Volume 3 Chapter 9: No Turning Back

AN: Holy crap I'm on a roll with writing right now. Let's see how much I can get done here.

EDIT: Oh, hey, apparently life decided that I don't get to write again. Well, three weeks later, back to the grind it is.


Kassidy rubbed at her eyes to wipe away the last vestiges of her nap. Yes, a nap. Best as she could tell, all of Cinder's moves were revolving around the Vytal Tournament, and that probably wouldn't change tonight. While she could operate despite pulling an all-nighter after escaping Beacon's campus, there was no reason to potentially compromise her combat readiness if she didn't need to. Bob would've let her know if something had happened, anyway.

"My most recent analysis of the subroutines we're investigating suggest that they've been modelled off the worm we implanted in the code in Mercury's leg. I'm still not finding how deep it goes; while 'all the way' is probably a safe assumption…"

She picked up when Bob trailed off. "Better safe than sorry. I'd rather have facts over assumptions."

Somewhere around the fifth hour of Bob's attempts to slave Atlas' robots to his systems, he noticed that some of the code was largely unrelated to many of the androids' primary functions. While it made sense if Atlas had a backup way into their army in case primary transmissions failed, this wasn't Atlas' code. Kassidy could tell the moment she looked at it – it looked like something she would have coded. It looked disturbingly similar to something she would have coded, to the point that the subroutines she was examining now look a lot like the code she would've inserted into the Atlesian Knights to assume direct control.

Kassidy shook her head. She had the same problem now that she did back on Earth, trying to stop that damned interdimensional wormhole test that wound up blowing the place up – too much to do, not enough time to do it in. "Still nothing on Cinder and her flunkies?" she prompted.

"That's a negative," Bob replied. "Cinder's last message to anyone was three hours ago, while neither Emerald nor Mercury have contacted anyone electronically. The Bullhead they appropriated last night has yet to arrive, either."

"And the Fang?"

"Communications across known channels have maintained their current load of 47% above baseline levels."

Kassidy frowned at that. Those damn terrorists were mobilizing, best as she could tell. Unreported and unlabeled Bullheads moving around the edge of the Kingdom, spikes in communications and activity…

Too much to do, and not enough time to do it in. Kassidy's gut was telling her that shit was hitting the fan tomorrow, if she was lucky. And she didn't trust her luck, these days. Twenty-four hours wasn't enough time to penetrate Atlas' networks, and penetrate the White Fang's networks, and track down all their resources, and sabotage anything those damn terrorists would be bringing, and do all that while keeping an eye out for Cinder. If this was the Kassidy of twelve months ago, she wouldn't even be bothering. She'd be out of civilization, putting as much distance between herself and the explosions as possible. Even now, there was a small, traitorous voice in the back of her mind telling her that this wasn't her fight, that she shouldn't throw her life away on a suicide mission. She did her best to ignore that part.

What she wasn't counting on was for that internal voice to get an external companion.

"It seems like every time I turn my eye on you," a voice that Kassidy really did not have time for began, "you manage to impress and surprise me."

Kassidy couldn't help the groan she uttered, almost tiredly grabbing up her pistol and, without looking, aiming it at the weird noise those damn portals loved to make. "Look, I don't have time for you bullshit today," Kassidy warned. "Come through that portal, and I'm blasting you back to wherever the hell you crawled out from."

"Yes, because that worked so well for you the previous two times I've tested you," Raven answered as she stepped through, calling her bluff with a voice in which you could practically hear the eye rolling. Kassidy had to fight to keep from groaning again. The woman was right: the few times she'd managed to tag Yang's absentee mother with Rogue, the woman just swatted the bullets out of the air with her sword (something that Kassidy honestly still had trouble understanding how the hell that worked). Assuming she didn't dodge the bullets. Assuming she even bothered with dodging instead of simply walking through them.

"If it makes you feel any better," Raven continued, interrupting Kassidy's self-pity session, "I am not here to test your strength."

Kassidy didn't have to fake the exasperation in her voice when she shot back, "Testing my strength? You call attempted homicide testing my strength?"

"Yes," Raven answered plainly. Before Kassidy could go off on her, however, she followed up with, "However, testing your strength is not necessary at the moment. You're proving it right now."

Her patience was already at the end of its rope, and the last thing Kassidy needed with so much to get done was a distraction. "Look, whatever you had in mind coming here, forget it. I've got too much crap to do right now to put up with you."

"Why?" The simple question finally got Kassidy to look up from Bob and glare at her unwanted guest, but Raven continued before she could get a word in edge-wise. "Atlas' resident despot in disguise just tried to have you arrested, and he won't take the wound his pride suffered sitting down. Ozpin will come to his defense – not yours – and even assuming he didn't, he has little to offer you." Raven paused for a moment, whether to take a breath or to watch Kassidy's reaction she couldn't determine, before continuing. "So why are you busy? Why do you insist on wasting your strength in the service of fools? In the service of those who hate you, or at best offer only token thanks."

Kassidy determined it would be best to give a simple answer to a simple question. "I'm not doing this for Ozpin and Ironwood. I'm doing this for the thousands of people whose lives are about to get very difficult if someone doesn't do something – because I'm pretty sure I wouldn't trust Atlas' tin cans to get the job done." She closed her eyes and took a breath, before continuing, "I'm doing this for my friends. For my team. For my… for my family."

Whatever she thought Raven's response to that would be, Raven didn't do it. Instead, Kassidy nearly had her jaw drop when Raven reached up and took the helmet off her head. Her eyes were downcast, almost reminiscing, and the woman muttered, "I know something about that."

"Then you know why I have to do this," Kassidy argued.

"I know why you feel you have to do this," Raven stressed. "But you're not thinking. You're only focused on the here and now, rather than looking at the bigger picture." The woman crossed to the opposite corner of the ratty, rotted-out apartment that Kassidy had holed herself in and took a seat on the corner of a table. "You have the potential for so many things," Raven said slowly. "You have such a great destiny ahead of you. But potential counts for nothing if you die before realizing it."

"I'm a hard person to kill," Kassidy shot back. "And even if it did happen, I'm not afraid of dying. Not for a cause that's worth it. My team is worth it."

"You're not listening," Raven hissed. "You are walking into a war for which you are ill prepared. Every enemy you've fought against, everyone you've struggled against – Roman Torchwick and the White Fang included – is insignificant in the grand scheme of things. You've done nothing but fight pawns, so far. Are you seriously so deluded as to thinking that you can challenge the queen, the rooks and knights and bishops, when even the pawns test your mortality more often than not?"

"You people and your damn chess metaphors," Kassidy grumbled, brows furrowing. "Perhaps if you could give me some information on the people I'll be fighting, it'll do more towards improving my chances than giving me a lecture I'll probably ignore anyway."

"Doing so will only compel you to engage in a fight that you cannot win," Raven said, shaking her head.

"Well, what the fuck would you have me do, then?!" Kassidy yelled, patience snapping. "Run and hide, like you?! Abandon the people I care about, abandon the woman I love – your own daughter, by the way – when they need me most?" Abruptly cutting her outburst off, Kassidy tried to calm herself. "I've spent my whole life running. Nothing good has ever come from it. Ever. And with so much on the line now…" Looking up and meeting Raven's eyes, she asked, "So what's your grand idea for making horrible shit not happen? Obviously, you didn't come here for small talk. Come on, let's hear what you have to say."

Raven shot Kassidy an annoyed look, but didn't pause as she answered, "Come with me." When Kassidy did nothing but blink at her, Raven continued, "The Branwen tribe is always looking for those who are strong. With us, you'll be able to nurture your strength and hone your skills, far more than you ever could at Beacon. I'll be able to tutor you and give you the tools you need to succeed against the foes you seem determined to face." Raven closed her eyes shook her head, chuckling as she thought of something. "There's another girl there – Vernal – who's just like you. She's my current protégé, and even only being seventeen she's still far more powerful than any of your classmates. You'd fit in well at the tribe, and with us you'll be able to grow far faster than you could here."

"Yeah, but you forgot the part where life is complete shit over there," a third voice replied, and damn if Kassidy wasn't getting sick and tired of people making themselves at home in her hideout. Qrow leaned up against the open window he had undoubtedly flew through in his bird form, before glaring at his sister and practically spitting, "What? Your own daughter not good enough for you, but you're willing to steal her partner away from her?"

Raven scowled, defenses coming up and any shred of amiability fleeing as she retorted, "There's promise in her we can't ignore. It would be the basest of foolishness to leave it squandered in the service of idiots – and a tragedy to send her off to die before her potential is realized."

"This 'her' you two are speaking of happens to be in the room and has a functional set of ears," Kassidy growled. Pointing at Raven, she continued, "Unlike some of the people in this room, I'm not running away when the people I care about need me. Now, unless you'd like to mention some of this information you claim to have about the people I'll be fighting, I'm going to need to ask you to get the hell out. I've got business with Qrow."

Raven glared at both of them for about ten seconds, obviously not pleased with how the meeting went. After a bit, though, she stated, "Cinder has usurped the Mantle of the Fall Maiden, stealing half its power. Even with only half of it, she has access to full elemental manipulation and greatly increased Aura reserves and regeneration. If she somehow manages to finish the job…" Raven trailed off, taking the time to put her helmet back on. "Cinder is beyond you, Miss Smith. It would be a tragedy if you died fighting odds you are unprepared to face. Whatever your preparations, whatever your expectations, know that there will be no victory in strength."

"Raven, wait," Qrow called out suddenly. "Things are going to shit – in a hurry, if I had to guess. We could use someone like you."

"'Use' someone like me?" Raven challenged, obviously not liking the wording. She swung her sword and created another portal, but before she stepped through she spoke over her shoulder, "If you should survive this, come find me. We still have much to discuss."

As Raven left and the portal closed behind her, Kassidy groaned, collapsed in her chair, and rubbed at her eyes. "Can I just once, for twenty-four hours, not have something go to shit." Thinking about it for a second, she amended, "Or at least not have people portal into my fallback locations when I'm quite obviously trying to hide."

"Wait," Qrow suddenly barked out, "She portalled directly to you?" At Kassidy's nod, he suddenly grew a contemplative expression. "She bonded to you… why did she bond to you? What the hell do you want, sis?"

"She 'bonded' to me?" Kassidy asked, eyebrows raising. "What do you mean by her 'bonding' to me?"

"Her Semblance. I'll tell ya once we fix this mess we're finding ourselves in."

Kassidy shrugged. Much as she didn't like that answer, there were other things that took priority. "I don't suppose you have any idea what the hell a Maiden is, would you? I'd ask Bob, but he's already stretched thin and I don't have time to send him hunting down rumors."

Qrow nodded. "Something I wanted to bring you in on a while ago, but Jimmy kept vetoing. Speaking of Jimmy, you do realize you landed yourself in some deep shit with that stunt you pulled last night, right?"

"Not like I had too many other options," Kassidy defended. "It was either get into deep shit that instant or get into deep shit later. At least the second option gives me time to come up with something."

"I know what you mean," Qrow said. "If it makes you feel any better, old Oz was fuckin' pissed when he found out what Jimmy had tried to do. Things go right, and odds are that even with what Atlas can make happen we'll still be able to make it basically a slap on the wrist – restricted to Beacon's grounds, supervised weapons access, small shit like that."

Kassidy's brow furrowed. "Not exactly ideal, but a hell of a lot better than the alternative." Qrow grunted, and she got back on track. "So, the Maiden. Care to give a straight answer, or do I need to play Twenty Questions like I did with your sister?"

The man snorted, opening his flask and taking a drink. "Lot of history and superstition and shit behind them, but for now, what you need to know is this. There's four of them, one for each of the seasons. The powers usually pass on to young women exclusively through some contrived and bullshit system – a system we don't care about, since someone figured out a way to steal these powers. Powers that, in the wrong hands, are some of the most dangerous weapons on the planet, and I think you'd agree that someone willing to murder someone else for them are the kinds of hands we don't want 'unimaginable power' in."

She drank the words in, filing them away for future questioning. "So how do I kill one?"

"The same way you'd kill anyone else," Qrow answered, before adding more darkly, "assuming they don't horribly murder you before you can blink." Kassidy opened her mouth to ask another question, but Qrow interrupted her. "Much as I hate my sister, she was right: that fight is way beyond you. Don't even think about going after her, because you won't stand a chance."

"I might not have a choice," Kassidy argued.

Qrow took another drink from his flask, then explained, "Elemental manipulation is the big one, though that doesn't really do it justice with how big and how creative the Maidens can get with it. It's basically Dustcasting, without Dust – and Ice Queen Junior should give you enough of an idea of how dangerous Dustcasting can be if they have enough Dust."

"So take away the material component and my chances of survival take a nose dive," Kassidy surmised. When Qrow nodded, she continued, "But Dustcasting needs a lot of focus, Aura, and space. Sitting on top of them usually means that two of those three go out the window."

"Which is why I said that 'elemental manipulation' doesn't do it justice," Qrow shot back. "I'm being serious here: if it's even remotely possible, don't fight a Maiden. It will not end well for you."

Seeing that Qrow wasn't willing to offer any more information on the Maidens, Kassidy turned back to Bob. "Alright, so let's talk business. Got a lot of shit coming down the pipes. Let's compare notes, see what we can find."

"I found the camera you mounted in your room," Qrow revealed, "so we know what you told your team last night." Turning a dangerous eye on Kassidy, he seethed, "That was a dick move, what you pulled with Yang."

Kassidy winced, suddenly finding Bob's screen to be quite fascinating. "I didn't handle that very well. Still feel like shit, if it makes you feel better."

"You didn't and you should," Qrow spat. Seemingly putting it behind him for the moment, he asked, "These three people you were talking about – Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury – are these the same that are on Team Carmine?"

"The very same," Kassidy confirmed.

"Well, shit," Qrow sighed. "They apparently took off for Mistral to return Mercury to his family. Needless to say, they never arrived at Mistral and nobody's seen them since last night."

"Bob's been keeping an eye out, as well as the Bullhead they appropriated," Kassidy offered.

Qrow shook his head. "They aren't gonna come in on the same ride they left in. I know a little something about them – reputation, mostly. Assume you're dealing with people as good at staying off the radar as you are."

"Oh, so Raven will lead us right to them?" Kassidy joked.

Qrow snorted but moved on without otherwise acknowledging the humor. "Oz is recalling as many Huntsmen as he can that are near Vale, but most of them won't be here for a couple days. And I sincerely doubt we have that long. Which means that we're stuck relying on Jimmy's tin soldiers."

"We probably can't rely on them," Kassidy muttered, shaking her head. At Qrow's confusion, she elaborated, "I kinda sorta wanted Atlas' robot army for myself, so Bob and I have been digging in to try and figure out how to steal control of the androids right out from Jimmy's nose. But look at this." Scrolling to the code she'd been investigating, she pointed out, "That's not my code. Someone beat me to the punch – the androids are already compromised."

"Fuck," Qrow swore, eyes widening. "Jimmy needs to know about this. Much as I don't like the idea, Atlas' army is nearly three quarters of Vale's defenses for this festival."

"There might not be need to panic," Bob spoke up suddenly, ending his mute observance of the events that had transpired. "I've managed to figure out how to use the code that had already been inserted. On Kassidy's order, I can use the preexisting code to simultaneously take command of the androids, and lock out whomever was seeking to use the army for their own ends."

Qrow took a deep breath, nodded, and started typing on his Scroll. "Phew, close call. I'm still letting Jimmy know what's going on, but at least we won't have to worry about a rogue army turning on us when we need it most." Tucking the Scroll in his pocket, he took another drag from his flask before saying, "So, that leaves us with –"

"I just found Emerald and Mercury," Bob interrupted. "They were just spotted leaving an unknown Bullhead and entering Amity's maintenance section."

Kassidy swore and leapt up so fast that she knocked her chair over. "Keep me posted; I'm on the move."

"Red alert: several dozen aircraft with forged Atlesian transponder frequencies have breached Vale's airspace and are approaching Amity Coliseum."

Qrow and Kassidy exchanged worried glances. The elder opened his mouth when Bob interrupted again.

"Red alert: multiple members of the maintenance team on Amity have begun changing into White Fang uniforms, and are currently equipping themselves with small arms and high explosives."

Kassidy could only stare ahead for a few seconds, before she got herself back under control and cut off the panic before it started. "Shit's going down."

"Yup," Qrow said. He started for the window, and asked, "You ready for the big leagues?"

Kassidy went for a corner and began equipping herself for the battle to come. Her cuirass was snapped over a long-sleeved, all black version of her usual outfit. Her belt was fastened in place and crammed to the brim with ammo, before Rogue was slammed into its holster. Baton and its sheath was slung across her back, before she hefted up an ordinary looking book bag. A hooded cowl, also black, was thrown on, covering her head and shoulders, before she attached and adjusted a black full-faced mask. The final piece of her ensemble – an automatic rifle, a 50-round drum already loaded in – was picked up and given a quick once over.

"I was made ready," Kassidy answered, her voice being distorted by a modulator built into her mask. "As in, I was literally made for this. This was what Project Colossus was all about." She gave Bob one final check-over, then ordered, "Bob, enter combat mode. Shit's hitting the fan, so we need to be ready to clean up. If anyone even thinks about hijacking Atlas' robots, shut them down and assume control. If I give the order, assume control."

"Acknowledged and understood," Bob replied.

Kassidy turned to the man about to leap out her window, and asked, "I don't suppose you have a way for me to get up to the Coliseum quickly, do you?"

Qrow hummed for a second, then pulled out his Scroll. "Let me call a friend."


Baton flashed, opening another White Fang grunt's neck and sending him toppling to the floor to join his companions. Kassidy huffed out a breath, then dug out her Scroll. "Talon to Qrow, I've finished mopping up the Southeast Quadrant. Still no sign of Emerald, Mercury, or Cinder."

"Understood," Qrow said. "Something's jamming my Scroll signal; I haven't been able to get in touch with anyone. I just got out of Ozpin's office and informed him of the situation, so he's getting shit done on his end. Still haven't been able to reach Jimmy – or the Coliseum, for that matter. I guess they didn't take Bob into account though."

"Actually," her computer interjected, "something has been trying to jam my communications module for the past seven minutes and twenty-three seconds. For obvious reasons, it hasn't been successful."

"Can you clear up the comms for everyone else?" Kassidy asked.

"I'm stretched thin enough as it is," Bob denied. "It would be a slow job at best, and I would be risking process integrity in other areas."

Qrow sighed over the comms. "Aren't you supposed to be some kind of super-smart computer? How are you stretched so thin?"

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep individual tabs on tens of thousands of androids, monitoring the system for new orders, and being prepared to act within a millisecond, all without Atlas noticing?" Bob countered. "Keeping an eye on the androids alone is taking up 69.5% of my processing capability."

Kassidy opened her mouth to reply but had to dive for cover when something made her Scroll explode. Given the shotgun blast behind her, it was safe to assume someone was shooting at her. Her assailant identified himself when he asked, "Hey, is that you, Kass? Almost didn't recognize ya. Gotta say, liked that old outfit better – this new one isn't doing half the job of showing your ass off." Kassidy couldn't help the hiss that escaped her throat. She peeked her head out, only to deem it safe to come out fully when Mercury made no attempt to separate her head from her shoulders. "You always were too nosy for your own good," Mercury said. "But, I guess curiosity does have this tendency to kill cats."

"Speaking of curiosity, I've some questions for you," Kassidy said, drawing her sword again from its sheath. "You're going to answer them."

"Am I?" Mercury asked, putting his finger to his chin and humming in thought.

"What are you doing here? What's the plan?"

"Shh, shh, shh!" Mercury suddenly shushed. "Wait for it…"

Kassidy tensed up, but instead of a counterattack she heard Professor Port over the intercom system. "It looks like our first contender is Penny Polendina from Atlas! And her opponent will be Pyrrha Nikos from Beacon!"

"Ooh," Mercury hissed, "polarity versus metal. That… could be bad."

Kassidy's eyes widened behind her mask, her jaw going slack. They're planning to… no. It won't happen. I won't allow it. She tapped on her earpiece and began, "Bob, stop that –"

Mercury opening fire with his shotgun boots made her interrupt her order and roll away from the bullets. The boy gave chase, leaping into an axe kick and forcing her to roll away from a blow that cratered the concrete floor. Kassidy touched on her Aura gliding, closing the distance in a fraction of a second to send Mercury flying with her sword. Mercury, however, simply leapt up and transitioned into a roundhouse kick that made Kassidy duck – and left her in perfect position to receive a follow-up knee to the face.

Fucker's done holding back, Kassidy surmised. Her right hand reached behind her and grabbed one of the Aura-cancelling restraints she stole from the androids she destroyed last night, making damn sure she didn't accidentally touch the node that seemed to be the contact point for whatever the hell could turn off Aura. Unfortunately for him, so am I.

Whatever Mercury thought Kassidy was doing, he was obviously in no mood to allow her to do it, since he all but flew at her the moment her arm snaked to her back, boot out and intending to punch a new hole in her chest cavity. Kassidy spun to the side, dragging Rogue around in the process and letting it scrape against his leg as he passed. Seemingly stopping on a dime, Mercury landed and gave another small hop, lashing out with shotgun shells in the process. Their melee quickly devolved to close quarters combat as Mercury did his best to never give Kassidy more than a foot of breathing room. Even after only ninety seconds of this, Kassidy had to more or less abandon offense in favor of staying even slightly ahead of his boots.

He's better than me, by a lot.

Drop to a knee, spin to left, bring up Baton to redirect kick.

Faster, stronger, better Aura control… maybe even more experience, and fuck if that isn't a horrible thought.

Leap up, use shoulder to shove him off balance, return arm to small of back, bait.

I'm only going to get one shot at this. If he realizes what I'm trying to do, I'm pure and simply fucked. I can't fight him conventionally.

Once again taking advantage of the fact that one of Kassidy's arms was now behind her back, Mercury dashed in again, eliminating what little space was between them. However, unlike previous times, he stopped short and went for an axe kick instead of simply flying at her with an extended leg. When she dodged the concrete-splintering boot, he balanced himself on one hand while repeatedly pumping his shotguns at her.

Alright, there! Arm is the weakness, plant the restraint and take him down hard and fast!

Mercury obviously knew something was up the moment Kassidy dove for him rather than trying to create distance. He pumped his arm and threw himself up, doing his best to try and get away from her.

Mercury's eyes widened when he saw her right hand appear with a restraint.

Kassidy's eyes widened when she realized that she was going to miss.

No! I can't miss this! I lose this exchange, I lose everything! My life, my team, Beacon, Vale… I can't lose! I won't lose!

Mercury twisted his body in midair, trying to get his shotgun boots around to where he could propel himself away from her. Kassidy let go of Baton, dropping to her knees as she slid across the ground and used her Aura gliding to close the gap.

Her right hand, holding the restraint, missed his arm by inches.

Her left hand didn't miss, grabbing his leg and holding on for dear life.

Mercury's boots went off, flinging him down the hall and nearly ripping his leg out of Kassidy's grip.

Kassidy focused on her Aura, tried to force it to her will.

Her left hand started glowing blue, and Mercury cried out in pain as her grip suddenly increased dramatically in strength.

The two went down in a pile of limbs, swearing and grappling and trying to gain dominance over the other. Mercury, the larger, stronger, and more experienced of the two, quickly climbed on top of Kassidy, straddling her waist and pinning her arm above her head. He ripped her mask off, punched her in the nose, and swore, "You little bitch. That's enough out of you. Lights out, blondie!"

His next fist did next to nothing, merely bouncing off her Aura. Mercury gasped as his eyes widened. Kassidy smirked… and drove a knife into his hip, his Aura having been disabled by the cuff that had gotten locked around his leg. Mercury's screaming was like music to her ears, but Kassidy unfortunately didn't have much time to appreciate the song. She went back to collect her mask and sword, then stalked back to Mercury.

Just before she could say anything, however, she was interrupted by screaming. It wasn't Mercury's screaming.

It was then that Kassidy realized that she'd failed.

"Heh, too slow again," Mercury drawled, despite the fact that he was trying and failing to pull the serrated blade out of his side. "Sucks to suck, huh?"

"This," a voice began, speaking over the intercom. A voice that Kassidy recognized. "is not a tragedy."

Suddenly, an idea struck. Cinder wanted to make a public statement? Kassidy could use that. "Bob," she said. "Can you hijack her announcement? I have a message of my own to get out."

"Working on it," her computer replied.

"This was not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians, but who in reality are nothing more than men. Our academies' headmasters wield more power than most armies, and one was audacious enough to control both. They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have here? One nation's attempt at a synthetic army, mercilessly torn apart by another star pupil? What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference."

"Any time now, Bob," Kassidy urged.

Cinder continued, "And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First a dismemberment, now this?"

"I'm in," Bob finally said. "On your mark."

"Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy, yet I have witnessed neither."

"Mark," Kassidy said. All of a sudden, as Kassidy glanced at one of the monitors in the hallway out of the corner of her eye, the red screen with a black queen turned to static and faded, to be replaced by a view from Kassidy's iris cam. "The reason you have witnessed neither is that you have shown neither." Casting her gaze down the wall to hide what she was seeing at the instant, Kassidy continued her speech.

"The events that have transpired last night and tonight are a result of your actions. Oh, yes, I have been watching you for some time, Cinder Fall. I know who you are. I know who your accomplices are. I know what your plans are. I know how you have sabotaged this tournament, using a mind altering Semblance to provoke two innocent students into brutally attacking their opponents. You think you're so clever, don't you? But know this: your time has come. No longer shall I stand by while people suffer because of your actions. Tonight, you reap what you have sown.

"Starting with one of your accomplices." Letting her gaze lower slightly, Kassidy continued, "Last I understand it, Mercury Black supposedly had his kneecap shattered, which should have left him unable to walk. But it's strange, the people you run into at events like this…"

The iris cam's field of view panned down, finally showing Mercury staring at her with unrestrained horror. While waiting on Bob, she'd ripped the bottom halves of his pants off, revealing his prosthetics in all their shiny glory. "I recall Mercury screaming bloody murder last night at how his leg had been shattered and that he'll never walk again. How curious, then, that I find myself attacked by this young man not five minutes ago. And for someone in so much pain… hmm, last I checked, prosthetics don't transmit pain to their owners. It's almost like it was all a show.

"Hear me." Kassidy took a breath, then began announcing. "Emerald Sustrai. Munsell Rosette. Neo Politan. Your lives are forfeit. Your death sentences have been sealed – signed by the very woman you serve so devotedly. Know that I will find you. And when I do, I'll send you to join Mercury."

Baton flashed. Mercury screamed – for an instant. The screaming stopped when his head rolled away from his body.

"And as for you, Cinder," Kassidy continued. "Your reign of terror ends tonight. I am no Huntsman, no Huntress. I don't follow a code of honor. I am here to kill my prey, and tonight you are my prey.

"So, enact this plan of yours. Lead Grimm into the city. Bring the White Fang onto the Coliseum. Hell, you can even get the other half of these Maiden powers I've been hearing about recently. Do whatever you want. It won't save you from me.

"And when I'm finished, you'll beg me to kill you. Talon out."

A swipe of her finger ended the broadcast, returning control to Port and Oobleck. Kassidy kicked Mercury's lifeless head out of her way and tapped on her earpiece while storming down the hall. "Bob, report. What's going on now?"

"Kid," Qrow said, tone slack and disbelieving. "Do you have any idea what you've just done?"

"Revealed Cinder and her cronies, killed Mercury, exposed her plan, called her out, and put to rest the idea that Yang and Pyrrha were guilty of horrific crimes, all while making sure nobody could connect it to Kassidy Smith."

"You did that on international television!" Qrow yelled. "Fuck exposing her plan, you just helped her out with it!"

"Didn't you say that Ozpin was getting more Huntsmen here?" Kassidy asked. "And besides, Bob can shut her out of Atlas' androids if she tries something. We're ready for what she can bring, and put a lot of questions to rest once we're all said and done here."

"Which should have been dealt with in a far more covert manner than what you did. Fuck everything else, you just told the whole goddamn planet about the Maidens! We were trying to keep them secret for a reason, kid!"

Sirens interrupted their argument. An automated voice confirmed what was currently happening. "Warning: incoming Grimm attack. Threat level: ten. Please seek shelter in a calm and orderly manner."

"We'll argue about coulda-shoulda-would later," Kassidy argued. "Right now, we need to get off our asses and do our job."

Qrow paused for a moment. Kassidy was pretty sure she could hear grumbling, but couldn't make out what it was. He soon spoke up, "Priority should be securing Amity and getting it evacuated. You said you cleared Southeast, right?"

"Yeah," Kassidy confirmed. She sheathed her sword and slung her new rifle off her shoulder. "I'm moving to Northeast now." She reached the end of the maintenance section, and ripped her mask off before entering any public space – the entire point of it was to make sure people didn't connect Kassidy to Talon, so she didn't want that voice modulator making any more appearances.

As she burst through the door, she was damn glad she took it off, as she ran headfirst into Ruby. "Kass, you're okay!" Ruby yelled.

"Of course," Kassidy couldn't help but replying. Screeching and banging drew her attention to the main arena, where a giant Nevermore was trying to force its way in. "Not for much longer, though. You're armed, right?"

In response, Ruby pulled out Crescent Rose. Most of the people surging around them in their panic to leave either didn't see a girl pull out a sniper rifle, or didn't care. "We have to get to the stage! We need to make sure Pyrrha is okay!"

"You go," Kassidy urged. At Ruby's look, she explained, "White Fang have infiltrated the Coliseum. I need to clear them out before they kill people."

Ruby's eyes watered. "This… this is it, isn't it?"

"This is war," Kassidy confirmed. She pulled Ruby into a one-armed hug, hating how her team leader was brought to tears. "Hey, I'll be right back as soon as this is all over. We'll get through this."

"I know," Ruby said, broken voice sounding piteously against Kassidy's side. She sobbed once but pulled away and did her best to get herself under control. "Be careful," she said, still not seeming entirely alright.

Unfortunately, there was no time to make sure Ruby was alright. "You too," Kassidy said. Then she kicked in the door in front of her.

The battle for Beacon had begun.


AN 2: Oh, Kassidy… what are we going to do with you? Well, okay, I know what I'm going to do with you. Because you always know best, thinking by the seat of your pants always works, and damn anyone that knows better than you and damn the consequences.

And thus, Team Rookie has entered its final chapters. And to celebrate this auspicious occasion, I bequeath a boot to the head. And a new feature to the second Author's Notes.

Current Character Kill List: Penny Polendina, Mercury Black.

Expect that list to start filling up.

Coming up next: Battle of Beacon, Part 1

Okay! Reviewer Responses time!

DIYEyal: I'll admit that the EMP scene involved more than a little handwaving. The EMP wasn't a bluff, and Bob wasn't in danger. *waves hand*

Tykene: Hope you've been looking forward to this as much as I have. Time to start kicking off the bad horrible things.

EWR115: Well, we now have a Character Kill List. Does that count as a world of hurt?

Clementine Davidson: You might want to encourage your sister to stay in your parents' room. I have a feeling she is about to suffer a critical shortage of pillows.

BlitzkriegHOSS: Bob believes it'll keep Cinder from hacking into them. I guess we'll just have to see, won't we?

Ultimatrix bearer: Yeah, I know, right? I mean, it's not like anyone else knows what they're doing, or that Kassidy's actions have long term consequences or anything. Whatever gets rid of the big bad terrorists, amirite?

Captain marvel 36: Are you, though? Are you really ready?

AgentDraakis: It does make me feel like a bit of a prick, but if I can evoke that kind of emotion from a reader then that's usually a good sign that I'm doing something right with my writing, so I'll take it. Yeah, Kassidy and Qrow are working together, let's hope it'll be enough.

TR: Shit has gone down, and hit an industrial-sized fan on the way down.