This week was another Free-For-All! The prompt for this story was "Pyrrha is late for her wedding."
Pyrrha dashed through the hallway of the small church outside of Mistral as quickly as she could in her wedding gown. This was about as embarrassing as anything she could think of. Last minute preparations had taken longer than they were supposed to, and now she was late to her own wedding.
Her own wedding. The thought still felt so strange to Pyrrha.
She arrived at the door to the chapel where Ren and Nora were already waiting for her. Ren breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her, while Nora stuck her head through the door to loudly stage whisper "She's here." On the other side of the door, music started playing almost immediately.
"I'm sorry," Pyrrha whispered to her teammates, her face red with embarrassment.
"It's alright," assured Ren, helping her lower her veil.
"I could have ruined everything," groaned Pyrrha.
"It'll be fine," insisted Nora. Before Pyrrha could say anything else, she threw open the doors to the chapel and began walking down the aisle, tossing flower petals with a bit more vigor than was absolutely necessary.
Pyrrha shook her head to clear her mind and took Ren's arm. The two of them began marching after Nora as the music picked up.
Pyrrha had wanted her parents to be present to see her married, but they both thought that she was still dead. She was aching to see them again, but it was safer for them not to know that she was alive, not until Salem was defeated. And, besides, as far as Pyrrha was concerned, her teammates were as good as family.
As she walked down the aisle, she cast a quick glance around the chapel. For the most part, it was simply arranged with two rows of pews leading up to the pulpit. There were flower arrangements spread around the room, but the most notable features were the large stained-glass windows that lined the side walls and the full-size statues of armored Huntsmen that were raised between them. They were like stone protectors watching over Pyrrha's wedding.
She glanced around at the people standing as she passed. Team RWBY was there, as were Oscar, Sun, and some of Blake's friends from Menagerie, but she couldn't see any trace of Jaune. She had to try very hard not to let that bother her.
Finally, Pyrrha turned her gaze to the ever-nearing pulpit. Standing behind it was Blake's father. As the chieftain of Menagerie, Ghira was the only member of their little cohort with the authority to perform a marriage ceremony. In addition, Pyrrha had found she liked the man as soon as she met him, and she might have asked him to officiate her wedding even if she had been given more choices.
And beside the chieftain was her groom, resplendent in his tuxedo, gray hair neatly combed for once, his ever-present smirk replaced with a real smile. Pyrrha beamed as she made eye contact with him behind the veil.
As she reached the pulpit, she separated from Ren and stepped up to come face to face with her groom. He lifted the veil to reveal her smiling face, and Ghira began to speak.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join Pyrrha Nikos and Mercury Black in holy matrimony. If any person here can show cause why these two should not be joined, speak now or forever hold your peace."
At that moment, the door to the chapel burst off its hinges, and a fireball came careening down the aisle. It hit the pulpit and exploded, knocking Pyrrha, Mercury, and Ghira off their feet.
Pyrrha rose to her feet as quickly as she could to see Cinder glide into the room with Emerald close behind her. The half-covered injury on her face did nothing to lessen Pyrrha's anger at the woman who had killed her.
"I have a reason," declared the Fall Maiden in a slightly scratchy voice. "Dead people can't marry." She raised her hand and another fireball appeared in it.
However, before she could throw it, Pyrrha raised her arms and activated her Semblance. All around the chapel, the floor burst as everyone's weapons crashed through and into the Huntsmen's waiting hands. In an instant, Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Oscar, Sun, and Ilia went from defenseless wedding guests to armed and deadly fighters.
This was why Pyrrha had been late. Hiding the weapons somewhere that she could reach with her Semblance had taken longer than she expected. The church's basement proved difficult to navigate, and a few changes to the guests' seating were made at the last minute.
"Ha!" laughed Cinder. "We thought you might have found a way to sneak your weapons in. But we came prepared to fight all of you!"
As she spoke, the windows shattered as large black shapes crashed through them. A dozen Beowolves, all appearing to be Alphas, landed at the sides of the chapel, surrounding the Huntsmen. Each one had a steel plate covering its head, and their arms had been replaced with mechanical ones covered in razor-sharp blades. Two of the Grimm even had machine guns built into their limbs.
"Watts' cyborgs!" shouted Mercury. He had warned them that such abominations existed, but he didn't know their full capabilities. Still, his warning at least lessened the shock of seeing machine melded with Grimm.
The machine gun-armed Beowolves opened fire on the crowd and like that the battle was joined. Pyrrha and Weiss used their Semblances to defend against the machine gun fire while the rest of the Huntsmen and Huntresses charged into the fray with the rest of the cyborg Grimm.
Ruby took a step back from the fighting, while Yang and Oscar moved to protect her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then opened them to reveal a soft silver glow. The Grimm shrank from the radiance, and Cinder sneered even as the light grew brighter.
"Has she mastered her power?" growled the Fall Maiden.
Then Ruby cried out as a flash of blinding light exploded in front of her. A deafening screech, like nails on a chalkboard, but a million times louder sounded in her ears. The young Huntress collapsed, and the silver light disappeared.
"You're not the only one who's learned some new tricks," said Emerald snidely.
"Ruby!" cried Yang. She nearly turned to help her sister, but one of the cyborg Beowolves redoubled its attack at that moment. Sparks flew from Yang's mechanical arm as she used it to block the monster's metal claws.
The battle quickly turned against the students. They had lost what they thought was their trump card, and at the same time they suddenly had to protect Ruby's prone form. The cyborg Grimm were significantly more dangerous even than an Alpha Beowolf, and it was everything the Huntsmen could do to hold them back.
Pyrrha wanted to rush into battle with the simple xiphos sword and hoplon shield she had used to replace her own broken weapons, but it was taking all of her and Weiss' combined focus to stop the machine gun-armed Grimm from mowing down her allies. That was when she spotted Cinder in the center of the room, looking at Pyrrha as she summoned a long, glass spear.
Pyrrha's mind raced with possibilities. None of her friends were in a position to help her. Could she defend herself while maintaining her Semblance? Could she afford to drop her protection for a moment while she parried the attack? Pyrrha wasn't sure, and she knew that lives hung on her decision.
As Cinder raised the spear for a throw, Pyrrha saw movement out of the corner of her eye. One of the statues that lined the room threw itself from its pedestal and towards the Fall Maiden. Cinder noticed just in time to turn her head and see the statue's sword strike her chest. Her Aura saved her life, but she was still knocked from her feet with a grunt of pain.
The Huntsman deactivated his Semblance, and his stone body turned back into flesh and blood. Jaune Arc stood over the Fall Maiden, Crocea Mors poised above her throat.
From the back corner of the room, the sound of breaking glass rang out. Neo appeared from nowhere, her blade already drawn from her parasol, and in an instant she decapitated one of the cyborg Beowolves, freeing Pyrrha's focus. The diminutive girl tapped her scroll, and the monotone of her text-to-speech device said "Surprise, bitch."
"What?" cried Cinder, raising her hand and blasting a torrent of flame in Jaune's face. However, a flash of light returned Jaune to his stone form, and he was unharmed by the fire.
"You only saw my Semblance once," the Huntsman reminded her. "You never knew the full extent of its power." He raised Crocea Mors and brought it down with all his might, breaking Cinder's Aura and opening up her chest with a spray of blood.
"Cinder!" cried Emerald, turning to face Jaune. But before she could move to attack, Mercury's boot hit her in the cheek, knocking her off her feet. Mercury quickly threw himself on top of his former partner, keeping his hands on her so that he'd know where she was even if she used her Semblance on him.
With her attention freed, Pyrrha grabbed one of the Beowolves with her Semblance and ripped it apart with its own mechanical augmentations. With Neo's help, the Huntsmen quickly turned the tables and destroyed the remaining Grimm.
When the fight was over, Yang went to check on Ruby and managed to wake her from unconsciousness. Ren, Nora, and Blake worked together to bind Emerald, while Pyrrha, Jaune, Oscar, and Mercury stood around Cinder, who was paling from blood loss.
"This whole wedding was a trap?" demanded the Fall Maiden weakly.
"Yep," answered Mercury with a smirk. "The traitor marrying the girl who came back to life? We knew you wouldn't be able to resist."
"The hardest part was convincing you that Mercury and I were really in love," added Pyrrha.
"Aw, come on, it wasn't that bad," Mercury protested.
"The hardest part," reiterated Pyrrha. "I mean really, one of the hardest things I've ever had to do."
"You've made your point," the former assassin said drily.
"He was just really unpleasant to be around. I honestly think I would have rather dated Cardin."
"We get it!" shouted Mercury.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" cried Pyrrha as she realized that she'd been ranting. Mercury muttered something under his breath and walked away.
"And I had to pretend to be angry enough to miss the wedding," added Jaune. "Even then, it might not have been enough if Neo hadn't shown up. She had come to take revenge on Ruby, but we managed to convince her that you were the one who was really responsible for Torchwick's death."
"If you're going to keep gloating, could you just kill me now?" demanded Cinder, looking even paler than before.
That was the sticking point. They had Cinder now, but they hadn't decided quite what to do with her yet. Keeping her prisoner would be almost impossible, and they could have used the Fall Maiden's powers, but still they weren't sure about killing a defenseless captive.
Oscar stepped forward and placed a hand on Cinder's chest. Her wound glowed with green light, and then slowly disappeared. When Oscar removed his hand, Cinder fell unconscious. His Semblance had healed her but also left her weak.
"She'll be out for close to a day," Oscar declared with Ozpin's voice. "I will see if I can remove the Fall Maiden's power, but if that fails we will likely have to kill her. While she is awake."
Pyrrha and Jaune nodded in acceptance. In spite of all the pain she had caused them, both were still reluctant to take Cinder's life. Still, that could be a question for tomorrow.
As ever, Nora managed to shatter the somber mood.
"Hey guys, fake wedding, real reception! Let's go!" Everyone cheered, and quickly filed out of the chapel to the garden where the food had been laid out. Soon, only Pyrrha and Jaune were left.
"So," began Jaune. "Was your wedding everything you imagined it would be?" Both laughed at the ridiculousness of his question.
"You know," Pyrrha replied after a moment. "If I ever do get married for real, I think I'd like to do it outside."
"If?" noted Jaune.
"Well," answered Pyrrha. "I'd have to find the right man." She turned to face Jaune, and green eyes met blue. Both of them were smiling brightly, and unlike Pyrrha's earlier smiles, this one was real.
"Come on," said Jaune after a moment, offering his hand. "Let's go before Nora eats everything."
Pyrrha took it and turned to walk outside to her wedding reception, hand in hand with the man she loved.
Author's Note: This one was a ton of fun. That's about all I have to say, it was just a total blast for me. Though if you couldn't tell, I've never been to a wedding and barely know what's supposed to happen. And yes, it was written just a few days before Jaune's Semblance was revealed.