As Ruby explained it all, Qrow's first instinct was to give his niece a piece of his mind for hiding something this big, hostage or not. But he forced himself to understand. More importantly, he forced himself to focus on the task at hand. Blake Belladonna's team: those were Salem's pawns. The girl herself wasn't one of them—though that Taurus guy looked unsure of that, questions for later—but the rest were likely getting ready for whatever attack they had planned for the Maiden powers.
He cursed under his breath and fumbled for his Scroll. "I'll get to Oz. We'll keep Yang locked up in case they wanna get rid of loose ends, but you three stay on guard." How long did they have left? Hours? Minutes? Qrow turned to leave.
"And please don't go looking for trouble." And then he was off, racing through the fairgrounds fast enough to leave the wind rushing to chase him.
Ruby watched him vanish into the now-panicked crowd, then looked to the other two members of her team. The three nodded.
No chance.
Seconds to Six
Ironwood paced back and forth in Atlas Telemon's central office. Occasionally, he'd shoot glares at the glowing, holographic screen above his ivory desk, and the two men on it: Ozpin, hands steepled and only his trained gaze left to gauge a reaction from, and Qrow, sitting on the edge of Ozpin's desk.
"Are you two certain this information can be trusted?" he asked. "I looked into that group: they were invited to Haven by Lionheart's direct request."
"It wouldn't have been the first time someone falsified documents," Ozpin replied. "We assume for good reason that none of us would be allowing unchecked persons into the Tournament." He sighed and closed his eyes. "And that's made it a point of weakness."
"So what's the plan?" Qrow asked. "We've got less than twenty minutes before the tournament starts back up and Ruby's thinking one of the pawns might be able to tamper with people's heads."
Ironwood stopped. "Then we know what Salem's plan may involve: the investigator who provided me with the 'proof' of Team Funky cheating was found dead. His Scroll's text records had signs of criminal activity on the side that could explain this, but he was also insistent on the provider of the proof being anonymous."
"Think it was one of them?" Qrow said.
Ironwood scowled. "Yes." But that would mean one of the pawns had gotten full access to the CCT. How? The intrusion into the tower was too brief for a brute force hack, nor had there been any suspicious activity to suggest a worm.
"That's why I chose to have this conversation be through our offices' direct connection," Ozpin explained. "Sadly, if what you're implying is correct, this means she's after Miss Nikos." He opened his eyes, gaze piercing through Ironwood. "The Fall Maiden, correct?" Ozpin's words left Qrow staring at him in shock.
Ironwood, however, grimaced. "You've already checked on Amber."
"It doesn't matter what I've done. While your circumventing of my authority yet again is noted, your initiative at least may prove to be useful, this time. If the intention is to frame Miss Nikos as they did Miss Xiao Long, that would be in our favor. However, if the intention is to kill Miss Nikos, then at worst, the Maiden powers will be out of both of our grasps unless this Cinder Fall intends to do so herself."
Qrow turned to the screen. "Then we need to cancel the tournament!"
"Not exactly," Ozpin said. "A plan of such complexity is often most vulnerable just before the moment of its completion. Worse yet, our information only matters before they can adjust to it: if they're in hiding, then they will step out when their plan begins. If they're foolish enough not to, then we should capture them while they still believe they have the upper hand."
"He's right." Ironwood went for his Scroll, but grimaced: that was compromised now. "I'll send Knights to search for Cinder Fall and Emerald Sustrai: she may be able to tamper with minds, but machines should hopefully be another matter."
As Ironwood called for a soldier, Ozpin turned to Qrow. "Get in contact with Glynda and get ready here in Beacon. If they aren't in Amity for whatever reason, I need you ready to apprehend them at once."
Qrow left without question. Ozpin watched Ironwood for only a moment then, without saying another word, disconnected the call.
The door to his office opened, an Atlesian soldier at the ready.
Without even turning to him, Ironwood gave his order: "Use personal radio to contact whoever's in charge there and inform them that they are to double the number of Atlesian Knights. I want them searching for Cinder Fall, Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black. As of right now, they are wanted for conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism. Scour every inch of Amity Coliseum for them and shut down all aerial traffic: no one goes in or out." He sighed. "Make up any excuse you see fit."
The messenger saluted and rushed off. Behind him, Ironwood strode towards the bridge. Now was the worst part of all: waiting. They might have had an idea of what Salem was after, but it was little better than having finally felt the walls of a dark maze.
The dying sun lit the sky in vibrant orange and left Amity as a silhouette high above as Ruby, Weiss and Adam raced for Beacon's airdocks. There was no time to waste.
"There's no way that I'm leaving Yang up there while this happens!" Ruby declared as they weaved through the growing crowd. "Can I leave the rest up to you two?"
Adam nodded. "I'll hit the medical bay. If I'm lucky, Mercury might still be there."
"Leave Blake to me then," Weiss said. "If I can't find her up there, then at least we can be sure she's not involved."
He looked back to her, but after a moment, nodded again. "I trust you with her. Once we have everyone, Blake should hopefully know just where her new 'comrades' are hiding out. Once everything starts, I don't expect us to have much help in fighting Cinder: even if she's the mastermind, Operation Pale will tie up all of Vale's remaining resources."
"What if she goes for Pyrrha now?" Weiss asked.
"Then I guess one of us is gonna have to stop the fight. Dibs on not being that person, by the way," Ruby joked, but her giggle was cut short when the entire group was forced to stop. The docks were a complete mess: a chaotic mass of shouting people that had become nothing short of a wall of men and women.
"Did something happen already," Weiss muttered and tried to see what was going on. Unfortunately, she was too short to stand a chance of seeing through them.
Adam, however, could see the air buses parked on each of the platforms. They were just as packed as the docks were, but with ships rather than people. In fact, he realized as he looked up to the gargantuan coliseum in the skies, he couldn't see a single one flying.
"They've cut Amity off: every flight's been grounded."
"Just great! Think there's any chance of us nabbing one?" Ruby was only half-joking, this time.
Weiss rolled her eyes. "No, but I bet I can get us up there if you two can clear a path."
A good couple hundred or more people between them and the way out. Adam rolled his shoulders. That seemed easy enough. He nodded to the group, then stormed ahead. Anyone he couldn't shoulder his way past quailed from a good glare or order to move out of the way. Though that didn't stop him from having to roughly toss aside at least a couple stubborn types, Ruby apologizing all the while from where she and Weiss stuck close behind him.
He had a headache from all the shouting by the time he'd gotten close to the front of the pack, barely inches from the edges of the dock as a whole. Weiss wriggled her way beside him and looked at the ships further ahead at the round, empty platform. Only a few, very stressed Amity staff members and Atlesian soldiers kept the horde back from them.
"Now, how do we get over there without getting spotted," Weiss said under her breath. The soldiers and staff members were busy shouting a mix of platitudes and warnings to stay back, so they were distracted. The platforms were crowded with airships too, so if they could just get to a smaller one, like the one Ruby was waving from, they'd be able to hide easily.
Weiss stood up straight. What? She squinted back at the platform. Ruby gave her a thumbs-up from beside a small airship, a trail of rose petals drifting down and marking the path where she must've jumped—or flown considering the distance—from the side of the dock to the platform. She and Adam nudged their way to the side of the crowd to get a better look at the distance. Weiss glanced back to the front of the crowd: from here, the soldiers couldn't see them, but she'd likely need a glyph or two to get across. Not exactly the stealthiest of approaches.
Any plans on how to get across were tossed aside, however, when Adam decided to sweep her up. Confused and with her cheeks burning bright-red, she glared at him. "Could you at least warn me?"
He smirked. "This is the warning." His legs flickered red and in a sudden, aura-fueled jump, the two were skidding to a halt beside Ruby.
"Well you're awful at them!" Weiss huffed and wriggled until she could push herself away and get back to her feet. Ruby snickered and Adam rolled his eyes.
A door on the side of the airship swung open. "What's all the commotion?" the pilot called out.
Ruby jumped. "Oh, um, hi! We just really really need to get to Amity before the first fight starts."
The pilot looked over the three for a moment, then went to close the door.
"Wait!"
"Look, kid: it's a maintenance issue. Top brass said one of the air buses nearly dropped out of the sky, so all of them need to get checked out. It's not my problem."
"And has yours been checked?" Weiss asked and, with a smooth flick of her wrist, drew out an array of lien cards.
The pilot looked at Weiss. Then to the lien cards. Back to the group. He leaned out to check if anyone else was watching. With a grin, he plucked the cards from Weiss' hand.
"Why yes, yes it has. You should've told me you brought tickets." The pilot dipped back into the air bus, leaving the three to follow.
"We've got a hit on Mercury."
Ironwood sighed in relief as he made his way through Amity Coliseum's pavilions. This was striking two birds with one stone. He could keep an eye out for the pawns himself while still following standard procedure. It was his job to ensure the coliseum stayed safe in a potential attack. He raised a hand to his ear and the implanted communicator inside it.
"Continue, Sergeant Blau."
"According to the records, he's to be medically evacuated to Vale. The Bullhead carrying him out should be ready to leave at 6PM, currently in Hangar 6."
"Move as many soldiers as you need to the area." He stepped inside the central stadium and looked across the packed crowd. "What's the status on Ildaite Ward?"
"Conflict continues, however the White Fang isn't pushing out from it. Resistance is less than anticipated."
He shifted his jaw. That could just as easily be a trap to bog his troops down. "Maintain a defensive position. For now, focus on getting to Hangar 6: stop that ship at all costs!"
"Loud and clear, sir." Sergeant Blau was proud: he'd already thought of bringing another two squads to the suspected location. It wasn't long before ten men were arranged besides the door of the hangar. With the potential of running into two or even three Huntress-level threats, he'd have preferred for another dozen, but the whine of a Bullhead's engines forced his hand. He scanned his Scroll by a lock, and the metal gate dragged itself open. Blau waved the force in and took the lead, assault rifle raised and scanning around.
But there wasn't anything to scan: the hangar was almost entirely empty. Boxes lay discarded along the walls. Two other Bullheads sat on the left and right, but they were mostly broken down into parts, mid-repair. Only the one in the center was active and aimed for the way out into the evening sun.
"Anything in the others?" Blau called back.
"Just some boxes of Dust from the looks of it," his second-in-command told him.
Nothing of real importance. That just left the Bullhead before them. He took a deep breath.
"Medical Bullhead A453, you are to turn off your engines at once and prepare for boarding: this is a direct order from General Ironwood. Please comply," he shouted as he and his men took positions around the machine. The engines cut out, leaving them with only whistling wind and the rumbling thunder of their boots as they approached.
As the squad leader, Blau took it upon himself to be the one stepping to the back of the Bullhead. A manual override from his Scroll and a turn of a key, and its ramp slowly descended for them. His grip tightened on his assault rifle. With all forces ready and aimed, there was nothing but the hiss and rattle of the ramp to keep him company. No one replied. No one spoke.
He remained ahead, every step echoing in his thoughts as he moved closer to what they were here for: the bed ahead of him, its occupant covered but for a loose mop of gray hair and an oxygen mask. Blau tugged the cover away. A mannequin's head in a gray wig clattered to the ground.
The click of a gun's hammer being pulled back came from ahead. Blau had just enough time to look up into the hollow end of a cane before his world was thunder and light.
Deep within Amity's internal halls, Emerald leaned out from around a corner. No one heard. Good. She holstered her smoking pistol and looked back at the mechanic she held up with her other hand. A hole in the girl's head trickled red, and Emerald couldn't let it get on the clothes. With all of those robots marching around and no way to tell if her ruse worked on Ruby, there was also no way to tell if she was being hunted. That wasn't to say she wasn't prepared for a manhunt: a change of clothes, demeanor and a good wig did a lot to throw people off. Hopefully, keeping her face hidden and her aura down would enough to trick a machine's tracking.
"I know you can't hear me," she said as she pulled the mechanic's hat off. "But for what it's worth, I'm sorry."
She checked her Scroll when she finished tossing on the more unassuming clothes. 5:53PM. Just enough time.
It didn't take a long time for Weiss to find Blake in the stands. It did, however, seem to be taking more trouble to get her to follow along as they strode up the stairs out of there.
"It's just that I thought it would be significantly more comfortable if we were to watch the final battles over coffee or tea," Weiss explained, occasionally throwing a glance over her shoulder to make sure Blake was still following her. Her shoulders were hunched up and golden eyes shifted through the crowd like she were waiting for an assassin to leap out at any second. Maybe that really was the case.
"We can order coffee here," Blake hurried out.
"Ugh, please, like stadium-grade fare would be good enough for an event like this," Weiss said. She narrowly avoided running into a blonde mechanic girl passing by, eyes obscured by goggles. Weiss huffed: nobody watched where they were going in this place.
Blake, however, had frozen in place, watching the girl lazily make her way down the stairs. Weiss gently took Blake's wrist to lead her away: the poor girl was clearly waiting for Cinder or one of her goons to try and attack her out here.
How Weiss didn't recognize Emerald walking right past her, Blake didn't know. Her ruby-red eyes locked onto her own as she passed and nodded.
"Remember your job." And then she was gone. Blake blinked, frozen in place. The only person left was someone dressed as a mechanic close to the seat she had just left. Her ears twitched beneath her bow. The air felt cold. Was she imagining things? Stressed out? She didn't see Emerald nearby: surely it couldn't have been a message from her. Even so, Blake thought as Weiss took her wrist to lead her further, it wasn't wrong. She wasn't here to hurt people. She was here to save them, both from whatever machinations were going on in Beacon, and from the means needed to stop them. The headmaster of Beacon had human shields. She just had to get as many out as possible.
That was her job. That was what she had to remember.
Blake took a deep breath as she and Weiss stepped out into the empty path around the stadium proper. "Where are you really taking me?"
It took a second for Weiss to respond. "Away from Cinder. Don't worry," she said with a smile over her shoulder, "Adam's told us everything."
With ice in her chest, Blake pulled her hand away from Weiss. She took a step back.
She needed to remember her destiny. In the empty locker room, Pyrrha splashed water on her face at a sink. She looked up into the mirror. Into a face she couldn't recognize anymore. Her image faded and melted away into that of a girl she knew nothing about other than it was herself. Right? She reached up and toyed with chestnut-brown bangs that only existed in her reflection.
Pyrrha squeezed her eyes shut and splashed her face again. No! She needed to remember who she was. There was a part of her demanding she escape, that she couldn't stay in Vale, but she refused to listen. She was Pyrrha Nikos. She was a fighter. This battle was more than for glory or honor or to take her mind off of things: she needed this. She needed this victory. As a champion. As the 'Invincible Girl'. As herself.
That was her destiny.
Penny watched Mr. Soleil enter the spacious locker room from where she waited on a bench. She was given a locker, but she didn't need it. It was just wasted space.
"You'll be free from this soon, Penny," he said as the door closed behind him. He smiled, but Penny couldn't hear it in his voice. Only the same, clinical calmness he usually had. "As free as Elphaba. Just remember your job."
Defeat Pyrrha Nikos. Defeat everyone else in the tournament, and then she could finally live her own life.
"Of course, Mister Soleil. I won't let you down." She forced a smile and hopped up to her feet. Return a champion, or return a cog. Penny winced and forced the thought from her head: she refused to give a criminal's words any weight in her mind.
Mr. Soleil's gaze did not leave her even as she marched to the door. She placed a hand on it, steeled herself and then, with a determined stare, pushed.
The doors to the waiting room slammed open as Adam marched through them. It was empty other than two Atlesian guards standing on either side of the medbay door, one with a rifle, one without.
"I'm here to visit someone."
The two guards looked to each other. "Sorry, sir: no visitors are allowed right now." The rifleman had the red tail of a fox, swaying slowly behind him.
Adam narrowed his eyes. "Visiting hours end at 8PM."
"Ironwood's orders. Leave immediately."
He stepped forward. "It should be brief: I need to send an apology to Mercury Black for my teammate's behavior. At the least, can you pass it on for me?"
The guards didn't budge. The one without a rifle dropped his hand towards a pistol at his waist. The other began raising his gun.
"Last warning, Taurus: lea—"
Wilt clicked back into its sheath.
The guards' weapons fell to the grounds in pieces. With one trailing shattered aura and the other in shock from the bloody slash across his chest, both soldiers collapsed with them. Adam did not pause his stride, continuing past them for the medbay door. 'Taurus'. As he suspected: they were White Fang. The door automatically opened ahead of him.
A bloodbath. Atlesian soldiers laid strewn across the hangar, but none were moving. The pristine floors were marred with red and scorched black. Ruby had followed the sounds of rockets and gunfire, thinking that maybe Yang had broken out or was being forced somewhere else, but this wasn't what she expected at all. Her hands trembled as she reached back for Crescent Rose and looked up at the perpetrator: the sole man alive.
Sitting at the top of the ramp, one leg crossed over the other and end of his cane still trailing smoke, Torchwick took a long drag from his cigar.
"Long time, no see, Little Red."
He should have expected this, Adam thought. The medbay was ravaged. There weren't many doctors or patients being checked on, but none of them were alive now. The room was full of the stench of rust and death, but the blood was old. At least by a day. Mercury was never here in the first place: the White Fang must've infiltrated Amity Coliseum even earlier than he'd thought. Adam cursed under his breath and raced back out. Where was Mercury? He needed to get to the others.
He kicked down the first door deeper into Amity he found: he didn't know where the brig was, but he could hazard a guess that it'd be closer to the center. Maybe he should get to a security room, then? Adam raced through the dingy, metal halls of Amity's interior and reached out with his aura, desperately searching for anything familiar. Finally, he caught something.
Just beyond a last door...
Beneath a darkening sky, Penny and Pyrrha approached the arena. They could barely hear a thing over the deafening roar of the crowd they felt right down to their bones. One by one, the stage lights came to life aimed at the simple, white plane that served as their arena. It was deceptively simple. Yet as the two stepped on, both were certain in their hearts that whether or not the other knew, this was the most important fight in their life.
Penny found it in herself to smile and wave. "Salutations, Pyrrha Nikos! It is an honor to finally meet you."
Pyrrha could only offer an unsure smile back before the hard light walls formed and the crowd grew muffled. The arena rose.
Ready?
It was chaos outside of Yang's cell. Guards raced back and forth beyond the barrier between her and freedom, and Yang would be lying if it wasn't getting her concerned. Even more was how they kept ignoring her asking what was happening.
A crimson blade plunged through the air beside her. When she turned, all she found was a whirling portal the color of blood.
3!
Blake didn't have a weapon like Weiss did, but she readied herself nonetheless.
"Then... then he should've told you who's side I'm on. And why I can't let you stop this."
Weiss furrowed her brow. "You're joking."
2!
Adam pushed through the last door. A long corridor led to the core of Amity itself. Through a last open door, he could see a bomb fitted with crystals of yellow and black, resting against a console streaked with the red of a fallen engineer.
"I had a feeling someone was tailing me." And Mercury stood between it and him, hands in his pockets. "Why don't we cut to the chase?"
1!
Ruby drew out Crescent Rose, scowling. Torchwick snubbed out his cigar and stood with a proud grin on his face.
"Showtime."
Begin!
