Chapter 12

AN: Credit to skaianDestiny on SB for allowing me to use his OC team.

"Bullshit! I hit it, you saw me hit it!"

Ren and Jaune hastily grabbed Nora under her armpits as she attempted to lunge at the owner of the booth she had been playing at. The owner, for his part, was not helping, what with the smug grin on his face.

"I said 'knock over', didn't I? You didn't knock it over."

Naturally, that just made Nora strain harder for his neck, forcing the boys to really dig in their heels.

"I hit that thing dead center, and I swing around a half-ton warhammer for a living!" the orange-haired girl practically screeched. "IT'S SUPERGLUED IN PLACE!"

"Oh, please. Like any superglue would stand up to that kind of force," the carny scoffed. "Besides, rules are rules. Now, I'm going to have to ask you to leave so that other customers can enjoy the attraction."

"YOU-!"

"Nora, think happy thoughts," Ren hastily interjected. "Pumpkin Pete's, cotton candy, pancakes-"

"Breaking his legs, wringing his neck, popping his skull like a-!"

"Different happy thoughts, Nora, we've talked about this!"

Nora inhaled deeply through her nose, before relaxing somewhat. "This isn't over," she growled, glaring pointedly at the carny.

"Actually, it is," Pyrrha stated flatly as she walked up to the booth, flanked by two Atlesian Knights. She indicated the booth owner. "That's him, officers."

"Ugh, there's a fucking conspiracy here!" the carny complained. "Look, I haven't done anything wrong, so if you could please-"

"Frederick Flam, your establishment has been accused of fraudulence. Please vacate the premises so that we may inspect them," one of the bots droned.

"Oh? And what right do you have to do that, hmm?" the newly named Frederick Flam coolly countered. Though the sweat starting to roll down his temple kind of ruined the image.

"You signed a-" the other bot started to drone before freezing up. A moment later, the two robots drew their weapons and leveled them at the carny. "This booth is not registered with the Vale Department of Public Works. Frederick Flam, you are under arrest."

Flam looked at the bots, then at the students, and immediately dove for Nora, shouting "You'll never take me alive, coppers!"

A few minutes later, the two bots carried off a thoroughly battered Flam, though not before handing Pyrrha one of the plush stuffed Ursae included among the prizes. It was promptly passed on to Nora.

"So! Which games should we hit next?" Nora wondered eagerly as she hugged her stuffed bear with enough force to induce aneurysms in any animal rights group.

"Actually, why don't we go get lunch?" Jaune hastily interjected. "I'm getting kinda hungry for something more substantial than cotton candy."

"Psh! Let's hit one more game booth! I'm not hungry." Nora's stomach promptly let out an audible growl. "... That was Mister Fluffykins?" The stuffed Ursa's response was for its head to pop clean off. "Awww, Mister Fluffykins just broke..."

"And that is why we did not have pets growing up," Ren wearily summarized. "And why I spent half of my life as a seven-year old in a neck brace."

"There was a noodle bar a few stands that way," Pyrrha interjected, pointedly ignoring her other two teammates. "Would that be good?"

"Yeah, noodles. Noodles sound good," Jaune hastily replied.

Thankfully, Nora was too distracted to make any more trouble, first by trying to fix Mister Fluffykins, and then by the ramen selection. Ordering was done without a hitch, and soon the rather familiar owner was passing them their meals.

"Tonkotsu, extra egg?"

"Here!"

"Basic Miso?"

"Here."

"Kuro?"

"Thank you."

"Meat Lover Super Deluxe?"

"Oh, oh, over here!"

"Hey, old man, could you get me one of those, too? I'm feeling peckish today."

The students all paused in their eating to stare at Yang. "What are you doing here, General Xiao Long?" Ren asked only semi-coolly, with Nora just managing to restrain herself from elbowing him..

"Officially, I'm working with the Atlas guys to make sure security doesn't have any holes where our jurisdictions overlap," Yang answered, grinning. "Unofficially, this is my excuse to play carnival games and pig out on unhealthy food."

"Is Miss Weiss here?" Pyrrha asked. "Because I know you two have often worked together, and-"

"IT'S SO FLUFFY I THINK I'M GONNA DIE!"

Five heads leaned back to see Weiss Schnee, CEO of the Schnee Dust Company and one of the most powerful people on the planet, squeeing over a large plush pug. Weiss, for her part, blinked as she realized she was being watched before blushing lightly at the attention. A quick cough allowed her to shift back to her usual dignified self, the pug pushed off onto Cinder.

"Not a word, General."

"Totally wasn't gonna say anything, Weiss Queen," Yang denied, grinning wider than before.

Weiss aimed a frigid glare at the mercenary before raising one of her hands and snapping her fingers. Within moments, Cinder was tapping on her tablet. A second later, Yang's pocket started buzzing furiously. She pulled her Scroll out and looked at it in confusion. "What the-?"

"At a guess, that call would be to inform you that Misters Jehoshaphat and Cray and Missus Ming have just left your employ and signed on to the SDC Security Force," Cinder blandly informed her.

"Two-Tone Joey and the Spiker Twins!?" Yang squawked in a panic.

"Quite," Cinder nodded primly before cocking an eyebrow at the current Schnee Matriarch. "Shall I extend offers to any others, Miss Schnee?"

"I don't know, Miss Fall..." Weiss mused as she gave Yang a contemplative look. "Should she?"

Yang closed her mouth with an audible click, before grumbling, "No. I'll-"

A steaming bowl of ramen being placed on the counter distracted her. "Food!"

"Thank goodness that's over with," Weiss sighed, turning her attention to the students. "Pyrrha, so good to see you and your team again. I'd say good luck, but I don't think you need it."

"Th-Thank you, Weiss," Pyrrha stammered.

Almost immediately, she was swept up in a tight hug. It occurred to Pyrrha that she was taller than her patron, which helped distract her from the cooing noises Weiss was making.

"If I'd known all I needed to do to get you to call me by name was act a bit goofy, I'd have done it years ago!" she announced, rubbing her cheek against Pyrrha's hair.

"Uh, Weiss…?"

"Oh!" As suddenly as she'd started, Weiss pulled away, the very picture of decorum again. "Miss Fall, did the good General…?"

Cinder jerked her thumb over her shoulder, where Yang was busy pigging out on her own bowl.

"Oh, good," Weiss sighed in relief. "Anyway, I won't keep you from your lunch any longer; goodness knows strenuous activity builds appetite like nothing else. Do your best, alright?"

And with that, Weiss turned and walked away, Cinder trailing behind her.

"She's right, you know."

Pyrrha turned to Ren, pinning him with a puzzled look.

"We don't need luck," he stated. "We're good enough to beat anybody, so don't worry."

~o~

"And announcing… Team JNPR versus Team CFVY!"

"What was that you said about not needing luck?" Jaune said to Ren.

"I take it back. Completely and utterly," Ren replied, his eyes wide in both shock and pure, unabated terror.

The members of Team CFVY strode by, Coco pausing just long enough to give them a wink and confident smirk under her glasses.

"Oh, well played, Coco," Nora muttered under her breath.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, now I just wanna smash her face in." She turned to her teammates, fire blazing in her eyes. "C'mon! Are you gonna sit there scared, or are we gonna wipe those smug smiles off their faces?!"

"Yeah, c'mon guys, we've been over this!" Jaune added. "We've fought them, fought alongside them, and brainstormed how to beat them! We can do this!"

"Haven't they done the same to-"

"Ren."

That one word froze the young man in his tracks. He shivered under Pyrrha's gaze, unable to look at her.

"We're going down there, we're going to fight, and we're going to win. Understood?"

"Y-Yes ma'am," he squeaked.

With no more argument forthcoming, Jaune stood and walked down to the arena, followed by the rest of his team. Once they were situated across from CFVY, the screens started spinning for the terrain. The result: three-quarters forest, one-quarter mountain. The floor of the stadium opened up, a large stand of deciduous trees engulfing a majority of the field and a short, rocky mountain taking up the remaining corner.

"BEGIN!"

JNPR braced to attack - when Velvet's weapon displayed two new aspects. First, it unfolded within moments of being activated. And second, the ability to conjure a Dust glyph that floated in front of it. Grinning, Velvet had her exoskeleton punch the glyph, shooting forward a blast of fire. A very large blast of fire.

As Jaune was thrown into the trees by the blast, it occurred to him that maybe they were in over their heads.

Flipping in mid-air, Jaune smashed into a tree feet-first, his knees bending to absorb some of the momentum. The rest was transferred to the tree, snapping it in two, and Jaune jumped down to the ground as it fell. Crocea Mors was out in a flash, and Jaune began to shuffle cautiously, head constantly scanning for threats.

As it turned out, the action was unnecessary. Coco was not one for subterfuge, simply strolling out from between the trees, albeit with her rotary gun at ready.

"Where is the rest of my team?" Jaune coldly demanded.

"I dunno," Coco nonchalantly answered, before shrugging at the glare sent her way. "What? This is, like, easy mode compared to the initiation. They'll be fine."

Then she grinned, like a shark that's spotted a bare behind. "Well, from the landing, at least."

Jaune immediately bolted as the rotary gun spun up, his shield up to try and catch any stray bullets. Despite his efforts, he could feel the bullets thudding into his Aura. Gritting his teeth, he ducked further behind his shield and charged forward into the stream of bullets.

Coco's grin fell, and she began to slowly step back. Jaune was relentless, though, and a swing of his sword forced her to duck and fold up her gun. The casing swung up, slamming into Jaune's shield and forcing him back. Slightly.

The two fighters warily eyed each other, neither willing to commit to a move.

"Damn, but you're tanky," Coco complained. "I mean, I knew that, but I never realised just how much. You just took enough firepower to cut a half-dozen Giant Nevermores in half."

"Gee, thanks," Jaune muttered.

"Makes me real glad I brought help, then, otherwise this'd take forever," Coco shrugged nonchalantly.

"Wait, wha-"

Jaune's question was cut off by a red boot slamming into his head, sending him flying into another tree and knocking that one down as well. Fox flipped in mid-air, landing gracefully on his feet.

"Wow, he is tough," Fox observed as Jaune pulled himself up with no apparent effects.

"Not tough enough to win," Coco countered.

"Well, yeah." Fox shrugged his arms, gauntlets wrapping themselves around his wrists and hands. "Not many things that are against badasses like us. His skull's just thick enough to be annoying."

Jaune let out a low whimper, but also tightened his guard further. He knew that he was going down, there was no avoiding that when you were in a fight with the odds standing at two-to-one against you, but at the least he could do something right and take one of them down with him.

Unfortunately, he'd barely blinked when Fox was right up in his face. Jaune frantically tried to bring his sword down on the dark-skinned man, only for him to catch the strike via Jaune's wrist. Fox tugged, pulling his opponent in closer, and then slammed the heel of his hand in a devastating uppercut that threw Jaune upwards.

The blond barely had time to tuck his shield in front of him and pull up his legs before the first bullets hit. As such, he didn't see Fox flip over him until the axe kick slammed into his shoulders, sending him careening down into the forest floor.

Fox came in for a landing next to the small crater Jaune's body had left in the soft soil, Coco slowly coming up behind him. He was not surprised when Crocea Mors stabbed out, deftly sidestepping and bringing his knee into Jaune's face. As the blond staggered back, Fox crossed his arms and brought them down in a deadly slash across Jaune's chest. He went flying again, hitting another tree, but this time didn't break it, merely falling down from the canopy.

And who should be there to greet him but Coco and her rotary gun.

'Sorry, guys,' he thought as the barrels spun up. 'I couldn't even beat one of them.'

~o~

Ren only barely noted the score screen alerting the crowd to Jaune's exit from the match. He had his own problems.

Namely, that Yatsuhashi was proving almost as stubbornly strong and durable as that panda faunus they'd fought way back when, and Velvet's weapon continued to form an instant death radius around her. Not to mention the added complication of the constant elemental attacks from that Dust weapon built in.

Ren hastily reinforced his feet with Aura as the ground he was supposed to land on froze over, pushing off and away from the slide-slash Yatsuhashi sent in his way. And so the stalemate continued.

Unfortunately, it was not a stalemate that worked in his favor. As much as his stamina had improved over the last half-year, he knew it was still a weak point of his. Yatsuhashi definitely outclassed him in that department, and Velvet's combat suit was doing most of her work for her. Unless he could break the stalemate, he'd lose, later if not sooner.

Another dodge left him in midair, something he quickly realized was a mistake as Velvet zeroed in on him, lightning dust crackling in front of her.

'Shit,' he thought to himself. 'Sorry, Nora. Looks like I'm done for today.'

Suddenly, a blur of pink and white landed in front of him just as the lightning bolt released. Nora took the electric shock to the chest and promptly collapsed. As Ren landed, he heard the crowd gasp and Velvet start to run up to the other girl, and he couldn't help but smirk.

"Nora, are you alright?" Velvet gasped, reaching down to the fallen Huntress. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

She blinked, noting that one of the arms to her combat exoskeleton was gone. In fact, so was Nora.

"Oh ho ho ho!" Velvet flinched at Nora's voice suddenly coming from nowhere. "That's riiiiight, I never diiiiid explain what my Semblance was to you guys, diiiid I?"

Velvet started frantically spinning in place, her head on a swivel as she tried to pinpoint where the voice was coming from.

"Coco cooooould tell that electricity makes me aaaaaallll hyper and stuff. Buuut that would only tell half the story, because I don't get very much juice from a wall socket."

Gritting her teeth, Velvet jerked her elbow back into her weapon's side, prompting it to load up a mixture of all twelve Dust types. The minute she showed her face, she'd show Nora just what Cottontail Carapace was capable of.

"Seeeeee, my Semblance is to weld Aura and electricity together forever and ever! Iiiiiit's like a turbocharger! And the more electricity, the more POWAH!"

Velvet paled at that information. Aura boosted everything. If Nora was basically supercharged on it-

"And this cuuuuuute little mech of yours..." Nora's voice dropped to a purr. "So full of delicious, delicious..." She could practically hear the berserker licking her lips. "Energy..."

Before Velvet could react to the voice coming from right behind her, there was a sound of rending metal. She made to turn around, only for a set of ironclad arms to wrap around her neck, breath tickling her ear.

"Heeeeeyyyyy."

Ren was evading another one of Yatsuhashi's slashes when Velvet slammed into him, Cottontail Carapace in pieces, with enough force to send both of them flying into the mountain and trigger a sizeable rockslide.

"Hey, Ren!" Nora chirped as she suddenly materialized in front of him. "Watcha doin'?"

"Well, right now I think I'm going to go help Pyrrha out," Ren replied, glancing meaningfully at the other two students buried under the rubble. "Hopefully she'll still be in fighting condition when I get there."

"Okay, cool!" Nora chirped. "Because I'm about to pass out!"

*WHUMP!*

And with that, Nora slammed face-first into the dirt, her butt sticking up into the air. The screen dutifully relayed that she was basically out of Aura.

Ren chuckled and shook his head, before shooting off into the woods. Time to find Pyrrha and end this, one way or another.

~o~

As it turned out, the redhead had been thrown the furthest by the explosion of fire. As such, she had still been making her way back to the fight when Jaune was knocked out. Sighing, she resolved to simply press on; there was nothing she could do about it.

Only a couple minutes later, she came to a stop as she heard rustling and cursing. Said noise revealed itself to be Coco fighting her way through the underbrush, a few stray branches sticking out of her beret.

"Stupid stadium, whose bright idea was it to- Whoa!"

The fashionista hastily ducked as Pyrrha's shield nearly slammed into her forehead. The shield bounced off a tree behind her and into Pyrrha's waiting hands as she dove at Coco, Milo poised to stab downwards.

Coco hastily rolled out of the way as Pyrrha came down, and unfolded her gun, aiming it at the redhead. Pyrrha, for her part, prepared to dodge, only to have an idea come to her. It was extravagant and showy - but this was an exhibition match with Weiss watching. Time to put on a show.

As Coco's gun spun up and started firing, Pyrrha merely held up her hand. The bullets were caught in the intense magnetic field she was producing, coming to a halt suspended in mid-air. The fire soon stopped, Coco not wanting to waste ammunition, and Pyrrha idly plucked a bullet from the air and examined it, before letting the rest drop to the ground.

"Okay, that's just not fair," Coco groused, before grinning. "Good thing I didn't come alo- OH SHIT!"

Coco was forced to bring up her weapon in a two-handed grip, clumsily using it as a sort of ersatz polearm as Pyrrha opened up with a fierce whirlwind of slashes, stabs, and shield slams.

"I - am - so - not - built - for - this!" Coco ground out between blocks. "FOX!"

The man in question tumbled into the clearing - not the controlled tumble of an uninhibited entrance, but the somewhat uncontrolled one of being thrown by someone. He bounced off the ground, skidding to halt in the grass, before charging forward and meeting Ren, who'd torn out of the tree line mere moments after Fox, in a flurry of blades and kicks.

Unfortunately for Coco, the distraction of processing the scene was a fatal one as Milo slammed into her torso just below her sternum, knocking the breath out of her. She unconsciously slumped to the ground, clutching her chest and attempting to get her breath back. More importantly, her gun slipped out of her fingers, and she was dimly aware of Pyrrha kicking it away.

Looking up, she saw Pyrrha looming over her, ready to fully deplete her Aura. Letting out a small sigh, she held up her hands in surrender.

"Okay, I know when I'm beat and I'd rather avoid getting beat up on to deplete my Aura. I give up." Straightening up a bit, though still kneeling, she called out, "Yo, Fox! You gonna forfeit, too?"

Fox glanced over to Coco, then up to Pyrrha, and hopped back away from Ren. "Yeah, sure. I mean, two-on-one is no fun when you're on the receiving end."

"Winner: Team JNPR!"

The crowd erupted into cheers as the artificial terrain lowered away. Though Ren flinched slightly at the attention, Pyrrha just put on an easy smile and waved up to the audience. It was, after all, normal for her.

"Good job, you guy, seriously," Coco said, clapping her hand on Pyrrha's shoulder. "We weren't holding back at all there, and I still have no idea how you took out Velvet and Yatsu."

"Did we win?"

Pyrrha looked down from the audience at Jaune, who was looking adorably confused. "Yes, Jaune, we won."

"Oh come on!" Coco whined. "How are you still up and about?! You were out of Aura, for Pete's sake!"

"Yeah, and?" Jaune replied, still looking confused.

Coco angrily indicated towards where Nora was still lying unconscious. Ren kneeled down next to her, and injected a bit of Aura. Almost immediately, Nora jerked upwards, a manic gleam in her eyes. "Whoo! Even better than smelling salts!"

Further back on the stage, Fox was doing the same to his own teammates.

"I see," Jaune lied. "Well, we should probably get back to our seats. Nora, are you-"

"Actually, I'm gonna go hit the concession stands. Be right back!" And with that, she zoomed past Jaune and into the stadium.

"I'll go after her and make sure she doesn't overdose on sugar. Again," Ren said with a long-suffering sigh.

Jaune and Pyrrha both shrugged and headed back to their seats alongside CFVY, Coco giving Jaune dirty looks the whole time. Shortly after they were settled, Professor Port announced the next matchup.

"Next match: Team BRNZ versus Team, er... EMMM!"

"Wow, he mangled that pronunciation," Jaune observed.

"In fairness, that team name has a very… non-obvious pronunciation," Pyrrha hedged.

"Still though..." Velvet mused as she looked over her Scroll. "Team Emerald and their leader's name is Emerald? Isn't that a bit, eh... nepotic?"

"I don't think that's the right word," Yatsuhashi pointed out. "But yes, I agree."

"Those two in the hoodies look vaguely familiar…" Fox muttered.

The time for talking was over, though, as the terrain rose into place. Once again, it was three-fourths forest, with the last quarter tall grass. All the fighters except for Mercury and Emerald tensed, waiting for the match to start.

"Begin!"

Brawnz immediately rushed forward, Nolan and Roy following close behind and May dropping back to provide ranged support. The charge was met not by the full team, but by the hoodie-clad girls, Emerald and Mercury melting back into the grass.

And as the hoodie-wearing pair met the male members of BRNZ, it became clear why.

"Not bad," Coco remarked as she watched the twins manhandle their opponents with flawless teamwork, seeming to literally dance around their opponents. "Circle around, take out the ranged support, and then hit them from behind. Simple, but that usually works with the right execution."

May promptly made her presence known with a shot that skittered off of the Aura of the teammate wearing the white hoodie. The twins retreated into the grass, which quickly obscured them from the ground view.

The BRNZ boys stayed out of the grass, milling about rather aimlessly and clearly unsure about what to do. Luckily for them, Mercury solved that dilemma by kicking Roy in the face.

"Oh, shotgun boots," Velvet observed.

Emerald joined in the fight shortly after. Though calling it a 'fight' was something of an insult to the word.

"I swear, it's something. It's on the tip of my tongue!" Fox muttered under his breath as Emerald tossed May's unconscious body out from the trees.

"Well, that was fast," Jaune noted.

"Solid plan, superb execution," Coco summarized. "That, and Mercury and Emerald were leagues above the rest of the fighters there. Even those twins. You get a good look at their fighting styles, Pyrrha?"

"Mm," the redhead nodded. "Though I wish I had more information on their Semblances."

"Don't we all," Velvet groused.

"Which reminds me," Coco said, turning around to her girlfriend. "How did you guys get taken out? I was busy fighting Pyrrha, so…"

"Did you know that Nora's Semblance involves her absorbing electricity?" Velvet pointedly asked.

"Kinda?" Coco hedged. "There was the incident with the light socket, but-"

"Y-Y-Y-Y-Yup!"

All six students turned around to see Nora vibrating up and down like a jackhammer, Ren carefully navigating her between the annoyed onlookers. Once they reached their seats, Ren parked Nora in front of hers before slumping down in his own.

"Uh, I thought you said you were gonna stop her from overdosing on sugar."

Ren gave Jaune a pointed, haunted look. "Trust me. This is nothing."

Nora's feet, everyone noted, were starting to crack the concrete. A silent agreement passed between them to never speak of the matter again.

~o~

Weiss yawned widely as the two teams clashed below. It was not a very interesting match; PNCK's offensive power was absolutely overwhelming the team they were up against. Still, most eyes were on the arena floor; after all, exhibition matches like these only came around once a year.

As such, Weiss was well positioned to see the red blur going through the stands. For a moment, she thought she'd imagined it, and then it passed by again. By now, she had a sneaking suspicion what it was, so she pulled out her Scroll and quickly dialed a number, indicating Cinder to activate the white noise device. "Blake…"

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry-"

"Blake. Calm down," Weiss firmly ordered. "Deep breaths. Now, what did Ruby drink?"

"Okay… I'm okay. Uh, Ruby was getting nervous, so I directed her to my tea stash for something calming. Unfortunately, I didn't supervise and she, uh, got into one of my caffeinated teas instead of the chamomile."

Now it was Weiss who had to take a calming breath. "Okay. That's… maybe bad. Has she built any doomsday weapons?"

"No."

"Has she tried to turn Crescent Rose into an android companion?"

"No, thank God. That last iteration was way too smart, I almost felt guilty when I put a bullet through its motherboard."

"Has she carved out any hidden layers in the lair?"

"No, I'm pretty-! ... Did Ruby always have a bust of herself next to her desk?"

Weiss sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Make sure that's the worst of what she's done, please."

"Weiss, we've got bigger problems! I have no idea where she is, and-!"

"She was here. In the Coliseum."

The silence on the other end of the line was deafening. "... You mean the floating Coliseum that is a clear two miles off the ground, right?"

"Indeed."

"...Fucking Semblances."

"Yup," Weiss popped the p flatly.

There was an explosive sigh on the other end. "Well, hopefully she'll be back before X-day, and is already finished with her preparations, otherwise this would be a nightmare. Well, a bigger nightmare than it already is."

"Actually, Yang gave me a method to get her to you when she's like this," Weiss said. "You know the 'Like a good neighbor' jingle?"

"Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there?"

"HeyBlakebyeBlake!"

"Gah! Close the doors, lock up every damn it she's gone."

"Sing it again and be ready, she'll come back. According to Yang, she got so used to scaring her with it that Ruby's response is practically second nature to her."

"Gotcha. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there!"

"HeyBlakegrmgflh!"

"I got her."

"Good. Actually, while I'm talking to you, how are the preparations going? Everything on schedule?"

"Yes, thank goodness. It hasn't been easy, and I'm still half-worried that someone's going to walk in on us, but we'll be ready to go."

"Good, good." The sudden cheers drew Weiss' attention to the arena floor, where the current match was ending. "Because soon it'll be time for the next phase of the plan."

There was a brief silence as Blake mentally ran over this section of their plans. "Ah, right. I'll keep an eye on the Grimm levels, then."

"Yes, quite. I'll be in touch." Hanging up, Weiss stowed her Scroll and turned her attention back to the matches. Ah, and there was Penny, demonstrating her combat readiness in the most direct manner possible.

"Oh, that reminds me," Weiss said. "Miss Fall, would you be a dear and make sure JNPR go up against Mr. Black and Miss Sustrai?"

"Of course, Miss Schnee," Cinder replied, quickly tapping a few commands into her tablet.

~o~

"Oh, I'm so excited!" Nora quietly squealed as she hopped in place, watching the roulette wheel that would determine their opponent spin. "Whose legs do we get to break next?"

Pyrrha smiled and shook her head at her teammates' antics. Seems like at least some of the sugar high was still there. Still, she could agree with the sentiment, at least the part about matching your skills against your opponents'.

The leg-breaking she could do without.

Finally, the roulette wheel began to slow down, before coming to a halt and revealing the matchup.

"Emerald and Mercury of Haven versus Pyrrha Nikos and Nora Valkyrie of Beacon!"

"Aw, yeah, let's go!" Nora announced, a manic grin on her face. She immediately set off down to the arena floor, Pyrrha following behind and watching their opponents do the same. The pair seemed… confident. Relaxed. Too relaxed, even. There was an air of bored nonchalance about them. Either they were supremely overconfident, or they had an ace or three up their sleeves that they hadn't shown.

Pyrrha had a sinking feeling that it was the latter.

The two pairs of fighters soon reached the stage and stood in silence. However, as the terrain began to rise - half desert sand, half ruined city - Mercury broke the it.

"Break a leg, you guys."

"You'll need it," Emerald added with a slight smirk.

"Begin!"

Pyrrha and Nora quickly jumped back into the urban ruins, weapons shifting into their ranged modes. As they did so, Nora lobbed a pair of grenades downrange, the weapons exploding in twin blasts of pink flame.

Pyrrha raised Milo to shoulder height, only to find that both fighters were gone. She immediately turned her gaze upwards to find Mercury above them, right leg raised to bring down on Nora's skull.

"Nora, look out!" Pyrrha cried, also applying her Semblance a bit to the boots. Nora looked up just in time to see Mercury land with a crash right next to her. As in, waaay in her personal space.

Mercury promptly reached up and beeped Nora on the nose. "Boop! You're it!"

Pyrrha, being six feet away, had a front-row seat to Nora's face turning an unhealthy shade of red, steam practically whistling out of her ears. "You jackass!" she roared, shifting Magnhild back into hammer form and attempting to smash Mercury with it.

"Wait, did you want to play Whack-a-Mole instead of tag?" Mercury asked as he danced out of the way of the telegraphed strike. "Because if so, we really should have communicated this better."

"Hold still so I can smash you!" Nora barked alongside more overhead smashes.

"But I wouldn't be a very good Game Master if I let my players have it too easy, now would I?" Mercury pointed out, weaving around the blows. "Wait, shoot, I think I'm mixing my metaphors again."

Pyrrha made to help, before the game of Whack-a-Mole drew both of them out of sight, only to shift her grip and block one of Emerald's kukri guns with Milo.

"Ah, yes, the SDC's golden girl, the Invincible Champion," Emerald drawled. "My friend's been talking about you a lot lately..." Her gaze hardened viciously. "I don't like it when she talks about anyone else." She flipped her guns up into a ready position. "Which means that I'm going to enjoy this."

Pyrrha promptly deflected the stream of bullets sent her way, lashing out with a sweep. Emerald tangled up the spear in her blades, and wrenched, trying to twist it out of Pyrrha's grip. It didn't budge, and Emerald almost ate the edge of Pyrrha's shield, forcing her to let go of Milo. The redhead pressed a button, and with a bang and a little assistance from her Semblance the spear shot out of her hand with the intention of hitting Emerald in the chest.

Instead, it only shattered some wall.

Pyrrha had no time to ponder the mystery before having to roll under another burst of gunfire. She used the opportunity to retrieve Milo and sprang to her feet to find Emerald behind where she'd been and no sign of Nora and Mercury. Not that the latter mattered, she could still hear the howls of rage and explosions in the distance.

"Okay, so maybe you didn't just coast by on reputation and the money of your rich bitch of a sponsor alone," Emerald grudgingly admitted. Suddenly, she jerked her head to a random corner, before shooting Pyrrha a smug grin. "We'll finish this later. Hopefully this doesn't do you in; that would just be so disappointing."

Pyrrha charged forward to try and stop her, but Emerald was out of sight too quickly.

"There you are, you jackass!"

Well, Nora charging around a corner, Magnhild aimed directly at her and a crazed look in her eyes probably had something to do with it, too.

"Nora, wait, friendly-!"

"Say hello to my little friend!"

Thinking fast, Pyrrha yanked up Magnhild's barrel. The grenade sailed overhead, before exploding some distance behind them.

"Nora!" Pyrrha snapped, turning an angry gaze on the orange-haired girl. "What have we said about friendly fire?!"

"B-But-!" Nora stammered in wide-eyed confusion. "I- He was- When did-"

Pyrrha's anger bled away at the honest confusion on the other girl's face. She had a sneaking suspicion as to what was going on…

"It's alright, no harm done," Pyrrha kindly replied. "You thought I was Mercury, didn't you?"

"Yeah…"

"Sorry, am I interrupting something?"

Nora whirled to her left, jabbing an accusatory finger at Mercury. "You!"

"Me?"

"Mercury Black, prepare to die!" Nora practically shrieked, lunging at him with her hammer again. And once again, Mercury dodged the blow and hopped away from Pyrrha, Nora giving chase in her rage.

Pyrrha, for her part, didn't follow. Their plan was starting to come together for her, and Nora would have to fend for herself for a while. Instead, Pyrrha slung her shield over her back, extended Milo to its greatest length, and closed her eyes.

Her awareness of her other senses expanded, and one by one she blotted them out. The roar of the crowds, the smell of concrete dust and gunpowder, all but the touch of her weapon and an… awareness. All around her was metal. Above her, below her, to all sides - and one smaller source heading straight for her.

Pyrrha waited, the metal getting closer and closer. And then it shot towards her at high speed. The redhead couldn't react before it cut into the Aura protecting her side, and a grab of her hand hit nothing but air, letting another slash hit her torso. She felt the metal step back, probably for another one of those condescending speeches Emerald seemed fond of, and she lunged forward, driving Milo into a high-speed thrust. She hit nothing, but the movement of the metal seemed almost frantic that time as it dodged out of the way.

Shifting back into her ready stance, Pyrrha waited for the next blow. It wasn't long in coming, another slash aimed at her right side. This time, she deftly sidestepped, turning it into a mere glancing blow. Milo lashed out in another thrust, and this time she was reward with a slight bit of resistance.

'I got her that time. Just a nick, but I got her. Still, she's a Huntress, and a fairly strong one. I can't keep relying on my reflexes like this. And my awareness still isn't precise enough to fight normally, especially with all this concrete around.'

A smile split Pyrrha's face as she came to a solution. She dropped into her stance again, and was rewarded by Emerald shooting forward for another attack. This time, the redhead didn't dodge, and the twin blades smashed into the Aura protecting her neck.

And then they stayed there.

Pyrrha could feel a slight tugging as her opponent tried to break free of the magnetic grip. A futile action, especially when Pyrrha clamped her hand down on Emerald's wrist. Dropping Milo, she unslung her shield, strapped it to her right arm, and slammed its edge into Emerald's jaw in one fluid motion. Simultaneously, she let go of Emerald's arm, allowing her to shoot up into the air. Milo was retrieved, her shield switched back to her left arm, and when Emerald came down Pyrrha was in perfect position to slam her spear into the dark-skinned girl's side.

*CRASH!*

Pyrrha opened her eyes, taking in the scene. There was no sign of Emerald besides a tanned arm sticking out of a pile of rubble. The noise had presumable been the Huntress smashing through one of the buildings.

The display promptly flashed Emerald as out, and Pyrrha let herself relax, if only slightly. Especially since the rubble was moving.

"Owwww…" Emerald groaned as she pushed her way out of the rubble. "How the fuck did you do that?"

"Do what?" Pyrrha asked innocently. "How did I beat you? Well, I think that having more natural talent then you might be a good place to start..."

"Touche, Nikos, touche," Emerald grumbled. "Hey, shouldn't you be helping your teammate instead of bantering with me?"

Mercury picked that moment to slam to the ground and attempt to roll away from the ballistic Nora trying to turn him into a pancake. Unfortunately for him, his feet refused to move. He glanced over to Pyrrha, who was giving him a sweet smile even as she held out her hand.

"Clever girl…" he muttered before Nora slammed Magnhild onto his head. Though he staggered slightly, he stayed standing, and the screen dutifully relayed that he was out of Aura.

Pyrrha sagged slightly as she relaxed, then thrust her spear up into the air, getting the expected roar of the crowd. Nora herself huffed and sagged, allowing her own exhaustion and depletion of Aura to overtake her as she leaned on Magnhild. Suddenly, her pupils dilated, and she snapped a livid look at her defeated opponents. In one deft move, before Pyrrha could even begin to react, she swung Magnhild into its grenade launcher form, snapped it up at the two and-

Furiously jammed it behind her back and onto her belt, visibly fighting against every fibre of her being as she stared at the two in disgust.

"You're not worth it," she spat, before stomping off into the stands. Pyrrha glanced at Emerald and Mercury and, finding no clues in their stunned expressions, followed the orange-haired girl to get an explanation.

Had she stayed a few seconds longer, she might have heard a fearfully muttered "Shit." come from Emerald.

~o~

Ruby let out a soft mutter of annoyance as she looked through a periscope at the ruins of Mountain Glenn.

"What is it?" Blake asked from where she was seated, reading the seventh volume of Ninjas of Love.

"There's not enough Grimm around." Ruby grimaced. "Which is probably the first time anyone's ever said that. But anyway, there should be a lot more Grimm if Yang's and Weiss' end of the plan worked."

Blake's eyes narrowed imperceptibly. "You think that part of the plan failed," she stated.

"Pretty much, yeah," Ruby sighed as she climbed down from the periscope. "Good thing I have my Scroll recording the entire tournament!"

"Of course you do," Blake drawled, rolling her eyes good-naturedly.

Five minutes later, Blake was banging her head against the wall and Ruby had used her Scroll as a makeshift skeet.

"Damn bitch! The one time we want her to act in a violent and unpredictable manner!" Ruby growled, running her fingers through her hair furiously as she paced back and forth. "Now we have to move to Plan B!"

"Ugh, I hate Plan B. Can we not do Plan B?" Blake groaned.

"Well, then we have to go to Plan C," Ruby retorted. "Do you remember Plan C, Blake? Do you?"

The cat faunus flinched as she recalled Plan C, her ears folding against her skull. The Strategos were... uncomfortable with that plan, to say the least. "Yes..."

"And besides..." Ruby gave Blake a cold look. "Do you really want to keep them around? I've seen the people that Brownnose targets, their ages. And the things that Oxenfree did before I recruited him, the things he's done since... and I know I'm not the only one who's noticed how Cecilia looks at me, am I?"

A shiver ran up Blake's spine at the thought. "God no..."

Ruby landed a heavy hand on her friend's shoulder. "This was always coming. Sooner or later, for better or worse, we were going to do this. At least this way, their lives have some kind of purpose."

Blake was silent for a moment longer before slowly nodding in agreement. "... Fine. Fine, we'll go with plan B. You get your men and I'll get mine?"

"Deal."

~o~

Ruby looked out over the small crowd gathered before her and Blake; a crowd of the scum of the earth. Now, coming from a terrorist and classic crime boss, this might have seemed hypocritical, but even global-grade criminals have standards. And the men and women before them violated said standards six ways to Sunday, and all-too-often a seventh for good measure.

Children, for instance. Children tended to be off-limits unless there was absolutely no other way, and even then hardened career criminals tended to hate child molesters with a passion.

The point was that even by their admittedly lax standards, the scum before Ruby and Blake were just terrible, awful people, and you'd be doing the world a favor by killing them.

Three guesses what Plan B consisted of, and the first two don't count.

"I'm sure you're wondering why we've called you all here, on the eve of greatest triumph," Blake began. Ruby grinned; Blake always was better at the speechifying. "Some of you are here because of a preference for children. Others, for simply taking a bit too much fun in slowly disemboweling targets. And others yet for those... night time activities you take so much sick, disgusting pleasure in that you think we don't know about."

The crowd began to shuffle in anticipation, with more than one murderous grin spreading across their faces.

"Your mission is simple." On cue, Ruby unfolded Crescent Rose and shot one of them in the head, the high-caliber round exploding the body part like a rotten melon. The crowd froze, watching in horror as the headless corpse slumped to the ground.

"Run."

They did, fleeing for the trees and screaming at the top of their lungs.

"Good job with the speech," Ruby complimented. "You really had them going there. How long should we give them?"

"Eh, another thirty seconds," Blake decided after checking her watch.

"Of course, of course."

The thirty seconds passed quickly, and the two unslung their weapons and stepped into the forest.

"Shall we?"

"Let's."

~o~

Several miles away, a man in grey, his hair black but speckled with white, paused at the top of a large hill to take a sip out of the hip flask he carried at his waist.

"Dammit, I'm getting old," Qrow groused. "I would've gotten here an hour ago five years ago."

Pulling out a pair of binoculars, he turned his gaze on the ruined city in the distance. There was no sign of activity.

"Really hoping this isn't another dead end or red herring," he grumbled, putting the binoculars away.

He blinked as the sound of a male voice screaming dopplered towards him. A faunus in a battered, dishevelled White Fang uniform, his nose a brown one like a dog's, burst out of the underbrush.

"Y-You've gotta help me!" the faunus exclaimed. "The Bloody Rose… she's gonna kill me! And then eat my liver with Chianti and garlic!"

Qrow's eyes widened fractionally, even as he resisted the urge to roll them. "So, the Bloody Rose is here? In Mountain Glenn?"

"Y-Yeah, man! W-Wait, are you a Huntsman?" The faunus grinned. "That's great! Maybe you can kill-"

*SHINK!*

The faunus stared dumbly at the blade sticking out his chest. "Her?"

"Word of advice buddy," Qrow grunted as he used his foot to shove the body off of his sword. "Next time you try to get help from a Huntsman while you're wanted dead or alive for fifteen counts of rape, try to hide your face." He spared the dying man a disgusted glance before turning back to Mountain Glenn.

"I've finally found you," he said, grinning. Suddenly, he swayed in place, his eyelids heavy. "Wait til morning, huh? Jeez, you're so picky."

Sighing, he unslung his pack and began setting up his tent. It wasn't like it was likely that Ruby would be going anywhere before tomorrow morning. He could get a good night's sleep and face her at full strength.

Then, the next day, he'd go in there and bring his little girl back home. Whether she wanted to or not.

~o~

Weiss felt as if her smile was made of rubber, so hard was it to keep it up. She could feel sweat trickling down her back, which felt disgusting. And yet, she somehow managed to keep her cool.

Literally. The chair she was sitting in was starting to freeze over.

"Motherfucker!"

Yang was not nearly so restrained, and not just in word, either. Her pacing was steadily burning a hole in the carpet. Were it any other day, Weiss would have berated her for it. Today, however... today she just couldn't be brought to give a damn.

"Why the fuck didn't she blow them up?!" the blonde woman ranted. "She has anger management issues, she gets tunnel vision, berserker rages! Hell, I'd have blown them up and then snapped their spines over my knee in her position, and she makes me look like a fucking saint!"

"We need to call Blake and Ruby," Weiss decided.

"Hell yes we need to call Blake and Ruby!" Yang snapped, pulling out her Scroll. "They're the ones who have to deal with the fact that there's not gonna be enough Grimm!"

Yang held the device up to her ear, impatiently tapping her foot as it rang.

"Hello?"

"Ruby, we've got a big fucking-" Yang paused and frowned as she heard rustling leaves and Crescent Rose's distinctive clacking. "Sis, are you stress-hunting again? I mean, I know it's better than the caffeine, but-"

"Blake and I are running Plan B. Thanks for nothing, by the way."

Yang's frown held as she covered the Scroll and leaned over to whisper in Weiss' ear. "What's Plan B again?"

"Plan B is to gather all the worst members of their organizations and hunt them," Weiss whispered back, gnawing on her thumb nervously. "Cathartic, and their terror will draw the Grimm."

"Ah." Yang uncovered her phone and put it back up to her ear. "Well, good to hear that you're on top of things."

"You mean cleaning up your mistakes." There was a brief pause on the line. "Sorry, you didn't deserve that. I'm just a little stressed out right now, so please tell me Emerald will be in place for tomorrow?"

"That's still on track, thank God," Yang sighed. "Neo's here, too. But, sis… what if Plan B doesn't bring in enough Grimm?"

"You know what Plan C is, Yang. We move to that."

Yang winced. "And that one relies on a mostly untested power and might not be something we can handle once it gets here. Lovely." Her hand drifted up and began kneading at her temples. "Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that. Good luck out there, sis."

"Good luck to you too, Yang."

"Plan C?" Weiss echoed as Yang hung up. "I wasn't told about any 'Plan C'."

"I didn't tell you?" Yang asked, sounding honestly surprised. "I could've sworn I did."

"No, you didn't," Weiss frostily replied. "I suggest you tell me. Now."

"Yeah…" Yang trailed off uncomfortably. "Y'know that thing Ruby and Blake found under Mountain Glenn? And our... unexpected trump card?"

Weiss' eyes widened as she connected the dots. "You don't mean-!"

"Yeah, there's a reason it's Plan C," Yang sighed.

"And you didn't think to tell me until literally the day before it might be implemented?!" Weiss demanded, surging to her feet.

"They only came up with this plan a week ago, they told me three days ago, and we've all been just a little busy with preparations!" Yang snapped back. "So you can take your righteous indignation and shove it up your ass!"

For a moment, the two glared daggers at each other, and then Weiss sighed explosively and plopped back down on the frozen chair. "Ugh, this sucks..." Weiss groaned.

"I thought you didn't mind sitting in permafrost?" Yang joked weakly.

Weiss looked up and tried to pin her friend with a glare before giving up the ghost in favor of a long-suffering look. "It's like waiting to enter a board meeting times a thousand. And if one thing screws up, if one detail is out of place, then... we're screwed."

"Look on the bright side," Yang said. "Once we hit the one-on-ones tomorrow, it'll be smooth sailing. Those things always drag on."

~o~

The next evening, Yang was glaring at Weiss, who had the good grace to look sheepish.

"So, I might have forgotten how good Pyrrha is at these one-on-ones…" She returned a glare of her own at Yang. "And who was the one tempting fate, hmm? 'The fights always drag on' my ass! Remember, the universe is always listening."

Down below, Sun Wukong was being carted off the field, Pyrrha hovering by the stretcher and clearly apologizing profusely.

"Okay…" Yang breathed, breaking off the glare. "This isn't the end of the world. We've got three more matches before her next one. And hopefully that'll take longer."

"Actually…" Weiss mused, quickly grabbing her Scroll and inputting a command. "There we go. I just ordered Penny to draw out her fights as much as possible while still winning. That'll buy us some more time."

"Good thinking, Weiss," Yang replied, throwing a thumbs up.

Naturally, Penny's match took quite a while. And as the next two matches proceeded as normal, the Strategos began to relax and enjoy the fights. Finally, Penny and Pyrrha were up.

"Come on, Penny, draw it out," Weiss pleaded under her breath. For a moment, Weiss and Yang believed that Penny could do it.

And then Pyrrha grabbed the strings and hurled the gynoid against the glass partition of their box.

"Sorry, friends..." she mouthed before she slid out of sight with an audible squeaking on the glass.

The Strategos watched as the gynoid slid fully down the glass and out of sight.

"... Fuck," Weiss succinctly summarized. She started in surprise as Yang got up and headed for the exit to the box. "Hey, where do you think you're going?"

"Call Ruby and Blake, see if they can speed things up," Yang shot back over her shoulder. "I've got an idea. It might work, it might not."

And with that cryptic comment, Yang left.

"I swear, that woman drives me batty…" Weiss grumbled as she pulled out her Scroll and dialed a depressingly familiar number. "Blake, we've got a-"

"Strategos Beta, we've got a serious Qrow-shaped problem."

"What!?" Weiss hissed frantically, already snatching up another Scroll and frantically dialing up Mercury, Emerald, Adam, anyone she could contact. "Damn it, how far out is he!?"

"That's- GAH! That's the problem! He isn't far out at all!"

~o~

"He's right- SHIT!" Blake cursed as she dashed through Mountain Glenn's dilapidated cityscape, ducking under a threshold that Qrow slashed clean through. "He's right on fucking top of us! We need to launch, now!"

"For fuck's sake, how'd he find you guys on this specific day?! No, never mind, what do you mean right on top of you?"

"I mean he's in the fucking base!" Blake shouted. "He's trying to chop me in half and Ruby's on her way, but I don't know if I can stay ahead of him long enough for her to get here!"

"Okay." Weiss most emphatically did not sound okay. "We're in the semifinals-"

"WHAT!"

"If you'll let me finish, we're in the semifinals, Yang apparently has a stall plan, and Emerald's in position to block communications. If you get that train running in the next five minutes, we can still salvage this."

"Hold that thought," Blake bit out as she dashed into the main cavern - and was promptly stabbed from behind. The shadow clone burst into smoke, and Blake launched a furious twin-blade assault against Qrow, who parried the blows and countered with a flurry of strikes with his scythe against the cat faunus. Some frantic dodging and a few more shadow clones allowed her to evade them, but she could also clearly see that she was about to be trapped against a wall. Her back bumped against the stone, and she braced for impact.

It never came. Instead, a red blur slammed into Qrow, knocking him away and unleashing a veritable whirlwind that forced him to actually backpedal. Blake took the opportunity to make a break for the train and put her scroll back up to her ear.

"- motherfucking crazy bitch!" Weiss was ranting into the device. "I cannot believe she'd… actually, I can believe it! And that just makes it worse! Worst of all, I think that this reckless insanity might actually even WORK!"

"What are you- never mind, don't tell me," Blake decided. "I take that was Yang's distraction?"

"Yes, it was - is, she's still doing it - and I am going to strangle her when she's done!"

"Good, because I'm just getting to the train and Ruby's holding Qrow off, and I need to get on the train and get out of here before she uses our trump card, and I, for one, do not want to be reminded of why we chose to make that our absolute last fucking resort!"

"Alright, alright, I'll let you go and just settle for enjoying this metaphorical trainwreck. Probably better for my health. Oh, and make sure you don't get caught up in the literal one."

Blake ended the call just as she skidded into the depot yard where Torchwick was puffing on a cigar. "Torchwick!"

The man in question jumped slightly, turning from his preparations to confront the uncharacteristically frantic faunus. "Y-Yes?"

"I need that train loaded up and ready to go yesterday!" Blake barked, turning her glare on several White Fang members milling about. "And get on board already!"

"Well, I have good news then, milady," Torchwick drawled as the soldiers behind him dashed for the train. "We're all loaded up, and the charges have been placed. All we need is a signal and we're good to go."

"Oh thank God something's going right today," Blake breathed. "Okay, let's get on board and get out of here. Now."

"Geez, Belladonna, what's the rush?"

Blake jabbed her thumb at the main cavern, where Ruby and Qrow were trading slashes in mid-air. They had barely landed when both sped into motion, Ruby a tornado of red and black while Qrow's scythe blurred around him, the man himself only taking small steps evade.

"Right, good call, LET'S ROLL!" Roman immediately amended, pounding on the engine. The diesel motors within began running, and the train slowly began to nose forward, rapidly picking up speed and Roman and Blake hanging off its side. Soon they passed the first charge, which promptly blew a hole in the roof of the tunnel. Grimm poured in, mostly small but with quite a few larger ones.

"I think we're good until we hit the end of the tunnel," Roman remarked.

"I hope so…" Blake murmured, looking back to the cave complex.

Roman sighed and poked Blake on the shoulder with his cane. "Look, Belladonna," he lectured. "No matter how much I think she's a brat, Little Red knows what she's doing. Even if she loses, she'll be able to bug out. Now, I don't know about you, but I don't fancy hanging off the side of this train once it hits max speed. I'll be in the cab, and I recommend you join me."

As Roman clambered up, the wind whistling in his ears, he didn't hear Blake murmur one last worry.

"That's not the problem…"

~o~

Pyrrha gave a friendly wave to her opponent. Penelope, of Team PNCK, had been something of a dark horse since the four-on-fours, her adept handling of Dust delighting the audience. Despite this, she seemed incredibly nervous being out there by herself, hence the attempt to lighten the mood a bit.

"GO PENELOPE! YOU CAN DO IT!"

The girl perked up a bit and glanced back to the three very large, very muscular men in the stands waving a hand-made banner that repeated their cheer. She blushed, straightened up, and turned to Pyrrha with considerably more confidence.

"BEGIN!"

Penelope opened up the match by immediately conjuring up not one, but twelve different Dust-powered glyphs, each using a different type. The glyphs merged together into one massive runic circle, glowing with barely restrained power.

"ABYSS BREAK!"

And then the arena exploded. Like, literally the whole thing lit up in fire and smoke and who knows what else.

Penelope scanned the floor as the cloud of smoke began to clear. To her surprise, her opponent wasn't there. She made to move forward - and found herself arrested by Milo stabbing into the hem of her jacket.

"Wha- when did she-"

Any further confusion was cut off by Pyrrha's boots slamming into her face. The redhead dropped to the ground, recalling Milo - only to find Penelope already out cold.

"That was… easier than I expected," Pyrrha muttered to herself before shrugging and pointing her spear up again.

Unfortunately for Pyrrha, her solo triumph only lasted for a moment before she was nearly bowled over by a swift blur of orange and yellow slamming into and subsequently hugging her. "YOU DID IT! WE WON!" Jaune whooped eagerly.

"Nice going, Pyrrha," Ren nodded happily as he patted her free shoulder.

This happiness was swiftly lost as Nora scooped all three of her teammates up into the air and squeezed. "EEEEEE I'M SO HAPPY!"

"AGH!"

"MY SPINE!"

"NORA, AIR!"

"A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR OUR CHAMPIONS!" Port boomed from the announcer's booth. The audience complied, standing up as one and roaring as one.

"Excellent! Thank you all for coming and showing your support to our future Huntsmen and Huntresses! I bid you all a good evening, as well as a friendly reminder to be back tomorrow for the inter-te- What the-!? Xiao Long, what do you think you're-!? Hey get away from-OW!"

Nora promptly dropped her cargo, much to her teammates' relief, in favor of gazing up at the announcer's booth at the commotion going on inside.

"Please be what I think it is, please be what I think it is…" she chanted.

"'Sup, thundercunts!" Yang announced from the booth. "Lemme hear some noise!"

The stadium was was pointedly silent, except for one notable "Whoo!" from somewhere in the crowd.

"Alright, alright, I get it," Yang continued, pacing in the booth as she addressed the crowd. "I'm interrupting, I'm stealing the spotlight from the champions. And I promise, I won't take too much of your time. I just wanna say something."

Her easygoing grin morphed into an aggravated scowl. "Really?!" she demanded. "Are you really satisfied with this… ten-second snoozefest of a finale?! I mean, sure, Nikos was a badass, no one is denying that, but, well- Ah! Get off of me, you stupid old man! You can have your mic back in a minute! - We all already know that she's gonna win tomorrow! Where's the tension?! Where's the excitement!? So, anyways, in the name of good entertainment, I've got a proposal to make things a little more interesting here on this final night. All of Team JNPR versus one person. One single, individual badass of epic proportions, who can single-handedly eclipse almost every other person in this arena!"

The glass window to the announcer's booth suddenly shattered out of its housing, glass shards falling towards and breaking against the arena floor. The cause of the explosion, a figure resplendent in gold and khaki, launched itself out of the booth, and Yang landed on the edge of the arena in a perfect three-point stance, head bowed before she slowly raised it to reveal the wide grin plastered on her face.

"Me."

And the audience erupted.

~o~

Deep within the bowels of the Amity Colosseum there was a small room tucked well away from where visitors could go. Within, several operators managed the connections between the internal communications network and outside comms. And after Scrolls got popular, someone had crammed in a large wi-fi station that was central to the Coliseum's network so that visitors didn't have to rely on CCT coverage that could be spotty at best when going over deserted areas.

The point being, this one room was the key to Amity Coliseum communicating with the outside world, aside from Ironwood's and Weiss' personal comms. This was very quickly recognized to be a massive vulnerability, and was layered with security: cameras, motion detectors, pressure plates, and Atlesian Knights stationed at key points. Not to mention the comms personnel were trained fighters themselves.

None of that mattered as Emerald Sustrai walked over their unconscious bodies to the computer systems that managed everything. After all, all that security wouldn't do any good against someone who already had inside access to the system.

"Hmm," Emerald muttered to herself as she called up the operating system and examined the code. "Where is it… ah, there!"

Typing in a quick command, Emerald pressed the enter key and allowed one of the two viruses they'd managed to sneak past Atlas computer security back during the dance to work its magic. This one was to block communications from outside the Coliseum. All that was needed was one push of a button on her Scroll...

"That should do it," she decided, tucking the device back into her pocket. "I'd better get back to my seat before Neo decides it would be funny to do… well, anything besides keep up the illusion."

~o~

Ruby grit her teeth as she swung Crescent Rose at her uncle again, only for the blade to skitter off of Qrow's own. This was ridiculous; she was moving fast enough that even Qrow's movements seemed like they were in slow motion, and she still hadn't landed a clean hit! Fucking Semblances!

And yes, she was aware of the hypocrisy of that thought, but dammit that didn't make it not true! Precognition, even as brief as it was, was just such bullshit! She'd thought she was going fast enough to compensate, but clearly not.

At least Blake had gotten away clean, because honestly, she couldn't keep up this level of exertion for very much longer.

Case in point, Qrow's blade nearly skewering her right eye as she blurred in for another attack, only a last-second pull of her head saving it. The scythe still carved a small cut on her cheek.

Hopping back, Ruby put some distance between them, hoping to catch her breath.

"Ah, good, you didn't give me a chance to say hello," Qrow drawled in an infuriatingly casual tone. "I must say, this is quite the setup you've got here. Very impressive."

Ruby didn't say anything in favor of glaring balefully at him.

"Ruby, please," Qrow sighed, holding out his hand. "I don't know why you feel the need to do this, but come back. Leave this all behind. I know you, and this isn't you. The little girl who loved cookies would never have done something like this."

"I still do love cookies, you know," Ruby said softly. "But… I won't say you wouldn't understand. I know, though, from the bottom of my heart, that you wouldn't agree. Or approve. But what we're doing is... important. Unprecedented, even. And I can't let you, or anyone else, stop us. So I'm sorry, Uncle, but I can't leave this. I just can't."

"Ruby…"

"No more talking, Uncle," Ruby interrupted, hefting Crescent Rose again. "I stopped listening to you a long time ago."

With that, Ruby launched herself forward, intent on skewering Qrow. Once again, his blade was there to stop hers, and the two locked together, straining against each other.

"You're getting slower, Ruby," Qrow observed. "It's tiring to go that fast, isn't it? Even for you."

His booted foot lashed out, slamming into Ruby's gut. She skidded back with only a grunt of pain, and hastily parried as Qrow went on the offensive for the first time that day.

"Hell, even your defenses are depleted," Qrow continued as they danced around each other. "You must have gambled everything on overwhelming me at the start. And I gotta admit, it nearly worked."

Another slash from Qrow batted Crescent Rose out of the way, and a bullet knocked it clear off balance. Her guard wide open, Ruby had no answer for the slash that carved a gaping wound in her chest, coming damn close to cutting into her sternum. She gasped, left hand darting to the cut as it dripped blood onto the cavern floor.

"Nearly," Qrow remarked as he walked up to her, scythe at ready. "I'm not going to kill you, but I will bring you back, even if I have to break all your limbs to do it."

Ruby gritted her teeth and closed her eyes. She still couldn't beat him. Even after all those years, after all her training, after all the time and effort they'd put into it, she still couldn't win.

In the end, Ruby Rose, founder and leader of the Crimson Thorns and one of the creators of the grand Commission... just wasn't strong enough.

They'd all known it would happen. That one day, they'd be caught alone against a foe too strong for them to face, to beat alone. That one day one of them would slip or fall...

Before Qrow could react, Ruby suddenly flashed to halfway down the street, standing on shaking legs with her head bowed. "No... not yet..." she hissed to herself.

But that day was not today. Not while she still had a way out.

There was only one option left. One final, definite path she could take. She didn't want to use it, none of the Strategos had ever wanted to use it, but as it was... it was all she had.

And as Ruby prepared to use the Strategos' unexpected and wholly suspect windfall, she cast her mind back.

Back to the day they received this boon without choice or warning.

Back to the day the sheer extent of their undertaking changed forever.

~o~

Ruby sat in her office, going over the forged documents she needed to actually own the building she was currently in. All of it looked in order, so soon she could officially christen the Mistral branch of the Crimson Thorns!

A series of meaty thuds outside drew her attention. She shrugged; probably some local punks checking out the place and getting beaten up for their troubles. And as the noise died down, reaffirming her conclusion, she went back to work.

Not two minutes later someone kicked her door down.

"Bloody Rose!" announced the intruder, a blue-haired teenage girl in a blue and white outfit startlingly close to her old Beacon ensemble. Not to mention green plastic wings of some kind flaring from the corners of her eyes. Tacky, if well made. "My name is Haruko Miki, and today I will bring you to justice!"

Ruby analyzed her with a flat look before rolling her eyes at the display. Extravagant, but belying a stupid amount of naivete and rookie-ness. Overall, nothing close to a legitimate threat. "Yeah, sure, whatever. I don't know why my guys let you in, but I suggest you run home and forget everything you saw here. I know I might not look it, but this isn't a place for children, and I am really busy." And with that, she turned back to her work.

"Don't ignore me!"

Aura gave her barely a split second of warning before a hunk of compacted dirt smashed her desk to splinters. That split second was enough for Ruby to jump up to the ceiling and unfurl Crescent Rose, firing a shot at the girl.

A shot that was blocked by leafy branches, of all things, growing out of the wooden wall Haruko slapped her hand on, eye-wings glowing brightly. Ruby stared, dumbfounded, and was thrown through the wall and outside by a chunk of thrown concrete for her trouble.

She hastily rolled to her feet and cast a dumbfounded stare at the girl, trying to process what the ever-loving FUCK was going on! "Who the hell are you!? WHAT the hell are you!?" she frantically demanded.

The girl landed in front of her, legs spread apart, her left arm cocked on her hip and the other in the shape of a sideways v over her forehead. "I am Haruko Miki, the Spring Maiden, and I- WAGH!"

Haruko stood up from her hasty duck, jabbing an accusatory finger at Ruby. "Hey! You tried to shoot me! During my speech! You can't do that!"

"Uh, yes, I can? Welcome to the real world, girlie," Ruby scoffed. "It's a cold, hard place, and maybe you'll learn something from this experience." Her mouth widened in a smile of the kind usually found on crazy knife wielders. "Assuming you survive, of course."

Haruko almost started to scowl before she caught herself, switching to a simple glare. "Survive this, you evil-doer!" she cried out, raising her fist into the air before slamming it into the concrete.

Ruby had a scant moment to leap away before the roof of the building exploded on account of a massive tangle of vines and bark bursting up from the ground below, eviscerating the concrete and carrying Haruko high into the air.

"Now, where was I?" Haruko tapped her chin innocently before grinning. "Oh, right!" She re-struck her previous pose. "I am Haruko Miki, the Spring Maiden, and today I will put an end to your evil deeds, Bloody Rose!"

~o~

Ruby took a moment to take a deep, calming breath as she clenched her eyes shut and reached deep within herself. Searching... searching... there.

She snapped her eyes open, and wings of verdant energy flared from them.

Qrow stumbled back, overcome by a combination of both shock and horror. "No..." he breathed numbly.

"Oh... Yes..." Ruby hissed back. And with that, she took ahold of the power within her and heaved her arms forward, throwing the energy with them. In response, the street behind her erupted in a spray of concrete and shrapnel, allowing a torrent of vines and earth to roar forwards.

Qrow leapt away, hacking at the vines as he went. They still followed him with a mindless relentlessness, forcing him to go up. His scythe bit into the concrete of a building, and he hurled himself skyward, coming to a soft landing on the roof. He only barely had time to whirl around, Ruby floating up to the top of the building on a large chunk of rock, her chest wound closing up before his eyes.

"Round two, Qrow," she spat viciously.