Chapter Five: Never Miss a Beat

Russel Thrush panted as he ran desperately for cover behind a large boulder. He heard the ting of metal as six blades sank into the rock he had hidden behind. A glance over to Sky revealed that he was similarly pinned, and both of the boys of Team CRDL looked on in disbelieving terror at their opponent.

Penny Polendina grinned and turned to her partner, a dark skinned girl in a blue uniform who tapped at her watch as a signal to hurry up. Using her hidden strings, Penny quickly yanked the boulders up into the air, the boys now hanging to them as they screamed in fear. Penny forcefully slammed the rocks down, eliminating the boys simultaneously as a double buzzer sounded.

Penny gave a respectful bow to her vanquished foes as Dr. Oobleck cried over the speakers, "And victory goes to Penny and Ciel of Atlas!"

The ginger girl grinned. "Thank you for a wonderful time!" she addressed the fallen forms before her, before she and Ciel both exited the arena and made their way to one of the exits.

"Penny!" came a cry from behind her, and Penny's smile widened as she turned to the sight of her best friend in the entire world.

"Ruby!" she cried happily, tackling her friend to the ground in a crushing hug.

"Why…" Ruby moaned beneath the heavier, metal girl.

As the reaper dusted herself off, Penny motioned to her companion. "Ruby, this is my teammate."

The mocha-skinned girl gave a polite bow. "Ciel Soleil," she introduced.

Ruby waved. "Hi, I'm Ru–"

Ciel cut her off with an analytical voice. "Ruby Rose. Fifteen. Hails from Patch. Leader of Team RWBY. Status: Questionable."

Unsure of how to respond, Ruby left Ciel to her deductions as she turned back to Penny. "You two were incredible out there! How do you keep control of all those swords? It's so cool!"

"Penny?" The girls turned to Ciel, who gestured to her watch again. "I believe it is best if we move on to our next location."

Penny looked at Ruby. "Can we just have a minute to talk?" she asked Ciel. Apparently deciding that it could fit their schedule, Ciel nodded and took a step back, clearly counting the mentioned minute down.

"So, is she… your friend or…?" Ruby asked once they were more private.

"Well, in a way," Penny replied. "She's like Blake, but if Blake was ordered to spend time with you?"

"Oh. So, Weiss."

"Precisely!"

Ruby spoke quieter as she asked, "Does she know about… y'know…" She moved robotically as she said, "Beep boop bop, does not compute?"

"Oh, no. General Ironwood doesn't really want anyone to know. There was an incident with a magnet, but I was able to play it off." Penny told Ruby quickly of the large sunhat she had purchased to disguise the magnet, and the two girls laughed. However, Penny turned serious again as she said, "Ruby, there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about." She leaned closer after a glance to Ciel. "I want to stay at Beacon."

Ruby frowned. "Penny, they'll never let you."

Penny frowned as well, but then smiled. "I know, but I have a plan."

"It's been precisely one minute, ma'am," Ciel said as she rejoined the conversation, motioning significantly to her watch.

"I'll talk to you more soon, Ruby," Penny said as she departed with a wave that Ruby mirrored.

Professor Port's announcing voice shook her from her wave. "Our next match will begin in 15 minutes!"

Suddenly remembering, Ruby jumped excitedly. "Oh, my gosh, that's right! It's time for–"

"Well, now it's our turn!" Yang said confidently as she stretched an arm across her chest to limber up.

"Just remember to keep proper form," Weiss reminded her pointedly, to which the brawler chuckled.

"Alright." Joking aside, she asked, "You're from Atlas. What could we expect?"

Weiss herself began to stretch as she said, "Well, seeing as their Kingdom, academy, and armed forces are all merged as one, I think we can expect strict, militant fighters with advanced technology and carefully rehearsed strategies."

Without warning, someone zipped behind them, startling them with the speed and snapping them from their strategizing. The blurred form zoomed around in front of them and slowed into the shape of a girl on girl sported a light blue tank top and a black miniskirt, as well as slight padding on her elbows and knees. Her hair was a mixture of pure red and magenta with a few blue highlights, as well as a faunus cat tail behind her that matched her natural hair color and a rainbow tattoo on her upper right forearm. In the corresponding hand, she clenched a small pair of gray nunchucks.

Their first opponent had come to a stop right next to their second, a dark-skinned young boy dressed in snazzy dress attire that was assembled messily around his person. A black vest over a white dress shirt matched his black pants striped in white, and an untied blue necktie hung limp around his neck. The tie matched a small band around his black fedora, and a pair of glasses obscured his eyes. His weapon was a bit more confusing, as he merely seemed to be holding a gray metal trumped with multi-colored switches.

Taking in their colorful and unexpected opponents, Weiss corrected herself to Yang, who was equally surprised. "Or… whatever they are."

"Hey!" Weiss blinked as a shout from the boy grabbed her attention. She glanced up to the boards and read his name as Flynt Coal, and his teammate's as Neon Katt. She looked to Flynt as he smiled and said. "You Weiss Schnee, right? The heiress."

"I am," Weiss said in proud acknowledgement.

"I take it you're pretty good with Dust, then?"

"I do my best," the snowy heiress replied with a shrug.

"Yeah, my dad was good too," Flynt continued. "Owned a little Dust shop of his own." His friendly expression suddenly dropped, and his glasses lowered slightly, allowing her a glimpse of his angry brown eyes as he finished, "'Til your father's company ran him out of business."

Weiss' smile dropped, as did her face. "Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

Flynt rolled his eyes. "Sure you are."

Yang, wishing to defend her friend, lifted an accusatory finger at Flynt and began, "Hey, why don't you–"

"'Hey, why don't you?'" came a high-pitched, very annoying imitation sarcastically. Yang looked to Neon, surprised. The Faunus girl bent over with a mocking smile, one hand on her hip, the other pointing at Yang. "That's what you sound like!"

"Uh…" Yang and Weiss were both taken off guard by this strange, bubbly girl.

"Hey, where'd you get your hair extensions?" Neon asked a flustered Yang.

"This is just my normal hair."

Neon winced. "Ooh, really?"

"Yeah," Yang said, annoyed now, "is that a prob–"

The Faunus girl cut her off again. "You should try rollerblading sometime! It's super fun!" The cat-tailed annoyance spun on her skates in demonstration as she added, "It'd probably take you a while though, since you're so… you know, top heavy."

Yang glanced down at herself, then looked back up at Neon, obviously annoyed and insulted as Weiss looked on in shock. "Excuse me?!"

Sensing the breakdown even from the stands, Ruby rolled her eyes in her seat next to Blake as the biome-selection holograms began to spin. "Oh, here we go." Around the two opposing teams, biomes rose up: the fiery area from Team RWBY's first match; desert terrain; a geyser field similar to those of the recent defeat of Team CFVY; and the Mountain Glenn lookalike.

Port began the countdown as the four students assumed fighting stances. "Three! Two! One!"

Yang and Weiss exchanged a confused look as Flynt drew in a huge breath and Neon readied herself on her skates. "Begin!" cried Port.

Flynt leaned forward and blew mightily on his trumpet, a long, vibrating note that generated a large sound wave towards the two girls, knocking them off balance as Neon dashed forward. Weiss summoned up a glyph to keep herself in place against the onslaught, but Neon went after Yang, the sound propelling her quickly forward on her skates as she struck her backwards on the way by, quickly zooming away as Yang scrambled back to her feet.

Flynt flicked his hat stylishly as he faced down Weiss, now one on one. The blew another long note on his instrument that once again threatened to send Weiss flying back, but the heiress created a black gravity glyph that flung her forward until the wave stopped her. Another glyph helped her against the sound's effect, keeping her standing in place. She summoned a stronger one as she began to step forward. It was like trying to walk into a hurricane gale.

Flynt suddenly stopped, and Weiss' powerful glyph launched her forward to her surprise. She dashed past the suave young trumpeter, and he kicked her down on the way by, sending her into a fire crystal in the volcano biome. Flynt grinned at Weiss' fallen form as he prepared to advance, fiery fountains of lava erupting all around them.

In the desolate city, meanwhile, Neon chipperly skated along, pursued by a still-incensed Yang, who launched blasts from Ember Celica left and right. Neon deftly dodged every charge, leaping up to grind along a railing on her skates as she taunted Yang by sticking her tongue out. Grimacing, Yang resumed fire as Neon skated away in the distance, nimbly evading the shots as she zipped through the ruined buildings. Softly, the Faunus girl muttered to herself, "Never miss a beat, never miss a beat!" as she skated, keeping a step ahead of the relentless energy of Yang.

Neon suddenly rushed in on her wheels, attacking Yang quicker than the typical enemy thanks to her skates. The girl was everywhere: above, below, behind, to the side, raining down blows with the small nunchucks in her hands. Yang groaned as the barrage suddenly stopped, popping spent cartridges free of her gauntlets as she eyed Neon furiously from several yards away.

Neon's happy smile never changed as she cracked her nunchucks, the weapons suddenly glowing blue in her hands, and she raced forward again. Yang punched high, but Neon ducked low, sweeping her weapons along Yang's leg. Feeling a sudden cold, Yang looked down to see her leg encased in ice. Realizing that there was Dust in her opponent's weapon, Yang turned to scowl over at Neon as the skater snickered.

With a giggle, Neon slapped her own rear and mocked, "Look! Now you're bottom heavy too!"

Yang's face showed murder as she stomped her leg free, the ice exploding outward from the force. Neon came in behind her again before she could react, this time leaving one of her arms encased in the cold ice. Neon dashed away on the skates, gaining momentum, before she came rushing right back with a kick that sent Yang back into a wall. The brawler stayed on her feet, though the wall behind her cracked a bit from the impact, as she gazed up at Neon with fury.

"You need to cool off!" Neon grinned at her evilly. "Get it? Because you're angry."

Yang's face was a mask
of infuriated frustration as she smashed her arm into the wall behind her, shattering it completely along with the ice around her arm.

In the fire biome, Weiss had regained her feet and raised Myrtenaster at Flynt in challenge. She quickly whirled around, summoning up four glyphs above her head, then motioned forward to launch several spikes of ice from them at her musical foe.

Flynt looked at a rumbling volcano before him and smirked. He went to his knees and blew the trumpet, directing the flames at the frozen spikes, melting them before they could ever reach him. He twirled his trumpet in his hand and grinned slyly at her as he jabbed, "Too bad all that money can't buy you skill."

Indignant, Weiss twirled her Dust chamber to a stop, launching a wind attack at him right as he blew his note. The sound wave offset her own attack, leaving them evenly matched. In response, Weiss flicked a finger to her right, and around Flynt, a wide circle of glyphs suddenly appeared. Suddenly, the wind was gone, and Flynt felt himself being hit from all sides as Weiss Schnee glided through the air, ricocheting off of the glyphs and striking him from all sides, each hit dropping his Aura just a little bit further.

Undeterred, Flynt resumed his playing, and suddenly, at his side appeared three identical clones, each with their own trumpet and a different colored hat. Outmatched by the combined attack, Weiss was thrown to the side as Flynt smugly smirked.

The audience had been just as surprised as Weiss. From his seat by Ren, Jaune breathed an awed "Woah" at the attack, while Port cried from the announcing box, "What's this?"

Oobleck explained. "It appears young Flynt has activated his Semblance, and quite a remarkable one at that! Ladies and gentlemen, feast your eyes on Flynt Coal's Killer Quartet!"

Flynt and his doppelgangers grinned and flipped their hats to the crowd, who were all excited by this new development. He glanced up to the leaderboard and took in the welcome sight of both Weiss and Yang's Auras being down to half their original amount. Neon must really be giving the blonde chick a workover. Reabsorbing his clones with a dashing smile, Flynt once again strolled forward to Weiss, who was dizzily trying to rise.

Neon giggled back towards Yang, whose eyes had begin to flash crimson with her temper.

"Ooh, flashy eyes!" The other girl smirked as she skated around. "You know, you're actually kinda pretty when you're angry!"

With an effort, Yang shook her head, her eyes reverting to their normal color of lilac as she dashed forward in a desperate effort to silence Neon's obnoxious chatter. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

Weiss, on hands and knees, reached for Myrtenaster, but Flynt's foot came down onto the weapon as he smiled triumphantly over her. They both turned to the other two girls, where Yang angrily shouted, "Get back here!" as Neon skated circles around her.

"I wasn't trying to say that you should go on a diet, I was saying you really need to go on a diet!" Neon explained as she continued to tease the golden-haired brawler.

"That's it!" Yang cried, preparing to lash out once more.

Neon grinned at her. "You're fat!" she jabbed.

Flynt, grinning at the sight, turned to give his full attention to Yang as he activated his Semblance. However, a shove from behind sent the four musicians tumbling forward into an erupting geyser of lava as Weiss Schnee gave a mighty push to the boy and his quartet, letting the fire engulf them both. A buzzer sounded, and Yang turned in surprise at the sound. "What?"

In the stands, Ruby and Blake both cried, "Weiss!"

"It appears we have a double knockout on our hands!" Port cried.

"In fact, it looks as though Miss Schnee's Aura has been completely depleted!" Oobleck agreed. "She sacrificed herself to take out Flynt!" Seeing movement out on the arena, he paused. "Wait a minute, what's this?!"

The prone form of Weiss Schnee was covered in soot as she lay, unmoving off to the side. However, the sight that had caught the doctor's eye was that of Flynt Coal, staggering but standing as the smoke cleared. His Aura remained just barely over the line, but he was still in the match, even as Weiss' face was crossed out.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Flynt Coal remains standing!" Port announced excitedly to the fans, who cheered in response.

Flynt grimaced from the surprise attack, but his pace was even as he strode over to the remaining combatants. Neon zipped excitedly around him, crying, "You did it Flynt! Don't worry about her, she's easy!" In a loud whisper, she added, "But kind of annoying."

Unable to contain the building rage any longer, Yang's eyes narrowed and her hands clenched at her sides into tight fists. The lava arena behind her began to rumble as Port declared, "Ooh, looks like Yang's angry! And you wouldn't like her when she's…" Yang screamed in rage, her hair glowing brightly as her eyes sparkled red. "Upset," Port finished as the volcanoes erupted behind Yang, the environment giving voice to her pent up fury.

Yang launched a barrage of shots at her foes, which they sidestepped in tandem. "Yo, Neon, go!" Flynt yelled to the skater, then blew his trumpet to launch her forward. Yang improvised, using Ember Celica to shoot herself forward and work against the sound waves, meeting Neon head on in a quick and vicious exchange of fists and blows. Yang launched herself clear, unable to land a good hit, and switched tactics, launching blasts at Neon from afar that exploded the ground beneath her, causing the rollerblader to stumble and pause for the first time of the fight as she fought to avoid the uneven terrain. Still being propelled by the sound wave, Yang shot straight for Flynt, causing him to redirect his attack as he dodged. Now free in the air, she dedicated all of her energy towards Neon, eventually forcing the girl to leap clear. However, Neon was still stumbling as she landed on the rocky terrain of the geyser field, far more uneven than any surface she had been on thus far.

Yang dropped into a roll and charged Flynt, leaping high as he once again split into four, the trumpet blast working against her body. Yang held fast, propelling herself forward yard by yard until her hands closed around the mouth of the head Flynt's trumpet and she fired a shot. Her blast rebounded Flynt's attack back onto him, and he instantly fell back as the buzzer sounded and he was finally taken out for good. "Oh, sour note for Flynt!" Oobleck remarked as Yang turned to Neon, who remained off balance in the geyser field.

Desperately trying to regain her balance, Neon wobbled, repeating her chant of "Never miss a beat, never miss a beat, never miss a–" until an uneven outcropping of rock caught her wheel and exploited the weakness of the rollerskates. "Beat?" she finished with a frantic cry as she rolled down into an awaiting geyser, which launched her into the air. With a satisfied smirk, Yang fired her gauntlets at the screaming girl. The charge exploded into Neon and the buzzer sounded as Yang pumped a fist in victory.

Yang's breathing gradually returned to normal, and her eyes blinked back to lilac purple as she remembered about her teammate. "Weiss!" she shouted, rushing to her dirty teammate's side. "Weiss, are you okay?" she demanded in concern as she lifted the heiress up into a sitting position.

Weiss coughed into her hand, and her voice was weak and scratchy as she replied, "I may not be singing for a while."

Yang's concern gradually melted, and a playful smile spread on her face. "You know, I'm not sure that was proper form," she jokingly teased the heiress.

"Oh, ha, ha," Weiss replied dryly, before she fell into another fit of coughing.

"Whaaaaaat?!" shouted a shrill voice from behind them, and Weiss and Yang looked to see Neon staring at them palely, Flynt slowly rising behind her. "We lost? We lost? Team FNKI lost?" Neon cried, pronouncing her team name 'funky.' "That was… that was… amazing!" she suddenly cried. "Oh my gosh, you guys were super, crazy awesome, we should definitely party together sometime! Right Flynt?" the spastic girl asked, turning to her friend.

Ignoring Neon's suggestion, Flynt stared intently at Weiss' ash-covered form. "That was a gutsy move, Schnee." He paused, a miniscule smirk on his face as he continued, "I dig it."

Accepting the gracious losers, Weiss and Yang smiled and turned to see Ruby and Blake both rush out onto the arena. They knelt by the heiress' side, congratulations and concern both emanating from the two.

"Good job, you two," Blake said.

"Yeah!" Ruby agreed. Little more was spoken at the moment as the team waited for someone to bring out a stretcher for their slightly injured and weak teammate. Weiss would be fine, but the sacrifice had taken a huge hit, dropping her Aura levels to zero. If she had been any weaker, she could have been seriously hurt. Grateful that she was okay and that they had advanced to the finals round, Team RWBY smiled at each other, sure that nothing would be able to stop them from here on out.

That evening, Emerald was playing on her Scroll on the floor in Cinder's room. To her side, Mercury was similarly on the floor, instead doing pushups, and on the bed sat Cinder, who fiddled with her own Scroll, overseeing any new developments for the implementation of the plan.

Suddenly, she came upon an interesting file within General Ironwood's personal information database, and she couldn't help it as a surprised "Oh!" escaped her lips.

"What?" asked Emerald, looking to Mercury. A smile from Cinder could mean a myriad of different things.

"Oh, nothing," Cinder said dismissively. We're just going to be making a slight, hmm… alteration, in the plan." Cinder smiled down at her screen, upon which was a set of blueprints. The blueprints seemed to display the schematics for some sort of android, a girl by the appearance of the hair and bow. In the top corner of the screen, a series of letters titled the page: P.E.N.N.Y.

Pausing mid-pushup at her statement, Mercury met Emeralds gaze. "What does that mean?" He resumed his exercise.

Cinder smiled even wider. "It means that this will be even easier than we thought."

The doors slid open with a quiet whoosh, and Qrow's brusque voice behind him stirred him from his contemplation. "You know, he's making you look like a fool."

Ozpin gazed intently over the streets of Vale below Beacon "His heart is in the right place. He's just… misguided."

Qrow disagreed, taking a sip of an unspecified drink. "Sometimes, I'm not even sure he has a heart." Qrow shifted his balance before he asked, "So, have you chosen your guardian?"

Ozpin swiveled in his chair, relieved to see that, for once, Qrow appeared to have a simple coffee rather than some alcoholic drink. However, knowing Qrow, there was probably more than coffee in the cup. Focusing on Qrow's question, Ozpin replied, "Maidens choose themselves. I simply believe I've found right candidate.

Below, in the lobby of the CCT Tower, a lone redhead strode with a confident smile to the elevator, having been summoned by the headmaster. "Ever since the day I met her, I had the feeling she would be the one. She's strong, intelligent, caring…" Ozpin paused as Pyrrha Nikos pressed the button to the elevator and the door closed behind her. "But most importantly, she's ready."