Dreams Do Come True

by DragonoftheEastblue

Do you believe in destiny? I certainly do, and so do two young Huntsmen-in-training who are about to have their lives changed forever. A retelling of events from the end of the Beacon Dance where Jaune realizes and accepts Pyrrha's feelings, and takes the first step on a journey he never knew was waiting for him. World-building/Canon-Restoration. Arkos, Boop, BlackSun, Iceberg, etc

8. Chapter VIII: Duty and Honour

Author's Note:

Hey everyone! As you're certainly aware, FF had a major tism last week, messing with everyone's fics. Since they haven't updated their Twitter for over a month, we had to wait for things to resolve themselves. It took about five days, and while I could have posted chapter VIII, I decided to play it safe and wait another week. Apologies for that, but better to be safe than sorry.

On that note, I heavily implore that you go back and read chapter VII if you haven't already. That chapter was a VERY plot heavy chapter, and what it contains affects the entirety of the story. I'm sure you'll then understand why I was so annoyed when the update failed. Of course, this doesn't apply to app users, as you got to read it just fine. I feel where your priorities lie, FF -_-

If ever that were to happen again, this story is also being posted on Ao3, which it most certainly will, as this is the second time this year alone.

Anyways, Happy Remembrance/Veterans Day, and enjoy the chapter.

Chapter VIII: Duty and Honour

The third day of the tournament had broken, and the capital was already bustling with life. Within the campus of Beacon, the students were in a fervour, both those spectating and those competing. They made certain that they had submitted to the tournament board who would be competing in the Doubles Round before the deadline, and were now going over their gear in preparation for their matches. Given that Team RWBY had the larger dorm room, both they and Team JNPR had gathered there to inspect their weapons. Yang and Weiss were making sure that Ember Celica and Myrtenaster were indexing correctly, as was Nora with Magnhild, who was now inspecting an assortment of 40mm rounds. Pyrrha was examining the sharpness of Miló, however, she was already quite certain it was in perfect condition, and was checking out of habit. The others were talking amongst themselves, though once again, Blake and Jaune were keeping an eye on Pyrrha.

Both were quite certain that she was lying about Team CLME, but they couldn't for the life of them understand why. The only probable explanation was that it had something to do with whatever she and Ozpin had spoken about. This did give them some hope that he was aware of the situation and was handling it, thus there was no need for them to take matters into their own hands. While they still wanted to know the finer details, part of them argued to respect Pyrrha's privacy, as they still had secrets of their own they had yet to reveal.

'I guess it's fair, I still haven't told her everything' he thought as he watched her examine Akoúo's straps. 'But I just wish she would tell me what's really bothering her. I hate seeing her like this.'

As Nora began to load all her extra grenade rounds into a multilayered bandolier, Ruby couldn't help but comment.

"Are you gonna be able to fight with that on your waist?" she asked.

"Oh I'll be fine. It's not that heavy" reassured the ginger.

"That might be too many though."

Nora gave the sniper a rather smug smirk.

"If you think that you can have too many bombs, then you don't understand the concept of bombs" she explained.

"True, though you should diversify your ammunition" advised Weiss, noticing they were all the same. "The nature of your weapon has more versatility than mere bombardment."

"Yeah I know, but it's too late now" Nora acknowledged with a pout. "Maybe I'll look into it after the tournament."

"I wouldn't mind going over it with you, if you'd like" the heiress offered.

"Really? Awwwww, thank you!" beamed the hammeress. "I've got some cool ideas for Magnhild, like firing all six shots when I hit something in hammer form for a super finishing move."

Weiss thought for a moment.

"That would probably need an entire firing mechanism overhaul" she pondered, with Ruby nodding in agreement. "Then there is the need to find a way to expose all six chambers for simultaneous discharge without damaging them when you strike targets, along with strengthening Magnhild itself to withstand the gas pressure of firing six rounds at once. I'll need some time to come up with something."

Without warning, Nora pulled Weiss into a tight hug.

"Thank yoooou~!" she expressed with joy, and while the young thunderess wasn't aware of her strength with the hug, the heiress couldn't suppress a humble smile.

"You're welcome. At least for new ammunition we can cover that in a day, so hopefully it will tie you over until I can come up with a plausible upgrade."

"I owe you, Weiss!"

"So..." began Blake, turning the attention of the room to herself, "not to be a stick in the mud by pointing out the Goliath in the room, but what are we going to do if we fight each other today?"

Indeed the thought had been on all their minds for a while now. It was inevitable that as the tournament progressed, the chances of Team RWBY and JNPR fighting one another rose dramatically. While Pyrrha's initial tease before the start of the tournament got them all excited to compete, and the tournament was just a more intense sparing session between friends, there was still some reservation of fighting against allies. Blake wasn't entirely sure if the others felt the same, but she was becoming incredibly found of them all, and after what had happened during her past, it was a bit unsettling for her.

"I can't wait" stated Yang confidently. "If we don't fight against each other today, you better not lose, cuz I want that one on one, Nikos. And if we do fight, I still want that one on one, so don't interfere, Nora!"

"I agree to these terms" Pyrrha concurred with a small smile. "Will you promise to give us a wide birth, Nora?"

The ginger looked between the blonde and the redhead slowly, before lowering her head submissively.

"OK..."

"OK what?"

"...OK I won't get in the way of your fight."

"Good Nora" said the blonde, rubbing her head approvingly. "At least someone on your team can do as they're told."

This caused Pyrrha to blink, slightly taken aback. "I'm sorry?"

Yang reached for her Scroll and began to sift through some application.

"I was going to bring this up yesterday, but given all that happened it slipped my mind" she explained, before finally finding what she was looking for, and held up her Scroll so Pyrrha could see.

It was yet another article about Jaune and Pyrrha, this time titled "MORE SERIOUS THEN WE THOUGHT?" Below the title were two photos; one on the left of Team JNPR walking into the arena, and a second which was a blow up of the first, cropped and zoomed to show the couple holding hands. When the blond and redhead realized this, their cheeks began to burn.

"O-Oh" gasped Pyrrha, slightly embarrassed. "I-I didn't realize we were still holding hands..."

"Y-Yeah..." admitted Jaune, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. Nora and Ren looked at their flustered friends with smirks on their faces, fully entertained by their romance, as well as their shyness. Yang on the other hand, wasn't so amused.

"I told you not give them any more ammunition!" she scolded.

"We forgot. It's not the end of the world" defended Jaune. "Plus it's just hand holding."

"It might as well have been a juicy steak to these vultures; if you guys want to keep them out of your relationship, then don't bait them."

"I've already told a reporter personally to shove it" the young Knight added.

"Like that'll work for long."

"I know" Jaune sighed, "but at the same time, it's not like we'll keep it a secret forever. I don't want to keep it a secret. It makes it seem like I'm ashamed of our relationship, when I could never be prouder. So I'm not apologizing for anything."

His words carried more weight than he realized, earning him grins of approval from his teammates, as well as from Team RWBY, though Yang knew the fervour of the press was only just getting started. Pyrrha, obviously being the most touched by them, leaned against his legs and looked up at him, smiling sweetly.

"I'm proud of you too" she said softly, meaning every word from the bottom of her heart and soul.

Jaune looked down and once again returned the smile, as he felt her love in both her words and her face. He could tell right away that she was truly smiling this time, unlike yesterday where he could see that her smile stopped before her eyes. Now, he saw her honesty shining through, and it showed just how beautiful she truly was.

"OK, I have to ask" groaned Yang rubbing her temples. "Have you two actually made out yet, or are you still beating around the bush with pecks on the cheek?"

The question snapped the couple out from their amorous gaze, and caused them to blush.

"N-No, we haven't yet" admitted Jaune.

"Are you serious? What the Hell are you waiting for?"

"To go on our date after the tournament wraps up."

"Oh who cares at this point?" the shorter blonde asked, which she did have an argument for, as it was clear to all that the couple in question were in love and together. "At least you can enjoy yourselves while the papers scramble."

The swordsman cleared his throat and looked at his thrill-seeking friend with serious but tranquil eyes.

"Pyrrha and I take relationships seriously, so we want to do this right. We also take being Huntsmen seriously, so we're not letting our feelings get in the way of the tournament. If we can't wait a few more days, then I doubt we'll be able to date for long given that lack of patience" he explained, earning nods from his teammates, as well as Weiss, who saw relationships the same way.

"Yeah you've said that before and I get it; I just expected you two to be balls deep at this point" Yang shrugged. "I've never seen two people so in love."

Jaune and Pyrrha's collected composure was instantly broken by the elder Xiao Long's bluntness, and their faces became beet red as a result. Once again, it was nice to hear that the strength of their relationship was clearly visible, and interpreted correctly as true love. Nevertheless, it was still rather embarrassing to hear from Yang that she assumed they were sexually active; a thought that wasn't so singularly held, as it turned out.

"C-Could you not speak of such things, p-please?" asked Pyrrha, stuttering in embarrassment. "I cannot handle both you and your uncle posing such questions."

"What?" Yang and Ruby asked in unison, not expecting such news.

"When I went to Huntmaster Ozpin's office yesterday, he was there" the Mistralese explained. "During the conversation, Mr. Branwen found it necessary to ask if Jaune and I h-had...um...r-reached that level in our relationship."

Upon hear this, Yang did her best to hold back her laugher, whereas her younger sister's face instantly scrunched as if she had licked a lemon. Weiss added to her captain's disapproval with a look of disgust on her face.

"That man is truly abhorrent" the heiress commented sourly. "First belittling and attacking my sister, now asking incredibly inappropriate questions about the personal lives of students. Who is he exactly, and what does he do?"

"Hey! That's our uncle you're badmouthing!" defended Yang, slapping the back of her hand across Weiss' shoulder. "And he taught at Signal."

This made Weiss go wide-eyed in horror.

"He's an educator?!" she cried, completely shocked by the revelation.

"Well he was. He retired and hunts fulltime now."

The Atlassian Huntress-in-training breathed a sigh of relief, but wasn't entirely soothed with the clarification.

"This explains so much about your behaviour and humour" she remarked.

"For the record, I get my dirty jokes from Uncle Qrow, and I get my puns from my dad" established the blonde. "Uncle Qrow hates puns."

"Oh, so he does have some redeeming qualities."

"As sombre and tactless as he appears to be, he seems to be a good person deep down" offered Pyrrha, recalling his actions towards Amber, though she made sure to step clear of revealing anything about Qrow's involvement with the Order. Yang nodded appreciatively as Ruby held her hands up apologetically, as if in prayer.

"Sorry" she said half whispering, which Pyrrha smiled back understandingly, knowing full well neither she nor her sister had to excuse their uncle's behaviour.

"Well, you two have the patience of saints so, good for you, I guess" finished Yang, before jabbing her thumb in the direction of her teammates. "Then again, these two are just as patient; for some reason."

Both Weiss and Blake blushed at her provocation, though they were accustomed to it and countered in turn.

"I have the same perspective as Jaune and Pyrrha in regards to relationships" the heiress stated poignantly. "And things are progress rather nicely between Neptune and I, thank you very much."

"You finally stuck your tongue down his throat?"

Weiss flinched as Nora snorted in amusement.

"I kissed him on the cheek" she shot back.

"OoooOOooo" Yang awed exaggeratingly, fluttering her fingers. "You girls know that boys have lips too, right?"

"And when you get a boyfriend, I'm sure you will show us how it all works" Weiss retorted calmly, as she loaded the last of Myrtenaster's chambers before locking the rapier. The room was quickly filled with snickers as Yang leaned forward and glared at her white-haired teammate.

"Watch it, princess" the elder Xiao Long warned, pointing at Weiss. "You and I are fighting together today. You're gonna want me watching your back, so don't get on my bad side." She then looked over to Blake, who immediately tensed as she knew that Yang was going to turn it up several notches. "And what base have you gotten to, or are you still on the bench?"

The Cat Faunus relaxed, glad that her friend hadn't gone the vulgar route. Nevertheless, she gave a passive response, not wanting to speak openly about her personal life just yet.

"I'll share when something major happens" she said slowly.

Yang threw her head back in annoyance.

"Why do I even bother asking? I should just go straight to Sun and ask him!"

"Ask me what?" came a voice, causing the Beaconites to turn their heads to the windowsill to Jaune's right, and saw the Faunus in question hanging off the edge with his arms folded and his chin resting on them. To his right was Neptune doing the same, giving the others a small wave and a knowing nod to Weiss, who blushed.

"What base are you and Blake on?" Yang asked eagerly, before the raven-haired Huntress-in-training could stop her.

Sun examined Blake, and was very much amused by how flustered she was.

"I'm sure she'll tell ya when she's ready" he said at last, causing Blake to sigh in relief, and Yang to glare in annoyance. "Speaking of which, are you guys ready for today?"

"Yes, I believe we are" replied Pyrrha with a polite smile.

"Mind if we ask who's competing in the Doubles?" asked Neptune. "The teams are locked so there's no point in hiding it now."

"Pyrrha and Nora will be teaming up for this round" Jaune answered.

"That's the most obvious thing in the world" grinned Sun. "What about you ladies?"

"Yang and Weiss" announced Ruby, confident in her choice and their chances of victory. Unfortunately, this caused Neptune's smile to vanish, and his eyes rested on the Schnee heiress, causing her to realize what was going on. Blake also registered what had occurred, and felt both sympathy and worry for her friends.

"You and Sun are going forward to the Doubles, aren't you?" she stated more than asked.

"Uh oh" added Nora, looking between the white-haired girl and the blue-haired boy.

Everyone else in the dorm was now up to speed, and began to share in Blake's sympathy. They all understood the reservations of fighting against friends, especially given they had grown closer since entering Beacon, and continued to do so with each passing day. However, what none of them had yet to experience, was fighting against a lover. Team JNPR had spared constantly of course, but there was a world of difference between a training spar and a serious fight. Jaune and Ren never wanted to harm Pyrrha and Nora, just as much as the girls never wanted to hurt them; their stomachs twisting from just the thought alone. None of them could describe the level of anxiety from being in such a situation, so all they could do was hope Team RWBY and SSSN did not face one another today.

"Shit, I'm sorry, dude" apologized Sun honestly, looking over to his friend with a very concerned expression on his face. "If we have to fight them today, I'll take on Weiss and you fight Yang."

"That doesn't make things any better" pointed out Neptune, not bothering to hide his unhappiness with the possible outcome.

"I know, just please don't forfeit the match if it happens, OK?"

The blue-haired Huntsman-in-training remained quiet as he looked back at Weiss, and saw his own emotions being reflected back at him.

"Dude, promise me" repeated the Monkey Faunus.

"Would you be saying the same if we were going up against Blake?" he asked.

Sun paused for a moment, and after taking one look at his fellow Faunus, his expression softened.

"Yeah, I'd fold too" he admitted with a sigh. The others nodded silently, all knowing they would do the same if they were in Neptune's shoes.

But it was Blake herself that felt the weight of Sun's words the most, as they caused her heart to jump into her throat. For someone like him who loved to fight and compete, to so quickly throw in the towel to avoid hurting her, touched her in more ways than she was willing to admit; even to herself. Never before had there been someone in her life, other than her father, who'd be so inclined to do so, and it was a very alien experience; one that she would ponder on for days to come.

Sun then sighed loudly and looked up to the sky. "We chose a good time to find some amazing girls, didn't we?"

"Yup" agreed Neptune.

"Could have been better timed, yeah" added Jaune, glancing down at the redhead.

"Why, what's your problem? She's on your team" Sun pointed out, confused.

"Yeah, and I wish I had noticed her feelings sooner" the other blond replied. "Then I would have saved myself some time, and allowed me to spend more of it with the most incredible girl in the world."

"I thought you said not to use pick-up lines?" reminded the former fisherman.

Jaune shrugged sheepishly. "It's not wrong if it's the truth" he pointed out. "Plus, is it still a pick-up line if we agreed to go out?"

The Vacuan lieutenant smirked at Jaune, and nodded silently in approval, along with a grin from the Monkey Faunus beside him. Jaune then felt Pyrrha lean even harder against his legs, and he knew that even if she was no longer looking up at him, she was smiling.

"Pushing the overly romantic crap to the side" muttered Yang, her annoyance knowing no bounds, "if we do fight, I won't hold back, so neither should you. I want to fight Pyrrha anyways, so either you put up a decent fight or get out of the way."

Weiss looked over to her teammate with disapproving eyes.

"How am I the Ice Queen again?" she asked.

"It's a tournament, not a mixer!" argued the blonde hotly, holding out her hands to emphasize her point. She was right of course, but given that she had never been in a relationship before, she was a tad inept on what exactly her friends were feeling. "Whatever, I'm gonna go for a ride on Inferno until the tournament starts. I'll see you guys there."

Fixing Ember Celica to her arms, she rose to her feet and left the dorm, leaving her friends to their own devices.

"...She means well" offered Ruby. "My sister's just very competitive."

"I could tell" added Sun. "So what are you guys gonna do until the fights start? We still got a couple hours."

"Enjoy the tranquility I guess" pondered Blake.

"I think Nora and I will go over our battle plans" suggested Pyrrha.

"Again?" the ginger asked in shock.

"It couldn't hurt."

Nora groaned, earning a nudge from Ren.

"You've done very well so far" he complimented honestly. "Think of this as just extra polish."

"Mmmmmmm...OK..." the hammeress caved, drooping her head forward. The rest of Team JNPR chuckled at her, and decided to head back to their dorms across the hall to review their plans in private, leaving the remainder of Team RWBY with the captain and lieutenant of Team SSSN.

"Are you two gonna stay?" asked Ruby, turning to the window.

"Any time with Blake is great" answered Sun, causing the Cat Faunus to blush, "but I think it would be better to take this one for a walk and clear his head." He gestured at Neptune with his thumb as he said this, before saluting the girls. "We'll see you at the Coliseum. And whatever happens, no hard feelings right?"

Weiss looked once again at the blue-haired Vacuan, before surprising him with a small smile.

"I'll pay for our dinner when we go out after the tournament; my treat for winning" she said, her cheeks brushed pink.

Neptune's mouth opened slightly in a mute daze, before turning it into a confident grin.

"Alright, Snow Angel. I can live with that" he affirmed.

"Great! Thanks Schnee! See ya, beautiful. Let's go, dude!" cheered Sun, grabbing his friend by the back of the collar, and pulled him along as he jumped off the side of the dormitory building.

Ruby snorted at the whole affair before looking to her lieutenant, who was now faring much better after learning she might have to fight her love interest.

"Pfft. Snow Angel" she echoed in amusement.

"I think it's cute" defended Weiss as she sheathed Myrtenaster. "You'll understand when you're older."

Ruby blew a raspberry at the heiress who ignored it, as she began to look for restaurants on her Scroll, joining Pyrrha in greatly looking forward to the end of the tournament.

λΛλ

Huntmaster Ozpin was in his office, staring at his Scroll as it sat upon a short stack of books. Every so often he would look at the antique clock on his desk, reminding himself just how little time remained. The latch of the double doors clicked as Glynda entered the office, a worried expression on her face.

"It's time" she said softly as she approached him, trying her best to conceal her concern.

"I know" Ozpin answered, pocketing his Scroll before taking his cane and rising to his feet. The great horned owl that sat on its perch turned its head without shifting its body, and gave his master a quiet concerned hoot. The Huntmaster gently stroked the top of the raptor's head with two fingers to sooth him, though he knew it was meant to be the other way round.

"Has he not contacted us?" Glynda asked, though she was fairly certain she knew the answer.

"No, he has not."

The office returned to silence as Ozpin continued to stroke the owl for a few moments more.

"Perhaps we could dela–"

"No" he said strongly, glancing at her as he straightened himself. "We proceed."

The Huntmaster walked around the desk, joining his Deputy-Huntmistress to make their way to the Coliseum. The owl kept his eyes locked on his master, watching him open the door for Glynda, and maintained his watch till the door shut behind them. The raptor then hooted, almost nervously, and leapt off his perch, flying through one of the open windows above.

λΛλ

"Good afternoon Albion City and all of you watching around the world!" Professor Port greeted, his voice booming throughout the arena. "And welcome to day three of the Vytal Festival Tournament! For those of you just joining us, though I must ask why in Remnant are you tuning in now, I am Professor Peter Port, and I hope you are ready for the Doubles Round! If you are just joining us, allow my colleague and friend Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck, to get you up to speed."

"Why thank you, Peter!" said Oobleck, very pleased he was addressed by his proper title. "And yes, the past two days have been incredibly entertaining to say the least. We began this tournament with sixteen teams, four hailing from each Kingdom. Over the course of those two days, these teams went through the first round of the tournament, known as the Teams Round. The weak have been eliminated, leaving only eight teams to carry on: Teams RWBY, JNPR, CFVY, and CRDL of Beacon, Team SSSN of Shade, Team CLME of Haven, and Teams FNKI and PKTS (Pickets) of Ýdalir. However, unlike the previous bracket, they will not compete in teams of four, but as teams of two. That's why it's called the Doubles Round, you see."

"And if I didn't know any better, I'd say I was seeing double, as all four of our academy's teams have made it through the first bracket" commented Port with a smirk. "Poor Huntmaster Lionheart mustn't feel all too proud for saying we needed help winning, when only one of his teams made it to the Doubles."

"I would say so, along with Huntmaster Blanco, however, the remaining teams of both Mistral and Vacuo have proven to be tough as nails, so I wouldn't count them out of the running just yet. So let's see just how much running today's combatants will be doing! Drum roll please!"

Half of the holoscreens flashed as the computer began to randomize through the entered teams, before landing on Teams CFVY and CLME, and revealing the photos of Coco, Yatsuhashi, Mercury, and Emerald. The crowd erupted into life, with the home spectators and Mistralese shouting loudest, restless and excited to see the match begin. In the reserved seating, Team CFVY grinned in anticipation, with their friends all eager to see them fight.

"And the first match of the day will be Coco Adel and Yatsuhashi Daichi of Team CFVY against Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai of Team CLME!" announced Port. "Both teams please make your way to the arena!"

"Wish us luck, kiddies!" Coco chirped getting to her feet, accompanied by Yatsuhashi.

"Kick ass out there" cheered Yang, fist-bumping the two upperclassmen as they walked past.

"Don't let up and be careful" added Pyrrha, keeping a serious but soft expression on her face.

Of course she meant that more than she was letting on. The moment Team CLME apparent on the screen, her stomach twisted into knots, recalling everything she had learned from Ozpin. She had secretly prayed that she and Nora could fight and defeat them before the start of the Singles Round. This would take them out of the tournament, and hopefully render them unable to continue with their plans to assassinate Amber. Her luck was not as strong as she'd wished, and all she could do now was hope that her seniors would either defeat Team CLME, or whatever plan the Order had up their sleeves, was ready to be put into action. It did give Pyrrha some comfort that Cinder would not be taking part in the rest of the tournament, though it did cause the Mistralese champion to dwell on what the half-Maiden would be doing in the meantime.

Above the arena in the private skybox, were Huntmasters Ozpin and Ironwood, seated in their chairs and appearing to enjoy the view.

"I take it Qrow hasn't touched base" stated the General, looking down at the floating ice cubes in his glass.

"Not yet" Ozpin replied, his Scroll sitting on the armrest of his chair. "Nothing on your end?"

"Negative" confirmed the Atlassian. "Neither the bird nor the beast have pinged anything, leaving us to sit on our hands."

"Patience is a virtue" Ozpin reminded him, though he wasn't exactly taking his own advice, knowing how little time remained.

"It certainly is, though I'd feel more at ease if I had even a basket to hold the eggs I'd need to miscount before they hatch."

"Then let us walk on eggshells for the time being and hope for the best."

In the arena, the combatants walked into the centre of the battle grounds and greeted each other, with Team CLME ready to play along.

"Hey! Love the outfit, kid!" complimented Coco, as she lowered her sunglasses to get a better look.

"I'll try not to get any blood on it" Emerald returned.

"I can't promise you'll leave without a scratch" offered Yatsuhashi, drawing Fulcrum, a bronze greatsword with a guthook at the end, and rested the blade on its point.

"I won't be the one bleeding" Emerald said calmly.

"Ooh, I like her!" Coco chimed, looking even more forward to the match.

Above them, the digital roulette was once again sifting through a list of terrains for the match. However, instead of two environments being selected, four appeared on the holoscreens. Once registered, the arena began to change shape, revealing what they were to both the audience and the combatants. One was a patch of tall grassy plains with a single tree in the centre, and some rocks amongst the blades. The second were the ruins of a city, complete with buildings holding shattered windows and rubble amongst the pavement. The third was a hot spring containing geyser spots along a small river, as well as some blue Dust crystal growths, with the fourth being a familiar section of dense forest.

"Fighters ready?" boomed Port. "Three...two...one...GO!"

Coco and Yatsuhashi readied themselves to either fend off an attack, or take advantage of an opportunity to assault their opponents. To their surprise, Mercury and Emerald backed away slowly into the tall grass, vanishing from view. The captain of Team CFVY was hardly amused by the false-Havenite's tactics, and swung Gianduja over her shoulder, transforming it into its minigun form, and began to open fire. Yatsuhashi readied himself to spring onto either of his opponents, expecting them to break from cover like spooked rabbits, but frowned when it became clear that they were no longer in that quarter biome. His sharp eyes scanned the terrain before him, pivoting slowly without weakening his stance. Suddenly his eyes darted above, and saw Mercury soaring in with a flying kick aimed for Coco, which Yatsuhashi parried with a powerful stroke of Fulcrum, knocking the kick-fighter back. Before he touched the ground, Coco began to spin the six barrels of her minigun, and then unleashed a hailstorm of 7.62mm bullets at her target. Impressively, Mercury pushed off the ground with one hand to avoid the gunfire, and peeled off, managing to stay ahead of the shots despite Coco's lead.

"He's fast" commented Sun, appreciating Mercury's acrobatics.

"Yeah, but where's the girl?" asked Scarlet, trying to spot her in the three remaining biomes, along with Neptune and Sage.

Mercury rushed in between the members of Team CFVY, and sent a kick at Coco while performing a backwards flip. Coco managed to block the attack with Gianduja's barrels, and dashed backwards to put distance between herself and her opponent, knowing her weapon gave her no advantages in close-quarters-combat. Yatsuhashi brought his greatsword into a heavy two-handed chop, which the kick-fighter managed to dodge by a hair, before sending a spinning back kick at the swordsman's head. Yatsuhashi raised his left shoulder and blocked the kick with his five-layered sode, and slid back several feet from the force of the blow, otherwise unharmed. Coco, seeing an opportunity, unloaded once again on Mercury, but missed as the young man jumped into the air, flipping backwards towards her. He landed on the barrels of her minigun and kicked her in the face before flipping away once more to avoid a stroke of Yatsuhashi's sword. Mercury then tried to kick both of his opponents, but the taller Huntsman-in-training backhanded him with his right fist. The kick-fighter flew over Coco, but managed to grab her shoulders, and placed her into a hold before using his right foot to ram the muzzle of Gianduja into Yatsuhashi's gut. Without hesitation, the swordsman performed a long thrust right for Mercury's head, forcing him to flip away as Coco brought around her minigun to open fire once more.

While in midair, the false-Havenite launched two blasts from Talaria, his boot weapons, before spinning on his hands. Coco and Yatsuhashi turned to face their opponent, just in time to see the projectiles, and batted them away, sending them into the hot spring biome where they exploded on contact. Returning their gaze to Mercury, they witnessed him creating a cyclone of projectiles as he spun his legs around him, before unleashed a bombardment at them. As the projectiles struck the ground, they kicked up a large plume of smoke, obscuring Team CFVY's vision just long enough for the kick-fighter to flank them. Yatsuhashi noticed him first, and tried to land an elbow strike, but Mercury avoided the attack, and grabbed the both of them, letting loose a flurry of kicks. He successfully managed to knock the swordsman back so that he could strike Coco at full strength, and sent her flying to the edge of the forest biome, before turning his back to her. Coco wasn't down for long, and sprang to her feet to attack the kick-fighter, but was halted by a kusarigama flying out from the forest behind her, and wrapped itself around her waist. Before Coco could react, she was yanked across the arena into the forest, vanishing from view.

"Coco!" shouted Yatsuhashi, seeing his captain disappear into the foliage. He wanted to chase after her, as he feared for her safety, but in the corner of his eye saw Mercury perform a butterfly kick in mid air, and land a hit in his left temple.

The swordsman's head spun to the right, but to the genuine shock of the kick-fighter, the attack did not break his opponent's stance. Without looking at Mercury, Yatsuhachi punched the grey-haired imposter in the mouth with his gauntleted left fist. Mercury's head snapped backward from the blow, but was given no time to recover, as the swordsman grabbed him by the collar, and swung him over his head, driving him back first into the tiles of the arena. The wind was partially knocked out of Mercury, but what remained was then taken as Yatsuhashi stomped on his gut with his left boot. The Beaconite then grabbed his opponent once again, and threw him across the arena into the hot spring biome, before leaping incredibly high into the sky. Mercury crashed back first onto the wet stony ground, sliding a short distance before slowing to a halt, and let out a groan.

'Oh you motherfucker...' he thought, realizing that he had taken actual damage.

He wouldn't have time to assess that damage however, as he saw Yatsuhashi careening towards him from above, bringing Fulcrum down upon him. He managed to block the blade with the soles of his boots, and gritted his teeth in pain as he felt the astonishing power of the attack. That power was visible for all to see, as it created a shockwave that surpassed the biome itself. The ground beneath cracked in every direction, and caused shrapnel and steam to fly into the air.

'Oh fuck right off!' Mercury thought, firing two shots from Talaria to knock Fulcrum back, and used the recoil to kip-up onto his feet.

Now in a crouch, he swiped at Yatsuhashi's legs, who leapt over him to avoid it the kick, and turned on a dime to face his opponent, just as Mercury rose to meet him. The pair began to fight in an impressive display of skill, appearing very much to be engaged in a dance. Mercury was making full use of the momentum of his spins to increase the power of his kicks, which also helped with his evasiveness. To his great annoyance, despite being much faster than Yatsuhashi, the tall swordsman was keeping up with him blow for blow. Yatsuhashi was fully aware of the limitations of his large sword, and how much strength was required to wield it. He learned that he needed to utilize the momentum of his swings, and roll them into his fighting style, alongside his armour, which he used to parry attacks, as well as to protect his vitals. Yatsuhashi was no amateur, and was proving to be a more durable opponent than the undercover invader had anticipated.

'If I don't end this soon, she'll give me shit for the rest of the mission' Mercury thought, digging in his heels, and continued to kick the swordsman.

λΛλ

In the forest quarter of the arena, Coco crashed back first into the trunk of a tree, before falling to her knees. She shook her head to regain her senses, and was about to take inventory of the situation, when she realized that her sunglasses had been knocked off her face. Coco looked around, and found them lying beside her, shattered beyond repair.

"I take it back; I don't like her" she muttered.

Suddenly, she spotted something in the foliage, and realized at the last moment that it was the muzzle of a firearm. It, of course, was Emerald who was firing both of her revolvers, Thief's Respite. Coco began to back flip to avoid the gunfire, once again trying to put some distance between herself and her opponent, and make full use of Gianduja's firepower. At last she was able to transform her weapon back into its minigun form, and retaliated with fierce determination. Emerald jumped and swung through the canopy of the forest, returning fire while she used the bows to shield her from the onslaught of the minigun. As Coco began to lead her shots to catch the younger teen in mid-jump between trees, she was shocked to see her disappear right in front of her. Her eyes began to dart from tree top to tree top, trying to spot her foe, very much hating how elusive she was being.

"Damn!" she growled, tightening her grip on the carry handle and trigger stick.

"Coco!" came a voice behind her, causing her to glance over her left shoulder to see it was Yatsuhashi.

"Watch out, she's in the trees!" she warned, but froze when she noticed something was array.

Her partner was in pristine condition, without a single scratch on him. She had fought often enough and long enough with Yatsuhashi to know exactly how he looked at the end of a battle. His fighting style focused on utilizing his armour to divert direct attacks, and as a tank, he was very good at taking hits. It also went without saying that Coco had an eye for fashion, and she was very good at noticing when something was wrong with an outfit. There was no way Mercury's attacks hadn't scratched his armour, so what was going on?

"That was a fantastic fight, but that last attack was the final blow with Mercury Black defeating Yatsuhashi Daichi!" announced Port.

"What?!" shouted Coco in shock, as her eyes flew to the holoscreen above her, and saw a replay of her teammate being knocked to the ground in the centre of the arena.

She then spun back around to look at "Yatsuhashi", and saw that she was alone. She swept her minigun around her, trying to spot her target, confused and fearful of what might occur. The previous day's conversation regarding the identity of Team CLME, was now returning to the forefront of her mind. Pyrrha might have said that everything had been a misunderstanding, but now, she was beginning to doubt the champion's words.

Unfortunately, her rattled nerves had been just enough of a distraction for Emerald to appear behind her, and struck her twice with such force that she flew out of the forest biome and crash next to her teammate.

"And there is Coco Adel!" shouted Oobleck. "What an upset! Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai are victorious! It looks like Mistral still has a shot of winning the tournament as Team CLME continues to the Singles Round!"

The Valian spectators groaned as they had now experienced their first loss of the tournament, whereas the Mistralese cheered excitedly that their final team was still in the running. In the reserved seating however, it was a different story. Fox and Velvet were at a loss for words, unable to believe that their teammates had lost against a first-year team. Teams SSSN, RWBY, and JNPR joined in their shock, as while they had seen Team CLME in action the previous day, they hadn't expected them to take the victory so easily. But it was Pyrrha who was the most distraught by Coco and Yatsuhashi's loss. She was doing everything in her power not to show it, but she felt her stomach twisting in so many knots she was fearful she might lose her breakfast.

'This shouldn't have happened' she thought as she watched four medics enter the arena to escort the fallen combatants in stretchers. 'They lost because they went against vile invaders instead of proper students. This wasn't right...this wasn't fair...'

The guilt of knowing the truth had weighed on her heavily ever since the Order had spoken to her, but now it had tripled seeing the consequences of remaining mum. Pyrrha began to think she should have told them at least a portion of the truth, so that Coco and Yatsuhashi would have had a better chance at victory. While she was not able to witness the fight between Emerald and Coco, the thick canopy of trees obscuring the match, the swordsman had put up a very good fight against Mercury. There at least, one of the dark agents could have taken out of the equation. Alas, they would not be so lucky this day, leaving either the Order or the Singles bracket to determine the fate of the battle.

Fox and Velvet rose to their feet, and quickly began to walk to the stairs, needing to get to their injured teammates as soon as possible. The concerned redhead watched them leave, and after a few moments, also stood and began to follow.

"Pyrrha?" asked Jaune.

"I'll be right back" she replied, disappearing before the blond could say anything else.

She walked hastily to the hallway below the Coliseum, and followed the sound of footsteps, knowing her upperclassmen were only just ahead. When she turned the corner, she saw Fox and Velvet looking over their fallen comrades, who were sprawled onto two stretchers carried by the assigned medics.

"How bad are their injuries?" she asked.

"Yatsuhashi took a monstrous beating from Mercury, but he's tough" replied Velvet. "But Coco..."

Pyrrha looked over to the captain on the second stretcher, and instantly felt her heart sink. Coco had a horrible gash on her left temple, blood running from her nose, and a nasty bruise on the right side of her jaw, which Pyrrha suspected was a sign it was either fractured or broken.

"I'm...sorry..." she said in a quiet voice, the guilt enveloping her even more as she knelt next to Velvet.

"It's alright, it's not as if it's your fault" reassured the rabbit Faunus, though her words only brought about more guilt to the swordswoman.

"We need to bring her to the Coliseum infirmary" insisted one of the medics. The girls nodded and were about to let the stretcher-bearers do their job, when Pyrrha felt a hand grab her sash.

"Ni...kos..." wheezed Coco painfully, regaining consciousness.

"Coco!" they gasped, not expecting her to speak.

"Don't talk" Pyrrha advised as calmly as she could. "You fought well, but you need to rest. We will take things from here."

"Li...sten...to...me..." the wounded Huntress-in-training continued in a quiet voice, not letting go of the redhead. Pyrrha leaned forward so that her left ear was right next to Coco's mouth, and listened as intently as she could. "The...girl...Em...erald...her...Sem...blence...is...dan...gerous. It...ill...usions..."

Before Pyrrha could ask her to be clearer, Coco lost consciousness once more.

"Coco?"

"She's sustained head trauma. We need to examine her right away" said the medic, and without any more delay, carried Coco down the hall, along with Yatsuhashi.

"We're going to go with them" added Velvet quickly. "Good luck to you and the others." And without saying another word, the other members of Team CFVY followed their injured friends, leaving Pyrrha alone in the hall with her remorse.

She remained there for several moments, trying to calm herself before returning to her friends, when from the intersecting passage to the right, emerged Mercury and Emerald, just as Cinder and "Laura" came around the bend further up the hall. Pyrrha froze, unsure of what to do, or how they would react to seeing her.

"Oh, it's you, Pyrrha Nikos" said Emerald, putting on her fake smile and persona.

"Y-Yes, hello" the redhead managed to say quickly, putting on a mask of her own. "Congratulations on your second victory."

"Thank you" replied the green-haired thief, increasing her hollow smile and closing her eyes. "Good luck with your match today."

"Same" added Mercury, giving her a curt two finger salute. "I'm going to Singles Round; I'm looking forward to our rematch."

"So am I" replied Pyrrha, meaning that more than the imposters could have possibly known.

"Give our best to Ruby and the others" Cinder said in a manner that was meant to be warm, but to Pyrrha, solely came across as cold and foul.

"I will" the true Mistralese lied, bowing to hide the loathing in her eyes, as the team turned to go back to their side of the Coliseum.

There were a few second of silence that followed when the invaders disappeared from view. Then, in a shocking display of speed, Pyrrha punched the wall with her left fist, sinking it into the concrete past her knuckles. Her Aura flared as she felt rage like she never had before, and it took all of the discipline she had acquired throughout her life to stop herself from drawing her arms and charging after them.

'With the Gods of Light as my witnesses' she vowed with fierce determination, 'if they grant me the opportunity, I will bring judgement upon those vile invaders. On my life, I shall.'

λΛλ

In the skybox, Ozpin sighed mournfully as he watched his students being escorted out of the arena.

"There's nothing you could have done, Sam" assured the General. "Any form of interference would have given them wind that we're onto them."

"I know" acknowledged the silver-haired Huntmaster, rubbing his temples with his left hand as he checked his Scroll with his right.

"Still nothing?"

"None."

"Damn it, Qrow" hissed Ironwood, taking a sip of his whiskey. "If he could just send us some form of update; that alone would give me some piece of mind."

"As it would for me, but this, as it has always been for us, is a test of faith."

"In Qrow or the Gods?"

"My faith in Qrow is unshakable" Ozpin affirmed, pulling an antique pocket watch from a front pocket and opening it. "This is a test of all our collected experience, preparation, and determination to the cause...and I believe that we will triumph."

Ironwood looked over to Winter who was standing at attention ten feet behind him, and noticed she was very tense, despite the cold composure she portrayed.

"I pray so."

λΛλ

Pyrrha returned to the reserved seating and sat silently next to Jaune, doing her best to maintain her mask for the sake of her friends.

"Are you OK?" he asked, worried she had left for a reason she was still keeping secret.

"Yes, I was just concerned for Team CFVY" she replied honestly enough.

"How are they?" asked Ruby.

"Yatsuhashi is fairly roughed up, but otherwise alright. Coco is..." she trailed, feeling the guilt return.

The others looked down in worry, not at all pleased to hear their upperclassman had been severely injured. Jaune continued to eye his lieutenant, wrestling with his own emotions, as he could see through Pyrrha's facade. She was deeply troubled about something, but he continued to force himself to respect her privacy, and not berate her with questions. The problem now was that he could see just how shaken she was, as her eyes once again revealed the truth when her face did not. In that moment, he struggled against the two parts of himself that now defined him: the lover and the commander. As her lover, he desperately wanted to know what was causing her such distress, as he wanted to protect her from harm, and be the same supporting person she'd been for him. As her captain, he worried how she would perform in the tournament, as being this rattled could cost them the victory or worse; her getting badly hurt. Obviously, the lover part was winning, and he desperately wanted to take her in his arms and comfort her. He knew however that he could not, but instead took her hand and squeezed it, trying to infuse the action with all his love.

Pyrrha looked up at him, and he felt his heart lodge itself in his throat when he gazed into her big vivid green eyes; seeing both the turmoil and beauty within. What he could not see of course, was that Pyrrha was having the same internal struggle he was. She desperately wanted to be in his arms and tell him the truth, in its entirety, and wanted to hear his opinions. At the same time, she desperately wanted to protect him, and not involve him in the Order, fearing he would be severely hurt or worse. Seeing what Cinder could do to a Maiden and what her lackeys had done to Coco and Yatsuhashi, forced her to admit that Jaune was in no way ready to take on such foes. The dread that came from imagining her captain in pain drove her to remain silent, just as much as her desire to uphold her holy oaths did. She promised she would tell him the truth, but not now; as much as it pained her.

"Let's begin the selection for the second match of the Doubles Round!" announced Port, initiating the randomizing process, landing on RWBY and FNKI. "And here comes Vale's chance at redemption with Yang Xiao Long and Weiss Schnee of Team RWBY versus Flynt Coal and Neon Katt of Team FNKI!"

Yang pumped her fists in excitement as Weiss sighed in relief along with Neptune, both incredibly grateful that they wouldn't be facing one another. The heiress looked over to her love interest with a smile, and was about to take his hand, when Yang grabbed the back of her collar.

"No time for love, Schnee! We got a match to win!" the blonde cried, and bolted with her teammate in tow, protesting in a language Yang didn't understand.

"Well that's one crisis avoided" chimed Sun, resting his hands behind his head.

"Now we just need to win" continued Blake with a smirk, happy for her friend's good fortune.

"We will" smiled Ruby confidently. "My sister is unstoppable and Weiss is sharper than a tack. They got this!"

"Since they're going up against an Atlassian team, I won't feel so bad cheering for'em" the Monkey Faunus added, getting a laugh from the rest of his team.

λΛλ

Yang and Weiss walked side by side through the now familiar hall below the Coliseum, heading towards the arena as their souls burned with determination. The blond was especially excited, for while she wouldn't be facing Pyrrha that day, she knew she needed to win in order to face her in the Singles. The heiress was more even-tempered, but nonetheless felt her competitive drive firing on all cylinders.

"Finally it's our turn!" Yang grinned, shrugging her shoulders and causing an audible crack. "Man, I'm on fire!"

"Just remember to keep proper form, and adhere to the battle strategies we devised if they try to overtake us" advised Weiss.

"I got ya. So...you're from Atlas; what do you expect we'll be in for?"

They climbed the ramp that connected to the grounds, and made their way up the path to the arena itself.

"My Kingdom operates very differently from the other three" the heiress began. "Minus Vacuo as they are the outlier, Vale and Mistral have their Royal armies and their Huntsmen institutions as separate entities that work together, rather than separate branches of one overarching force. Atlas on the other hand, unites them under one banner, making sure that all are trained under one united doctrine and system. Of course, not everyone can be a Huntsman or Huntress, as they are in Atlas what they are in the other Kingdoms: the elite. Nevertheless, you are given a military rank, and trained with the same strictness as any proper standing army requires to run smoothly. I expect Team FNKI to display excellent form, tactics, and discipl–"

Weiss halted as she finally laid eyes on said Team FNKI, who were clearly the exact opposite of what she had just explained. Flynt Coal was a dark-skinned man with equally dark brown eyes partially hidden behind rectangular sunglasses, as well as an earring on his right ear. He wore a dark fedora with a blue trim, a dark vest over an untucked white dress shirt, with a loose tie wrapped around the collar. Completing his attire was a pair of dark dress pants, silver dress shoes, and a dark glove on his left hand. In that hand was surprisingly a C trumpet, called Iam Tenebris, which was something that Weiss noticed right away, and was befuddled on how it could be used as a weapon.

To his side was Neon Katt, a Cat Faunus girl with a light complexion, green eyes, and moderate red-orange hair with light blue streaks in her bangs. Protruding from her eye-drawing hair done up in two pigtails, were a pair of pink cat ears that matched her tail, which were covered with pink fur that became lighter toward the tip. Her outfit bore a vast range of bright colors, which included a light blue cropped tank top over a dark purple bra, showing her upper cleavage. She also wore dark purple short shorts under a pink combat mini-skirt, and white belt with a yellow winking smiley face on the buckle. Two buttons were fixed to her tank top over her right breast, one purple with a cat design and the other one green with a heart. On her neck was a white cat bell collar, with a pair of matching bracers on her arms, and pads on her shins and knees. Her right arm had a visible tattoo of a shooting star with red, green, and yellow trail winds around, which wrapped around her bicep several times. To complete her strange attire were a pair of red roller blades, and a pair of nunchaku called Grave e Prestissimo, which were clearly visible in her right hand.

These two were clearly an extravagant pair, leaving Weiss in a state of shock, where her tongue had curled and left her without words. Yang was in a similar state with her mouth hanging open, mostly due to the horrible colour clashing of Neon's outfit. At last, Weiss managed to recover, and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"...or whatever they are...why are they out of uniform?" she groaned.

"You mean their school uniform or their military uniform?" asked the blonde, also recovering.

"Everyone who attends Ýdalir Academy is required to wear uniforms, designated by their branch" the heiress explained. "Yes, Huntsmen are permitted to modify their uniforms to personalize them, however, that is after they graduate. How and why they are allowed to compete in such fashion is beyond me."

Atop the skybox, her elder sister shared her disdain for the students.

"Why are they out of uniform?" she asked with a scowl.

"I suppose they wanted to look good for the tournament" replied Ironwood.

"They are disgracing the uniform, sir" Winter objected.

"Well..." the General eyed his students over the rim of his glass, "technically speaking they aren't in uniform, and therefore, they cannot disgrace it." He looked over his shoulder to see the agitated expression on his Major's face, and spoke again. "Given what we already have on our plate, Major, I don't see the validity of adding something as insignificant as an Appearance and Grooming violation."

The elder Schnee wasn't completely satisfied with her commanding officer's response; however she did understand the point he was making, and returned to standing at attention.

Returning to the arena, the two opposing teams finally reached the centre of the battleground. As per the usual arrangement, they began to size each other up with some light-hearted banter.

"Hey!" called Flynt with a smile. "You're Weiss Schnee, right? The heiress?"

"I am" Weiss acknowledged with a bow. At least they were polite even if they poorly represented the best Atlas had to offer.

"I take it you're pretty good with Dust, then?"

"I do my best" she replied with a shrug, "though I would like to think it's one of my better skills."

"Yeah, my dad was good too. Owned a little Dust shop of his own..." he nodded as he looked at her from over his sunglasses. Then his smile turned into a scowl. "...till your father's company ran him out of business."

The change of tone in Flynt's voice caused Weiss' smile to vanish as well, and a sharp icy gaze had taken its place.

"That is a rather inflammatory accusation that I cannot accept on its face" she countered in a steady timbre. "Care to provide both a proper explanation of what occurred, and any evidence that my father or my company was responsible for the downfall of your family business?"

The trumpeter gritted his teeth, not liking her answer, and Weiss knew that he would be facing her one-on-one. Yang, who had witnessed the exchange, turned to look at her friend with concern, before deciding to fire back herself.

"Hey! Why don't you–"

"Hey! Why don't you?" imitated Neon as she pointed at Yang with a smile. "That's what you sound like!"

"Uh..." the blonde managed, blinking in utter confusion at the girl's childishness.

"Hey! Where'd you get your hair extensions?"

"...This is just my normal hair."

"Ooh, really?"

"Yeah! Is that a prob–"

"You should try rollerblading sometime! It's super fun!" the Cat Faunus cut in again, spinning in place. "It'd probably take you a while, though, since you're so... you know, top-heavy."

Yang, taken aback by the comment, looked down at herself as the holographic roulette wheel began selecting the biomes for the match.

"Excuse me!?"

From the stands, Ruby rolled her eyes, understanding the situation that was unfolding.

"Oh, here we go" she sighed.

"What's wrong?" asked Nora.

"Nothing, it's just..." began the younger Xiao Long, "Yang has always put a lot of time and effort into her appearance; making sure she looks good and stuff; especially her hair. So she kinda gets offended when people critic her looks, like, that she's a little chubby or her boobs."

"Her boobs?"

"Yeah, like they're too big."

Nora squinted in confusion, her eyes darting back and forth in thought.

"Why are big boobs a bad thing?" she asked in a horse whisper. "That's like me saying my thunder-thighs are a bad thing."

"Aren't 'thunder-thighs' a bad thing?" asked Blake.

The ginger looked at her friend with a smug smirk.

"Oh ho ho no. I think they're a very good thing, and I like mine quite a bit."

Jaune nudged Ren playfully when hearing this, earning a return nudge, and causing the blond to snicker. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the slight frown on his friend's face, as well as a light blush on his cheeks.

'The feeling's mutual' he thought, knowing that Ren couldn't hide forever.

The biomes had since been selected, and the arena transformed into four separate quadrants once more, this time with two new environments; a volcanic area and a sandy desert, with the return of steaming geysers, and ruined buildings.

"Fighters ready?" announced Professor Port, causing Yang to shake her fists while taking a fighting stance, activating Ember Celica.

Weiss, keeping her eyes locked with Flynt's, drew Myrtenaster from her right hip, and took a menacing Alfieri stance. Her sword hand was held lower so that her rapier faced at her opponent, while keeping the point level with her eyes. Her right hand was held up and open with her arm bent, and her palm facing slightly away. She leaned on her right foot, pointing it almost behind her, while keeping her left leg extended and pointing forward, practically on tiptop.

"Three…Two…One…BEGIN!"

The Beaconites dashed forward just as Flynt raised Iam Tenebris and blew a powerful sound wave, pushing them back and allowing Neon to skate towards them. Instantly Weiss summoned white glyphs to give themselves footholds and halt their sliding, though also gave the Cat Faunus a perfect chance to attack. Thankfully, Yang realized she was the target, and was ready.

"I got the eye-sore!" she shouted, using both arms to block Neon's charge, before they took off to the ruined city biome.

Flynt, seeing that his teammate had successfully separated Team RWBY, grinned in satisfaction and stopped playing. He argued since the beginning of the tournament to fight the heiress alone if they were matched against her team. Given that he now had this once of a lifetime chance, he was going to thoroughly enjoy it. Now free, Weiss rose from her crouch and retook her previous fighting stance; an ice cold and determined glare on her face.

"Auf der hut! (En garde!)" she challenged, knowing that the honour of her family name was on the line.

The trumpeter replied by firing another blast of sound at the lieutenant, which she quickly countered with a black glyph, propelling herself forward and cutting through the wave. Flynt blew once more, this time maintaining the waves. Weiss countered by summoning a chain of glyph, giving herself a path to slowly approach her opponent while she kept Myrtenaster's point up. Realizing what she was doing, Flynt stopped playing his trumpet, causing the white-haired girl to rocket forward, which she had expected to happen, and channeled her increased momentum into a lightning quick lunge. The Atlassian captain managed to lean back in time to avoid the attack, before aiming a kick with his right leg at Weiss' now exposed back. The heiress brought her sword over her shoulder and blocked the kick with the flat of her blade, as she summoned a white glyph with her right hand to halt her advance. She then pivoted to face her opponent and lunged, aiming for his head, and punched a hole cleanly through his hat, just before he tried to back away. Once he did, he realized what had happened and sneered at her in frustration.

Weiss smirked proudly, knowing that she had injured his pride.

"That C trumpet appears to be out of tune" she mocked, retaking her stance and pointed her sword at him. "Shall we begin the second movement?"

In the ruined buildings, Yang was swearing continuously under her breath as she ran after Neon through the biome. Following the first attack, the Cat Faunus no longer seemed interested in fighting the blonde, leaving her opponent to give chase as she fired her weapon at her. She dodged the shots with ease, and began to make faces at Yang, hopping to enrage her further.

"I'm gonna kill this bitch" the blonde growled, and returned to her fruitless barrage.

"She's just burning through her ammunition" commented Pyrrha, who was studying Yang's match to gather more information for their inevitable meeting in the Singles Round.

"Lead your shots!" shouted Ruby in frustration, knowing just how little respect her sister had for marksmanship.

Yang of course could not hear her captain's advice over her cursing and gunfire. As per usual when it came to combat, she allowed her emotions to get the better of her, and would become laser focused on crushing her foe, regardless of the personal cost. However, while this was happening, Neon seemed to be focused on something entirely different.

"Never miss a beat! Never miss a beat! Never miss a beat! Never miss a beat!" she repeated like a mantra, evading the incoming projectiles with hardly any notice of them.

She finally skated down a makeshift ramp made from the roof of a collapsed building, and with surprising speed, charged at Yang while drawing Grave e Prestissimo. She began to unleash a bevy of drive-by strikes with her nunchaku, encircling the blonde so that she had to continuously guess where the next attack would come from.

Yang had successfully managed to block the first half dozen attacks, but her defenses quickly eroded, and many more attacks landed before Neon skated away. Impressively, Yang had not been knocked off her feet, and appeared to be uninjured as she cracked her neck in annoyance. She jerked her arms, causing her gauntlets to eject the spent shotgun shells, which bounced the concrete with a hollow plastic sound, as she glared venomously at her Faunus opponent.

Neon merely grinned at the curvier blonde's glare, getting exactly what she wanted from her. Gripping both ends of Grave e Prestissimo, she bent them until they cracked, revealing they were also blue glow sticks. Twirling her nunchaku with glee, she charged at Yang once again with wild excitement in her eyes. Neon bounced off some ruble, and came at Yang without attacking, provoking the brawler to throw a haymaker, which she avoided by skating under it. Yang was about to turn and fire at the Faunus, when she suddenly felt her right leg getting cold, and looked down to see that it was covered in ice from the knee down. She wasn't in pain of course, but felt as if she had been slapped in the face, as it was abundantly clear her opponent was not taking this seriously. If it wasn't clear enough, Neon's laughter cemented it.

"Hm-hmm! Look!" she giggled, slapping her own ass. "Now you're bottom-heavy, too!"

Yang felt a vein throb in her temple, and she aggressively stomped her foot onto the ground, shattering the ice and making a small crater. Just as she freed herself, she caught Neon coming at her in the corner of her eye, and just barely managed to block a strike with her left arm, which froze the same way her leg had. The Atlassian girl skated off once again, making use of the rubble to show off her proficiency with her roller skates, before she had enough running space to charge at Yang, greatly telegraphing her attack. She jumped into the air and aimed both feet at Yang, who raised her frozen left arm and used it as an impromptu shield, which Neon bounced off of while giggling. The blow pushed the blonde back, but she thankfully dug her heels in before the attack landed, and she only skidded a dozen feet before halting. Some shards of ice fell to the ground as Yang looked up to the Cat Faunus, who was still giggling like mad.

"You should cool off! Get it? Because you're angry" she punned, very much pleased with herself.

The blonde swung her arm to the wall behind her in anger, shattering not only the remaining ice attached to her gauntlet, but the wall itself.

'You fuckin' try to pun in my presence?' she growled internally, her eyes burning bright red. 'Oh I am gonna skin this cat alive.'

Weiss and Flynt continued their battle of Dust in the meantime, rather intensely. They kept each other at bay with sound waves and shards of ice, unable to land solid blows. They traded positions in the centre of the arena, before finally moving into the volcanic biome. This certainly put the heiress at a disadvantage, but she was ready to face any and all challenges to defend her family's honour. She began to summon white glyphs behind her, creating more large ice shards, and sending them at the captain of Team FNKI. Right before they hit him, Flynt noticed the ground in front of him was glowing, and knowing what was going to happen next, performed a back flip to dodge the first two shards, before blowing Iam Tenebris as a column of hot steam erupted from the ground. Using his sound waves, he angled the steam to melt the remaining two ice shards, before standing with a proud smile on his face.

"Too bad all that money can't buy you skill" he said mockingly.

Weiss was unmoved. "Well, thank the Gods that talk is cheap" she returned smoothly.

Flynt sneered at her as she flicked Myrtenaster's cylinder with her left thumb, positioning it to the chamber containing white Dust. She pointed her rapier at her opponent just as he brought his trumpet to his lips, and she unleashed a tornado. Flynt blew a blast of sound waves to counter the white-haired rapierist's wind, but this was exactly what she wanted. With her right hand, she began to summon white glyphs to encircle them, evenly spaced to guarantee there was no escape. Weiss jumped to step on the glyph right behind her, and began to bounce from one to the other, summoning more ice shards as she leapt, pelting Flynt from every direction. It was impossible for him to defend himself, as not only was he unable to keep up with her speed, but the flurry of ice made it so he couldn't even raise his trumpet.

Realizing that the fight could well end right then and there if he didn't counter her onslaught, Flynt decided to go full throttle, and began to increase his Aura. To the surprise of both Weiss and the spectators, three more Flynts emerged from the first, only distinguishable by the different coloured ties and hat ribbons, and positioned themselves back to back. Each began to simultaneously play their trumpets, unleashing sound waves to cut off Weiss' multidirectional attack. She dissolved her glyphs and dashed outside of the range of his quartet, assessing what new approach she would have to take. In the stands, Sun and Blake tilted their heads in intrigue, as the similarity of their Semblances caused them to wonder how his worked.

The battle between Yang and Neon had hardly improved in the meantime, as the blonde's frustration was beginning to reach a fever pitch. She fired shell after shell at the evasive Cat Faunus, but not once had she hit her target. Neon skated and jumped off another ramp made from debris to reach the centre of the arena, with Yang only a few beats behind. The blonde landed onto the tiled surface of the battle ground, cracking it where she touched down, and rose to glare with burning rage. The skater-girl noticed this and spun to face her, tilting her head like a curious cat.

"Ooh! Flashy eyes! Y'know, you're actually kinda pretty when you're angry" she said.

'Oh Hell no!' Yang shouted in her mind. 'I can't get a guy to hit on me, so I get this annoying bitch?' She threw her arms behind her and fired her gauntlets simultaneously, launching herself forward to close the distance between them before her opponent could get away. The blonde was unfortunately not fast enough, and Neon rolled out of the way, and circled around Yang while skating backwards. "Get back here!"

"Are you angry cuz of what I said?" she asked in mock innocence. "I wasn't trying to say that you should go on a diet, I was saying you really need to go on a diet!"

"That's fuckin' i–"

"You're fat."

"YOU FUCKING WHORE!" screamed the busty blonde, her Aura flashing as she unleashed her Semblance at last. Her hair burst into flame, materializing her internal rage and having it on full display.

In the stands, Ruby quickly pulled out her Scroll and shut it off, causing Blake to look at her with confusion.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Turning off my Scroll."

"Why?"

Ruby sighed. "Because if I was able to hear that, then the cameras were able to hear that, which means my dad was able to hear that, which means he'll be trying to call me to tell me to tell Yang not to swear" she explained in a tone that made it sound as if the was a common occurrence.

"She is a bit foul-mouthed" admitted Pyrrha politely.

"You weren't kidding about her being sensitive about her looks" commented Sun scratching his chin, amused by older Xiao Long sister. "I thought she was being over the top with her hair, but this..."

"Yeah, she has a little bit of a temper" admitted Ruby.

"A little?" Sun pointed to the burning blonde with one of his eyebrows raised. "That's what you call that bonfire?"

"Well no...Dad has two nicknames for her depending on her mood. When she's normal he calls her his 'Sunny Little Dragon'."

"And when she's bursting into flames?"

"...'Hell on Wheels'."

Nora and Sun threw their heads back in laughter, as Ruby and Blake anxiously watched their teammate fire off in every conceivable way.

With Weiss and Flynt's match, the trumpeter and his clones faced the heiress, each with a confident grin on their faces.

"What's wrong Schnee? Afraid to face the music?" the original taunted, proud he had shut down her assault.

Once again, Weiss refused to allow his frivolous comments affect her.

"Hardly, Coal. Your rather poor excuse of a quartet merely requires that I raise the tempo" she replied coolly, swinging her sword in a clockwise rotation, and summoning a black Glyph beneath her. "And now, the third movement."

The Flynts began to play once more, blowing on their own Iam Tenebris, all aiming for Weiss. Like a bullet out of a gun, the white-haired Huntress-in-training fired herself out of the way. The quartet instantly positioned themselves back to back to avoid being flanked, and each trying to land an attack on their quick-footed opponent. Unlike the previous attempt, Weiss was moving significantly faster than before, but refrained from attacking with projectiles. This wasn't giving the other Atlassian any piece of mind, as he was growing more irritated by the second, as he wasn't able to land a blow.

"Whoa, she's fast" said Neptune with a proud smile on his face, impressed to see the level of skill his love interest was displaying.

"I know, right?" furthered Ruby with an equally proud grin. "I'm the fastest by far, but thanks to her Glyphs, she can actually keep up with me! We decided to practise manoeuvrability for the tournament." She folded her arms as she said this, very pleased with herself for using a big word.

"They played tag" explained Blake with a smirk, getting a chuckle out of Sun.

"A very enthusiastic game of tag" corrected the little captain, tilting her chin up in delight for using another big word.

While it was true that the captain and lieutenant of Team RWBY had effectively played a form of tag as a training exercise, there was sound logic behind it. The goal was to improve their manoeuvrability and reaction times, traversing less than desirable terrain, and learning how to avoid obstacles. In Weiss' case, it was about improving her Glyph coordination, switching between their combinations with Dust, and nailing the timing. For both of them, it also aided in their stamina, both physical and Auracal, pushing themselves to exhaustion and beyond. The training was now beginning to bear fruit, as it was giving Weiss the time she needed to put her plan into motion. She wasn't merely running for the sake of it; she was trying to find a chink in Flynt's defenses. Weiss knew that she would have the take down the fake Flynts before going after him directly, as they would otherwise keep him out of harm's way. If she should find the gap in the armour she was looking for, she would end this faster than it took Ruby to finish a plate of cookies.

Flynt was desperately trying to predict her movements, knowing that his sound waves weren't fast enough to hit her otherwise. But every time that he tried to lead a shot by firing where he believed she going next, she darted away like a snowshoe hare, and evaded the attack with ease. He eyed his Dust levels and frowned as he could see just how much remained in Iam Tenebris' valves, or rather, just how much he had wasted. If he didn't land a hit on her soon, he would have to reload under an extreme amount of pressure, and he wasn't sure he would be able to before she overwhelmed him.

That was when Weiss saw the moment she'd been waiting for. Turning on a dime, she lunged towards the Flynt with the lime-green tie, and pierced him cleanly through the heart. This Flynt instantly vanished the moment the point of Myrtenaster passed through his back, causing a grin to form on the Ice Queen's face. Before the real Flynt realized what happened, the heiress dashed away, allowing the panic she believed would set in to do its work, and wait for the opportune moment to strike again. The Flynts closed ranks, trying to avoid losing any more ground. However, the snowball had already begun rolling, as Weiss initiated the final steps of her plan.

She entered the blind spot of the fuchsia tied Flynt, and pierced him under his right armpit. Before the other two could react, Weiss dashed away, and then returned from below, and drove her rapier through the neck of the canary-yellow Flynt. With the real Flynt remaining, she prepared herself to end the fight decisively. The trumpeter spun round to face her, and his eyes widened as he saw her posed before him. She threaded her rapier through the space between the leadpipe and the bell, and with a violent twist, wrenched Iam Tenebris from Flynt's hands, cleanly disarming him. She then touched the point of Myrtenaster, freezing it with an ice stopper, and took a menacing stance with her right hand extended before her, and her left hand drawn back, anchored just behind her ear.

"Auf Wiedersehen, Flynt Coal" she said, staring into his eyes with all the coldness she could muster, before unleashed a flurry of strikes at blinding speeds. In the blink of eye she had landed over a hundred strikes, ending the onslaught with one final lunge aimed for the centre of his chest, which sent him backwards and crashing onto his back.

"Flynt Coal has been knocked out by Weiss Schnee!" announced Doctor Oobleck, causing the Valian spectators to cheer, and leaving the Atlassians to quietly boo, as they felt conflicted between the team competing for their Kingdom, and the heiress to their Kingdom's crown jewel. In the reserved seating, Teams RWBY and JNPR cheered for their friend, with Neptune rising to his feet and calling out to her.

"Way to go, Snow Angel!" he shouted, grinning from ear to ear, feeling his chest swell with pride. He was unable to see from where he stood, but Weiss had heard his praise, and she couldn't stop a proud smile of her own from spreading across her face, her cheeks dusted pink.

On the other side of the arena, Yang and Neon stopped fighting and looked at their teammates.

"Flynt lost?!" the Cat Faunus cried in disbelief, her mouth hanging open in shock.

This proved to be a mistake for the skater-girl, as she had stopped moving when she realized her captain had lost his fight. Yang took full advantage of her distraction, and fired Ember Celica behind her, launching herself at the Faunus while twisting in midair, and landing a powerful spinning back kick centre mast. Neon doubled over from the blow, and flew towards the sand biome.

Weiss had seen this, and decided to give her teammate a helping hand. She launched herself towards the flying cat, and unleashed a tornado from Myrtenaster, pushing Neon away from the desert and towards the geysers. Her timing had been perfect, as Neon got caught within a geyser blast, sending her flying high into the air. Yang, who had since calmed down enough to think clearly, understood what Weiss was doing, and she aimed above Neon, firing a shot. Her timing was spot on as well, as the projectile connected with its target, creating a dazzling explosion in the sky. As soon as it did, the blonde threw up the double bird, and let out the most guttural "Fuck you" she could manage through clenched teeth.

"And Yang Xiao Long has knocked out Neon Katt with a favourable wind from Weiss Schnee!" announced Professor Port. "The winner of the match is Team RWBY!"

The crowd erupted in cheers and applause, which Teams RWBY, JNPR, and SSSN joined with gusto. Ruby had slumped back in her seat however, as she was relieved that her sister had at last led a shot. In the private skybox, Winter couldn't suppress a proud smirk, as her younger sister had shown just how much she had grown since the last time they trained together; even though she couldn't summon properly yet. Her smirk quickly vanished as her General slapped his hand on the armrest of his chair.

"Pity that" remarked Ozpin as he glanced at his still dormant Scroll.

"Ah shove it" Ironwood retorted, bringing his glass to his lips. "That was a good showing by your students." He drained the contents of his glass, and rose to his feet to procure a refill from the bar.

While the cheers rang inside the Coliseum, Flynt regained consciousness and bolted upright. He looked around in confusion, before his eyes rested on the holoscreen to his left, causing his heart to fall into his stomach. His head dropped to the tiled ground of the arena, and saw his shattered sunglasses, adding insult to injury. He then saw a pair of white high heels come into view, and he looked up to see Weiss walking towards him.

"You come to rub it in my face, Schnee?" he sneered. "To gloat above the little guy from your ivory tow–"

Weiss stabbed Myrtenaster between Flynt's spread legs, shattering the ice on the point and burying it into the tile, cutting him off. She rested both hands on the pommel, and she took a slow and steady breath.

"Allow me to make something abundantly clear, Coal" stated the heiress, glaring at the trumpeter glacially. "While my father and I have disagreements on a great many things, neither of us will tolerate the family name to be dragged through the dirt by baseless accusations. The fact that your family business went under is unfortunate, and I am truly sorry for that. However, placing the blame at our feet is both slanderous and vituperative. I do not have your records, so I cannot see how your father's shop was run and make any definitive judgements. If you would like, I can offer some business consulting, or even pass word to my father for a possible partnership with your shop, where you can continue to sell Dust under the Schnee brand."

Flynt stared at the swordswoman in shock, before gritting his teeth angrily.

"You think I want your charity? Your sympathy?" he growled.

"I am offering you neither charity nor sympathy, Flynt Coal" Weiss replied, removing her rapier from the ground, and sheathed it with a metallic click. "I am offering you my pity. And with that interjection, you will get that and nothing more."

With that, the Ice Queen turned her back on the defeated trumpeter, who slumped over in bitterness. As Weiss walked back towards the Vale locker area, Yang joined the heiress and leaned over to speak to her.

"What was that all about?" she asked. She had patiently watched the exchange, understanding there was some sort history between them. However, Yang knew she was missing a great deal of context, and had wanted clarification since the initial spat.

"Tell me, Yang, you are from a small island called Patch, yes?" the white-haired Beaconite posed.

"Uh...yeah; near Blanche Town" the blonde replied, not understanding why her friend was asking a question she already knew the answer to.

"And you have lived there your entire life, correct?"

"Yeah..."

"Have you heard of the Schnee Dust Company?"

"Of course, who hasn't?"

"Precisely" Weiss nodded, appearing to finally get to the point of her questioning. "My family's company has been the world's largest Dust mining and refining enterprise for generations; distributing not only raw and refined Dust, but state of the art mining and refining equipment for both small and large scale Dust operations across Remnant. Yang, if you would be willing to entertain me, please explain why we, the Schnee Dust Company, would care about shutting down one small Dust shop?"

The elder Xiao Long paused for only a moment before shrugging.

"I've got no clue."

"My point exactly. Coal claimed that my father ran his father's shop out of business; as if he came after them personally with a pack of thugs to ruin them" continued Weiss, shaking her head in disbelief, and making no effort to mask the frustration in her voice. "How many times has this happened before; individuals blaming us for their own problems? And you know what is most amusing about all of this? I am willing to bet half a year's allowance that his father is not whingeing. Gods, I despise liars."

"There's got to be more to it than that, right?" reasoned Yang.

"If there is, it matters not, for I no longer care" excused Weiss bitterly. "I offered him an opportunity to start again, and he wanted no part in it. That is entirely fine. The Schnee Dust Company, including myself, have only one true enemy, and that is the White Fang."

λΛλ

Returning to the skybox, Winter pressed the earpiece in her right ear closer to make sure she could fully hear the voice on the other end. After a moment, she thanked the caller before speaking aloud.

"General Ironwood. We have word from Gray Boar" she said, before pressing a button on her earpiece to transfer the secured call to his own communicator.

The Huntmaster-General sat up straight and pressed his earpiece closer, while he blocked his left ear to deafen the sound of the crowd. Ozpin watched his friend closely, as this could affect their plans significantly in either direction. After a full minute, Ironwood finally spoke.

"Understood. Give him my thanks and tell him to standby. Over and out" he said curtly, before killing the call and turning to his friend, grinning like a wolf after spotting its prey. "We've got a lock on Taurus' forces."

The silver-haired lore master nodded, as the news was good to hear.

"We still require word from Qrow to carry out the first half our plan. Then and only then can we go about executing the second."

"Of course. I can't have my forces move during the day anyways, but this does take a load off my mind. However, time is running out, Sam, and the next match will no doubt be a short one. If Qrow doesn't show before the final match..."

Ozpin glanced at his Scroll one last time before speaking definitively.

"Qrow has never failed us before, and I refuse to believe he will start now."

---

And with that, we're over 100,000 words! I'm just about to surpass the longest fic I've ever written; which is both an achievement, and a painful admittance of how lazy of a writer I used to be. But ya know what? We're not even close to the end :)

With that little timbit, I'd like to take this moment to thank all of you who've consistently reviewed this story since the beginning. Your incite and questions have been great, and speaking to you in PMs has been a blast. Furthermore, the fact that so many of you took the time to PM reviews for chapter VII, is beyond humbling.

Thank you all, and I hope I continue to entertain you. Gods bless!