A Cosmic Journey

A/N: By the gods, I feel like it's been an age since the last chapter. Between family visits, finals and general 2020 fuckery, I've gotten a lot more practice at staying on one's toes. Thankfully though, I have the short reprieve before the fall semester begins at the end of the month. Come next week though, it'll also be the one-year mark for this story, so I hope the readers are looking forward to that. Gods knows I am.

Chapter 45: To Catch a Thieft

Chapter Date: 08/18/20

"I want it on the record that I do not approve this part of the plan."

"HA! Told you guys he'd spout off his reservations right before the mission starts! Pay up!"

"Nora, most of them are stationed away from us, and breaking cover to pay you wouldn't be very conducive to the stealth part of the mission."

"Welp, you heard the man, guess we'll just be waiving any and all payouts-"

"Skip out on paying, and I'll explode your dorm room."

"-Until we're back at Beacon, that is. Haha…"

"Your concern is noted, Kouzai. Please stay on the line, your opinion is very important to us."

"Asshole…fine, I'll be leaving things in your hands then. Other matters will likely have me occupied later, so I'll just say it now; watch each other's backs, don't take unnecessary risks, and keep the property damage to a minimum, or Goodwitch will give everyone detention till we're in our graves." At that, Kouzai's name disappeared from the group scroll call, leaving Sun to snicker before throwing a look at his temporary companion .

"Was it really necessary to antagonize him right before he had to leave?" Velvet asked off the scroll call, and Sun, perceptive bastard that he was, picked up on the concern she had for Kouzai before he muted himself for a moment as well.

"It's fine, Velvet. I don't know if anyone's told you, but Kouzai's pessimism is almost a ritual at this point for those who've known him for a while. The more dangerous the plan, the more likely he'd up and get all paranoid about it, leaving the rest of us to bring him back. I'll tell ya though, if we didn't know he had good intentions and weren't as confident in ourselves, that kind of doubt could strike a blow to morale." A little flop from one of Velvet's ears as her head tilted to the side, and Sun locked his hands behind his head, staring up into the night. "Some people might take offense if the plan, and their own role in it, was questioned, see it as a lack of faith. But Kouzai, he doesn't do it to show a lack of faith, but instead try to give people an out if they need or want it. He'd rather make a plan where the pressure's only on him, since he'll force himself to succeed if it means making things easier for everyone else."

Velvet's ears curled forward. "I…hadn't thought of it like that. That seems like such a stressful method of achieving results though."

Sun nodded. "It wasn't until I had guys of my own to lead that I really got where he was coming from. But now that I do, it's all the more clear that he can trust in our to get things done. He'll sleep easier for it, and we'll sleep easier knowing he is."

Velvet smiled, and punched Sun in the shoulder. "You're a good friend, Sun."

"AH-and you're a very strong huntress, hssss!" Sun hopped a little and clutched his shoulder, as Velvet gasped with her hands in front of her mouth.

"I'm sorry! I do this with the rest of my team, so I thought it was normal." Sun laughed good-naturedly in response.

"No problem. Remind me to get your team's workout plan later though, because what you just said has some terrifying implications. Before that though, we've got a rally to crash."

Velvet gestured to the side with her arms swept out. "After you then."

"Wait, isn't the lady supposed to go-oh, haha, very funny."

… … …

I shook my head at Sun's antics as I left the group call, before facing my teammates resignedly. "Alright, with that out of the way, guess we're up to bat now. Is everyone clear on what we're doing?"

"What we're doing, yes. Why? Not in the slightest." Melanie muttered.

"Well, if what I'm thinking will happen happens, then you'll now," I replied cheerfully, taking some of Sun's frustrating cheer and channeling it down the line. "In the meantime, I'll be taking Ruby up to the CCT to put in a call to someone that she very much wants to meet. As for the rest of you…"

Ilia rolled her eyes and took the hint. "I'm apparently going to be hanging out with Blake in the library, and surely not keeping Blake from interfering in the mission."

"I have to have hand-to-hand practice with Xiao Long of all people, and have no idea why unless it's so that I get my ass kicked!" Melanie snarled at me, and I shrugged before turning to Miltia.

"And I will have the enjoyment of monitoring contact with Junior from our room, and apparently being the only person among our team doing something related to the mission." Miltia sighed. "Also suspicious is that I'm not hanging out with the last member of RWBY for some whatever contrived reason."

"Because Weiss has a scheduled call with Winter during this time, and Vacuo will freeze over before she ditches that. Also, of the four of them, Weiss is the one I trust most to honor an agreement." My teammates nodded grudgingly at my reasoning. 'Also, it's probably a good idea to have people in both our rooms just in case.'

"Reasoning aside, I've still got a sparring session with a monstrous powerhouse coming up. You owe me big for this, Higure." Melanie warned darkly as she swept up from her bed and made for the door.

"How about I set you up with Fox for the school dance, and we call it even, hmm?" I teased as the white-clad twin froze by the door. "Or would you like to go about doing the legwork yourself?"

"…Sonofagrimm…" Melanie flipped me off and zipped out of the room, as the rest of us shared a laugh.

"What about you two? Ilia, there anyone you have your eye on whose name doesn't rhyme with Drake?" I asked, catching a red-eyed glare Ilia. After a moment though, my partner's freckles turned pink as she looked away. "Oh, so there is someone? Anyone I know. Wait, just tell me it isn't me."

"Barking up the wrong tree, Kouzai," Ilia muttered gruffly, arms crossed and facing the wall.

"Hmm…" Miltia gazed at the Faunus from her bed, chin resting on her palm before a twinkle appeared in her eye. "Oh! Do you have a crush on-"

Ilia's hand smacked over Miltia's mouth at lightning speed as my partner leaned in to eye Miltia. "Say another word, and I will make you and Yatsuhashi getting together an awkward hell."

"It kind of already is, but with a reaction like that, you've got me curious now." I carefully peeled Ilia's hand off Miltia's mouth, as both girls switched from glaring at each other to glaring at me. "And on that note, Ilia and I should get going before we end up making things worse for ourselves and each other. Vamanos!"

As we exited our room, Ilia spoke before I even had the chance to open my mouth. "I know you're about to ask who, and I promise you that you will find out eventually. Ask me who before I tell you though, and I assure you that I will make you suffer in the weeks leading up the Beacon Dance."

"Well, that's not ominous." I gulped, noting Ilia's extensive espionage and terrorist skillset. "You only prevented me from asking who, but not anything about them, so one of these days is gonna be twenty questions."

Ilia cracked a smile at that, though it soon turned malicious. "You should spend a bit more effort on your own situation soon, or my intervention won't even be needed for you to suffer."

"Why does everyone keep telling me that?" We arrived at RWBY's dorm room and knocked. After a minute, the door opened and amber eyes peered out with more than a hint of annoyance.

"Hello Kouzai. I'm glad to see that your team's superior skills are being well-used to help the plight of-"

Blake's passive-aggressive rant was cut off as a red blur zoomed out the door and grabbed my hand.

"Sorryblakecan'tstoptotalkkouzaiandIhavetogoseeoneofhisoldfriendswhosereallycooooool…" I preemptively channeled my Aura in case of any sudden jerks or collisions, but it seemed that Ruby had a handle on pulling people along with her Semblance, though not quite turning us both to petals with it. Within a minute, I was unceremoniously dropped to the ground right outside the CCT as Ruby hopped around with hands bunched in front of her face like a ra-

'And I'm going to stop that train of thought right now.' I climbed to my feet, rotating my shoulder to make sure the thing wasn't dislocated, before taking another glance at super-Ruby. 'With this level of pep, she'll get on Weylin's nerves like only Nora can…I'm gonna owe the man a fat bar of orichalchum after this, aren't I?'

… … …

"Look's like things are picking up inside. Fox, send out role call to the pairs."

"You know, as our group's all-important Aura sensor, we should probably be a bit more conservative with my proverbial battery."

"Can't help it this time. With this many people we need to keep contact, and there's no way of knowing whether the other side has tech to jam or hack a scroll call." Coco clenched Gianduja's handle just a little tighter. "It's damn frustrating going up against people this convoluted and prepared."

"Wow, it's almost like we're on an unsanctioned mission with no resources from Beacon. It's hard to believe-y'know, on second thought, let's just send that message out…" Fox laughed weakly as Coco slowly lowered Gianduja's handbag form. 'All pairs, have someone confirm your status.'

'This is Yatsuhashi. Neptune and I are awaiting for confirmation of the Paladin and Cinder's appearance.'

'Pyrrha and I are stationed nearby and ready for any commotion. Oh, and this is Jaune.'

'Ren checking in. Nora and I are prepared to inflict maximum damage to the Paladin upon confirmation of a safety zone.'

'Scarlet here. Sage and I are still on the rooftops keeping track of the White Fang guards on the roof. Also, can I mention how convenient it is to have a Semblance like Telepathy?'

'Scarlet, you literally never have to worry about fall damage so long as you have Aura. Anyways, stay tuned in case there's anything.' Fox switched lines of thought over to the last duo. 'Velvet, Sun, are there any issues inside?'

'We're alright, Fox. The rally has started, and Sun and I are trying to keep an eye out for anyone recognizable in the crowd. We haven't found anyone yet, but the large covered package up on the stage is almost certainly the Paladin, so-' Velvet's tone grew sharper. 'She's here, standing to the side of the stage.'

Fox needed no clarification on who Velvet was referring to and sent out another telepathic message. 'Alright fresh meat, look alive, we've got ourselves a Queen Bitch. Now all we need is eyes on the Paladin, and we can-'

'Wait, does Velvet not see them-OH SHIT!' An audible bang rang out from the warehouse, and Sun sent a message back. 'That green-haired assassin chick is here, and nearly chopped Velvet's head off! Faunus and the Fang are scrambling, we need backup now!'

"Damnit, of all the people Cinder could've brought, it's that illusions user." Coco swore just for good measure as she dialed up VPD. "Let's move, partner."

Coco and Fox raced the few rooftops over to the warehouse, where Scarlet and Sage had already landed and dispatched the White Fang on the roof. Coco glanced down below, where throngs of Faunus were stampeding every which way while the actual White Fang present tried to get a grasp on the situation. Cinder Fall looked ready to rumble, and that Emerald, where was she?

Time for snap decisions then. "Scarlet, Sage, meet up with the rest of your team and focus on the White Fang in the warehouse. After you four are done, hightail it out."

"Um, are you quite sure-"

"Look, if any of us at Beacon get flak from the cops for what happens, Ozpin'll be able to write it off as overexcited students. But a group of visiting students from Mistral, one of whom is a Faunus? That could easily spin into an international incident if we're not careful. So get in, mop up the mess, and get out."

"Yes ma'am." Scarlet nearly saluted, before the four of them jumped down to the warehouse ground where Velvet and Sun were already waiting. "Let's go leader, we have 'holier-than-thou' skulls to crack."

As SSSN dispersed to deal with the White Fang, Fox tensed. 'Bad news; Cinder's seems pretty content with sticking around for the time being, but Emerald has taken residence in the Paladin.'

"What?! Does she even know how to pilot that thing?" With a great groaning and hiss, the Paladin began to move. "Guess that answers that…"

'With two teams available, we can only send one after each threat. But we're the only team with Aura sensing, and with Emerald at the helm of that Paladin…' the implication went unsaid.

'Damnit Fox! Cinder probably planned this too, so that we'd either have to hope the rest can handle Emerald in a Paladin, or give up punching her in the face.' Hard eyes glared from behind her shades, but Coco made up her mind. "If we let people get hurt from that Paladin on our watch, I'd never hear the end of it from Kouzai. But that doesn't mean Cinder's getting off scot-free though! Fox, sic Vomit Boy's team on her!"

"Whoopee, guess we get to fight the giant robot then…" Despite his tone, Fox grinned and readied Sharp Retribution as he sent the order out to the rest.

… … …

"Uhh, Kouzai?"

"Yes, Ruby?"

"Is there any reason that you had us both bring our weapons to the CCT?" As per usual, Ruby managed to hit the exact nail that I wished she hadn't, requiring me to dig into my endless bag of bullshit.

"Well, I figured that if you were going to hop in on a once-in-a-lifetime call with Weylin, you'd probably want to show off your Crescent Rose to him or something…" I trailed off as Ruby stopped in place. "Did I have it back-"

"OH MY GODS! You think that Weylin the Smith might be interested in my designs!?" The pure hope radiating off my fellow team leader was creating a small nugget of guilt at the ulterior motive-

"But wait…why are you bringing your weapons too then?" Aaaand the guilt was gone.

"Well, since Weylin is the one who made most of my weapons, I thought it might be useful for him to give them a glance-over while we're on the call, and see if there are any glaring maintenance issues that I overlooked." I decided to lay on an extra helping of hoopla. "Besides, considering that we're at a huntsmen academy, shouldn't carrying your weapons around be normal?"

"That's what I told my team!" Ruby protested, before crossing her arms. "But Yang told me that I can't carry my baby everywhere, and Weiss kept nagging me about decorum and stuff…Blake is the only one who agreed with me, but, well…"

"Blake is not the biggest purveyor of common sense." I finished dryly, which elicited a giggle from Ruby. "Alright, let's get up there and make the call. Given the time difference between here and Mistral, we've likely got a pretty short window to work with before Weylin starts hitting the forge."

As we entered the CCT, I took a moment to take in the second of the four towers around Remnant. 'Maybe I'll get to see the ones in Atlas and Vacuo, complete the set…though, if I end up in either of the two places, something's either gone very right or very, very wrong…' I shook my head free of that train of thought, before leading Ruby over to one of the monitors to make the call.

"Okay, so in the fair interest of not shattering your hopes and dreams, I have to warn you that Weylin can be a bit…short-tempered at times." Among other things. "So don't get yourself down if this first call isn't everything you think it's cracked up-"

"First call? You mean I can have more than one!?" Ruby was jumping in place so fast she was a hair away from activating Petal Burst, and I still wasn't sure if the petals faded away over time.

"You know what, we can talk about that later. For now, I've got a cantankerous blacksmith to contact." Sending the scroll call out, Ruby and I waited as the signals connected with one another before a bald head with a magnificent white beard appeared.

"For Gods' sakes brat, can't you lot leave a man alone to-where's this? And who's the one next to you?" I couldn't help but laugh at Weylin's bewildered face, taking the opportunity to give Ruby a more central position in the screen.

"Hey old-timer. This is my friend Ruby, she's a team leader like me at Beacon. Among other things, she's a pretty talented huntress who made it in two years early. Not just that, she made her own weapon, and I think it's good enough to show off to you. Maybe even teach you a thing or two."

"Crazy-boy, you wouldn't know weapon-smithing if it kicked you in the balls." Weylin snarked, before eyeing Ruby and humming. "Still, a recommendation from you is usually worth its weight in mithril, so I guess it couldn't hurt. Whatcha got, missy?"

Ruby jolted, before launching into the affectionately termed 'word vomit' mode. "Hi Mister Weylin the Smith sir it's so awesomely cool to meet you I've researched and studied your works and techniques for so long while I was learning how to make weapons and I heard Kouzai was friends with you so I asked if I could talk with you and he said yes so here I am and here's my weapon Crescent Rose-" At which point she had just enough oxygen to deploy Crescent Rose before needing to pause for breath, the scythe's appearance also scaring the bejesus out of some of the civilians nearby.

Weylin wordlessly looked at Ruby, before turning to me. "Is there something about the lack of height that gives the girls that extra pep and speed? 'Cause I'm sensing a pattern here." I smirked and shrugged as Ruby started turning as red as her signature cloak, before Weylin began analyzing Crescent Rose in earnest. "Hmm…seems you didn't skimp out on parts for the mecha-shift…not too much pomp and extra gear…lemme get a look at the blade."

Ruby silently dipped Crescent Rose to give Weylin a look at the blade, and the old man's brow furrowed. "That pattern…you didn't make this with a hydraulic press, did you? You actually went with the folding and welding method?"

"Umm, well…I read that Mistral's weapons are nearly the most durable on Remnant, and everyone knows Vacuo is only first because of adamantium, so I thought that I should give Crescent Rose the best effort I had and go with the classic methods…" Now that her adrenaline had worn off, Ruby's socially tongue-tied nature was gradually reclaiming its dominant position, which meant that she also didn't notice the look on Weylin's face.

"…ha ha…HAHAHAHAHA!" Weylin's roaring laughter nearly bowled Ruby over, and caught the attention of some of the nearby callers. "Oh…you young ones just keep surprising me nowadays…it's been a long time since I've seen someone dedicated to the craft as you, and you're less than a quarter my age! Oi, brat, you should be taking notes from this one!"

"Not too closely though, or I'll have some overprotective family members to deal with," I muttered in reply, leaving Ruby blushing and Weylin guffawing as I realized I didn't speak quite softly enough. Before I could add anything else, a notification from Miltia caught my attention, and I fought to keep a straight face. "You'll have to give me a minute, I've got one of my teammates on the line."

"Take your time. And word to the wise, never introduce someone that's better at your job than you are! HAHAHA!" I walked out of the call center to the sound of Weylin's laughter, entering the stairwell before calling up Miltia.

"Hey Miltia, still at the CCT, is there anything you or the others need?" I worded things carefully just in case.

"Nothing for the moment, just wanted to let you know that Junior mentioned how busy things are downtown lately. There's no rush in the immediate future, but with all the commotion, he might need you to pick up a shift or two sometime." Thank gods Miltia was the more savvy of the twins.

"And I'm guessing you and your sister are still sitting pretty?" I jabbed.

Miltia giggled on the other end. "Perks of the boss kind of being your dad. Sucks to suck, I'm afraid."

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up, I'll remember that for when I'm thinking up new-" I paused as the door slammed open and people began throwing themselves down the steps. "Excuse me, can anyone tell me what's going on here!?"

"Two midgets are going at it in the call center!" was all the response I received in the panic, and I schooled my expression and began pushing my way through the crowd for the door.

"Miltia, stay where you are for now. If you don't hear back from me within ten minutes or so, round up the rest." I ended the call before Miltia could protest, and shoved myself back into the call center

The immediate thought was that there were a lot of smoking and sparking monitors around. The second was the eyecatching sight of Ruby swinging Crescent Rose around like a demon, trying to land a hit on…

'Great, it's almost like from Dust till Dawn again.' I unsheathed Mirror's Edge and closed in, shutting my eyes momentarily as I chucked one longsword, before opening them to avoid banging into any furniture. The longsword streaked forward, going wide past Ruby's assailant and towards the space behind her, where with a sound of shattering glass, the blade was batted away as the intruder was revealed with a pout on her face.

"Hello again Neo. Fancy seeing you here."

… … …

SMASH

Jaune though that, perhaps, Coco had made an error in her judgement.

CRASH

While he agreed with the strategic distribution on paper…

BOOOM

He couldn't help but wonder if there was some difficulty in remaining objective here.

"STAY STILL!?" Nora swung Magnhild again with a vengeance, but Cinder ducked beneath the swing and grabbed Nora, throwing the powerhouse with her Grimm arm into the wall with a crash. That was all the leeway she had though, as Jaune and Ren pressed in on her from both sides. While Ren kept her Grimm arm occupied with a whirlwind of slashes and strikes, Jaune was trying his hardest to break though Cinder's guard and cut her down.

Coco's orders had been to keep Cinder occupied while SSSN subdued the White Fang while CFVY crushed the Paladin, but he hadn't exactly claimed that he was coolheaded about the situation. And her weapons were freaking strong for being made out of glass!

Just as it looked like Ren was about to be overwhelmed and caught though, help was sent from above.

BANG

Literally from above, by the rifle of a goddess as Cinder's strike towards Ren was knocked into a different trajectory, spinning the villainess into the face of a shield bash by Jaune as Cinder was launched back, landing on her feet with a clink of glass.

"So, these are the best that Beacon has to offer. I wonder if that means that I will have the pleasure of facing you again once I have claimed what is rightfully mine." A burning red orb glared up at the railing where Pyrrha was perched.

"The only thing that's rightfully yours is a cell in prison!" Nora roared as she fired Magnhild, the grenade rushing towards Cinder. Cinder's eyes narrowed as she formed a wall of molten slag, the resulting explosion of which forced the three on the ground to cover as the area was enveloped in smoke. Within seconds though, the smoke ballooned outwards as the coal black arm streaked forward right for Ren. Ren forced Stormflower into the gaps between the clawed fingers, but the arm carried him forward and slammed him into the wall, stunning him before he was wrenched back to Cinder's side.

"Ah ah ah, let's not be hasty now. You wouldn't want anything unfortunate to happen to your friend, would you?" With her clawed hand wrapped around Ren's throat, the rest of JNPR watched as Ren's struggles slowed and his eyes became unfocused, though his breathing and color remained the same. "I'm capable of many things, and I can't be held responsible if a sudden attack startles into doing something…rash. Your friend seems to be quite willing to listen to me at the moment, don't you think?"

"Like hell it's of his own accord though." Jaune remembered what Kouzai had mentioned about Cinder's arm, and was kicking himself for not being more careful of it. Though he'd never seen the Apathy in action before, the very will seemed to be leaving Ren's body.

"If you hurt a single cell on his body, you'll be replacing more limbs than you already have." Nora flashed with bolts of lightning, High Voltage straining to unleash itself.

Cinder shrugged as she touched her ear. "That all depends on you now, I suppose. Now…give me an update…what?" Though Cinder didn't lower her guard, her expression turned downright monstrous. "How was she stopped?...More pawns…fine…I'll have words for her when I return…"

With Cinder's attention trained on the three of them, and the same in return, Jaune nearly didn't notice the slightly muted colors outlining Ren. Cinder's arm must've been sapping at his life and will…huh. It almost looked like…

Jaune nearly gave the game away as Ren turned imperceptibly to look at him, then down at Stormflower, then at Cinder's arm. Glancing to the sides, he saw that Pyrrha and Nora had spotted the same, and were waiting on Jaune's word.

Time to show off his acting chops then. Jaune sheathed Crocea Mors into the shield on his other arm, then held both hands up. "Alright, we're willing to listen. Tell us what you want. I warn you though, renege on your word with an Arc, and I'll smite you."

Cinder smirked. "Big words for someone weak enough to have his teammates walk into-"

"RRRAAAAAAGH!" With a roar, Ren kicked off Cinder's body, breaking Cinder's grasp on his throat, before he jammed Stormflower into the Grimm hand and slammed the limb into the ground.

"WHAT?!" Cinder made to slash down at Ren with the other hand, but a bullet from Milo sent the blade off-course. Turning back, both of Cinder's eyes widened in time to see Jaune launch Nora off his shield towards their opponent, the hammer wielder sparking.

"NORRRRAAAAAA SMAAAAASH!" Magnhild collided with Cinder's immobilized arm, sending her rocketing through the wall. "That's for messing with my man."

"Eyes up. This isn't over." Jaune warned as the four readied their weapons again. The dust slowly settled as Cinder appeared, clutching her distorted and bent Grimm arm.

"You…You four…I will make sure to visit the worst of tortures on you for this…" JNPR surged forward, but watched as Cinder slammed her human hand into the wall and superheated it, causing to shower slag downwards before vanishing.

"Ohh, that's not good…" Jaune looked around as the building they were in began groaning. "Something tells me Kouzai's not gonna be happy about this…"

… … …

BOOOOOOOM

"Why are has this year been nothing but giant explosion! We're supposed to be huntsmen and huntresses, not cheesy action stars!"

"Depends on what you're fighting!"

"I was looking for Grimm, not GIANT ROBOTS!"

"OI, FOCUS!" Velvet leapt out of the way as more rockets rained down. A look around at the smoking craters had her very thankful they lured Emerald out of the rally warehouse and to a bulldozed lot.

"VELVET, ON YOUR LEFT!" Fox's shout came at the same time as Yatsu's entrance, as her partner picked her up and dove out of the way of a laser firing towards her. As the pair rolled upright, Velvet patted Yatsu on the head before dashing back into the fray.

As the Paladin wound up to smash an arm down, a hail of bullets pierced its flank as Coco went to town with Gianduja.

"I'm shredding through whatever nonmetal armor they swapped out, but this thing is a hell of a lot better at dishing it out than taking it!" Coco shouted over the din.

'With Coco tearing into it's armor, I've gotta stick close by her to keep Emerald from using her illusions to turn Gianduja on us. Velv, Yatsu, you need to take out its lasers and rockets!'

"Velvet, I can shield you as you make your approach to-"

"No, Yatsu. You're our big arm in this fight, so I'll protect you as we close in." Velvet grinned as she held up Anisedora. "I've got just the thing."

"Very well." With no further words, both of them ran for the Paladin as Emerald spotted them. As another volley of rockets shot out towards them, Yatsu fell behind Velvet as the telltale glimmer of Anisedora appeared to create a gauntlet on Velvet's hand. With a sweep reminiscent of their dear friend, the Hard-Light Dust barrier of Mortem sprang up, holding strong as the rockets impacted against its surface. From that cover, Yatsuhashi sprang off the ground towards the Paladin. As he sailed over the cockpit, he caught a glimpse of Emerald's shocked expression and couldn't help a smile from appearing as Fulcrum cleaved through the missile launchers. Landing, he turned to see back of the Paladin as the sparks it was giving off indicated more than a few malfunctions.

"Alright, if this keeps up Crop-top will blow herself up if she keeps using those malfunctioning mounted guns!" Coco paused as the guns retracted to make room for collapsible fists bigger than Yatsuhashi. "Ah Grimmshit…"

High-powered servos presented themselves as the Paladin barreled towards Coco and Fox, forcing them to opposite sides. Fox was the first up, and squinted around the battlefield.

"Coco! She's coming after you!" Time seemed to lag at his words, as Velvet watched in horror as the Paladin beared down on Fox with no indication of his notice.

"Damnit!" Coco blurred in front of her partner, shoving him back as she raised Gianduja to guard against the Paladin's punch. With a sound like thunder, the pavement was torn up as Coco struggled against the limb.

"Vel, Yatsu, Box Cutter!" Coco gritted out, and the duo sped in. As Yatsuhashi raised Fulcrum, Velvet activated Anisedora as Mirror's Edge appeared. Both partners leapt up, and two blades tore through the arms of the Paladin as they landed on the ground.

"Coco? What's-" Fox was wrenched off the ground as he took in the scene, before readying Sharp Retribution again. As the whole of CFVY prepared themselves, the Paladin careened towards them, except that it's cockpit contained no pilot.

"She's making a break for it! But…" Fox trailed off, looking in multiple directions before cocking his head. "Oh SHIT! The Paladin's rigged to blow in five!"

All of CFVY sprinted away from the Paladin as its jammed controls forced it ever closer. Velvet called out Mortem again. "Yatsuhashi, in front!"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

After what felt like minutes of agonizing ringing in her ears, Velvet blinked past the dots in her vision to see Mortem's cracked surface, with Fulcrum positioned to act as the bulwark. Around them, the lot was a wreckage of even more demolished debris, with enormous craters dotting nearly the entirety of the space.

Coco took off her shades. "Yeah…Kouzai's definitely not gonna be happy about this…"

… … ...

For once, my predictions had actually turned out correct.

'After Torchwick and Adam were at the first White Fang rally, Cinder must've thought she needed to switch things up. Best for herself to oversee things to avoid any chance of screwing things up, and best to have loyal Emerald pilot the Paladin since Cinder needs the other two to maintain her grip on Vale's underworld. But where would that leave Neo?' And then I'd remembered. 'Without an infiltration of Beacon, there's no way of getting Watt's virus into the CCT, meaning it would have to be its own mission. Neo's already shown herself capable of sneaking into Beacon, so the rally would've been bait for this part of the plan. But if my whole team showed up to stop her, Cinder would have to think that someone's been feeding Beacon info at that point.'

And so, an excursion with one Ruby Rose came about. Speaking of which…"Ruby, what happened?"

Ruby, social ditz that she was, still possessed a warrior's spirit, keeping her eyes on Neo at all times. "Right after you left the room, I saw you come back and waved you over since Weylin wanted to speak to you. As soon as you came into view, Weylin and I noticed that there was something off about your weapons. When I asked, the illusion broke and Neo appeared to attack me."

"…So the only reason you and Weylin were able to see through Neo's illusion…was because of your mutual weapons obsession?"

"…Hey, it's not an obsession!" Ruby's focus wavered as she stomped her foot. "I'm a huntress, so this is normal!"

I shook my head amusedly, before glancing about the room to come up with a plan. "Ruby, there are still people trapped in the call center that need to escape. I can hold Neo while you get them out."

Ruby grasped Crescent Rose. "Are you sure? She's really tough."

I watched as Neo preened at the comment. "Somehow, I think I'll manage." And now I had the enforcer's attention. "Ruby, go."

The scythe wielder began clearing the area of civilians, and I made a show of dashing in with Mirror's Edge as the blade collided with Hush, giving me the excuse to lean in. "I know why Cinder sent you here, and you won't have time to get it done with us around, so cut your losses while she's distracted and get out of here."

Pink and brown eyes widened momentarily, before they narrowed while darting about the room. Neo twisted around and high-kicked towards my face, her heel coming within inches of my eye as I retreated. Separating Mirror's Edge, I started weaving a web of steel to mask the sound of my words to anyone not nearby. "If you think you have time to sneak somewhere else as a consolation prize, don't. There's people stationed in the library, sparring area and dorm rooms, not to mention everyone headed here now."

Neo's expression turned neutral as we choreographed our striking and dodging, before she turned to me with a smirk and winked…before headbutting me in the face and springboarding off my torso with a kick.

"Gahh!" I winced at my throbbing nose, catching sight of Neo standing by the elevator with a generic snarl on her face. That image shattered into a million pieces as Ruby raced up next to me, Crescent Rose still smoking.

"Kouzai, are you alright?! I got everyone out…but so many stairs…" Ruby panted as she caught her breath.

"I'm fine, but Neo slipped away while I was distracted," I grunted, channeling some of the pain I'd just experienced into genuine frustration. "And look at all the damaged terminals!"

"She might've gotten away, but the room can be fixed. What's important is that everyone was able to remain safe!" Ruby exclaimed cheerfully, and likely partially for my benefit.

"Yeah, that is true…" I turned away to look like I was surveying the room with a hand on my face, needing to cover the pleased grin from Ruby. 'The rally should be foiled, the Paladin should be scrap, and the CCT is still free of system-crashing software. I managed to stay ahead of Cinder's plan for once.'

I suddenly had the instinct to pinch my brow. 'Everything went right…so why am I getting the urge to smack some heads?'

A/N: And so ends another round of combat, with some interesting results and revelations on both sides. Writing up a sizeable, action-filled chapter brings a bit of nostalgia of the Countdown Arc. With events like the Beacon Dance coming up though, I'm quite excited to delve into writing that. Now for reviews.

AlexFalTon: Glad to hear that you're enjoying the wonderfully unfortunate particulars of Kouzai's day-to-day, as it's an aspect of the writing that I very much enjoy as well. I also get that the ins and outs of combat as written may not be for everyone, but it's belief that the combat will get more interesting later on. There's no issue with the genre priorities though, since that's part of what Kouzai being at Beacon is about.

Kono Dio Brando Da: It's briefly mentioned during the Countdown Arc that Raven does have a bond with Kouzai for Kindred Link, which will indeed lead to some interesting things during the upcoming meeting between the two.

Gizmo Gear: Yup, having the first face-to-face conversation between the two in years should be quite engaging, especially given the intentional and unintentional buildup from Kouzai's end.

Thepowerfullkira: Hey, good hearing from you again. I am indeed aware that Vernal isn't a maiden, and that's something that Kouzai is aware of as well. What exactly that'll mean for the meeting with Raven will have to be seen though.

Ascandas: Greetings, new reader. Thanks for dropping in, and hope you like what you've read so far. Funnily enough, I actually hadn't played Nier: Automata at the time that I started this story, but have since played the game. I'd like to think that the influence of such has bled into the writing here and there. And Kouzai playing himself off as unaware is such an ingrained front that he puts up at this point that it usually takes others getting a faceful of canon-loaded truth bombs for them to catch on of otherwise.

Raidentensho: Well, Kouzai isn't even sure if he's playing the same game as Ozpin and Salem, but if he is, he'll need cheats and shortcuts of the highest caliber to avoid getting systemically wiped out.

Fuyuki365: Unfortunately, I haven't actually watched that anime as of yet, but I suppose it's going on the list so we'll see how soluble the content ends up being for the story.

Next Chapter Date: 08/26/20

-SE