These end of term meetings were always so tedious. That's what Professor Peach was thinking. She didn't want to spend her day listening to these old men and their stories. At this point she knew the tale of Team STRQ by heart. Although whatever happened during their fourth year was something none of the other teachers were willing to talk about. Either way the sooner this was over the sooner she could go home and watch her Mistrali cartoons.

After a lengthy discussion about budgets and scheduling the conversation shifted towards the first-year students.

"Ozpin, I understand you've taken an interest in Team RWBY" Professor Oobleck said.

"That certainly is an interesting combination. Rose, Xiao Long, Belladonna, and Schnee" Professor Port added.

Ozpin took a sip of coffee. "I see great potential in them. I am looking forward to seeing how they grow."

Port chuckled. "Speaking of growth, I hear Glynda has taken Team JNPR in her care. How is that going?"

Glynda pinched the bridge of her nose and gave a heavy sigh. "They are… not getting worse." The other teachers started laughing. That the rank 1 first year and favorite to win the Vytal Tournament was placed on the same team as the student ranked dead last was a greater coincidence than Team RWBY's existence.

"You've certainly got your work cut out for you" Professor Oobleck said. He cleared his throat and spoke with a more serious tone. "Now, are there any areas of concern regarding the new students?"

Port sighed. "No school is without its problem children. Team CRDL comes to mind"

"I have spoken with them multiple times about their behavior, beyond that I can only hope another student can help them see the error of their ways" Glynda stated simply.

"They are certainly skilled, but their conduct leaves much to be desired" Ozpin said.

"On that note, something must be done about Team MRBL. A team cannot function if their leader isn't willing to work with them" Oobleck said.

"Can you blame her? I'm surprised she hasn't put one of them in the hospital. You know she asked me to put her on a different team? I think it'd be a good thing for her" Peach said.

Ozpin adjusted his glasses. "All team arrangements are final. You know that. Tell Maggie that this is just another trial for her to overcome."

"That girl has gone through more than enough trials!" Peach snapped. The other teachers looked at her with surprise. She took a moment to regain her composure. "Sorry. I was out of line."

"There is no need to apologize. I understand how you feel, but she must solve this problem herself" Ozpin replied calmly.

Peach decided that that argument was lost. "One last thing then. I'd like to personally oversee Team NGRO's development"

Port raised an eyebrow at her. "I was unaware that team needed any further guidance."

"They are gifted warriors for sure, but I was thinking of guiding them in a different manner."

"What did you have in mind?"

"Life counselling"

The other teachers looked at Peach with confusion.

Ozpin finished his coffee. "If there is no other business this meeting is adjourned. Please look over your lesson plans for Monday. You are dismissed"

OoOoOoO

George had butterflies in his stomach. He'd dreamt of this moment for years, ever since he first saw a video of her fighting. The thought of getting a chance to fight against her was part of the reason he joined the pros. Even when he was in prison watching her fights was the only thing that broke up the monotony of his day to day. Now he was about to go toe to toe with his idol. Part of him wondered if he was even worthy of standing on the same stage as her. He shook those thoughts from his mind. What he did in the past doesn't matter. All that matters is what's happening right now. He took a deep breath and meditated. She should be getting here soon. The opening of a door and footsteps signaled her arrival.

"Hello again" a female voice rang through the room. He looked up and saw Pyrrha in her full combat gear. A bronze breastplate and a brown skirt, wielding a spear and shield. She was beautiful. George felt underdressed in comparison. All he had on was a pair of black shorts and his weapons. It was the same outfit he wore when he debuted as a pro.

George smiled at her. He hadn't been so happy in years. He thought of what he should say to her. The sight of her other teammates wiped the smile from his face. He should have seen that coming. Reid and Noah were in the stands behind him.

"Hiiiiii" the orange haired girl said as she waved at him. The black haired one looked George up and down not saying a word. The blond one had a friendly grin.

Pyrrha made her way to the stage. "I got your letter." She got into a combat stance. George raised his fists. The monitors on the wall hummed to life and displayed their aura levels.

The blonde decided to act as announcer.

"This battle will end when one fighter is either rendered unable to fight or has their aura reduced to below safe levels. On the left representing Team JNPR; her record at the Mistral tournament is 24-0, she is the former champion of the Remnant Fighting Federation's Under-15 league. The Invincible Girl, Pyrrha Nikos! On the right representing Team NGRO, with no records or title to his name, George Garwood! Ladies and gentlemen, let's get ready to rumble!" he was clearly enjoying himself. A bell sounded and the fight began.

George immediately went on the offensive. He ran at her and sent a punch straight at her head. It missed by a hair. Pyrrha countered and sent her spear into George's ribs. He winced in pain, but kept up the attack. He sent punch after punch, each one barely missing its target. George was confused at first, but as he looked at Pyrrha he noticed that she had two fingers off of her weapon every time he attacked. He decided to try something. He sent another hook, this one too barely missing. As his fist traveled he bent his arm and sent an elbow across her chin. She staggered backwards and shook her head. George tapped his weapons together and grinned. She got the message.

The metal. She's doing something to the metal George thought. It makes sense how she was able to win so many fights without being hit. Being able to control metal in a place like Remnant would make you a god on the battlefield. George couldn't have been happier. She was the same as him. Her strength and skill made her a force to be reckoned with, but her semblance put her over the top. If she wanted to she could just throw him into the ceiling and win that way, though that wouldn't be nearly as satisfying. George had similar thoughts. He didn't want to just activate his semblance and win automatically, he wanted to defeat his opponent with his own skills.

Pyrrha brought out her rifle and fired at George. As he blocked the bullets with his weapons she had already closed the gap between them attacked from his blind spot. She was ruthless. She sent a slashing attack at George's neck. He had no choice but to block with his arm. Even if no actual damage was done he could still feel her weapon cutting through his arm. He reeled backwards and went to counter attack. He put more force into his next blow. Pyrrha had no choice but to block with her shield. She extended her spear and stabbed George in the ribcage. They went like this for some time. One would attack, the other would counter. A punch to the gut, a stab to the shoulder, a hook to the temple, a bullet to the neck. They were both running low on aura. George decided to end it with his next attack. He brought his fist back and focused. His entire arm was covered in green energy. He was going to put everything he had left into this punch. He ran at Pyrrha with much more speed than he had before, and sent his fist directly at her like an arrow. Her eyes widened with shock as she raised her shield, reinforcing it with as much aura as she could before the attack landed. When it did it was like an explosion. The sound of metal meeting metal rang through the amphitheater. A hot wind blew through the room and Pyrrha was sent flying backwards. She landed on her feet, her legs shaking. The spot on her shield where the blow landed glowed bright orange for a few seconds. George was still standing, and walking towards her. The fight was his, all he needed was to capitalize on this opening.

The sound of the buzzer signaled the end of the match.

"The winner by aura depletion, Pyrrha Nikos" the blond announced. George looked at the monitor. Pyrrha's aura was barely above the line for elimination, while his was completely gone. He fell to the ground. Losing was frustrating, but he had enjoyed himself. He had an opportunity to express his feelings to Pyrrha and she took them head on. He got up and walked toward Pyrrha. She put her weapon away and shook his hand.

"That was an amazing battle" she said with a large smile.

"Thanks, it was fun" he said back. Pyrrha left with the rest of her team. As she was leaving George noticed that her shield arm hung limp at her side. Brief numbness was expected, a lesser fighter would have lost that arm. It was his signature technique: concentrate all of his aura in his fist and let fly. It saw plenty of use during his time with the GSK. Pyrrha could now be added to the very short list of people who took the attack and survived.

Reid and Noah went down to the stage.

"Remind me never to piss you off" Noah said.

Reid's eyes were wide with excitement. "That was amazing. I've never seen anything like that before."

"Glad you enjoyed it." George took off his weapons and flexed his fingers. He would need to see the nurse about his hand, but that could come later. For now, he just wanted to shower and sleep.

OoOoOoOoO

The worst part of being a henchman is that you don't always get to choose who you work for.

"Everything's here where we left it"

"Good. Bad enough that the guys that were supposed to come in on this got clapped, the last thing I need is my shit being found by the cops. You and the rest of those idiots stay there until I say you can go."

"You got it." the other voice hung up on him. "Asshole"

Black hated his new boss. He was always rude and abrasive. He preferred working for Junior. Sure he was a bit of a hothead, but he was a standup guy. He even paid his men's hospital bills after that blonde girl tore through the club like a hurricane. On the other hand, this guy he was working for now treated everyone like garbage. The worst part of all is that he was also working with the White Fang. He sighed and went back inside the warehouse with the other guys.

"Boss says we stay here 'til he gives the all clear" he said. The other men gave a loud groan. "I don't like this anymore than you do, but a job's a job." He couldn't blame them. He'd rather go another round with that blonde girl or the one with the scythe than spend the rest of the night freezing his ass off in this warehouse. He leaned against a crate to relax when he heard footsteps. He looked towards the sound and saw what looked like a young girl.

He panicked for a second before realizing that it wasn't the blond or the red one. Maybe this one could be reasoned with.

"You shouldn't be here, especially not so late" he said to the girl. The girl smiled at him. A chill went up his spine. This wasn't a normal smile, it was a warning. This girl was a monster preparing to devour its prey. It reminded him of a line from a story he liked to read when he was a kid

Beware, for I am death.

The girl lifted up her shirt, exposing her pale stomach. A panel opened up and a small, round object fell out of her and onto the ground. She kicked it toward a group of men and the warehouse was rocked by an explosion.

He looked around him. The good news is that the explosion didn't damage any of the containers, the bad news was that two men were dead. Three drew their swords and ran at the girl. One swung at her and she caught the blade in her hand and snapped it in two. Her other hand fell off and a stream of bullets came from her arm. As she shot one man down she stabbed another with the broken piece of sword. The last man stood in front of her. She dropped the piece of sword and put a hand to her ear, like she was talking to someone. All of a sudden several cone shaped objects came out of her back. They hovered in the air for a second before shooting out beams of light. One went through the last man before her and he fell over. The objects fired at every living thing in the warehouse, cutting them down with ruthless efficiency.

Black felt a burning sensation in his shoulder. He looked to his left and saw that his arm was on the ground. He felt something burning in his leg and fell to the ground. He was helpless to stop what was coming. The girl walked up to him, deliberately slowing her pace to mock his inability to fight back. She stood over him, a foot raised above his head. In his final moments Black thought of what he could have done to deserve any of this. Sure he stole stuff, and he had to go upside some heads once or twice. But it wasn't like he had ever killed anyone. He wasn't pimping women, and he certainly wasn't like those savages in Mistral.

The girls foot came crashing down, and his thoughts ceased.

OoOoOoO

As Oriana went to her next destination she couldn't help but feel a little curious. She put a hand to her ear. "Who were those people again?"

"They worked for some small time asshole name of Junior. Don't worry about him, he's nobody. Anyway, great job in there. I'll be eating good off of this data." The voice at the other end complimented her like she had gotten a perfect report card.

"I do not care about data, I just wanted to stretch my legs."

The voice laughed. "I'll send a team to take care of the bodies, you focus on that other thing. Try not to get overwhelmed with emotion."

She ignored his joke. He knew better than anyone that something like that wasn't possible.

OoOoOoO

She found the place she was looking for. It was a house a fair distance away from the rest. In a place like Vale a secluded place like this one came at a premium. She looked around and saw that there wasn't any security on the house. No cameras, no alarm, no guards. That was to be expected, the person who lived there wanted to keep a low profile. She walked right in, the person inside didn't bother locking the front door.

She found the man in his room. An old man, his face gaunt and his hair gray with age. He was typing at a computer which was the only source of light in the room. He stopped typing and looked up at her when he heard her walk in.

"Oriana, I see they put you back together. I was worried your little spat with Model 16 spelled the end of you." The old man smiled like he was talking to a relative.

Oriana smiled back at him. "It's good to see you too Dr. Whiskey."

The doctor thought for a moment. "It is good that you're walking again, but what are you doing in Vale?"

Her smile faded away. "I'm here to kill you."

The old man's face fell into a mixture of confusion and panic. "What?"

"Word from on high, my people say you have to go."

"Redbone? I know you're working for him now."

She shook her head. "My people. Your people."

His eyes went wide. "The science team? But why? I did what they asked, I went into hiding."

"Think about it. I found you. Maybe next time it's Ozpin, or someone from the council. Maybe they start asking questions like; 'how are you still alive after what you did' or 'if you're still alive does that mean that the Atlesian military is still conducting that highly unethical research that was outlawed years ago'. A lot of good men would end up in prison or executed. You understand that cannot happen."

She could see the gears turning in the old man's head. He managed to negotiate himself out of a death sentence one time, maybe he could do it again.

"What if I went further away, like Vacuo? No one would think to look for me there."

She gave a slight chuckle. "Come on. We both know you'd never be able to change. I bet if I looked at that computer right now I'd find all kinds of diabolical shit. You're one of the most brilliant minds in Atlas. Your research led to the greatest technological advancement since the Great War, but your methods were inhumane at best. If anyone found out how you discovered that it was even possible to imbue a combat android with an aura it would lead to a scandal the likes of which we've never seen, maybe even another war."

The old man sighed. He knew that there was no way out of this. "So that's it then. Thirty years with them and what do I have to show for it? I get exiled, my name is erased from every record, and as one last insult they send my own creation to do me in." he started laughing. "I might as well tell you this. Did you know that they're planning on having Model 16 fight in the tournament?"

"What?" replied Oriana.

The old man laughed even harder. "I still keep in contact with some of the other scientists. It was Ironwood's idea from what I heard. My research couldn't have been that inhumane if he let Polendina send his little doll out to fight for him."

Oriana would need to talk to someone about that later. "So, how do you want it?"

"Just make it quick" the old man replied.

Oriana leaned forward and kissed the old man on the cheek before wrapping her steel hands around his throat. He didn't put up any kind of resistance. In less than a minute the old man was dead. She looked at his computer. Her hunch was right. It was full of blueprints for different kinds of weapons. She removed the hard drive from the computer, figuring that the scientists would be interested in the contents.

As she walked back towards the school she was contacted again by her handler.

"Is it done?" the voice asked.

"Yeah. How long has Model 16 been in Vale?"

"A few days, why are you asking?" there was a brief pause before he realized what she meant. "No. Absolutely not."

"All I want is to talk to her. I see no issue with that."

"Remember how your last little talk went? Besides, Ironwood is with her and if he sees you walking around he'll fly straight back to Atlas and put his boot up my ass."

She tried not to laugh at the image his words brought to mind. "How is that my problem?"

The voice grew angry. "Do I need to give you an order to stay away from her?"

She sighed. "No. I understand."

"Good. The next time I contact you it'll be for another job, so try and relax for now."

"As you wish, father"