Frankly, Bart had had enough. Nothing seemed capable of going correctly or as planned anymore. He had made a deal with Winter to introduce Ruby and Penny to one another but, low and behold, he had found them, or at least some part of them, at each other's throats before he could do so. He had then been met with the reality of the danger he was one emotionally charged argument away from facing over the course of the next four years.

Ruby was a monster beyond compare, or rather her abilities were monstrous, it was unfair to call the girl as such. She hadn't wanted her power after all, and he could hardly blame her; the surging tide of her strength constantly latching on to every minor negative emotion, driving her senses and mind into a haze, goading her to let it free. Partially, he wondered if it would be a good idea to let her do so, perhaps in a secluded or abandoned area, though he was wasn't sure if he was willing to take a risk that could threaten destruction on untold levels. On one hand it may lessen the strain on Ruby's mind if her grimm could both literally and metaphorically stretch their legs. However, the other, much more prevalent, hand warned him of the potential of Ruby never coming back from that edge once she had crossed it.

Penny, on the other hand, was a surprise. If he was being honest, he hadn't expected much from the girl. Supposedly, she possessed the strongest known grimm from the northern continent, the scope of which he was thoroughly undereducated on, but previously he had been unsure of how much that actually meant. Prince Qrow had been considered a prodigy without equal, his grimm quite literally bending luck itself in his favour, but Bart had been there when the prince had met Ruby, or at least unofficially met. The prince's grimm did not help him, it had refused to aid him attempt to knock the girl unconscious, either unable or unwilling to he did not know, but until now he had thought Ruby peerless. Then this happened.

Bart was no fool; he understood that neither party in this exchange had gone all out, perhaps they were not even close to doing so. Penny had put little effort into strategy or movement, acknowledging all of the attacks unable to actually harm her, and, though he wasn't entirely sure of what had occurred with Ruby this time, he had seen far more impressive displays on her part in the past. But the sheer fact that Penny could draw on her grimm around Ruby made her a significantly more threatening opponent. It had been done before, both Yang and Nora managing to do so in the past, but neither had been able to do so after Ruby had attempted to stop them.

Well… he supposed, that's not strictly true.

It was true that, whilst the two incidents had both been similar to each other and the current situation, they were not entirely the same and held key differences. Nora had been able to oppose Ruby to begin with, even able to momentarily overpower the vines that constantly guarded the girl, but she was eventually overwhelmed and collared, rendering her unable to raise her power towards Ruby any further. Yang's incident was starkly different in that manner. The girl had been able to access her power long into the fight, but it had seemed as if Ruby had allowed her to do so, almost as an act of demoralisation; cementing the fact that Yang's hope had never really been founded.

In that case Yang's grimm had not only ignored her calls for power, but outright revolted, turning her once proud inferno into a self-destructive death-trap. Ruby had not needed a collar this time however, simply commanding her grimm to turn on her and being obeyed. There in lay the confusing problem; how?

At first, he had entertained the idea that perhaps Nora's grimm was stronger, requiring constant exertion from the collar to maintain control. However, such a view was quickly dispelled by the prince himself. Yang, whilst certainly trying as hard as she was allowed to, was holding back rather heavily in her fight with Ruby. Not to say she stood a chance, quite the opposite in fact if Ruby could turn her grimm against her anyway, but rather she had to hold back the sheer firepower of her grimm to avoid harming the nearby civilian buildings and people. Qrow had explained it as 'It was one thing for a princess to get too heavy handed in an argument and harm a few involved individuals, but to cremate an entire city block and its inhabitants was much less forgivable'.

Bart had felt the need to retort; the idea that any life was expendable on a noble's whim was rather disgusting to him, but it seemed the prince had read his mind and agreed, displaying his own hardened frown. However, it still left the issue of what separated the two cases and how Ruby subdued them.

The current issue with Penny shared characteristics of both and neither previous events. Penny seemed in full control of her power throughout the fight and was notably holding back like Yang, though for perhaps different reasons. 'Ruby' had also spoken in that weird tone again, speaking as if she were not herself and in fact something or someone else entirely. However, it was the similarities to Nora's case which truly set his mind to its usual fervent work.

She's not a Branwen.

From what he could gather, it seemed that Ruby had much greater control over the Branwen's grimm than others, with Yang, Qrow and even the king himself all expressing the feeling of being abandoned or betrayed by their grimm. Whatever the reason as to why, he did not know. Perhaps it was because she herself was part Branwen that she had some pre-existing bond to them and as such the transference of willpower was easier. Though, he supposed that wouldn't make any sense, after all, Summer had shown equal immunity to Qrow's grimm and she was not related to the Branwens. His mind began a familiar journey into a slew of theories and ideas and subconsciously he sipped from his already empty thermos. Eventually, he was freed from his mental rut by a throaty shout bringing him back to the present and he remembered the situation he found himself in.

Returning his gaze once more to the clearing he broke into a sprint in hopes he would make it to Penny before she possibly took it too far. Beside him Neopolitan kept pace, an unknown expression blinking on and off of her features. That was another thing that was perhaps a little odd. The multi-coloured girl had not hesitated to jump in and help the situation, even seeming eager to do so. It was possible that she simply acknowledged the threat and was simply drew the conclusion to help the most human thing in the bout, but that then raised the question as to how she managed to do so as effectively as she had. Perhaps there was more to it, but as he drew close to his niece and Penny, he pocketed the information for another time; Ruby's health came first.

He knew not what had halted Penny's advances and, though he wished to berate her for even considering taking the fight further, he was thankful as he slid up next to his supine niece. Feverishly, he inspected her unconscious body for irregularities, checking her breathing first. It was uneven and irregular though it was not enough to worry about as it seemed to slowly return to a familiar rhythm. Next, he ran his hands along her arms and legs, squeezing when he met large muscle masses such as the biceps and calves. Oddly, he was met with resistance, as if she was constantly tensing up or preparing to spring up.

Curious, he narrowed his eyes and moved to inspect her eyes. Gently he pulled apart her closed eyelids, surprised to see her eyes sporadically shift every half a second or so. He moved to do one final test, carefully lifting her onto her side and pulling up her shirt to reveal her back and the image splayed out across it. Subconsciously, he realised how this may appear to other people; an adult man preying on an unconscious and unresponsive girl but, as always, his tenacious inquisitiveness won out over his image preservation.

The tattoo moved as always, though it appeared to be sluggish in its movements and, whereas before it had seemed to sprawl out, protecting Ruby but ready to pounce at any moment, now it seemed almost scared, cowed. The vines were still depicted to coil around Ruby, but they hardly moved, conserving energy, the thorns were chipped or dulled, and the blood fell infrequently as if used up. It was likely a sign of fatigue, but with no conformation or previous cases to compare it to, he couldn't say for definite.

Strained pants tore him from his musings, Ilia crashing to her knees beside her sister, concern twisting across her face, only exacerbated by the green and brown shades of her skin and hair. Eventually, she seemed to arrive at a conclusion she was happy with and released a relieved breath, settling into a momentary calm silence.

Suddenly, the chameleon faunas shot back to her feet, her deft hands sliding Ruby's handgun free from the girl's waist and spinning in one smooth motion, ending with the weapon pointed at the other two girls present. Neo immediately flinched back, her hand going to her own waist but freezing as she realised that she would be too slow. Penny, for her part, didn't even appear to care, looking past Ilia towards Ruby and back to her own hands repeatedly, as if confused by some great mystery. Perhaps it was the reason she suddenly halted her assault on Ruby. Ilia didn't care.

"Don't move!" The words were spoken threateningly and through gritted teeth. In truth, it was only so Ilia could hide the shakiness in her voice, unsure if she could control her words in the face of the two girls without it. She bit her tongue in hope the pain would lessen the tremble she felt creep in.

Ilia spotted words begin to form in the air around Neo, attempting to use her semblance to covey her thoughts. The polychromatic girl's efforts were thwarted as the chameleon girl moved the handgun an inch closer, a warning. The faunas had no knowledge of the limits of Neo's semblance and was not about to test them.

"None of that!" Penny still did not turn towards her, something that the faunas found unsettling; whether she was too focused on whatever was ailing her mind or simply did not see Ilia as a threat, she did not know. Instead, she focused on the one she could get a reaction out of; deciding to deal with one problem at a time.

"Who are you?" After a moment of awkward silence, she realised she had just barred the girl from using her semblance to speak. "You can use it, slowly." Neo seemed confused as to how she was supposed to slowly use her semblance to speak, but erred on the side of caution, willing the words to form one letter at a time.

'Neopolitan' The words lacked the flair Bart had become rather used to from her application meetings, no pink letters or other stylisation, just black letters over a white background so they could be easily read. Ilia snarled at the response, her finger over the trigger twitching slightly.

"Bullshi…" Her voice was silenced mid-way.

"Ilia!" Bart's bark cut over the beginning of the tirade. The professor rarely raised his voice, surprising the faunas into halting. Slowly, he heaved a sigh into the momentary silence, and pushed his glass back into their regular position on the bridge of his nose. "Now is not the time for a fight." Ilia's brows furrowed.

"You can't be ser…" A hard glare quieted her once more.

"I am aware of her response to the situation, but, as of this moment, she is not my concern." He gestured to Ruby's unconscious body and then to the mesmerised Penny. "I will discuss everything with you and the girls later, but, right now, I need to take Ruby to my office to be monitored and Penny will come with me for individual questioning." Faintly, he was aware of a low hum buzzing near the back of his mind, a blur of white noise urging him to… no, he was tired, and he had a headache as a result, that was all.

"Now, can I trust you two to not kill each other and wait patiently in your dorms? I will collect the pair of you and the rest of your teams later." Ilia's skin and eyes darkened, a sign she was slightly cowed, the words from her uncle catching her off guard and his tone scaring her slightly, never has she seen him so… irate. The professor held his hand out expectantly and, hesitantly, she nodded and handed him the gun. "Good, now, Penny."

The sound of her name seemed to pull her form whatever stupor had taken her attention, though she seemed to drift back when he didn't immediately say something. He had to move the two of them, Ruby and Penny were not yet definitively safe in the open and… no, that was all.

"Penny, if you would come with me for a while, I would greatly appreciate your co-operation." He emphasised his words in an attempt to maintain her attention for a prolonged moment. Slowly, she nodded and, after a moment, whilst he stooped down to pick up Ruby, she followed him towards the academy.

Briefly, he glanced over his shoulder at the other two who began to walk away towards the dorms, on a similar but not identical path to his own. He was forgetting something, he had to… no, he was tired, overthinking things, like he always did.

Idiot! All you had to do was stay hidden!

Neo's mind raced as she wandered through the few remaining metres of the forest before the pair of them would reach the courtyard in front of their dorms. She had to think of a plan and fast, if they reached a public space, she wouldn't be able to prevent the issue later, she had to strike now. The means as to how, escaped her, however.

Oobleck had been easy enough to alter, his fatigue and stress all too easy to latch onto and exacerbate, constantly forcing other things to the front of his mind was simple, he had much to think on besides her. Her work had been a temporary patch, a solution that would need further support to become a true remedy, that was where the chameleon girl came in. The girl was a hard target, she couldn't amplify her anger, it would simply make her campaign against Neo more zealous and thorough.

Ilia didn't trust her, that much as obvious, but she would have to change that now, but she struggled to create the situation required and she was quickly running out of time as the low mumbling chatter of students came back into earshot. The faunas girl didn't even trust her enough to walk beside her, instead following her several paces behind with her hand gently resting against a concealed knife in her jacket.

Just force the link! You don't have time to think further!

But, she couldn't, could she? It was too risky, if other people noticed, she'd be dead meat. Perhaps she could fabricate a cover up, but how long would it last? A month? Two?

You will have even less time if you don't do it now!

But it could ruin the girl, she was an obstacle, not a target.

Do it! Don't be a coward!

But…

You're weak!

She spun on her heels.

Ilia jumped back, prepared for the outburst; she knew this girl was planning something. First, she didn't run or react at the sight of grimm, Ruby's grimm no less, and then Bart shrugs it off as if nothing happened and someone didn't just discover what was possibly Vale's most deadly secret.

The multicoloured girl attempted to tackle Ilia, surging forward, and keeping her guard close. Her mistake. Within seconds, Ilia turned to the side, reversing all of the girl's momentum against her and flipping her onto her back, a knife now pinned against her exposed throat.

"Nice try bitch. Wrong tactic though." She pressed her knee onto Neo's right arm and pinned the other with her free hand. Neo simply glared at her, a hint of regret sliding out from behind her eyes. Eventually, a smile flashed across her face, a silent, crazed laugh forcing her chest to convulse. Ilia was confused. "What's so funny?" In response bubbly pink words formed in front of her.

'You fucked up'

Ilia flinched as pink and brown eyes blinked closed, only to be replaced by burning red orbs of hate. Grimm eyes. Her momentary hesitation was all the smaller girl needed. Suddenly, she lurched forward, the combination of the unpreparedness of her captor and her speed was all she required to get the one shot she needed. The faunas watched in horror as Neo sprung forward, sinking her teeth into the side of her neck, too surprised to react in time. Ilia felt her scream drown in her throat, her vision blurring as her body fell slack against the attack, something in her, in them, restraining her as she silently resisted.

The image of Neo pulling her from Apep's cell floated into her mind. Those gentle hands, the warm smile, the calming aura. She was beautiful, perfect, her saviour in her darkest hour. Finally, she wasn't alone anymore. She only needed Neo.

No!

A faint whisper on a distant wind, irksome and alien.

This is wrong!

And yet it was sweet, alluring. It faded, as all things did. Except Neo, she was always there for her. Always had been, always would be. Neo was her rock, her purpose for existing, her angel. A tear ran down her cheek. She was…

"My love."

As always, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. I know this chapter came far later then I said it would, but all I can say is that Covid and the lockdown is kicking my arse. Its a little shorter than I would perhaps like, but the next bit may take me more words than I'm comfortable sliding into this chapter, we may be talking 10k word chapter here, and here was a decent place to stop. I apologise if the pacing seems a little off, but I did my best and practice makes perfect so here we are. This story will not be abandoned, but the irregularity of my schedule is making being organised hard. Reviews and feedback are appreciated and hopefully the next chapter will be more prompt.

-Tabaxi