To clarify, Cinder killed Amber, not Ruby in the last chapter. Sorry for the confusion.
Afro saw himself in his granddaughter. He saw his own stubbornness, impatience and blind ambition in her. But he felt pride that she learned to not be like him.
Yang Xiao Long was everything he could never be in his youth. And he planned on nurturing that.
She rushed him, swinging for a left hook before stopping to uppercut Afro. Taking a step back, the samurai then sent a kick to her chest, and she slid back a few feet.
"Very good. Again, and remember; never let your emotions clowd your mind, think before you act, and analyze even in the heat of battle." Yang nodded and took a breath.
Her hair began glowing slightly and her eyes quickly darted around his form. Time felt still as they waited. No sound was made or heard. Suddenly, they seemed to blur to meet each other, blade and fist crossing before passing each other completely.
Afro sheathed his blade and stayed on his knee. Yang stood with her fists closed, and eyes looking to the side to peer at her grandfather.
A small poof was heard, and a few small clumps of Afro's hair fell to the ground. He growled under his breath.
He really liked his hair.
His anger did not go unnoticed, and the air suddenly felt cold as Weiss, Blake and Raven saw a few strands of Yang's hair float to the ground.
"Oh no..." Blake felt her instincts yelling at her to run to, at the very least a minimal safe distance. The older warrior turned to face his granddaughter, who met his glare with bright red eyes. He smirked. They'd be getting even then.
Raven paled, "This was a terrible idea..."
Qrow watched his unconscious niece, still sitting in the machine, as Ozpin spoke with their new acquaintance. He felt her eyes boring into the back of his skull, and he knew she was smirking at him.
This wasn't worth it at all. But it was this, or let the headbands run amok in Remnant, and that was an even bigger risk that sure as hell wasn't worth taking again. Especially now that his father had become involved.
"Qrow." The hunter sighed and looked at Goodwitch. The headmistress had a stern look on her face, calm and collected. But the constant wringing of her riding crop told him she was just as nervous.
"This... I can't help but feel that this..." Goodwitch hummed.
"It's what's necessary. I might not have seen it myself, but we work with Ozpin, and I think that's enough to tell us how dangerous those headbands are."
"Is there anything anyone won't repeat?" He growled at her. "I know those stupid things are dangerous. I know letting two idiots have them is dangerous. But this is a mistake.
"What comes after this, can you tell me that? What happens after the headbands are destroyed? Salem is still alive. That evil bitch has the fall maiden power. Where does that leave us?"
Goodwitch choked on her words. He was right. They practically handed their enemy what they wanted on a silver platter.
"We'll do what's necessary, Qrow." Ozpin spoke. "But right now, all that matters is the destruction of those headbands. I don't need to repeat why."
Qrow grit his teeth. This man was going to get everyone killed.
Cinder watched them with a smirk. The dusty drunk wasn't exactly wrong, now that she thought about it; a bigger threat, a little desperation, and just the right words got her further than her own plans. Granted she was annoyed at such a thing, wasting so much time planning out something grand that would never come to pass because of something so out of left-field.
But hey, as long as it worked.
"You know what, Oz? I think you-"
Suddenly the room shook. A small shake, but just enough to alarm the old wizard.
"Wh-what the hell was that?"
Ozpin rushed to the door, panic filling him. As he reached the outside, he saw a plume of smoke rising from the middle of the courtyard. Qrow, Goodwitch and Cinder quickly joined him.
"Get ready..." Said Qrow as he drew his weapon. Goodwitch gripped her riding crop tightly as Ozpin flip his cane, and Cinder summoned her glass blades.
The smoke began to clear, and what they cpuld see was the vague silhouette of someone with a sword standing in the middle. Ozpin grit his teeth and gripped his cane harder. He could hear his own heart beating in his ears, and the adredaline begining to pump through him.
"YANG!! THIS IS SCHOOL PROPERTY!!"
"THAT WAS MY HAIR!!"
"...You've gotta be kidding me." Qrow dropped his weapon, and stared in disbelief; the smoke cleared up, and he saw his niece, who was being held back by her teammates, struggling to rush and pummel her grandfather.
Afro on the other hand had a smile on his face, and his arms crossed. Raven stood with him, blankly staring at both him and her daughter.
"You spent spent your respective years training, and you lose it over a bit of hair..." She sighed and facepalmed. "How am I your daughter again?"
"Rude." Afro chuckled and glanced over at Ozpin. He grunted, getting Raven's attention as the cabal approached them. "Ozpin..."
"Afro. Why are you here? And why did you bring her." Raven glared at the wizard and went for her weapon. Afro placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm free to wander as I please, Ozpin. I'm also free to bring my family." He stated. "And I'm free to witness my student's first true battle."
"Students?-" Goodwitch started, but stopped in her tracks as the stench of tobbaco filled the air, and a familiar voice reached them.
"Geez! You'd think these muthafuckas would have this figured out already, eh?"
"You just can't keep quiet, can you?"
Blake froze in fear, and along with everyone, turned to face the voices; Adam stood tall, the No. 2 headband tied around his head and fluttering in the wind. He glanced at Afro, and gave a nod.
"Master." The elder nodded in return. Adam turned his eyes to Cinder, and Frowned. "Fall..."
"Taurus."
The air was suddenly still. The rest of the world faded away. Neither made a single move. Adam's hyperfocused focused eyes could see her shoulders and chest moving steadily. Cinder looked at his form, almost unmoving like a statue.
Suddenly their blades clashed in the middle. They met each other blow for blow, their blades making small explosive sounds. As Cinder struck from above, Adam met her at an angle and deflected her blades to the side before throwing his left fist back at her. She stumbled back and dodged a gut strike. Thinking quickly, she dissipated her weapons and sent a volley of fire towards Adam, who jumped out of the way just as it was about to hit.
Before anyone could blink, just as fast as the battle had started, it ended with Cinder's blood curdling scream as her the fire stopped, and her hands fell to the floor.
Eyes went wide. Afro nodded. Ozpin dropped his cane. Adam stood victorious.
"Didn't I tell you, bitch?" NinjaNinja hopped over to Cinder, who sat on the ground in shock as she bled out. "Ya can't win! Not against us..."
"You sought power that was never yours. You wanted to be feared, respected. And I think deep down, you wanted to be loved." Adam kicked her to the ground and held his blade over her heart. "That's why you lose."
Magic aura shot out into the air and dispersed.
Adam bowed at the corpse. As much as he hated her, he could see how similar they were, how close he was to actually becoming her. He could at least show some respect to a kindred spirit.
"No more obstacles. No more distractions. Master..." Adam looked to Afro. The elder Samurai nodded and looked to Ozpin's group, who stood frozen.
"This is far greater than your petty rivalry with your wife, Ozma. Do not interfere." Afro looked to his student. "Go now. He waits."
Jaune jumped back, dodging an overhead strike from Nora. He grinned and raised his blades. Pyrrha and Ren watched from the sidelines, having done their own hour of training with their leader.
"Not bad! You're getting there!" As they went for each other again, the blonde suddenly stopped. He looked out into the distance, to Beacon.
"Jaune?" Ren asked concerned. The blonde sighed, closed his eyes, and smirked.
"About time."
My inability to write fight scenes enters once again! Sorry for the wait, I'm very lazy.