Taiyang was the first to enter the room, the kids following close behind. It was gigantic. The large dome above their head was about the size of the whole arena, but what really was surprising was how deep it was. This was the access point to the large Gravity Dust reserves that were supposed to keep the Arena lifted above the ground, and thus the room went directly down to where normally the crystals were lodged.
Right now, while parts of the Dust Crystal was still there, much more had been sent flying by the explosion. Gravity Dust wasn't as volatile as other types were, thankfully, otherwise the explosion would have completely obliterated the reserve and instantly brought down Amity. Instead, about half of the Crystal was gone, either exploded or currently hovering in pieces around the room, while the larger piece was still lodged in its place, a few feet down and with the left side more damaged, explaining the tilting of the arena.
"Alright!" Coco said "We just need to get to the elevator and we can…"
"Halt!" A voice shouted. A woman, judging by the sound. They turned to the direction of it, and saw two individuals in Atlesian Specialist uniform moving forward. A tall woman, armed with a great mechashifting war hammer, and a thin man that looked short next to her, but was actually quite tall, stepped forward.
"Can we help you?" He asked, and at a glance Tai could tell he was looking at a trained Huntsman prepared to fight.
"My name is Taiyang Xiao Long. I'm a retired Huntsman and a teacher at Signal Academy, and those are Coco Adel, Yatsuhashi Daichi and Fox Alistair, students of Beacon Academy." He introduced quickly "We are here to help."
"No offense, sir, but I doubt you can help in any way." The man replied "It would be best if you just…"
"Wait, wait, wait!" He raised his hand "I can't really help, but she can." He pointed at Coco Adel, "Her Semblance can power-up Dust to make it stronger. She could use it on the Gravity Dust and propel us. At the very least, we could try to have Amity fall into the sea, or the Emerald Forest."
For a long moment, the two Specialists just stared at him, then the thin man nodded "Very well, follow us."
"Vine, you can't just…"
"I'm in command until we can get in contact with the General, Winter, or Clover back in Atlas. Inaction would cause a disaster Elm."
"We don't even know if it's safe!" Elm shouted "They might be lying. They might be connected with the White Fang!"
"We are citizens of Vale trying to help you!" Taiyang shouted "What would be the point of going through a charade like this? The Arena is already falling!"
"He has a point." Vine said "They wouldn't need to do this if they wanted to cause damage."
Elm looked at him, then back at Taiyang and the three students, before slowly nodding "If I think there is anything strange with you, I am going to break your legs."
Tai nodded, and Vine sighed. "Please, follow us."
They were taken to an elevator that lowered them further. The control room below was an hub of activity, with a large number of Atlesian soldiers and a few men that were probably technicians working hard.
"All the main systems of movement are down, but the emergency routines allow limited changes of course." One of them shouted.
"See if you can figure out a way to stabilize us."
"The rotoscope is losing more control!" A man shouted just as the ground shifted slightly under their feet.
"Do your thing now." Elm said when they reached the center of the room. The enormous crystal, Tai noticed, was actually just a container for show. Of course. In nature, there wasn't a single piece of dust that big, and even if there was, it would have been a terrible waste to use it like this, not to mention it would have been irreplaceable if it broke or exhausted itself. Rather, the giant crystal was a container shaped like one, and inside were the real bars of Gravity dust, connected to each other and to the machine that made the arena work. The pieces of Dust floating in the room, he could now see from below, were actually the pieces of the container with enough dark dust still attached, while more was hovering on the floor, sometimes forcing them to push some out of the way of their faces.
"Alright! Step aside and let miss Adel do her magic." Coco exclaimed as her hand moved forward, but Tai could notice her nervousness as she put her hand on the largest bar of Gravity Dust she could find.
"Can you power them all up at once?" Tai asked.
"Yes, it's not that different from powering up the whole magazine of Gianduja. Except, you know, for the size. That's some powerful Dust."
"First quality." Elm intervened "We only use the best Dust the Kingdom of Atlas could provide."
"And I bet Vale had to pay handsomely for that privilege…" Coco laconically commented before starting to push her Semblance in the crystals. All the crystals shone brightly at once, producing a purple light that invaded the room. Tai noticed the girl starting to sweat.
"Can she really hold it?" He asked.
"Her Semblance allows it, but we told her it would probably take a toll on her Aura really fast." Fox replied, furrowing his brow "We need to act fast!" He added loudly shouting at the soldiers and technicians, who were staring in awe at the girl.
"Move it, quickly!" Elm shouted, "How is it going?"
"We are regaining altitude, but stability is only at sixty-seven percent. We can't afford to lose anymore or we will tip over."
"I don't care if we tip, I just want to make sure we don't fall on Vale."
"We can probably maneuver to crash on the outside of the walls in ten minutes." Another technician, the one working with the controls, shouted.
"I would suggest going a bit faster!" Coco shouted. Yatsuhashi, staring at his Scroll, frowned.
"How long do we have."
"Six minutes, more or less. Probably less."
"Six minutes…" Elm muttered something, but Vine stepped forward.
"Aim for a part of the city with less houses."
"That will still kill someone!" Taiyang protested, walking up to him only to be stopped by the woman.
"Better a few than many!" Elm replied. "You have a better idea?"
Tai scrawled his mind. A place where it could fall and cause the least damage…
"How long would it take to reach the sea?"
"Less than ten minutes. We could crash in the port, but there would be people trying to evacuate to Patch there."
"Decide fast!" Coco shouted.
Tai thought hard. Where was the safest place, the one where there would be no people, in a place like Vale, where population issues were the most important problem to solve for the Council…
"Beacon!" He shouted, "Can you crash us on the fields outside of Beacon Academy? It doesn't matter if the whole arena doesn't fit, so long as we avoid a disaster!"
"That would also hit the Academy!"
"And there are students fighting there!"
"We can send a message to tell them to get away!" Tai replied in desperation.
"And what about the CCCT, are you forgetting it's there too? If it comes down…"
"Atlas can rebuild it, but we can't save all of Vale otherwise, can we?"
Elm and Vine looked at each other, than at the technicians "How long to crash near Beacon?"
"Four minutes, the Arena was already close and…"
"Do it, but try to keep us away from the tower. If we hit the cliffs, try to push forward. Best case scenario, we stuck ourselves on them."
"Yes sir!"
"Soldiers, keep the Gravity Dust constantly fueled. You" Elm pointed at Yatsuhashi "The moment one minute is left, tell us and we will evacuate before the crash. You" She turned to point at Coco "Make sure to keep your Semblance going as long as possible."
"What do we do?" Taiyang asked as Fox nodded next to him.
"Keep an eye on those three." She replied, "I need all the soldiers ready to help here, so they might try and escape."
"Who…" Tai turned in the direction she was pointing at, and noticed three students he hadn't noticed until now, cuffed next to some crates, sitting there quietly.
"Team FNKI…" Fox realized, venom in his voice.
"We captured them for interrogation regarding their friend." Vine explained "We want to know if that Neon was really a White Fang member or not."
"She wasn't!" The kid that now Tai recognized as the Team leader shouted "Neon hated the White Fang!"
"The world has seen otherwise." Elm commented "Now keep silent and sit there."
Tai looked at them. He felt a bit of pity, but he wondered if they were right about what their team member thought. He knew for experience that sometimes the closest people could lie to you.
-x-
"How long do you plan to stall this duel?!" Adam shouted as he cut in two a Summoned Grimm from Atlas, a Manticore. The creature roared and disappeared into white mist, and he turned to Winter Schnee in time to see a group of large Beowolves charging at him.
"Long enough." Winter calmly replied. Adam roared as he chopped through another Grimm, then another, then another. He grunted as a flock of Nevermores hit him all over before he unleashed a series of quick slices, chopping them all to pieces and turning to a large Beowolf that was cut in half a moment before he could hit. 'I see what your plan is.' He thought, chopping and slicing through more Nevermore and another Manticore clawed at him before he bisected its face. 'You want to drain my Aura before I can get in close quarters, so you will have a chance.'
It was the most sensible choice, but she was also consuming a large portion of her own Aura to do that, but she probably was aware that Adam's own Semblance allowed him to cut through Aura with ease, and was willing to sacrifice most of it in exchange of draining his. A bold strategy, almost suicidal, but something he could expect a Specialist to consider.
He charged forward. If she wanted to drain him, the obvious choice was to not allow that. He ignored the stream of Nevermore that flew around him, ignored their sharp beaks and claws trying to poke his flesh, and sliced at Winter. The woman dodged to the side and sliced herself, but Wilt simply deviated the strike and moved forward. The hidden blade inside Winter's saber came out in time for her to black the attack and use the force of his own impact to move back.
'She is actually a decent fighter, more than I had originally expected.' He though as he thinned the Nevermore flock. 'And she knows how my Semblance works, guess Atlas does its research. I cannot absorb her attacks effectively. Moonslice is stronger the more powerful the attacks I'm hit with are, and none of those were enough to fuel it for more than one burst.'
Adam grunted and charged forward. If she wanted to see him go all out, he was going to. If finesse wouldn't do it, he was going to use brute strength for once. Winter frowned as he charged forward and created a Glyph to stop him, but he broke through it and unleashed Moonslice. Winter dodged, but the weapon grazed her arm, and she grunted as her Aura managed to live her skin wounded. He grinned and attacked, a quick series of strikes that cut down her Aura even more, and Adam smiled as he turned one more thrust into a kick with his right leg, sending Winter rolling on the floor, choking. He walked up to her and hit her once more with his foot, locking her on the ground.
"Any last word?" He asked, raising his hand.
"Die, Taurus."
He chuckled, then felt something hit his Aura and coughed, stepping forward, an arm on his back as he turned around and decapitated the Beowolf.
"The Glyph was a summoning one, uh?" He asked, laughing "A smart move, but desperate. Not much Aura left, isn't that right?"
"I did what I had to." She defiantly replied.
"You die, Schnee."
"You too, Taurus." She replied.
Then the ship rocked as an explosion thundered on the side. "What?!" Taurus shouted, turning around in time to see the other ship charge an attack towards them. "Get me in contact with Torchwick! Now!" He shouted.
-x-
"If it helps my case, General, I really enjoyed your cells. Minimalistic but very comfortable. If I could just show you how much I-gagh." General Ironwood closed his metallic grip around the man's neck just a bit more. "Ok… I get it… No talking…" The criminal replied, and he squeezed a bit more.
"Speak when I say you can. Tell your henchman to drop your weapon and you will get out of this alive."
"Neo, you heard the General, be a nice girl and put down Melodic Cudgel." He replied, and Neo obeyed, letting go the cane she had picked up to try and keep him at bay. Hush had been rendered useless when she had made the mistake of striking his metallic arm, only to have it blocked and pulled out of her hands. She was an excellent fighter, and the General was willing to admit she had given him a hard time, but even if she had massacred every Atlesian soldier, she wasn't completely unscathed, and against him and Penny, that had cost her. He looked down at the thief, and activated his Semblance. No longer burdened by hesitation, he smashed his head on the ground, making him lose consciousness immediately and aiming Due Process at his back before Neo could react.
Penny gasped. "General, that's excessive!"
Ironwood ignored the gynoid and looked right at Neo's eyes. "I could execute him here and now, or you can stay put and be quiet." He said, and he meant it.
Torchwick was just a pawn of Salem and Cinder, he had always been, and fighting the girl until she went down was going to cost the General time he didn't have. Even if he sent Penny to do it for him, she was skilled, and he couldn't risk the future protector of Atlas for some overtrained thief. He had a White Fang cell and a dragon to shoot out of the sky. Torchwick and Neopolitan were going to be the lucky member of this conspiracy and spend the rest of their life in an Atlesian cell. He didn't care. Neopolitan stared at him with an unimpressed look, pointing at her mouth eloquently. He did not react, instead keeping his gun aimed at Torchwick while his now free hand moved to the controls of the airship. The cannons were loaded, so he took aim on Taurus airship and fired. He didn't feel any hesitation. His Semblance wouldn't allow it.
Penny realized what was happening a moment before he pressed the button, but by then it was too late.
'Farewell, Winter. Your sacrifice won't be forgotten.'
The airship fired.
-x-
Nora pirouetted and Magnhild smashed against the shield of the incoming unknown Grimm, only for her to be the one sent back when the large lion-centaur pushed her away. The creature wasn't completely unscathed, but it was far from worn out.
She quickly turned her weapon in a grenade launcher and fired her last four shots, but the blue creature moved back slightly, almost like it was merely annoyed by a projectile strong enough to kill most normal Grimm.
"What are they made of?!" Nolan shouted as he barely dodged a blade that otherwise would have decapitated him.
"I don't know but it's tough." The scythe wilding Huntsman commented out loud. He was facing the larger one, the silver maned beast that had effortlessly cut through a Paladin. He was clearly in the back foot, only surviving out of what seemed like random cases of bad luck for his opponent, like swinging just a bit too low and getting its weapon stuck in the ground for a moment or a stray shot from an Atlesian robot hitting his arm as it was shielding itself. Nora had only noticed those two, busy as she was, but she was sure there had been more.
"Nolan, charge me up!" Nora shouted, and Nolan looked at her.
"Are you sure? We already did it once."
"Give me more electricity then, I don't care!"
Nolan nodded and hit her with his weapon, while Arslan and Sun jumped in to keep at bay the two monsters. One of Sun's clones was cut in half, the other exploded in the monster's face in time for the young man to hit him with the staff form of his weapon to block the incoming blade quickly before mechashifting into the nunchakus, slamming both in the creature's face.
Nora charged forward the moment Nolan let her go and didn't miss a moment, Magnhild coming down with the power of a meteor, her body charged by electricity. The impact sent the monster staggering back, his shield crashed, but still standing.
"Alright!" She shouted "Now that's what I call a charge Nolan!"
"Think we can do this?" Sun asked, standing next to her.
"I hope so." She replied, before looking up as she heard a sound. The dragon started to fly above them, heading for the school. "Not against that one though."
"Yeah… that's a bit above our grade I think." Sun commented while dodging the sword of the blue creature. Next to them, Arslan planted her dagger in the red monster's eye, making it roar in pain.
"We can do this!" She shouted, kicking his chin before using its torso as a step to jump back and land back on the ground. A series of shots from behind, from other huntsmen and students that weren't busy holding back the Grimm, hit the red monster.
"Alright, we are doing this. How long do we need to hold this line?!" Arslan asked.
"Until Ozpin shows up!" Another huntsman shouted.
"Well I hope he gets moving." She commented, as the ground shook under her feet.
-x-
Jaune entered in the room using the elevator and entered in the Headmaster's office, completely dark. 'This is insane…' He told himself for the sixth time in the last minute. He was following a prophetic dream, and for what? A sword? He had Crocea Mors already, why would he need more?
The thoughts were stopped when someone grabbed him by the neck and held him tightly. He reflexively followed Pyrrha's instructions and tried to walk back to slam his mysterious assailant against the wall. Whoever they were, they noticed, planting their feet. He felt himself suffocate and tried to weasel his hand between the arm and the neck, and gasped when his iron gloved fingers managed to push through, before using the other hand to try and grab his assailant's head.
He found the hair and pulled, finally getting a shout out of the girl.
A familiar shout. And when he moved his hand to try and confirm it, he found the appendages he was looking for.
"Velvet… It's me…. Jaune…" He managed to say, gasping for air the moment the girl let him go with a startled cry.
"Jaune! Oh I'm so sorry!" The girl helped him up, "Professor Ozpin said to take down anyone that walked in unless they were my friends."
"Well now I feel disappointed." He said with a weak chuckle.
"Not in that sense! We were waiting for my teammates!" She replied, and Jaune stared at the girl that had just almost suffocated him.
"Velvet that's… The school is overrun by Grimm."
"Yeah I noticed from the window. I think Professor Ozpin wasn't expecting the school to be overrun this quickly. He's probably going to help us out of here once he's back."
Jaune nodded, sighing in relief. With the Headmaster of Beacon on their side, they were sure to make it back to the Bullheads and out of the schoolgrounds.
"I see. Hey Velvet, can I ask you a question?" He asked, as he looked at the Faunus.
"Yes?"
"Since when do you have a sword?" He asked, pointing at her hip. She looked down at the blade in surprise.
"Oh, right. Professor Ozpin said to take this for later. He had it on his desk before." She said, "I'm not sure why though, I tried to look at it but it won't come out of the scabbard. It's like someone stuck it in there."
"Weird." Jaune commented, looking at his own scabbard, the shield with the Arc family crest on it collapsed to house the sword. "I guess it's some heirloom or something."
"Yeah, I don't think it can mechashift either, and…" The ground shook. It was like an earthquake had started right under the school. They staggered, almost falling to the ground.
"What was that?" Jaune asked.
"I don't know, it sounds like a roar. But what…" She stopped and stiffened, her hand moving on the camera on her hip. "Someone is coming."
Jaune nodded and pulled out his sword, while staring at the wall at the end of the Headmaster's Office. After a moment, he heard the sound of the elevator reaching the top, and the door opened. A woman with black hair walked out, a flame on her right eye as she stared unimpressed at the two of them. "How gallant." She commented, "A knight came to rescue the princess at the top of the tower from the evil witch."
Jaune's grip on his sword grew tighter, but he felt the rage start to boil "Why are you doing this?"
"I'm here for the Maiden, that is all that concerns you." She said.
'Maiden? What does she mean?' He looked at Velvet, who was trembling slightly as she held up the camera.
"What happened to Professor Ozpin?" The rabbit Faunus asked, "Where is he?"
"Your Headmaster is busy. Permanently." Cinder's wry smile sent a chill down Jaune's back.
"You…"
"I. Now girl, how will you do this? Will you give up or do I have to beat you into submission?" She looked up to Jaune "As for you, boy, you are free to leave. I don't care about you, and you will probably be eaten by a Creep before you make it back home."
Velvet moved her hands, taking a defensive stance "I'm not letting you kill me."
Jaune for a fleeting moment felt the desire to leave. To run away. But then raised Crocea Mors and took his stance. "I'm not going anywhere."
Cinder looked at them with disgust. "Idiots."
And she attacked.
-x-
Velvet dodged to the side, avoiding the incoming blade and using Anesidora to create a weapon. Her Semblance and weapon synergized immediately, with the Gambol Shroud made of hard light immediately feeling familiar in her hands like she had trained her whole life to use it. She blocked a dagger and fired a shot back that Cinder lazily blocked with her bare hand before ignoring Jaune's sword and kicking Velvet in the chest, too fast for her to block.
The girl was sent flying and crashed in Professor Ozpin's desk, standing back on her feet just as Gambol Shroud disappeared, in time to watch Jaune get kicked away as well, against the wall.
Anesidora quickly created a new weapon, Penny's blades opening like the tail of a peacock behind her back as she moved forward before assuming the shape of a circle and impacting on Cinder's body. This time, she could tell the woman was more worried, as she made two blades manifest out of thin air, heat crackling through their length as she attacked, parrying the various blade of hard light before throwing one her way and blocking and incoming attack with the other. Velvet realized just in time that the swords were too far extended to block the blade in time and instead made them disappear before forming Ember Cilica and Yang's fighting style. She ducked under the blade and rushed forward, hitting Cinder with a rain of fists that the woman managed to hold against with bare hands.
Velvet spotted Jaune charge Cinder from behind in time and grappled her quickly putting her hand around the woman's wrists. Jaune's Crocea Mors came down on Cinder's back.
And then the other hand grabbed it and twisted. Jaune's grip was strong, but something happened as the entirety of the blade started to shine bright and Jaune screamed, reflexively letting the blade go.
Cinder quickly turned it around, holding it by the handle, and hammered at Velvet's head with it. The rabbit girl let her go and changed weapon again, as Jaune made a futile attempt to ram Cinder with the shield that was stopped by his own sword slamming against it.
Velvet's hand were quickly gripped around a copy of Gianduja and she fired. The rain of bullets from the minigun forced Cinder to jump out of the way, but Velvet knew she was at a disadvantage here. Cinder had received close to no damage, meanwhile she was consuming dust and Jaune had been slammed against the walls and floor, not to mention disarmed.
Gianduja disappeared and she switched it to Crescent Rose, moving in pirouetting like Ruby and slicing at Cinder, who in response merely smiled as she ducked under the giant scythe and hit Velvet no less than three times with an incandescent Crocea Mors as she recoiled, gasping for air. Jaune, recoiling from a hit he had barely blocked, moving next to her.
"She is… so strong…" He said, gasping. Velvet had to agree.
"And I only have half of the Maiden power! Imagine how much more powerful I will be when I can use them fully." Cinder commented, as she grinned pointing Crocea Mors forward.
"Give me back my sword!" Jaune shouted.
"I would, but I fear it won't be useful for much longer." She replied, and the heat of the blade seemed to grow. Jaune let out a desperate shout as his sword, that Velvet knew was a family heirloom and probably the object he treasured the most, liquefied and fell on the ground, the hilt falling on a puddle of fused steel. The boy's shoulders slumped, and Velvet roared angrily. She knew full well how much the weapons meant to every student in Beacon: her own weapon was designed around that premise. To see one destroyed in front of her made her go in a blind rage.
And she felt a surge of power come forward as her eye lighted in a flame. She pointed her hand forward, and she felt the small cloud forming behind her and a lightning inside it fly towards Cinder. The woman recoiled before her own eyes lighted of that same flame and she pointed forward. A sound like a screech came from under Velvet's feet and she jumped out of the way dragging Jaune with her just as an explosion of fire burst from the ground.
"Here!" She shouted, unbuckling the sword Ozpin had handed to her and passing it to Jaune. "It won't come out but it should at least hurt her if you bash her in the head."
Jaune nodded and grabbed the sword. Cinder was on them a moment later, separating the two using a kick to send Jaune rolling backward and an elbow in the gut to make Velvet keel over. The rabbit girl turned around in time to see an explosion form under Jaune and shouted uselessly as the young man was hit by the fire and sent down on the floor.
The tower shook and suddenly went darker, as Velvet jumped back and tried to use the Maiden powers again. A flash in her mind showed her people she didn't know, places she hadn't been to, the back of an horse she had never seen running around Vale, and she created Oobleck's Antiquity's Roast. The flamethrower felt natural in her hand, not because of her Semblance but because it felt like a staff she had never wielded.
She aimed it forward and fire burst out, created by her Dust but really amplified by her magic, fanning flames larger than anything she had ever seen Doctor Oobleck create. Cinder responded with her own flames, and for a moment Velvet was winning, her heart beating faster as the flames grew, until the moment passed and she felt weaker as the flames stopped and Antiquity's Roast disappeared. In that moment there was a screech from outside the window. Velvet turned around and gasped realizing why the room looked darker.
The giant dragon was roosted outside, looking in the room with his three pairs of eyes, his black and white head enough to cover all the windows.
Velvet was distracted for a moment, but it was enough for her opponent to hit her with three arrows. The last one was too much for her Aura and broke through, entering in the shoulder. Velvet shouted as she felt the wound start to burn, and quickly pulled out the arrow before using her weapon once more to create StormFlower in a desperate attempt to defend herself. The dual gunshots were lazily blocked by Cinder, who then kicked her.
"End of the line, Scarlatina." She said, planting her foot on her stomach. Velvet gasped as the woman's heel pressed in her gut.
"I… haven't… lost… yet…" She said. Sun's pistols started to manifest in her hand but Cinder pressed down with her heel once more and she shouted.
"But you have." Cinder replied, kicking her down once more before she took a step back and created her bow from nothing.
-x-
Jaune felt numb as he stood up shakily. In front of him, Velvet was on the ground, Cinder holding her down with her foot. He couldn't here what they were saying, his hearing still numbed by the explosion that had hit him before. He wasn't dead or dying only thanks to his Aura reserves being his only good quality in a fight.
He looked at the sword in his hand and pulled. He needed a sword proper to try and save Velvet, anything.
The sword slid out.
The light that followed it blinded him. The dragon outside the window screeched and looked away. Cinder shouted as the bow in her hands clattered on the floor, before turning towards him in rage.
"You think you can save her, you worthless…" She stopped.
His response stopped too.
Three more Jaune stood up in front of him, each with a different colored hoodie under their armor. They all looked virtually identical to him, apart from that and the color of their eyes, ranging from green, to red, to a deeper shade of blue. Each of them was holding a sword like the one he had, and a shield identical to Crocea Mors'.
"Pleasure to meet you." The blue one said.
"Kinda pathetic, aren't you?" The red one commented.
The green one said nothing, merely grinning.
"Well, this is new." He commented as the tower shook once more.
(xx)
Alright, and after the Embers, here go the Flames. Boy those Fall chapter are an interesting thing to write.
The Fall is interesting to write. I have a total of four locations to handle, each with their own challenge. It's real fun but I'm so glad I had it planned out long in advance.
You thought I forgot in this timeline Penny was still around uh? (Or maybe not, who knows.) But yeah, I had her and General Ironwood retake Torchwick's airship while Adam was busy stroking his ego fighting Winter in a one v one. Though to be fair, Adam couldn't know the General would use Winter, a Specialist and a Schnee family member, as bait.
And I finally answered the question on where Team F_KI was, that's good.
Boy Velvet and Jaune v Cinder was hard to write. She had the upper hand the entire time since Velvet doesn't really have control on her powers and Jaune might not be totally useless but he is the weakest fighter in the room and it shows, but I didn't want it to be too onesided to the point of it being a curbstomp, and I wanted to give both half-Fall Maiden a chance to show off. I hope I hit a decent balance.
I feel bad for destroying Crocea Mors, but eh, one must do what one must do at times. At least he got the Four Sword in exchange. Why not the Master Sword? Find out in the future!