Chapter 7: Embers Light the Fuse

Rainier stared out at the skyline for a long few moments, leaning against the railing as he watched the sun begin to set over the horizon, bathing Beacon in a warm glow. His hands tapped out an obsessively familiar sequence of notes against the stone rail, bobbing his head in distant thought as he did so.

Far sooner than he would have liked, he swallowed hard, ducking his head. "You know, of all the people I would have expected to come after me, you're far from the first."

Shinai said nothing as he marched up alongside his friend, staring out at the setting sun.

The faunus sighed. "Why do you care?"

"What?" The samurai asked in genuine shock.

Rainier turned to him. "Why do you even care? We're hardly friends. We speak sparingly, we very rarely 'chill' and, yet, you keep coming back. Concerned. Why? It's no insult against your character, just… genuine curiosity."

Shinai stared at him for a very long few moments. "Why wouldn't I? We're not close. I understand that. But that doesn't mean I don't consider us friends. You don't like to share your emotions, not really. I get that. But that doesn't mean its not obvious to the rest of us."

"Oh? Is this about an imaginary crush-"

"Rainier," The samurai spat with a surprising amount of edge and vitriol. "I don't appreciate your games. You don't want to talk, that's fine. But don't insult either of our intelligences."

After a moment to recover from his shock, the Vacuoan let out a laugh- warm, but tinged with bitterness. "That is the most words I think I've ever heard you say, samurai. You've spent far too much time with Oracle and Lance, methinks."

Shinai, though, simply shook his head. "We're all worried about you. You don't sleep-"

"You're one to talk-"

"-Rainier. I am very serious."

"And so am I. It's just that, and with all due respect, I find it hard to believe that Shinai Kyani, master swordsman, legendary samurai hailing from the prestigious Temple of Patch cares so terribly deeply about the little Vacuoan faunus with too much arrogance and bravado to his name."

The samurai's eyes were wide in shock. "You really think so little of me?"

Rainier watched him for a moment, before turning forwards again. "…Of course not. I'm just… stressed."

"We all are-"

"No," The faunus spat back, yellow eyes hardening. "No you're not. You don't understand. You couldn't understand. Tell me- have you stayed awake night, after night, after night, replaying the things you did wrong over, and over, and over again? Hm? Have you? Of course not. You don't fail. You're Shinai bloody Kyani. You don't know what that's like-"

"I don't?" Shinai asked quietly, lips pulled in an inkling of a snarl. "I spent my life failing. One failure after another- but I didn't let them become me. I used them to get stronger, make sure that I never made that failure again-"

"And yet!" Rainier shot back, rounding on the samurai. "Here you stand. Perfect. Untouchable," The Vacuoan roughly brushed off Shinai's pauldron. "Impeccable. No, samurai, you do not know what it's like to fall and fail so terribly that it eats away at you. I can see it in your eyes. Failure's not failing an exam, it's not tripping at a bad time, it's not making a mistake in front of your crush- failure is watching someone you love pass away, it's seeing the hurt in people's eyes as they realize just as well as you did that you weren't good enough. Failure is the feeling of always knowing that you have to be more, and yet you can't be, you can never reach that impossible brass ring. Failure is a pair of lilac eyes closing that will never reopen..." He was silent for a moment, before taking a step backwards, face trying desperately to remain furious. "...Failure is seeing the living embodiment of that perfection in the flesh... just as untouchable as you always thought it was."

Shinai opened his mouth to speak, eyebrows furrowing in concern, a hand raised to the faunus.

"Are… you two alright?" Pyrrha asked as she stepped forwards, eyebrows knit together in concern.

"We're-" The samurai began.

"-Fine." The faunus finished.

"I'm… sorry for intruding," She continued as she joined them, walking up to the railing. "I'd heard arguing and just… came to see what was happening."

"I… believe we're done." Rainier answered, turning to look at his rival out of the corner of his eye.

Shinai sighed as he placed his hands onto the bannister. "...Yes. I think we are."

"Alright then," She said, voice filled with unsureness. "Well… it's hard to believe, isn't it? But we're here. The finals of the Vytal Festival. It's hard to believe. It… can you imagine? This time in two days, we'll all… be gone. Leaving to return to our lives for the break. Can you imagine?"

"You don't have to leave," Shinai said, his attention final turning to the warrior. "You are allowed to stay."

"Yes, but in the same breath I… do miss my family," She chuckled. "I can't help but feel like it's a lose-lose situation."

"Yes…" Rainier mused quietly, expression stony and closed off. "Yes it is."

The samurai cleared his throat. "Who else is joining the four of us?"

Pyrrha looked to the faunus in a silent question. Just as silently, he fished his notes from his pocket, handing them over to her without a word. "Let's see… Ruby's friend, Penny's team; Emerald and Mercury's team; Team SSSN; and Team REDD, though I don't recognize them."

Shinai nodded, satisfied, and the trio lapsed into silence, all three of their gazes turning back to the horizon, leaning against the railing, and basking in the dying summer light.

Pyrrha finally burst out into a quiet chuckle. "Who would have thought? It'd be us here again. It's rather storybook, isn't it? The three of us watching the sun set. I think I like that ending."

The samurai mulled her words over, before a small smile claimed his face, head shaking slightly. "...As do I."

"An ending it is. Finality." Rainier muttered, eyes finally casting over to his companions.

The Mistrali huntress placed her hand onto his shoulder. "When you think like that, maybe. But think of all that we've done this year. We've fought criminals, and psychopaths. We've stopped crime rings, and gone on adventures most of us could only have dreamed of. And before too long; we'll all be back, like we never left," She smiled. "And we'll get to do the whole ordeal over again."

Rainier's gaze met hers, her face pulled into a small, but bright smile. Slowly, a tiny, thin grin of its own crept across the faunus' expression, his head shaking. "You're far too optimistic, Miss Nikos. I admire it. I'd wish you luck tomorrow... both of you-" The rival's eyes met for a moment. "But I doubt you'll need it. I'll simply wish you goodnight instead." He took a step away, but didn't leave, lingering uncertainly.

His and Shinai's eyes locked one last time... and the faunus gave him a single, stiff nod. The samurai returned it after a moment, and Rainier left on his way, hands in his pockets, eyes locked to the rapidly darkening sky.

The two warriors watched him go, before turning back to the railing.

Shinai was the first to speak, shaking his head. "I worry about him."

"I know. I do too. I think we all do. This tournament has been rough to him. But, I think he of all people knows what he's doing."

"...Beyond the tournament. He's a good man. I just hope that... he cares deeply. I hope that that doesn't hurt him."

Pyrrha watched him for another long moment, before sighing, turning her attention forwards again. "I… I hope it hasn't changed any of us, for the worst. Well, Mr. Kyani. I think I'm going to head to my dorm, or at least find my team," She squeezed his shoulder, before turning after Rainier. "Goodnight. Don't stay up too late, please."

"Of course," He muttered dryly. "Sleep well, Ms. Nikos. And give Jaune my regards as well."

Her face turned crimson red, body stiffening like a bolt. "I'm not sure I know what you're talking about."

The samurai shook his head, looking forwards. "Goodnight."

The flustered huntress shook her head as well, nervously marching off into the rapidly arriving nightfall.

Shinai stood for a long time, purple eyes simply watching the sun set over Beacon.

"A murder? And you're certain that it was recent?"

Remy leaned forwards over Ozpin's desk, tanned face screwed up in a scowl. "A day or two old, maybe, but no older."

"That's… troubling." The white haired professor muttered, looking at the litany of information held on his desk's holographic display.

"Ozpin," The Vacuoan growled. "It's a helluva lot worse than troubling. I thought crime had stopped in the city."

"It had, after Roman Torchwick had been apprehended after the Breach. This is the first report of anything since then. Remyngton… I… believe you. But I think we need to take a step back, and wonder what kind of person would commit murder while Atlas' fleet is protecting Vale."

The White Wolf stared at Oz for a long moment, yellow eyes darkening in realization. "…Atlas is protecting the city?"

"Yes."

The room went silent. "...I don't like jokes, Ozpin."

"Neither do I, Mr. Platina, and believe me, it's no less my decision than it is yours. The Council made a decision, against my better wishes."

Remy shot back to his full height, storming off and beginning to pace. "Atlas! Do you know what that looks like, Ozpin? It looks like a damn occupation."

Ozpin sighed. "You have your issues with their kingdom, and I understand that, but General Ironwood is a good man, if not... misguided at times. He and his army are here for the protection of all four kingdoms during the Vytal Festival. You know this."

The White Wolf shook his head, pausing in his tracks. "Atlas can't be trusted- if they decide to turn their weapons against the city, what happens, Ozpin? Lotta people will die. A lot of them. And my gods damned brother might be one of them."

"Remy-"

"If things turn for the worse... this is on your head. No one else's."

Oz moved to rebuke him, when the elevator beeped, opening up. Two men stalked out from it, both tall, pale and lanky. The taller one's dark hair was slicked backwards, stubble spreading across his face, tired, grey eyes staring at the two men inside. He was dressed in a black, armored shirt, matching black pants tucked into black, equally armored boots. The rest of his form was covered in a black tailcoat, the sleeves hanging over his shoulders like a cloak.

The shorter one looked just as tired, but far more interested in the situation at hand, dark eyebrow raised high over red eyes, spiky dark grey hair messily combed backwards, stubble covering his jaw. He was dressed in a loose grey dress shirt with a black collar, black jeans and black boots covering the lower half of his body, a short, tattered red and black cloak falling from his shoulders. One hand was stuffed in his pocket, while the other held a flask tightly, taking a swig from it as he walked up.

Ozpin cleared his throat. "Mr. Platina, al-"

"Corvus Gallant," The faunus muttered. "And Qrow Branwen."

"And you must be the White Wolf," The latter muttered, wiping at his mouth. "Heard a lot about ya. Never thought I'd see you all the way out here though."

"Things change." Remy shot back.

"Corvus," Oz said in a slight note of surprise. "I wasn't aware that you had made it back to the city yet."

"Just got back the other day. Figured I'd take it easy for a few, instead of having you toss me back out into the wilderness for another month." The former, new occupant said quietly, leaning back.

"Alright, Oz," Qrow grumbled. "What's up this time?"

"Remyngton here has some troubling news."

The aforementioned Vacuoan turned to the two other huntsmen, crossing his arms. "...There's been a murder."

"Oh," The Branwen muttered. "Well... that's new."

"Who was it? Civilian? Don't say it was a kid." Corvus asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No idea. But someone's dead. No bodies, just blood. A lot of it, more than one person, probably. No weapons."

"That's a shit lead."

"All we've got."

"For the moment," Ozpin cut in, leaning forwards. "I'm going to ask the three of you not to pursue this, and certainly don't let anyone else know. The city's already uneasy with the events of the last month, and we don't need anything else occurring that could draw the grimm here, anymore than they already have been."

"So what?" Qrow asked. "We just sit around, twiddle our fingers, and act like nothing's wrong?"

"No. I'm expecting you three to keep an eye on the situation. There's only one day left in the tournament, after that, the three other kingdoms will leave, most of the students here will return home for the winter, and we'll be free to investigate as we please. But until then, we just need to get through the next day. In the meanwhile; there's a tournament going on. I'd like to avoid a mass panic if at all necessary. Platina, Qrow, all I ask of you for the next two days is to support your family in the tournament. And Corvus?" The last huntsman raised a bored eyebrow. "Try not to cause any more trouble than you need to."

The two Vale huntsmen nodded at the Professor, then Remy in turn, before marching back the way they'd come. The White Wolf, though, lingered for a moment, snarl aimed at Ozpin, who stared back stoically. The Vacuoan turned on his heel, following the other two to the elevator.

Ozpin sighed as the trio left, burying his face into his hands, eyes closed tightly.

"Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for! The one-on-one finals!"

As Professor Port's voice echoed over Amity Colosseum, the crowd exploded into raucous applause, cheers showering down to the battlefield below.

Across the center platform; was the final competitors.

Yang, looking absurdly confident, beaming giddily as she soaked in the adulation of the crowd. Rainier, face oddly zen-like as he looked around himself, scanning the crowd with carefully blank yellow eyes, hands stuffed into his pockets. A new fighter, dressed in Atlesian white armor, dark hair swept to the side with a streak of blonde, face stony still as he stared forwards. Sun Wukong grinning, bo staff held over his shoulders under both hands, nodding along to a song playing in his mind. Shinai, hands holding his katana's handle tightly, bowing lowly at the announcement. Penny blinking owlishly, smiling uncertainly as she looked around, hands folded behind her back, teetering back and forth on her toes. Mercury, a smug smirk planted on his face as he looked at his opponents. And at the end; Pyrrha.

She looked troubled, one hand holding her other arm as she turned miserable green eyes over the crowd, face trying in vain to be steadfast.

"Why don't you explain the rules, Barty?" Port continued.

"Ah, it's quite simple, Peter!" Oobleck continued. "Instead of a bracket system, each round of the finals will be randomly determined immediately before the match takes place!"

"Much like any good hunt, there will be zero time to prepare!"

"Ah, yes, yes! Now, let's see who our first match will be!"

The billboard high above began to spin, this time with the faces of the last eight competitors rather than biomes, slowing to a stop;

On Yang and Mercury.

Ruby cupped her hands over her mouth. "Break a leg, sis!" She called out.

"Go get 'em, babe!" Oracle added, whistling sharply.

Vegas, looked down the length of his aisle; making eye contact with Cinder, exchanging nods as she rose, leaving the stadium altogether. His eyes drifted from her, to Emerald, eyebrow raising boredly. She scowled his direction, turning her gaze back down to the fight below.

The killer rose to his feet, pulling his hood further down over his head as he stalked out the opposite direction of his mistress, marching towards the hallways in the back quickly.

"Would all other combatants please leave the stage?" Port called out.

The other six marched onwards, Rainier stopping next to Yang on his way out. "For all that is holy, my friend; wipe that smug smile off of his face, yes?"

She winked, hitting him with her shoulder. "Just for you, bud."

He returned the wink and followed after the rest of his peers, leaving the two huntsmen alone on the stage, the stadium lights shifting to illuminate the hole middle section, cutting through the rapidly approaching darkness of the night.

The duo met in the middle, Yang grinning. "You better not go easy on me."

Mercury chuckled mirthlessly. "You wish."

They raised their hands as they prepared for the fight, slowly edging forwards until they were centimeters apart.

"3! 2! 1!

Begin!"

The moment the word left his mouth, Yang threw the first punch, nearly making contact before the criminal lifted a foot, kicking the offending limb out of the air; the impact let out a shockwave, both fighters sliding backwards from the force of the blows.

The two brawlers didn't waste any time, meeting in the middle, Mercury firing a blast from his boots at her feet, missing as she leapt into the air, firing a shotgun shot from her gauntlet, also missing, her opponent swiveling away from the blow.

They dashed forwards again, exchanging heavy blows between her punches and his kicks; blocking some, simply taking others. She ducked low, letting loose with another shot, absorbing a kick of his own in the meanwhile. She stumbled backwards as he fired again, this time at the ground, vaulting high into the air and away from her, landing a distance away.

She grinned and began firing shots from Ember Celica after him, Mercury dodging each one skillfully as he did so, clouds of air flying behind him as he zipped across the stage back towards her, falling from the air in an attempt to smash down with his leg. She blocked the blow, pushing the attack away, but missing with her follow-up shotgun shot, giving him enough space to land a hefty kick across her face, sending her down to a knee, a grimace claiming her visage.

Yang didn't let up, though, dashing forwards quickly with a double blast from her gauntlets, landing the blow, and following up with a flurry of punches, shotgun shells falling to the ground with each impact, stopping only as he threw a desperate roundhouse kick to her back. She ducked out of the way, sending another haymaker at his feet, missing as he leapt into the air, corkscrewing in place as he sent another duo of kicks at her.

The first missed- only for the second to immediately come crashing down, slamming into the tiles and shattering them as she rolled out of the way. She leapt back to her feet and towards him, both huntsmen exchanging vicious kicks for a few moments before he landed one across her torso, sending her stumbling backwards, immediately dashing forwards to capitalize;

And catching a heavy punch to the jaw for his trouble, then a straight shot to the torso, sending him crashing ninety degrees to slam face first onto the ground. Mercury shot back to his feet as she went back on the offensive, explosive blow after explosive blow raining down onto him, somersaulting backwards away from the attacks, until one managed to catch him flush, sending him flying backwards.

Right over the edge of the center platform, careening to the floor below.

The criminal saved himself at the last moment though, firing with his boots to soar back into the fight, immediately letting loose with a series of kicks, to little avail as she blocked each blow with her arms. She ducked under one kick; directly into another, Mercury kicking off of her to dash into the air away from her, sending a shot with his boots at her, Yang easily avoiding it.

And absolutely not noticing the blast of air stopping behind her, floating in the air patiently.

The criminal hit the ground hard, shooting back to his feet- and firing blast after blast, swiveling in place on his other foot. She dashed forwards, dodging around the blasts, closing the distance quickly, meeting Mercury head on, trading punches expertly again for a short moment, before a high kick cracked against the side of her head, launching her into the air before he kicked her right back down into the tiles, cracks splintering across the surface under her.

Then the shots all began to rain down towards her, dozens of blasts crashing onto her prone form.

Mercury landed on the ground a short few feet away, grinning smugly as he rose to his feet, dusting himself off; and was totally ignorant of the glowing red eyes in the smoke behind him. The dust cloud dispersed in a brilliant explosion of flames. His eyes widened in shock for an instant, before fading to a smile as he turned back towards her, staring the berserking huntress down.

Lance let out a laugh. "Ohoho, she's pissed!"

Ulysses crossed his arms, leaning back. "…Dammit. You weren't wrong."

Nora elbowed the hulking huntsman. "See? Total fight crush. You guys would be perfect for each other."

"Don't push it."

Yang snarled in fury, hair glowing, eyes brilliantly red, and punched her fists together, charging forwards with a roar of fury. She reached him quickly, a thunderous blow making contact, sending him stumbling backwards, before continuing her onslaught, dodging around the increasingly desperate kicks from the criminal-

And then took one solidly across the side of her chest, hardly flinching from it. She immediately continued her onslaught, landing haymaker after haymaker across the defenseless criminal. Without letting up for a moment, the rampaging huntress hit a vicious punch into his stomach, burying it into his flesh, a groan escaping his lips as his grey aura flickered across his form, the aura bar high above hitting zero.

Regardless, Yang immediately slammed her other fist squarely into his face, sending him flying away limply, crashing onto his back.

A buzzer blared over the arena, and the crowd burst out into a roar of applause.

"What a beginning to the finals!" Port called out.

"Yang Xiao Long wins!" Oobleck finished.

The aforementioned blonde closed her eyes, letting out a sigh as her body went limp. When she opened her eyes, they had returned to their default lilac, a smile crossing her face, lifting her arm to another round of cheers.

Ruby leapt up and down in excitement. "YEAH! YOU DID IT SIS!"

Blake and Weiss rose to their feet as well, the latter fist pumping and cheering, while the former gave her partner a standing ovation. "Way to go, Yang!"

Rainier applauded as well, a grin stretched across his face as he turned to Lance. "Very well, friend! Combo victory it was, well played!"

"If you lost the bet, hand the lien over!" The swordsman called out, taking small donation of money from a couple of his friends, and even some of the students around him as the arena continued on in a sustained roar.

And then Yang turned on her heel on a dime, letting loose a vicious punch and shotgun blast, blowing through Mercury's knee as if it was nothing, the limb snapping, the lower half bending to the side at nearly a ninety-degree angle, the criminal falling to the ground in screams of pain, the crowd going dead silent in shock.

"MY LEG- MY LEG!" He screamed out, hands going to the snapped limb as he rolled across the ground.

"That's what you get, you little-" Yang began angrily, before a collection of Atlesian soldiers and white Knights rushed the stage, guns held high and at the ready.

"Yang Xiao Long, stand down!" One barked.

She threw her hands up. "What?! Why?! I didn't do anything!"

Emerald leapt from the stands to the floor below, dashing towards her partner and falling to her knee. "Mercury!" She cried out in horror.

"Why'd she do that?!" He screamed out hysterically to no one in particular. "WHY'D SHE ATTACK ME?!"

Yang's eyes slowly raised up to the screen above the stadium, lilac's eyes widening in horror as she watched the replay of her attacking the defenseless boy. Her eyes trailed down, staring at the wide-eyed, terrified faces of her teammates and friends, then to the guns staring her down, wheeling around in shock.

"Yang Xiao Long, stand down!" The soldier barked again, stepping towards her. "Come with us, this instant! Do it quietly!"

She raised her hands, still looking shellshocked as she shakily followed after the soldiers, leaving her writhing opponent and his teammate behind, medics rushing up to the platform to usher him away.

Rainier watched the bedlam below, a hand placed against his mouth in shock. "I… but-"

"Ruby, what the hell was that?!" Daria barked.

"I- I don't know!" She cried back, shooting to her feet and rushing from the stands to the hallways in the back, the rest of her team, following right after her.

The other three teams sat in silence, looking to each other unsurely.

Except for Shinai.

Whose eyes hadn't left Emerald once.

Rainier knocked on the door. "Yang?"

"Go away." The blonde huntress muttered back.

"Please. It's just me. Let me in."

"I said go away. I don't walk to talk, Rainier."

"If you don't let me in, I'm going to come in anyways."

"You don't even have a key- just leave me alone."

He turned downtrodden yellow eyes to Ruby, the short girl sighing as she swiped her Scroll across the keypad, the door beeping as it unlocked. The faunus nodded at her as he let himself in, staring in concern at his friend.

Yang was curled up in her bed, leaning against the corner; her face was drawn in a solemn gaze, lilac eyes just simply... tired. She jolted to attention as Rainier entered the room. "Jeez, what part of 'go away' don't you get?"

He raised his hands to her placatingly. "Please, I just want to-"

"I don't want to talk!" She snapped, face twisting in irritation. "Just go. Please. I just... want to be alone right now."

"Alright, alright," The Vacuoan said, slowly backing up to the door- before stopping. "Tell me; how did it feel?"

Yang stiffened up. "What?" She whispered.

"How did it feel?" He repeated coldly. "When you broke that boy's leg?"

Her face crumbled again. "I keep telling everyone- he- he attacked me! I just defended myself-"

"We all saw it happen, Ms. Xiao Long."

Her eyes filled with betrayal. "How could you think that I did it?"

"Because I saw it happen. I ask you again; how did it feel?"

The distraught huntress curled further into herself, shaking her head. "Just go away…" She muttered.

"Was it satisfying? Did you feel the bone splinter before it shattered? Or was it more of a clean, across the bone break? Or… did you not feel the bone splinter, or crack; I'm asking you sincerely… what did it feel like?"

Lilac eyes slowly lifted to meet him. "…What are you talking about?"

Rainier opened the door, beginning to step out. "I, more than anyone, know exactly how a mechanical limb can break. I know it far too well," Her eyes widened in shock, eyes trailing downwards as dozens of thoughts crossed her mind. "For the record, Ms. Xiao Long; I believe you. Whole-heartedly. Try and get some sleep, yes?"

He nodded at her, softly closing the door as he stepped back out into the hall.

Ruby frowned at him. "What are you talking about? With the mechanical limb thing?"

The faunus sighed. "You remember Roman, and the Gold man, and the woman from the dance- and so many other things that have happened, yes?"

"Of course. I don't-"

"What if it was all building to something, hm? What if it didn't end with you taking Roman in? What if… he wasn't the mastermind behind it."

Her face fell, silver eyes trailing down to the floor. "I… Uncle Qrow did mention how weird it was that all crime had stopped. You… you think that something is going on?"

"I'm… not sure. But certainly… we should all be a little more careful and aware, correct? Did General Ironwood tell you what would happen with her?"

Ruby sighed, her suspicious expression melting back into one of sadness. "…She's probably going to be stripped of the victory, and we'll be disqualified in the tournament. They don't know. They're going to take the day to talk about it. Fights are over for the night. I don't even know anymore. It's… like nothing good happens to us. We can't catch a break."

He placed a hand onto her shoulder, squeezing it comfortingly. "Mayhaps. But mayhaps we need to begin making our own breaks?"

"What does that even mean?"

"You can't expect good things to come to you. You have to make them happen. What's happened with Yang is… an unfortunate, strange situation. But, the world moves on. She'll bounce back. She always does. In the meanwhile, there are three people in this tournament who are very much so going to angrily win in her honor."

A small smile slowly claimed the short girl's face. "I… guess you're right. Thanks, Rain."

"Of course, Rubes. Tell Yang we're all thinking of her. I'm going to… go do something, I suppose."

"That's a really suspicious way of saying that, but sure."

"Of course. It's still me, after all." He ruffled her hair as he began to walk away, smile dropping from his face quickly, a sigh escaping his lips.

Vegas stood on the wall surrounding Vale, hands shoved into his pockets as he stared out at the wilderness surrounding the city, hood pulled back over his head.

He nodded at the dozens of black masses stalking towards them, golden eyes glinting brightly in satisfaction.

One of the grimm, a hulking elephantine creature, as large as a building, threw its head back and let out an unnatural trumpet, several others joining the call.

"Cinder," He said to no one in particular. "They're here."

"Good. One or two more… tragedies should do it. What do you think; the robot and the Mistrali? Or the samurai and the wolf?" She purred back.

A vicious grin climbed across his face. "My choice? I'm honored. Ooh… I really, really wanna watch the wolf kill the samurai. Yeah… let's do that. See if you can't get Emerald to make it bloody."

"Of course, Goldie. Just for you. See you tomorrow night. Don't forget to enjoy yourself."

His grin didn't drop, a satisfied sigh leaving his lips as he turned away from the forests, to Amity Colosseum high above. "I can't wait."