Chapter 10
First Blood
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
"Magic / Curse"
Flashback
"Scroll Communications / Tv"
Location / Date / Time Change
Pyrrha stepped into the room and walked over to the desk. "You wanted to see me, Professor Ozpin?" She asked, sitting down.
"Yes." He nodded. "Tell me, what do you think of the tournament so far?"
"Oh, it's going lovely." The red head said. "Though I was a bit shocked that we would be facing Yang and Weiss in the doubles round."
"Yes, that was unexpected." Ozpin agreed. "I was prepared for students from the same school to meet, but not that early. Regardless, you lead your team to victory. It's no surprise that they choose you to move on to the next round. Your performance was spectacular."
"Thank you, professor." She said back. "But I wouldn't be anywhere if it wasn't for my team. They helped me come this far."
"More like the other way around." Pyrrha heard someone say from behind before she turned around and looked at the source. It was a man, but not one she recognized.
"I'm sorry, but I don't believe we've met before." Pyrrha said, trying to be polite.
"Name's Qrow." He said back.
"Qrow is a trusted friend and colleague of mine." The headmaster told the student.
Pyrrha was still nervous as to why she'd been called there. 'Have they found out about me and my master?' In a hidden panic, she turned around and faced Ozpin. "Professor, if I might be so bold to ask, why did you call me here?"
"Please, have a seat." Ozpin offered, ignoring the question. Playing along for now, Pyrrha sat back down across from the teacher. "What is your favorite fairy tale?"
That was probably the strangest question Pyrrha had ever been asked. "I'm sorry?"
"Fairy tales." He repeated. "Tales of fantasy and wonder from your childhood. Surely you must remember some of them."
Pyrrha wasn't sure if Ozpin was testing her or if he was serious, but she decided to answer. "Well, there's the tale of the dragon killer, the tale of the two ice brothers, the shallow sea, the girl in the crystal..."
"What about the story behind the seasons?" Ozpin asked, placing his elbows on the desk.
"Oh, of course." Pyrrha replied genuinely happy. "A cold old man who refuses to leave his home is visited by four traveling sisters. The first sister understands his reclusiveness and urges him to spend his time meditating. The second bring him fruits and flowers, and tends to his dying garden.
"The third sibling warms the man's heart, and convinces him to come outside and embrace the world as it is. And the final sister tells him to look around him and be thankful for everything he has. In gratitude for their kindness, the man bequeaths the sisters incredible power, so that they may help others as well. The siblings gratefully accept and agree to share their gifts with the people of Remnant until the end of days. Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter, the four maidens. My mother loved to tell me that story."
"Would you believe me if I told you that that story has been around since MY childhood?" The professor asked.
"Professor, you're not that old." Pyrrha chuckled.
"Well, would you believe me if I told you that it was true?" Ozpin asked.
Pyrrha wanted to answer yes, as she had seen demons follow the orders of her master, but it wouldn't add up.. So she chuckled nervously before giving an answer. "I beg your pardon?"
"What if I were to tell you that there are four women in this world who could wield such incredible power without Dust?" He repeated, expanding on his question.
"You mean like a Semblance?" She asked.
"Like magic." The teacher corrected.
Pyrrha wanted to say something, but Qrow beat her to it. "Yeah, the first time learning about it is pretty crazy."
"You're not joking, are you?" Pyrrha asked, turning back to Ozpin.
"Do I look like I'm joking?" He asked back.
Pyrrha looked down at her hands in shock before raising her head back to Ozpin. "Why-why are you telling me this?"
Ozpin looked past her at Qrow, who gave him a nod. "We are telling you, miss Nikos, because we believe that you are next in line to receive the Fall Maidens power."
Pyrrha was absolutely shocked at the revelation, but one word haunted her mind more than any other. "We?"
The elevator door dinged before it opened, causing her to turn and see Glynda Goodwitch and Winter Schnee step out of the box. "Forgive our tardiness, I was trying to find my sister."
"Did you check her room, Ice Queen?" Qrow mocked as he pushed himself off the pillar.
Before another fight could break out, Pyrrha asked a question. "Wait, what is all this? Who are you?"
"You know who we are." Glynda said as she, Qrow and Winter walked forward. "We're the same teachers and headmasters that you met when you first came to Beacon."
"'Cept we also have a part time job." Qrow added.
"We are the guardians of this world." Winter said.
"And we need your help to guard it." Ozpin added.
Elevator
The ride down in the box was both crowded and tense for Pyrrha. She had never felt like this, even when she learned the truth about her master and his kind. Nervously, she finally worked up the nerve to speak. "W-where are we going?"
Ozpin's answer was simple. "The vault, under the school."
The box finally came to a stop and the door opened, showing a chamber about two and a half times the size of the school's cafeteria. Stone pillars reached higher than the tallest tree in the Emerald Forest, and green fires light the room. The others exited the elevator and went forward, leaving Pyrrha staggering behind.
Glynda was the first to notice this as she looked behind her and stopped as Pyrrha reached her. "I'm sure you must have a lot of questions."
"...Maybe one or two." The red head said back as the two kept walking forward. "For starters, you said I was the next in line to receive the Maidens powers. What did you mean by that?"
"The Maidens have existed for thousands of years, but just like nature, all seasons change." The blonde teacher explained. "No two winters are ever the same. When one Maiden dies, their power leaves their body and seeks out a new host, ensuring that the seasons never die and that no one holds that kind of power forever."
"So... how does the power choice?" Pyrrha asked.
"A buncha over-complicated and stupid rules." Qrow answered from ahead.
"Qrow." Glynda growled in annoyance.
"You know they're stupid, don't deny it." He said back.
"At first, the only thing we knew for certain was that the power traveled from one young female to another." Glynda explained. "But now we've learned that the selection process is much more... personal."
"Personal?" Pyrrha asked.
"As we understand it now, whoever is in the Maidens thoughts last has the best chance to inherit the power." The blonde said.
"Unless it's a dude or some old hag." Qrow chimed in. "Then the power goes on a hop, skip, and a jump to whoever the fuck it wants to go to. And our jobs get a lot harder to do."
"Why are you telling me this now?" The red head asked. "Why not until after I've graduated?"
"Unfortunately, its because we've run out of time." Qrow said. "Maybe you're not aware of it, but things in this world are getting a lot scarier out in the real world. Grimm attacks are on the rise, tensions between nations are tight, and criminals are acting like they they own the world. If this keeps up, the peace we've all enjoyed shatters like glass."
Pyrrha felt herself shudder, having a feeling that Qrow was talking about her master. Recovering quickly, she pushed the thoughts out of the head and focused on what was happening. "Are you... talking about war?"
"Between nations? No." Winter answered her question as Qrow looked over his shoulder.
"We can give you all the little details later, when we know you're on our side." He told the red head. "For now, all you need to know is that for the first time in, well, ever, someone stole part of their powers."
The group came to a stop and Pyrrha looked between Qrow and Ozpin to find a large machine, Atlesian by design, connected to two pods. In one, labeled 001, there was a girl with short brown hair that went to her shoulders. She wore basic white undergarments and her face was covered by a large scar over her left eye.
"Is that...?" Pyrrha started to ask, making Ozpin sigh.
"The current Fall Maiden; Amber Autumn." He confirmed.
"She's... still alive." She pointed out. In the loosest sense of the term, she was right. Amber was alive, plugged into about a dozen life support machines and unconscious, but alive.
"For now. General Ironwood, rest his soul, secured state of the art Atlas medical technology and are using it to keep her alive." Winter told her. "But technology can only do so much, and there is still much about this situation that is uncharted waters."
"What do you mean by that?" Pyrrha asked the general.
"Well, we're not exactly certain what will happen once she dies." The Schnee said.
"Won't it just seek out another host?" Pyrrha asked.
"Look who's been taking notes." Qrow remarked before leaning over to Ozpin. "She really is smart."
"Normally, yes." Winter said, glaring at Qrow for interrupting her. "But this is a delicate situation. It's not that hard to believe that the attacker is the last person she be thinking of. Complicating things even more is that the power has never been split before. For all we know, it could seek out its other half."
"Her assailant." Pyrrha surmised.
"And that's not an ideal situation for anyone." Ozpin said.
Pyrrha focused her will and made her legs walk towards the pod with Amber inside it. She looked so helpless in that pod, even with all the power she wielded. The scar on her face drew the redheads attention more than anything. It looked like some kind of horrible burn.
The glass was so cold that she could feel it through her gloves as she put them on the window. "If this is all true, if this girl really is so important, if we truly are about to go to war, then why not tell everyone? Why not tell the world?"
Winter understood the frustration of Pyrrha's situation better than the others, being the new girl herself, so she decided to step forward. "From what they've told me, this used to be common knowledge."
Just like Winter, Pyrrha had a hard time believing this. "Come again?"
"How do you think legends and tall tales get started?" Qrow asked, unscrewing his flask. "Even the craziest ones have some ground in reality."
"Our group was started to protect the Maidens AND the public." Glynda said. "Those with delusions of power hunted them down in hopes of claim that power for themselves."
Qrow finished his drink and wiped his mouth clean. "And as you can imagine, the ones that pulled it off weren't those who had desires to share that power for the good of the world."
"So, this brotherhood choose to remove the Maidens from the public eye, letting the story shift into legend." Winter finished.
"The things we're telling you go against hundreds of years of tradition and religion." Glynda spoke up.
"No one would want to believe us." Winter added. "It would cause an uproar."
"It would cause a panic, and we all know what that would bring to our doorstep." Ozpin said, emphasizing the last point to Winter. "Which is why we would like-"
"I'll do it." Pyrrha said, shocking the group. "If this will truly help save humanity, then I will agree to be your next Fall Maiden." The words Pyrrha were speaking were complete garbage. She didn't care about humanity, the Maidens, the assault, any of it. All she wanted was to take this power from them and hand it to her master so he would bask her in affection and praise like he did those countless nights before. The power the Maiden possessed would put her on terms with her master, and he would love her even more for it.
Her hundred-mile-an-hour mind came to a stop when she realized that none of the adults gave her an answer. "That is what you wanted, isn't it?"
"Correct, but I'm afraid 'Want' has very little to do with this situation." Ozpin said. "Given Amber's condition, you can't naturally inherit her powers. However, General Schnee believes she's found the solution."
"For the past seven years, Atlas has been studying Aura from a more scientific standpoint." She said. "How it works, what it really is, how to use it. We've made some significant breakthroughs, and believed to have found a method of capturing it."
"And then cram it into something else." Qrow added. "Or in this case..."
The other three adults turned to Pyrrha before she went wide-eyed, realizing what they were implying before turning to the general. "That's-"
"Classified." Winter said.
"Wrong!" Pyrrha shouted. With all the mental and physical damage he had caused throughout his life, he never had done something so horrid. All scars could heal with time and patience, but someone's Aura was their very soul. A collection of their hopes and dreams, their wills and desires, the essence of their very life. Even her master hadn't done something so horrible to anyone.
"The feeling is mutual..." Glynda said, glaring at Winter. "But desperate times call for drastic actions."
"And these are desperate times." Winter pointed out. "We might not be able to transfer Amber's power to you, but we can give you what those power are bound to."
"Her Aura..." The redhead uttered out.
"Your lives will become intertwined with each others." Ozpin said. "The question is..."
"What's gonna happen to you?" Qrow finished the thought.
Pyrrha looked down at her feet in thought. In all her fantasies of her new power and serving her master, she honestly overlooked that part of it. Amber was still human, and had feelings and hopes. "You have a very important decision to make, Miss Nikos." Ozpin said. We have no guarantee that this transfer will work, or that you'll be the same person when you step out.
"If you want my advice, take some time to think about this. But please know, we will need an answer before Vytal festival is over. The assailant has made their next move, and there's no telling what their next move will be, or when it will come." Pyrrha turned back to the unconscious and stared at her before following the adults out of the chamber.
Amity Colosseum
Cinder Fall sat alone in the stands as the members of the finalist teams representatives stood in the center of the arena. Among them were Sun Wukong, Penny Polendina, Mercury Black, and a distraught Pyrrha Nikos, still in shock of the Maidens revelation shown to her.
"And now, the moment you've all been waiting for!" Peter Port shouted in joy, making the crowd cheer. "The one on one finals! Barty, why don't you explain the rules?"
"It's actually quite simple, Peter." The hyperactive professor said back. "Instead of a predetermined bracket, all the matches will be made on the spot before the matches take place."
"No prep time, just like any good hunt." Port added. "Now, let's take a look at the first randomly generated match up!" The face panels started spinning and the whole world was watching with baited breath. The 'random' matchup came into view as the wheels came to a stop. "Mercury Black vs Sun Wukong!"
The whole crowd cheered as Yang huffed in disappointment in the stands. "Oh, will you get over it?" Weiss asked. "So we lost the tournament. That doesn't mean we'll be failures as Huntresses."
"Easy for you to say." The blonde said back. "I was SOOO looking forward to beating Mercury." As the conversation went on, a dozen rows over Cinder stood up and left the room.
"Would all non-nombatants please leave the stage?" Port requested, and the rest of the finalists left the arena. Sun smirked as he walked towards the center of the platform, which started floating on the Dust used to power it. A circular scaffold floated up higher and the spotlights turned on.
"Ready to get beat like a drum?" Sun asked, reaching around for his staff.
Mercury was not amused at the joke. "Get ready for a banana clip, right up your-"
"Three!" Port started the countdown, cutting the kicker off as both fighters entered a fighting stance. "Two, one! Begin!"
Sun thrust his staff forward and Mercury kicked it to the side before throwing a spin kick at the Faunus. Sun blocked it, as well as a flurry of side kicks that came after it. A roundhouse finally broke through his defense and dazed him for a second, letting Mercury blast him with his weapon.
Sun recovered and separated his staff into their nunchuck form and started twirling them, but Mercury evaded every bullet and blocked the melee attacks that came to close to home. Blasting the floor with a shot, he distracted Sun enough for him to use the monkey's head as a springboard and shoot him in the back. Crying out as he rolled near the edge, Sun picked himself back up.
"Damn." A few more seconds and he'd have been shoved off the ring, those wind shots had a lot of pressure behind them.
Shooting at the wind bullet aimed at his face, Sun reassembled his staff and ran to his opponent, batting each shot that he couldn't evade. When he made it to the Kicker, the Faunus slammed his staff down, but he didn't hit Mercury, he hit the floor in front of the man and pushed himself up. Pole-vaulting over the Haven student, Sun collapsed his staff back into his nunchaku and released a salvo of bullets into the teen's back, rolling when he hit the floor to keep his aura from taking the hit, he had to dive to the side to evade a wild shot from the boxer's blind roundhouse.
Seeing that he missed, Mercury ground his teeth, running at the Faunus, he pulled his foot back and aimed his kick right at the blonde's chin, despite the kick barely nicking Sun, a bullet flew from the shoe and blasted him away.
Disoriented from the whiplash his Aura protected him from, he saw double as the comic lover ran to press the offensive. Scrambling back to his feet, Sun attacked the kicks with his own weapons, but it fell short as the legs held more force than Sun could muster in his smaller swings. He needed his staff, but the only way he could do that with such an unrelenting attack would be by leaving himself open... well, that didn't mean he couldn't do anything during that time.
With a roar, the Vacuoan stopped his defense and tackled Mercury, running shoulder first into the competitor while pushing him a bit into the air. Reforging his staff the entire time and shoving the silver haired man away with a jab. Despite being a few feet in the air from the staff's extra hit, the lackey just let out a shot behind him and propelled himself forward, spinning to get another vicious hit to Sun's head. Only to be blocked by the red and gold staff and subsequently slammed into his side.
Picking himself up from his tumble, Mercury gave a snarky grin as he shot at the Faunus from his new spot. Dodging past each shot, as Sun got closer the shots came faster and faster until his opponent was spinning on the floor and shooting out a storm of bullets in every direction. 'Wait a second, he did this last round too.' Sparing a glance at his surroundings, Sun saw the ring was being circled by even more bullets than was used to break through a sandstorm. "Crap."
Taking potshots at the dome of projectiles, two more seemed to pop up every time he got rid of one. Realizing that he couldn't possibly take all these hits and win, he sat in Lotus position and readied his very stupid gambit. He took one deep inhale before the sea of bullets engulfed his glowing form. The audience murmured amongst themselves as the arena was engulfed in a dustbowl, no one could make out any figures in the debris and the scoreboard was blocked from view as well. Then a wave of wind tore through and pushed the dust to the pit between the stadium and stands, revealing a towering golden figure around Sun.
His face was pale and his skin was slick with sweat, creating two clones was hard enough, but a giant one to take a storm on its shoulders, he had no clue how he didn't pass out yet. Shaking those thoughts out of his head, he focused on his target. If he didn't take Mercury out in the next couple of seconds, then Sun would do his job for him and knock his aura to zero. Such a big copy was a real gas guzzler.
With earthshaking steps, the fifteen foot copy took two seconds to reach the silver boy and was already starting to flicker from existence. Slamming the floor with its humongous flaming hands, Mercury barely evaded the ground pound. Then with a swipe across the floor, Mercury was forced to jump into the air. A fist was already cocked back to be launched just for the Kicker to shoot and only be shaken up by the sheer amount of air that the hand displaced besides it.
His opponent was in the middle of the air but his arms were to slow, his King Kong of a clone was nearly gone, so he thought that if he was going to lose, he'd go out with a bang. Making his behemoth fall forward, it became to wide of a target for Mercury to evade in mid air and crushed him into the floor, before a dazzling burst of golden fire blinded the audience as the copy self destructed and blasted Mercury deeper into the ground.
Blinking out the bleariness, black dots, and trying to keep the sweat out of his eyes, Sun painfully pulled up his guns and stood ready for a retaliation. "Oh my, that powerful blast seems to have interfered our sensors, please give us a moment while we- I just have been informed that they are already fixed. Now we can see he true aura levels on the screen." Professor Port removed his hand from his ear as the comm went silent.
"Yes, it appears that Mr. Wukong's aura has dropped significantly from seventy percent to twelve, but Mr. Black's has fallen from sixty-two to one. For the safety of the students, the match is being called now, with the victor being Team SSSN!" Doctor Oobleck felt fear that the scanners had gone haywire, if either child had gotten a solid hit in, someone would have been very injured.
Nearly collapsing from exhaustion, Sun felt his knees start to buckle as he took in the cheers of the roaring audience."Gotta say, that was a strong hit." Nearly jumping in fear, Sun was surprised to find Mercury walking after eating a point blank explosion. "But you still aren't as strong as he is." Though his words were whispered, Sun could hear them clearly through the crowd.
"What are you talking about, what do you mean by 'him'?" His skin started to tingle as a chill ran down his spine.
"Who else could I be talking about?" His eyes seemed darken as he spoke his name, as if the word itself invited darkness. "The leader of Tartaros." With that word, he launched a kick to Sun's face.
Without even realizing it, when he moved his arm to block, a giant golden layer formed over him and sent the loser of their fight flying to the side.
Despite his fatigue, Sun ran to him and yanked him up by the collar. "How do you know that name? How do you know anything about him?!" Someone finally seemed to have some answers about this crazy guy was nearly a stalker, but if only things were that simple.
"W-what are you talking about?" The slick and smooth demeanor were replaced with a fearful stuttering. "Why did you hit me, I was just saying that it was a good fight!"
Sun tightened his grip and was going to shake and yell at the teen before he heard guns cocking all around him.
"Sun Wukong, release him at once and get on the ground if your hands behind your back." There was a human amongst the firing squad of robots.
"What, but didn't you hear him?! He just talked about E-aaaaaahhhhhh!" Seeing as he wasn't letting the student go, a fearful greenhorn had pulled the trigger and shocked the Faunus into unconsciousness.
Mountain Glenn
Jackel felt himself laughing as he saw hordes of Grimm buck and groan in restlessness. His radio just said that a contender in the tournament had attacked another student despite the match already being over. With the uproar that this scene caused, citizens all around the world were feeling negative emotions. And the fact that a Faunus was the one who attacked in such a manner would send those biggots and racists into a frenzy. Be it marching through streets or posts online, the seeds of hate and anger would grow and the Grimm would come in bigger and bigger numbers.
Amity Colosseum
"Ah! My leg!" Mercury groaned in pain.
""Mercury!" Emerald called out as she ran onto the field.
"Why'd he do it!?" He asked as his teammate reached him. "Why'd he attack me?"
"Somebody help him!" Emerald shouted before two paramedics ran out on the field carrying a stretcher. "Can't you do anything?" She asked, making the two study her 'friend'.
"We need to get him to a hospital." One told the other before they loaded him onto the stretcher and picked him up.
In the back, the medics ran through the hall with Emerald along side them as they passed a door. "Over here!" Cinder, in a medic disguise, called out through the door. "We've got an ambulance ready to go!" Not wanting to question anything, the two real medics loaded up Mercury as Emerald never left his side.
"Hope he'll be okay." One of the medics said to Cinder. "That girl just doesn't want to leave him alone."
"We'll take care of both of them." She said before climbing into the air vehicle and it took off.
"Oh, doc, tell me the truth." Mercury whined as he laid next to Emerald. "Will I ever walk again?" Emerald cocks her fist back and punched him in the shoulder. "What was that for?"
"Headache..." She groaned before grabbing her head. "A single mind is one thing, but two is stretching it."
"Well, I think you all did well." Cinder said from the copilot seat. "Getaway driver included." Neo turned her eyes back to normal and smiled.
"So, you think it worked?" Mercury asked as the ship flew into the city.
End's Warehouse
End slowly picked up the remote before turning on the tv. "A tragedy took place today at the Amity Colosseum during the one-on-one rounds of the Vytal Festival." Some purple haired reporter said before he flipped the channel.
"I don't know what Ozpin or Lionheart is teaching these kids, but that was just uncalled for." A random citizen said. "Then again, what can you expect from a dirty Fau-" The screen turned into those annoying bars and End was forced to change the channel.
This time it was an overhead of many Grimm moving towards the city. "Even though Atlas has sent reinforcements, authorities are calling upon any available Huntsmen to deal with the spike in Grimm activity."
"There's nothing like seeing your work covered in the nightly news, is there?" The horned demon teased before flipping the channel again.
Emerald had had enough of the demons constant yammering. The only thing he did was set up the fight, yet he's acting high and mighty. Knowing she couldn't beat him in a fight, Emerald pulled out her gun and shot the tv, destroying it.
"Hey, I was watching that too, ya know!" Mercury complained, fixing his faux leg.
"Shut up." She said back, holstering her gun.
"Is this how you treat all your patients?" He asked. His answer came when she grabbed the screwdriver in his leg and twisted it. "Too tight! Too tight!"
"Ya know, if you want, I can give you your real legs back." End said standing up.
"Yeah, no thanks." Mercury said back. "I've seen what's happened to your little science experiments. Not looking forward to turning into a blob of flesh that you burn to a pile of ash."
"I say you should try it." Emerald gave her two cents. "You can only go up from here."
"You know, YOU could use some improvements yourself." Mercury said back. "Like in that attitude of yours." She twisted the screwdriver again, tightening it again. "Stop it!"
"That's enough." All three looked over to see Cinder standing near some crates housing various peices of Hells Core. "Mercury here put on a wonderful show. He was quite brave. And teacher did a wonderful job of picking the fights. I couldn't have done a better job myself."
Mercury grabbed the tool and started turning it in the opposite direction. "These things aren't exactly a cheap commodity, ya know?" He told her.
"So, what's next?" Emerald asked her leader.
"The two of us will make sure the next fight goes just as smoothly." The half-Maiden answered, turning around. "And teacher will prepare for what happens next." Emerald nodded before walking over. End turned and walked away as he pulled out his Scroll, leaving Mercury alone.
"What about me?" He asked.
"You get to lay low until the end." Cinder answered. "If people saw you walking around on your own two feet, then all this would have been for nothing."
"Understood." He nodded before returning to his repairs.
End smirked as he studied the face on the screen. 'Okay, my little spartan. Let's see if you can pass this test.' He thought as he set up her opponent before putting his Scroll started ringing. The face showed it was Kyouka making the call. "Yo. Uh-hu. The rest is getting sent tomorrow. You should have them by the time this ends, Torafuzar will ensure that.
"Oh, and make sure Keyes is ready to pick up something. What is it? Let's just say it'll help with our little... Aura problem. Just make sure it's set up by the time I get there. Do it, and I'll reward you the way I know you want." He hung up as Neo stepped forward. "Ready for a night on the town tomorrow?"
He over-dramatically extended his arm with a flourish as Neo gave him a blank stare. "I'll let you drive~." And with a annoyed look, she grabbed his hand and let him take her to the briefing room.
The Nect Day
Outside Beacon Cafeteria
Pyrrha sat with her back against the building in thought. After yesterday's... events, both her team and Team RWBY tried to cheer her up, but her mind was focused on other things; her future to be exact. She had always been fascinated with the idea of magic power as a child, so to have the opportunity to get them in real life?
Any fool would jump headfirst into that deal, but Pyrrha was no fool and she was scared. Scared of what this power would do to her, but more importantly, scared that this power would take away what her master loved about her. She stared down at a fallen leaf and thought of Amber in that pod.
"You want some?" She snapped back to reality and looked up at Jaune offering her a stick of cotton candy. "I know it's not as healthy as the pond scum Ren offered, but I think it's what you need."
"Oh... thank you, Jaune." She took the stick and stared at it, missing Jaune look over as Ren and Nora walked out from the side before the hyper girl pulled the ninja back.
He sat down next to the armored girl as she kept staring at the sweet. "So... the finals, huh?" Jaune tired to make small talk as he reached down onto his belt line. "Talk about lucky. Maybe these things really do work." He held his family heirlooms up to the sky, and this caught Pyrrha's attention.
In her brief history lesson of the world from Keyes, she had learned that many of the relics of her world were actually left over from End's time. Jaune's keys were a whole book for her to study, and she got this idea that her master would love to have them. "You know, you were the first to ever believe in me." He said, putting his keys back on his belt.
"Even when I told my family I was going to Beacon, even after they gave me the keys, they told me not to worry if I came back in a week. How depressing is that?" He asked her.
"I-I'm sure that they didn't mean-" Pyrrha started before she dropped her candy in a sudden shock. Jaune had moved his hand and placed it on top of hers. She felt her skin crawl as someone other than her master grabbed her hand and she quickly pulled it away. "S-sorry, I still can't stand it when someone touches me." She looked away from him to further sell her 'inhibition'.
"R-right, sorry, I keep forgetting, but... if you need to talk, you can just let it all out to me." He told her. "It's the least I could do for everything you've done for me. Even when I was Cardin's lapdog, so, is there any way I can do something to help with what's bothering you right now?"
She could see that he had some feelings for her, so she decided to play off them and rested her head on his shoulder. "You're already doing a good job." She felt his muscles tense up as another leaf fell next to the first one, so she decided to push forward and pulled away from him. "Jaune, I don't know what to do."
"About what?" He asked.
It wasn't like she could just come out and say 'Ozpin has a secret faction designed to protect magic using women and wants me to be then next one to take up the mantle, but I only want the power so I can use it for my criminal master/lover.' She had to be very discrete about this. "Do you believe in destiny?"
Jaune raised an eyebrow: of all the things she was worried about, this was not what he was expecting. "Uh... I mean I guess. It all depends on what you mean."
"I don't mean a path set in stone for you." Pyrrha explained as the wind picked up. "I mean more like... a final goal that you work to achieve."
Jaune didn't really know what to say, but he had to say something to try and make her feel better. "Oh, okay. Yeah, I can see that."
"Well, what if something came along and it stood between you and your destiny?" She asked, confusing Jaune before really going hysterical. "Or what if you could accomplish your destiny in the blink of an eye, but you could lose everything that makes you who you are?"
"Pyrrha, calm down." Jaune begged. "You're not making any sense."
"Nothing is making sense!" She said back, standing up and walking away. "Things weren't supposed to be like this."
"I'm sorry." Jaune said as he stood up. "I just want to know what's wrong so I can help you."
"Ever since I can remember, I've felt I was destined to be a huntress." She said. "That I was meant to protect people. And every day, it seemed my instincts were right. But now... I don't know if I can do it."
"Yes, you can." Her team leader said back. "Pyrrha Nikos is a woman who would never back down from a challenge, no matter what it is. And if you feel that it's your destiny to save the world, then you can't let anything stand in your path."
Pyrrha stared at her bumbling team leader with wide eyes and open mouth. Despite not even knowing what she was talking about, he had managed to put things in perspective and calm her nerves. She felt her heart flutter for a second when she looked at him, but her master flashed through her head and crushed that thought. Knowing she had to get rid of him, she did the only thing she could think off: she started to cry.
"Pyrrha?" Jaune asked, worried he had done something wrong.
"Stop." She said from her hands.
"Did I say something wrong?" He asked.
"Stop!" She screamed, triggering her Semblance. Jaune slammed into the wall by his armor and closed his eyes from the pain as Pyrrha cracked an eye open and tried to take his keys. He slowly opened his eyes and she panicked. "Jaune!" She let him go and he fell to the ground, keys still on his belt. "I'm sorry!" She said with fake tears before running away.
'That was pathetic, Pyrrha.' She told herself. 'You couldn't even steal something from that bumbling fool.' She looked down at her hand and clenched in anger. "I need to wash this hand.'
Night
Amity Colosseum
The crowd in the arena was massive as they cheered for the next night of the tournament. "Another day, another fight in the tournament!" Port declared from the mc both.
"That's right, Peter." Oobleck agreed. "And now it's time for the randomization process for the next fight." The face wheel appeared on the screen and started spinning before the first wheel came to a stop.
"It appeared our first participant is... Pyrrha Nikos from Beacon!" Port announced, making the crowd cheer. "And her opponent will be..." The second wheel came to a stop. "Penny Polendia from Atlas!" Both fighters stepped forward onto the platform as the crowd cheered for both females.
"Sal-u-tations, Pyrrha Nikos." The bubbly girl happily said. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Pyrrha wasn't as enthusiastic as her opponent, starring down at her hands. "This is going to be so much fun."
"Fighters, are you ready?" Oobleck asked both of them. Pyrrha reached around to her back and pulled her sword and shield off while Penny nodded at the question. "Three, two, one! Begin!"
Penny's menagerie of blades popped out of her back and with waves of her hands, she sent them flying at a charging Pyrrha. She jumped over them and blocked one with her shield before landing and resuming her charge. The swords curved around her and flew back towards Penny, who used them as a shield against MikÅ's spear form.
"My word!" Port said, impressed as Penny actually PUSHED Pyrrha back. "What an impressive display from miss Polendina."
Pyrrha was starting to get angry at her opponent as she jumped off the blades coming at her. On the last one, she tried slamming her spear down on the bowed girl, but once again her attack was blocked. Upon returning to the ground, Penny charged her and started swing her ring of blades. She tried blocking with her spear, but the sheer number of blades was too much and she was pushed back again.
Discreetly using her Semblance, Pyrrha slid her shield down on to her arm as the crowd cheered the fight. The noise was annoying as she looked down at her weapon and shield. Her mind was still clouded from the whole 'maiden situation', but he pushed that into the back of her mind before charging and landing blow after blow before sending the girl into the air. She jumped up after Penny and the two engaged in a mid air sword battle before both landed.
With a wave of her hands, Penny's swords turned into their gun forms and fired them. The redhead dodged all the blasts before moving out of the way of a blade disk and blocking more swords before getting a clear shot at Penny and pushed her back. The smirk on her face left in a second before Penny charged back and drop kicked Pyrrha back. The spartan stood back up but her shield and sword wer knocked out of her hands by the gunblades.
She tried to pull them back with her Semblance, but they were knocked back again. Eight swords popped out of Penny's back before she sent the blades at her opponent. With no other options left, Pyrrha threw out her strongest magnetic wave possible.
The blades flew back and the string wrapped around Penny before they sliced through her like butter. Electricity sparked out of the slice and her pieces all fell in a lump ground, making the whole crowd gasp in horror. "Broadcast, what are you doing!? Cut the feed!" Oobleck said via his earpiece.
"We can't, sir! We've lost control of them!" The man on the other end said back.
"What do you mean 'you've lost control of them?'" The doctor asked back before every screen turned red with the Tartaros symbol in black on it.
"This was neither an accident, nor was a tragedy." Cinder's voice said through the speakers. "This is what happens when one puts all of their trust, their safety, their children, to those who claim to be our guardians, but in reality are nothing more than humans. Our academies leaders wield more power than entire armies, and one was handed the power of both. They cling to this power in the name of peace, yet, what do have here?
"One nations attempt at a synthetic army, mercilessly ripped apart by another's star pupil? What need would Atlas have for machines in the guise of little girls? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference. And what, may I ask, has Ozpin been teaching his students? Huntsman and Huntresses should be honorable and merciful warriors, and yet I have seen neither.
"Mayhaps Ozpin thought by defeating Atlas, he could make up for his colossal failures to protect both Vale and James Ironwood earlier this year. Or maybe, this was a message to the new headmistress of Atlas to show just who's in charge. Honestly, I couldn't care less about who's right or wrong. But I do know that peace is a fragile thing. And the leaders of our kingdoms seal treaties with iron gloves.
"As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you; the situation there is... less than desirable. Our kingdoms are teetering on the brink of war, and yet us citizens are left in the dark. So I ask you, when the first shots are fired; who do you think you can trust?" The feed ended and the screen turned into static, leaving everyone in the colosseum terrified.
"The feeds are being jammed, we can't get a message out!" Oobleck reported.
"Will someone tell me what the hell is happening!?" Port demanded. Before anyone could answer him, an alarm started blaring loudly warning of a Grimm attack. The mob exploded into a panic just as Winter reached the announcers table.
"Attention everyone, remain calm!" She ordered. "There is no need for a panic." A Nevermore landed on the coliseum and cawed before pecking on the barrier.
"A Nevermore!?" Fox asked in shock.
"How'd it get past the security force?" Neptune asked.
"...It's not alone." Ren added.
The three in the booth watched the massive bird peck at the energy dome before Winter's Scroll rang, showing Ozpin's face. "Ozpin, please. You have to believe me, I didn't know anything about-"
"James brought this army to my city, Winter." He interrupted. "It's time for you to use it."
Blue Two
The Atlas ships watched as a flock of Nevermores flew past them. Soldiers in the airship started running down the hall before screeching to a stop. "Hello, boys. Surprised to see me again?" End smirked before pulling his fists out of their guts. "Shall we, my dear?" He asked Neo who nodded before the went off in separate directions.
End casually walked through the ship, burning everyone he saw. He probably got fifty in a few minutes until he reached his goal. Breaking the lock off the door, he walked into the weapons locker and grabbed his cane and hidden pistol. "How I've missed you." Outside, soldiers surrounded the door with their guns aimed where the head should be before the door exploded open, sending shrapnel all over the men and killing them.
Only one barely survived and tried crawling away before End stepped on his back. "Nothing worse than survivors." The demon stepped on their back and slammed his foot through the torso, killing him. "Lot of toys in here." He mumbled turning back to the room. Plucking a grenade off the corpse, he ripped the pin out and tossed it in before walking away from the explosion.
The alarm around him was growing annoying so he punched in the code Winter gave him, which also blocked communications. "You finished your side, Neo?" He asked as the ice cream themed girl walked up from across the hall. "Good, you deal with the rest inside the cabin. I'm gonna deal with the overhyped blimps."
He walked out the door to the deck and saw crew members trying to load Bulleads for the fight. "May have your attention, please!?" He banged his cane on the ground, making everyone turn to him. "As of this moment, all flights are canceled!" He raised his cane and fired a volley of shots that destroyed all the ships and killing a large amount of the troops.
The few that survived grabbed some weapons and tried to fight him, but they were either burned alive or tossed over the edge of the ship into the beaks of the Nevermores. "And now, for you two." He summoned a giant ball of curse fire into his two hands. "Demon Fire Avaricious Rain !" He threw them at the closet ship and it busted a wide hole in the hull, as the fire seemed to burn without fuel, attempting to consume everything and sending it crashing into the second. "Sometimes, it's just too easy."
Amity Colosseum
Pyrrha hadn't moved an inch since the death of Penny. She just stared at the mechanical body, ignoring both the cries of Jaune and the Nevermore breaking through the dome. All she could do was stare at the four pieces of android she had just kill. She had just killed something other than a Grimm... and she liked it.
And the fall begins. As you can see, some obvious changes happened and Grimm have run wild. And up next is the final chapter of volume 3, then I give you all a little something special for a while. And no, it's not a lemon. Not yet anyway.
Beta read by Natsu is Awesome.