The chill of the AC turning on stirred Ruby. She'd been sleeping up right in a chair up until that point. She'd have nodded back off if not for a sudden, sharp pain in her head. Her eyes opened to speckled light and no discernable shapes. It took her a second but she realized she was looking through a bag. More unsettling was when she moved to remove the bag she found her arms and legs tied to the chair she was on. Shaking with as much strength as she could muster led her to conclude the chair was welded to the ground.

She closed her eyes again and focused on hearing and smell. The smell of blood was the first thing she noticed; she hoped whatever was causing her headache wasn't also the cause of the blood smell. She couldn't smell anything else definite and focused solely on hearing. The faint sound of someone else breathing could be heard through the loud AC. Ruby wasn't sure, but it sounded like multiple other people were breathing.

"Who's there?" Ruby whispered loudly.

She didn't know, or really couldn't remember, how she'd gotten here. Most likely it was kidnapping considering she was tied up. She tried with all her might to remember as much as she could which made her head hurt. All she knew was she, Jaune, Ren, and Nora had been on their way to Haven. They had been in the woods, and then everything gets fuzzy before waking up here.

"Ruby…?" a faint voice near her asked.

"Yeah, it's Ruby," Ruby replied. "Who's that? Who are you?"

"Ruby… it's Jaune," the voice replied. "Argh. My head is killing me. Actually, everything hurts."

"Jaune, I think we were attacked and kidnapped," Ruby said.

"Yeah, I gathered as much," Jaune replied.

"Ruby?" a familiar voice asked from behind.

"Yeah?"

"It's me, Sun," the voice said.

"Sun? What are you doing here?" Ruby asked.

"I dunno," Sun replied. "I was on a Grimm extermination mission with my team. We were in the woods… and then I was here."

"HEY!" a loud male voice shouted over everything. "Who do you think you are?!"

"Who do you think you are?" another male voice said back.

"Are you the one who kidnapped me?" the first voice demanded.

"Yeah, then I tied myself up to cover my tracks," the second one replied.

"Oh, think you're funny?"

"Regular comedian."

"Hey, shut up," a female voice jumped in. "That isn't helping. We need to – "

"Why are you giving me orders?" the first voice asked.

"If you want to stay tied up – "

"Coco?" a new male voice asked.

"Yatsu?" the female asked. "Yeah, it's Coco."

"Where's Velvet?" Yatsuhashi asked.

A loud blaring noise cut off all conversation. It lasted a few seconds before some music began to play. It was a few piano keys in the lower range on a piano playing on loop. It felt like riding an elevator in a haunted house. When the tune ended a voice came over an unseen loudspeaker.

"Hello Players," a female voice said over the loudspeaker.

"Cinder?!" the second male voice from earlier asked.

"CINDER!" the first yelled.

"Recognizing me by voice, how quaint," the female replied. "However it spoils the fun to reveal who I am right away."

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" The first voice bellowed.

"I've brought you all here for a little game," Cinder continued, unfazed by the aggression. "You are all major figures in the world right now. Well, most of you are major figures. A couple of you are extras to push my game along."

"What kind of game?" Sun asked.

"A killing game designed to kick Remnant while she's down."

"A killing game…" Ruby muttered.

"The rules of this game are few and simple," Cinder began to explain. "On each of your wrists you'll notice a bracelet. I know you can't see it, but I'm sure you all feel it."

Ruby shifted both her arms. She hadn't taken it in the first time but just above the bindings on her left arm was a bracelet. It was narrow, tight, and made of some cold metal.

"Those bracelets will ensure all of you follow the rules. Anyone who breaks a rule of the game will have their bracelet activated. It will release a quick acting toxin, killing any rule breaker in a matter of moments."

"You're kidding me," Ruby heard Jaune whispered under his breath.

"Now that you know how I will keep you in check," Cinder explained, the joy evident in her voice, "I'll tell you the rules. The name of the game is to kill. I want you to kill everyone else in this room. However, a bloodbath won't do. I want you to murder each other.

"You see, in a bloodbath you can claim self-defense. You kill not because it is fun or in your interest but because it is the only guarantee you have at surviving. That is not the killing I want. I want you to murder each other. I want you to live, eat, and sleep under the same roof as someone as you plot the perfect way to take their life."

"You can't make us do anything!" Ruby declared. "I don't know everyone here, but I promise you, I won't kill any of them."

"Oh my dear Ruby, but you will. I knew gathering a bunch of goody Huntsmen and mixing them with a couple… less reputable persons wouldn't force you to kill. So, I also gathered a hostage for each player."

The bag covering Ruby's head was suddenly pulled off. She checked to see who had pulled it off but it was a simple contraption worked into the back of her chair. In front of her was a large display with Cinders seated on a throne overlooking her players in a room far away from them. Around her were others lined up in a pyramid of chairs. She saw everyone was locked to the chairs like she was. She was able to see Jaune, Sun, Neptune, Mercury, and Coco if she turned her head enough.

"If you look at your wrists the bracelet will be displaying the name of the hostage we're using against you."

Ruby stopped looking around the room to look at her wrist. She sat unmoving and unblinking as the name "Penny Polendina" scrolled across a display built into her bracelet. It was impossible. Penny had died during the Vytal tournament. There wasn't a "Penny" anymore; just a shell of the robot that use to be her best friend. Ruby began to become aware of the range of emotions emanating around her. Disbelief, sadness, and anger filled the room.

"No!" Jaune yelled next to her. "I know you – "

"Mister Arc!" Cinder cut him off. "If you, or anyone else, reveal the hostage we have you are immediately disqualified and will be killed."

Jaune stopped immediately. Ruby saw his jaw clenched and he was visibly shaking. He stared unblinking at Cinder on the display, who smirked.

"This wasn't the deal," A gruff voice said, Ruby craned her head to see a man who met the description of Adam.

"Of course it wasn't," Cinder said. "The deal changed when the dragon was frozen."

"So, the hostage is supposed to motivate us to kill everyone huh?" Mercury said. "What if this person doesn't mean much to me?"

"Don't kid yourself Mercury," Cinder said. "I know you care about her."

There was silence before Mercury scoffed.

"There are more rules to this game. The first was if you reveal your hostage you die. Second is that the bracelets, while making you follow the rules, also inhibit your aura making killing that much easier. If you die, we kill your hostage as well. The exception is if you are murdered by another player. This leads me to the rules about trials.

"Once two players find a body the investigation begins. You all have 1 hour to gather evidence, clues, alibis, and convictions before going to trial. At trial you need to find the killer. The trial will go until I decide it is time for a vote. You will all then vote on who you think killed who. If you convict the right player the killer and their hostage are executed. As a bonus for finding the real killer the hostage of the victim will join you all in this killing game. However, if you convict the wrong player that person and their hostage will be executed and the real killer and their hostage will be freed from the game."

"What happens if only two players are left?" Mercury asked. "It'd be a tie vote."

"At that point it is obvious who the killer is," Cinder answered. "The innocent player can choose to let them go or execute them."

"What about the last player?" Sun asked. "They are stuck forever."

"Not necessarily," Cinder said. "If less than three players escaped the game, the final player and their hostage also get to leave. If three or more players escaped the remaining player is executed."

"That means only five people can escape at most!" Coco said.

"I guess you should choose wisely," Cinder said. "Game starts tomorrow morning at six sharp. Any killings before then are against the rules and result in immediate disqualification."

"Wait," Ruby asked.

Cinder didn't wait. The feed was cut and the cuffs binding everyone to their chairs released. A crash came from behind Ruby. She stood up and turned to see what had happened. The sudden movement sickened her and her head felt like it was going to explode.

She saw Nora had smashed her chair with her bare knuckles. Blood dripped from her injured hand but she showed no sign of even being aware of the pain. Ruby saw a single tear roll down her cheek.

Ruby looked to see most of the room had been focusing on Nora's outburst. Only Jaune and the one she assumed to be Adam remained seated; they stared at the dead display screen. Jaune sat quietly, but Ruby could feel the bloodlust from Adam from here.

Ruby looked around to count who all was in this "game." She recognized most of the people and had met all of them at some point before today. There were eleven "players" which meant twenty two lives were on the line. Without their aura breaking out, even with eleven trained fighters, could prove difficult.

PLAYERS STILL ALIVE:

Ruby

Jaune

Nora

Sun

Neptune

Coco

Yatsuhashi

Neo

Adam

Mercury

Winter