Oh, I just remembered, Cinder can't die, and a Crystal/Storm combo would annihilate a half-baked seasonal Maiden. So, time for something even more fun.

Storm was beside her as Crystal marched through the hallways if the colosseum. She was looking out with her semblance, searching in advance before moving forward. She was looking for Cinder.

She had been waiting for this. Crystal had been told to reinforce Ember and Rayne if and when they found Cinder back in Mistral, but since their memories had been wiped of their assignment, Crystal had to wait until Cinder had shown herself to make a move. It had been an easy wait, all things considered, and now she was going to have a rematch.

What had been most difficult to do was watch Ember through this. Her only reason for going to Haven was to stop Cinder, and since she had forgotten, Ember had been a wreck. She had questioned much, and even considered dropping out. It had pained Crystal to keep it a secret from her, but she had no idea how to break it to Ember.

She turned a corner, and before her was standing a man she could not see with her semblance. The man wore a long black coat and other garments. His hair was black, and his eyes were dark, making the contrast between them and his pale skin even greater. There was something gloomy about him that she couldn't quite pin down. He was the same man who had wiped her memories, and the memories of her teammates.

But why could she not see him?

"You will not pass," the man said commandingly.

Crystal was outraged. "You presume to tell me where I can go?" she replied.

"I do not presume, but I tell you a simple truth; you will not step one foot past me while I stand here," he explained.

"Now doesn't that make me want to do it even more," Storm said mischievously.

Crystal decided that he had to be an associate of Cinder, because no one else would try this with her. Also because no one else would be this gloomy. She decided that in order to get past him, she would have to fight him.

Seemingly sensing her thoughts, he said, "I am no ally of her. She is the enemy of us both. But her plan is too far along at this point, so removing her now would only do more damage. She might be replaced by someone else, and that would cause far more damage than one would think. So I say again; you will not pass."

Crystal did not care for plans or for allegiances. She only cared about justice now, and vengeance—and she would bring Cinder to both tonight, if she had her way. She drew her swords, and charged him.

She jumped and flipped to gain momentum. As she was completing the flip, a black blur separate of the man leapt in front of her, and blocked her attack.

She stepped back and saw what had blocked her: a black shield, thick, with gears placed about it. The shield lowered, and the user was revealed. It was a tall and slender woman in black and purple, and on her face was a white Grimm mask larger and more complete than the ones worn by the members of the White Fang. Compared to the user, the shield was huge.

"Death's Hand gives one the power to choose who will live and who will die," the man said, seemingly amused. "And who commands Death's Hand but Death?"

"So you're death?" Crystal challenged.

"No, no, no," he said, even more amused. "My name is Jet. She is death. But one even more terrible commands us."

The sound of gears whirring came from behind Crystal, and the woman in black ran in front of Jet just as a gunshot hit her shield. Crystal looked behind her, and saw Storm with his rifle. Then another whom she had not seen before appeared, and attacked Storm.

This newcomer was a man with flaming red hair, and green coat, and a sabre. His sword moved quickly, and it made a jingling sound like a wind chime. This man made three enemies—so much for outnumbering them.

The man fought quickly too. Storm tried kicking his feet out from under him, but he anticipated the move, and jumped over Storm's leg. Storm had to keep his shield up, because if not, he'd be very dead fast.

She checked, and she could see both the woman and the man clearly with her semblance. She called out to Storm, "Switch." He nodded, and Crystal charged at the redhead.

The man tried to dodge, but Crystal managed to catch him with her blade. She shattered it, and the other, in favor of a rapier and parrying knife. Even if he was quick, she saw everything.

They exchanged attacks as Storm charged the black clothed woman. She hoped that he could defeat that woman.

Before the redhead swung his sword to attack, Crystal saw it, and prepared to block. But oddly enough, he stopped just short of her blade, and withdrew. She prepared to lunge, and just as she was about to, he began to put up his sword, and she stopped. For some reason he could anticipate her movements just as much as she could anticipate hers.
Crystal feigned an attack on his left, then spun around and attacked his right. He blocked, and when she tried to slip her knife between the locked blades, he grabbed her arm.

They then stared at each other, waiting for the other's movements. After a while, Crystal managed to withdraw, and was ready to block a counterattack, but none came.
They just stood eight feet away from each other, staring into each other's eyes. His eyes were brown, like her father's, but that was inconsequential. But she also saw that he made the smallest smile when she had noticed his eye color and a frown when she decided it was inconsequential.

So he could read her thoughts. A sudden fright came across his face, confirming that his telepathic power. And she smiled, knowing no what she would do.

She charged, not thinking about her next attack, not caring about defense, but instead pure instinct. She delivered wild attack after attack, and managed to have him on the run. All the while she had one tune going through her head—a tune that had been stuck in her head that morning—, so as to cause a distraction for the telepath. She attacked until she knocked his rapier from his hand, and it fell to the ground.

"Well, isn't that an inconvenience," the man said in a Vacuo accent. "Jet, mind giving me a hand?"

Crystal looked to the battle between Storm and the black clothed woman. Her shield had turned into a blade, and Storm's shield had several fist shaped dents in it. Had she made those dents? It didn't matter because Storm had her on the run.

"As much as I hate to," Jet said, "I suppose I must." Jet outstretched his gloved hand, and a symbol on it began to glow. She remembered that being a problem.

Before he could do anything, she began to charge him. Behind her the redhead reached for his sword, but she turned back and slammed the pommel of her rapier into his head, knocking him out cold. Then she turned back to Jet, and charged.

Before she could get to him though, light burst from the symbol, and pain shot through her skull. Then her eyes closed, and she collapsed to the hard ground. After drifting through darkness for who knows how long, she opened her eyes, and didn't see her attackers anymore.

She tried to remember Cinder, and she could. So her memory hadn't been wiped again—good, but confusing.

She looked around, and saw Storm lying nearby. She stood up, and went over to Storm. She knelt beside him, and shook his shoulder. He sat up and said with blurry eyes, "Did I oversleep again?" After helping him up, he seemed to realize where he was, and said, "Well this hasn't been a good week for me when it comes to fighting. I'd lose to a guy with no arms at this rate."

She sighed. Cinder probably wasn't around anymore.

Those three… She wondered who they were, and what stake they had in this. But she had a sense—a premonition of sorts—that this wouldn't be the last time they would trouble her or her friends.

Heh, heh, heh, so I'm having fun with this.