What's up guys! How are you all? Only 99 days till the 4th volume of RWBY! I'm hyped! Either way, enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: Sonic goes to SEGA and RWBY goes to Roosterteeth and Monty Oum!

The scene opens to a shot of Beacon Academy's courtyard at dusk, with Weiss, Shadow, Sonic and Ruby running up the main avenue towards the docking bays.

"Weiss! What is the big deal!? Who is it? Who is she!?" Ruby asked Weiss trying to catch up to her.

"She" seems to be very important if Weiss is this happy." Sonic said curious now.

"I think I know who Weiss is referring to…" Shadow said having a small shiver down his spine.

Weiss stops running and smiles. "Winter."

Then we see behind Ruby, Sonic, Shadow and Weiss watching Winter Schnee, escorted by crimson-colored Atlas Soldiers and Atlesian Knight-200's as she exits her airship.

Ruby rose an eyebrow. "Wait... Your sister?"

"Figures. Winter Schnee is elder sibling of Weiss and also secondary commander of the Atlesian Military and also second-in-command to General Ironwood." The Black Knight answered making his leader whistle in admiration.

"Way cool. Wait, how do you know that?" Sonic asked Shadow.

Shadow closed his eyes. "It's none of your concern."

Weiss cups her mouth. "Winter! Winter! I'm so happy to see you! Oh... Your presence honors us." She curties.

Winter looks around she she approaches them. "Beacon... It's been a long time. The air feels... different."

"I mean it is fall, so, eh, it's probably colder." The Red Reaper stated.

Weiss punches Ruby in the shoulder, causing her to gasp in pain before turning back to her sibling. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Classified."

"Oh, right. Well, how long are you staying?"

"Classified."

"Of course." Weiss nods and smiles in understanding.

Ruby looks pensively around in the silence. "Well... this is nice... I think."

"Right now my behind is freezing! Is this how cold her family is? They might as well come from the Antarctic-" Sonic received a fist hitting the back of his head from Shadow.

"Don't be rude dumb fuck." Shadow whispered in Sonic's ear.

"You're going to love it here! I know you travel a lot, but so much of Beacon is different from Atlas!" She discreetly whispers. "Vale, too. The government and school are completely separate! Can you believe it!? I-"

"I'm more than familiar with how this kingdom handles its... bureaucracy. That is not why I came." Winter said

"Right! I'm sorry!" Weiss apologized.

"Nor did I come here to watch my own blood fail so miserably in battle. But it appears that I have no choice in the matter." The Elder Schnee said coldy.

Weiss is now puzzled. "But, we won!"

Winter gave her sister a stern stare. "Only a novice would refer to that as a victory. I counted at least three strikes missed. Leave us." She turned to the robotic soldier as it left and smiled warmly at Weiss. "How have you been?"

Weiss smiled softly. "Oh, splendid! Thank you for asking. I'm actually in the very top ranking of our sparring class! Well second, due to Sonic and Shadow. And the rest of my studies are going wonderfully, too! I'm-"

Winter slaps Weiss, leaving a massive bump on her head. "Silence, you boob! I don't recall asking about your ranking, I'm asking how you've been. Are you eating properly? Have you taken up any hobbies? Are you making new friends?"

"Well, there's Ruby, Sonic, and Shadow." Weiss gestured to the three.

Ruby giggles as she pushes the lump back into Weiss' head. "Heh, boob."

"I'm Sonic Maruti… Nice to meet you Winter." Sonic said trying to cover the anger in his voice.

Shadow opened his crimson eyes as he looked at Winter. "I know you remember me Winter. Long time hasn't it?"

"Yes Shadow. Yes it has been, I seen your battle. Quite crafty I have to say, but what disturbs me the most is how you can control the darkness like it's only a minority." Winter stated giving the Black Knight a cold glare.

Sonic shook his head flabbergasted. "You m-met her somewhere Shadow?! What other secrets are hiding man?!"

"Ask Qrow. He'll fill you in… But I must tell you, the punishment wasn't worth repeating for what I did." Shadow said darkly making Sonic flinch.

Winter cleared her throat. "I see. So this is the leader you wrote of. How appropriately... underwhelming."

Ruby didn't know how to reply to that. "Uh... Thank you!"

"I felt that it was more of an insult." Sonic muttered frowning.

"Greetings, Ruby Rose. I wish to thank you for taking an interest in my sister." Winter said.

"Oh! Uh, yes, of course!" She said attempting to salute and curtsy. "The honor is in my... court!" Ruby nearly lost her balance with this gesture, waving her arms until she can get back up.

"I have business with the General and your Headmaster. But, seeing as I'm early, why don't you take me to your quarters?" The Elder Schnee asked.

Weiss' eyes widen. "Really?"

Winter and Weiss begin walking towards the Academy, followed by the androids. "Yes. I wish to inspect them and make sure that they are up to my personal standards."

Weiss sweat drops. "Of course. Just so you're aware, the bunk beds only look unstable."

"Bunk beds?"

Ruby knew what this means as she was waving goodbye behind them. "I'll catch up- I mean, I will... reconvene with you both... at a later…" She pauses with her hand on her head, wracking her brain for the right word. "Juncture! At a juncture. Yeah."

Then the scene cuts to Weiss, Winter and the androids walking towards the courtyard, before shifting to first-person view, where a certain someone dizzily sneaks up behind the AK-200s and promptly decapitates one, before kicking its head towards the group.

"Hey!" Qrow called as the group turns around to see the man who was previously seen in the Crow Bar. "Yeah, I'm talking to you, Ice Queen!" Tosses the decapitated machine aside.

Sonic slapped his forehead. "Ahhh damn! Damn! Alcohol-breath is here!"

Shadow had 2 tick marks on his head. "Damn it Qrow…"

"Halt!" Winter barked.

Weiss angrily walks up to the offender's face. "Excuse me! Do you have any idea who you are talking to!?"

Qrow places his hand on Weiss' face. "Sssshhh. Not you." He pushes her out of his way as he moves forward.

Weiss stumbles to get her balance. "Hey!"

Shadow held her hand. "Stay out of it Weiss… Me and Sonic will take care of this okay?"

The Ice Queen blushed slightly as she nods. "... Okay…"

Qrow looks at the irritated Winter as he clarifies. "You." A crow is seen perched on a lamp post before flying off and circling past the group. "Saw that gaudy ship of yours in town. I guess you're here, too."

"I'm standing right before you." Winter added.

Qrow squints through his hazy state of mind. "So it would seem."

Winter looks at the decapitated machine. "You realize you just destroyed Atlas Military property."

"Oh, oh I'm sorry. See, I mistook this for some sort of... sentient garbage." Qrow sarcastically apologized.

Winter frowned at Qrow's tone. "I don't have time for your immature games, Qrow."

Weiss was surprised of this revelation. "Wait, you two know each other?"

"Weiss, Qrow is Ruby and Yang's uncle." Sonic said with a chuckle seeing her eye twitching.

Qrow snorts. "Geez, you Atlas Specialists think you're so special, don't you?"

"It's in the title."

"Well, you know what you really are? A bunch of sellouts. Just like your boss."

Winter narrowed her eyes. "I'm not sure what you think you're implying, but I've heard enough."

Qrow rolled his eyes. "Oh I heard, too. I heard ol' Ironwood finally turned his back on Ozpin."

Weiss was now puzzled. "Ozpin?"

Winter shoves Weiss aside. "Weiss, it's time for you to go."

"What-" Shadow lead her away. "What are you doing?!"

"Just do it." Shadow said to her seriously.

Qrow grinned. "Listen to big sister, Weiss. She'll protect you. Just like Atlas is going to protect all of us, huh?"

"If you don't hold your tongue, then I will gladly remove it for you!" Winter draws her sword.

Qrow's grin grew wider. "Alright then... Come take it." He slicks back his hair.

-Music: Fight! X (Megaman X Command)-

The square clears before Winter charges at Qrow, making several quick, but futile thrusts at Qrow's head as he swiftly bobs away from the blade, teasing her with several faces until he mockingly bows towards her. A downward strike is blocked by the base of Qrow's sword, right before he tosses it in the air and draws it towards Winter. The two openly clash blades as Qrow lands a downwards strike, and aggressively swipes at Winter, forcing her to do a series of back handsprings away from the greatsword and eventually block it. The camera then cuts to the two spinning and trading blows as Ruby enters the crowd next to her teammate. Both Winter and Qrow parry each of their foe's strikes with rapid speed, as Winter dodges a two-handed swing before smacking Qrow's left cheek with the pommel of her saber. But Qrow is grinning as his left eye flashes brightly. Winter is forced to leap away with a glyph as Qrow slams his sword on the ground, shattering the pavement. Winter then breaks away from the mid air crane stance as she lands near a lamp post, which is subsequently destroyed with a swipe from Qrow. Winter then leaps above him, and dodging his swings, finally leaping on top of his sword, then giving him an excellent view of her foot as she kicks him in the face. Winter backflips onto the stump that used to be a lamp post, but then leaps off onto a railing high above, right as Qrow throws his sword at the stump. Qrow transforms his weapon, firing a cannon shot at Winter and forcing her to jump onto the side of a concrete, arched pillar. She uses her sword to stay on the vertical surface until Qrow runs forward and tries firing more blasts at her, which she dodges by scaling the pillar's face and eventually leaping onto the archway itself. Qrow follows suit on the opposite structure, firing off round after round at his distant opponent. Qrow then searches for Winter as he sees a cloud of white steam consume her, narrowing his gaze. Suddenly, Winter flies towards him, separating her bifurcated saber into two, and Qrow blocks the attack. The arch collapses from the force, causing the two to crash back down to ground level, continuing their furious attacks towards each other. Qrow is forced backward and drags his sword in the ground to slow to a stop before holding it in a one-handed stance, to the cheer of the audience. Winter then stabs the ground with one of her swords, summoning a glyph that creates a flock of small white Nevermores, which begin flying towards him. Qrow swings his sword at the flock, causing a few to burst into small clouds of steam. He then sends an Aura arc at Winter, causing her to jump back and putting an end to the birds. Winter angrily summons a second glyph behind her, and the blade of Qrow's sword begins to transform in a sequence initiated by its clockwork gears. But suddenly, his gaze travels elsewhere, and he suddenly sheathes his sword, instead beckoning his bewildered rival to come at him with his right index finger. The glyph fades away, and there's a bright flash of light, followed by Winter speeding forward with light trailing behind her. The fight comes to a close, with Winter propelling herself forward, screaming in rage and preparing a thrust towards Qrow, just before a commanding voice is loudly heard in the courtyard, stopping her blade's point mere inches away from Qrow's neck. Then a black orb surrounded her and a white orb surrounded Qrow.

-Music Ends-

"That's enough!" Shadow said seriously glaring at Winter.

"Geez Qrow, you can't live at least one day in your life without starting something!" Sonic sighed pinching the bridge of his nose.

"SCHNEE!" A voice bellowed her name.

Winter looks behind her to see General Ironwood standing behind her, with Penny Polendina behind him, she lowers her blades as she addresses Ironwood at about face. "General Ironwood, sir!"

Ironwood approaches Winter with Penny by his side. "What in the world do you think you're doing?"

"He started the altercation, sir!" Winter said glaring at Qrow.

"Not true sir, Winter was the one who started this whole fiasco." Shadow said glancing at General Ironwood.

"Is that right?" Ironwood asked as Winter looks down in shame. "And you." Qrow points to himself in mock confusion. "What are you doing here?"

"I could be asking you the same thing." Qrow smugly responded.

"I-" He was about to retort till Ozpin and Glynda came into the scene.

"Now, now, everyone." He said intervening beside Glynda Goodwitch. "There is a sanctioned fight happening just around the corner at the Colosseum, that I could assure you has better seats... and popcorn." Swirls his coffee.

"Break it up, everyone! We will take care of this mess." Glynda said as she glares at the three. "Mr. Maruti and Mr. Donovan, you can let them go."

The two Knights nods as they lifted their force fields from Winter and Qrow.

"Let's go."

As Ironwood and Winter leave, Penny notices Ruby and quietly waves to her, while Ruby waves back. Ruby then leaps giddily onto Qrow's arm, shaking her legs in delight.

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby called happily as she hangs on Qrow's outstretched arm. "Hi. It's so good to see you! Did you miss me? Did you miss me!?"

"Nope." They share a grin as he pats his niece's head.

"Good to see you Alcohol-Breath." Sonic sneered snickering.

"I told you not to call me that." Qrow shook his head,

"Stop drinking so much and then I'll stop calling you that name." The Azure Faunus grinned,

"Qrow!" The Headmaster shouted his name. The Huntsman turns to look at the headmaster as Ruby gets dropped. "A word, please." Goodwitch then repairs the courtyard using her telekinesis.

"I think I'm in trouble." Qrow whispered to his niece.

"You did kinda tear up our courtyard." Ruby stated.

Qrow smirked. "Yeah, I did." He winks and gives her a fistbump. "Catch ya later, kid." He walks off to join the others.

Weiss walked up beside Ruby, arms crossed. "And suddenly, your recklessness makes sense."

Ruby nudges Weiss' shoulder. "You're just mad because he whooped butt."

"That was a draw, at best!"

Ruby's grin says otherwise.

"That gives no excuse for them to fight in the first place, they're adults. They should have acted like adults, not children." Shadow said in disdain of Winter and Qrow's behavior. "They're experienced Huntsman and supposed to be good examples. I hope you two don't get their bad habits."

-Music: Machinery (DK: Out of the Shadows)-

The scene shifts to Ozpin's office late at night. Ironwood is waiting with his arms crossed while Winter is impatiently pacing about. Suddenly, a smirking Qrow, accompanied by Goodwitch and Ozpin, arrive in the elevator.

"What were you thinking!?" Winter snapped.

Ironwood gave her a stern glare. "If you were one of my men, I would have you shot!"

Qrow pulls out flask at the three enter the room. "If I was one of your men, I'd shoot myself."

"While I wouldn't condone his behavior, retaliating like you did certainly didn't help the situation." Glynda scolded him.

Winter points at the drinking Huntsman. "He was drunk!"

Glynda sighed. "He's always drunk!" The four turn to Qrow to see him drinking from a flask. His eyes widen when he notices them staring, and he holds the flask out to the side, looking at it awkwardly before grimacing.

Ozpin staring at Qrow in shock, then sighs and sits down. "Qrow, why are you here?"

Ironwood glared at Qrow. "You've been out of contact for weeks! You can't just go dark like that in the field!"

"I'm not one of your special operatives, Jimmy!" Qrow mused looking at Ironwood.

"General." Winter corrected with venom in her tone.

Qrow rolls his eyes. "Whatever. You sent me to get intel on our enemy, and I'm telling you, our enemy is here."

Ironwood leans against Ozpin's desk. "We know."

"Oh! Oh, you know! Well, thank goodness I'm out there risking my life to keep you all informed!" Qrow now getting angry.

"Qrow-" The General tried to explain.

"Communication's a two-way street, pal. You see this?" Qrow pulls out his Scroll and points to it. "That's the SEND button."

"They had reason to assume you'd been compromised." The Elder Schnee added her two cents.

"And I have reason to assume you don't need to be here." Qrow points to Winter. "Seriously, who invited her?"

"Schnee, we'll discuss this incident back at my ship." Ironwood commanded not even looking at Winter.

Winter looks at him surprised. "But sir!"

Ironwood closed his eyes. "Winter. Leave."

Winter salutes. "Yes sir." She turns on her heel and gives the winking Qrow a dirty look as she exits via the elevator.

Ironwood gestures to Qrow. "Go on."

"Your little infiltrator isn't just another pawn. They're the one responsible for Autumn's condition." He said as he takes a drink from his flask once more.

Glynda was now surprised by this information. "What?"

Qrow glances at Ironwood. "Despite what the world thinks, we're not just teachers, or generals, or headmasters. The people in this room, the leaders of the other two academies, we're the ones that keep the world safe from the evils no one even knows about! It's why we meet behind closed doors, why we work in the shadows. So you tell me, James, when you brought your army to Vale, did you think you were being discreet, or did you just not give a damn!?"

Ironwood stares down at Qrow as he places his Scroll on Ozpin's desk. "Discreet wasn't working." Then the center of the room projects a hologram of Vale, Beacon Academy, the Amity Colosseum and Ironwood's fleet of Atlesian Airships, which he gestures to. "I'm here because this is what was necessary."

Qrow scoffed. "You're here because Ozpin wanted you here! He made you a part of this inner circle and opened your eyes to the real fight that's in front of us!"

Ironwood nods. "And I am grateful."

"Oh, well, you've got a real funny way of showing it." Qrow retorted.

"The people of Vale needed someone to protect them; someone who would act. When they look to the sky and see my fleet, they feel safe, and our enemies will feel our strength." The General stated.

Qrow starts laughing. "You... You think they're scared of your little ships? I've been out there and I've seen the things she's made, and let me tell you - they are fear. Especially the guy what was his name…? Eggman! Yeah! He has made a fleet bigger than yours!"

Ozpin stood up. "And fear will bring the Grimm. A guardian is a symbol of comfort. But an army is a symbol of conflict. There's an energy in the air now, a question in the back of everyone's minds..". Ozpin gestures to the display. "If this is the size of our defenses, then what is it we're expecting to fight?"

Ironwood glares at them before sighing and walking forward, picking up his Scroll just as it flashes with the image of a Black Queen. "So then, what would you suggest we do?"

Ozpin smiled softly. "I suggest we find our guardians."

-Music Ends-

Now to a dorm room, where Mercury is sitting in a chair, reporting on the fight he saw earlier, while Cinder Fall walks back and forth, interrogating him with Emerald Sustrai resting on a bed nearby.

"And you're sure?" Cinder Fall asked Mercury.

Mercury nods. "Bad hair, used a scythe, and smelled like my dad after a long day. It was him. But then we got those four Faunus to take care of."

"What do we do?" Emerald asked.

"Nothing. We stay the course. They have no idea who we are, so we have no reason to worry. Besides, the last of the heavy lifting is being taken care of thanks to our clever little friend." She picks up her Scroll as it too flashes with the Black Queen. "Speaking of which... it appears we have a new access point." Ironwood is shown on the Scroll as an icon, along with a curling "W" in the other corner.

Emerald smirked. "Anywhere good?"

"You could say that. Go to your rooms. I'll prepare everything for tomorrow."

Emerald nods. "Yes, ma'am."

"Got it." Mercury said.

The Scroll reveals the roster of the Vytal Festival Tournament doubles round, which includes CRDL's Russel Thrush and Sky Lark, SSSN's Sun Wukong and Neptune Vasilias, and Penny Polendina and Ciel Soleil.

Cinder smiled evilly. "Let's give the crowd a good fight."

Cinder scrolls down each pair until she selects Mercury and Emerald to face off against Coco Adel and Yatsuhashi Daichi in the doubles round.

The next morning, the crowd sees the rigged matchups on the screen at the Amity Coliseum.

"The randomization process is complete! Ladies and gentlemen, your doubles tournament fight!" Port said from the announcement systems.

As the announcement is heard, RWBY cheers with arms raised, JNPR is seen providing applause, SSSN is shown sitting in front row seats, SSKT were looking eager to see how this fight will play. Bolin Hori and Nolan Porfirio are seen talking to each other behind RWBY, and Dove Bronzewing is sitting behind JNPR. The camera shifts to Cinder, now watching her teammates in the seats as she menacingly claps with a devious smirk, before the screen turns black.

To be Continued...