Nora finished off the doubles round much as she had the team round; a mighty swing of Magnhild sent both of her opponents flying into the energy shield around the arena, ending their fight. Ozpin noted the time. There was a while to go before Yang Xiao Long and Weiss Schnee would be fighting. All seemed quiet. The festival, despite the crowds, ran smoothly. Qrow had nothing suspicious to report. Not even the usually easily-agitated James Ironwood had bothered him for the last half hour. Perhaps he'd been wrong. Perhaps Salem wasn't targeting the festival after all.

But if not this event, then what? There wouldn't be a stage so grand for another two years, when the festival would move on to Vacuo. With this perspective, the continued calm suddenly became suspicious in the headmaster's eyes. Something had to be wrong, somewhere. It always was. He decided to check with Qrow again.

"Eh? Nah, everything's fine around here," the old Huntsman assured him.

Ozpin cocked a brow; based on the background noise, wherever his friend was, a stiff breeze was blowing. "Where are you, exactly?"

"The arrivals deck. Just, you know, eyeballing the civilians."

The headmaster surveyed the campus that spread out below his office windows and frowned. "Hmm. I see."

Qrow caught the mild displeasure in his tone and quickly agreed with it. "Yeah, I know. Almost too quiet, ain't it?"

"Indeed. Contact me if anything seems untoward." Ozpin ended this call and placed another, only to find to his surprise that General Ironwood didn't answer. This immediately piqued his concern. Before he could even begin getting in touch with Glynda, however, the elevator arrived and she nearly fell through the doors in her rush to enter. The look on her face said it all; something was wrong. "Glynda? What's happening?"

"VNN," she said breathlessly, waving at the screen over his desk. "Quickly!"

"Why?" he asked while changing the channel. What he saw splayed across the lower third of the screen nearly made him drop his coffee mug. "General Ironwood Attacked" shrieked the bold text; the rest of the image was of a shaky Scroll video showing him on the floor of a corridor in Amity Colosseum, with some soldiers nailed with ice to the wall nearby. The video looped, showing the back of the retreating Opher as it started again. Ozpin had no words for the sight.

"Professor!" Glynda urged him. "What-"

"Lock down the campus," he ordered calmly while tapping at his Scroll. His fingers danced out a brief message to Qrow and sent it on. "Organize the students and prepare them to fight."

"Fight what?" she asked reflexively. Her face softened. "I…"

"A half-Maiden, the Grimm, Opher Riese, or all of the above," the headmaster replied gravely. He glanced away as his Scroll rang.

Ironwood's unsteady voice came through when he answered. "Ozpin… he…"

The headmaster maintained his almost-icy composure despite the unfolding situation. "I know, James, I know. How are you holding up?"

"Fine. My systems are a little scrambled. Riese put a lot of voltage through me." A quick breath later, the General added, "He knows. He knows about Amber. And I'd bet my left arm he knows who attacked her."

"I see." Ozpin glanced away again, then at Glynda. "Go!" he commanded her firmly. She darted off like a gazelle, leaving him alone in the office. "James, can you command?"

"I'm already headed back to my airship. Ozpin, he knows about Pyrrha too."

"Damn!" Ozpin's stoic facade slipped for an instant before he recovered enough to issue further orders. "Glynda is setting up our defenses here. I need you to do the same for the Colosseum."

"I think we should evacuate the civilians first."

"Agreed. Get everyone out before the news spreads and panic starts." Ozpin's head tilted when Ironwood failed to answer promptly. "James?"

When his reply finally came, it was laced with worry. An indecipherable announcement boomed over the Colosseum's PA system as he spoke. "I think I might be too late. Someone just ordered an evacuation and it wasn't me." Distant screaming followed his words. "Opher is on the move. The crowd's trying to run from him. I'll pursue-"

"No, you won't," Ozpin corrected him firmly. "Get to your flagship and take charge of your army, James. We're going to need every soldier you've got."

"All right. It might take me some time to find a way off of this thing."

"Understood." Ozpin closed his eyes and sighed. "James… find Pyrrha Nikos and make sure she gets here at all costs. We're out of time."

Pyrrha and Nora were long gone from the arena when the evacuation order went out over the public address system. A second later, Jaune and Ren came running into the corridor as the two girls tried to return to the tournament participants' waiting area. "Jaune!" the redhead called. "What's happening?!"

"Opher!" was all he exclaimed as he slid to a stop in front of them. Once he'd caught his breath, he added, "I don't know what happened, but he's all over every news channel in Vale. They said he attacked General Ironwood."

"What the heck? What for?" a surprised Nora asked.

"No idea." Ren nodded past her as someone else arrived. "Perhaps she knows."

A nearly-frantic Indigo was the new presence; on her heels was all of Team RWBY, weapons brandished and scanning every inch of the area as they ran. "What in the hell is going on?!" the swarthy woman shrieked. "Where did he go? I haven't seen him since the fight before yours started!"

"We don't know." Jaune nodded to Ruby as the nine of them formed up and started running as one. "Ideas?"

"We gotta figure out where he went first," she replied. "And keep everyone as far away from that place as possible."

"We should probably head topside, then," Yang advised. "We're waaaay too isolated down here anyway. He if shows up-"

They all looked up as the evacuation order went out again, but this time it was followed by something worse. "Alert. Incoming Grimm attack. Threat level six. Please seek shelter in a calm and orderly manner."

"Oh. Lovely. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse," Weiss remarked sarcastically.

"Oh, crap," Ruby hissed, sliding to an awkward halt. "The people on the open decks are gonna be in trouble if Nevermores show up! We have to get up there and protect them!"

"What about Opher?" a worried Indigo interjected.

"Haven't you seen the news? Fuck Opher!" Yang shouted while cramming ammunition into Ember Celica. "This is all his fault anyway." By now, the dead soldiers outside of the green room had come into view. The blonde nodded at Indigo, then toward the guns on the floor. "You're gonna need some way to defend yourself. Grab one and come with us."

"I…" Indigo overcame her hesitation after a few seconds and snatched two rifles off of the floor. "I need to find Schwarze first. I'll catch up."

"Okay. Good luck." Ruby gave the swarthy woman a little salute before turning on her heel and sprinting back the way she'd come. "It's time to rock and roll!" she yelled over her shoulder at her team and Jaune's. "Come on!"

Utter chaos greeted them as they burst onto the lowest open-air deck of the Colosseum. Terrified people ran in every direction, though from what none of the young students could guess; the structure was enveloped in clouds, reducing visibility to barely a few yards beyond the edge of the platforms. As Ruby watched, a family near the edge lost one of their children to the talons of a Nevermore prowling in the mist. The mother nearly fell off the Colosseum trying to grab the toddler. "There!" Ruby pointed, unfurling Crescent Rose and dashing off. "Hold on! We're coming!"

"Ruby! Wait!" Weiss yelled, chasing after her partner. They arrived just in time to see more claws flash out of the fog and take the wailing mother too.

"No!" Ruby opened fire with Crescent Rose, shooting blindly into the clouds until Yang jerked her away. "Let me go! I have to help-"

"You can't. Not now." The blonde had to firmly guide her sister away from the weeping remains of the family and back toward Blake and Weiss. Ruby fought her at almost every step. "Ruby, no."

"But… but…"

"You can't save everyone, sis." Yang looked back at an explosion of screaming. "What's-"

Ruby looked as well. Packs of Griffons began to alight on the deck and tear into the panicked hordes. "Damn it!" she shrieked, Semblance-dashing away from Yang and right into the teeth of the Grimm. Only Weiss could keep up with her; when they reached the monsters, Ruby lopped one's head clean off while the heiress struck the rest with flying shards of Glyph-propelled ice.

Meanwhile, Blake and Yang found their hands full with another arriving flock of Griffons. Both girls put themselves between the beasts and a trapped clump of festival goers. "Move them back!" she yelled to the blonde. "I'll drop a fire shadow!"

"Yeah!" Yang confirmed, waving furiously at the people to get her point across. "Back up! We can't protect you otherwise!" She glanced over as Blake flashed past, then winced slightly as her explosive clone went off. "See? We got this. Just do what we say, okay?" More Grimm appeared to her right. "Blake! More! Let's go!"

While a scattered Team RWBY tried their best to defend every soul in sight, Jaune utilized a different tactic with JNPR. He and Pyrrha, with shields brandished, set themselves up between one specific crowd of people and the expanding fight. "No Grimm get past this line!" he yelled to Pyrrha. "Nora! Ren! Keep 'em away!"

"You got it!" She twirled Magnhild into its grenade launcher form and started shooting.

Jaune's attention went to his panicked charges. "I need someone to yell at everyone else to come to us. Any volunteers?" A few people in front nodded at his request. "Thanks. We're gonna move you guys up against that doorway over there so the soldiers can watch our butts. Ready?" He looked to Pyrrha again. "Ready?"

Were her focus not needed elsewhere, the redhead would have been immensely proud of her leader. She managed an intense smile. "They won't get past us."

As JNPR enacted their plan, however, the clouds passed by and revealed a sky full of Nevermores and Griffons, throwing the crowd into a renewed panic that drew the monsters' attention. Creatures began to invade from all sides, overwhelming Team RWBY and forcing them to retreat. Even the arrival of Coco Adel and her minigun could only stem the tide briefly; by the time the rest of Team CFVY arrived, the black hordes were driving people back into the central arena. "They're never gonna get off of this thing if we don't do something!" Nora said while stuffing more grenades into her weapon. "We need a new plan!"

"What plan?!" Yang shouted back. "The more people freak out, the more Grimm show up!" She and her sister found themselves staring down a dozen young Griffons, hungry for fresh meat and charging toward the arena opening. Behind and above them, several juvenile Nevermores pecked and clawed at the Colosseum's shielding. As the blonde watched, a much larger example dived at the energy field, bouncing off with a tremendous shrieking caw. "Oh, man, this blows. Airships aren't even gonna be able to get here unless-" The Griffons Yang had just raised her fists to fight abruptly ceased to exist; they shattered into tumbling balls of unrecognizable viscera before fading quickly away.

"Uh… what just happened?" Ruby asked, head darting around. She looked up just in time to see the same fate befall a few of the Nevermores above. Flowing threads of something glittered in the sunlight, dancing around like a spider's web in the breeze. The more she looked, however, the more she realized they were moving against the air. Even more unsettling, they seemed to be everywhere, weaving in and out of every opening. She jumped with fright when one of the shining threads pricked her on the arm before floating away. "What the heck are these?!"

"They're gray," Blake noted, more easily able to see them with her acute eyesight.

"Yeah, and shiny," Velvet added with a curious poke at one. She also jumped when it stung her. "Ouch!"

"Whatever these are, they've bought us some time."

Everyone turned to regard General Ironwood, striding forth with soldiers flanking him on both sides. Among their number was Indigo and Schwarze, both wielding assault rifles. "I think this is Opher's Aura," Indigo stated, pointing at the gossamer construction that danced overhead. "He must still be around here somewhere."

"Excuse me, he's got enough Aura to do all of this?!" Weiss asked, sweeping her free hand around exasperatedly. "That is quite literally impossible."

"I wouldn't complain if I were you. You know what they say about gift horses," Coco said with a tired smirk. "I think we need to punch through to one of the airship docks." She doffed her beret and nodded at the nervous civilians. "Get these folks home in time for dinner and all."

"My troops are in the process of securing a route now." Ironwood scanned the teenagers until his eyes landed on Pyrrha. "Miss Nikos, you're needed at Beacon Academy."

"Why?" she asked, only realizing the answer after another moment. "Oh. I… I see." Ren and Nora frowned at her.

"Uh, what's going on?" Yang interjected. "Needed with what? Are there Grimm on campus too?"

"Eh, I wouldn't worry about it." Jaune stepped up to stand beside the redhead, staring intensely at the slightly-taller General. "We're going with her."

Ironwood nodded once. "I understand. Let's go." He turned to Teams RWBY and CFVY next, as well as the assorted gaggle of students from academies that had found their way to the arena during the chaos. "No one will fault you for leaving with the rest. You've done your schools proud."

"We'll go when everyone else gets out of here," Velvet stated, causing everyone to look her way. Despite her best efforts, she shrank with the attention. She glanced up at the explosive death of another Nevermore and swallowed hard. "Even if it means being stuck up here with Opher."

"Wait a second!" Nora exclaimed. "Why is he so tweaked in the first place?! What did you talk about after we left?"

Ironwood straightened his collar and frowned. "Riese's been hiding something he shouldn't have been. That's all you need to know right now." He motioned for Pyrrha and moved to part the crowd. "Miss Nikos. It's time."

"Yes." The redhead emitted a sigh and fell in with him. "I guess it is."

"We'll see you guys at Beacon!" Ruby said with a wave. "Assuming Opher or the Grimm don't kill us first!" An awkward laugh followed her words. Indigo arrived at her side as Team JNPR departed it. "Did you see him anywhere?"

Her ochre eyes glittered with seriousness. "Nah. I'm gonna go look for him now."

"Wait, by yourself?" an unhappy Schwarze asked. "Don't be stupid. I'm coming with you."

"Uh, excuse me?" Blake interjected with a hand slightly raised. "I think you two should get out of here while you still can."

"Forget it." Indigo rested the rifle on her shoulder and started walking. "I might be the only person that can talk him out of whatever the fuck is going on. I can't leave without trying." With a wave, she and Schwarze departed the group completely and headed down toward the arena.

"I suppose she's got a point." Weiss turned back to her teammates, a strange smile plastered across her face. "Who's up for fighting our way to an airship and trying to get to Beacon?"

"Me!" Ruby shouted, though her enthusiasm faded quickly. She looked up as Yang put a hand on her shoulder. "Man, I hope everyone is okay down there."

"Let's go see." Coco led them all back toward the open decks as arriving Grimm continued to be shredded by the ghostly gray threads of Opher's essence. Whenever one of them touched someone, an invariable yelp of surprise escaped their lips. "Damn! What the hell is he doing with these things?!" Coco complained after getting hit three times in a row.

Velvet winced painfully as one of the threads pricked her ears. "At least he isn't treating us like the Grimm."

They found a mostly-clear sky waiting for them when they arrived, though a cluster of shuttles snaked their way up in a spiral from Beacon to reach the people trapped on Amity's decks. Vale, off to their right, seemed fine; at this height it was impossible to tell how its citizens were reacting to events, nor could anyone detect any Grimm around its walls, but at least nothing seemed to be on fire. One or two Nevermores hovered out of the apparent range of Opher's might, but found themselves being shot at by Atlesian military airships instead. "Hey, this ain't too bad," Yang noted with a grin. Once again, the students put themselves on the perimeter of the crowd as they queued up to leave. The first shuttle came in two minutes later, causing a crush as people tried to get on first.

Their increased agitation attracted more Grimm. Whenever a Griffon or Nevermore got close to the platforms, however, it was enveloped in ashen threads and rended to oblivion. "It's like I'm watchin' fucking magic," Coco remarked as she watched over the rims of her sunglasses. "How in the hell is he doing this?"

"Opher's different," a nervous Ruby replied. "He, um, doesn't use Aura like we do, I guess."

Coco couldn't help but arch an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Ruby wouldn't meet her gaze. "It's a long story."

Caught up in the relative calm, Weiss found herself eyeballing the conga line of shuttles coming to the rescue. One of them didn't seem to be following the same flight pattern as the rest; she watched it drift over one of the Atlesian airships, apparently trying to get away from a pursuing Nevermore. Once the Grimm had been blown to pieces, the shuttle quickly descended toward Beacon. At this point the heiress noticed a large cluster of Bullheads flying toward the campus. "What are those doing?"

"Huh?" Yang slid over to look down as well. "Oh. I dunno. Maybe they're showing up to take people back to Vale?"

"Hmm." Weiss had to discard the thought as two Griffons finally broke through and charged the crowd. "Well, in that case, let's make sure there are people for them to carry!" she said, brandishing Myrtenaster for the attack.

Yang rolled her eyes with a smile. "God, you're corny." Before she could join the heiress in her strikes, however, someone engaged and hacked through the Grimm from behind. "Aww, man, we were gonna-" Her complaint stopped short when she realized their identity. "Hey! Uncle Qrow!"

"Yang! Ruby! Where you been hiding?" he asked through a smile, twirling his weapon from scythe form to broadsword as he walked closer. "I was lookin' for you."

"Oh, you know, just slaying Grimm, saving people, the usual Hunter stuff," Ruby answered with a strained smile. "Hey, have you seen Opher? His boss went looking for him. We're kinda worried he might, you know…"

Qrow's face grew dark. "Afraid I haven't. I'm pretty keen to talk to him myself, to be honest. What's his deal all of a sudden?"

"Oh, who fucking knows." Yang stared off, arms folded and frowning. Her eyes suddenly registered strange activity around Beacon's campus far below; black dots, like ants of varying sizes, seemed to be converging on the campus. "Hey, are those Grimm?" she wondered out loud while walking toward the edge.

Coco moved over to look herself. "Ah, hell, I think you're right. Those big ones look like Goliaths."

"Hold on… aren't Jaune and..." A panicking Ruby hopped in place after she too came over to see the fuss. "They're flying into that?! We gotta get off of this thing and get down there!"

Indigo scuttled forward with her rifle raised, slicing the corner of the corridor into sections until Schwarze came around to protect her rear. Only then did the swarthy woman proceed down the hall. Their sojourn had taken them deep into the Colosseum and back up again with no Opher to show for it. A few panicked people ran by them with a young Beowolf in pursuit; one trigger pull from each woman put the beast down quickly. "Just like old times!" a too-happy Schwarze chirped.

"Yeah, if we find an Army officer that won't take no for an answer, then our trip down memory lane is complete." Indigo noticed one or two silvery threads waving near the ceiling. "Do we keep following these things or what? There's like, no rhyme or reason to 'em."

"Haven't you noticed there's less and less of them?" Schwarze paused to sweep her weapon around before adding, "Are we going the wrong way?"

"Dude, I don't know which way is wrong." They passed by another of the large openings that led to the central arena, where Indigo noticed a multitude of the gossamer strings were heading. "What the fuck. Why are they all going that way? He ain't there. We looked."

"Unless he's moving around too…" Schwarze cleared the doorway as Indigo walked past before moving to catch up with her friend. "I didn't know your boy toy had such a temper. Or that he was a wizard, 'cause… this is kinda crazy."

"Yeah, well. Something set him off. I want to know what." A Creep came sliding across the floor around the corner ahead. Indigo put three bullets through its skull with another squeeze of the trigger. "I wish the Nevermores would stop carrying these little bastards up here."

"I don't know what you're expecting. They sense blood. Or, well, panic." Schwarze raised her weapon again to put down another Creep as it slithered into view. Before she could, however, the ghostly yarn swooped down and tore it to ragged shreds. "Whoa!"

"She told me it had been the first herd of deer anyone had seen in the valley in thirty years. There were a lot of boys named Opher that summer. I'm the only one of them left."

That was definitely his voice echoing off the metallic walls, but neither woman could place its exact location as they swept their rifles around. "What's he talking about?" Schwarze muttered to her friend.

"Not a clue. I'm gonna do something stupid." Indigo sucked in a breath and hollered, "Hey! New guy! We're over here!"

What few gray threads remained in the hallway abruptly sucked themselves out of sight. A few tense seconds later, Opher himself stepped into view with his head down and hands shoved into his pockets. Structures of Aura sprouted from his back like the branches of a tree, thinning out into the silvery, thread-like constructions after a few yards of travel. Thanks to his hat, neither woman could see his face. "Sorry. I'm talking to myself again," he apologized tonelessly. "It happens."

Schwarze wouldn't lower her weapon, but Indigo did, stepping in front of the raven-haired woman as she walked closer to Opher. "Hey, uh, what's going on here?"

Opher continued to hide his face from her. "You know what they say about old people not giving a damn about appearances?"

Indigo's face went blank as she tried to gather what this statement had to do with anything. "Uh…"

"Eh, don't worry about it." He finally looked up; his muted green eyes were glassy and distant. "The whole truth, then. Indigo, basically everything you know about me is a lie. The latest in a long line of cover stories to hide the fact that I've been alive for eight thousand years." Opher paused to wave at the solid Aura attached to his back. "And this? Well, this is what your Aura looks like after that much time."

A shocked Schwarze finally stopped aiming her rifle at him, but Indigo dropped her gun entirely and stumbled back. "You're… what?" she blurted out after a moment.

"I'm immortal. Functionally." Opher shed his hat and looked back toward faint, approaching noises. A juvenile Nevermore had somehow breached his defenses and fluttered toward them; without any conscious urging, his Aura enveloped the beast and turned it into thin, ebony ribbons. "The cycle is beginning again," he mumbled to himself. His attention went to Indigo a moment later. "You two go find Team RWBY or Team JNPR and make them help you get back to Vale."

"Why? What cycle? I-" Overwhelmed by the circumstances, Indigo's brain decided to focus on the most mundane thing it could. "I dunno where Ruby and her team went, but Jaune's guys went back to Beacon. Ironwood made Pyrrha go and they wouldn't let her go alone."

He instantly knew why. "I see. They're going to turn her into the Fall Maiden to fight the Grimm. Or Cinder. Or maybe me," he remarked while donning his hat again.

"Wait, Maiden? Like, like the fairy tale?" Schwarze asked. "And why would Beacon wanna fight you?"

"Oh, trust me, they have very good reason to. I've been taking out Maidens for nearly as long as Maidens have walked Remnant."

Indigo cocked a thin, bluish brow. "Why?"

"Because when you get as old as I have, the one thing you want most is to stop living. That's the cycle I'm talking about. I fight a Maiden, they fail to kill me, I wait and fight the next. Been doing it for a while… until they started hiding them." Opher cracked his knuckles with anticipation. "It's been a few hundred years. Maybe the old hags are finally up to snuff."

"Then why the hell would you cause a panic like this?" Indigo exploded, waving her arms around erratically. "If you're just after one person, then-"

Opher silenced her with an upraised hand. "Causing a ruckus was not my intention. Ironwood cornered me. I reacted badly. Someone saw me. News travels fast." With a smile, he pointed to the Scroll in his pocket. "Did someone really call me the harbinger of the apocalypse on-"

Schwarze cut him off. "This isn't very funny. There are Grimm everywhere because of you."

"I know. The only reason I'm keeping them away is because you're still here." Opher pointed at Indigo. "I'm leaving as soon as she does."

"And you'd just let everyone else die?!" Indigo growled.

All the life departed Opher's eyes again. "They're going to die anyway. Exactly when is up to them, I guess."

"No it isn't, you fucking moron! Look at yourself! It's entirely up to you!"

It had been a long time since anyone addressed Opher quite as viciously as Indigo just did; he blinked at her a few times, unable to formulate a quick response. They stared at each other in silence while Indigo caught her breath. "You said it yourself," he finally stated, "I don't want that kind of responsibility."

"Yeah, well, you've got it now, don't you?" Indigo eyeballed him as he looked away. "And there's a big mess to clean up out there."

Not only did the woman look like his mother, but she was beginning to sound like his father too. It proved a little too much for Opher to take. "Hopefully, you'll need to find some other janitor." He started walking toward them to leave. "Now, get out of here." The Aura trailing out behind him began to shrink and retract into his skin. "Last chance."

"Where are you going?" Indigo snapped at him as he walked by.

"To Beacon." He adjusted his hat as Aura sprouted again from his shoulders, this time in wing-like structures. "I'm pretty sure I've got a date with Ozpin."

Indigo wasn't done with him. She fell in close behind Opher and kept ranting. "And what about the rest of us, huh? The ones who can't fly? You just gonna leave us up here?"

Her displeasure only made Opher roll his eyes. "There are airships outside to evacuate the Colosseum. Why do you think I've been keeping the Grimm away?"

"Fine. But I'm not going to Vale. I'm going with you to Beacon."

"Why?!" a horrified Schwarze exclaimed. "Can't we just go home? What if the pub's getting looted? I can't afford to replace all that scotch!"

Indigo turned to snap at her next. "That's the least of our problems!"

With arms crossed, Schwarze snapped right back, "You better not start whining when there's no alcohol for you on Friday, then."

"Enough!" Opher bellowed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "If you're coming with me, then come on."

Beowolves shattered in the face of Pyrrha's furious charge, bending and breaking across her shield as she and Jaune tried to clear a path to Beacon Tower. Nora, slinging grenades in every direction, was right behind them; Ren had taken to the shadows, his hit-and-run attacks becoming greenish smears in the corners of the redhead's eyes. Absolute chaos had taken hold on the festival grounds, but that was a problem for Ironwood and his troops. Team JNPR had one goal, and one goal alone: get Pyrrha safely to the tower.

"Where are they all coming from?!" Pyrrha finally screamed with frustration. A Bullhead soared at treetop level above them, tilted to one side as it fell to the ground. Creeps dropped out of its open cargo doors before it crashed. As they watched, two more Grimm-laden aircraft plummeted from the cloudy sky. "I think we might be under attack."

"Can't imagine why you'd say that," Nora replied. A charging Boarbatusk received a grenade to the face, buying her enough time to reload. "Let's get out of here while we still can!"

"Tower!" Jaune commanded, pointing his sword ahead. "Keep moving forward!"

Every student present on the campus appeared to be engaged in a fight around them. Among the panic, Glynda led a team of twelve in Atlas uniforms against a Death Stalker near the library. Nora launched a few grenades at the beast, but that was all the help JNPR could give as they pushed ahead. A gaggle of Shade Academy students drove past them in the other direction with various guns blazing, trying to force an equal-sized horde of young Griffons from piercing a defensive line around the dining hall. They were backed up by a pale woman with pastel orange hair who wielded two battleaxes on chains. "Hey, Professor Peach!" Nora called. "Is our homework still due next Monday?"

"You might get an extension," she replied through a wry smile. "Ozpin told the faculty about your assignment. Go on, we've cleared a path. Hurry before it closes again."

"Thanks," Jaune waved his team onward. "Almost there!"

The going got easier as the Grimm and those fighting them thinned out, so much so that by the time they reached the central courtyard, only a few monsters and Hunters-to-be roamed the area. They had a straight shot to the base of the structure, but the lull only made Jaune and his team more nervous than before. Checking and rechecking the area slowed their progress to a crawl. "Where did everybody go?" Nora asked the air.

"I'm sure everything's-" Distant explosions cut Jaune off. "-cool. Oh boy." Before he could add anything else, a large shadow swept over the courtyard. "What was-"

"Nevermore!" Pyrrha yelled, pointing her spear up. Not just one, either; two of the creatures circled lazily around the top of Beacon Tower. Both saw a chance for easy prey in Team JNPR and dove for the attack, one after the other. Before the first could extend its claws fully and strike, it was consumed by a roaring pillar of fire that came from behind them and driven back. The redhead instantly knew whose fault it had to be. "Opher?" she said, turning to look.

It wasn't him she saw sauntering closer. Cinder Fall, flanked by Emerald and Mercury, approached with a dying tongue of flame in her right hand. "You looked like you could use a hand," she remarked smoothly. "What are you doing out here by yourselves?"

"Trying to get to the tower," Jaune explained. He crouched in readiness as the second Nevermore swooped down. "Here comes the other one!"

Emerald handled the problem with almost dismissive grace, flinging one of her revolvers so its chain wrapped around the beast's neck as it tried to peck at Pyrrha. She yanked herself onto its head and used her other gun to put a bullet right through its eye. The Nevermore crumpled to the ground as she hopped off. "You'd better get going, then," she said with a fake, friendly smile.

An impressed Pyrrha eyed her for a moment. "Thank you. I hope I'll be able-" A knot in her stomach prevented the redhead from finishing her sentence. "Never mind. Good luck," she eventually concluded, scaling the tower steps with her team.

Emerald returned to her mistress as Team JNPR departed. "It's really her?"

"Yes, it is." Cinder checked her Scroll again, then waited a few seconds before leading her cronies up the steps as well. The gnawing of the Fall Maiden's power, heightened by anticipation, drew a smile on her face. "I hope Amber is feeling better than the last time we parted company."

"Oh, I'm sure she'll be real glad to see us." Mercury continued scanning the area as they walked. A gray glimmer in the sky caught his attention; upon further scrutiny, it proved to be a humanoid shape. "What the hell is that?" As he examined the shape further, it clarified into a winged being carrying two passengers. "Yo, Emmy, do you see this?"

Cinder's eyes became slits. She refused to look, to allow anything to ruin her moment; in the back of her mind, she already knew what was coming. "It doesn't matter. We've already won."

"Uh, well," Emerald began, now also gazing skyward at what she realized was the approaching Opher Riese, "maybe you ought to tell him that."