It took longer than they planned for everyone to return to the viewing room.
The original plan was for them all to be back in roughly half an hour, since the last episode left in such a big cliff-hanger that they didn't want to wait too long.
But with time, that eagerness turned to unease. Things didn't look like they'd be getting better any time soon, and none of they wanted to see things get worse.
But after their evening meal, they knew they couldn't put it off any longer. They couldn't prepare properly if they didn't know what was going on, and they wouldn't know that unless they resumed the viewing.
"Everyone ready." Oscar asks.
"No, but play it anyway." Yang says. She needed to know what would happen to her other self. Even if she knows she probably isn't in the wrong, that won't change how people will treat her.
Pyrrha's also feels a need to know what happens next. While defeating Cinder seems like a perfect solution for when she returns, she still feels empathy for people's difficulties. Especially when the person in question is another version of herself.
Volume 3: Chapter 7: Beginning of the End
"That really doesn't sound good." Jaune says. "But… wouldn't last chapter match this title better?"
"Unless that was just the prelude." Blake says. "Cinder seems to be laying the groundwork for something big. So we may actually see the start of it now."
"She's definitely after the Maiden powers, so it stands to reason that her plan will involve killing Amber." Ren says. "But her preparations seem a bit excessive just for that. She might have something else she wants."
After the opening, the screen stays black. "I want to be strong." Cinder's voice echoes in the darkness.
"Well there's one answer." Sun says.
"That's most likely her motivation for wanting the Maiden power." Pyrrha says. "It's not unexpected, Goodwitch basically said it would be the case."
A sharp, familiar sound resonates. "A beautiful ring... for a beautiful woman." A man says.
"I'm sorry?" A woman says.
"What is this?" Nora tilts her head. "Is the screen broken?"
"I think it's just another way the host has been creative with showing the story." Jaune says. "But beyond that, it's hard to tell what's going on."
"I want to be feared." Cinder declares, the sound quality not matching the other voices.
"It sounds like we might be getting small glimpses of various past events." Jaune says. "The way the voices sound and the lack of continuous dialogue would suggest it."
"So we're getting Cinder's backstory?" Ruby asks. "That's great! We've been hoping for this for a while now."
"But we probably won't be able to make much sense of it." Weiss groans. "Not that we can't try."
"Ignoring that, she said she wants to be feared." Ren says. "Could she be trying to cause a catastrophe because that will make her feared?"
"But that's so… petty." Pyrrha complains. "Is she really just doing this for her ego?"
"She does seem like a bit of an egomaniac." Sun says. "I mean… it's disgusting, but it wouldn't surprise me."
"What!?" The man is suddenly surprised by something. "Impossible! Where did it...!?" The hurried footsteps of someone fleeing the scene is fade into the background.
"She went that way!" A new man says.
"So… she stole something?" Oscar asks.
"That didn't sound like her voice before." Blake says. "My guess would be that it was Emerald."
"It didn't sound like Emerald either." Jaune says.
"Remember what Emeralds Semblance is, she can disguise herself." Blake says. "Her voice also changes, plus we know she's a thief. So it seems likely."
"I want to be powerful." Cinder says.
'That's basically the same as saying she wants to be strong.' Ren thinks. 'Is there an actual distinction to her, or was this just because listing three things sounds better?' The answer probably doesn't matter, but it does bug him a bit.
"Someone, call the police!" Another woman calls.
"How'd she do that!?" The first man wonders.
Suddenly, the darkness cuts to the smirking face of Cinder Fall, seen with shorter hair.
"Definitely a flashback." Weiss says. "I doubt she had time to have a haircut between episodes."
"I'm just glad it's back to normal." Nora says. "That 'voices in darkness' thing just seems confusing."
"How did you do that?" Cinder asks.
The person she is talking to in the abandoned alleyway, cornered against a wall, is revealed to be Emerald Sustrai. Emerald has a ponytail instead of her usual locks and is wearing a different outfit, missing her usual white top and arm accessories. She glares at this stranger while glancing around, backing away slowly and not answering.
"This is their first meeting then." Blake deduces.
"I just hope we'll actually get to see her explain her plan." Ruby says.
Nora gets tense. Ever since they got a glimpse of Emeralds background in that song, she's been worried it might be similar to her own. If she hasn't met Ren could she have ended up like that? She'd like to think she's different, but before she was so desperate she would have clung to anyone who reached out a hand to her.
"Don't." Cinder warns just as Emerald attempts to get her revolvers from their holsters. "Unless, of course, you want them to hear you." There is a sound of footsteps running past and people asking: 'Where did she go'.
"It's still a mystery where Emerald got her training." Ruby says.
"She seems like she might have been self-taught." Blake says. "A surprising number of people are, though I will admit it's quite impressive given her weaponry."
"Some weapons are easier to learn alone than others." Pyrrha says. "A Scythe is probably one of the hardest to learn without someone to guide you."
Emerald lets go of the grips to her weapon. "What do you want?"
"At this point I'd usually be cheering for her to finally explain herself." Nora says. "But I've come to accept that we won't be getting answers just like that."
"This is one of the more unfortunate effects of this being shown as a story." Jayne says. "A plan isn't interesting if you already know it and nothing goes wrong, so instead we only learn about it as it's happening. Never realised it also applies to the villains plans."
"I'm starting to think our host cares more about this being 'entertaining' than informative." Weiss groans.
Cinder steps forward slowly, glass anklet shifting with her footsteps. "I've already told you. And I don't like repeating myself."
"I didn't do anything! Just leave me alone!" Emerald almost pleads.
"I can't think of anyone who would actually believe that." Sun says. "She hardly acts like a great thief."
"And you would know?" Blake says.
Sun shrugs. "Vacuo, remember."
"I know my fair share of liars and thieves." Cinder says. "Stealing is an art of patience, coordination, and in a pinch, sleight of hand. But you didn't steal the ring in your pocket." Emerald looks shocked and checks the pocket where her prize is as Cinder crosses her arms, continuing. "You took it right before the jeweller's eyes. And he smiled."
"Wait, how?" Pyrrha asks. "I understand that she must have used her Semblance, but even then they'd be able to tell that she took something without paying."
"I guess she could be more skilled then I gave her credit for." Sun says.
'I'm starting to doubt that's just it.' Ren thinks. 'The way everyone acted makes it sound like something impossible just happened. Are we missing something?'
Emeralds surprise turns to suspicion once more. "Who are you?"
Cinder keeps on smiling as the scene fades to black, and the echoing voices return.
"Urgh!" Nora groans. "Why does it have to do this."
"Just think of it as a clip show." Jaune says.
"You will question everything you know." Cinder says as monstrous growling is heard in the background.
Oscar's eyes widen. "Doesn't that sound like…"
"A Beowolf." Ruby says. "It does."
"The hell is she doing with a Beowolf?" Yang wonders.
"This is impossible." Whatever Emerald is seeing has her in complete disbelief.
"Something unexpected at the very least." Pyrrha says.
"What… like some freaky experiment?" Sun asks.
"That doesn't seem right." Ren says. "Something about the way Emerald said it makes me think it's something as unusual as the existence of Maidens."
Everyone stays quiet. They'd all shared a certain idea as to what it might be, but it was quickly dismissed. However, considering that things like the Maidens exist means it's almost plausible. None of them want to admit this.
"I wish to take on an apprentice." Cinder says to someone.
"He lives in the mountains with his son." An unknown man says.
"An apprentice?" Yang wonders.
"This must be how she met Mercury." Weiss says. "I'd expect the apprentice part was mostly just an excuse."
"Follow me, and you'll never be hungry again." Cinder says.
"Thank you..." The relief and gratitude in Emeralds voice is evident.
Nora barely resists the urge to flinch back. This is exactly what she thought it might be. The parallels to her own life are far too close for comfort.
Thankfully, the parallels end when it comes to the character of the person who found them. Ren acted out of genuine concern, but Cinder just seems to be using Emerald for her own goals. The thought of this sickens her, but at the same time she's finding it harder and harder to hate Emerald. She could probably have turned out just as bad if she hadn't been so lucky.
The darkness opens up once more on the panting, bruised and bloodied face of another familiar youth, Mercury Black. He is missing his armour and sash, and his knees are bandaged and stained with blood. There is light from a burning house dancing to his back as he stands before a confident Cinder and wary Emerald.
"Oh god!" Weiss gasps as she looks at Mercury's bloodied knees.
Blake says. "Isn't that where Yang…"
"I couldn't have known." Yang interrupts. "And besides, he fights with his legs. Where else was I meant to hit?"
"Wait. How can he fight with injuries like that?" Weiss asks. "I mean that… doesn't look recoverable."
"That's..." Ruby pauses. "...actually a good question. How can he fight like that?"
"Magic." Sun waves his hands.
"Seriously?" Blake raises an eyebrow.
"Yeah, seriously." Sun says. "Cinder has Maiden powers, so what if that includes the ability to heal serious injuries?"
"I suppose that does sound possible." Pyrrha says.
"As long as we don't know the extent of Maiden powers, anything can be considered possible." Weiss says.
"What are you looking at!?" Mercury taunts them.
"I'm looking for Marcus Black." Cinder calmly replies.
"Marcus?" Oscar says. "Is he some kind of relative of his?"
"Most likely his father." Ren says. "That's the only relative of Mercury's we've heard of so far."
Mercury spits blood on the ground as he gestures back at the burning house and the dead white-haired man lying face down behind him. "There you go."
Ruby gasps. "Did he... his own father..."
"I can't believe this." Yang says. "How could he?"
"We already knew they weren't on good terms." Ren says. "I guess we miss-understood just how bad his home life must have been."
Ruby can hardly imagine it. The idea of killing your own father. Granted, she also couldn't imagine having a horrible father in the first place.
Emerald gets up from her stance. "That's... the assassin?"
"And you're his son." Cinder deduces.
"Assassin?" Blake repeats.
"That makes far too much sense." Weiss says. "I can hardly imagine someone in that line of work being a good parent. And if he was training his son then this almost sounds inevitable."
Mercury doesn't acknowledge this, merely wiping his lips of blood.
Cinder grins. "We saw your fight from the treeline. He's taught you well."
"Guess so." Mercury responds.
"So it was a proper fight rather than a stealth assassination." Pyrrha reasons. "Who knows, maybe it was Marcus who struck first?"
"Forgive me if that doesn't change my opinion of Mercury much." Yang says.
"What's your name?" Cinder asks.
A moment passes before he tells her. "Mercury."
"Mercury..." Cinder nods in approval. "Tell me, are you anything like your father?"
"What reason would they have for wanting an assassin?" Jaune wonders.
"Maybe for when they attack Amber?" Weiss reasons.
"But that wouldn't help since Cinder needs the powers to heal Mercury." Sun says.
"Then it could be something else. I'm sure Cinder has plenty of reasons for wanting an Assassin working for her." Weiss says.
"I'm sorta frightened by how true that probably is." Yang says.
The scene fades to black on her smile again.
"So what's in it for me?" Mercury asks.
"That's a good point, what does Mercury gain from this?" Blake asks.
"I doubt we'd be able to guess." Jaune says. "We'll probably just have to wait to find out."
"We don't need him!" Emerald complains. "Everything was going fine!" A slap is heard, and she cries out in pain.
"Do not mistake your place." Cinder scolds.
While everyone else is disgusted by this, Nora is almost slightly pleased. If she and Ren had found someone else who wanted to join them on their travels, she'd have been more than happy to welcome then to the group. This helps prove she's different from Emerald, at least on some level. She stuck with Ren not because of some selfish need for attachment, but because she genuinely likes him.
Of course, not 'likes him' likes him.
"My dad always said... 'if you need to know a city, ask the rats.'" Mercury says.
"Well, hello, gorgeous." Torchwick chuckles darkly.
"And so begins the evilest team up in recent history." Sun remarks.
"As much as I want to correct you, you might be right." Weiss says.
Sun actually expected someone would try to correct him. It's why he specified 'recent' history.
"So, let me get this straight..." This new voice is clearer than the others.
Blake flinches back as she hears this voice. She recognises it, how couldn't she. She only hopes that Mercury's comment about rat's refers to Torchwick and not 'them'.
Darkness cuts away to the image of Cinder standing respectfully in the centre of a tent, Emerald and Mercury sitting on their knees behind her. Two members of the White Fang armed with a rifle and sword are to one side, and the Lieutenant leaning up against the other, as a man steps into view before a map of Remnant.
"You have any idea when this could have been?" Ruby asks Blake.
"I don't know." Blake replies. "It's probably after I left, since I'd never seen any of them with the White Fang."
"It's annoying how we don't have any idea when any of this takes place." Yang complains. "But it can't have been that long before the start of the academy year."
"Between the 'Black trailer' and the start oy the academy year." Weiss reasons. "How much time is that?"
"Less than half a month." Blake answers. "Does that help us in any way?"
"It doesn't, but it's good to get a clear picture on what's going on." Ren answers.
"You could've gone to anyone for help." Adam says. "You could've made a deal with a gang leader, paid off some Huntsmen that have strayed from their... righteous path... but instead, you choose to seek an audience with me."
Ruby's taken aback. "Do some Huntsmen really take jobs like that?"
"I'd like to think none would ever accept this particular job." Sun says. "But there are a good number that take on more unpleasant work."
"You can hardly call those people Huntsmen." Pyrrha says.
"They're more along the lines of if Cardin ever graduates." Sun explains. "Sorta jerks, but they at least have some idea of right and wrong."
"You're the one we need." Cinder says. "Your skill, your ability to lead those beneath you."
"She just wants an army willing to die for their beliefs." Blake snarls. "Doubt she cares even the slightest bit about the Faunus movement."
"Not gonna disagree on you with that one." Yang says.
"You're an exceptionally valuable man, Adam." Cinder says. "And we've put a lot of thought into…"
"Then you're clearly not thinking straight!" Adam interrupts her, stepping forward with his finger raised. "If you truly understood me, you would know coming here was a mistake. The White Fang is not an organization for hire. We're a force… of revolution!"
Adam makes a fist with his last word, and Emerald shares a look with Mercury, eyebrows raised.
"How does she convince them?" Ruby wonders. "I mean… Adam seems really stubborn, so can't imagine him giving up."
"I've been wondering about that." Blake says. "He's not the kind of person to follow orders easily. It's why no one likes to question his leadership, and unfortunately why so many people follow him."
"I believe our plan will be beneficial for all parties involved." Cinder is unintimidated as Adam continues pacing around the tent. "I have... an associate in Vale. He and I are working on a revolution of our own. But we can't do it without your forces. We need…"
"What you need... is to leave." Adam hoists up his weapon as a threat. "You're asking my men to die for your cause - a human cause." He puts a hand to the hilt of his sword. "That is not an idea I am willing to entertain."
"Does she come back later to recruit them." Ren wonders. "It doesn't seem like this will lead to an alliance."
"That's the only possibility I can think of." Jaune says.
Cinder scowls in obvious displeasure, but makes herself bow to the White Fang leader. "Very well."
The three leave the tent and go off into the nearby woods, with Adam stepping out to look at them from behind his mask.
"I just wish he'd stuck with this decision." Blake says. "I didn't like the way he was leading before, but it was far preferable to working with her."
"What was that about?" Blake steps up behind him, hand on her side.
"Blake!?" Yang yells. "You were actually there?"
"I… I never saw them." Blake hastily replies. "And this is like… wow, I remember when this happened."
"Nothing." Adam begins to walk away. "We need to finish preparing. The train will be here at dawn."
Blake follows her mentor as the scene fades to black.
"I'm guessing that's the train form your trailer." Weiss says.
"It is." Blake confirms. "I just… I wish I'd noticed them. If I had then I could have realised the moment they arrived at Beacon."
"Don't blame yourself over this." Yang says. "You had literally no way of knowing."
"Yeah." Ruby agrees.
'That doesn't change the fact that I was turning a blind eye to the way the White Fang was being run.' Blake thinks. 'Though if I remember correctly, that would have been when I was figuring out if I wanted to leave the Fang behind.'
"Think of it this way." Jaune says. "If you had stayed there much longer then you might ended up working for Cinder at some point."
The idea of this is unsettling for all of them, especially Blake.
"So now what?" Mercury asks.
"There's another task we must attend to." Cinder says.
"What else would they have been doing around then?" Oscar asks.
"There's attacking Amber." Weiss suggests. "Though I almost hope it's something else so we can figure out how their plan works."
"I'm not hoping that at all." Ruby says. "The less damage they've already done, the better."
"Excuse me, but I'm looking for a friend of mine." Emerald says with a cheerful voice.
"Ah, yes. She was just here yesterday." Someone answers.
"Sounds like they're tracking down Amber." Jaune says. "At the very least, I hope we'll be able to see how she stole the powers." 'If there's a way to easily reverse it, that would be perfect.'
"I'm more interested in how powerful a Maiden is." Weiss says. "Plus, actually getting to see the powers will be excellent confirmation."
"Please tell me you don't still doubt it." Yang says.
"Of course not." Weiss refutes. "But it's important that we actually see it."
"Remember the plan. Exactly as discussed. Not a foot out of place." Cinder instructs.
"I'm guessing something goes wrong." Ren says. "How else would she have only stolen half the power?"
The darkness cuts to the overcast view of a forest, a single path with a wooden fence to either side cutting through the green. From the trees comes a lone white horse trotting along slowly, a green-cloaked rider with golden armour and her hood up on its back. The animal comes forward as the sharp sound is heard once more, and the two stop when they come across the scene of a young green-haired girl curled up and crying next to a felled bicycle.
"That's definitely Amber." Pyrrha says. "And judging by that noise, I'd say the girl is Emerald in disguise."
"Does that mean we can use it to figure out when she's disguised?" Ruby wonders.
"I doubt it." Jaune says. "I'd guess the noise isn't actually happening, and it was just added to the video for our benefit."
"That makes sense." Ruby accepts, though she wishes it wasn't the case.
'But adding the noise does seem weird.' Jaune thinks. 'It doesn't seem to fit with putting on a disguise. It would make more sense for it to be associated with…' His expression freezes at the revelation comes in. 'We've been looking at it the wrong way this entire time.'
Despite the fact that another camera angle shows only a fully-grown Emerald standing there, the rider dismounts from her steed and slowly approaches the child, who looks up as the mysterious stranger kneels down to her level and smirks. The girl flinches in fright when the woman reaches into her clothes and pulls out an apple, not realizing she's only offering it to empty air.
"W-wait, how is that possible?" Yang asks the questions on everyone but Jaunes mind.
"I can't believe I missed it this entire time." Jaune says, practically laughing at himself. "That's just… that's just so unfair."
"J-Jaune?" Pyrrha asks. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Jaune replies. "Emerald's Semblance is hallucinations, not disguises."
"But that doesn't…" Weiss takes a moment to go through every instance of Emeralds Semblance. "How did we not notice?"
"We made an assumption, then took every bit of information as validation of it." Ren says. "This is why we need to be careful about jumping to conclusions."
"Still, how can she have such a powerful Semblance?" Sun says. "At that point we can't trust anything we see."
"There must be dome kind of limitations." Pyrrha says. "It's still a Semblance, so there will always be a way to counter it."
"Ohhh." Blake also realises something.
"What is it?" Yang asks.
"Emerald made you see Mercury attack you." Blake explains. "That's how they managed to pull it off."
"That bitch!" Yang yells. "At least it's not my fault though. Right? We can all agree that it wasn't my fault in any way."
"I think you're in the clear." Ruby says. "This could have happened to anyone."
"They probably did pick Yang because they thought she'd have a good chance at fighting back." Ren says. "That could have been the list they were forming before. The one where Pyrrha was a maybe."
"I'm… not sure I would attack back though." Pyrrha says. "And even if I did, I doubt they'd be able to guess how I'd attack."
"But you are one of the most well-known students at Beacon." Weiss says. "If it had been you they picked, there would have been even more outrage. They probably only picked Yang because she's predictable."
"Hey!" Yang yells.
"Don't even bother denying it." Weiss retorts.
Emerald stands only a few feet away from the oblivious heroine, scrunching her face up in determination and readying to attack by grabbing her weapons and sliding a foot back. The kicked-up dust manages to be seen behind the girl even when the one who kicked it doesn't. The hooded woman notices this, and suddenly goes on guard.
"Well there's one easy weakness for Emeralds Semblance." Nora says.
"My guess is that she can't hide event's she doesn't consider, or isn't aware of." Blake proposes. "That means if you look carefully for inconsistencies then you could act through her hallucinations."
"That's easy enough to say, but I doubt it would be that easy on the battlefield." Jaune says.
"Then we'll simply have to practice that during our training." Pyrrha says. "It's not all that different from being on guard from a potential third party, just with a different emphasis on what you try to notice."
'Only Pyrrha would have put so much thought into this.' Yang thinks.
The woman drops the fruit and leaps back in the same moment that the fake girl disappears. Her horse, sensing danger turns to run away on its own. The cloak drops from the woman, revealing herself to be Amber, wielding a double crystal-headed staff.
Amber sees Emerald running towards her, guns blazing green shots, each of which are deflected against the Maiden's hand. Amber twirls the spear around her body, kicking up the winds and blasting it towards her opponent, forcing Emerald to slide back.
"She can block bullets with her bare hands?!" Ruby says.
"It seems more like a force field." Blake says.
"Isn't that just how Aura works?" Oscar asks.
"You'd still feel the impact of the blow." Weiss explains. "Stronger guns will often knock people down, and that's ignoring how much damage it does to your Aura. I wouldn't be too surprised if she can do this forever, the only limit might be her concentration."
Just as Amber does this, Mercury comes up from the side and jumps over the fence, landing on her staff as she forces him and a returning Emerald back with another gale.
"How is Mercury fighting?!" Nora asks. "His legs can't have healed, right?"
"We're probably missing something." Jaune says. "Once again we've made a guess and not considered any alternatives."
"Seems like we're doing a lot of that recently." Sun says.
"We have to make at least some guesses." Weiss says. "What if we don't get some answers, and end up forgetting about certain details?"
"That's what the notes are for." Ren says. "We should also what everything again once we're reached the end."
"In that case there's no problem with making assumptions." Ruby says. "And honestly, it would be pretty boring not to do so."
Mercury simply leaps on a post and launches himself at her, forcing Amber to unleash a stream of fire from the red crystal on him, but her attacker merely curls up and lets his legs take the brunt of the damage, flames burning away the orange pants as the complex machinery and lit-up metal making up the robotic prosthetics underneath is revealed.
"How could we not have considered that?" Yang snarls in frustration.
"It's not exactly the first thing that springs to mind." Blake says. "Prosthetics aren't very common, especially ones built for combat."
"Strange to consider how Penny's entire body is practically prosthetics." Jaune says. "I wonder how her limbs differ from standard prosthetics?"
"It's probably about the same." Weiss says. "Obviously the most cutting edge version, but I doubt it's inherently different. The most interesting parts would be the ones we don't make prosthetics for, because if you lose it, you're already dead."
Ruby's not exactly comfortable with them talking about Penny like this. To her Penny is a friend before anything else. The idea of treating her like a machine makes her stomach turn.
"This also explains why he was willing to 'sacrifice' his legs in the tournament." Blake says. "All the pieces are coming together."
"But wouldn't someone notice?" Oscar asks. "They've gotta send a medic or something right? They'd notice that he doesn't have real legs."
"We can only assume they have a plan for that." Weiss says. "Hopefully we'll get to see what it is."
With his artificial limbs, Mercury continues to come forward through the fire and kick Amber onto her back, only for Emerald to land on her from above, cracking the very ground underneath.
"Guess Maidens aren't completely invincible to regular people." Sun says.
"There's no such thing as an unwinnable fight." Pyrrha says. "Some people might have advantages due to their Semblances or other such abilities, but with enough training and the right strategies, any person can potentially beat any other person."
"You really think someone like Cardin could ever beat you?" Oscar asks.
Pyrrha considers this. "If he tried hard enough and figured out the best way to fight me, it's possible. Reasons like that are why you should never slack of on your training."
Emerald and Mercury jump back and get ready to fight again when Amber gets up, head bowed until she looks up with orange energy pouring from her eyes. The winds erupt from the Maiden, swirling around and making her enemies cover their faces from the force, when she lifts off the ground and spreads her arms to the sky, lightning now rumbling in the clouds for her to aim at the two, who barely get out of the way in time.
"Woah!" Nora exclaims the awe and bewilderment that everyone in the room is feeling. "She's so powerful!"
Powerful. That's the right word to describe it. One couldn't confidently say that Ambers overwhelming them with skill or experience, but the sheer power the Maiden powers bring puts her head and shoulders above them.
Weiss sighs as she watches. This is all the proof she needs to accept the Maidens as reality. There's no way such power could ever be explained by anything but magic. And there are three more people who are capable of these things? The idea makes her skin crawl with an unnerving sense of excitement. There's a part of her that wants to be a Maiden now, how could she not. She understands that it's unlikely she'd ever be picked to become one, and that it comes with the danger of being hunted down. But the idea is just to appealing to not fantasise about it every now and then.
Pyrrha also feels something similar, but in her case it's more hesitation about the idea that she might one day inherit the power. That much raw power just… doesn't seem to suit her. She's spent her whole life perfecting the skills she has, she can't imagine being able to obliterate her opponents with sheer force. If she were to inherit the power, she likes to think she'd use it more tactically. Similar to how she obscured her Semblances capabilities, she'd rather use it to augment her own style. Maybe that's one of the reasons Ozpin wants her to inherit it. Because she'd be careful to ensure no one ever realised she has superhuman abilities.
Calling upon more of the storm, Mercury and Emerald continue to dodge each bolt as Cinder steps into view a ways back from the fight. The two ambushers fire on Amber, but the invisible shield now covers her whole body, taking each shot as she reaches to her side and clenches a fist, making the leaves rise into the air and come to her. With a raised arm, the leaves turn from green to frozen ice, and she rains the newly-sharpened projectiles down on her foes, who are unable to avoid the attack.
"Isn't she meant to be the fall Maiden?" Sun asks. "This seems more like a winter thing."
"We were never told that the nature of the power relates to the season." Blake says. "I'm not saying there might not be differences, but from the looks of it I'd say it's more versatile than the season would imply."
Amber continues this assault until she senses Cinder running towards her from behind, face set in determination, and summons a fireball to launch at her third adversary, who manages to leap over the attack. Cinder slides across the ground, kicking up dirt. Cinder faces her palm to the dirt, the yellow fabric on her sleeve glowing, and coalesces the dirt into several glass shards, which she aims at the floating Maiden.
"So that's Cinder's Semblance." Ren says. "Unless she already had magic powers, which I very much doubt."
"But how does it work?" Ruby wonders. "Can she just form things like dirt together or something?"
"It seems like it might be superheating." Pyrrha says. "Or perhaps amassing small particles? It's uncertain whether she would still use those abilities now she has magic."
"She used it when fighting me at Beacon tower." Ruby says.
"She was probably trying to hide her abilities then." Weiss says. "But it's at least good to keep that in mind."
"You think Maiden powers might somehow boost a person's Semblance?" Sun asks.
"I didn't even consider that." Weiss replies. "But it does seem possible."
"Though it could just as easily have no effect." Blake says.
Amber is knocked back from the damage, face down in the dirt, until she looks up with normal eyes just when the sharp sound is heard again. She first sees the area empty, but Emerald flickers into view for a moment, and Amber slowly realizes what's happening as Mercury also shifts into her frame of vision, with Cinder coming forward in spurts, swords raised.
"Why wasn't she able to back that?" Ruby wonders.
"I'm not sure." Blake answers. "Maybe because of what kind of projectile it is."
"Explain." Jaune requests.
"Bullets are small, glass shards are big." Blake answers in simple terms.
"I suppose that makes sense." Weiss says.
"Then most of our ranged weapons won't work." Sun says.
"Speak for yourself." Nora grins. "I doubt it could fully block an explosion."
"I honestly anyone will ever be able to fully understand Maiden power's without actually having them." Ren says. "Whatever rules we think of are likely to be broken, if it's magic in the classical sense at least."
"All the more reason to think of strategies." Weiss says. "More strategies means more options, if one thing fails we can always try another."
Cinder attempts to slice Amber with the two blades, only for the Maiden to deflect each hit and kick the assailant away just as Mercury and Emerald come forward in her stead. The two miss their initial attacks and get kicked for their efforts, but Mercury lands a blow on her only for Amber to rush at him, not noticing Cinder connect her swords together into their bow shape and notching three arrows. Amber manages to punch Emerald and kick Mercury away right before turning around and seeing Cinder launch the arrows at the ground around her, which erupt in a high whistling noise and a burning explosion from each projectile. She feels the full force of it all, her Aura heavily damaged from the attack.
"Told you explosions are the way to go." Nora says.
"They do seem especially effective." Ren admits. "Though for all we each Maidens abilities could be suited to the one wielding them."
"You can't let me have anything, can you." Nora sulks.
The screen is white for a moment before Cinder appears with her partners behind her, slowly approaching their target as she gets up from her hands and knees. She swipes at the three with a gust of wind that blows them all away, but Mercury races back towards her until he's blasted back by a bolt of lightning from the now burning-eyed Maiden. She suddenly turns back and sends a fireball at Emerald, only for it to disappear and the real thief to be revealed on the other side, also getting a blast of flame.
"Looks like Emeralds hallucinations could take a big toll on her concentration." Jaune says. "If she's not in the right state of mind, I doubt she'd be very effective."
"Isn't that true of anyone?" Oscar asks.
"Not always." Jaune replies. "Yang's pretty terrifying when she's angry."
"But that doesn't mean she doesn't leave openings." Pyrrha says.
Yang just shrugs. It doesn't matter if she leaves a few openings. In fact, it actually works out best for her.
With all three of her opponents down, Amber grabs her staff from the ground and uses it as support to walk over to Emerald, wincing and clutching her side all the while. Emerald only has time to look up in fear before Amber glowers and raises her weapon to finish the fight... just when a quick whooshing noise ends with a sudden thump right as she gasps in pain.
"No!" Pyrrha cries out.
"W-what happened?" Ruby asks.
"She should have kept her eyes on Cinder." Pyrrha explains, gritting her teeth. "Cinder was the real threat, but she focused on Emerald since she didn't like being fooled."
"You can tell that much just from the video?" Sun asks.
"It's just an educated guess." Pyrrha explains.
Eyes wide, Amber collapses forward, an arrow sticking out from her back while Cinder lowers the bow and smiles once more. She drops her weapon and calmly comes forward, taking out a white glove as Mercury and Emerald force their defeated foe to her knees.
"This must be when it happens." Blake says.
No one's happy about the outcome, but they knew it would end something like this. The entire fight was a tragedy they had no way of stopping.
"All we can do now is figure out how Cinder stole the Maiden power." Ren says. "If there's some trick to the powers that not even Ozpin knows, then being able to tell him would be a big step towards fixing things.
Amber and Cinder meet eye-to-eye before the villainess lifts up her now gloved hand, the back of it marked with the red symbol of an open eye in a compass shape, broken on one side by five diamond shapes. Cinder reaches down, palm towards Amber when the white suddenly opens a small red portal, out from which a Grimm bug comes out.
"WHAT THE FUCK!?" Sun shouts. Everyone else yells something along those lines, but he was the loudest.
"G-G-Grimm?" Ruby squeaks. "How? How is she… …with a Grimm?"
"This is… this is impossible." Weiss says.
"That's exactly what Emerald said before." Jaune realises, still reeling from the appearance of the bug.
"You're saying it's real… that they can actually…?" Weiss doesn't even know how to finish that sentence."
"Last proper video we learned about Maidens." Jaune says. "We didn't believe it at first, but now it's undeniable. And now we've learned about people who can control creatures of Grimm. This puts everything we previously knew into question."
"M-maybe it's some sort of parasite." Ruby suggests. "One that makes you work towards making things terrible." While terrifying, the idea is also comforting because it means people as terrible as Cinder might not really exist.
"She only just put the glove on." Ren refutes the idea immediately. "Plus the part where Emerald was with a Beowolf means that Cinder can somehow bend them to her will."
"But think of all the good you could do with that!" Yang yells. "Why would the people to figure it out use it for something like this?"
"My best guess is that to control Grimm you need to have goals that align with them." Jaune says. "If that's the case… wow, Cinder might be part of some weird Grimm cult."
"And that's what Ozpin's group fights against?" Weiss narrows her eyes. "Forgive me but… that just sounds so insane that I can't believe it without more proof."
"It makes sense that Ozpin would try to cover it up though." Blake says. "If every malicious person figured out they could betray humanity like that, I'm sure at least a few would."
"All we know for sure is that a single Grimm is cooperating with horrible people." Weiss firmly states. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves making wild guesses, we've had enough of that recently."
"Weiss is right." Ruby says. "If this really is important enough to be something, then it will be explained later. For now we're best of just watching."
Weiss nods her head. "Thank you."
Ruby smiles back, but in doing so, she's also hiding her own nervousness. The reason she made them drop the subject was because she didn't like the idea of it.
A Grimm cult? The mere idea frightens her more than anything else she's seen in the videos.
"Please don't..." Amber's begging is just a whisper.
The creature spits out a web of black, attaching to Amber's face in a familiar pattern. When she looks up, screaming, her one free eye is blazing, a final blast of wind erupting from her as the glow fades into the inky strands, up through the glove, and into Cinder's body. Her own victorious eyes light up with power, a shower of sparks surrounding her and black-and-red circle appearing under their feet. Amber closes her eye...
"The Grimm is the one that transfers the power." Blake realises. "That's a strange ability for a Grimm to have."
"Maybe all Grimm interact with Maiden's in some way." Sun suggests. "I mean… what if they relate to each other in some way?"
"We already know that the Maiden's powers come from a hermit wizard." Yang says. "If the Grimm really are older than humanity, then that can't be the case."
"I wouldn't put too much stock in an old story like that." Ren says. "For all we know it could just be a way they explained the power's existence in the past."
"Either way it doesn't matter." Weiss says. "If the Grimm do normally interact with Maiden powers then Ozpin would have warned Pyrrha about it. Since that's not the case we can assume this is a special situation."
"So Cinder might have raised this Grimm to steal Maiden powers somehow?" Ruby asks.
"It makes more sense than anything else I can think of." Weiss replies. "Not that we can be sure, but maybe."
Then without warning, footsteps are heard racing towards the ritual, and Cinder only has a moment to look up and see Qrow swinging his sword down on them, severing the web and making the three leap back.
"Yeah Qrow!" Ruby cheers.
"That explains why only part of the power got stolen." Ren says. "And also why Mercury was wary of being noticed by him."
"But how come he didn't notice them in the tournament?" Blake asks. "Surely he would have seen them at least once?"
"It doesn't seem like he got a good look at them." Yang shrugs. "That's the best I can come up with. I also doubt he watched many of the fights."
"They were only in three matches." Sun points out.
"I'm just glad he arrived to save Amber at all." Pyrrha says. "Who knows what would have happened if she got all of the power."
"Apparently she would have still been doing something at Vale." Ren says. "Since she started making the preparations before this."
"That's all the more worrying." Weiss says.
The Huntsman grabs the unconscious Maiden before she hits the ground, and Cinder watches to her hand as the glove burns away into nothingness, leaving only a tattoo of high heels between her exposed shoulder blades.
"What is that?" Ruby wonders.
"Some sort of Maiden mark?" Oscar guesses.
"That can't be the case." Weiss says. "Otherwise Ozpin would be on the search for someone with a 'strange tattoo' on their back."
"So it's something to do with the Grimm." Ruby reasons. "It does look sorta like Grimm markings."
"Speaking of… did she just become one with that Grimm!?" Yang yells.
"I can't believe I'm saying this but… probably." Blake says.
"That's disgusting." Nora's more than a bit creeped out.
"I can only assume it's related to a Geist's abilities in some way." Weiss says. "Though she seems to still be in complete control of herself."
"I wonder what else she's managed to do with Grimm." Jaune says. "I really hope it's just this."
Cinder looks up with a grin, right eye now brimming with golden energy, as she gets up from her position and raises her arms, embers circling around her. Qrow can only see her shimmering face for a second before the ground under him starts to glow, and he gets himself and Amber out of the way just as it explodes. He looks back and finds that the three are gone, then turns his worried gaze to the marked and comatose face of Amber when the scene fades to black.
"She seems a lot more powerful with the Maiden powers." Oscar says.
"You can say that again." Sun agrees. "And that's only a part of it."
"I just hope Amber can recover." Ruby says.
"That… doesn't seem likely." Blake says. "Even Ironwood admitted it's just a matter of time."
"But if we return the Maiden powers then…"
"That's no guarantee." Weiss says. "And are you willing to be the one to do the deed?"
Ruby's startled. As much as she knows it would be for the best she isn't ready to kill someone. She could never set out on a task with the intention of murder.
"The Huntsman severed the connection before it was complete." Cinder says, then waits for a reply. "Yes. It's... an emptiness. It burns. Like hunger. I like it." She responds as if she'd been talking to someone. "Yes. I will claim what is ours." ... "Thank you."
"Who is she talking to?" Pyrrha asks. "And why can't we hear it?"
"That's another movie trick to hide someones identity." Jaune explains. "And yeah, it sucks."
"But the way she's talking." Weiss says. "Could it be… a mentor?" She was almost going to say master, but surely Cinder would be too proud for that.
"Regardless this means there are more people we may have to be worried about." Ren says. "Hopefully we'll be able to get their identities by the end of this so we can ask Ozpin to put out a search for their arrest."
"Sounds more like a job for Ironwood if you ask me." Yang says.
The darkness cuts back to the White Fang camp, Adam and the Lieutenant in a different tent around a table with maps, masks, and vials of Dust all around.
"We'll find her, sir." The lieutenant holds a hand up to his chest. "I swear on my life."
"They sent out a search for you?" Oscar says.
"I thought they might." Blake replies. "It's one of the reasons I tried to keep a low profile during the first few weeks at Beacon."
Yang chuckles. "Don't lie, you were just shy."
"I-I wasn't!" Blake complains.
"Forget it." Adam says. "It's time I returned to Mistral and..."
His sentence is cut short with the sounds of groans, explosions, and crashing are heard outside the tent flaps. The two come out of the tent, blade and chainsaw raised.
"Did Cinder strongarm the White Fang into joining her like she did Roman?" Sun wonders. "That doesn't really seem to fit with what we've seen before."
Blake sighs. "It may have started that way, but if they gave Adam opportunity to hurt people then… I'm worried he may have started to like working with them."
"What is this!?" Adam yells.
Cinder is there, swords drawn amid the still-smoking battlefield, with White Fang soldiers laying all around and her subordinates kneeling on the ground with cases in front of them. "We could've gone to anyone for help." She discards her weapons and strides towards the two. "But we chose you, Adam Taurus." A wall of flames abruptly starts at their feet as she raises her hand. "Our plan will be beneficial for both of us." The camera changes to view her face. The designs on her sleeve are glowing. "Or one of us." Emerald opens her case to reveal Dust crystals and collector canisters inside, while Mercury shows the neatly-arranged stacks of Lien in his. "So, which will it be?"
Adam slowly straightens up while Cinder lowers her arm, clothes going back to their regular colours as she smiles.
"There's no way the rest of the White Fang could know about this." Jaune says. "They can't all be crazy enough to follow her after that."
"That's why they wanted Adam." Blake says. "He may be crazy, but he believes in himself so much that others can't help but think he's in the right. I'd call him a puppet leader, but it seems like he's more than willing to work with them."
"That's really messed up." Weiss says. "How can they not realise what they're doing is wrong?"
"They don't want to." Blake answers. "And some of them just don't care."
"Yang Xiao Long wins!" Oobleck's familiar declaration cuts through the flashback.
The cheering of the crowd brings the scene back to where the story left off, in the Amity Colosseum, with Mercury's picture on the board crossed out with Yang's beside it. The final events of the previous episode play out in flashes of scenes.
"Seems like we're back to the present." Oscar says. "Well… not our present but… you know."
"Finally!" Nora groans. "I hate it when stories do stuff like this."
"But we learned plenty of useful information." Ren's says. "I think that more than makes up for whatever grievances you may have."
"I wouldn't be too excited though." Jaune says. "It seems like the video might be almost over."
"Is it just me or have they been getting longer though?" Yang asks.
"It does seem that way." Ruby agrees. She's watched it all again recently, so she thinks she's got a good idea on it.
"They don't seem to have any set length though." Jaune says. "The length of each video seems to vary dramatically."
"This isn't like a regular show though." Blake says. "It would be very difficult to split real events into equal segments without making a mess. They probably just looked for the best cut-off points and edited around to make everything fit."
"Yeah, you did it, sis!" Ruby cheers from off in the crowds.
"There's not going to be a next time, Blondie!" Mercury says.
He aims a sudden kick, and Yang punches him down with a shotgun shot from her Ember Celica. The applauding crowds turn to booing, and Yang is suddenly surrounded by Atlesian Knight-200 and Atlas Soldiers.
"Yang Xiao Long, stand down!" An Atlas soldier demands.
"My leg, MY LEG!" Mercury continues to fake his suffering.
Everyone winces at the replay of events. Now they have proper context as to what really happened, but that doesn't mean seeing it isn't frustrating.
Cutting back fully to the present, Mercury is still cradling his injured limb, Emerald kneeling beside him and Yang in the centre of a ring of security, all with rifles aimed at her.
Emerald calls out, distressed. "Please, somebody help him!" Paramedics come over with a stretcher, lowering it to Mercury. "Can you do something!?"
"They must notice something's wrong, right?" Yang asks. "This should clear my name, right?"
"I'm sure Cinder's already planned for that." Blake says. "She could have payed of the medics in some way, or any other number of methods."
Yang groans. "I just… I just want this to be cleared up somehow."
"Welcome to the world of cinema." Jaune says. "Even on repeat viewings I like thinking about what it would be like if someone had just done that one thing to fix everything. Guess it's also true for real life."
"Except we really can do that one thing." Ruby's says. "All we've gotta do is figure out the best way to do it."
"Current abnormal circumstances aside, is there any chance of them being foiled?" Weiss wonders. "It can't be completely fool proof, else Cinder would have managed to steal all of the Fall Maidens power."
"We already know it's going to succeed." Blake says. "After what we read in Ruby's letter, and the original warning about a catastrophe, there's really no other alternative."
There is a rip in the leg of Mercury's pants, and skin and blood are visible through the rip.
One paramedic exchanges a glance with his co-worker. "We need to get this boy to a hospital. Grab a blanket."
"That's not what should be there!" Yang complains. "What about the prosthetics? That's definitely below the cut-off point."
"They must be under Emeralds hallucinations." Pyrrha says. "That seems like the obvious answer."
"And that unfortunately means she can use her Semblance on multiple people at once." Ren says. "I was hoping she would be limited to a single person."
"I swear her Semblance sounds more broken every time I hear about it." Yang says.
They get Mercury on the stretcher and rush him off, Emerald following right behind. Yang looks on with a horrified expression, her lilac eyes now almost colourless.
"You don't understand!" Yang points at Mercury. "He attacked me, I swear!"
The Atlas soldiers just lift their guns higher in response. "Stow it! You've already caused enough of a scene!"
"Why can't they at least listen to her?" Nora yells.
"Would you really believe someone over your own eyes." Sun says. "We all know she didn't do it, but you can't blame them."
"If Yang says she didn't do it then she didn't do it." Ruby firmly states.
"She's not exactly the kind of person to lie at a time like this." Weiss agrees.
Yang's glad to know her team would support her through this. But then she turns to the final member and notices her flinch.
Blake can't help but feel ashamed for not trusting Yang automatically. She knows blind faith isn't a good thing, but she should have given the benefit of the doubt at least once. As she looks at Yang she can't help but feel like her mistake might have brought a rift between them. One she's going to need to close some time soon.
Meanwhile, Emerald runs alongside the two paramedics as they come across an open door with a woman in the same outfit inside.
"Here! We've got an ambulance ready to go!" The woman gestures them to stop.
"Now I definitely recognise that voice." Sun says. "They really thought this part through."
"It wouldn't be hard for them to get records of standard emergency procedures from the CCT." Ren says. "That could be one of the reasons they had to install the virus."
"But I doubt it was the main reason." Weiss says. "It seems like far too much effort and risk for something like that."
"Does anyone here have a clue what the real purpose could be?" Ruby asks.
"She probably wants to control information flow when her plan comes to a head." Blake says. "That's my best guess, but I could easily be wrong."
Later, the back door closes on the emergency airship they loaded Mercury in.
A paramedic sighs. "Hope they'll be okay. That girl won't leave his side."
The woman, revealed to be Cinder nods under the white cap with a red cross she's wearing. "We'll take good care of both of them."
"Is it weird that a small part of me wants to know where she got that outfit." Yang says.
"That's probably just one of the mysteries that we'll never learn of." Jaune says. "We can't exactly expect this to cover every detail, can we."
The transport flies away from the Coliseum, and Mercury is lying on a cargo box in the back, still moaning and crying beside Emerald sitting next to him.
"Oh doc, tell me, will I ever walk again?" As retribution for this Mercury receives a punch in the arm from Emerald, so he rubs the sore spot he actually got hurt from. "Ow! What's your deal!?"
"It's really disturbing how easily they can joke in a situation like this." Yang says.
"It just goes to show how little they care." Weiss says. "I doubt they have even a bit of remorse for their actions."
"How could they not care even the littlest bit?" Ruby asks. She just can't understand that kind of mindset.
"I don't know." Weiss says. "As much as I've seen it, I really just don't know."
Emerald groans as she puts a hand up to her forehead. "Ugh, headache. One mind I can handle, but two is a stretch."
"Seems like she really can only handle one person at a time." Pyrrha says. "I doubt she'd be able to fight with what's apparently a really bad headache."
"Glad we finally have one weakness we can exploit." Weiss says. "Her Semblance honestly seemed like one of the most difficult obstacles to counter."
"I assumed you were planning on taking them by surprise." Oscar says.
"We probably will." Weiss replies. "But we've already seen how that doesn't always work out. It's always best to plan for these things."
"Well, you all performed marvellously, driver included." Cinder calls back to them from the co-pilot's seat.
The 'driver', wearing a similar uniform as Cinder, blinks her magenta eyes back to their usual brown and pink shades and nods in silent gratitude.
"Shoulda known Neo would be involved somehow." Yang groans.
"Well, it's been a long time since we last saw her." Sun says. "Guess a mute girl would draw too much attention."
"Wait… she's mute?" Ruby says.
"How do you know that?" Blake asks.
"I… erm… I just assumed." Sun stutters. "I mean, she hasn't said anything and it was kinda freaking me out."
"So you're not sure." Weiss glares at him.
"He's probably right though." Yang says. "During our fight I didn't even hear her grunt. I did sorta find it odd."
"So, you think it worked?" Mercury asks, as the airship continues to fly away.
TV static cutting to the Vale News Network with the combined kingdoms' symbol and a caption reading 'Tournament Tragedy'. "A terrible tragedy took place this afternoon in the one-on-one rounds of the Vytal Festival Tournament..." Lisa Lavender, a reporter says.
"This sucks." Nora complains.
"You can say that again." Jaune agrees.
TV static switches the channels to...
"I don't know what Beacon's Headmaster is teaching his students, but that was disgraceful! Completely uncalled for!" A tourist from Haven gives his thoughts on the situation.
"Are they even allowed to broadcast such depressing news?" Oscar asks. "There must be some rules against it, in order to limit Grimm attacks?"
"The media is advised to refrain from causing too much panic." Ren explains. "But preventing the suppression of facts is one of the things the great war was fought over."
"And the media's always hunting for the newest gossip." Weiss says. "With how widely broadcast this was, it was probably accepted that the negative emotions were inevitable anyway."
Just hearing this makes Yang feel sick. How many people lose their lives because of her mistake? She was being manipulated, that's obvious, but she shouldn't have been so easily fooled.
TV static switches the channel to...
"Despite Atlas reinforcements, local authorities are still calling on any available Huntsmen to aid in suppressing the spike in Grimm activity." Video feed of Grimm advancing from Mountain Glenn to the city is shown.
"Are they going to cancel the Vytal tournament?" Ruby asks. "If the Grimm are that active then…"
"They couldn't risk the negative publicity." Blake says. "If the Vytal festivals cancelled then everyone knows for a fact that things are bad enough that they have to take special measures. That would probably make things even worse."
"They'll probably think that by acting like everything's fine they can simply move past it." Ren says. "They would usually be right, if not for the fact that some people are actively trying to sabotage the tournament."
The projected screen in the warehouse switches off entirely.
"Hey, I was watching that!" Mercury complains from his spot at a table, while using a screwdriver to tune up his mechanical leg.
"Shut up!" Emerald yells.
"Is this how you treat a patient?" Mercury asks, so Emerald reaches over and twists the screwdriver in his leg, causing him to wince. "Ah, too tight!"
"Serves him right!" Yang says.
"I heard prosthetics can be insanely painful when not maintained properly." Weiss says.
"Serves. Him. Right." Yang states. At this point she has no sympathy for any of them.
"Enough." With one word Cinder brings the bickering to a stop. "Our Mercury put on a wonderful show. He was quite brave."
"He cried like a baby." Nora recalls. "How is that brave?"
"I hate to admit that it was quite good acting." Pyrrha says. "Even I couldn't tell that he wasn't in any real pain."
Mercury resumes fixing his parts as he talks to Emerald. "These things aren't exactly cheap, you know."
"So, what's next?" Emerald asks Cinder.
Cinder turns to her, grinning with arms crossed. "You and I will ensure that our next matchup goes just as smoothly."
"You have got to be kidding me!" Jaune says. "How are they gonna manipulate things when none of them are in the fight."
"They'd have to use Emerald's Semblance." Blake says.
"But then both sides can just explain what really happened." Jaune says. "And it's not like she can predict both sides actions so perfectly that they end up blaming each other, at least not without one of them there to directly interfere."
"They must have some other plan then." Ren says. "Let's just hope it will be the last match they try to interfere with."
'Surely someone would get suspicious if matches repeatedly ended with people seeing things that didn't really happen.' Jaune says. 'Even if they do it only once more, someone in Ozpin's group will catch on.'
"What about me?" Mercury asks as the other two turn to leave.
"You get to lay low until the end." Cinder instructs. "We wouldn't want people to see you on your feet and have this all be for naught, now would we?"
"Can do." Mercury agrees. He goes back to screwing his limbs back to perfection, smiling, and the blue area under his artificial knee lights up right before the video ends.
"Well that was mildly terrifying." Sun says. "Why do things always have to go according to the villains plans?"
"At least we learned a lot." Blake says. "This was probably the best Video in terms of helping us plan ahead."
"I still don't like flashbacks." Nora grumbles.
Oscar asks. "So are we watching the next one or…"
"Just play the next damn video." Yang says.
"Yang!" Ruby yells at her sister.
"I'm sorry." Yang quickly apologises. "This is just… it's just a really hard day for me."
"It's fine." Oscar replies, starting the next video.
Ren's Notes:
Cinder wants to be strong, feared, powerful
Unusual starting presentation
Cinder's backstory?
Catastrophe in order to be feared?
Someone stole something, possibly Emerald.
Emerald and Cinder's first meeting, back alley after Emerald stole something
Emerald likely self taught
Plan unlikely to be told before happens due to narrative reasons
Emerald stole right in front of someone, very skilled. (Something else going on?)
Cinder does something to Beowolf, Emerald in disbelief
Cinder searches for Mercury/his father
Emerald very grateful to Cinder, saved her from living on streets
They find Mercury with cuts across his legs, possibly healed by Cinder's maiden powers
Cinder originally looking for Marcus Black, who was killed by Mercury
Marcus was assassin, Mercury his son
Cinder has need for an assassin
Emerald not happy with someone else joining them, Cinder ruthlessly asserts dominance
Cinder gets in touch with Torchwick
Cinder gets in touch with Adam Taurus
Cinder just needs a dedicated army
Adam chooses not to work with them at first, doesn't like following others
Plan is "Beneficial to both parties"
Cinder must come back later
This took place just before Blake left WF, didn't see them though
Cinder has another task, must steal Maiden powers
Amber tricked my Emerald as little girl
Sound for disguise not real
Emeralds Semblance actually hallucinations.
We should be careful about assumptions
Emerald must have limitations
Emerald caused Yang to think Mercury was attacking her
List from before about who to frame, Yang more easy to manipulate than Pyrrha
Emerald can miss small details in her hallucinations, we need to train to notice
Maidens can block bullets with bare hands, uncertain limitations
Mercury in the fight, how?
Mercury has prosthetics to fight, explains why he sacrificed his legs in tournament
Maidens still beatable by normal people
Maidens very powerful: telekinesis, freezing things, full body forcefield. Uncertain what traits are universal or user specific
Season doesn't indicate what powers they have (probably)
Cinder's Semblance: Super heating, amassing small particles or similar
Maiden powers might boost Semblance
Maidens might be vulnerable to larger projectiles (everything about them still speculative)
Explosions especially effective
Emerald's hallucinations take large toll on concentration, likely can't fight actively at the same time
Must keep eyes on Cinder, she's always the most dangerous
Amber restrained, Cinder pulls out glove that contains Grimm bug!
Cinder can control Grimm ? Must be limits?
Grimm Parasite (unlikely)
Grimm cult? Must align with Grimm goals? Mustn't jump to conclusions though. Only one Grimm seen so far.
Grimm bug is the one that transfers power. Do all Grimm interact with Maidens?(unlikely)
Grimm bug likely made specially for stealing powers
Qrow intervenes, splitting connection. Doesn't see any face clearly
Maiden powers not end goal, was planning more before failed attempt
Cinder becomes one with Grimm bug to gain powers, causes mark on her back
Grimm bug similar to Geist
Cinder much more powerful with Maiden powers
Cinder talks to someone, likely her mentor/predecessor
At WF camp, Cinder comes to wreck everything and force cooperation
Adam likely came around to Cinder's plan with time
Back to last chapter's ending
Both medics see cut on Mercury's leg, take hit to hospital
Soldier unwilling to hear out Yang's side (understandable)
Cinder intervenes with medics to get Mercury out with her, wearing disguise with aerial ambulance
Emerald gets headache tricking two minds, unlikely to happen outside of planned events
Neon is driver of aerial ambulance. Is likely Mute
Several broadcasts show how bad the situation has become. (People's opinions, Grimm activity)
Mercury maintaining prosthetics
Similar plan with next matchup, uncertain about logistics when both participants need to be manipulated
Mercury laying low for the rest of the plan.
