September 9th

Beacon Academy

City of Vale

Vale

Downtown

7:31 PM

"Hey there, firecracker," Qrow said, leaning against the door, his arms crossed and a faint smile on his face with Emmett Schnee and Emmeline Ciel next to him.

Emmett rolled his eyes when she didn't respond and instead opted to watch Team IGDG, Team SAML, Team JNPR, and the rest of Team RWBY, outside.

"Yang?" Emmeline said, gently pushing her to speak.

Yang didn't respond to any of them, even when the three of them came into the room. She barely noticed, out of the corner of her eye, as Qrow leaned against the wall and Ciel sat down on the edge of the small sofa with Emmett standing behind her, a hand on her shoulder.

"So you're just going to sit here and mope?" Emmett finally pressed, almost disdainfully. "You know, Cate was really upset about you refusing to speak to her after she fought with her father on your behalf."

"Maybe I don't want to see anyone because I'm disgraced," Yang said, unsurprised by them and not turning around. "But hey, Emmett, Emmeline, Qrow."

Qrow snorted as if he found her response amusing before sighing and looking at her seriously. "So, why'd you do it?"

Finally turning around, Yang closed her eyes briefly before responding. "You know why."

"All I know is that you attacked a helpless kid," Qrow told her, uncrossing his arms and narrowing his eyes as he looked at her. "So either you're lying or you're crazy."

Emmett elbowed Qrow hard in the chest as the younger man smirked. "Shut up, Qrow," He told him. "You know she didn't do it."

"Do I?" Qrow asked him, his smirk retained.

Yang stared at her uncle in shock that quickly turned to resolve as she defended herself. "I'm not lying!"

Letting out a noise of disappointment, Qrow casually walked into the center of the room with his hands in his pockets. "Crazy, got it."

"Who knows?" Yang said, looking at Emmeline with almost pleading eyes for the general to come to her defense. "Maybe I am."

Shaking his head while continuing to pace, Qrow sighed. "And I thought your dark-haired friend was the emo one…"

Unsure of how to approach the subject, and also unsure of how much he knew, Yang looked to all of them, but more so Qrow, watching him when he stopped upon her words.

"I saw my mom," She forced out. "I...I was in a lot of trouble. Took a pretty hard hit...but when I came to, the person attacking me was gone and I thought I was seeing things until she dissipated her creepy, shifting red portal and addressed me. We...we...stared at each other for several minutes and I...I recognized her as my mom because...because of her sword, like the one in you and dad's old picture."

Laughing, Qrow nodded and smiled sadly. "You're not crazy, Yang. That was your mom, all right. Let me guess: she didn't say a word, did she?"

Yang shook her head as he walked towards her between the bunk beds. "No. We...talked and that...that...did Ruby tell you who told her -"

"You told her that she was my daughter before Tai and Eliza did," Qrow said, leaning against the bunk beds heavily. "I was wondering where you learned about that...although Raven is the last person I expected despite it not being surprising. You've seen her since then, haven't you?"

"How did you know that?" Yang asked him in surprise at the last.

"I don't see my sister very often," Qrow admitted and Emmett and Emmeline glared at him, being able to say the same for the first but not for what he followed that with. "But she does try to keep in touch… whenever it suits her."

"I don't see mine very often either," Emmett said, glaring at him still. "Well, at least your estranged sister doesn't show up just because she wants to kill someone in your family."

"You have it worse," Qrow conceded, knowing that for all her faults and not being above killing that Raven wouldn't touch her family. "At least my sister didn't kill my fiancée. So that's another sin on the hearts of the Schnee family."

"You can't blame us for that," Emmeline snapped, startling the red-eyed man. "That's completely –"

"Sure," Qrow said dryly. "Well, regardless, at least she didn't account for the fact that Atlas has ways of getting everyone to give up what information they know. In front of the Atlesian Council, lock up the knives and babies so that you don't -"

"You don't even understand the Atlesian Council -" Emmeline exclaimed in irritation though Qrow quickly countered with an evil grin.

"Sorry," He said, taking a long draught from his flask. "But that's coming from people who are used to getting their way in everything in life."

Emmett rolled his eyes. "See, here's the thing, Qrow, you have a sister who practically owns part of Mistral. I have a sister that is half a maiden and is trying to bring about the fall of Beacon Academy. So neither of us win! Yay!"

"Wait…" Yang said, drawing them back to Qrow's comment about staying in touch with Raven and trying not to dwell on what she believed to be the white-haired swordsman's dark joke. "You mean you talk to her? That was real? It wasn't a joke that you and she talk, I mean?"

"Yeah," Qrow said, almost irritably as he thought to the way his sister had corned him in a small, shady pub in Vacuo a few weeks back. "She had a tip from my most recent assignment and wanted me to give you a message that she claims she already gave you...and she concluded that cryptically with 'among other things I discussed with my daughter.'"

Anger almost seemed to take over Yang's face though her tone was more shocked. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Sighing, Qrow went over to the window though he didn't look at her while Emmett and Emmeline did, searching for any sign of what else Raven might have told the girl.

"I was trying to wait for the right time, and this sure ain't it...but I guess you deserve to know." Finally looking at her, his gaze was solemn. "She wanted me to tell you that she saved you once, but you shouldn't expect that kindness again. Raven's got an...interesting way of looking at the world that I don't particularly...agree with. And she's dangerous." A smirk over took his face again, much to his niece's visible relief. "But you're a tough egg, kiddo. Shouldn't let this tournament thing get'cha down. You had a slip up, sometimes bad things just happen. I say it's time you move on."

"Don't you want to know what else she told me?" Yang asked, her lilac eyes wide and her voice quiet as she looked to all of them but, this time, it was focused on Emmett and Emmeline. "She said, and I quote: 'Listen to me Yang, Ozpin will fail and Beacon will fall.' She then...she asked me to join her tribe."

"Raven confirmed what I saw?" Emmett looked at her in disbelief before pulling out his scroll. "Damn it, I don't care that it's Raven Branwen, she's not stupid and if she has even the slightest psychic abilities then I think we should all be worried about her."

"No kidding," Qrow remarked bitterly, knowing that she had had gotten things right before. "But I seriously doubt...no, Beacon ain't going to fall, not while Ozpin's headmaster. Anyone else, or more specifically anyone that's not in our little group, sure. But us, nah."

"And that's you being too much of an optimist," Emmett told him, his voice slow and deadly serious while he glanced back at his messages. "My sister believes there's reason for concern, too, considering all that's happened the last few weeks."

"Ugh," Qrow said, leaning against the dresser under the window with almost his full weight. "Fuck it. That's all of us except for me and Oz, Emmett. I mean, Em, Cristal, Glynda, James, and Eliza have never had a reason to doubt your visions -"

"And you shouldn't either," Emmett countered, shaking slightly. "Because I did everything in my power to convince Oz not to let Summer go on the mission that –"

"You knew about that and you didn't tell me?" Qrow shouted. "You really didn't think I had the –"

"I know!" Emmett shouted back. "Okay, I know! But that doesn't fucking change anything! If I had told you, it would have made you even more paranoid about your semblance, wouldn't it? Or you wouldn't have listened! So tell me, Qrow, would it have really helped?"

Qrow groaned, knowing he was right. "No, but I still had a right to know!"

"It was years ago!" Emmeline reminded him in exasperation. "And you are seriously just the one that told your niece that she needs to move her little self on, so why don't you -"

Yang stared up to Qrow. "Move on to what?"

Contenting himself with a half angry glare to Emmett, Qrow turned his focus back to her. "Well...Raven let some info slip before she took off. If you ever want to track her down, I think I might be able to help."

Though not still seriously considering the offer, Yang looked at him eagerly with her full attention, hoping he could clarify everything they had been saying and praying there was more than paranoia underfoot.

September 11th

Beacon CCTS Tower

Beacon Academy

City Of Vale

Vale

Downtown

6:19 PM

"Don't you see?" Emmett said, trying to keep himself calm while Ozpin sighed. "I'm not the only one, and if Raven fucking Branwen is telling her daughter, a girl she abandoned, that Beacon is going to fall then the chances are -"

"Schnee's right," Qrow said, leaning against the wall and drinking from his flask. "My sister's dangerous, but she's confirming something he said."

"And what will Beacon fall to, Emmett?" Ozpin asked, trying to be rational. "Certainly not grimm, it's a huntsman academy and I'm sure we all could easily take any grimm that attempted an attack. Might I ask if this is an attempt to hunt down and kill your sister?"

"Believe me," Emmett muttered irritably. "If I could have killed her a long time ago, I would have."

"And denied me the pleasure?" Elizabeth asked with her arms crossed. "Fuck you."

"Sorry," Emmett said, turning to look at her while he tightened his arm around Emmeline. "I'm happily married and not going to have sex with you though I'm sure Tai does love doing so."

Elizabeth turned pink while Qrow laughed before stopping when he realized they agreed on something. "Sorry, Eliza," He said gruffly, turning to Emmett. "That's not fair, Schnee!"

"Thank you, Qrow," Elizabeth said, crossing her arms with a heavy sigh and a glare to Emmett. "And you shouldn't find that amusing!"

"So you're not angry with me?" Emmett asked, almost as if he were a child that drawn all over the walls and their parents had told them that were disappointed rather than angry.

"I'm not," Emmeline said, squeezing his hand in an attempt to comfort him.

After all this time, she knew how draining his visions could be on him and it worried her with each one. Over the years, they had become more scarce than they had been when the kids were younger but that didn't mean they were gone. She knew without even pressing that he felt almost numb, and she knew he was distracted. She, as she often was, was right. He was zoning out to Elizabeth's response while the rest of the group engaged itself in a heated debate. As she would know later, Emmett had been drawn back to his childhood but, more specifically, the reading of The Last Will and Testament of Nicholas Jasper Schnee, his father.

"Emmett…" Ashlynn hissed as the boy pulled his elbow length white waves back into a high bun. "I know father wouldn't have approved. He was always nagging at you to cut your hair."

Shrugging, Emmett looked to her as they entered the small room in the Schnee manor after having left the expansive hall in which the closed casket that contained their father had been front and center at the end of it before the burial.

"You're uniquely horrible," Willow muttered, not to Emmett, but to Ashlynn.

She shared a look with Cristal that suggested their sister really was off of her rocker. Cristal briefly glanced towards the doorway when Jacques stepped into the room with the five-year-old Winter, who excitedly ran over to Emmett and started babbling excitedly at him. Jacques and Willow said nothing, for the moment, and he took her hand in an unusual display of outward affection.

"Is everyone here?" Nicholas's personal lawyer asked and they glanced around before Ashlynn angrily told him no, that they were waiting for her husband.

It was clear Ashlynn didn't care about a damn thing in that moment, not even her husband. All she cared about was the fortune. They were right to think that. Leaning against the bookcase, she found her thoughts wandering to how much of her father's fortune she was going to receive as well as what else he might have left to her name. Willow had restrained her daughter, who was now speaking quietly to her parents, still not sure of what was going on, and Cristal kept fidgeting, having been made nervous by the whole affair. Emmett, in contrast, was perched on the higher arm of the chaise lounge and had crossed his legs at his knees. His sword was in his hands and he was looking over it before he let his hair down and twisted it together. Raising his sword, Emmett slowly began to whittle away his hair and it was just a little over a minute past the time he started that his hair was shoulder length and the other foot of it laid on the floor. Ashlynn gaped at him in shock and horror, but even more so when he simply reattached his sword to his side and picked up his discarded hair, tossing it into and filling up the small rubbish bin on the other side of the room.

"Emmett!" Ashlynn snapped. "What in the hell -"

"Do watch your language around your niece," Jacques told her, with a contempt-filled scowl. "And I cannot say I am a fan of it either."

"What does 'fuck' mean?" The five year old asked innocently and Emmett smirked, meeting her fist with his though the others stared in shock. "I just -"

"Later," Emmett told her.

"You are not teaching your niece how to swear," Willow sent him a dark look. "She's five years old, you know."

Emmett chuckled. "I suppose that's fair."

"Ashlynn," Harley Schnee stepped haughtily into the room, glaring at his wife as he did so. Ashlynn matched his scowl. He had taken her name when they had married, on her insistence, and she was never more grateful for it. "And the rest of them. What a sordid affair."

The lawyer sighed, adjusting his glasses and beginning to read the will. No one protested, and, it, appeared, this was the entire family.

"The Last Will and Testament of Nicholas Jasper Schnee," He said calmly. "My dear family: I am sure you have been waiting for this day for a long time. So have I. Thus, to my first son-in-law, Jacques Louis Gelè-Schnee, I leave my entire business empire, passing ownership and all control onto him."

"No!" Harley and Ashlynn screamed simultaneously, glaring at each other when they realized what they had done. "Just no!"

The lawyer went on after their protests abated. "To my eldest daughter, Ashlynn Cinder Schnee, I leave eighty million lien – four sevenths of my personal fortune. I also leave her all of the family jewels and the summer home in the southern part of the Republic of Mistral."

"Yes…" Ashlynn murmured, drinking still. "That's lovely news...I mean, it's a tragedy I lost my father but at least he had a heart."

"Get on with it," Harley snapped. "What about -"

"To my other son-in-law, Harley Johnson-Schnee," He said sharply. "I leave a seventh of my personal fortune, and the deeds of the Schnee Manor will be transferred into his name; however, this is contingent upon him winning an arm wrestling contest with Jacques. If Jacques wins, the deeds of the Schnee Manor will be transferred into my second eldest daughter's name, Willow Schnee."

Jacques and Harley stared each other down mutinously and they prepared themselves for something Jacques would later describe as horribly embarrassing. It took far longer than anyone had wanted, but Jacques slammed Harley's arm down on the table with a smirk.

"My daughter, Willow Schnee, also receives a seventh of my personal fortune, on top of the deeds for the manor with Jacques having defeated Harley," With Harley speechless, the lawyer reread the next part twice. "I leave another seventh of my fortune to my son, Emmett Arthur Schnee. As for my youngest daughter, Cristal Annabelle Schnee, I leave the last seventh of my personal fortune."

"That's impossible!" Harley roared. "She's probably not even his child –"

"That's rich," Willow snorted. "Chrissy's as much as a Schnee as Emmett or me –"

"Then why doesn't she have white hair?" He rolled his eyes and clamped down angrily on a cigar. "Ash might dye her hair, but she's always been like Nick. There's no way in hell she ain't his kid, but Cristal? She's a fucking –"

"I'm afraid you are sorely mistaken," Jacques smoothly cut across him, coming to Cristal's defense, much to her surprise. "But there is no doubt and your treatment of her is despicable, regardless of how she may act on occasion. We are the Schnees, we're practically royalty," Jacques sent him a disapproving look. "All except for you, at any rate."

That was, as Emmett would admit over a decade later, the one time he had honestly liked Jacques and seen a shred of good in him.

September 28th

Beacon Academy

City of Vale

Vale

Downtown

11:29 PM

Ivy Ironwood burst into tears and curled into herself, feeling almost as awful as she had that morning. Barely twenty years old, and she was going to have to choose between her family and her lover. That was amplified, knowing now that she was going to be a mother. The thought terrified her. Her teammates were still out, but they would be back soon enough. She had no idea who to turn to. She wasn't ready to go to Adam and tell him about their child, but she couldn't bear the thought of telling her brother – who had spent most of the summer enjoying himself and playing video games without a care in the world – back home in Atlas, back in school and being watched by their uncle Trey Goodwitch for the next few weeks until the rest of them returned at the end of Beacon's term. Cate hadn't gone back yet; her classes had been delayed until the end of October because most of her professors held semi-important to important roles in the Atlesian government.

And Ivy felt like a liar, a sinner, and a runaway that knew not what she could possibly do.

She had shoplifted the damn test, not wanting to run the risk of there being a record or questions from her parents about that particular charge on her credit card. This was not something she could hide from them forever, but she was going to hide for now. She already loved her baby, but she was terrified for it. The kid was going to have a father that would be occasionally absentee at best and constantly in trouble with the law while they would have a mother that was the opposite of the rest of her family. A mother that, she feared, would be in pain for the rest of her life as a huntress disgraced by herself. She didn't know what her family would think, and she was scared to know. Would they hate her, or would they be upset and understand?

She could almost hear her sister's angered accusations. Cate had always seen the world two-dimensionally, and she knew her sister held a deep resentment of terrorists and the people that associated themselves with them. She knew it was because she was jaded by the knowledge that their father had almost been killed – it had been before they were born, but it had been after their parents had married – by separatists that attacked an Atlesian ship in the south Menagerie sea back in late 2000. Ivy understood her sister's anger, and she even respected it. What she did not understand was how her sister couldn't see that some of the members of the White Fang were simply misguided. They were casualties in the system that her sister was more than willing to work and, by her own words, uphold. She had always said maintaining accountability was why she wanted to become a criminal prosecutor.

To Ivy, her sister was the kind of person that would jail people like Adam, who, while not fully innocent, were misguided.

Her sister's harsh words, something she had repeated from Karissa, came back to Ivy more painfully than ever. The statement that those people were not misguided, that they were nothing more than terrorists. She didn't see what they were struggling against, and Ivy believed she was without mercy and without empathy. Ivy hated that her sister wanted to take up the work Cristal had become so skilled at over the years; though she didn't hate her godmother, she had become angry with her in recent months for her work. Cristal believed she upheld and preserved justice, but Ivy believed that she upheld the system that made people like Adam hate them. Adam had opened her eyes, of that she was sure, and she vowed, in that moment, to raise their child with open eyes. Not eyes as closed as her –

"Yo, Ivy?" Genevieve Sieben called, rapping her knuckles against the door from the outside. "I need to take a piss and I need to now before my bladder fucking explodes."

"Give me a minute," She called back.

Ivy quickly buried the test at the bottom of the trashcan, and covered it with papers and empty waters before she tiredly opened the door and let Genevieve in, who winked and shut the door behind herself with far more excitement than Ivy thought anyone should have over relieving themselves.

"You look a mess," Devin casually jibed when she collapsed into her bed and curled into herself. "I'm assuming it's the tournament."

"It's so much more than that," Ivy mumbled. "So much more than I could ever say."

Grace Wile raised an eyebrow. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know, not anymore," Ivy said, pulling the covers tightly over herself. "Maybe I'll feel better in the morning."

The sad irony was that, if anything, she only felt worse than she had before.

October 3rd

Amity Colosseum

8:32 PM

"Ruby…" Elizabeth said, one hand on her gun as they walked. "I really am not in the mood to watch another fight. It's been long enough, sure, but after what happened with Yang I just...you know Tai and Violet went back to Patch, right? Because of what happened, Rubes. He would have let her go back to school late in November but…no, I'm not going to lie to you and say that things are fine because the truth is they aren't. It's dangerous here, or at least it's becoming dangerous here, and that's why Tai and Violet left. I'm staying because I have to, but -"

"Mom…" Ruby began, clutching her free hand. "Come on, it's just one fight! Please? For me?"

Staring at the girl's round silver eyes, Elizabeth let out an irritated noise of disapproval. "Okay, for one, it's not fair for you to pull those eyes on me because you know that I can't say no to them. You know that, Ruby and...ugh...fine! I give up! You win!"

Smiling widely as Ruby dragged her down towards an open seat with her adoptive step mother in hand, she too couldn't help but cheer though she wished just as much as Elizabeth and James that Yang didn't have to have been disqualified. So it spite of everything, she took in the large crowd before her eyes widened in shock upon seeing another girl on the other side of the arena. Green hair and narrowed eyes, Emerald was looking at her although her gaze quickly traveled to Elizabeth in the same anger and contempt that it had had for her. Shock spreading through her, Ruby gulped in fear before Elizabeth turned to look at her and placed her hands on the girl's shoulders, trying to figure out what was wrong.

"Ruby…" Elizabeth began slowly. "Did you see something?"

Slowly, the girl nodded. "I think...Emerald...but then why is she...why is she here?"

Recognizing the name of one of Mercury Black's teammates, Elizabeth stiffened as she looked towards where Ruby had been. Sure enough, the girl with the minty hair leaned forward to glare at both of them before she watched the goth and the chair of the Atlesian National Security Council run off after her - both with immensely worried expressions. Reaching an exit tunnel, Ruby checked to see if no one except for her and Elizabeth were around while, carefully, they ducked through a door with a yellow sign declaring it to be for maintenance. Finding themselves on the inside of the Amity Colosseum, Elizabeth tried to recall the maps of the layout though she was struggling as she followed Ruby's determined stride and they both listened to the slightly muffled voices of the announcers through the heavy, brick walls.

"...All right!" Oobleck declared. "...It's now time to begin the randomization process for our next fight now that our several delays have passed!"

"No kidding," Elizabeth muttered, faintly hearing the sound of the roulette while Ruby stopped short once again at the sight of yet another one of her unexpected friends as he stepped out of one of the nearby tunnels, completely unharmed and evidently not going on.

"Mercury?" Ruby asked, squinting as if she was confirming his identity while Elizabeth placed a hand protectively on her shoulder.

"Ruby," She started nervously. "Let's -"

Port was faintly heard from above and Elizabeth almost felt as if her heart was going to stop in fear of his words. "It looks like our first contender is… Penny Polendina from Atlas…"

Ruby's attention shifted as she spoke though Elizabeth's did not. "What are you doing?"

Port continued, and the recognition of her opponent made Elizabeth feel ill. "And her opponent will be… Pyrrha Nikos from Beacon."

"No…" Ruby murmured, her head dipping as she thought and the horrific truth of what could happen to Penny came to her.

"Ooh…" Mercury began, tapping his chin as he looked at her before turning to Elizabeth. "Polarity versus metal. That could be bad. Wouldn't you agree, Madame Morell?"

"How in the hell are you even aware of that?" Elizabeth demanded, both of her hands on her gun. "I know for a fact that that is one of the most highly classified pieces of information in -"

"Ah, but you see," Mercury said as he leaned against the wall. "Lysithea Ciel was right about Cecily not being who she says she is -"

"I know that!" Elizabeth snapped moving towards him so they were standing eye to eye. "And I know that because she's my assailant -"

"Yes," Mercury confirmed. "And believe me, she didn't think you were -"

Oobleck continued though Elizabeth focused now on Mercury's words. "...Fighters, are you ready?"

A harsh, angry slap pushed across his face and he looked up at her in shock before turning to Ruby who was glaring at him. As she reached back to take Crescent Rose into her hands, she remembered in slight fear that she didn't have her HCSS on her and her opponent began to grin maliciously, setting himself into a fighting stance. From above them, they could hear the center of the arena lifting into the air for the second time and, from her scroll, Elizabeth could see that Penny, still oblivious to the danger of the situation, was grinning wildly. Looking from her adoptive step daughter to Mercury, Elizabeth quickly fired a warning shot in his direction to escape up to the arena in an attempt to stop the fight. Tearing her way up the stairs and through the crowds, Elizabeth saw James and Emmeline notice her and begin to follow her. She stopped when they caught up.

"Are you -" He started quickly.

"No, James, I'm not," Elizabeth snapped, pointing down to the fight below. "This fight, it's too dangerous! Pyrrha Nikos…her semblance is polarity! If she used it at all, it could destroy Penny in an instant and that girl had no choice in her creation! Android or not, I have to protect her!"

"I agree," Emmeline said as they began to head up towards the box where Port and Oobleck were. "This was unethical to begin with, but it will be worse if we don't take responsibility."

"No," Elizabeth said, her hands shaking. "You aren't taking responsibility for this. I am."

James stared at her in shock. "Eliza, that could destroy everything that you've -"

"I've spent years trying to right my wrongs!" Elizabeth reminded him, tears in her eyes. "I'll be damned before I let this happen, even if it destroys my career!"

Forcing her way into the box with James behind her, Elizabeth looked to Port and Oobleck seriously before sighing. "Stop the match, stop it right now."

"Madame Morell, neither of us can do that," Port told her. "Not unless -"

With a sharp look to Oobleck, he stopped the recording from inside the box itself with all recording specifically of the match. "Why?"

"Because that girl," Elizabeth said, gesturing to Penny. "Is an android. Miss Nikos's semblance could destroy her -"

Port began to laugh though Oobleck hesitated. "Madame Morell, that's preposterous! President Ciel himself assured us that -"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Elizabeth asked, her almost claw like nails tapping against the edge. "I'm serious, do you two think I'm playing any games? Because I'm not -"

"Madame Morell," Oobleck began respectfully. "I truly doubt that claim, if only because if the United Kingdom Of Atlas had developed a sentient android with an aura of all things that it would be public knowledge -"

Elizabeth sighed in agitation, nervously looking back at the fight. Emmeline began to furiously argue with the two men, and James looked on in horror, only interjecting when he thought there was something important to add. Below them, however, Ruby was still facing Mercury, confusion taking her over. Though she hadn't truly believed that Yang had attacked him, the footage had insisted that he had and that had placed a faint seed of doubt in her mind. Still, seeing him up and standing was enough to make her almost positive that he really had never been attacked. The idea of Yang's story being true washing over her in torrents, Ruby narrowed her eyes in suspicion while the boy continued to smile at her maliciously. Recalling what Lily had said about him being on the same faux team as the Schnee's aunt, Ruby's heart dropped in terrible realization as she began to speak, attempting to force him to confirm the suspicions she held.

"Mercury, what are you doing? You were hurt why…" Narrowing her eyes, she went on while he continued to grin. "Fine. If you're not going to tell me…" Ruby moved to block her though the second time he did so she sidestepped him while he smirked and replied, finally giving her the confirmation she needed.

"Showtime."

Going forward, Mercury blocked the younger girl's path with fully extended arms so that, regardless of where she moved to, she was completely blocked in her field of motion. Also knowing that she didn't have any form of a distraction on her like Elizabeth Morell had, Mercury felt no fear at doing this though he was caught off guard when she, in panic, grimaced before spinning forward in application of her semblance. All he saw was a blur of red and rose petals speeding towards her in anger though he managed to kick her mid-way through her dash with his boots, effectively knocking her to the ground. Taking out her scroll, she was just about to call her contacts for help when she looked at him in shock when a bullet from one of his boots shattered her device into many shards on the ground. Lowering his leg from the kick that had knocked her down, Mercury continued to move towards her while speaking.

"Let's just keep this between us friends…"

Attempting to block yet another kick from the boy, Ruby found herself getting smacked in the face with his boot. Finally managing to get out of the fire of his subsequent attack, she leapt over his leg and spiraled past him with his semblance, getting almost all of the way down the long corridor. Kicking herself off of the wall and falling to the ground, Ruby pumped her arms furiously as she continued her mad dash towards the exit, successfully evading the associate of Cinder Fall that she now knew for certain had framed her sister for his nonexistent injury.

October 3rd

Amity Colosseum

8:45 PM

In the vast arena of the Amity Colosseum, Pyrrha was smiling as she readied herself for her fight though there was a part of her that felt sick. Remembering her mother's warning to never trust her gut over her logic, Pyrrha shook off the feeling and waved towards Penny who was smiling brightly before she politely saluted her opponent and then placed her hands on her hips in excitement. Looking up to her team in the stands, Pyrrha watched Jaune waving at her and she smiled back to him while Ren was faintly applauding and cheering. Nora, of course, was the most energetic of her teammates and was half bouncing in her seat out of pure excitement, shouting almost nonsensical words of encouragement to her that she nonetheless appreciated. She knew that Aphrodite had tried to be there when she had made it into the finals of the Vytal Festival Tournament, but a mission in their hometown in Mistral had come up unexpectedly and she couldn't bring herself to pass it up. Despite wanting her mother present, Pyrrha truly did value her mother's courage and placing her beliefs first because she knew that her mother honestly wanted to protect and defend other people.

"Salutations, Pyrrha Nikos!" Penny exclaimed, her hands still on her hips in excitement. "It's an honor to finally meet you!"

"It's very nice to meet you as well," Pyrrha replied with a smile and Penny beamed in response.

"This is going to be so much fun!" The girl exclaimed, looking around while Pyrrha raised an eyebrow upon seeing Emerald Sustrai leaning forward with a glare on her face.

"3...2...1…" Oobleck began quickly, leaning forward as he announced the fight. "Begin!"

To Pyrrha's surprise, Penny surrounded herself with her floating swords and shifted them around her at will just before she launched several of them towards Pyrrha who ran towards them - leaping through and sometimes deflecting the oncoming blades. The weapons all flew through the air before they began to turn back towards to her and the fight. Her shield on her back, Pyrrha twirled her javelin to block the swords swiping at her though she dropped her weapon to perform a somersault in order to evade a slash. Naturally, she magnetically returned the javelin to her hand just as she noticed Penny holding her next set of blades at the ready while Port continued his commentary.

"My word! What a tremendous display by Miss Polendina!"

Almost directly after these words, the broadcast silenced both of the commentators on what appeared, from the distance, to be Oobleck's command while General James Ironwood, General Emmeline Ciel, and the chair of the Atlesian National Security Council, Elizabeth Morell, entered the box. Coming back to the fight, her face hardened by it, Pyrrha rushed forward to jump a top an oncoming sword and began to swing down on Penny. The girl backed away like she did, and Pyrrha began to defend herself against the swords that were relentless with her weapon's full length but still got pushed heavily backwards and found herself needing to roll her shield onto her arm once again with her polarity. She could hear people cheering and she could see Ren pumping his fist and Jaune watching her in worry though no one's words were helping her as the feeling of something being wrong continued to take her over. Seeing her semblance bend her weapons unnaturally, Pyrrha fixed them immediately while the green haired girl, Emerald, continued to stare at her with a narrowed gaze.

Spinning almost erratically, Pyrrha managed to deflect and dodge all of the swords while once again getting close enough to pain to slash her with her spear and sending her back. At the same time, she bat the blades back while they were called back to Penny who stopped and motioned differently, allowing her weapons to fold into laser rifles that began to open fire on Pyrrha as she approached. Avoiding the blasts while fighting off the still with standing swords, Pyrrha slid into a new position to charge at the girl and knock her backwards while straightening with a victorious grin though it quickly faded into dizziness as Penny blasted forward with her weapons which allowed her to leap into the air and come down hard on her opponent. Rolling up to her feet again, a sword knocked her shield off and did the same to her blade while attempting to get her blade back with her polarity but uses the power instead to send a sword into the girl's side but it disappeared behind her instead, allowing her a chance to strike again.

Emerald continued to stare angrily down into the arena and suddenly a sharp sound like gunshot was heard and everyone looked up in shock and, even from where she was, Emerald could see Elizabeth Morell shaking while James Ironwood and Emmeline Ciel froze in shock. Down in the arena, to Pyrrha's perception, the eight blades that Penny had out multiplied once but then doubled and tripled. Though it wasn't real, Pyrrha stepped back unsteadily as all of the eight swords moved towards her in the guise of triple that, her vision completely blocked all around. Seeing, supposedly, hundreds of swords flying at her, Pyrrha closed her eyes tightly and used her semblance to send them back to the girl who was unwittingly affected by the magnetic shock wave. A brief moment was all Pyrrha had to break out of the trance, but it was too late and Penny's arms were spread all the way and she gasped in shock while the strings of her weapons curled tightly around her left arm and midsection - all of which crumpled under the force and sliced the electronics within the android girl. Staring at what she had done, Pyrrha's mouth was agape and her eyes in horror while Port came back over the commentary while Ironwood stared at the terrible scene in equal horror, Emmeline let out what looked to be a short scream and then tried to reach for the microphone but stopped when Elizabeth actually vomited to the side upon seeing the dark, lifeless pupils that overtook Penny's eyes while she shut down forever.

"No!" Port exclaimed as Penny's remains sparked with electricity.

Placing a hand to his ear while the arena lowered, Oobleck called to the broadcasters. "Broadcast, what are you doing? Kill the feed!"

Through the earpiece, they replied in fear. "Something's wrong! We don't have control of the cameras! We can't even stop the broadcast!"

"What?" Oobleck demanded as Elizabeth stood up from the rubbish bin to which she had been vomiting and listened as his response was cut short while the background behind Port and Oobleck shifted to a sickeningly familiar bright red while Cinder's Red Queen symbol hovered over the scene and Elizabeth bit back another wave of nausea and sick as the all too familiar voice spoke. "How is that possible -"

"This is not a tragedy," She began. "This was not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men and women who claim to be our guardians but are, in reality, nothing more than that. Our foreign leaders, but more specifically our Academies' Headmasters, wield more power than most armies and one was audacious enough to control both. They cling to power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have here? One nation's attempt at a synthetic army, mercilessly torn apart by another's star pupil. What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl. I don't think the grimm can tell the difference. I won't dawdle on the subject, but it looks like Atlas' head of security, Elizabeth Morell, certainly looks worse for this, doesn't she? Apart from being scared by her past, she clearly knew something about the android - otherwise, would she have puked upon seeing her being destroyed?"

Elizabeth shook as she leaned heavily against the wall, a dizzy feeling starting on her as she ran out of the box to find others while her assailant continued her speech. Emmeline shared a look with James and then ran after her as well, though primarily to get to her ship and pull it off of the Atlas security network before it could be hacked or stolen.

"And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students. First a dismemberment and now this? Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy, yet I have witnessed neither. Perhaps Ozpin felt as though defeating Atlas in the Tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the grimm invaded its streets. Or perhaps this was his message to Atlas's second tyrannical dictator from a well-known political dynasty? Oh, James Ironwood is at fault here but no more than Ronnie Ciel, the Atlesian President. This is, of course, Atlas - the kingdom that has occupied another unsuspecting kingdom with its armed forces. But, honestly, I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong...but I know the existence of peace is fragile, and the leaders of our kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves.

"As someone who...hails from Mistral, I can assure you the situation there is...equally undesirable. Our kingdoms are on the brink of war, yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark. So I ask you the same thing that Atlesian General Emmeline Ciel did years ago: When the first shots are fired...who do you think you can trust?"

The warning alarm began to ring out through the entire colosseum while everyone looked up in terror at the screens flashing orange and reading CAUTION. Followed by this was the warning announcement and everyone began to flee through the tunnels. "Alert. Incoming grimm attack. Threat Level: Nine. Please seek shelter in a calm and orderly manner."

Knowing that the panic would only draw more grimm, James tried to control that though to no avail as a large Nevermore began to peck at the defenses of the Amity Colosseum with its beak. "Ladies and gentlemen, please. There is no need for panic."

Through the speculation however, his scroll began to go off and he cursed as he answered it though Ozpin spoke first. "The hell -"

Looking up at the nevermore, James cut him off though stammering. "Ozpin, the girl...I...I...I can explain!"

"You brought your army to my kingdom, James," Ozpin told him, pausing before finishing in unusual anger. "Use it."

October 3rd

Beacon Academy Courtyard

City of Vale

Vale

Downtown

9:34 PM

"Damn it!" Elizabeth said, pulling out her gun after putting away her scroll. "Fuck! Where's…we need to -"

"I know," Emmett said, his seven year old son tightly in his arms, as he handed her some raw Dust crystals while she raised an eyebrow. "My nieces have access to these things easily. Not that I don't, but…"

"Emmett, what the hell am I supposed to do with raw Dust? While we wait for Emmeline, god damn it! Honestly…" Elizabeth paused and took them regardless and dropped them in her bag. "My gun uses Dust rounds, not -"

"I don't know!" Emmett exclaimed as they ran into Caitlin, Team IGDG, and Team SAML. "Okay, I sort of just either imbue it into my sword or throw it. Do it however you like, I don't fucking care, and I doubt it matters!"

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes as all of them temporarily stopped moving. "What does that -"

Groaning Emmett shook out his long white waves before sighing. "Eliza, just put the thing in the thing! That's how it works! You put one thing into or thrust it at the other thing and it works!"

Smirking, Elizabeth crossed her arms with her gun still in hand. "Oh, so like sex?"

"Yes!" Emmett said, laughing while Caitlin tried not to, Ivy stared at her feet, and the rest of them didn't hold back. "Yes!" He exclaimed in exasperation. "Exactly like sex, but without the sex!"

"Okay," Elizabeth said, steadying herself for a fight as they started towards the nearby runway for transport landings. "I'll remember that and go fuck my enemies over with it."

"That's the spirit!" Emmett screamed as she ran ahead. "Go fuck them over!"

"Fuck?" Edward asked, looking at him though the young boy squirmed in fear when he saw some of the grimm. "Fuck!"

Emmett giggled in spite of himself. "We just have to get to your mother's ship and then it will all be okay. All of you," Emmett sent Caitlin, Team IGDG, and Team SAML a sharp look. "This isn't safe for any of us, and –"

"Oh...oh!" A terrifyingly familiar voice said as it walked in front of them, her glass heels clicking against the asphalt. "Emmett! Looks like you've got General Ironwood and Glynda Goodwitch's brats as well as your own and a few others!"

Emmett set down his son and slapped her.

"Oh, really, don't even start with me!" Cinder screeched, feeling the sting from the smack while her eyes sparked in demonstration of her abilities as a maiden. "I am not afraid of anyone, much less you! I know what I'm after, I know that I'm after -"

"And what are you after?" Emmett challenged while her gaze shifted to Sam wrapping an arm tightly around Caitlin. "What are you after, Ashlynn Schnee?"

Cinder smiled slightly as she summoned her glass sword into her hand and began to move towards Caitlin and Sam before turning to her 'brother'. "You know why I do everything I have to do...I..have no point, and I…I'm very much after power. This is what you get, Emmett," Cinder told him while he drew his sword and used his semblance to knock her back. "If you're going to play hero, then be ready to die because that's exactly what happens to those who try too hard to be heroes. Too bad Glynda and James won't see their eldest again...maybe it would have been better if she had killed herself..."

"No!" Caitlin screamed, her vision still blurred as she didn't dare try anything. "No…"

Everything seemed to happen in an instant. Cinder prepared herself to kill but paused upon another joining the scene – one of her allies. He paused upon seeing Ivy and then spoke to her twin, his voice purely venomous.

"So," Adam Taurus growled. "You're the damn prosecutor that would put me behind bars, given the first chance like the rest of them."

"Adam don't –" Ivy started, but she was frozen.

Adam charged towards the defenseless Caitlin Ironwood-Goodwitch, his blade drawn to kill, but he was stopped by a sudden shot to his foot and Emmett Schnee all but jumping in front of Caitlin and parrying the blade with his own sword. Yet Adam managed to break through just long enough to scratch the eldest Ironwood-Goodwitch slightly underneath her right eye. Then there was another gunshot. Adam whipped around and, horrified when he saw Emmeline Ciel approaching, began to run away. Yet he turned back and locked his gaze with Ivy's for long enough for all of them to get at least an inkling that something may have been going on between them. Without a word, though, he was gone, and Cinder took advantage of the moment to disappear in a haze, looking for that damn champion of Beacon Academy so that she could finally kill her. After all, she was more than certain that was her target. Soon enough, she would truly be the Fall Maiden.

Or so she thought.

"Emmett?" Glynda ran towards them, Emmeline following shortly behind. Her crop was in hand as she ran from the Beacon CCTS tower with Qrow not far behind while they saw Cinder swiftly escape behind a cloud of fire Dust. "Damn it!"

"Oh thank god!" Emmett tightly embraced his wife and then looking worriedly to Glynda, who had pulled her eldest (and noticeably shaken) daughter in close. "You're alright...where's James?"

Glynda sighed. "Torchwick took over his ship so he's attempting to escape to the city. I'm going into the city myself, but –"

"Cristal and Ozpin are heading back to Atlas," Emmeline told Emmett as soon as he stopped kissing her. "We should too."

Annetta glanced to her buzzing scroll. Her mother had texted her, telling her to meet them at Emmeline's ship with her, her father, Carleigh, Nathan, and Oliver. The time stamp was from a half hour prior. Glynda embraced both of her daughters tightly one last time, and then she ran off towards the city by train, ready to meet up with James downtown. Caitlin looked about to cry when she left, almost as if she were a child again, and Emmett all but dragged her to Emmeline's ship, both teams running and Edward clutching his mother's hand as he kept up with her as best he could. The sky seemed darker than it ever had, and they were all scared. For all she had trained, for everything that she had prepared for, Emmeline knew this had never been it. Atlas claimed they were always prepared for a war, and, in many ways, they had been at war since 2001 but this was different. Even after the doors to the transport ship closed behind them, something felt wrong.

Everything was wrong.

"Annie!" Cristal's voice broke when she saw her daughter, who suddenly dropped her axe on the floor and ran towards her mother to hug her tightly. Cristal started stroking her daughter's hair, and Ozpin embraced both of them, relieved that they were alright.

"I should be fighting, it's…" Ozpin trailed off upon meeting Cristal's gaze and then he shook his head. "I'm just glad you're all okay."

"We're taking off," Emmeline told them, stepping out of the cockpit and looking rather torn between being scared or exhausted. "We'll be in the city of Atlas – landing at Atlas Academy – in five hours…provided everything goes well."