Big Issues
AN: Sorry for being a bit later than normal, life has been exhausting lately. I hope you all are ready as things begin to get dark for a while. But if you are looking for some good news, as of 1-10-22, Big Issues was one year old from the first posting over on DA. Got a few weeks until the anniversary here.
Vytal Tournament – Smoke
Ruby found herself lining up to get on an airship to go up to the Amity Arena with dozens of others at this particular dock. Many people were already up in the floating stadium with many more on the ground with her and two dozen transports on a constant rotation to and from their destinations. But a familiar figure caught her eye and drew her from the line.
"Hey Velvet!" The young and rotund reaper greets the upperclassman who was occupying herself by taking pictures. It did confuse her a bit that Sun was walking by and Velvet was taking pictures of him, but the girl loved to use her camera.
"Ruby! How're you going?" The rabbit faunus asks, lowering her camera as her latest subject walks away unaware or uncaring about the shots.
"What are you doing?" Ruby was curious.
Velvet rolls her eyes. "Oh, you know… working on my photography. Want to see?" She holds the camera out so the younger girl could see the screen. It was definitely Sun in the picture, if shoulders to waist with one of his gun-chunks hanging over his shoulder. Ruby had seen a cleaning cloth in his other hand as he walked by, apparently, he had done some last-minute cleaning… something that she could appreciate as weapon maintenance was something she did often and enjoyed.
"That's… better." Ruby tells her, wondering how someone with a camera and used one so often couldn't get the people in the frame right. Even she had learned to do that with her scroll and friends from Signal.
Velvet's mood dropped as she began to look uncomfortable with what she was about to say. "I'm… sorry about your sister. Is she doing, okay?" The blonde had always been nice to her, something that the socially nervous faunus appreciated but was scared that she may be stepping on toes by asking. Especially Yang's team leader and family.
"Yeah… she's fine." Ruby replies with a small shrug, though her tone didn't match her words; she was still very worried about Yang. She was glad that letting Denko talk to her last night was a good idea, he had a way with helping her sister in ways that she couldn't. "Thanks." That part was sincere.
"I think it's just awful what people are saying about her." Velvet puts her camera away in the larger box on the back of her hip. But sometimes having four ears could be a curse as much as a blessing, she was hearing a lot about her friend. "Yang's such a nice person."
Ruby scratches the back of her head. "Huh, I m glad one person thinks so." She was as nervous to say such a thing as she was sarcastic. If she were being honest, she was still slightly upset about what Blake had said about trusting Yang. She really hoped that that would be the worst of it before they all went through school and training together as a team that would watch each other's backs without worry.
"People don't know what it's like on the battlefield." Velvet hugs herself as she recalls some of her missions where things didn't go so well… like Lower Cairn. "I mean, even experienced fighters can get scared and start seeing things. If it happened to Coco, it can happen to anyone."
That wasn't some empty praise of her team leader. That praise was well earned as Coco was known to be rather level-headed and intelligent, on and off missions. Add that with her skills, strength, and weapon- along with her team- made her a rather formidable enemy; she had earned the rumors of being one of the best in Beacon while only being in her second of four years.
"Coco?" This was news to the reaper.
"Yeah. She swore she saw Yatsu in the forest with her during the fight with Emerald and Mercury, but he never made it out of the geyser field." She explains, ending it by crossing her arms under her bust. She had filled out plenty over the past few months but her gains favored her lower half… something that her mission gear accented quite well as it was stretched to be skin tight. "Stress induced hallucination, apparently."
Ruby looks away as it seemed familiar but not everything was quite clicking into place. "Yeah." A bright flash made her snap out of her thoughts with wide eyes, finding that Velvet had taken a picture of her.
"Oh! Sorry." The chubby bunny apologizes as she shrinks into herself a bit.
Ruby arrived later than she was hoping and plopped her large rump in the first available seat she found in the front row, unable to find where her friends were on short notice. Hopefully she'd be able to spot them sometime soon. She was almost willing to bet that she'd hear Nora before she saw her.
The crowds were already quite excited, the events of last night with Yang seemingly forgotten by the crowd. Ruby truly hoped that they had forgotten, for Yang's sake. But the anticipation for the next rounds of fights had churned up the crowd into a cheering mass. It was almost infectious.
As much as Ruby loved a good fight, she had friends to find to really enjoy the tournament. She already knew that Pyrrha and Sun would be in the finalists' box so they wouldn't be of help to find their teams. She began to scan the front row seats around the arena, finding few that she was even familiar with. Team CRDL was barely registered in her mind. Team FNKI was interesting but maybe later. Then a familiar face was found almost directly across from her…
"What's Emerald doing here?" She asks herself, stunned. Last, she had heard, the green-haired girl was on her way back to Mistral. The girl was sitting there comfortably and looking smug. That ended as the two girls locked eyes. Ruby quickly found herself uncomfortable and left her seat to duck into the tunnels for the public.
She had no idea what was going on but she had to find out why someone who was supposed to be on the other side of the world was here now. Not to mention the series of events that made people she knew act out of character with the only connection being that Emerald was nearby.
Answers were needed and she looked around quickly to see that there were no guards and nobody else really watching her. Before anyone had or could notice her, she had slipped through the door reserved for the maintenance crews. Her only hang-up being that she had forgotten her girth in her haste.
"Alright, it's time to begin the randomization process for the next fight!" Ruby was only half listening to Oobleck as his voice was broadcast around the stadium and echoed somewhat in the corridor, she was in.
A figure walked out of a side door that made her stop in her tracks. "Mercury?" She asks, confused as to why he was here when he was supposed to be in Mistral. Not to mention that he was walking around just fine.
A beep from the selector rang out. "It looks like our first contender is Penny Polendina from Atlas!" Port announces for everyone who couldn't see the selection made.
The speaker may have drawn her attention from the boy but he made no moves or said a word since he appeared. Her silver eyes narrowed a bit. "What are you doing?" She didn't like that look on his face.
"And her opponent will be…" Port continues and another beep. "Pyrrha Nikos from Beacon!" Mercury's smirk when from absolute confidence to a more sinister one, both born from knowing something that others didn't.
But Ruby saw that and her mind raced as to why everything seemed off. Why was Emerald here? Was she the common link to everyone seeing what wasn't there? How was Mercury walking around Amity after being shot in the leg and taken to Mistral? Why was Penny and Pyrrha fighting seeming like a very bad idea?
Her eyes widened in revelation… Pyrrha could control magnetism and Penny was made of metal. "No…" She shudders out, scared for her friends as the possibilities played through her mind, few of them pleasant.
"Oh, Polarity versus metal." Mercury drawls while scratching his chin mockingly. "That could be bad."
Ruby wasn't going to take such a threat to her friends idly and moved to draw Crescent Rose from the holster on the back of her hips… but her hand met only air. The pudgy girl had forgotten that her weapon was in its storage locker like most other weapons the students had.
Her resolve was tested as Mercury slid into a ready stance, looking far too eager for a fight. Or perhaps, judging his expression, the pain he wanted to inflict.
In the arena itself, the platform rose so everyone had a clear view of the two girls on stage. Some found it amusing that both were redheads, others that they were the last of the females that had made it to the finals.
Yet the two were quite different with Penny being the far smaller fighter, in terms of both height and waistline, as well as being cheery and enjoying the attention she was receiving. That contrasted with Pyrrha who would stand head and shoulders over her opponent for the round along with lacking any and all excitement for a fight… more depressed than anything else.
In the stands, Nora couldn't contain herself to her seat thanks to her excitement but tried to get Ren to at least look encouraging for their teammate. Sitting with them, Jaune cheered for his trainer and teammate to do her best. Blake and Weiss were far more reserved than Nora in their support but far more expressive than Ren. Sage, Scarlet, and Neptune politely clapped along.
Elsewhere, team DAIT were scattered among the crowds to keep an eye on things. They did show their support for the fighters though.
In his office in Beacon Tower, Ozpin poured himself a fresh cup of hot chocolate as he listened into the broadcast. He took his time sitting down in his chair as the selections for the next round were chosen. He did give the screen his full attention when Port announced that Pyrrha would be fighting.
Itazura glanced at her scroll, finding that her program had yet to finish protecting the thousands of individual systems, especially some of the biggest and more complex ones. The only reason she had gotten the scrolls of those in the Circle done so quickly was because she had focused on them first. She just had to hope for things to go well, she hadn't had time to inspect the progress too much as she had other security duties she was looking into.
Yang sat alone in her room, her scroll playing the broadcast to fill the otherwise silent room. As much as she wasn't in the mood for a reminder of what had happened to her, she had friends competing there yet along with her own nature that wanted to see how the fights go, much like how she had done for as long as she could remember.
"Salutations, Pyrrha Nikos!" Penny waves to the larger girl before returning her hands to her hips. The girl was eager to fight but it was all for fun. "It's an honor to finally meet you." At least she was sincere.
Pyrrha didn't respond, she was too caught up in her own thoughts. What Ozpin and the others with him were asking of her. What she had done to Jaune before coming here. She stared at her hands as she flexed them.
"This is going to be so much fun!" Penny continued, oblivious to the troubles that plagued her opponent.
"Mercury… what are you doing?" Ruby breaks the silence of their stare down. "You were hurt! Why… What's going on?"
Mercury said nothing to answer her questions, simply staring at her with that smirk that was becoming irritating to the girl. Her eyes narrowed in response as she prepared herself.
"Fine. If you're not going to tell me…" She trails off as she steps to her right, only for Mercury to step left. A step left was matched by a step to the right. All the while, the older teen looked amused at his antics. This was nothing but a game to him.
"Fighters! Are you ready?" Oobleck's voice distracted Ruby for a moment yet Mercury refused to move.
Penny was smiling as she stood ready to fight, her swords still contained within her small backpack. Likewise, Pyrrha stood with her sword and shield but still stuck in her funk. She was going through the motions thanks to years of doing so.
In the stands, Ironwood had taken a seat among the students ringside. After what Itazura and the Eaglewing sisters had told him yesterday, he wanted to be as close to the action as possible to watch for foul play. Glynda had forwarded him the information that seemed relevant and then some, making him more worried about how things were likely to go. The fact that Itazura had begun handling the intruder and the virus she uploaded on her own was a small consolation. He looked around to a source of noise not too far away.
Nora once again jumped from her seat to whoop in support of her teammate, even Ren had gone so far as to pump his right arm. Jaune looked rather worried even as he clapped for the heavy Spartan in the ring.
Unnoticed and overlooked by most, Emerald sat in her seat away from those who would recognize her easily. She had sent a quick text to Mercury to handle Ruby since she was sure she was spotted.
"Begin!" Oobleck shouts into his microphone.
Immediately, Penny activated her Floating Array, the eight blades swirling around in response to the gingers gestures that made it look like a dance. A few seconds of having the swords circle around herself in a brief display of grace, Penny flicked her arm out and sent them tip first at Pyrrha in rapid succession.
In response, Pyrrha let herself become absorbed in the familiar setting of the arena battle, casting aside her doubts that didn't belong in the ring. The Spartan charged at Penny, dodging most of the blades, jumping over two of them going for her feet and rolling in the air to bring her shield into position to deflect two more. She landed on her feet gracefully as if she hadn't more than doubled her weight in the past few months and kept the momentum of her charge as she closed the distance.
Far behind her, Penny's swords regathered themselves before launching at her from behind.
"Showtime." Mercury laughs now that the fight had begun. Not just in the arena but he moved now to attack Ruby. It was the perfect time as everyone would be focused on the arena and the roar of the crowd would cover the sounds of the fight in this tunnel.
He took a few quick steps closer and shook side to side with his arms out, confusing the rotund reaper with his actions beyond ensuring that she wasn't going to pass. Ruby activated Petal Burst out of frustration. The red blizzard rushed at Mercury, hoping to get past him with sheer speed. But the assassin was able to get into her path and kick out into the rose petals, disrupting the use of her Semblance with a boot to her soft gut that stopped her completely. A quick twist and his other leg lashed out to kick the pudgy girl back the way she came.
Ruby tumbled on the floor but managed to sit up, drawing her scroll. Before she could press any of the buttons, Mercury shot it out of her hands with Talaria.
"Let's just keep this between us friends." He mocks before rushing at the girl.
Back in the arena, sparks flew like fireworks as the girls clashed weapons at a rapid pace. Pyrrha had managed to dodge around the swords flying at her back but now the swords were now between them. Pyrrha wound up switching Milo into its spear form and spun it vigorously as the blades moved almost independently from the others with the only common link being Penny's gestures.
There were no opportunities for Pyrrha to attack the shorter girl directly, there were too many blades that she was having to keep track of and react to at one time. Meanwhile, Penny kept a smile on her face as she ensured the assault continued. If Pyrrha didn't have other things in the back of her mind, she likely would have been smiling at the challenge presented.
An uppercut from four blades at once that Pyrrha managed to block with the shaft of Milo, threw her back and away from Penny. The larger girl recovering easily with a handspring that brought her back to her feet and a brief use of her Polarity brought her weapon back to her hands almost as if it bounced after her.
"My word! What a brilliant display by Miss Polendina!" Port declares proudly. He knew that there were few students who could keep up with Pyrrha and Penny was proving that she was one of them.
Nikos growled as she was being pushed to be constantly on the defense. Penny launched her swords at her like she had done before but rather than dodge them, this time Pyrrha leapt and used them as footholds to jump from one to the next. But the other girl hadn't fully committed to her attack and when the heavier girl threw her full weight behind her slashing spear, Penny had the remaining six blades crossed in a protective shell over her head that didn't budge. Whatever was keeping those blades suspended in the air like that was powerful to keep a girl of over three hundred pounds, her armor, and weapons, in addition to the force added from her fall focused into the edge of her blade.
Not only did the defensive maneuver stop Pyrrha's attack, but Penny was able to push her back by having her blades spin to throw the plump Spartan back into the air. Penny's blades circled her vertically as the thin girl gave herself some distance with a few backwards handsprings. Meanwhile, Pyrrha managed to correct her flight and easily land on her feet and ready herself for another exchange.
She didn't expect for Penny to rush in and swipe at her, a pair of blades acting as extensions of her arms nearly knocked Milo out of Pyrrha's hands on the first swipe, but brought it back to take the second follow up strike. Penny's blades spun in front of her before lashing out again, this time one of them catching her circlet and making the taller girl stumble with a grunt of pain. That didn't stop her from blocking more attacks that came low. She did miss the surprise attack as one sword swung around Penny from behind and struck Pyrrha in the stomach hard enough to throw her back.
The Spartan kept her feet under her as she slid backwards to give her space, even as she clutched the soft flesh, glad that the blade had struck her armored corset rather than the exposed skin between that and her belt. It was a bit concerning that she had yet to touch the smaller girl whose face held a smile throughout the fight so far. Granted, while Pyrrha had been taking all of the hits in this fight so far, she had made Penny work to get the few through her own defenses.
She took a deep breath and centered herself, retracting the shaft of Milo to use as a sword and using a touch of Polarity to roll Akouo off her back and onto her left arm.
"Wooo! Gooo Pyrrha!" Nora cheers loudly. Throughout the fight she had been alternating between jumping out of her seat and sitting. Ren was still calmer but showing his support with greater enthusiasm than most could say that he had for the rest of the year combined. Jaune was on the edge of his seat and watching in stunned silence. He knew that her mind was troubled but to watch her fight at this level was always something that made him stop everything else.
Pyrrha readied herself for another exchange of attacks while they were both sizing up the other. But then her eyes seemed to play tricks on her- watching as her sword and shield bent and creaked for a second, surrounded by the black glow that was distinctive of her Semblance at work.
None saw that Emerald was concentrating on Pyrrha. Any who may have done so would mistake her focus for scouting.
Ruby was in a tight spot and not because her corset was tied a bit tighter than normal today. But it was the fact that she was engaged in combat without her weapon. No matter how much Yang had insisted on training her to fight without her scythe, just in case, Ruby still was a poor fighter when lacking her 'baby'. That was being put on display right now in a cruel fashion thanks to someone who could fight her sister on a fairly even level.
Ruby raised her arms to block the roundhouse at her face. While she was successful in doing so, the force pushed her arms high in the air. That left her chin wide open for Mercury's other foot to snap into it, making her very glad for her aura. She did manage to keep her feet under her and got her senses under control in time to duck under a side kick, her shorter stature helping in that. She was glad she did when his boot fired a shell.
Ruby managed to dance around his next kicks, most of which were more vertical in their direction rather than horizontal. But the fact that he did, allowed the girl to spin around behind him and use Petal Burst again to get away. At a sharper corner, she recoalesced in time to land feet first on the wall and jump off. She landed on the floor with barely a stumble as she ran away, hearing the sound of Mercury's feet chasing after her.
Pyrrha twisted and turned through the air as she used both Milo and Akouo to deflect the swords coming at her from various angles, always pushing herself to move closer to Penny. The girl had kept one blade close by but that was smacked away by Milo and Penny took her first hit of the night in the ribs. Pyrrha spun with her attack and extended her sword back into its spear form where she used its length to smack and slash the shorter girl several times in rapid succession before she could counter. The Spartan twisted her way around the stumbling ginger and hit her with the full length of Milo, sending the deceptively heavy for her size girl into the air.
But she was able to regroup with her swords there and brought them in to brace her arms as she blocked the attacks from the spear as Pyrrha had jumped to press her attack. In the short exchange, Pyrrha managed to get through her guard and send her to the ground.
Yet Penny seemed almost unfazed, recovering with a flip to land on the arena surface and sliding to a stop as her swords gathered around her where they all shifted so their hilts were now at an angle and the tips of the blades retracted into themselves. Now she had eight guns floating around her and all pointed at Pyrrha.
The taller girl charged in, returning Milo back to its sword form and Akouo to her back, and set her focus on dodging the green plasma bolts shot at her. Maybe she was lucky that with Penny having to aim at a moving target with eight separate guns without being able to have a clear idea of exactly where she was shooting, but Pyrrha jumped, rolled, and twisted her way towards Penny. Her charge was interrupted and she had to backflip out of the way as she directed three of her swords to spin like a saw into her path, resembling an oversized shuriken.
That pause gave Penny the time to reconfigure most of her other blades back to normal and sent them after Pyrrha, the shuriken still cutting through the air. Pyrrha was pushed to her pudgy body's limits in terms of flexibility and reaction as she tried to keep track of so many different attacks. The shuriken was a clear hazard that cut through the air every so often from a different angle. The swords would attack in different ways that forced her to keep moving. Two of the swords were kept in gun mode and took pot shots at the Spartan. All of which finally brought the Invincible Girl down to the floor after a hasty flip to avoid being cut and shot at the same time left her crashing onto the stone belly first.
Penny took the time to regroup her Floating Array once more as Pyrrha stood up, the drop not emptying her lungs as much as most would have expected. She let her frustration out in a charge that was boosted slightly with her Polarity on her armor and weapons where she stabbed at Penny with her full weight behind the blade. It may have been luck that Penny had a sword intercept the stab with the flat of its blade, but Pyrrha had hit hard enough that the sword was rammed into its owner and the girl was launched away a fair distance.
Pyrrha stood tall, finally glad to really get a good hit in and possibly ended the fight with that last attack. She smiled a bit before it fell as something felt a bit off. She looked back to where Penny had fallen only to see her racing back at her using a pair of her swords firing their plasma beams into the arena and attached to her hips to provide the thrust like a rocket.
Penny drew close before she shot herself into the air where all of her swords were directed behind her and fired in one large burst, sending the small ginger crashing feet first into Pyrrha who just barely raised her shield to take the brunt of the attack. That didn't stop her from being driven hard enough into the stone floor to bounce off and left to tumble through the air and across the arena until she twisted so that she could get her feet under herself not far from the edge.
She stood ready to fight once more, if a bit shaken, until one of Penny's swords flew by and rammed into Akouo, ripping it off her bracer. A second flew by to knock Milo out of her other hand. She attempted to use Polarity to pull her sword back to herself but another sword hit it again to throw it off the intended path.
Left without her weapons, Pyrrha turned her attention back to Penny. The girl had regathered her swords once more and had her arms raised and her swords mimicked her hands as they were pointed at the Spartan over the small girl's head.
Then the swords doubled in number without reason.
Then doubled again.
And again. And again. And again.
And now there were hundreds of swords pointed at her. The sight alone making her step back in fear.
With a wave of her hands, Penny sent the steel at the Spartan like a tsunami. In response, Pyrrha crossed her arms before throwing them out to the sides, unleashing a wave of her own Polarity. The black wave of aura met in the middle with the wave of blades.
And somehow, to Pyrrha, most of the oncoming swords vanished as if they weren't even there. But the original eight were affected by her Semblance and thrown back at Penny.
The girl ducked to dodge her own weapons but her eyes went wide in surprise; the extremely thin wires that connected the swords to her backpack had begun to wrap around her. Penny was pulled back by the high-tensioned wires; one wrapping around her left upper arm, another around her waist.
But her body could only withstand so much focused pressure and the wires cut through the girl with little resistance. And Pyrrha could only stand there and watch it all happen as if in slow motion.
The swords clattered to the ground as Penny fell in pieces.
The crowd gasped in shock at what they had just witnessed, many of which looking away and covering the eyes of children. All of them seemingly ignoring or missing that there was no blood or organs spilling out onto the arena, but machinery sparked and sputtered as it began to fail.
In his office, Ozpin leapt to his feet as he leaned closer to his screen to confirm for himself what just happened. He was in shock but his mind turned back to the warnings from Itazura.
In another office, a balding man was watching his own screen broadcast by Atlas News. But from the sight of what had happened to Penny, his grip on the arm of his chair tightened.
Around Remnant, Grimm turned to face all of the population centers. The pure wave of despair, disgust, and anger washed over the lands and acted as a flare for the creatures of Darkness. It didn't take much more of an invitation for the Grimm to begin moving in on the closest settlements, the larger ones drawing the attention from the smaller towns… to some degree.
Ruby ran through a door after having to dodge yet another shell fired by Mercury. She was surprised to find herself out of the tunnels and among the crowds again. But it was what had everyone's attention that made her drop to her knees with wide eyes. On a large holographic screen in front of her, Pyrrha stood staring at the dismembered body of Penny.
"Penny…" She whimpers out, her worst fears having been made real and she couldn't do anything to stop it. Tears fell as she began to cry, incapable of doing anything more than that. Behind her, Mercury emerged from the door she had stumbled through and saw her crying on the floor, his smile growing as he knew that the plan had been successful and the girl he'd been playing with was broken. Without a word, he vanished back the way he came.
In the announcers' booth, Oobleck pressed his fingers to his ear to activate a hidden microphone. "Broadcast! What are you doing? Kill the feed!" He orders, trying to do some damage control.
"We're trying! We don't have control over the cameras!" The Director responds, surprising both Huntsman. "We can't stop the broadcast!" It didn't help their worries that static kept getting worse during the short conversation.
"What? How is that possible?" Oobleck asks but only received static.
Then the holographic display behind the men flickered to life to display a black Queen chess piece in the center of the screen with the view of the arena now behind a red filter. Small bursts of static accompanied the intrusion before the image stabilized and the static cut off.
"This is not a tragedy." A woman's voice comes through all of the speakers in the stadium and was broadcast through to every television and radio around Remnant. "This was not an accident." Two sentences and her confidence clear to all who heard her. Still, she continued, seemingly savoring the fresh wave of fear brought about by the hacking.
"This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children. To men who claim to be our guardians, but who are nothing more than men." Cinder certainly was enjoying herself as her plan came together. She could feel the dread creeping across the city as she stood on a rooftop to deliver her speech.
"Our academies Headmasters wield more power than most armies. And one had the audacious enough to control both." The smile could be heard on her lips as she spoke. Unseen to Cinder, James Ironwood stood up quickly, shocking some of his students nearby. He leaned on the ledge separating the stands from the arena as he listened to the woman mocking him and everyone who could hear her. There was only so much he could take and he was a man who preferred action, storming off.
"They cling to this power in the name of peace, but what do we have here? One nation's attempt at a synthetic army, mercilessly torn apart by another's star pupil." Pyrrha collapsed to her knees as she let the tears flow but unable to look away from Penny's unmoving body. "What need would Atlas have to disguise a soldier as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference."
"And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First a dismemberment and now this? Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy. Yet I have witnessed neither." Blake and Weiss shared a look, the former looking angry while the latter was still shocked at what had happened to her best friends' friend. Back in her dorm room, Yang could hear everything playing over her scroll as she leaned on the window sill for fresh air, thinking that she may be sick from what had happened to Penny, robotic or not, she was Ruby's friend.
"Perhaps Ozpin thought that defeating Atlas in the tournament would help people forget about his colossal failure to protect Vale when Grimm invaded its streets. Or perhaps… this was his message to the tyrannical dictator who has occupied an unsuspecting Kingdom with armed forces. Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong." Ozpin listened to the speaker in his office, hands steepled in front of him as he leaned on the desk. He was deceptively calm looking as he sat there, trying to pick out any hints as to who would do an act such as this but knew that this must be the latest plot by Her.
"But I know the existence of peace is fragile. And the leaders of our kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves." Emerald took the opportunity while everyone was distracted to slip away to meet up with Mercury to leave Amity in its last moments of calm. "As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you that the situation there is… equally undesirable. Our kingdoms are at the brink of war yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark. So, I ask you, when the first shots are fired, who do you think you can trust?" With those final words, the red screen was replaced with nothing but static.
Back in the announcers' booth, Port and Oobleck were scrambling to fix the problem. "The feeds are all jammed!" The taller man says in frustration. "We can't get a message out."
"Will somebody tell me what in the world is happening?" Peter shouts through the door to the staff who were doing everything they could with their equipment. But all radio channels were blocked with static rendering communication that way useless.
Then alarms began to blare around Amity."Beware! Incoming Grimm attack! Threat level nine! Please seek shelter in a calm and orderly manner." The automated voice informs everyone. Unfortunately, that only set people to panic as they began to run to the exits and to the airships to get them away from the stadium.
Ironwood finally made his way up to the room with Oobleck and Port. Grabbing the microphone that they were using to provide commentary on the fights and other instructions, he began to speak as calmly and firmly as he could. "Ladies and gentlemen! Please, there is no need for panic!"
As if the universe was trying to tell him otherwise, a Giant Nevermore landed on top of the hard light barrier over the open top of Amity and screeched. The shield pulsing bright blue as its claws and beak made contact with the near invisible barrier.
"A Nevermore?" Sun asks rhetorically as he hops up on the wall from the finalists' box to join his friends and team.
"How'd it get past the Kingdom's defenses?" Coco had even lowered her shades to ensure she wasn't seeing things as she moved closer to those she knew better.
"It wasn't alone." Was Ren's answer to her as he stood up, looking past the Grimm to see many more flying above them.
Within Beacon Tower, Qrow and Glynda emerged from the elevator looking to the man for direction. They had been watching the fight together in her office not far from the tower and when the systems were hacked into, they had begun to move to their boss. At least Glynda had gotten the man caught up on what Team DAIT had found and had been doing.
"Get to the city." The Headmaster orders.
"But- "
"Do it now!" Ozpin cuts off Qrow's questions with more force than most would hear from the man. The two veterans shared a quick look before following their directions.
A call came from James that Oz put through his terminal. "Ozpin! The girl! I can explain!" The General was starting to panic and stumble over his own words as he had so many thoughts running through his head, one of which being to apologize for doubting the mans' preference for subtlety over displays of force.
"You brought your army to my Kingdom, James." Ozpin's words made the man shut up and listen. "Use it." Those orders were something he could get behind with practiced ease and he intended to follow through to the best of his ability. This wasn't simply about his duty to protect the citizens of Vale, or Remnant, but to also show that he was still trustworthy to the man who let him into the biggest secrets on the planet to assist in protecting Remnant from its greatest threat.
AN: I'm estimating that the events of Volume 3 will be wrapped up fairly close to chapter 50. While I'm warning that everyone that there won't be much that could be considered a bright spot in the upcoming mess, there will be plenty that gets elaborated on and some things will have drastic changes. I hope you all are ready for this.
As always, reviews are welcome. I'm also looking into the possibility of finding an editor. I know that I have plenty of corrections to make in the earlier chapters and plan to go through to fix them at some point soon.