RWBY is property of Roosterteeth! I only own my characters.

CHAPTER 26

Charles stared at Golem with a befuddled expression. The Lord had been raring to fight him a few minutes before, but had suddenly stopped and seemed to fall into deep thought for a moment.

"Wait," the Lord said, "this won't do at all. What is your weapon of choice?"

"What? Shortsword. Why?" Charles startled slightly as a stone blade the length of his forearm suddenly rose from the ground on a flat table.

"There is no honor in an unfair fight," Golem stated as if it were obvious. "Ah, right. I almost forgot." To Charles' shock, the Lord removed his helmet and set it on the ground at his feet. "This way, our skills and natural talents are tested on an even playing field."

Golem was... surprisingly plain looking. He was a man of clearly Asian descent, maybe in his late twenties or early thirties. He had short black hair and narrow dark brown eyes. The strangest thing was how calm and cheerful he appeared.

Charles shot a glance towards Alyia. His daughter was still in the process of fighting the two remaining Knights that had accompanied Golem. The pair of Order soldiers had summoned Shades to make her job more difficult, but she seemed to be managing.

"So, what's your deal?" Charles asked, dropping into a ready stance after cautiously taking the stone shortsword. "You Order types normally aren't this... polite."

"Ah, that," Golem summoned a stone polearm from the ground. A Japanese weapon Charles recognized as a "naginata". "Let us say that I lack the... zealotry... that many of the organization possess. I care not for Agony's greater goals. I simply wish to test myself against strong opponents and defeat them in battle. Now... let us begin."

Golem flashed forward and jabbed his weapon at Charles' chest. The Terror Inheritor jumped to his right to avoid the stab, but had to duck underneath a horizontal slash of the polearm when the Lord readjusted the blade's angle. Charles found himself fighting the Lord cautiously. When Golem had first appeared, he had said that Charles' overconfidence might be his undoing. What could that mean? His overconfidence in what? The only thing he had guessed at was- Golem's ability. Was his Secondary not increased speed?

Charles parried another strike from the naginata and sent a fireball flying at the Lord. Golem raised a stone wall to block the flaming orb, which exploded violently and cracked the Lord's barrier. Charles pushed his hand forward, shattering the weakened wall into large boulders with his Kinesis. The rocky projectiles froze in midair as the Lord rose his hand.

"Well done, you forced me to change," Golem said calmly.

"I figured," Charles replied. "Your Secondary Ability is Mimicry, isn't it? That's a rare one."

"Ah, so you did deduce my true power," the Lord smiled happily. "It seems you are not only strong, but intelligent as well. Indeed, I can take another person's power as my own if they are close enough, but I can only keep one at a time."

"Yeah, I ran into someone like that once," Charles shook his head, and the two began taking swipes at each other once again. Charles didn't bother trying to fly, if Golem had copied his Kinesis ability, he would only be a floating target if the Lord held him in place. Neither fighter wanted to needlessly waste energy, so both were keeping their ability use to a minimum. This was a battle of stamina now, not strength.

"Charles!" Weiss' voice shouted. "We're ready to go! Get on!" Behind the mess of the battling Bloodlines and the swarm Alyia was engaged in combat with, Ironwood's dustplane rolled out onto the tarmac. Lights lit up across its body as it positioned itself for takeoff.

"Alyia! Go!" Charles ordered. His daughter gave him a quick nod. She grabbed one of the Knights, pulled the pin off a grenade on his belt, and kicked the soldier into his allies. The Guardian sprinted towards the dustplane as the explosive detonated with a resounding boom. "Sorry, pal," Charles addressed Golem. "Looks like my ride's here."

"I will not allow you to retreat from this duel," the Lord said seriously, leveling his weapon at Charles. Golem rushed at Charles with a renewed fervor, the two stone weapons chipping and grinding against each other. He wasn't giving Charles an easy way out.

"Weiss! What are doing!?" Winter's voice shrieked. Charles took a risk to look over his shoulder. Weiss had jumped off the dustplane and was running towards the two Bloodlines with a vial in her hands.

"It's time to go!" Weiss yelled, activating one of her glyphs and throwing the vial through it. The glass tube accelerated to a blinding speed, slamming into Golem and erupting into a thick smoke. Weiss wasted no time in grabbing Charles by the hand and leading him towards the transport.

"Thank you, Weiss," Charles breathed as she released his palm.

"No problem," She smiled as they reached the dustplane. Weiss jumped into the ship, where Alyia, Ironwood, and Winter were standing at the ready to assist her. She turned to help Charles up.

Suddenly, she felt a light spray of blood hit her face. Charles froze and looked down. Golem's naginata had speared him just below his heart. Weiss stared in horror, Winter and Alyia let out cries of shock. The younger Schnee's gaze fell onto the distant form of the Lord, who had not moved from his original spot. Instead, next to him hovered a glyph. Weiss' glyph.

Charles began to fall backwards, managing to look Ironwood in the eye and say one last word. "Go."

Alex stepped sideways in front of the pale woman, leveling his rifle at her. Luna was at his side, while Dimitri and Firo circled their unknown opponent. Yang had rushed to check on Ryland and Carbon with Ruby and Blake covering her. Somewhere in the confusion of the pale woman's arrival, Europa had vanished. Now the EDC and their friends stood between the mysterious woman and the silver-haired girl.

"You don't have to get in the way, you know," the ghostly woman said sweetly. "I just want our little friend there." She pointed at Melody.

"You've got another thing coming if you think I'm going to just let you kidnap somebody," Alex growled.

"Well, I tried asking nicely," the woman shrugged. She suddenly waved her hand dismissively, and Alex felt a powerful invisible force smash into his arm. The soldier was sent flying into Luna, the two tumbling to the ground over ten feet away. Dimitri and Firo were similarly thrown, with the Russian catching and cushioning his partner's fall. The pale woman walked towards the silver-haired girl, waving her hand to toss aside Ruby and Blake when the students tried to intercept her.

"Hello," the woman stopped in front of Melody, "my name is Shiro. I've been searching for you for a long time."

"Wha- What do you want from me?" the silver-haired girl quivered, falling to her knees at the oppressive air Shiro was giving off.

"That's easy. I want your power. It doesn't really seem like you're using it all that much anyway. So-" Shiro blurred back several steps to avoid a hail of bullets from Dimitri's machine gun. "That was rude." In the span of a few seconds, the Russian found himself lifted into the air before being slammed into the ground with enough force to crack the concrete. Firo raised her rifle, only for her arms to be encased in heavy ice a moment later.

"I get the feeling you're playing with us," Alex spat, squeezing off a burst from his rifle. Shiro blurred away, reappearing behind Luna. The azure-haired soldier felt her gun wrestled from her hand and another arm hook around her neck. "Luna!"

"Well, you're right. If I really felt killing you would be worth my time, it be about... this easy." Shiro punctuated her sentence by twisting Luna's right arm, visibly popping the limb from its socket and breaking bone. She dropped Luna to the ground, the azure-haired woman letting out a soft cry of pain.

Dimitri pushed himself up off the cement and drew his sidearm, popping several shots at Shiro. Firo managed to free herself from the ice and brought her marksman's rifle up to her shoulder, joining the Russian in firing on the pale woman. Alex took the opportunity to press down on the trigger as well.

Despite being fired at by three firearms, Shiro remained completely calm and sped away in a blur, kicking up dirt and ice crystals as she moved.

"It seems you all have a problem with learning," she smiled. Shiro rushed forward and punched Alex in the gut. The amount of force behind the blow immediately collapsed the soldier's shields and dented the plating underneath. Another fist followed the first, shattering Alex's visor and sending him to the ground, where he lay still.

"Boss!" Dimitri yelled, he and Firo attempting to hit Shiro with a single bullet. The pale woman yawned and continued to dodge the shots with ease. Without warning, Shiro suddenly stopped in place and the Russian and Faunus' projectiles found their marks. Shiro searched for what had stopped her while bullets tore into her limbs and torso, though the wounds healed quickly. Her foot had been frozen to the ground. She quickly freed herself and returned to avoiding, only to be stopped once again as a Dust round hit her in the ankle. Shiro's head whipped towards the source of the shot, finding Ruby aiming at her with Crescent Rose.

"You. Leave. Our. Friends. Alone!" Ruby shouted, firing off a round with every word. Behind her, Yang held Ryland protectively in her arms while Blake rushed up to assist her team leader. Melody sat weakly on the ground, still clearly unable to fully process what was going on around her.

"Why are you doing this?" Melody asked Ruby in bewilderment. "She just wants me. Maybe if I just give myself up, you all-"

"It's not just about you," Blake answered. "She hurt our friends, so we're going to take her down."

"That's right," Ruby affirmed. "Yang! Get Ryland and Mr. Carbon somewhere safe."

"On it!" Yang nodded.

"You go with her," Ruby ordered Melody, continuing to slow Shiro with Ice Dust. "We've got this."

"Than-" Melody began.

"Ruby, watch out!" Blake yelled. The cloaked girl jumped back, Crescent Rose being torn from her grasp and being sent sailing into the air by a powerful upward kick from Shiro. Blake leveled Gambol Shroud at the pale woman and emptied her magazine. Shiro grabbed the Faunus student by her hair and smashed her into the ground.

"You won't be keeping me from my prize!" Shiro yelled, her patience seeming to finally wear out for a moment. "I have come too far to fail now!" She pulled a small dagger from her waist and threw it behind her, where it buried itself in Dimitri's shoulder. Ruby was neutralized with a kick to the stomach, falling in a pained heap against the concrete. Melody froze in place, her knees shaking as Shiro single-handedly incapacitated everyone present, including Yang, who had attempted to come back to help.

"Now, then," Shiro sighed and walked towards Melody. She quickly brushed her long white hair from her face and readopted her smile. "Now that all the interruptions are taken care of, where were we?" Melody took several steps back, tripping onto her rear when her foot caught on Carbon's lifeless form.

"Chess," Melody whispered to herself. "I'm sorry. I'm not sure what I did to make you angry, but I'm sorry..."

"Now, be a good girl and hold still," Shiro smiled, reaching out for the young girl's throat.

"Chess, I'm sorry!" Melody cried.

"Who-" Shiro jumped back as hundreds of shadowy spikes spouted from the ground around her. Alex groaned and moved his head, his eyes widening as he caught sight of the last person he expected to see. A young man in black armor stood between Shiro and Melody, messy snow-white hair swaying softly in the wind. His red eyes had lost their maddened luster, now narrowed in concentration.

Chaos turned to Melody for a moment. "You don't have anything to apologize for."

A/N: Chaos returns! Sorry that this chapter took a little longer to write. Updates are slowing down a bit as I dedicate time to other projects.

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Skaana: The may have the same rank, but Marcia and Barnes certainly won't run things the same way.