New chapter yaa! Hope you guys all enjoy it, including any modifications I've made. Also, My beta reader wanted to leave a note, so I'm letting him. Read and review!
"Good afternoon, Miss Nikos," greeted Ozpin when he saw Pyrrha show up. He quickly had her sit down in front of him. They made some pleasant talk, asking her if she was having any problems or if she was enjoying herself until Ozpin decided it was time to shift the conversation.
"Well, it comes as no surprise that they've chosen you to move on to the final round of the tournament. Your performance was exemplary, even if you did get trapped.."
"Thank you, Professor Ozpin, but I would have never-" said Pyrrha humbly until she stopped. She looked back up at Ozpin in surprise, "I'm sorry, did you say I was going into the final round?"
Qrow, who had been hiding and leaning against a column in the back of the room, looked at Ozpin and Pyrrha in surprise. Ozpin also had the same reaction but kept it hidden.
"Yes. Are you not the one they chose? I was looking through the roster and saw your name representing JNPR," said Ozpin slowly, "I would assume that you were chosen for tactical reasons."
Pyrrha's eyes widened at that, "Impossible! We chose Jaune for that!"
"You chose dra-, I mean blondie to represent, not the famous 'Goddess of Victory'?" asked Qrow, revealing himself to the conversation. He almost slipped on the nick name, but Ozpin didn't seem to notice. He was busy scanning his Scroll for any errors, and couldn't find any.
"I don't see a discrepancy," muttered Ozpin, "There was no sign of changing or deleting names after registering who was to represent JNPR. I fear they have gotten in further than I suspected."
He turned to Pyrrha, who was still looking worried, "I'm sorry, Miss Nikos. The draft was finalized, and so you will be fighting to represent your team. Be sure to let your teammates know as soon as possible after this meeting, while we'll try to get to the bottom of this."
Pyrrha frowned but decided to follow along anyways. Ozpin decided to approach about the subject of fairy tales. Pyrrha was confused, but played along, stating quite a few tales. She was tempted to drop the tale about dragons, but decided against it. Finally, Ozpin gently guided her towards the story of the Story of the Seasons.
Pyrrha smiled before giving a brief summary of this story, and how four maidens helped an old hermit. In return, he blessed them with incredible powers and had them promise to share their gifts with the people of Remnant. Thus, the four maidens were born. Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall.
When she finished, Ozpin made a slight joke, causing Pyrrha to laugh. Ozpin's playful grin suddenly turned deadly serious when he asked, "Well, would you believe me if I told you it was true?"
Pyrrha was silent for a moment before giving an uneasy chuckle, "I beg your pardon?"
"What if I told you that there were four maidens existing in this world, that could wield such tremendous power, without Dust?" continued Ozpin.
"You mean... like a Semblance?" clarified Pyrrha.
Ozpin shook his head before giving her a small smile, "Like magic."
Pyrrha looked down for a bit, trying to digest this information. At first, she didn't think it was true. But after encountering the ancient rulers of Remnant, it was pretty easy to believe some of the myths that came out.
"Why... why are you telling me this?" asked Pyrrha after giving it some thought.
Ozpin took a glance at Qrow, who shrugged. This puzzled Ozpin a bit. He was sure Qrow would approve. Qrow, however, was hesitant because he knew Pyrrha was in line to be Jaune's mate. And frankly, the power of a maiden was nothing compared to the power of a dragon.
Ozpin decided to continue, "We are telling you this, Pyrrha Nikos, because we believe you are next in line to receive the Fall Maiden's powers."
Pyrrha's eyes grew wide at that, and the elevator doors opened to reveal Glynda Goodwitch and General James Ironwood.
They quickly stepped inside, and Glynda was reassuring Pyrrha, telling her that they were still the same people she knew. Qrow and James merely added some comments, saying they were also protectors of the world. Ozpin came in with the final surprise, telling her that they needed her help.
"Wonder what's taking them so long with Pyrrha?" sighed Jaune as he lied down on his bed. Just as he said it, he received a message from her, telling him she was okay. However, she had some news she would tell them when she got back. Jaune shrugged before joining Yang and Ruby in a racing game. Blake was reading her book while Ren was taking care of Nora's need for pancakes.
Pyrrha was looking a bit nervous as they all rode an elevator down, past the lobby and into some sort of underground levels. When she asked, Ozpin merely replied they were headed towards the vault, located under the school. Soon, Pyrrha was looking out a large sparsely-lit hallway. As she cautiously proceeded forward, Glynda looked at her with slight pity, trying to comfort her before asking if she had some questions. When she asked for more clarification about being next in line to receive the Maiden's power, Glynda sadly smiled.
"The Maidens have existed for thousands of years. But much like in nature, the seasons change. No two summers are alike. When a Maiden dies, her power leaves her body and seeks out a new host, ensuring that the seasons are never lost and that no individual can hold on to that power forever," explained Glynda.
"So, how does the power choose?" asked Pyrrha.
Qrow looked over his shoulder before scoffing "Through a series of stupid and convoluted rules."
Glynda growled at Qrow, to which he replied that he was right. She looked back to Pyrrha before expanding on Qrow's views, "At first, the only thing that was certain was that the powers were specifically passed on to young women. But as time went on, it was discovered that the selection process was much more... intimate."
Pyrrha looked a little concerned at this before asking for more clarification. If she was going have to be a lesbian, she would outright refuse.
"As we understand it now, when a Maiden dies, the one who is in her final thoughts is the first candidate to inherit her power," revealed Glynda patiently.
"Unless it's a dude or some old hag," added Qrow, "Then the power goes to someone random, and our job gets a lot harder."
At this, Pyrrha decided to ask why they were telling her this now. Qrow sighed before saying that they were starting to run out of time and that they needed someone now. They needed the protector of mankind. Pyrrha was worried about another war, but Ironwood clarified it for her, saying it wasn't between nations. Qrow finished it up by saying for the first time in history, one of the Maidens had part of her power stolen from her. As he said this, Pyrrha saw at the end of the hallway was a large machine with lit screens hooked up to two pods. One was empty, but the other one had her concerned. Inside was a young girl with brown hair and skin, wearing minimal clothing. What was most concerning was the burn scars over her left eye and face.
She stepped forward, touching the glass as she looked at the girl, when Ozpin revealed that the girl inside was the current Fall Maiden, Amber. She was barely alive, and only state of the art Atlas technology was keeping her alive. When Pyrrha asked why not let it naturally transfer to the next host, Ironwood sighed before replying that while it would still work, it was common for the last thoughts of the slain to be their attacker, and that since half of Amber's powers was stolen, if she died, it would most likely seek out its remaining half, to the assailant. And none of them were comfortable with that fact.
Pyrrha turned around a bit angry, before asking why this knowledge was kept hidden from the populace. The sails of her rage were taken out when Glynda explained that it used to be common knowledge in the past. Qrow took point and told her where else did these legends and tales start from? They had to begin somewhere.
Pyrrha sighed as she remembered Jaune and Ren telling her about the legend of the Dragon Clan. How a famous and powerful clan fell because of jealousy, rage, and other events. And how it was forgotten. But even then, they had a starting point.
Qrow, Glynda, Ironwood, and Ozpin began to explain that if people knew that these legends were true, it would attract the wrong crowd, and the power would fall into the wrong hands. And with mass panic, it would attract the Grimm. Which was why their little group was created in order to protect the Maidens.
Pyrrha looked at the ground, unsure what to do. She really wanted to be the Fall Maiden, to help humanity. But at what cost?
"How would I become your Fall Maiden?" asked Pyrrha.
"It won't be simple," admitted Ozpin, "you can't inherit it naturally. "However, General Ironwood believes he has a solution."
"For the past few years, Atlas has been studying Aura from a more scientific standpoint; how it works, what's it made of, how it can be used. We've made... significant strides. And we believe we've found a way to capture it," stated Ironwood.
"Capture it and cram it into something else," summarized Qrow, "Or in your case ..."
Pyrrha immediately understood and yelled out in her anger, stating it was wrong.
Glynda glared at Ironwood for a bit before sighing, saying that desperate times called for desperate measures.
Ironwood merely continued, saying that they could transfer what possibilities the power of the Maiden could give her, to which Pyrrha knew he meant taking Amber's Aura and putting it in her.
At this, Qrow added that since they were putting Amber's life force into her, they had no idea what it could do. Including changing her whole personality, her likes, her body, and even her looks.
"You have an important decision before you, Miss Nikos. There's no guarantee this transfer will work. And there's no telling if you will be the same person if it does. I advise you to take time on this matter. But understand that before the Vytal Festival is over, we will need your answer," said Ozpin slowly.
Pyrrha was frightened. She wanted to help, but at the cost that she might never be with Jaune again? The boy who promised to always be there for her? Would combining with Amber make her forget all about Jaune? Were there restrictions if she did become the Fall maiden, such as never to marry? And yet, this was so much than just her love life now. It was the world of Remnant, hanging in the balance. Could she make the ultimate sacrifice, the ones Huntresses and Huntsmen always needed to take?
She looked at the dying girl, unable to make her decision. Ozpin couldn't fault her.
"The assailant that attacked the Fall Maiden has made their first move. And there's no telling when their next move will be," warned Ozpin.
With that Pyrrha was dismissed. Glynda took her out of the tower to lead her back to her team. Ironwood, Ozpin, and Qrow were looking at Amber, also unsure what they were doing was right. They stayed there for a bit.
"You think Leonidas will be mad at this?" asked Ironwood.
"Knowing him, he would probably call all his friends and march right down Beacon," snickered Qrow.
"At this point, we have no choice. I will face her parent's wrath if it means we have an edge over Salem," sighed Ozpin. He had hoped to avoid this all together, but as it was stated earlier, time was running out.
'I dunno,' smirked Qrow as he took a drink from his flask, 'I don't think you can handle a dragon's wrath if what Jaune says is true.'
"What!?" shouted team JNPR and RWBY. Pyrrha had just told them that somehow, she was being chosen to compete and not Jaune. They tried to fix it, but it was too late. Apparently, from the official story, one of the employees was a Pyrrha fan and thought she deserved to go to the finals instead of Jaune and put her name instead. That and the employee thought JNPR had made a mistake.
"I guess there's nothing to do about it now," sighed Jaune, "We'll just have to support Pyrrha."
"Yea! Gooo Pyrrha!" cheered Nora.
"We'll be behind you 100%," stated Ren.
They all quickly went to sleep. Pyrrha, however, had trouble sleeping with all the information that had just been poured on her. She desperately wanted to sleep with Jaune, to have his body chase away the worries, but it was Dew's turn. She could only hope that these worries would go away.
During the night Weiss had decided to take a walk outside, with the things that have been going on lately, a nice walk was sure to keep her mind off the recent events, especially since some of the spectators she heard after Jaune's fight with Aurelian still thought the rumors were true. As she continued walking she heard someone calling out her name. She turned around to see Dandy of team DSCO calling her over. Curious, she walked over to see what he wanted. A few minutes later, Weiss walked away with a small smile on her face.
The next morning, Weiss left early. She left a note, telling them she was fine, and that she had a surprise for them all later in the tournament. As for the tournament, all competitors competing in the finals were getting ready. The match this time was to be held at night, at 7:00 P.M. This was to allow everyone who had to work the usual 9-5 shift be able to watch the tournament. Although many workplaces allowed their employees to be distracted by putting up the show of the fights from the other rounds while working. The bosses also wanted to see them too. The competitors themselves were psyching themselves up, although Pyrrha seemed distracted. While everybody else was grabbing their seats, Ruby and Blake noticed Weiss hadn't shown up yet but asked them to save a seat. They were a bit worried.
Before that though, DSCO was invited to play three more songs. As the stage was once more set up, everybody noticed an extra mic to the side.
As team DSCO warmed up, Dandy who had a guitar placed around him was setting up his weapon on the stand and plugged it in using one of the speaker cord. Once it was set up a small section of the disco ball opened up to reveal the same type of material a mic had, Dandy tapped said part and it acted just like a mic.
"Ahem..Excuse me! May ah have everyone's attention? Ah have an announcement to make before we start our first song today!" Dandy addressed to towards the crowd, everyone who was currently chit chatting or distracted with other things stopped and gave their attention towards Dandy
"Thank ya kindly, now then ah just wanna say that is been an honor for me and mah team to sing for this tournament! It has been a wonderful experience so far, and we hope to do this again sometime in the future! But that's not official announcement, oh no, what I want to address is that as many of you all know of yesterday's events, certain rumors were spread throughout the last match of the day, involving a dear friend of mine, Jaune Ryu-Long-"
Low murmurs could be heard through the crowd, some good, some bad, though this had gotten the attention of Vlad and his sons considering they started said rumors
Jaune and the others raised their eyebrows at this announcement. What was team DSCO planning?
The murmurs stopped when Dandy continued "As Pyrrha Nikos, stated before, those rumors are FALSE." Dandy's voice heightened at the end, "To those who may be our fans after hearing us perform and yet still think said rumors are true, we can promise you with our careers as a band and huntsmen on the line, that Jaune is NONE of those things the rumors has said, and we can back up Pyrrha's statement! If any of ya'll want to try something, you'll also be dealing with us!" Dandy looked towards the front row and look amongst them til he saw Jaune and gave him a firm nod and small smile before continuing. Jaune returned his smile with a nod of his head.
"Now ah can admit, one good thing came out of these false Rumors, and that was a song me and my team discussed, this song goes out to all the liars, cheats, and low life's who cares nothing but themselves or just plain power hungry! Another thing, this song does have foul language so I must advise any caring parents to cover the ears of your children, now without further ado, Soul-"
Soul who walked up to his mic gave a thumbs up to Dandy as he was ready to sing for the first time.
Dandy who nodded took a deep breath and shouted, "LET'S GET GROOVEY~!"
Wolf in Sheep's Clothing-Set It Off, with Lyrics slightly modified.
The crowd cheered at this, not knowing this message had been indirectly pointed at Vlad.
Dandy coughed once into the weapon, catching everybody's attention once more, "Now, I know you are all wondering why there's an extra mic here. Allow me to introduce our guest singer, who graciously agreed to come, Weiss Schnee!"
The spotlights pointed towards one of the entrances to reveal Weiss walking in, waving at the crowd. Most of her friends were surprised to see her so willing to sing in front of an audience. Then again, they all knew that she loved to sing, just not too often. The mic was soon set up for her, and with 3 taps from Corals drumstick, the song began.
This Will Be the Day-RWBY season 1 opening
The audience cheered, and Winter smiled from her box with Xanthe and Saffron, proud of Weiss and her talent at singing.
"Thank you! Now, I know we're all eager for the tournament, we got one last song that I think our fighters can enjoy and identify with. And Weiss has agreed to sing with us this one last song with us together," announced Dandy before waving to Onyx.
Onyx took a deep breath before playing the beginning intro on the piano. Coral was the one singing this song since there wasn't much drumming for this song.
Sweet Victory- David Glen Eisley
As the song continued on, Dandy thought it was a great idea by using a bit of lightning dust to make the disco ball light up a bright yellow, with it lit up, he picked it up and began swaying it side to side in the air slowly, which soon made many audience members follow by using there scrolls or any type of light to follow what Dandy was doing in tempo.
At the end of that song, the crowd was going wild. The hype for the tournament was reaching its limits. Meanwhile, Cinder smirked as this day would be indeed the day Vale would remember. As Weiss quickly reached back to her seat, all her friends were cheering her on.
"You should sing more often," praised Jaune, "I'd love to hear more of your songs."
"Thanks," blushed Weiss, "Maybe…. a private concert for you sometime?"
"It's a date," replied Jaune. Weiss smiled before kissing Jaune on the cheek.
"Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for! The one-on-one finals!" announced Port.
In the center of the battlefield stage, Yang Xiao Long stood there with a confident smirk, along with all the other competitors. Sun, Penny, Mercury, and three other competitors also stood there, excited. Two of the three were from Shade, while the last one was from Atlas. At the end of the line stood Pyrrha, although she looked troubled. Jaune frowned when he saw this. He had noticed it earlier, but Pyrrha kept waving it off, saying it was nothing.
"Barty, why don't you explain the rules?" said Port.
Oobleck nodded, "Ah, it's quite simple, Peter. Instead of a bracket system, each round of the finals will be randomly determined immediately before the match takes place!"
"Much like any good hunt, there will be zero time to prepare!" commented Port.
"Ah, yes, yes! Now, let's see who our first match will be!" said Oobleck as he pointed to the screen. The roulette started to spin for the competitors. From every corner of Remnant, they were all watching with baited breath. Including Salem, Watts, and Hazel.
Cinder smirked as she had already fixed it.
"Yang Xiao Long and Mercury Black!" announced Port as the roulette stopped, showing who would be fighting. Cinder smiled as she got up and left the seating. This part was done. She was needed for the second part.
Meanwhile, all JNPR, RWB, SSSN, NDGO, CFVY, and NDGO were all cheering for Yang.
"Would all other combatants please leave the stage!" said Port.
The lineup left while Mercury and Yang stayed in the middle of the arena. The middle of the floor rose up, and a ring of spotlights also rose up, fixing the lighting onto the arena. For the finals, there was no environment. Just a plain simple arena so everybody could watch the fighters fight. As Yang and Mercury faced the crowd and screen, Yang smiled, "You better not go easy on me."
Mercury laughed darkly, "You wish."
Both of them faced the crowds one last time before facing each other getting into their fighting positions. During this time, they were free to move about and find a starting location. Some preferred to start far away. Others liked medium distance. For these two fighters, they were advancing on each other, arms raised until their hands were almost touching. As soon as Port counted down, they commenced by throwing an attack. Yang with a punch, while Mercury spun to kick, both meeting each other with a clash. They were both pushed back, but Mercury immediately dashed towards Yang, closing the distance and tried to kick, but Yang leaped over him and fired a shot from her Ember Celica that he spins to avoid before getting closer. He tried to punch, but Yang blocked it. After a few punches thrown, Yang managed to get first hit into his stomach, narrowly avoiding his uppercut. Mercury did a few backflips to recover, to which Yang immediately fired shots after shots, only for him to dodge them all before charging in with an axe kick.
Yang grinned as she decided to put the new move she learned from Jaune to the test. She had her fist upwards, quickly touching the side of Mercury's leg with her bent thumb before twisting her whole arm forward like a corkscrew. Mercury's eyes opened in shock to see his leg slide off her arm and the fist coming towards his face. Upon contact, Yang fired a shot, shooting Mercury away and doing quite a bit of damage to his aura.
Raven, who was watching the match on a scroll while eating with her bandit members, smiled. She recognized the same move Jaune used against her. It was good to see her blood daughter improve with Jaune by her side. Without him, she had a feeling Yang would just be an all out frontal brawler, with no real concept of defense or techniques.
"Boss?" asked a one-eyed bandit. Raven turned to look at him.
"We've been staying around Vale for a while, now. Why?"
"Just... something that's caught my interest," said Raven, "We'll move after the tournament is over."
'Ok, didn't expect that. Axe kicks are a no go,' thought Mercury before charging in again with a flurry of kicks.
'Geez, it's like fighting a better version of Melanie,' thought Yang. Mercury had better kicks than Melanie, with the only difference that Melanie used blades instead of guns.
In Junior's bar, Melanie was indeed watching Mercury with interest in his techniques, trying to see what she could steal. However, she couldn't shake off the feeling about his legs. Just from instinct and sight alone, she felt like those legs... weren't normal. Solely because her fighting style was based off kicks.
"Uncle, is there any information about Mercury Black?" asked Melanie.
Junior rubbed his beard for a bit, thinking about the name Black. It sounded familiar. After quickly going through his computer, he found out why.
"I wonder if Mercury is the son of Marcus Black, the assassin," pondered Junior out loud, "Other than that, I got nothing. Rumor has it Marcus died, but I don't know if he had a kid or not."
Melanie merely turned back to the television set to watch.
Back in the fight, Mercury was slowly turning it around, landing a few kicks on Yang before hitting her on the knee, causing her to buckle. Mercury quickly spun in the air and kicked where Yang's head was. She quickly got up to dodge it and tried to punch Mercury, who spun to dodge that downward punch before launching a kick. Yang blocked it and scooted back. Mercury followed up with a reverse roundhouse kick, to which Yang ducked. Mercury stopped it midway and forced his kick downwards, making Yang flip backward, and causing the floor to crack from the force of the kick.
They exchanged a few kicks until Mercury managed to hit her backward. Her rushed in, only to get a fist to his chin, to which Yang followed up with a blast infused elbow to his torso. She quickly followed up with projectiles, causing Mercury to backflip to dodge. Yang managed to get a blast in, shooting Mercury off the edge. As Mercury was falling, he quickly adjusted his position before firing a few shots from his boots, flying back into the arena. As he was about to land, he saw Yang grinning and ready with a punch.
'I don't like that grin. Our past data said that Yang was an all-out brawler, according to Signal records. She certainly doesn't show that now,' thought Mercury. Yang threw a punch, to which Mercury spun and kicked it, causing another shockwave. They were both pushed apart, but Mercury almost fell off the edge again.
'Gotta switch tactics,' thought Mercury before shooting a barrage of silver blasts everywhere, aiming a few shots at Yang. Yang charged forward, and Mercury dodged, getting back towards the middle of the arena. They fight in the middle of the arena until Mercury manages to kick her up into the air. He jumped up and quickly did an arcing kick, knocking her back into the ground.
As Yang hit the ground, she noticed all those shots Mercury had done was circling in the air. With a snap of a finger, they all dive bombed towards Yang.
'This is gonna hurt, but if I can make it through, then the payoff is so worth it,' thought Yang before closing her arms together, legs locked together, to minimize the amount hit and maximize her defense just as all the blasts hit her.
With a huge dust cloud behind him, Mercury got up, sweeping off any specks of dust off his outfit and seemingly happy until the smoke behind him erupted into flames. He turned around to see Yang already charging in, eyes blazing red and hair up in flames, throwing a right straight into his face. Mercury stumbled back before trying to kick her. He was surprised when Yang grabbed his foot instead of blocking it or just taking it. Yang quickly spun under his foot, still grabbing it, and tossed him into the air. Before even letting Mercury get a chance, Yang had jumped and smashed him back into the ground. Mercury bounced up once, letting Yang wind up for a Dempsey Roll, weaving and punching as hard as she could. She used the momentum at her last left hook to scoot back before launching a double punch, one to the stomach and one to the head. Mercury's Aura shield sparkled up and shattered from the impact. He flew and landed on his back just as the buzzer sounded, ending the match. Mercury's Aura level was now at 0 while Yang still had just 22% left.
'Gotta thank them for all those lessons, otherwise, this match would've been much closer,' thought Yang as she raised her arms up in victory, her eyes turning back to lilac.
"What a way to kick off the finals!" announced Port.
"Yang Xiao Long wins!" declared Oobleck.
In the stands, all of Yang's friends were cheering for her victory.
As Yang wiped her brow with her arm, she addressed to Mercury, "Better luck next time."
She was starting to walk away from the hunched up Mercury that was 10 feet away when she heard him utter, "There's not going to be a next time, Blondie!"
Back in the stands, everyone was watching Yang walk past Mercury, only a few inches away. Then, Ren and Jaune both felt something wrong. Like an Aura sweeping over the stage, and targeting Yang only.
In Yang's eyes, Mercury leaped forward with a kick at her. Yang scowled as she turned around her brought her gauntlet forward, landing a punch right at his knee. She heard something break as she landed the hit.
In everybody else's view, Mercury was just getting up when Yang deliberately attacked him, landing a punch to his knee while he had no Aura to protect himself anymore. Everyone gasped in shock as Mercury fell back in pain.
"My word!" shouted Oobleck in surprise.
"Cut the cameras!" yelled Port to one of the cameraman.
Back at Mt. Glenn, Grimm could feel the negativity in the air. Something had happened that caused so much of it. They had gathered two days earlier when they felt the negativity in the air. And they were attracted to it. They all started to head towards Vale.
Yang was looking at Mercury, looking mad that Mercury had tried to do a sneak attack when she noticed Atlesian Knight-200 and two male soldiers surrounding her, their guns raised and ready to fire at her.
"Yang Xiao Long, stand down!" demanded a soldier.
Yang was completely bewildered. Why were they arresting her? She only acted in self-defense.
Meanwhile, Mercury was wailing hysterically, crying in pain as his leg seemed broken while Emerald was there, comforting him. Yang looked at a screen just to see a replay of her attacking a Mercury that was just standing there. Her eyes widened in surprise. She was sure Mercury had attacked her! So why did it show that she was deliberately attacking Mercury, who was doing nothing?
Two medics quickly came to the scene and looked at Mercury to see flesh and blood on his leg.
The paramedic glanced over to his coworker, "We need to get this boy to a hospital. Grab a blanket."
They put Mercury on a stretcher, who was still moaning in pain, before carrying him off, with Emerald right behind them. Yang watch in horror as he was rushed off. Everybody else was booing at Yang. Her friends were in disbelief at what Yang had done. Jaune and Ren, however, had their gazes locked at the leaving group. More specifically, at Emerald.
"You feel that?" whispered Jaune.
"Yea. Emerald is doing something to the paramedics, but I can't tell what. It feels... almost like the same signature that was on Yang too," replied Ren.
"Something's not adding up," muttered Jaune.
"Believe in your instincts," rumbled Lung Wang, "There seems to be more than what it seems."
"Especially since there is no scent of blood at all," added Fafnir, "With such an attack, there should be some blood. Yet there is none that you can smell of in the air. And yet the paramedics are taking him as if his injury is serious."
As the paramedics were running towards the air docks, another paramedic called out to them, telling them that an ambulance was ready. They loaded Mercury in, and Emerald told them that she was not leaving her partner's side. The transport flew away from the Colosseum, with Mercury lying in the back, still moaning in pain when Emerald smacked him in the arm.
"Ow! What's your deal!?" Asked Mercury as he stopped moaning to rub his arm. He had been faking the whole thing.
Emerald just groaned in pain as she put her hand on her forehead, "Ugh, headache. One mind I can handle, but two is a stretch."
She had been using it on the two paramedics to trick them into thinking Mercury was bleeding. In reality, Mercury was perfectly fine as he sat up, his right leg pants ripped off to reveal he had cybernetic leg prosthetics up all the way to his thighs. He had these limbs ever since he killed his own father, Marcus Black. His father had cut his legs off after an accident, stating it would cost too much to get him to a hospital before replacing it with cybernetic limbs. Mercury never really forgave his father after that, and trained to be able to use them as a weapon. He had to admit, they were stronger than his normal legs. One day, when Marcus was drunk, he killed him. It was right after that, he met with Emerald and Cinder.
"Well, you all performed marvelously, driver included," commented Cinder as she took off her paramedic disguise.
The driver blinked when her magenta eyes turned into their usual brown and pink shades and smiled in silent gratitude. Neo had also infiltrated to be the driver. They would be landing near one of their hideouts to drop them all off before Neo took the transport back to hospital they had 'borrowed' from.
"So, you think it worked?" asked Mercury.
The tournament was postponed after the incident, but the news network was eating it all up. Tourists from other cities were decrying Beacon's Headmaster and students, saying it was disgraceful.
Meanwhile, the local authorities near Vale were calling in any available Huntsmen to aid in the suppression of Grimm activity, as it had suddenly spiked. It had already been gathering after Jaune's fight, but now, it was skyrocketing.
"I'd say it worked," laughed Mercury as he was sitting in a storage house, fixing up his leg.
They had just taken the blonde bimbo and shattered her reputation. A pity, though. She was hot, and he had to admit, she had skills. If they weren't on different sides, he would've actually tried dating her.
"So, how was the bimbo's skill?" asked Emerald sarcastically, "Surely it wasn't that hard to play her."
Mercury thought about it, debating whether or not to tell her the truth. He decided it would annoy her if he did.
"She's got skill. Probably better than you."
Emerald huffed twisted the screwdriver on his leg, causing him to wince, "Too tight!"
"Enough. Our Mercury put on a wonderful show. He was quite brave," smiled Cinder.
Mercury went back to fixing his parts. Yang had really made a dent into them with that last attack, considering all that power that he had slammed into her came back at him.
"These things aren't exactly cheap, you know," complained Mercury. Emerald rolled her eyes to ignore him before asking what to do next.
"You and I will ensure that our next matchup goes just as smoothly," explained Cinder before turning to Mercury, "You get to lay low until the end. We wouldn't want people to see you on your feet and have this all be for naught, now would we?"
Mercury shrugged and continued repairing his leg. Get a day off to do nothing but relax and maybe order some food? Sounds good to him.
Beta Note: it's me TheMischieviousPuppyDog, Fun fact, the very first song Wolf in sheeps clothing is the song I first sent to Dragon through my first message about wanting to be his beta OuO, ever since then I been helping work on this incredible story and I'm glad I have been too! I hope to continue help make this story even more enjoyable :D and on a side note, for the song Sweet Victory, think of a remixed version of the song, with a female cast in it. Use your imagination! XD anyway, Puppy is signing off to help with the other chapters ahead, and I can assure you all, you are in for a huge season 3 final arc! )
Main Author Note:
As you can tell, my betareader has a general idea what I have planned out. No pming him for spoilers, you'll just have to wait. Hope you've enjoyed this chapter. It's going to get... interesting.
Random Review Answers!
Guest: You'll see why I did it within... 3-4 chapters i think.
ME: be easier if I could just pm you lol. Im mostly familiar with kh, rwby, one piece, and somewhat with Naruto, only cuz i had to do research on the universe. There are others, but those are the ones im best with.
