Thanks to TehGramerPolise and MasterofBones for their help with this chapter.

Ironwood led our group down one of the many alleys between the booths and rides until we arrived at a rather plain looking wooden stage in the shape of a large circle. On the stage was a large, circular object covered by a piece of canvas.

"Behold," The mad general declared as he stepped up onto the stage and ripped off the canvas, "The Wheel of Trials!"

It was indeed a wooden spinning wheel, with various lines of text, along with crude pictures, inscribed in sections all along it. "This," he continued, laying a hand on top of it, "Will decide what Trial each of you shall undertake in the Gauntlet."

"Neat." I responded, "So how exactly does this work?"

Ironwood rubbed his gloved hands together in excitement, "Well you see, once you all decide to participate, we shall spin the wheel once for each one of you. You will then decide amongst yourselves who shall accept the Trial set forth by the Wheel. Each person may only take on one Trial. Once all Trials have been answered, you shall receive a coin to grant entrance to the main stage for each successful Trial."

He spread his hands out wide, "Simple enough?"

"What happens to people who fail a trial?" I asked him.

I saw something dark and unpleasant flash through the madman's eyes, "Well, that depends on the Trial." He said.

"Right," I turned my head to look at the rest of the group, "Group huddle." I told them. We all stepped away from the stage, leaving Ironwood beaming happily behind us.

"So first thing's first, losing sounds really bad." I said.

"Thank you Captain Obvious." Kali muttered.

I shot her a look, "So try to keep on your toes; be sure that you understand every part of the trial. If you even suspect you don't understand something, ask." I locked eyes with each and every one of them to emphasize my point, "Got it? I don't want anyone getting hurt because of a stupid mistake."

They all nodded and I turned back to Ironwood, who was still patiently waiting on the stage, that mad smile still firmly on his face.

"Alright, we accept."

"Excellent!" Ironwood enthused and suddenly we were enveloped in a brief flicker darkness.

When the lights came back on again there was a roar of sound and I blinked in bewilderment as I took my surroundings.

We were in the middle of what looked to be a coliseum, the stands stretched off into the darkness; the sound of cheering from them nearly deafening.

"Welcome, ladies, gentlemen, boys, and girls." Ironwood yelled, impossibly loud from the stage, which had risen up high above our heads, "To the Gauntlet of Trials!"

The crowd roared in answer to his declaration and a screen appeared high overhead, showing Ironwood as he indicated our group below him with an outstretched hand.

"Here, we have six brave souls who are willing to brave the Trials! Let's give them a warm round of applause!"

The stands overhead thundered as the unseen crowd cheered and clapped wildly. Finally Ironwood held up a hand and the whole coliseum hushed almost immediately.

"Now, let's see what the first trial shall be." He reached up, grabbed the wheel and gave a large heave, sending it spinning.

The silence hung over us as the wheel slowly spun to a halt, finally landing over what appeared to be a large hammer.

"High-Striker!" Ironwood boomed and the crowd erupted once more into cheers. He lowered a hand and then raised it high above his head. There was a rumble and from the ground emerged a gigantic steel tower, a bell at the very top. A large pad on a lever at its front, and a large, two-handed mallet rested on the ground in front of it.

"The rules are simple, use the hammer, ring the bell! Three tries to the contestant, are you strong enough?"

I turned back to the group, "Any takers?" I asked.

Winter turned her head to Onyx and nodded sharply. The man replied with a crisp salute and marched up to the tower. He grabbed the hammer with his hand and I could see his eyes widen as he picked it up. His muscles bulged slightly from beneath his uniform as he turned around to the pad. He stood there for a moment, taking huge, deep breaths, then he heaved the hammer high overhead, and with a mighty roar, slammed it onto the pad.

The lever shot into the puck on the tower, but I watched with a sinking heart as the puck merely nudged a little before falling back down with a slight thud.

"Too bad champ, that's the first try. Maybe try to put a little more *uumph* into it."

Onyx blinked slightly as he stared in disbelief, then picked up the hammer again, and his eyes narrowed suddenly. His muscles absolutely bulged and with another great shout, he slammed the hammer into the pad once more.

This time the puck shot up appreciably, reaching to maybe the mid-way point before dropping back down. At this point, the crowd was a mix of cheers and booing as Onyx hefted back the hammer, staring at it. With a numb expression on his face, he walked back over to our group.

"I… I don't know if I can do it 'mam." He said, and I could tell he was trying to keep his voice calm. "As soon as I swing the hammer down… it's almost like there's something wrong with it."

My eyes met with Winter's as we turned toward each other, "Rigged?" She asked.

I nodded, "Wouldn't surprise me." I rubbed my chin, "What exactly is wrong with the hammer?"

He shrugged, "It's like it becomes really light, it just has no momentum for hitting the pad. It very nearly flies out of my hand. Then when I bring it back, it gets heavy again."

I frowned, "Can you try something real quick?" I asked him, "Try holding it upside down."

He did so and his eyes widened, "It's light again." He told us.

I nodded as I looked back over at the High-Striker, an idea taking shape in my head, "Alright, this is what you're gonna do…"

When I was done explaining my idea, everyone looked skeptical, "Are you sure that's not against the rules?" Kali asked.

I shrugged, "What did he say? 'Use the hammer, ring the bell', by those rules, it's perfectly legit."

"But-" Winter began, still looking unconvinced.

I cut her off, "Look, him rigging the game wasn't in the rules either. Besides," I turned to Onyx, "Tell me honestly, if you were really to go up there, do you really think the result is gonna be any different if you try normally?"

Onyx shook his head immediately, "He's right ma'am," He told Winter, "To be perfectly honest, I'd like to give this a shot rather than walking up and just doing the same thing, merely hoping it'll work better."

Winter didn't like it but she nodded, "Do what you think is best." She told him.

Onyx snapped off a crisp salute and began walking back to the tower.

"It's the last shot, the last hurrah! Can our brave contestant pull it off? What do you think?" He addressed this last question to the crowd, who let out an equal mixture of cheers and boos.

Onyx looked calm as he set himself up, gripping the hammer tightly. His veins practically bulged out of his neck as he let out a yell and swung the hammer forward. Thenhe adjusted his grip, grabbing it by the head and threw it straight up. The hammer flew through the air, handle-first and slammed into the bell, causing it to ring loudly.

The bell echoed, the sound almost deafening in the sudden silence that filled the entire stadium. Ironwood stood, frozen in place upon his pillar. I saw his eye twitch and suddenly, as if that movement broke him free of a spell, he took a massive breath and shouted, "We have a winner!" The crowd erupted into cheers, as Ironwood continued, "Yes, my, goodness me… a winner. Congratulations! Now if you would please step back to the group."

Onyx turned on his heel and walked back to the group, his entire body slumped slightly in relief, "Damn, I'm glad that's over." He said, then nodded to me, "Thanks Qrow, if you hadn't made that suggestion…" He didn't finish the thought and I waved him off in response.

"Hey, don't worry about it, after all, I'm the specialist here." I turned my gaze back to Ironwood. Despite my pretense of confidence, the reality is that it was only as Onyx was walking back that my heart slowed its frenzied beating. I had taken a huge gamble with my suggestion, betting on the fact that the rules as stated by Ironwood were like some kind of verbal, eldritch contract. It looked like I was at least correct enough that the mad general or the unseen crowd weren't taking exception to it.

"Alright then," Ironwood's voice boomed, "Our contestants are now 1 and 0, was it just a lucky shot? Or do they have what it takes to go… all… the… way?" He leered as he grabbed hold of the wheel, "Let's find out." Then he spun the wheel once more.

We all watched as the wheel spun to a halt, landing on a red balloon and dart.

"Pop the Balloons!" Ironwood roared.

A large wall emerged from the floor, and as we watched, a series of colored balloons filled themselves with air; looking like large, exotic fruits. A short distance away from the wall, a stand rose out of the ground, on top was a metal dish with seven throwing darts.

"The rules are simple, use the darts to pop all of the balloons, each time you pop one, you get to reuse that dart." Ironwood turned towards our group, "So who's the brave contender taking this challenge on?"

Immediately most everyone turned to me, "What?" I asked them.

"Well," Jaune said, "Not to put too fine a point on it, but you do spend a lot of time in bars."

I raised an eyebrow, "So that automatically makes me good at darts?" I shrugged, "Sorry to disappoint you guys, but no go."

"Right," Winter turned, seemingly slightly embarrassed that she had joined everyone else in making the assumption, "Anyone else?"

Surprisingly, it was the other soldier, Sable that stepped forward, "I'm a fair throw." She said confidently and then shrugged, "Besides I'd rather go up now and get it over with if you all don't mind."

I gestured to the small stand with the darts, "If there aren't any other takers, then be my guest." Truth be told I was a fair shot with darts, but there was a feeling in my gut that I needed to wait. Whether that was because of the fact that there was a challenge later that I would be better suited for, or for some other reason, I had long ago learned to listen to instincts like that. So I watched along with the others as Sable walked up to the dish.

She selected one of the darts, and the crowd went silent as she eyed her throw. With bated breath, I watched as she cocked it back, and then released it, sending it unerringly towards one of the balloons.

It hit it dead on and with a muted pop the balloon burst; there was a blur on the dish, and the next moment the dart she had used reappeared. "That's one! Ironwood announced, "Just twelve more to go!"

The next few moments were uneventful as Sable nailed shot after shot on the balloons, the crowd cheering with very successful hit. I watched, my eyes alert for any kind of trickery.

Finally, one the very last balloon, Sable missed her first dart, throwing it too hard. It flew above, the balloon, colliding with the board, almost directly across from her arm.

"Oooo…" Ironwood pouted, mirroring the crowd's own moan of disappointment, "So close to a perfect challenge! Never matter, there are still six darts left."

Sable seemed to be thinking along similar lines, grabbing the next dart and just hurling it. It was a trick I had seen done by other dart players; depending fully on instincts and muscle memory rather than risking losing momentum by analyzing fully how they had missed.

I frowned as almost the exact thing occurred, the dart slamming above the last balloon. The crowd let out another groan, "Five darts!" Ironwood cried.

This time Sable took her time, carefully picking up the darts and throwing them, but every single one missed, all of them above the last balloon, almost like there had been absolutely no drop off.

Finally, when she had just two darts left, her nerve broke and she whirled around to walk back to us. "What the hell is going on?" She muttered, "I've even tried just lightly tossing it and it just goes to the same place every time."

Winter turned to me, "Qrow? What are your thoughts?"

I frowned, "There's a couple things it could be…" I said slowly, "Although the solution to it mostly boils down to the same thing." I turned to her, "Try walking up to it." I told her.

Sable frowned, "That's against the rules-"

I cut her off, "No, just like last time, remember exactly what Ironwood said. He said to use the darts to pop the balloons; at no point did he say anything about just walking up and poking them."

Winter took a deep breath, "He's right."

A few seconds later, Sable walked up to the dish and grabbed the second to last dart. With the air of a woman walking to her execution, walked past the dish, and to the board. She deliberately stretched her hand out with the dart and poked the balloon.

In the silence that followed, the sound of the popping balloon was almost deafening.

"Winner!" Ironwood cried; and the crowd erupted into cheers.

Sable walked back over to us, relief etched on her face, "By Dust and bones." She swore, "I was sure that I was going to drop that blasted dart I was shaking so bad."

Winter shook her head, "You did fine." She reassured her, Onyx and Jaune immediately joined in. While they were comforting the woman, Kali tapped me on the shoulder.

"This has been too easy." She whispered to me.

I grimaced, "I've been thinking the same thing." I responded.

"Why do you think that is?" She asked me.

I took a deep breath, "I think because Ironwood's just been getting warmed up, I think he's been somehow deliberately picking things that we would send those two up first."

She bit her lip, "What do you think he's after? Scratch that, dumb question… Who do you think he's after?"

I shrugged, "Tough to know." I replied as I looked around our group, "But unfortunately I don't think we're gonna be able to figure it out until we learn the hard way."

"Great," Kali muttered as we both turned to see Ironwood preparing to spin the wheel again, "My favorite."