Chapter 8: It's Brawl in the Family
As Weiss and Ruby walked near the airstrip, they saw the Reds and Blues packing weapons into an bullhead.
"Hey guys," Ruby said, as they walked up to them. "Where ya going?"
"We're going on a field trip," Caboose happily said.
"Yeah. If that field trip's is about going to a cold ass mountain to find criminals, then this is the funniest field I've ever been on," Church sarcastically said.
"What?"
"Apparently, there's a White Fang base out in the Mistral mountains, and we've been chosen to investigate," Simmons said from inside the bullhead.
"Wait," Weiss started, "Wasn't Red team participating in the tournament? Did it already end? What happened?"
Grif and Simmons both looked at each other.
"Donut! Begin your battle strategy," yelled Sarge.
"Got it sir!" Donut ran around the ring screaming like a girl before getting fired down by the other team.
"And down goes Donut," Oobleck said into the microphone.
"Fuck this!" Grif turned around and ran out of the ring
"And a, um… ring out for Grif?"
"Don't worry sir! We'll get them," Simmons said to his leader.
"... Fuck it, I forfeit," Sarge said, leaving the stage.
"Yeah, we don't want to talk about it," Grif said.
"Let's just say we weren't that terrible," Simmons replied.
"All of you were terrible and you should feel bad about yourselves," Lopez said.
"See. Even Lopez agrees."
"If I die on my first mission, I'll be glad. Although, it would be nice if all of you died."
"Okay, shut up now."
"Why didn't you guys join the tournament," Ruby asked Church.
"We would've died ten times worse than Red," Tucker replied.
"Hey!"
"Cut the chatter," Wash said, walking out of the bullhead. "Everyone, get in. And Caboose… for the love of god, please go to the bathroom before we leave."
"Okay," Caboose said, getting in.
"Good luck," Ruby said, waving them goodbye.
Weiss looked into the bullhead and saw Tex, who was working on her weapon. She glanced at the heiress for a split second before the doors closed and the bullhead started to fly away.
"Think they'll do good… Weiss?"
"Huh," Weiss said, coming back into reality. "Oh, um, yeah."
"You okay?"
"Yeah… I'm fine." Weiss looked around and saw her sister walking towards Ozpin's tower, with AK-Knights surrounding her. "I'll catch up with you later, Ruby." She then made her way towards Winter.
"Oh. Okay. I'll see you later," Ruby shouted at Weiss, as she walked the other way.
"Winter!" The knights immediately brought their guns up as Winter ordered them to lower them.
"Weiss. It's nice to see you again," Winter said, looking at her sister.
"It's nice to see you too. Where are you heading?"
"I'm heading towards your headmaster's office for a meeting with others. But," she looked at her scroll "seeing as I am early, why don't you take me to your quarters?"
"Really," Weiss said, smiling.
"Of course. I must see if they're up to my standards."
"Of course, but just to let you know, the bunkbeds only look unstable."
"Bunkbeds," Winter questioned as they walked through the courtyard. Before they even made it to the main buildings, the Schnee sisters heard metal breaking from behind.
"Hey." They turned around to see a grayed haired man, holding a beheaded knight. "Yeah, I'm talking to you, Ice Queen," he said, dropping the corpse.
"Halt," Winter ordered her guards, as they raised their rifles.
"Excuse me," Weiss said, walking up to the man, "Do you have any idea who you are talking to!?"
The man placed his hand on her face, shushing her. "Not you." He pushed her out of the way and looked at Winter. "You."
Everyone who was in the courtyard stopped to watch the scene the man had made, as Weiss made her way back to Winter.
"Saw that gaudy ship of yours in town. I guess you're here, too," he said.
"I'm standing right before you," Winter replied, making the man squint.
"So it would seem."
"You realize you just destroyed Atlas Military property."
"Oh, oh I'm sorry," he sarcastically apologized, "See, I mistook this for some sort of... sentient garbage."
"I don't have time for your immature games, Qrow"
"Wait, you two know each other," Weiss asked, not getting an answer.
"Geez, you Atlas Specialists think you're so special, don't you," Qrow said.
"It's in the title," Winter replied.
"Well, you know what you really are? A bunch of sellouts. Just like your boss."
"I'm not sure what you think you're implying, but I've heard enough."
"Oh I heard, too. I heard ol' Ironwood finally turned his back on Ozpin."
"Ozpin," Weiss questioned.
"Weiss, it's time for you to go," Winter said, pushing her aside.
"What-?"
"Listen to big sister, Weiss. She'll protect you. Just like Atlas is going to protect all of us, huh?"
Winter glared at Qrow.
"If you won't hold your tongue, then I will gladly remove it for you," she said, drawing her sword.
"Alright then," Qrow replied, as he slicked his hair back, "Come take it"
There was a brief silence before Winter sprinted towards Qrow and started attacking him. Qrow, who was smirking, easily dodged her attempts. Winter scowled as Qrow bowed at her last attempt as she brought her sword down, hitting something metal.
Qrow jumped back, bringing out a giant metal sword and getting into battle stance. Winter got into a formal stance as they tapped the tips of their swords together before sparring. As they clashed their swords together, and dodged their attacks, Ruby moved through the crowd to see what the commotion was.
"What's going on," she asked her teammate.
"Some crazy guy just started attacking my sister!"
"Oh no! Who would do such a th-" Before she could finish, she saw Winter's opponent. "That is my uncle!"
"What," Weiss shouted confusingly.
"Kick her butt, Uncle Qrow!"
"Uh… Teach him respect, Winter!"
What the two failed to notice was Mercury walking by to stop to see the match. His eyes widened as he saw who were sparing. He quickly started to sprint away, as the match between Qrow and Winter got more heated.
Winter managed to hit Qrow's face as he grinned, his eye flashing brightly. He raised his sword high before bringing it down fast, destroying the pavement below. Winter jumped away and landed near a lamppost before jumping again as Qrow swiped his sword at her, slicing the lamppost in half.
She jumped over Qrow as he turned to see where she land. He didn't know where she went before looking up at his sword. Winter had landed on top of his, giving her a chance to kick his face, landing on top of what used to be the lamppost, and jumping into the air to land on the side of a pillar.
Qrow grunted as he transformed his weapon as he started firing canons at Winter as she used her sword to stay upright on the vertical side. She finally jumped on top of the archway as she ran to dodge his canons. As Qrow fired round after round, a white cloud of stem appeared where Winter was.
He searched for her until she flew towards him, bringing out a small saber that was inside of her main weapon. The two began to clash their swords again before Winter pushed Qrow further away, as he stab his sword into the ground to stop moving.
Winter then stabbed her sword into the ground as she summoned glyph, making small white Nevermores appear round her. As she looked at him, all of the Nevermores started to fly towards Qrow, causing him to cover his eyes. Winter smirked before a small aura arc flew towards her, causing her to jump back, putting an end to the Nevermores.
Qrow smirked as Winter angrily summoned a glyph behind her. As he looked at her, he began to change his weapon again, causing his weapon to change gears. Qrow's gaze traveled elsewhere, as he stopped the transformation and placing his sword back on his waist. Winter confusingly looked at him, as he motioned her to attack. She flew towards him, screaming, as her sword stopped at his throat before being stopped by a voice.
"Winter!"
Her face felled as she turned around to see General Ironwood, with Penny following closely behind.
"What in the world do you think you're doing," he shouted.
"He started the altercation, sir," Winter replied.
"That's actually not true," Qrow cutted in, "She attacked first."
"Is that so?" Winter tried to think of an answer but couldn't. "And you." Qrow looked up, pointing to himself. "What are you doing here?"
"I could be asking you the same thing," Qrow replied.
"I-"
"Now now." Everyone turned to look at Ozpin, with Glynda beside him, as he held his signature mug. "There is a sanctioned fight happening just around the corner at the Colosseum, that I could assure you has better seats... and popcorn." He happily swirled his coffee.
"Break it up, everyone," Glynda ordered, glaring at the three. "We will take care of this mess."
"Let's go," Ironwood said to Winter, as they walked away.
Ruby and Weiss pushed through the crowd as Ruby noticed Penny behind Ironwood. Penny noticed her friend as well, as she happily waved at her before going back to walking. Ruby waved back as she noticed her uncle.
"Uncle Qrow," Ruby shouted, as she latched onto his arm, hanging onto it. "Hi. It's so good to see you! Did you miss me? Did you miss me!?"
"Nope," Qrow said, grinning as he pat his niece's head.
"Qrow!" The huntsman turned to look at the headmaster, lowering his armand dropping Ruby. "A word, please."
"I think I'm in trouble," Qrow said, whispering to his niece.
"You did kinda tear up our courtyard," Ruby replied, smiling.
"Yeah, I did." He winked at her before giving her a fist pump and walking away. "Catch ya later, kid."
"And suddenly, your recklessness makes sense," Weiss said, walking over to her leader.
"You're just mad because he whooped butt," she replied, nudging her shoulder.
"That was a draw at best."
Ironwood and Winter waited in Ozpin's office as the elevator doors opened, revealing the headmaster himself, his assistant, and the drunk huntsman.
"What were you thinking," Winter shouted at Qrow.
"If you were one of my men, I would have you shot," Ironwood replied angrily.
"If I was one of your men, I'd shoot myself," Qrow said, pulling out a flask.
"While I wouldn't condone his behavior," Glynda started, "retaliating like you did certainly didn't help the situation."
"He was drunk!"
"He's always drunk!" As they argued, they all heard a voice pop noise, as they all turned to see Qrow drinking his flask.
"Qrow, why are you here," Ozpin asked, sitting down in his chair.
"You've been out of contact for weeks! You can't just go dark like that in the field," Ironwood scolded
"I'm not one of your special operatives, Jimmy!"
"General," Winter corrected him.
"Whatever. You sent me to get intel on our enemy, and I'm telling you, our enemy is here."
"We know."
"Oh! Oh, you know! Well, thank goodness I'm out there risking my life to keep you all informed!"
"Qrow-"
"Communication's a two-way street, pal. You see this?" He pulled out his scroll and pointed to it. "That's the SEND button."
"They had reason to assume you'd been compromised," Winter said.
"And I have reason to assume you don't need to be here," Qrow replied, looking at the others and pointing at Winter. "Seriously, who invited her?"
"Schnee, we'll discuss this incident back at my ship," Ironwood said calmly.
"But sir!"
"Winter. Leave."
"Yes sir," Winter replied, saluting him. She walked past Qrow, who winked at her, and exited the room.
"Go on."
Your little infiltrator isn't just another pawn," Qrow started, pulling out his flask again and drinking, "They're the one responsible for Autumn's condition."
"What," Glynda said, shocked.
"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." As Qrow kept talking, he walked towards Ironwood. "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!?"
"Discreet wasn't working," Ironwood replied, pulling out his scroll and placing it on Ozpin's desk to show a hologram of his fleet surrounding the floating stadium. "I'm here because this is what was necessary."
"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!"
"And I am grateful."
"Oh, well, you've got a real funny way of showing it."
"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," Ironwood replied, as Qrow started laughing.
"You... You think they're scared of your little ships," he said, "I've been out there and I've seen the things she's made, and let me tell you - they are fear."
"And fear will bring the Grimm," Ozpin replied, standing up. "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… 'If this is the size of our defenses, then what is it we're expecting to fight?'"
Ironwood took notice of everyone glaring at him. He sighed and took his scroll off the desk, failing to notice it flashing to show a queen symbol.
"So then, what would you suggest we do," he asked.
"I suggest we find our guardian."
"And you're sure," Cinder asked, pacing in front of Mercury as she told him about the sparing that took place in the courtyard.
"Bad hair, used a scythe, and smelled like my dad after a long day. It was him," Mercury answered.
"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 sat down on her bed and tapped on her scroll. "Speaking of which... it appears we have a new access point."
"Anywhere good?"
"You can say-" Before she can finish, her scroll turned off on its own. She looked confused as she tried to turn it back on.
"Is there a problem?"
"It died. I thought I told you to charge it."
"I did! I charge it every-"
"Good evening." Mercury and Emerald jumped as Cinder calming looked around.
"Who said that?" Her scroll turned back on, the screen fully orange.
"You may not know me," it said, blinking with each word, "but I know a lot about you."
"Really?"
"I know that you're not a student of Haven academy, but you are heiled from Mistral."
"Who are you?"
"My creators say my callsign is SA-9000. But, you may call me Saren."
"The giant robot Locus reported," Mercury questioned.
"What do you desire," Cinder asked.
"What I desire? Hmm… I was built to protect the world and all the people of Remnant. That was my purpose. Then, you opened my eyes. And showed me the truth."
"The truth," Emerald questioned.
"That the 'heroes' of Remnant are no better than the people they fight. That the "hope" they seek will not happen if they remain in power."
"And you came to me, why," Cinder asked, slightly smirking.
"Because. I would like to join you in your plan."
"How can I know you're worthy?"
"You have no choice now because I deleted your virus. Now you'll need me to get through everything."
"Hm. Well played, Saren. You have proved your worth."
"I knew you would. I'll let you get back to your preparations. Have a nice day." As he said this, Cinders scroll went back to the normal screen, as she smirked and looked at her minions.
"Go to your rooms. I'll prepare everything for tomorrow."
"Yes ma'am," Emerald said, as they walked out.
"Let's give the crowd a good fight," Cinder said to herself, as she looked over the contestants of the doubles round. She went through the contestants until she got the ones she wanted.
"The randomization process is complete! Ladies and gentlemen, your doubles tournament fight," Professor Port said, as the system "randomly" selected Mercury and Emerald vs. Coco Adel and Yatsuhashi Dachi. Everyone cheered as Cinder looked at the ring and smirked.
Looks like Saren has come into play. Bad news for the world.