D'art was still appreciating the craftsmanship of the figurine when the ground began shaking. Turning to grab the pedestal for stability he watched it sink into the ground, "What's going on?" He asked his partner who was currently just as confused as the walls around them shook vigorously and crumbled by their own force. Within minutes they saw all of the stone walls not reduced to rubble sink into the floor and all of the grimm were free to wander around as they pleased. An ursa major roared from behind them and deciding to attempt to avoid a conflict with it they ran, getting separated from each other due to the newfound chaos in the colosseum.

On the other side of the battle field, suddenly, there was a terrible cry. A shriek of pain and darkness that pierced the ears of everyone in the maze. Xanthic looked up, his eyes widening as everything around him was embraced with a cloud of dust. He reflexively put his arm over his eyes and waited for it to pass. He could barely make out the fleeting footsteps of his partner and the gust easily drowned out his meek voice. After he removed it, he coughed and looked up, freezing in place. Despite his partner being gone, Xanthic wasn't alone.

He came face to face with two enormous snakes that stood above him, their scarlet beady eyes boring into his own unflinchingly. One pearly white, the other jet black. Xanthic stepped back, getting ready to run before his eyes flickered emerald green.

He stood there, a smile forming on his lips. Finally, a challenge. Spinning them, Xanthic got out his blunderbuss pistols and was about to run towards it before a hand yanked him back.

"What are you thinking?!" Someone asked. Xanthic spun around, coming eye to eye with a girl. Her black hair was tied into two long braids and she had one cobalt eye that stared at him furiously. An eyepatch covered her other. She appeared like she had been on her way out.

"I'm trying to kill these things, if you'll let me." Xanthic snapped, pulling away from the grip of the girl who held on. She didn't even budge.

"You'll kill yourself in the process, come on." She hissed, attempting to drag him back.

"Let me go." Xanthic ordered, staying in place.

"The idiots I have to deal with." She muttered, turned away from him. A wave of anger washed over Xanthic who snapped his fingers. A high pitched noise was emitted around the girl, piercing the ears of everyone nearby. He amplified the volume as much as he could. The girl stumbled back, her grip on him releasing as she covered her ears. She cursed under her breath as Xanthic rushed forward towards the two snakes.

With a start, he realized that one of the snakes was no longer staring at him, but now at the girl who was covering her ears. Drawn to the noise no doubt. He spun around, eyes widening as the black snake lunged towards her.

But before it got to her, the raven haired girl put out her hand. As if it had encountered an invisible wall, the snake lurched backwards almost instantaneously; it's long body twisting in a way that looked unnatural. Xanthic stared at her blankly and then readjusted his gaze upon the other snake that had coiled around them. It had formed a circular scaly wall.

"No getting out now." She muttered, chains slithering down her arms and surrounding her loosely.

"I'll take the white one." Xanthic snapped, not wanting to work together.

"I'll kill the black." She responded angrily. They met eye contact, frowning, and then set to work.

Xanthic, excited to finally be able to use his skills, jumped onto the white snake. His gauntlets revealed it's immaculate claws and he ran the blades into its skin, sprinting upwards while his claws left bloody marks. The white snake hissed loudly, twisting and turning in agony. Xanthic vigorously held on to it's scales with his claws embedded in its flesh. His legs dangled limply in the air as he carved slashes into it's skin.

His eyes averted briefly to the girl who appeared to be doing fine. She spun in midair, her hand clutching a sword connected to a chain as she cut clean through it's tail, narrowly missing it's upper body. The black snake hissed furiously and lunged towards her, it's mouth open and fangs dripping with venom. With a flick of her wrist, the chain twisted around it's head and she drove it towards the ground over and over again. It's head hit the floor with a sickening crunch repeatedly. He only saw her face for a brief moment, but he could have sworn that a grin was on it. Chills swept across his skin.

Xanthic's attention returned towards the white snake before his grip slipped and he fell onto its moving back. Grunting, he spun, embedding his claws in it's flesh. How much could this thing take? He thought angrily. Like a cat, he sprinted up it's scales, reaching his head. He took out his pistols, aiming at it's blood red eyes and pressing the triggers before reflexively closing his eyes. All he could hear was an agonizing screech of pain as his feet left the head of the snake and he felt himself falling in midair.

Xanthic braced himself for the fall before a gentle force stopped his momentum. His eyes flickered open, realizing with a start that he was hovering in midair. He glanced at the girl who had her palm turned towards him. Her other hand was on her hip as she stood on the smashed in corpse of the black snake, her blue eye narrowed in concentration. Slowly, he floated downwards, his feet touching the ground as he felt the force leave him.

The corpse of the black snake slowly turned to ash, filtering into the air after she jumped off it. Xanthic turned towards the white snake that thudded onto the ground lifelessly. He looked away from the bloody remainders of its eyes and brushed his pants off quickly. The thought of saying 'thank you' popped into his head but he dismissed it quickly. He could have handled the fall anyways.

The two met eyes but before they could say anything, another roar echoed throughout the stadium. The two spun around, face to face with a moving sea of black and red. A swarm of ursi and beowolves.

"We're done here." She said simply, running in the opposite direction, her blue tailcoat flickering behind her. Xanthic adjusted his fedora and let out a sigh, sprinting behind the girl as fast as he could.


As the two made their way back to the entrance, Owen stopped and looked around. "What?" Celeste asked while continuing walking. "Someone needs help," Owen yelled as he ran in the opposite direction they were walking. Celeste started making her way in the same direction, shaking her head. She was walking along a remaining corridor, when the walls around her suddenly dropped into the floor. A small pack of Beowolves met her eyes. "Well let's get this started then," Celeste said as she charged the pack. She kept Ferrum Glacies in defense form to block the fury of claws that met her assault. She blocked attacks, then slashed in offense. Unfortunately, her slashes did nothing but aggravate the Beowolves more. She began to worry slightly as they're claws came faster and more powerful. Suddenly, a whistling sound came, followed by an arrow protruding from a beowolves chest. "Huh?" Celeste questioned, trying to look around. More whistling could be heard, followed by more arrows in the assaulting Grimm. Celeste quickly shifted her blades forward to offensive mode, and attacked the distracted Grimm. A series of arrows and stabs finished the remaining Grimm. After defeating the Grimm, Celeste retracted her blades, and began walking towards her savior. Riliane lowered her bow and waved at the approaching brawler. "Hello" Riliane said. "Hey. T-thanks for the help," Celeste responded, rubbing her arm. "No problem," Riliane replied, not looking directly at Celeste. "So...need help getting out of here?" Celeste asked. Riliane chuckled lightly, "If you're asking to join me, then the answer is sure. If I need help, though, not so much." She began walking towards the entrance; Celeste following behind her with a light blush.


Getting fed up with running D'art sighed and put the figurine in his pocket. He turned to face a pack of Ursa head on, their growls echoing across the maze. "Alright. Let's do this." D'art said, pulling out his tomahawks and brandishing them. The horde of Ursa stared at D'art, with him staring back. For a moment it felt like time stopped, the fighting and bullets slowing to a halt. Then, D'art broke the silence, screaming as he ran forward to strike. Suddenly, a person streaked by him, knocking the front of the Ursa on his feet.

"Yes! First strike!" The girl chirped, heading on through the rest of the horde. D'art looked at her, perplexed, then shook off the shock.

"Ok. She's got up close" he said, putting his tomahawks back and grabbing his rifle. "Let's hope I can show off a little." D'art fired at the Ursa, unloading and reloading with a flash. Olive stopped to see where the constant noise was coming from, watching as D'art slung his rifle towards the Ursa.

"Oh that's the D'art guy I saw on the ship!" She said, cheerily cutting through an Ursa. "I guess we're in a contest! Fun!" Olive continued to fight her way through, dodging D'arts bullets and cutting off heads and limbs. She cheered as the last of their enemies fell. "Alright!" She said, jumping up and down. "What was your final count? Anything big?"

D'art dusted off his jacket, reloading his rifle. "12?" He said, confused.

Olive scoffed victoriously "Ha! That's nothing, I got 17, guess I won this time, woooooo!" Olive leaped from the ground, plunging head first into another group of Ursa.


As the battle went on, Owen fought tooth and nail with a pack of Boarbatusk, his cybernetics wearing thin. 'Cmon' he thought to himself 'just hold out a little longer'. Suddenly a silence fell on the field.

A girl rushed through a crowd, whipping her dust infused scarf and destroying the Grimm. She turned around, panting to Owen. "Well? Help out!"

Owen snapped out of his confused stupor. "Ok!" He shouted, returning to the fight. "Is your name Amelia?" Owen said, punching down a boarbatusk. The girl turned around, confused. "Sorry" Owen said, scratching his head. "HEY! You can't just say that!" He shouted at Amelia, stomping his foot.

"What?!" She screamed back, using her scarf to attack a charging section of the Grimm. Owen remembered himself, then came back to his senses. Owen shot out into the scattered boarbatusks, and destroyed them quickly with his glaive. Suddenly, he saw one charging for Amelia. He pushed her aside and fired his assault rifle, the beast falling. "Alright. Let's see if anyone else needs help." Amelia said.

Owen grumbled. "...and I am not a total creep, anyways".


Elsewhere in the large battleground, D'art and Olive moved quickly towards the edge of the arena, quickly defeating the grimm in their way. "So I've been wonder- Oh!" Olive cut herself off, "It's that girl from before!" She grabbed D'art's wrist and teleported closer to the other two girls. "Hello again~"

They both jumped at the sudden encounter. "Who're- How did you-" Celeste couldn't complete a sentence in her confusion.

"Oh, you're new." Olive smiled brightly and they all gave short introductions.

"Ah, I need to find Xanthic!" Riliane suddenly remembered the young man who was her new partner. With most of the grimm defeated by now the noise level was almost perfect for her semblance. Pointing in the distance she asked the group, "Who's over there?"

As the four walked closer Olive and Celeste recognised the new pair. "Ugh, it's just my nosey partner."

Olive's reaction was the complete opposite to Celeste's as she jumped up and waved, "Hey Amy~" Owen and Amelia made their way over to the small group.

"While this is great," Riliane tried not to sound pessimistic or rude, "I can't find Xanthic."

"I don't know where Eve is either," D'art pointed out and tried to reassure her. "Maybe they met up and got out together?"

"You're probably ri-" She was cut off by Olive loudly yelling out the names of the two missing students. "What're you doing!?" Riliane asked still covering her ears.

...

Across the barren ring, Xanthic ran behind Eve and he couldn't help but wonder more about her. He had met a lot of people with a stiff personality before, but something about her was just… Different. Suddenly skidding to a halt on the dirt Eve turned to look at him, "What's wrong?"

Xanthic chuckled, "We're being summoned. This way!" Without waiting for her to understand he began running back where they had come from. She begrudgingly followed, cursing her luck for meeting such strange people today. It took a few minutes as the two basically had to cross the whole colosseum to find the group of six. Upon their arrival Xanthic mockingly bowed with his right hand over his heart and his left holding the brim of his hat, "Sorry for the delay. Shall we be on our way now?" Olive gave Riliane a proud 'I told you so' smile as the completed group of eight made their way to the exit together.


The auditorium was dark, other than the large screens pressed against the wall, almost all of it's current lighting came from the crumbling moon overhead. Ozpin's cool voice commanded everyone's attention as he announced the new teams for the year. "Amelia Cryane, Olive Braz, Riliane Avadona, Xanthic Picto. You four collected the goliath figures and will now be known as Team ROXA. Lead by… Riliane Avadona." The crowd cheered though the girl with twintails seemed surprised and almost concerned.

"You'll do great," Her partner whispered motivation.

The four returned to their seats and the next team walked onto the stage. "Celeste Shade, D'artagnan Montaigne, Evelyn Glamis, Owen Williams. You all retrieved the beowolf figurines and from this day forward will be Team CODE, lead by… Celeste Shade." The named girl smiled proudly though the two boys on her left appeared concerned if not upset. With the final team decided the audience erupted in celebration as their headmaster spoke to himself, "Seems this will be quite an interesting year."