The Closing End

The sound of metal striking something repeatedly echoed through the street. Dashing down the street Oscar glanced to his right as Pyrrha's figure ran alongside him. As the two ran Oscar's staff and Pyrrha's sword which was in its spear form clashed like a flurry. Only indistinct shapes could be seen as sparks were left like a trail.

As the two reached an intersection they came to a sliding stop. Pyrrha's spear swung around her waist as she thrust it towards Oscar's neck who quickly leaned back to dodge. Countering, he swung at her using his staff directly at her head, only to have Pyrrha prepare to block it with her spear's shaft. But just before contact the staff in Oscar's hand began to glow bright green as Pyrrha's eyes widened.

'Magic?' Without reason Oscar's staff seemed to reject contact with Pyrrha, a power shockwave sending her flying off to the side. It had enough force to send her rocketing into a building off to the side. Yet the exact second Pyrrha was sent flying Raven's figure seemed to appear from above.

An orange katana wrapped in a blazing inferno was in her hands as she flew down on top of Oscar's head. Looking up his face changed as he flipped back and a barrier projected itself around his body. The moment Raven's sword touched the ground the inferno wrapped around its blade shot out in every direction.

It was like a tsunami of fire engulfing everything around, reducing the stone to molten lava and nearby cars to charred melted hunks of metal. Inside the barrier, Oscar could help but begin to sweat, even with the barrier the heat felt like it would burn the clothes right off his body. As the Inferno came to an end Raven rushed out from the remaining flames.

Oscar was expecting a head-on attack, but it was when he noticed she had nothing in her hands. The sword was gone.

In what seemed to be from the corner of his eye Oscar was struck in the side of the head before he react with a shield. It was Pyrrha's she had already recovered and was rushing towards Oscar from the side. As it returned to her she leaped high into the air, her spear turning into its sword form.

At the same time raised her fist and struck the ground directly below her instead of attacking Oscar. The ground in front of her ruptured as Oscar looked down. The ground he was standing on immediately swallowed his feet while separating and rising into the air as an individual pillar.

'These two…' As he rose into the air he was carried directly into Pyrrrha's overhead strike. With no chance to dodge he could only black as the full force of the swing came down onto him. The impact from it caused his legs to buckle and the entire pillar of earth to split in half.

Pyrrha and Oscar's eyes met for a moment. Pyrrha's looking silent and focused, not a single emotion seemed to push itself through to the surface. At that instant Pyrrha's eyes shifted as she kicked off of Oscar, the splitting of the pillar had loosened his footing and the kick sent him flying through the air. He grimaced as a voice quickly cut through his subconscious.

[To your right!]

Immediately Oscar looked to his right only to see a large wall of fire and ice flying toward him, merging and creating some weird synergy. Raven's attack was directly on target and covered half of the entire street they were fighting on leaving there no room to dodge especially in mid-air.

'These two are in perfect sync, they haven't even uttered a word to each other this whole time.' Although on the outside he was known as Oscar, on the inside both Oscar and Ozpin's souls had merged together. At this point, Ozpin had the most control, with Oscar becoming a subconscious voice in his own body.

Holding out his staff towards the merger of fire and ice, a light green point appeared at the tip of the staff. It seemed to cause the fire and ice to splash on impact, like water against a wall.

Yet embers still managed to graze his skin, and the ice still managed to freeze parts of his body causing his aura to deplete as he was sent flying back from the kinetic energy.

Oscar's body arced through the sky as he landed back first onto one of the molten cards slamming into it with a loud bang.

[Ozpin are you ok?] Oscar's worried voice came out as Ozpin answered in his mind.

Oscar was taking a back sea as Ozpin piloted the body, this was the best outcome for both. With Ozpin in control, Oscar could warn him of unnoticed threats, it made them quite effective in combat. But even that was being overwhelmed by Raven and Pyrrha's teamwork.

'Yes though this fighting is taking chunks from my Aura at a time. I'm not sure if-' Before he could finish speaking he saw Pyrrha rushing directly at him. Oscar quickly got up, flipping himself off the molten car. Seeing that Pyrrha's face shifted as her muscles tightened up.

With one powerful kick, she struck the husk of a car Oscar had landed on. The force of her kick caused the car to lift off the ground and be sent flying into the air while spinning. And as it came down she kicked it with a roundhouse. Like a bullet, the car was sent flying directly at Oscar filling his vision entirely.

He had no choice but to dodge to the side as the car violently tore into the ground as it spun and slammed into a building down the street. Yet the moment his vision was free of the car blocking it, he immediately saw Raven there. She was flying towards him with one of her legs raised at a near a hundred eighty-degree angle.

Her leg came down like a guillotine leaving Oscar no choice but to block with his staff once more. The force of the kick when it hit made his bones go numb and his entire body cracked the street below him imprinting his feet as his legs buckled.

'I don't have a choice… I'm going to have to utilize all the magic I have.'

[But, it took so long to gather what we have. It'll take years to regain it.]

'At this rate, we'll end up dead if I don't.'

As Raven pressed Oscar with her leg Pyrrha ran up from behind her a few meters away transforming her sword into its spear form. Using it she vaulted into the air directly behind Rave and Oscar. At that moment her spear transformed again, alongside her shield. The two seemed to merge together forming a long-barreled rifle.

"Raven!" Calling out Raven nodded without even looking back, quickly flying into the air. Pyrrha's seemed to flow out of her body into the rifle as a crimson light gathered within the barrel. As the charge met its max a laser of pure energy fired out with the pull of the trigger.

Oscar quickly formed a barrier as the beam impacted, it caused Oscar barrier and all to be pushed back leaving a streak across the ground as it did so. Pyrrha's eyes narrowed as she pulled down the trigger even harder. The beam nearly doubled in size pushing Oscar back even further as the barrier began to crack.

Oscar's face strained as he grit his teeth and let out an audible yell.

Pulling it back all the way the beam grew even more as the barrier around Oscar broke down and an explosion inside. It blew away everything within a forty-meter radius, reducing the stone to dust and metal to nothing more than small chunks. The shockwave that insured broke every window on the street and cracked walls.

Sweat dripped down Pyrrha's face as she landed back on the ground Raven already there waiting for her.

"Did I get him?" She asked as she watched the explosion fade along with the rubble and dust disappear.

"I think so…. Are you ok?" Raven looked over at Pyrrha, just a moment ago she could have continued fighting Oscar all day. But now she was out of breath and sweating. It was due to her weapon, Aura was linked to the soul, use too much of it past a limit so suddenly or losing it altogether would directly harm the body.

Pyrrha's rifle while powerful enough to even hurt people like her or Taella could also kill her if she took it too far.

"You know I can handle more than this, don't worry. Just keep focused, we still haven't finished the job. We can't kill him or he'll just reincarnate so we have to be careful." Pyrrha gave her a reassuring look Raven nodded and looked towards the crater ahead of them.

Slowly the sound of footsteps echoed out as Oscar's silhouette came into view. Blood was leaking through his clothes and dripping down the side of his face. Aura could block damage to a certain extent but could be overwhelmed even if it didn't break. Having pretty much two souls Oscar's body double the quantity of aura a normal person his age would have.

But still, Pyrrha's attack had damaged him to this extent.

[Ozpin…] Oscar's voice echoed in their mind as Ozpin answered with a solemn look and silence instead of looking towards Pyrrha and Raven.

"I never expected to see Raven work so closely with someone. Your two's teamwork is even better than with your individual teams at my academy. It seems war truly does bring out the skill in warriors." Despite his words, both Pyrrha and Raven's faces didn't change for a moment. They had done, seen, and regretted many things over the years.

Yet even still they pushed forward, nothing Oscar or more precisely Ozpin could say would make them falter at this point. Seeing their stoic faces and feeling the silence Ozpin shook his head.

"I see. Then as previous students of my academy, I believe it's time we brought this to an end, with one final lesson, don't you agree?" Stands of green light began to flow off of OScar's body as his eyes began to glow with that very same color. Letting go of his staff his entire body began to float into the air as the green light flowing from his body increased gradually.

Both Raven and Pyrrha glanced at one another, taking their fighting positions. This would end here and now, with either the dead or Oscar captured.

To that degree, you could say the odds were in Oscars and Ozpins' favor.

…

It had begun to rain and more than two hours had passed since Shen and the others arrived. It was for it to rain in this kind of place, with how cold it was usually just snow. Though now the clear skies had been covered with nimbus clouds thanks to Shen and Penny's exploits. The entire city of Atlas seemed grim and dark as the rain pounded down.

Back in front of Atlas Academy, many figures could be seen lined up there. With a few of them on their knees, the rain caused their hair to fall to their shoulders. No one spoke, everyone simply stood there silently. Lightning flashed through the sky and thunder echoed out as one powerful bolt struck the Atlas Academy Courtyard.

From that bolt, Shen appeared holding The Relic of Destruction in one hand and something in the other which was impossible to see due to the light. Without wasting a moment Neo, Blake, Torchwick, Taella, Pyrrha, Raven, and Sienna all stepped forward and bowed.

Neo's face seemed devoid of any major emotion, but in her eyes, you could see her devotion.

Although it was controlled Blake's face was full of longing, loyalty, and respect. She was the first of them to join Shen and she planned on remaining till the very end.

Torchwick was dirtied and bruised in places but still had a sly look on his face and a smirk on his lips like usual.

Taella was covered in cuts and scars across her body and even her tails seemed like brushed dipped in bloody paint. Yet despite that, she still smiled with a look of satisfaction.

Pyrrha and Raven kneeled side by side, their eyes were focused on Shen, yet their thoughts and feelings were buried deep, never exposed to the light.

And lastly, Sienna, considering her talk with Ironwood one would never expect her to show such a subservient look. All of them seemed completely loyal and devoted, some for personal reasons, others for more selfless ones.

Behind them, Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Ironwood & Oscar were there, and further behind them were captured Hunters and Huntresses along with Atlas Soldiers. All of them seemed beaten both mentally and physically. The moment they saw Shen they realized it was all over. They had failed, they had lost.

"Looks like you all had fun. I have to admit that little toy you all sent to kill me was fun to play with for a while." As Shen said, he chucked what he had been holding in his hand towards Ruby and the others. The moment it came into their view Ruby's eyes widened as a look of horror appeared on their faces.

"No…"

"You bastard!"

"How did this happen…"

Both Ironwood and Oscar remained silent with unexplainable looks on their faces as they stared at what lay before them. It was an arm, one that was all too recognizable. It was Penny's arm and it perfectly conveyed the message Shen wanted to send.

Tears fell down Ruby's face as her silver eyes seemed to shine. Yet just as they began to glow a dark void covered her entire body. It tightened around her, restricting her movements entirely and threatening to engulf her.

"Ruby! Dammit Blake, stop it!" Seeing that Yang yelled at Blake who turned her head and held up a finger to her lips. Her eyes were cold, ready to kill Yang at a moment's notice if she kept yelling. After all, Shen was about to speak.

"With this, I have the Relic of Destruction, Knowledge, and Choice and only the Relic of Creation remains. Did you two manage to locate the vault containing it?" Shen turned to Neo and Blake both lowered their heads and nodded.

"I see, then in that case it seems this long journey of my mine is finally coming to an end."