment she arrived. She was dying. 'Through a dream and a corpse.'

She does not fear death. 'Well done!'

With just 1/3 of the total Maiden's power she amplified it to levels beyond a Maiden. 'With every passing moment I familiarised myself with your reality's magic, the more I could leverage my own skill into it.'

'Infinitesimal splinter of power.' 1/3rd is tiny to her. Just how powerful is she?

Yet the most convincing thing of her story is something I never noticed. Something that every living person on Remnant grew up with, something subtle and defining.

"4." I look back up at Resin.

"4?" Yolk drawls.

"When she died, I was pulled into the white room again," I swallow, some part of me screaming that I have lost my composure. "She told me she was an Outsider. Congratulated me for killing her. And pointed out 4."

I take a deep breathe. "4 seasons. 4 schools. 4 Kingdoms. 4 team members. 4 weeks in a month. 4 Fundamental Dust types. That with Pyrrha Nikos, Amber Leaves, her and myself, she pulled herself into Amber's body."

"Oh brothers." Resin takes another mouthful of whiskey, and I don't blame her.

I entertained the idea that she might be telling the truth, that the Alicorn might some alien thing, but I didn't really believe she was telling the truth. Not the whole truth, that she might not be lying at all.

'Empress Cinder Fall'

"Big and small, she said that 4 echoes through our reality. How many people did your serial killer kill?" I direct to Cobalt.

"16? Oh, 4 times 4."

"She said that she would be back in 4 years." Stay calm. If I screw this up, I'll lose them.

And I do need them.

"Res, it's just a story." Cobalt is the most level headed, it seems, and turns to look at me. "Why should we believe you?"

It's a threat, him flaring up to defend his teammate.

"Because when she died, I got something." I hold up my hand and call upon my magic.

My eyes flare in red fire, like hers did white. In my hand a sphere of fire turns to ice, then lightning, then wind, then stone before looping back all over again. And again. And again.

They stare at it as I 'waste Dust', only to realise this isn't Dust at all.

"Fuck." Ordain is convinced.

The others follow quickly after that.

No.

Fear curls around my spine and tightens.

Flickers of fire escape as my Semblance and Magic bleed emotions into the world around me.

"Cinder?" Emerald whispers fearfully as flickers of fire bleed from me.

Calm. Magic obeys me, restrain it.

'Well done!'

"Let's go."

We leave.

Half an hour later I am drinking scalding hot tea, though I don't taste or feel it. There is something happening, and I thought it was in reaction to some secret the Alicorn must have said to Ironwood before she died.

Then, two weeks ago, Lady Tarot got a name. Alloy. Someone new, important and secret. Very secret.

Secret enough for me to consider that they might be the new Maiden. That the Winter Maiden, Fria, has finally died or they used the transfer technology.

Then, the past week, something swept through the entire military. A large scale secret project. I saw it as an opportunity, a weakness in their defences to sneak in and find the Maiden Transfer Tech, if not the Maiden herself.

Except, that name, Alloy, wasn't nearly as much of a secret anymore. People knew of her, respected or resented her. A few feared her, what power she might have, who she has leverage on.

'The technical term isOUTSIDER, or Outsider.'

Then Alloy visited the Schnee Manor, and the reports became even more confusing as the SDC suddenly began scramble to mine more Dust. Privately, of course, but Lady Tarot isn't seen as the best for no reason.

Something has changed. A hushed need for dust, unease in the Atlas Military, the fact that those 8 students from Beacon and Ozpin's Bird have been here so long.

Earlier today Lady Tarot sent me a message that a long distance airship and it's 3 escorts destined for Menagerie were suddenly set to leave early. Later that day. So much so that unless they would flight through the night.

That bared worthy of investigating. So Emerald and I managed to get close, exploiting the discontent and making liberal use of her Semblance. Close enough for me to see this Alloy for myself.

I thought she may be the new Winter Maiden.

I was wrong.

I wish I wasn't.

I know that Aura signature.

'I snuck in through a dream and a corpse.'

She didn't fear death. I have images of what was left of Amber's body. Survival was impossible.

And... I have nightmares of of her. Dreams of her.

'Thank you, Cinder Fall, for inviting me.'

The Nightmare has returned.

Alloy

The meeting with the Gele was suppose to push him to help support the introduction of my book's contents. I felt it was clean, polite, and clever to use his own greed against him.

Now I just feel awful.

I said that he should increase Dust mining, and gave him a solid push to do that. Dust that costs far too many lives for me to stomach. It was a vague, undefined thing before. Easy to think that Adam was just a one off. Easy to think that things were in control, bad, but not horrific.

An invisible horror made seen.

I look down at the Indie Rifle, formally known as the AK-47. Somehow, giving this to the White (and effectively Red) Fang doesn't seem so bad.

Though it's pretty expensive to fire right now, with Ruby being the only real source of rounds. That will change soon.

I look over at her, sleeping, as we sit and wait during our the flight. Technically our second flight, after the stop in Mistral to refuel.

Fuel that costs Dust.

Fuel that costs lives and suffering.

I get up and walk out, the rifle snapping to the neodymium magnets on my back. Once upon a time, a few days ago, I thought I might go clothes shopping and have some fun. Maybe make it light combat worthy.

I cycle the door and enter the cargo hold. Might as well run checks on everything we have.

"Hey," I hear a voice and look up to see Blake sitting atop a crate.

"Hey." I reply.

"Can't sleep?" It's dark. We decided to leave that day and fly through the night. Higher odds of Grimm attack, but we will arrive early in the morning rather than later in the evening, so we can start sooner.

"Don't sleep. Nightmares." I haven't told anyone about them, using software to lock my body still and silent so it seems I'm sleeping peacefully. So they don't know.

'Cease and Desist.' Whispers in the back of my mind.

"I thought you fight nightmares?" Blake drops down, barely making a noise as she lands. Damm ninja.

"I don't want to wake up from this dream." I explain. "Even this part."

"We're doing the right thing." Oh, does she think I'm against this?

"I didn't explain the disadvantages because I thought we should stay the course. Just, someone needed to."

"I know." Really? You threw your scroll at me, hard enough to damage it. A Huntress level scroll, and you cracked it. "Once we started voting anyway." Oh, right. "You're worried."

"Yeah." I look up at her. "Did you know?" No... "Did Adam?"

"I... I don't think he did. The worst we saw was one 'class 3' camp, and it was almost abandoned." A watered down Class 3.

Class 3 High danger from Grimm with Apathy use authorised. A small village really. Though, it sounds like the Apathy was taken out by the time they got there.

Class 4 is the worst. All pretences of it not being slavery is thrown out the window. Those are the ones with selective breeding going on. People treated as cattle, born, raised and worked to death underground.

There are 3 of them currently active.

There have been a lot more than 3.

Metal scrapes on metal as the door behind us opens and closes, Yang walking in. This, plus Ruby, makes up our team for Menagerie.

"Oh, you can't sleep either." Yang's here for the same reasons Blake and I are.

"Alloy has nightmares." Traitor.

"Really? Must be pretty scary to spook you."

"Just my old self, telling me that this will all end when I wake up." I dismiss light-heartedly.

I'm not smiling as I say that. Yang pauses a moment before continuing to walk up. Habit almost makes her lean against the crate, but she catches herself.

"Yeah, that will do it." She understands, at least.

I didn't often get nightmares when I was with Yang or James, not my ones. A few of the Vytal and Siege, but those didn't really remain nightmares for long as I turned to fight them.

But how do you fight the idea that everything is a lie? That one day, all the good things I have lived through, will suddenly end?

"Have yours been okay?" It's been weeks since I transferred out of Yang, so she's had to fight her nightmares alone.

"Yeah. Thanks for the help, but I'm good now." She... doesn't seem to be lying.

I glance at the cut where her arm was lost, and see only a thin white line of natural scarring.

"We will probably run into Adam while we are there." Blake is looking at Yang to gauge her reaction, before looking to me.

Here we are, three people that have been hurt by Adam Taurus.

"I know..." Yang looks at one of the crates, and I hear the question in her head, in my head, in Blake's head.

How many lives did this cost?

That is the easy question. The hard one... The one none of us have dared voice. Yang's eyes never leave the cargo container full of Dust.

Then she says it, "Was he right?"

Silence hangs.

"No." I try to justify. "Only increased demand and cut into Gele's profits."

"It wouldn't have changed anything. Only made things worse." Blake follows.

"Maybe we deserve worse." Yang mutters, looking down at her hands, and her weapon.

Ember Celica is full of Dust.

"12% isn't..." I sigh, I can't defend him. 12% only makes up the class 4 and 3 mines. Class 2, the majority, might be technically legal, but that doesn't mean they're good. Class 1 is basically run at a loss to present the SDC as a good company. "Sorry."

"I've asked Ruby to help replace Ember Celica's shells. I was putting it off before, I liked how I had them." Not anymore.

"It won't be forever. We'll clean out all the Red Dust from the market." I try again to help, but it's no use.

"It won't be the same." All Dust is stained. Yang shakes her head and looks up at me. "How are you coping?"

"I'm fine. Penny is..."

A Child of Slaughter.

This hurt her. I hurt her.

I could have kept it hidden from most of the group when I skimmed the documents. Gone to James and Qrow, kept secrets.

That way lays Ozma's failing. More than that, it's morally wrong. I picked what was Right, not Correct.

"She didn't see Ruby off," Blake reminds me.

Penny wasn't at the landing pad, she locked herself in her room. She says she doesn't even want to go to Beacon anymore.

Not without JNPR, or RWBY, or to be in the same place as all the people around her, burning blood soaked Dust.

I'm so sorry Penny, "We should have left Ruby behind, to help her," and, if I was a good sister, me. "To tell her, remind her, that she isn't what she is made of. That..." I fade off. "something. I don't know."

But there is a war going on and we need Ruby. Ruby is the one most familiar with Whoosh. It's production, it's use, designs for cartridges, gas pressures, the mixture of Whoosh to nitroglycerine, the chemicals for making it less sensitive to heat and pressure.

She could be in Atlas, or Beacon, and do that remotely. At least, before, in the old plan that was the plan. Now, we are accelerating and we need her on site. Her time and skill in weapons, her to teach others the art of packing, and for herself.

To see and know she is making a difference. Ruby loves weapons. To learn that the Dust, the basis of basically all weapons, is so horrible...

Ruby has to be on site, hands on, leading the next generation and helping the very people who were hurt by it. She might not forgive herself otherwise.

Stupid girl, she didn't know. Not really.

But in her head, she wants to be a hero, someone who saves lives. Weapons to her aren't for hurting people, they are for defending against monsters, and, admittedly, looking cool. An extension of herself, tainted by slavery and suffering.

We can't go out and tell everyone how horrible Dust is, not yet.

But we can make a difference.

Watching the sunrise from the window as we approach Menagerie isn't the best view, but it's still pretty. Pretty enough to distract me for a moment.

The second pilot just joined the first after his nap, so they will both be well rested as we approach. Grimm might be a constant factor, but the Red Fang, or rouge White Fang, may attempt to shoot us down.

Attacks like that have been happening more and more frequently as Adam gathers support and realised that we were shipping stuff into Menagerie. Idiot, the stuff we are shipping is to help the people of Kuo Kuana and from there the rest of Menagerie. The CCTS Relay Tower has been up uninterrupted for over a month for goodness sake.

I pour the coffee into the cream and slowly stir in the five sugars. That's enough, right?

If not, Ruby can add her more. Yang and Blake managed to get a short nap in but only because I stressed we may be attacked as we near land. Apparently got a nap in, anyway. No way to tell if they actually slept.

I glance out the window at our portside escort as I walk down the short hall to the lounge. This isn't a civilian airship, so the inclusion of a full, albeit small, lounge threw me for a moment before I remembered I am in Remnant. Of course a military craft has a comfortable lounge, moral keeps the Grimm away and Dust gives huge margins for error.

Most craft don't even have aerofoils, and the ones I saw on Manta gunships don't even seem all that well optimised. In fact, I'm not sure they even are aerofoils and might instead might just be curved decorative wings.

I put the tray with coffee and sandwiches down, getting a murmur of thanks. Making breakfast is a good excuse to practice using my new body, and the others don't really want to do much after just waking up.

Ruby takes a sip of her coffee. "Uhg, too sweet."

Yang and Blake snort.

"Really?" I deadpan. She smirks a little. "Fine, if you don't like it, you can make it next time."

"Didn't you volunteer so you could 'practice fine movements'?" Blake snarks.

I sit down. "There are plenty of ways to practice that. I could, for example, take up the guitar."

"The product of Atlas' tax payer's dollars, everyone. Alloy, the amazing guitar playing robot." Blake counters. "Such a worthwhile investment by the 'esteemed Atlas military'."

That has a sour note to it. Nobody is happy with Atlas right now.

"It would be a good way of strumming up support?" I pun and distract.

"Nooo. It's too early for puns." Ruby groans into her mug, though Yang and I air high five.

"Look out the window sis. It's punrise." Uhg. Nope. That was terrible.

"I thought Yang was lying about who was making all those puns." Blake jabs at me and my lies I told a lifetime ago.

Opps. Ruby giggles at me expression while Yang grins.

"Uhh, well, you know, mental contamination and all that." I blame my Semblance. "You try living with someone like-"

"Like?" Yang asks warningly, playfully, her fist impacting her hand in mock threat of violence.

I'm trapped.

I sigh. "Yield. I admit it. The puns were all me." Then turn. "ALL me. Yang can't come up with a good pun to save her life."

"Oh! That's it. Punoff, now." Right, challenging Yang probably wasn't the best idea.

"Please don't." Ruby begs. "I can feel a headache coming on."

I almost, for a moment, use that. Imply that Yang is a bad sister.

But who am I to talk.

Also, I have a secret weapon. I am a synthetic.

I load up a dictionary and thesaurus in my head, and ready myself to give Yang a smack down.

The sight of our escort veering wildly out of the way of a rocket cuts off our morning.

More rocket's follow, and I realise we probably won't be landing in Kuo Kuana.

I send a message to Ghira of our location, and that we are under att-

I groan from the wreck and push myself up, Synthetic strength shifting heavy steel. It's odd to be in a plane crash and rocket attack without blacking out. I suppose there's no sudden brain shake to make me pass out.

I hear gunfire, but it won't last. Our escorts have deployed soldiers to defend us, the ships manoeuvrable to dodge. The larger cargo ship we were in though?

Thermal vision. Three heat signatures near me. I move and help move that one.

"Dammit!" Yang is awake and swearing, which is a good sign. She probably flared her Paradigm Shift to absorb a heap of the damage.

Pull, pivot and then push, the metal falls to the ground in a crash. I hold my hand out and pull her up. "Thanks."

"Over there, Ruby based on heat signature size. I have Blake." We split up.

Metal shifts and Blake is awake, shaking herself off slowly. She's dazed. Possible concussion? "I'm fine. Yang? Ruby?"

"Yang's fine." I state and check that she can stand.

The louder series of gunfire is slowing down. Someone calls that they are reloading, only to be cut off mid word. I don't need to look at them to know they are dead.

Yang's Semblance flares and the metal comes off. "Aura is at 32. Alloy?"

I move up and scan her, my first aid and medical documents open. "Cracked ribs, minor internal bleeding, small lung punctures. Her Aura is keeping it from getting worse, but if she drops into the red..."

15%, or the red, isn't just called that for tournament standards. It's the point where Aura suddenly loses a lot of it's effectiveness, basically dropping into emergency mode. The more I learn about Aura, the less 'It's a forcefield!' it becomes. No wonder there are still people spending years studying it.

Ruby coughs up red.

And I have no healing Semblance anymore.

I scan and find the table we had food on, digging it out and bending it in the middle into a makeshift stretcher. Thank you, Atlas, for spartan metal furniture. Yang and Blake load a barely conscious Ruby onto it.

She will have a concussion, being a fraction of a second too slow to raise her Aura in time for the impact. Blake and Yang have far more experience, and I am significantly more durable.

"She'll live." I promise Yang and Blake.

"This isn't right." Blake seems to have shaken off most of the daze. "The rockets where aimed at the cargo hold."

It takes me half a second to realise what she means. If Adam wanted the supplies to feed the Red Fang war effort, then hitting the cargo and setting off the Dust is the worse thing to do. You target the wings and hope that the crash isn't so bad as to set off the Dust.

This was an assassination attempt.

"There isn't time. I've already sent for help, but-" A rocket explodes overhead, hitting one of the escorts serving as fire support. It remains in the air, but it's on fire. "I'll stay with Ruby, look for our pilots and get us away from the unexploded cargo. We need to hold out until help arrives."

They nod and move, and I dig out my Indie Rifle. Ammo, good it didn't go off. Thank you Ruby, for your excellent cartridge design. Here, have Crescent Rose.

I send another message to Ghira. 'Under attack. Red Fang confirmed. Tactics imply assassination attempt. Crash site location attached.'

Dragging Ruby's stretcher across the ground towards the nose of the wreck, I do the only thing I can do and think. A rocket punched through the armor and set of one or two of the Dust containers, suddenly turning our cargo into a bomb that went off in the back half. Good thing they are spaced apart and armoured, other cargo in the way serving as a buffer, for this exact reason, otherwise they all would have went up and we wouldn't here.

The two pilots where furtherest from the blast, and are still alive, but without Aura... Shit.

She's got a spike of metal in her chest, and blood is filling her lungs. I need to stop that. The other has a leg almost cut off. Leg first, he is losing much more blood faster.

I grab and pop open the armoured medkit box and tie a tourniquet around- "AHHRRRG! FUCK!"

Well, he's awake. That's good. "Please stay calm." I sooth. "You are losing a lot of blood."

He looks up at me and jerks back. Oh, I must look scary. I may be nanolaminate, but my synthetic skin will be all torn. I probably look like a terminator.

"Ashley?" He manages to groan.

"Alive, for now." Ruby stirs behind me. "Please, stay awake and let me finish, and I'll get to her."

He tries to nod, blood seeping across his face where the glass cut him. They both have dozens of cuts across their body, but I need to prioritise the worst first.

I may not have a healing Semblance anymore, but I can still save lives.

The pilot grits his teeth and growls as I pull the tourniquet tight. If I still had Growth, I would be done by now. Not just stabilising him, but I would have also reattached his leg. A leg that is beyond saving.

The blood stops flowing out, dropping to a small trickle. Good enough.

"Can you sit up? Can you shoot? We have Red Fang attacking." If the gunshots didn't give that away.

"Yeah." He pulls his pistol out. "Help Ashley."

"On it." I turn to my second patient.

She's not looking good. Slowly losing blood, but the moment I pull the spike of metal out she'll bleed out in a minute. Lungs pierced and filling. Worse, now that I am close to her, it looks like the debris nicked her heart.

I overclock, against Pietro's warnings. Time slows down by 20%, and I dedicate myself to this one task.

Objective: Save Pilot Ashley's life.

Assets: Semblance (Transference). Two standard military medkits.

Problem: Major puncture in right lung. Heart nicked on right side. Internal bleeding from torn vessels and muscles leading to moderate blood loss. 2 Shattered ribs, front and back side. 7 cracked ribs. Splinters of metal in back, spinal cord damaged. Infection growing more likely per second. Reduced oxygen flow from lungs filling with blood. Diaphragm and heart movement increasing damage.

Likelihood of death: Very high.

Potential solution: Direct healing via directed and focused Aura usage. Transference in, direct Aura to most critical areas.

Problems: Projected Aura levels reduced after Transference. Hostile external action may require functioning body to counteract. Second use of Transference out of body results in significant reduction in available Aura. Total Aura reserves (without Semblance usage) may not be enough to stabilise patient.

Potential solution: Heat existing metal spike to cauterise injuries to stop blood flow.

Problems: Cauterisation increases damage, heart highly sensitive to damage. Alterations to body heat may result in further complications.

It would kill any infections however.

Potential solution: Unlock Patient's Aura.

Problems: Insufficient understanding. Possibly insufficient personal Aura to preform task. Success of Aura unlocking does not immediately resolve injuries, death likelihood only marginally reduced.

Potential solution: Replace damaged organs with functional substitutes.

Extrapolation of solution 1: Usage of other Patients as blood donors to replace blood loss. Usage of other patients as blood pumps.

Problems: Unknown blood types. Increased likelihood of increased infection, especially cross infection. Further reduction of blood in results in lower group likelihood of other patients survival. Insufficient knowledge and skill to synchronise cardiovascular systems.

Extrapolation of solution 2: Creation or salvage of prosthetics. Abandon right lung and spinal damage.

Problems: Own body internal workings are not Remnin/Faunus compatible. Creation of even crude prosthetic requires refined tools and time. Replacing damaged heart requires surgery, resulting in higher blood loss and significantly increased likelihood of infection. Does not resolve blood loss.

Extrapolation of solution 3: Replacement organs. Abandon right lung and spinal damage.

Problems: Replacing damaged heart requires surgery, resulting in higher blood loss and significantly increased likelihood of infection. Does not resolve blood loss. Unknown blood type from donor. High time usage spent salvaging organs from recently deceased reduces survival likelihood. Salvaged organs may be damaged in undetectable ways. Possible organ rejection by patient's body. Probability of nearby donors (dead) is low. Insufficient skills to increase odds of survival-

I'm getting desperate.

Think. There is a way, I just need to find it.

Blood is escaping her mouth, time is only accelerated, not stopped. I need to heal her.

Focus!

Looking for potential solutions...

Hard science solutions unlikely.

Aura, Semblance and Magic then.

Think.

'All of our tools and equipment are conduits for Aura.' A food fight, bread sticks remaining firm as they are used as weapons, when they really shouldn't.

'Yet here you are, holding a device that should fail exceptionally often.' Harbinger malfunctions in Qrow's hand. He unconsciously directs his Aura into his weapon. It's so easy in fact, that even Jaune with only 5 months of training at most can do that, his weapons in the food fight didn't break either.

'It's a combat skirt!' Weiss protests. A skirt, a bit of clothing. Durable, but fundamentally fabric. Fabric that doesn't catch on fire or get blasted off in combat.

Weapons and clothing that stick out from the body.

I lay hands on Ashley's chest. Time to get clever.

Focus. Change my perception. I am not putting hands on a woman's bleeding chest, I am wearing/wielding a long, thin, shard of flesh. Damaged flesh.

Organic bodies are complicated, yet Aura knows how to heal them. Either by somehow reading genetics, or by reading the mental image of what the person feels like... No.

People aren't the only beings with Aura. Zwei has his Aura unlocked, and he has never gotten sick. A dog that has never gotten sick, he wouldn't understand germ theory. Can plant's have their Aur- not now.

Focus.

I am wearing a long, thin, spike of flesh. It is buried deep into this woman's chest. It is damaged.

The heart is damaged, a small nick there. Direct, focus, and make it whole.

.

I grin even as my Aura drops to 14.7% with no Semblance to amplify the effect.

Now the lungs.

Blake Belladonna

Bullets whizz out from the leaves, sparking as they are blocked by my blade while I leap from place to place. Between the trunks and leaves, I hear and see Yang roar as she turns her Paradigm Shift up for a moment, converting the damage she has absorbed into enhanced strength to stab the chunk of bullhead into the ground. Atlas soldiers take cover behind the durable metal chunk and return fire.

I hunt, looking for- There.

I push myself and leap forward towards the last Red Fang member with a rocket launcher. His hawk eyes and feathered head react too slow as my-

Instincts scream and I hit the ground, the clone above me where I was cut in two.

Cut in two by a Red Blade.

"Blake, Blake, Blake." Adam steps out, shaking his head and sighing. "Working for Atlas now?"

"Adam." Conflicting emotions burn in me, fed by what the SDC has done. "No. Working with them to h-"

"What's the difference? Get us dependant on Dust imports and their technology, then cut us off and turn it against us?" Like Vale.

My blade shakes in my hand as I pull it up. "I'm not the one who tried to end a Kingdom, Adam." Breathe. Assess. I still need to take out the last rocket launcher. "Will you burn down too, if it doesn't do what you want?"

Adam knows me, how I fight, but he hasn't fought me using my Paradigm Shift. But, with only about a quarter of my Aura left, I won't be able to maintain it for more than a couple of seconds.

I should fall back.

"Going to run again?" I flinch. Adam knows me too well. "Go on, run back to you owners."

I half gasp, half hiss at the horrible insult. As he implies I'm 'domesticated'.

I am not a slave.

(But I'm helping the people who own-) I shake my head. I'm doing the right thing. Adam is messing with me.

"How many dead in this raid, Blake?" The rocket launcher moves away.

"You attacked us! We are giving these to the people-"

"Giving? Giving Dust soaked with Faunus Blood?" I flinch again. "Building things for the Humans in our home?" The basic infrastructure Alloy needs, that we all need. "This is an insidious invasion! A subversion of the one place we can be safe!"

We are alone, though the sound of fighting around and behind me doesn't end. Bullets pop and clip. People yell and groan. Grimm are coming soon. Adam could yell and scream and rage and hate as loud as he wants and the world would not hear him.

But he doesn't. Instead, Adam does a far worst thing.

He begs. "Blake, please... I miss you."

He stabs me with words and truth, with a shiver of his hand on his blade as he confesses his weakness.

And I...

I miss the man I admired. The self sacrifice, to do the hard thing and risk our lives to help our people. Hitting mines and convoys, back in the simple days when the SDC was evil and we were freedom fighters trying to help any way we could.

I miss the man who taught me. The stern yet kind lessons. Forging and adjusting our weapons. Sweat on our body after a sparring session. His pride in me the rare occasions I beat him, and the little hints of frustration that I did.

I miss the man I loved. The hidden side nobody but I ever saw. We would personally tend to each other's injuries after every mission and match. How he would scorn my selection of book choices, even though he would sneak in and steal them to read. His confidence, and how it faded away out of sight as we shared our fears, anxieties, frustrations.

Salt mixed water clouds my eyes. "I miss you too."

But...

'I told you it was an accident.' 'Was it?'

'What about the crew?' 'What about them?'

I know what he's going to say.

"You almost killed me." I say it anyway.

I didn't know you were on board. "I didn't know you were on board."

"During Vytal." I say it anyway.

I'm sorry. I was angry, frustrated. "I'm sorry, I was angry, frustrated." You left without a word. "You left without a word." You left me alone. "You left me alone."

So it's my fault, is it? "And what about the other people on the airships Adam? What about the people dying around us? Why am I special?"

'Because you are special to me.' A memory of Adam says.

We both hear those words.

"We can find another way. Alloy, sh-"

Anger rocks his next words, "The Atlas robot sent to undermine us?" Loud anger that quickly fades to quiet pain and betrayal. "You pick her over me? Over our people?" Over us?

He doesn't understand.

He doesn't ask why.

He raises his sword.

He doesn't want to understand.

'I don't hate Adam.' Alloy confesses, in an almost sad way.

I have to try.

I stare directly into his eyes, "Equality means building everyone up, not tearing down everyone else down."

"They will never let us be equals." Resignation. "We have to fight." Conviction, self righteousness, and that horrible hidden joy I never wanted to hear, that I ignored for so long.

I run.

Yang Xiao-Long

The rocket impacts the cover I set up. Where is Blake? She should have taken them all out by now. A horrible worming feeling fills my gut. She should have taken them all out and have been back here minutes ago.

Something must have happened.

"I'm out!" A soldier calls, dropping his rifle and drawing his pistol-knife.

We are running out of ammo, Aura, people and medical supplies. The fighting is completely different to what I'm used to, and I itch to just jump out and take them all out by myself. To leap behind the clearing made by shredded and burning trees, two crashed escorts, and blood stained grass,

But they are scattered, hidden in the trees. More importantly, that would leave the soldiers, people with no Aura and only clunky armor, unprotected. A Huntress saves lives first.

Sporadic shots ring out and leaves in the treeline move, due to wind or Red Fang constantly jumping between locations. I move and tackle a girl down as my instincts cry out.

The bullets pass where her chest and head was. "Th-thanks."

Get up, move. Listen. Repair the makeshift cover and- Grenade.

I bat it back and hear a yelp as the terrorist leaps out from cover-

Into a burst of bullets from a soldier, his teeth clenched shut and regret carved into his face as he takes a life.

Then it suddenly goes silent.

Then Blake leaps back out from the trees and lands beside me. "Adam is he-"

"GRIMM!" A voice screams from the trees. "FROm- AHHRGG"

Radio chatter from our one surviving escort gives us a clearer picture, "Be advised, Grimm approaching south-west."

"Copy that Tallow 2." Alloy sounds cold, dead, and when I got a glance at her I noticed the heat waves coming from her.

She's overcharging her computer again, even though Pietro explicitly warned against doing that. If her core burns out, she will die.

"Reinforcements-" Shots begin ringing out again, "-ETA, 2 minutes."

2 minutes. That's how long-

I fire Ember Celica at the giant rat Grimm that crawled out of the bush, flinging it into the air.

-it we have to hold out for. The time it takes to make noodles.

A rocket screams out of the treetops, long smoke trail behind it. It scrapes close, too close, to the wing of our air support before it a shot rings out and it explodes. Adam, or someone else, shot the rocket to set it off mid air.

"Got you." Whispers Alloy, dead and cold.

She shifts her aim, squeezes the trigger, and I know someone just died. Not from the explosion, she targeted the rocket launcher itself, but the half person that was flung out from it. A horrifying scream echoing in my head even as my the true sound is muffled by the roar of burning Dust.

"Nice shot Tallow Actual." Tallow 2 compliments Alloy murdering someone. "That will get them off my ass."

I shove the sickening feeling in my stomach down and turn back to the Grimm. The nice easy Grimm. They don't have families to mourn them.

The only thing I am glad of is that Ruby isn't aware to see this.

Alloy

Core Temperature: 69%. Timefactor: 0.92. Ammo: 14/30 x1. Reinforcements: 93 seconds to arrival. Thermal vision impaired across 37% of battlefield. Hostile targets: 14 Faunus, 27 Grimm, 2 Huntsman level combatants.

Remove Huntsman level combatants.

High Payoff Target 01 'Adam Taurus' South South East, 36 meters and closing. HPT 02 North, 49m.

Weapon analysis of HPT 02 indicates long engagement range. HPT 01 aggression, weapon range and movements indicate high probability of entering close quarters to disrupt defences.

HPT 01 effective armor too high for small arms. Explosive weapons viable. Grenades: zero.

Alternate explosive found. Devising Plan.

Plan devised. Moving.

"Tallow 2, redirect fire to South West Grimm. Tempt HPT 01 into the open. Prepare to cut engines to evade on my mark."

HPT 01 location: 24 meters South South East and closing.

"Understood Tallow Actual." Arriving. Explosive Dust crystals obtained.

Repositioning.

Tango down. Ammo: 5/30.

Execute reload pattern.

HPT 01 10m and closing.

Reload complete. Ammo 30/30 x0. No more magazines.

HPT exiting treeline. Timefactor: 0.85. Core Temperature: 70% and rising.

Aura sensors indicate HPT is accelerating. Projected path...

Got you.

"Mark."

Timefactor: 0.7, 78%

Calculating trajectory.

Throwing.

Timefactor: 0.6, 82%

Aiming.

Timefactor: 0.5, 92%

Firing.

Block this.

Ghira Belladonna

The flash in the distance does not bode well.

"Chieftain, are you su-" Felix worries too much.

"I am not leaving my daughter." I stress before putting my hand on his shoulder. "Do not worry. I will be fine."

My scroll vibrates with another message from Alloy. 'Red Fang in retreat. Grimm presence increasing. Ammo low, resorting to using cargo.'

If that is what it takes. It vibrates again.

'Blake is fine.'

Despite the danger, I smile. Blake seems to have made a good friend at least, if she is willing to take a moment in the middle of combat to reassure me.

The feet below us and seconds on the clock pass too slow.

People check their weapons, others bet on trivial things. Felix frets, his hands wringing together like they always do. Tension is going up. An update and a few words will make the difference.

"The Red Fang are pulling out, so we are dealing with Grimm. They are running out of ammo, are hurt, and getting a little desperate." That puts a lot of them at ease. Nobody wants to shoot a person. "So, it's up to us to save them."

"Whoo! Let's show those Snowsuits how to kick monster ass!" Rain shouts, getting cheers.

I open the door to the pilot's cabin and stick my head inside, speaking loudly enough for everyone in this the airship to hear the plan. "Fly us directly overhead. Half of us will jump off, then circle back and drop the rest off until we can hold the site."

"Aye Aye, Chieftain." 'Why-couldn't-I-be-born-with-Scales' grins.

The fighting is over quickly, though more Grimm are coming. Cables are tied to the surviving cargo to our airships, but with all the injured getting loaded up first it will take at least 3 trips to get it all. At least there is medical supplies in the cargo, and more help will be here to hold of the Grimm while we recover what we can.

People set to task, I finally get to walk up to my daughter, almost yelling at her friend in worry, "What were you thinking? Even slightly overcharging your core runs the risk of killing you!"

"'I have to kill fast and bullets too slow'" That must be Alloy, there is no doubt.

I knew she was a Synthetic, but the contrast between torn skin and scratched blue tinted steel takes me back a moment. Still, I have seen a few mecha replacements in my lifetime.

No, what really gives it away isn't her torn clothes and skin, not her thick and clearly mechanical legs, not the subtle hints of camera like eyes that most people would look over. It's the fact she is standing perfectly still and straight, speaking in a monotone.

Blake's eye twitches like her mother's does when I say the wrong thing. "Is that a reference?"

"Yes."

Something in how Alloy said that, monotone and dead, cuts the exasperation out from Blake.

"Alloy... Are you alright?" Blake steps forward.

"No. Later." She turns to look at me and I get a good look at her damage.

Aren't Synthetics suppose to have Aura?

Blake's head turns to where her friend is looking. "Hey da-"

I pull her into a hug.

She is safe.

Alloy

Emotional systems damaged, unable to restart. High stress situation has triggered old survival mechanisms. Social emulation engine replaced with combat analysis engine.

Video call established. General James Ironwood and Specialist Winter Schnee on the line.

"Specialist Saltlake. Alloy. Report."

"Ambush sir." Specialist Saltlake begins, his words slurring. "0452 hours we were engaged with handheld surface to air missiles by Red Fang hiding in the foliage." A pause as he takes a breath. "Tallow 4 took minor damage, but Tallow 1 took a hit to the cargo hold. Alloy has..."

"Take your time." General Ironwood states.

Specialist Saltlake nods and blinks. "Alloy has reviewed the blackbox footage and determined that destruction was likely the enemy objective."

"Are you sure?" General Ironwood requests.

"8 total launchers, 5 of which were dedicated to Tallow 1. Simultaneous firing in spread pattern centred on the back half of Tallow 1. Sending data now." Uploading blackbox data from all the aircraft and all of my own video recordings of the encounter.

"One cargo crate of Dust detonated, and I ordered to secured the crash site. Alloy had already sent a message to Kuo Kuana calling for reinforcements the moment she saw the first missile.

He looks to me and nods before returning to the screen. Emotional expression unreadable, facial expression systems offline.

"After that, we dug in. With foliage and... and..." Specialist Saltlake grabs his head and breathes.

"Specialist?"

"I'm fine General. I just need a moment."

A moment passes.

"With the terrain masking enemy numbers and location, I ordered us to dig in and secure the crash site. Sending people out there would have been suicide. That was when Tallow 3 and I were shot down. My Aura dropped... My Aura saved me from most of the damage, but the moment I crawled out of the gunship I came under fire and was..."

I take over. "Long range Huntsman level combatant and directed fire incapacitated Specialist Saltlake. I took operation command."

"It was all so fast." Specialist Saltlake mutters.

"Utilising thermal vision, I identified the heat signatures of the surface to air weapons and deployed Blake Belladonna to move ahead and neutralise as many as she safely could. Yang Xiao-Long assisted in fortifying the position and prioritised defending our position from close quarters combatants. Ruby Rose was incapacitated during Tallow 1's crash. Tallow 2 and 4 provided fire support. Small Red Fang teams of 4 converged on our position. Tallow 4 took small arms fire that compromised the damaged sections enough for the a rocket barrage from the remaining SAMs to fully disable it. Blake Belladonna returned to our position soon after, with only one SAM operational and a report of Adam Taurus on the field and approaching. Then the Grimm arrived. I neutralised the SAM and began utilised some of our Dust cargo to attack Adam Taurus unconventionally. With the growing Grimm presence and the Red Fang taking their own losses, as well as support from Kuo Kuana on the way, the Red Fang withdrew. Reinforcements dropped in and quickly assisted in neutralising the immediate Grimm before evacuating us. Cargo is still being recovered."

Accounting. "Currently, we have 3 dead and 5 in critical condition, with a further 12 stable but with severe to moderate injuries."

"Bastards sold us out." Specialist Saltlake speculates.

"Unlikely." I state. "Kuo Kuana is explicitly prevented to knowing our approach routes for that very reason. Additionally, based on the initial attack pattern, this was likely not an attempt to steal supplies but an assassination attempt."

"A leak." Specialist Schnee states.

"I have attached all the relevant data from my systems for further analysis."

"Thank you." General Ironwood says. "We will review it and contact you later. Keep us informed and get some rest."

"Yessir." Specialist Saltlake slurs before the line goes dead. "What a shitshow."

"Your bandages need changing." I state, spotting the red of blood in the white wrapped around his head. "Come on, we will find you a nurse."

"Will she have decent tits?" That is not mission critical information.

"You will have to assess that." Specialist Saltlake looks at me, but I can't read his expression.

My emotional and interpreting subsystems are offline.

Author's Note:

And so begins Cinder's journey to becoming an Anti-Villain. Someone who does the right thing for all the wrong reasons.

With Ozma being a mostly passive idiot, Salem threatening all life, and now the Outsider Alicorn Nightmare infesting reality, it's up to Cinder to save the world.

So she can take it over, of course.

As tempting as it might be for me to write that also interesting story, I won't. Spelling out every action Cinder takes will take away from the mystery of what she is doing and the growing threat she poses.

Speaking of growing threat, Cinder now controls Team CRYO.

Cobalt (Also known as Mapless), Resin, Yolk, Ordain (Also known as Navman).

The other member's colours are obvious (to me) but Ordain I pulled from ordinator, a role in the Catholic faith (where they wear white robes or a white mantle).

Ha. Cinder Fall and the Defenders of Remnant. Cinder Fall, on her selfish pursuit of power, is thrust into the role of hero as the shadow war grows and new, alien, threats emerge. Will she learn to be a better person

Watsonian versus Doylist fight: What are the odds that the team that Alloy ran with just so happen to have a member that reads The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, (go read that series) or it's Remnant equivalent? Not very high, but in a story, unlikely things happen all the time to make the antagonists more of a threat.

I keep searching TV tropes for my fanfic, to see what tropes I am using. I mean, some are deliberate, but with how I'm writing this (Writing By The Seat Of Your Pants), I'm curious what I've accidentality included.

Oh, if you don't know what TV Tropes is, don't look it up. Not only will it take away huge chunks of time, it will also change how you see stories in general.

I asked you to not send reviews about my upcoming Deadline, I only told you so you would know in case I cut off and why the quality has undoubtedly dropped. Please leave the reviews section for actual reviews on the story.